Ethan stood at the door and knocked, receiving only an empty echo in response.
"Sure enough, no one's home..." he muttered softly, his eyes sweeping toward the flower pot.
Under a gardening glove stained with a bit of dust, the metallic glint of the key was faintly visible—this was a Miller family habit that hadn't changed for years.
The sound of the key turning was particularly crisp.
Pushing open the door, the house was quiet, only the humming sound of the refrigerator running.
Ethan tiptoed to his room with large and small shopping bags, the high-end bags making rustling sounds.
"Thank God, Mom's not here..." He breathed a sigh of relief. If she saw this pile of designer clothes, he'd inevitably face an interrogation.
His dad was probably at the shop, and his mom didn't know where she'd gone.
The morning light in June penetrated the mist, stretching the shadows of the oak trees outside the testing center long and slender.
Today was June 7th, and the weather was sunny.
This day, destined to be remembered by countless people, arrived as scheduled amidst the sound of cicadas.
For busy white-collar workers in office buildings, this was just another Monday when they needed to battle the morning rush hour. For younger students, it was an unexpected surprise to get a two-day break.
But Ethan, standing outside the testing center at this moment, looked at the reflective security mark on his admission ticket and clearly heard the sound of fate's gears turning.
"Test-takers, please enter in an orderly manner—"
The announcement pierced the morning silence.
Ethan looked up at the blue sky and suddenly remembered a random fact he'd seen before his rebirth: the probability of clear skies on SAT day was as high as 87%, as if even God couldn't bear to add variables for the students.
The 2014 SAT officially kicked off.
Outside the testing center every year, similar scenes always played out.
Those familiar "NPCs" arrived as promised, performing their own scripts at the crossroads of fate.
"I forgot my admission ticket!" A boy turned his empty backpack inside out with a pale face, his voice cracking.
"Ma'am! I, I went to the wrong testing center!" The girl wearing thick glasses stomped her feet frantically, the room assignment sheet in her hand crumpled.
What's more, there were always a few sneaky figures shuffling through the crowd: "Hey man... can you let me see the multiple choice answers?"
In exchange, they'd often get an eye roll and a crisp: "Get lost!"
On the first day of testing.
The air seemed filled with invisible anxiety.
In the testing room, the rustling sound of pencils scratching against answer sheets came and went. Outside the testing center, parents paced back and forth outside the cordoned area like caged beasts. Mothers in lucky dresses unconsciously clutched their purses, and fathers in "Good Luck" t-shirts checked their watches frequently. Everyone's brows were twisted into the same arc.
By the second day, the tension had eased a little.
But there were still mothers holding rosaries and praying, and fathers pacing with unlit cigarettes in their mouths.
Robert and Linda still showed up outside the testing center after all.
Although Ethan had repeatedly insisted, "It's really not necessary. What if you get heat stroke on such a hot day?"
The night before, Emily, who was far away, had specially called her little brother to cheer him on and promised to help convince their parents not to wait outside the testing center—this trick had worked on the first day.
But the second day, they came anyway, saying they couldn't focus at work at all.
Ethan had no choice but to let them be.
His father wore a faded polo shirt and paced back and forth with a bottle of ice water in his hand. His mother held a parasol but only cared about shielding her husband from the scorching sun, and half her own shoulders were red.
"Robert, do you think that kid will be too nervous and mess up?"
Linda was also part of the pacing army outside the testing center, showing how nervous she was at the moment.
Robert wiped the sweat beads from his forehead and muttered to himself: 'I should be the one who's nervous! If this kid bombs the exam, his future's uncertain. And if he passes, my wallet's gonna suffer...'
Just as he was thinking, the door of the testing center opened with a "creak."
A familiar figure emerged with his hands in his pockets, strolling out casually. Sunlight gilded his frame, and his leisurely walk looked like he'd just come back from the grocery store.
Ethan spotted his parents from a distance, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. He deliberately slowed down and adjusted his collar that didn't need adjusting, like a celebrity walking the red carpet. When he got closer, he even whistled. "Yo, you two here to catch some sun?"
Say he's nervous?
Where the hell did he look nervous?
Linda looked at her son's cocky appearance and suddenly felt her previous worries were unnecessary.
As soon as the testing center doors opened, several sharp-eyed reporters locked onto the student who'd submitted early. They swarmed around him, cameras and microphones aimed at Ethan.
"Excuse me, student!" Reporter A rushed to the front. "Why did you come out so early?" The microphone almost poked Ethan's chin.
Ethan glanced down at his watch and said lazily, "Long legs, walk fast."
After saying that, he deliberately took two steps to demonstrate his stride.
Reporter A's hand holding the microphone froze in mid-air, the corners of her mouth twitching: "..."
Reporter B squeezed forward. "Was this year's exam easier or harder than last year?"
"Well... I'm taking the SATs for the first time. I have no experience. You should ask the gap year students—they'd have more to say." Ethan showed a puzzled expression.
Reporter B: "..."
The unwilling Reporter C blocked his path. "Student, how do you think you did on the exam?"
Ethan didn't even stop walking this time. He turned around as he walked and tossed out: "Isn't it just a matter of having hands?"
Sunlight cast a long shadow behind him, leaving behind a group of reporters looking at each other.
Linda pressed the iced drink against Ethan's face, startling him.
"You brat, getting cocky now?" She glared angrily. "How dare you talk to reporters like that!"
"Get in the car first! This weather is brutal." Robert opened the door of the Nissan Sentra, and the old hinge made a familiar creaking sound.
Ethan raised his head and downed more than half the bottle of drink, his Adam's apple bobbing with each swallow.
The cold liquid slid down his throat, and he suddenly realized that this transformation he'd been waiting for across two lifetimes was finally complete.
In his previous life, he'd been very successful later on. In this life, he'd transform into something even more dazzling!
As night fell, the BBQ joint next to the shopping center was brightly lit.
Ethan had grabbed a seat early, and the plastic chair creaked as he sat down.
After the exam that afternoon, he'd had a celebration dinner with his parents and gone shopping for a while. At this point, Robert and Linda had already gone home, and he was waiting here alone for a few close friends.
Jack rode up on his electric scooter.
"Yo Jack!" Ethan smiled and waved. "SATs are over—can you finally be a 'life mentor' tonight?"
"What, what kind of life mentor?" Jack's ears instantly turned red, and he parked in a hurry, almost tripping over the curb.
"Life mentor? Treat yourself? What do you mean?" Jack asked, his face slightly flushed.
Ethan squinted at his guilty appearance and didn't have to guess—there was definitely a box of tissues stuffed in the side pocket of that backpack, and a few extra gigabytes would be added to his browser history tonight.
He deliberately drew out his tone. "You know—studying the philosophy of life alone late at night..."
"Dude!" Jack pounced on him to cover his mouth, and the two laughed and knocked over a stack of plastic stools.
The BBQ stand owner shook his head in amusement and continued turning the sizzling meat skewers.
There are 40 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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