After just a few days of travel, Brian Carter looked back on his actions and felt he hadn’t passed the test. Hearing this, Alice Grant couldn’t help but laugh and said to him, “What test? I just happened to have some free time and went out to have fun with you, that’s all. You’re overthinking it. And who says that just because you’re my boyfriend, you have to take care of me? I’m three years older than you, little brother. By that logic, shouldn’t I be the one taking care of you? Why are you so discouraged? Wait until you’re three years older than me, then you can take care of me.”

She laughed and joked casually.

Now, he was thirty-seven years older than her.

Brian Carter had lived here for so many years and had seen the clerk at the fresh fish counter for several years, but today was the first time he learned that she had a son studying at Haida University. He glanced at his wife with admiration, feeling that she was even more charming than before.

After the two finished shopping and went outside, Alice Grant pointed to another road. “Can we go back this way?”

Brian Carter nodded. “We can, but I rarely take this route.”

Alice Grant decided, “Then let’s go this way.”

Here it was—getting to know all five streets around wherever she lived was Alice Grant’s habit. Brian Carter pushed up his glasses, carrying a bag of grapes, and followed Alice Grant forward.

“Let me help you carry some more groceries,” Brian Carter said.

Alice Grant handed him a fish, just for show.

“I can handle it. You can give me the pork ribs too,” Brian Carter said.

Alice Grant: “Why are you so talkative?”

Brian Carter: “………”

“Alright, alright.” Alice Grant dug out two more ears of corn from the bag and stuffed them into the old man’s hands. “Then you can take two more corns.”

Brian Carter looked at the big bag in her hand but ultimately said nothing more.

This road was half again as long as the one they came by, and there was a nursery along the way, which is now called a kindergarten. The nursery was set up inside the neighborhood, and all the children there lived nearby, ranging from just learning to walk to five or six years old. These little kids were doing exercises on the artificial turf, each one looking like a big white radish stuck in the ground. Occasionally, one would lose balance and tumble onto the soft grass, rolling a couple of times like a ball.

Although they looked cute, when these little ones started crying, the whole nursery would turn from heaven into hell, and the little angels with wings would become little monsters with terrifying cries.

Alice Grant watched the children lifting their arms and kicking their legs from outside the fence and said to the old man beside her, “I see a lot of professions have disappeared, but at least nurseries are still around. I won’t have to worry about unemployment in the future.”

Before crossing over, Alice Grant was a kindergarten teacher.

Although she was a rebellious, punk girl in school, had fought with boys and beaten up little punks, and always looked like she didn’t care about anyone, after her grandmother passed away, she basically “turned over a new leaf.” She followed her grandmother’s last wishes, studied hard for the college entrance exam, then majored in early childhood education, and successfully became a kindergarten teacher who took care of kids every day.

Three years after graduating from college, at a high school reunion, when her classmates heard she had become a kindergarten teacher, they were all dumbfounded as if struck by lightning, refusing to believe that the girl who used to pick fights had turned over a new leaf to such an extent.

But Alice Grant was not only a kindergarten teacher, she was also the most popular teacher in her school. The kids affectionately called her “Teacher Fish,” and the children from two classes would often cry their hearts out fighting over her.

Alice Grant did the math—those kids she taught back then, almost every one of them was now old enough to be her elder.

Chapter 10

Alice Grant had a six-month observation period. According to the confidentiality agreement, during these six months she couldn’t leave the country or take up any social work. As a legal citizen and a special “transmigrator,” she received a year of social assistance to ensure her livelihood. These six months were meant to give her time to adapt to the new society.

So, for these six months, she could stay at home and study all kinds of social knowledge, with plenty of time to think about her future. It was said that among the four transmigrators before her, the second, a little girl, couldn’t adapt to the fact that she had crossed decades and developed autism. She committed suicide at sixteen. No one knew if it was because her later family didn’t take good care of her or for some other reason.

Alice Grant was probably the fastest to adapt and the most mentally resilient among the transmigrators. After getting through the initial confusion, she adjusted her mood. Every day at home, besides playing games, she watched all kinds of “historical” documents that Brian Carter found for her to learn about what had happened over the years, and she also found a lot of materials on the qualifications now required for nursery teachers. Besides that, she would cook and shop for groceries with Brian Carter.

The old man who had originally said he’d only accompany her once to get familiar with things but wouldn’t go again, now silently followed her every time she went out. Alice Grant couldn’t be bothered to say anything. As they walked together, they went from being silent at first to gradually chatting more and more.

“Aren’t you a teacher? How come I haven’t seen you go to class these days?” Alice Grant couldn’t help but ask one day.

Brian Carter replied, “I resigned from my position as head of the literature department at Haida a year ago. But since I know the dean, he hopes I can come back and teach twice a month, so I don’t need to go to class every day now.”