Chapter 1 My Youth Is Back

Just as the sky was breaking dawn, Jack Wilson woke up from his slumber. He really didn't want to open his eyes, because once he did, he would have to face those troublesome matters that gave him a splitting headache.

In recent days, whether in his dreams or in reality, he had been accosted and cursed at. Those curse words were as ugly as they could be. Compared to them, ordinary swear words seemed insignificant.

But every time he heard these curses, Jack could only smile bitterly and mock himself. He thought to himself that he didn't even know who his ancestors were, so what was the use of them cursing them? Besides, it wasn't him who had swindled their money. He had just been in the same office as that swindler. Now that the swindler was missing, and there were rumors that he had already died abroad. Since they couldn't find him, why were they coming after Jack?

If there was any connection between him and them, it was that every time the swindler deceived them, he would say, "My colleague also knows about this matter. You can rest assured. With such a large bank as ours, how could we possibly swindle you out of such a small amount of money?"

But those were the swindler's words. How could they believe the words of a swindler? Weren't they asking for it to be swindled? The problem was that this sentence had brought all the trouble to Jack, and it was extremely thorny. You see, the two of them were in the same office. Jack and that swindler wore the same uniform, carried the same briefcase, sat at the same style of office desk, and both looked like reliable people.

Moreover, on the left chest of the uniform and on the briefcase, there was the same logo printed—G&S Commercial Bank, New York Branch. The black characters on a gray background were particularly eye-catching and also made people feel particularly at ease.

But did Jack really know what that swindler had done? Who knew? Generally, when swindlers commit fraud, they don't let people see through it easily. Jack's colleague was the same. If someone had seen through his deception, Jack wouldn't have been afraid to go home and could only hide in a rented room on the outskirts of the city, drowning his sorrows in alcohol every night and only being able to fall asleep when he was dead drunk.

But he still had to go to work. He didn't know if those people were still blocking the entrance of the company today, waiting to take out their anger on him. Among these people, the one Jack was most afraid of was that old woman.

The old woman had silver hair. When the wind blew, she looked like a witch. It was hard to tell whether she was acting really well or was truly extremely angry. Anyway, as soon as she saw Jack, she first pointed at him with trembling fingers, then, as if she couldn't catch her breath, she held it in until finally, she gritted her teeth and cursed, "Bastard," and then fell straight backward.

At first, Jack was really startled by her. Later, when he saw that every time a middle-aged man happened to catch her from behind, Jack felt relieved.

However, Jack was still afraid of these people. The silver-haired old woman was standing up for her son-in-law, and there were also some retired old men and women who had had their money swindled by the swindler. So, every time they saw Jack, their spittle, snot, phlegm, and tears all came flying towards him.

Just thinking about this made Jack shiver. But he still had to go to work, sneaking around like a thief on his way to work.

After cursing that swindler colleague in his heart again, Jack slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, Jack was immediately stunned. Then, he blinked his eyes, trying to confirm whether he was really awake or had fallen into another dream.

After confirming it several times, Jack felt that he was already awake, not in a dream, but—reborn!

Jack had lived in this room for more than three years and had left behind many memories here, some good and some not so good. So, he had a particularly deep impression of it.

Most importantly, that swindler had been Jack's roommate at that time and had also lived here for more than three years. And at this moment, that swindler was sitting on the opposite bed, concentrating on reading a newspaper.

"Tom, Tom Johnson, is that you?"

The person opposite didn't say a word and still focused on reading the newspaper. This made Jack think for a moment that he was still in a dream.

"Tom, Tom, you're still alive?"

The person was still reading the newspaper and only replied to him with a hint of resentment, "What nonsense are you talking about so early in the morning? Why don't you get up quickly? Something big has happened."

Something big has happened? Could it be that your identity as a swindler has been exposed? No, if I've been reborn, then you're not a swindler at this moment, but just an armored car guard.

"What's the big deal?"

As Jack spoke, he tried to pretend to be calm, got up, walked to the washbasin, and looked at his appearance in the mirror.

Sure enough, the person in the mirror was full of vitality, without puffy eyes or wrinkles. The most pleasing thing was that his hair had also become thick again.

This was exactly what he looked like when he was young. The lost time had come back, and Jack felt an inexplicable surge of excitement in his heart.

He ran his fingers through his slightly messy hair, glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall, and Jack realized that he had returned to the age of twenty-two.

As for that swindler, this swindler opposite should be twenty-four years old at this time.

"They bombed our embassy blatantly and even claimed it was a mistake. There are many shameless people in the world, but I've never seen such an extremely shameless one before."

When he said this, the swindler had a look of righteous indignation on his face.

Oh, it's this matter. Jack had also participated in the protest activities back then, so he wasn't surprised.

It was this swindler, though. His performance at this moment was somewhat beyond Jack's expectations. What had been his attitude back then? Why couldn't Jack remember it at all?

"The weak get bullied. This has been the case for thousands of years. Didn't someone say that the highest realm of strength is that you sit there, and no one dares to show you disrespect? So, it's the absolute truth that the country should become self-reliant and the nation should be strong."

As he was talking, Jack noticed that Tom's expression wasn't right and asked him what was wrong.

Tom angrily said, "What's wrong? It seems that you're not angry at all! This is the bombing of an embassy, and people died. Why are you taking such an attitude? Also, what did you just call me? Tom. Am I that old?"

Jack smiled, picked up a towel, and said, "Is anger useful? Are we going to bomb them back? It's better to focus on our work and do our jobs well. Treat our work as a weapon and give them a good fight back later."

Tom got anxious and was about to say something when Jack added, "As for calling you Tom, look at yourself. At your age, you have a pompadour hairstyle, which gives you the air of a big shot. It's not too much to call you Tom."

Tom touched his head, casually smoothed his hair back, and then smiled sheepishly.

"What are you laughing at? Don't you have to go to work?"

Upon hearing this, Tom quickly put down the newspaper, got up, and started to get ready.

By this time, Jack had already finished washing up. He glanced around and walked straight to the clothes rack and took down his uniform.

While putting on his clothes, Jack glanced at the newspaper that Tom had placed on the table between their two beds. On the front page headline, there was a shocking line of big characters: "NATO Brazenly Bombs Our Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."

The Financial Times was a newspaper that Jack and Tom read almost every day. However, the two of them read this newspaper purely because there were stock market information printed in the Crack between the third and fourth pages.

Tom had gone to the security room of the company early in the morning to get the newspaper. If he went late, the security guard would distribute the newspaper to each department.

"Oops, I was so focused on the news in the newspaper that I forgot to buy coffee and donuts."

"Buy them on the way and eat them in the car. It's your turn to buy them today, right?"

Tom looked at Jack with some confusion and said, "You got the newspaper yesterday and bought hamburgers on the way. The meat patties weren't fresh, and we both had diarrhea for a whole day. Why have you forgotten it today?"

Jack smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Come on, let's go. If we're late, there won't be any coffee or donuts left either."