Chapter 2

"Steph, where did you go so late at night? You're drenched in sweat…" When Stephen got home, his mother, Sara Doyle, looked at him with disapproval and concern. Stephen didn't respond. He stared at his mother who looked at least a decade younger from what he last remembered. There was a hint of wistfulness in his eyes. For Sara, Stephen was merely standing 6 feet away from her. But for Stephen, it felt as if they had been separated for an entire lifetime. "Mom!" "Steph! What's gotten into you today?" Sara was prepared to nag at Stephen but somehow just couldn't bear to do so. Stephen's dad, Jerry Clayton, was lounging on the couch as he smoked a cigarette and watched TV. "Honey, Steph's all grown up now, I'm sure he has his own matters to deal with. Don't intrude on his privacy." "Alright, alright, I won't interfere. I don't want him to think that I'm naggy either. Jerry, put out your cigarette! I told you I don't want you smoking when Steph is around!" Jerry chucked and immediately put out his cigarette. Unable to hold back his tears any longer, Stephen felt a burning sensation in his eyes. This scene was so heartwarming to him. For someone who had achieved so much in his past life, these insignificant moments of happiness felt like an impossible luxury. Sara looked at him with a deep sense of concern on her face. "Steph, why are your eyes watery? Are you crying? What's wrong?" she asked. Stephen forced a smile and replied, "I'm not, it's just the smoke. Mom, can you tell Dad to quit smoking? The smell of the smoke is affecting my studies." Jerry grumbled and retorted, "Affecting your studies? Your recent exam scores weren't exactly the best. I doubt you'll even make it into a top-tier university!" Sara chided, "Don't speak that way about Steph! He just didn't perform well this time. I'm sure he'll get into an Ivy League!" Jerry shot back, "I'll be thankful if he even manages to get into any top-tier university!" "I'll go back to my room to study." Watching as his parents engaged in their daily banter, he was on the verge of tears. He quickly found an excuse to return to his room. His room felt familiar, yet somehow different. Many books were laid out on his slightly chipped desk that was decorated full of cartoon stickers. One of the most notable and thickest books was the "SAT Revision Kit". After a brief moment of recollecting himself, he wondered if he had gained any kind of special ability from being reborn, such as the ability to absorb all the knowledge from the books around him instantly. He glanced at the books on his table, hoping something would happen, but nothing did. "That's fine," he thought. As someone who worked his way up to the top in his past life, he didn't need any special abilities to succeed. After all, being reborn was already a huge advantage. Stephen knew his end goal—he wanted to make a fortune. But he was aware that now wasn't the time yet. Instead, he had to first focus on his current task at hand—passing his SAT. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine the consequences he would have to face if he were to tell Sara and Jerry that he wanted to drop out of school to pursue his big career goal of becoming a successful businessman. He was certain he would've been disowned. Besides, Stephen genuinely missed his university life. In his past life, he spent most of his time pursuing Natasha that he missed out on so many different experiences in university. Now that he had another chance, he didn't want to leave any regrets. Stephen tried to recall how his grades were back in high school. During his SAT, he barely made it past the minimum score required for a top-tier university. Nonetheless, he still chose to study at a second-tier university within his state. When Sara and Jeremy found out about his decision, they were slightly disappointed. Even his homeroom teacher couldn't help but criticize his wasted potential. She was certain that his results, being the top in his class, could've qualified him for an Ivy League school. Many of his classmates also ended up mocking his decision. They made fun of him for putting his own future on the line just to pursue his love interest. The worst part was that he didn't succeed in that either. Throughout his high school years, Stephen had invested so much of his time and effort in pursuing Natasha. He failed to make good use of his strong academic capabilities. It wasn't until his senior year in university, when Natasha found herself a rich and handsome boyfriend, that he finally realized his mistake and decided to enroll in a postgraduate program. With his strong determination, he managed to make his way from a second-tier university to an Ivy League—Westshore University, for his postgraduate program. After that, he managed to obtain sponsorship from the school and started his own successful business, Claystone Technology. This time, Stephen hoped that he could get into Westshore University. With that thought in mind, he glanced at the calendar by his bed. There were less than 40 days left until his SAT. He couldn't help but mock at his thought of getting into an Ivy League. At this point, he wasn't even sure if he could get into a decent university. Stephen felt a strong sense of urgency and wiped the sweat on his forehead. He picked up the SAT Revision Kit on his table and flipped open a set of Math practice questions. Initially, he thought that he knew nothing, but as soon as he looked at the question paper, the relevant knowledge from his previous studies started flowing back to him. The first question was a multiple-choice question that tested the Set Theory concept. As soon as Stephen finished reading the question, he already had the answer in his mind. The second question tested on the trigonometric functions and was much tougher than the first question, but he was able to solve it quickly after some thought. Stephen was slightly taken aback by himself. He continued to work on the remaining questions and gradually came to an understanding. He hadn't just been reborn as his 36-year-old self to replace his 18-year-old self—rather, his current and past selves had combined as one. Perhaps it was because of this combination that he was able to recall much of his high school knowledge. "Wow, so I do possess some kind of special ability!" Stephen felt his heart pounding. Stephen had always performed quite well in math. Now that he was able to combine his existing knowledge with the knowledge he had acquired in university, SAT math questions were a piece of cake! Even foreign language, which had been his weakest subject, now seemed more manageable. The vocabulary used in high school was nothing compared to those used in his postgraduate studies. His improvement in Math and foreign language alone was enough to pull up his grade significantly. He equally was confident that his grade for the other Science subject would improve following his enhanced mathematical skills. Furthermore, considering that he remembered the exact essay topic for his optional Essay Writing paper, he would surely excel in that paper as well! He could already predict that his SAT results would be much higher than before. He believed that such a significant improvement could even bring him close to the minimum grade requirement for universities like Harvard and Yale. Stephen felt a strong boost of confidence. Linden Town was a small town under Roscray City. The educational standards there could not compete against those of the capital city. Typically, only a few students from small towns make it into Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale. Those who managed to achieve the minimum grade requirements for universities like Harvard and Yale were often awarded thousands of dollars by top firms in town. Stephen recalled that in his past life, the award for this year was quite a large sum. If he was able to achieve such a score, he would be able to earn enough capital to fund his business. "The saying that 'Books are treasures' is indeed true!" Stephen thought. Within half an hour, he had completed the entire set of Math practice questions. When he compared his answers against the answer guide, he realized that he got most of it correct, with just a few insignificant errors in the last question. When estimating his score, Stephen was taken aback when he realized that he scored 735 marks for the paper! Furthermore, this set of practice questions was adapted from the past year's paper, suggesting that he could score a similar mark in the actual exams! He felt ecstatic by the advantage he had acquired. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. After knocking on the door, Sara walked in to pass Stephen a glass of warm milk and said, "Don't stay up too late, Steph. Get some rest soon." "Alright." Stephen nodded and closed his books. In the past, he would've surely felt annoyed by Sara's nagging, but now, he felt a deep sense of contentment. After finishing the glass of milk, Stephen pulled out a slide phone from his drawer. It was a Nokia 5200 with a Symbian S40 operating system. The phone was his 18-year-old birthday gift from his parents. It was his very first phone. After familiarizing himself with the phone's functions, Stephen logged into the mobile version of Facebook. His profile picture was still the default—a gray silhouette of a person's head against a plain background. He also had a display name of "H3ad$trongRebel". Upon seeing his display name, Stephen nearly cringed to death on the spot. He couldn't help but wonder what he had been thinking back in the day. He quickly changed his username to "TrueToStephen". At the same time, he also checked out his Facebook bio section. It displayed, "Dedicated to loving you, even if you're unaware of my existence". How embarrassing! Stephen desperately wanted to dig a hole in the ground and disappear into it. Stephen deleted it immediately and replaced it with "Chasing dreams and breaking limits, one goal at a time".