Choice

Lin Yu reached up and touched his school uniform pocket, which was bulging from the wad of cash inside.

He immediately began planning how to allocate this small fortune.

Twelve thousand would be set aside for university tuition, one thousand for daily expenses, and the remaining two thousand or so would go toward a second-hand Hammer 4 phone—ideally, he could even snag a fake Hammer 7 model.

With a Hammer phone as cover, there’d be no way for Li Yuan to demand the money back!

Having settled on his plan, Lin Yu strolled leisurely toward H City’s largest electronics mall.

After haggling his way to a dirt-cheap, heavily used Hammer 4 on the fourth floor, he decided to head home.

Stepping onto the descending escalator, he spotted a group of elementary school kids riding up the adjacent one, their backpacks slung over their shoulders. It reminded him of the homework he’d asked his teacher for earlier that evening.

A glance at the time—8:30 PM—made him wince. By the time he got home, it’d be around nine, and finishing all his assignments would likely keep him up until eleven.

Was this just self-inflicted misery?

But he couldn’t skip it. After all, he’d personally requested the extra work—how embarrassing would it be to leave it undone?

With a frustrated groan, he ran a hand through his hair.

The mess he’d made, he’d have to clean up himself.

Leaving the electronics mall, Lin Yu decided to find a stationery store nearby to stock up on school supplies.

Pens, notebooks, compasses, rulers—his past self hadn’t owned a single one of these. The fact that he hadn’t torn up his textbooks was only because he’d been too lazy lately. Expecting him to have proper study tools was hopeless.

The area around the electronics mall was a sprawling entertainment district, packed with every kind of shop imaginable. Lin Yu figured he’d scout the vicinity first—if he could find a stationery store here, he wouldn’t have to trek elsewhere.

After circling the block, he scratched his head in frustration.

Weird. The place had everything—food, drinks, gadgets, even an unmanned adult shop—but not a single stationery store. It made no sense.

After a moment of annoyance, though, he shrugged it off.

Maybe a place like this just wasn’t meant to house anything that dredged up painful memories of school.

Leaving the bustling entertainment district behind, Lin Yu headed toward an older residential complex nearby, one without a gate or security.

Stationery shops weren’t exactly rare—most neighborhood convenience stores carried basic school supplies.

He’d grab some pens and notebooks here and pick up the rest at school tomorrow.

Inside the complex, he quickly spotted a small convenience store selling stationery.

After purchasing what he needed, Lin Yu stepped back outside.

Pausing at the storefront, he glanced left, then right.

To the left was the familiar, albeit longer, route back to the main street near the entertainment district, where he could easily catch a bus or hail a cab home.

To the right was an unexplored shortcut—a few quick steps would take him out of the old neighborhood and onto a major city road.

If he took that path, buses might be out of the question, but finding a taxi shouldn’t be hard.

This was a city, after all; taxis were everywhere.

After a brief hesitation, Lin Yu chose the unknown path on the right.

It was getting late. Better to grab a cab and get home sooner.

If he wasn’t relying on the bus, the shortcut was clearly the smarter choice.