Chapter 2

1.

I was working in the fields when I came back to myself, the voice of Serena Sterling crackling from a loudspeaker on a telephone pole.

"Good morning, folks! We have some wonderful news to share today."

"A huge congratulations to Julian Vance for getting accepted into New York University!"

"He's the first from our small town to make it to a big city college!"

She was clapping excitedly as she said the last line.

She was our town's radio announcer, and also my fiancée.

We were supposed to get married in a month.

She was also the one who, in my last life, treated me with heartless cruelty and threw me into a mental institution.

"Holy cow, Julian Vance got into a university? That's incredible."

A farmer working next to me muttered in shock.

"Yeah, it really is. He's going to New York City."

"But his family's broke. How's he gonna afford it?"

"He's Serena's boy on the side. You know she'll pay for him!"

Julian was Serena's first love. They had a thing before her family forced her to get engaged to me.

"Hey, shut up. Cole Walker's right there, his face is getting dark."

Another farmer nudged him, glancing at me.

"Man, what a poor guy. I heard he got into college last year, but Serena tore up his acceptance letter. She wanted him to stay here and work the farm."

"That's the difference, ain't it? She's willing to pay for her old flame to get an education, but not her own fiancé."

That's right. I had already gotten into a university this time last year.

But Serena wouldn't let me go. She said, "What does a man need all that book learning for? You're better off staying home and working the farm!"

"Besides, if you leave for college, what am I supposed to do all alone?"

Back then, I actually believed she couldn't bear for me to leave.

So, I stayed.

It wasn't until I was an old man that I overheard her telling our daughter, "I just didn't want him to have a good life. By stopping him from going to college, I made sure he'd be a farmer for life, haha!"

Snapping back to the present, I picked up my hoe and walked away.

As I left, I could still hear Serena on the radio: "Julian's family is struggling financially, so I've decided to personally sponsor his university education."

Her family was the richest in town, and with her job as the radio announcer, she was never short on cash.

I went to find the mailman and picked up the letter that was meant for me.

It was an acceptance letter from Columbia University.

Also in New York City.

In my last life, my longing for an education was so strong that I secretly took the college entrance exams again.

But Serena found out and tore up that letter, too.

She was dead set against me getting an education.

Back in those days, a college degree was rare, and it guaranteed a good life.

In my past life, Julian used that degree to build a life for himself in New York and make a fortune.

He even had the nerve to humiliate me later, saying, "You damn farmer, a piece of dirt like you doesn't deserve to be near Serena!"

Well, since he loved Serena so much, and she loved him…

This time, I’ll make their dreams come true.