Chapter 18

In fact, apart from the homeowners whose properties were to be demolished, no one else even knew about it. This saved Kane, a high school student, a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

In the following days, Kane shuttled back and forth between different neighborhood offices, listening to the officials read out higher-level directives and going over the compensation terms repeatedly.

Although every office essentially repeated the same things, this was one of those things that felt satisfying to hear every single time.

Once the official demolition orders were issued, the process entered the negotiation phase.

This phase was often the most time-consuming, mainly because of sheer greed. Many residents had lived in run-down apartments for years, unhappy with their lives, and they saw this as their one golden chance to squeeze out as much money as possible. The more they demanded, the better.

But Kane knew when to take the win.

He directly gave the neighborhood office a figure based on the highest estimated compensation ratio and told them to call him if they agreed.

His relaxed approach stemmed from one key reason—once the demolition entered the second phase, those who signed the contract early could get priority in choosing resettlement housing. Picking a prime location was far more valuable than haggling over an extra thirty or fifty thousand.

If you stall until the very end, all the prime spots will be gone. Don't like what's left? Tough luck—time to draw lots like the rest of the sorry losers.

The contracts would be signed, and no one would cater to the troublemakers anymore.

Besides, Kane had another pressing reason.

He needed to pay back his debt.

Although he had borrowed the money from Nancy Foster to buy the apartment, the truth was—it was still her father's money. The fact that nothing had happened yet only meant her father hadn't discovered it for now. But the longer it dragged on, the greater the risk. Kane had no idea what kind of man Nancy's father was, and he wasn't about to take that gamble.

The sooner he got his compensation, the sooner he could patch the financial hole, making this entire incident disappear as if it had never happened.

After handling the preliminary matters of the demolition, Kane finally had a free day to himself. He lay at home, casually replying to various QQ messages.

Hansel Grant scored 472, while Nancy Foster got 671.

Hansel's score wasn't surprising at all—this dumbass was only capable of this level; even getting a single point higher would be a miracle. But Nancy, the legendary academic prodigy, a straight-A student, scoring below 700? Now that was unexpected.

Of course, their homeroom teacher couldn't accept this result either, convinced there had to be a grading mistake. So, on the very day the scores were released, he rushed to the city to check her test papers.

Turns out, there was no mistake. It really was 671. The problem lay in her essay. Out of a total of 60 points, she had only scored 12.

And what was this year's essay topic again?

Kane Brook had been reborn, but his memory of this was already fuzzy. So, he specifically searched online, and when he saw the topic, he burst out laughing.

Friendship?

She didn't even have friends, and they expected her to write about friendship?

That's like asking a rat to write a heartfelt essay on how to cuddle with a cat.

No wonder she only got 12 points—honestly, even that might've been a pity score for neat handwriting.

"Will you stop laughing?"

On the second floor of Jizhou City Library, sitting in their usual spot, Nancy Foster looked absolutely defeated. "The more I think about it, the more I realize this is actually your fault."

Kane Brook blinked. "We didn't even know each other back then. What does your lost points have to do with me?"

"But if I had met you earlier, then I would've known how to write it."

"Well, since you put it that way, let's hypothetically say you were taking the test right now. How would you write this essay?"

Nancy lifted her head, her expression serious. "I met a friend in the library. He's a pitiful broke guy… who loves staring at boobs—"

"Stop!"

Kane cut her off immediately. "Really? That's how you see me??"

"Isn't it…?" A flicker of doubt flashed through Nancy's eyes.

"If you actually wrote that, you'd be lucky to even get a single pity point."

Nancy lowered her head again, sinking back into despair. "So, did I end up making a friend I can't even mention in public?"

Kane's mouth twitched. "You've already taken the test, no point dwelling on it."

"Fair enough…"

"But seriously, a rich girl like you—why even bother with the college entrance exam? Wouldn't it be easier to just study abroad?"

Nancy lifted her head. Her long, curled lashes trembled slightly. "A socially inept and lonely girl, thrown into a foreign country… she'd die."

"…"

Kane hadn't thought of that. He had just assumed she was an ordinary rich kid. But from Nancy's perspective, studying abroad was a whole different kind of risk.

Foreign countries loved preaching about freedom and democracy, yet their social climate was a total mess. Take the so-called 'Free America'—where there was a shooting almost every day. With only 370 million people, they somehow had 390 million registered guns. That was more than one gun per person—were they planning to arm their unborn children too?

Throwing someone like Nancy—naïve and socially anxious—into that kind of environment? It'd be like tossing a baby lamb into a pack of wolves.

"Doesn't matter," Kane sighed. "Universities in our country are pretty decent too. Which one are you planning to go to?"

"Wherever you go," she said flatly, her expression unreadable.

The sunlight filtering through the window dyed her thick lashes a shimmering gold.

…

In his previous life, Kane Brook had been a student at Greenbrook University, majo…ring in International Trade. So in this life, he would still go to Greenbrook because he was already deeply familiar with the city.

Starting a business in a familiar place would give him a much better advantage.

Hearing Kane's response, Nancy Foster rubbed her face and then stared blankly at the empty snack bag she had just finished, lost in thought.

Just then, the Nokia phone on the table lit up. Kane unlocked it and saw a QQ message from Hannah Warren.

"Kane, Sophie Chase scored 632. What about you?"

"She asked you to message me, didn't she?"

"Alright, you got me. Yeah, she did."

"My business has nothing to do with her. Just tell her that." Kane typed on the physical keypad and hit send.

Hannah was stunned. "Kane, you and Sophie don't have some deep grudge, do you? Even as classmates, asking about each other's scores is normal. You don't have to be like this all the time."

"Like what?"

"So petty!"

Kane's fingers moved even faster on the keypad. "Then petty it is. She can think whatever she wants."