William Thompson finished speaking and was about to leave when Samuel Parker called out to him, “Uncle William, I don’t want to act anymore.”

William Thompson raised an eyebrow. “Why do you keep changing your mind? What do you want to do now?”

Samuel Parker blinked and said something to him.

After listening, William Thompson was stunned, staring at him for three seconds. “…Little Parker, are you still mad at us?”

Samuel Parker replied naturally, “No, not at all. By the way, Uncle William, the light in my room is broken. Do you know how to fix it?”

.

After William Thompson left, Samuel Parker made himself a pot of tea.

Something strange had happened to him in the past few days.

Ten days ago, he was also called Samuel Parker, but he didn’t live here. He lived in China eighty years ago, working as a folk artist who made a living performing crosstalk. One day, he was caught in the rain while out, came back, caught typhoid, and died from it.

He thought he was going to be reincarnated in the underworld, but when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in China eighty years later, becoming the current “Samuel Parker”.

Several incomplete memories appeared in Samuel Parker’s mind, at least giving him a rough understanding of this body. These past few days, he had been adapting to this strange event, to the new time and identity, and to the sudden loss of everything he once had.

No matter how bizarre it was, for someone who had died once, being reborn was the most precious thing. And for some reason, even though he and this “Samuel Parker” had nothing in common, he felt an inexplicable closeness to everything about “Samuel Parker”.

He used to be just decent-looking, but this “Samuel Parker” was stunningly handsome; he was born into a family of opera performers, learned opera as a child, switched to crosstalk only after his voice changed and didn’t recover, and mastered many skills, while “Samuel Parker” had no artistic talent at all—more of a pretty face than even his own mother; even their personalities were quite the opposite—he made a living with his wit, while “Samuel Parker” was not good with words.

Yet that strange feeling didn’t seem like the possession described in legends. Instead, it felt as if neither of them had disappeared, but had simply merged together.

Samuel Parker even suspected that maybe the two of them were meant to be one, or perhaps it was precisely because of this compatibility that his soul could settle in this body.

Although he had gained a new life, nearly a hundred years had passed, and this world was almost unrecognizable to Samuel Parker. In his time, “electricity” hadn’t yet entered ordinary households. Now, everything required electricity—just press a button and the light would come on, with all sorts of fancy tricks. The light in his room was broken because he had played with it too much.

And the profession of this Samuel Parker also left him confused. The scattered memories he had gained weren’t enough for him to fully understand it.

It seemed similar to what he used to do—performing for an audience—but now the two sides were separated by a screen, like in a movie. Didn’t that mean he had to perform entirely on his own, not knowing whether the audience liked it or not, and unable to adjust in real time?

Samuel Parker was always eager to learn. Back then, they had to constantly pick up new things to keep the audience engaged, so although his confusion left him a bit lost, it didn’t make him discouraged. It was just that such a huge change left him at a loss for a while.

Until he saw, on the dazzling television, a fellow performer in a long gown doing crosstalk—using the same old routines from his time.

In an instant, it was as if eighty years had folded together, and in this new world, he suddenly found a sense of belonging!

The confusion gradually faded, and Samuel Parker now had a clear goal. Although William Thompson’s reaction had been a bit much when he told him just now, Samuel Parker thought he’d rather reconnect with this era through his old profession.

……

The repairman William Thompson called came and fixed the light. Samuel Parker watched the whole process from the side, making the repairman feel very uncomfortable.

Not to mention, after the repair was done, this handsome young man even praised him for being amazing, with such genuine eyes that the repairman started to wonder if he’d just fixed a spaceship instead of a light.

After the repairman left, Samuel Parker also went out. This was his first time going out alone since arriving in this era, and he felt that after observing and learning these past few days, he was now capable of going out by himself.

But as soon as he reached the bottom of the building, he was blocked by waiting reporters. One of them greeted him, “Good afternoon, jesse.”

Samuel Parker knew that this was his “foreign name.” He didn’t recognize the reporter, but since the other party greeted him, of course he replied, “Hello.”

The reporter was overjoyed—Samuel Parker had responded to the name jesse, which meant he was officially acknowledging himself as Xia Yiwei’s son!

The reporter instantly perked up. “Just now, William Thompson left from here. Did he go to your place? Were you discussing upcoming work? Can you give us a hint about your future plans? What will you be doing?”

What they really wanted to know was whether Samuel Parker would be joining Pineapple Media’s new group, or following in his mother’s footsteps to become an outstanding pretty face—uh, singer or actor?

On this topic, which Samuel Parker had previously avoided, he now opened his mouth and said, “I want to do crosstalk next.”

Reporter: “??”

Chapter Two

The variety show he had participated in earlier had just finished airing, and Samuel Parker himself was quite controversial, but he had also gained a group of fans attracted by his looks.