Divine prophecy

Zhang Yang's life was filled with regrets. Growing up in an orphanage, he endured hardships unimaginable to most. After finishing his studies at fifteen, his career, however, progressed smoothly. Zhang Yang started from the very bottom. He endured the most arduous hardships and the most exhausting struggles. After more than a decade of relentless hard work, through sheer diligence and exceptional intelligence, he built a successful business and amassed a considerable fortune. Buying luxury homes and sports cars was merely a byproduct. Zhang Yang's dream was to find a suitable wife, have several adorable children, and live a peaceful life with a wife, children, a warm bed, birds, and salted fish. But then, fate played a cruel joke. To save a child's life, he selflessly was run over by a truck. Amidst the gasps of the surrounding crowd, his life ended. No family, no friends… Will he have a tombstone after his death? —From the window of a three-story house in the north suburbs of London, England, came a low but loud curse. "Damn it, what kind of job is this!" "If I were that good at making 30,000 quickly, I wouldn't be doing this intern reporter job; I could be a star right away!" "That guy wants to fire me? Fuck him!" "..." It was a young voice. A string of standard Chinese curse words, spoken on London soil, sounded slightly out of place. The room was somewhat cluttered. A single bed, a computer desk, a television, clothes drying in the sun, and bags piled in the corner. A young man sat at the computer desk. He was Zhang Yang. His soul was Zhang Yang, and his name was Zhang Yang, but this Zhang Yang was not the same Zhang Yang. With a new owner, his former soul dissipated. Zhang Yang didn't know how he got here. After his previous life ended, he transmigrated to the present, along with a head full of memories from his previous life. He was a graduate of a London community college. A 'London community college,' in essence, is like what people often call a 'grassroots university.' The value of its degree is self-evident, but for a 'Chinese student,' it's just a novelty. At this moment, Zhang Yang was staring at his computer, troubled. The screen displayed a microblogging page on an English website, showing his personal profile. His Weibo username was 'Zhang Yang,' and the mouse hovered over the blank space for posting. He was about to post a microblog, but didn't know what to write. "An internship test? 30,000? If I could get 300, I'd be grateful!" "Why am I so unlucky!" "White bastard!" "..." Zhang Yang tried to calm himself down, but his mind was a complete blank; he had no idea what to do. This wasn't his major! In his previous life, labeled an 'orphan' and 'school dropout,' he transmigrated into the body of a recent college graduate studying abroad. Considering his past experiences, fate had been relatively kind to him. After receiving the memories, Zhang Yang also faced a challenging job test: to gain 30,000 followers on his personal Weibo account using football commentary. This was the task given to him by Brand, the editor-in-chief of the BBC. Through his complete previous memories, Zhang Yang learned the situation. He had already passed the interview for an internship at the BBC's editorial department—a print journalist—but his assigned supervisor, Brand, was somewhat racially prejudiced. He disapproved of having a Chinese person working under him and certainly didn't value a community college graduate. Therefore, under the guise of a 'test,' he gave him the task of attracting 30,000 followers on Weibo using football commentary. “If you can do it, you can become a full-time journalist immediately, and I can guarantee you'll pass your internship directly and become a full-time employee.” Brand's face was full of 'I have faith in you,' but then his expression turned serious. “You have one week. If you can't do it, you can pack your bags and leave after a week.” Perhaps influenced by what he'd seen before, Zhang Yang's anger surged whenever he recalled this memory. This Brand guy wasn't 'having faith in him,' he was deliberately making things difficult for him. How easy is it for a personal account to attract 30,000 followers with just a single football commentary post? Unless he used fake followers… that would be easily detected. With Brand targeting him like this, he would definitely scrutinize it carefully, leaving him with absolutely no chance. Besides, given the strict internet regulations in the UK, being banned is quite common. Zhang Yang couldn't think of anything to do. The key was that he had to complete the test as much as possible. If he didn't, he couldn't continue working, and without work, he wouldn't earn money. Given his current financial situation, he might have to consider becoming homeless. A Chinese student stranded on the streets of London? That might become gossip news for the country? Being forcibly deported by the British police would be incredibly embarrassing! Of course, Zhang Yang can find other jobs, but with a degree from a 'unofficial British university,' finding employment is no easy task. This internship opportunity was only secured through a professor's recommendation. The BBC is one of the UK's largest broadcasters; getting a job at the BBC is an exceptionally good opportunity given his resume. "Damn the British!" Zhang Yang was cursing in frustration when his phone screen lit up. He picked it up and answered. A clear voice came from the other end, "Zhang, I heard you passed the interview? Tomorrow is your first day at work. Did you run into any trouble?" "Everything went smoothly, thank you, Bull." "That's great news. I hope you can stay in London instead of going back home. You're my best student." Bull said, "By the way, if you have any problems with your life, you can call me. You're still renting a place, right? I have a spare room at my house; you might consider moving in..." "Thank you, but not for now!" Zhang Yang kept saying thank you, but he felt very awkward. Bull was being a bit too overbearing. Zhang Yang was rather dull and didn't understand the implications, but he felt Bull's enthusiasm was excessive, suggesting that his relationship with Zhang Yang was more than just that of a mentor and student. It was best to avoid this kind of situation if possible. Zhang Yang felt his bottom line was very low, but talking to his mentor so soon after transmigrating was really hard to accept. As for Bull's appearance... ahem, let's not talk about it, let's not look at it. Zhang Yang had just hung up the phone when he heard a loud, jarring knocking at the door, as if trying to break it down. "Come in!" Zhang Yang called out, forcing a smile. A middle-aged man in his forties walked in. He was very burly, his shirt practically bulging, probably big enough to fit two Zhang Yangs inside. The man was his landlord, John. John was a police officer at the local station and also worked part-time as a football referee. He was generally very kind, but never mention money, or he'd get angry... so if you were late on rent, he'd become vicious. Just like now… John saw Zhang Yang and immediately launched into a long tirade, his tone growing increasingly harsh, “Zhang! I heard you went for your job interview today, did it go well? You’re still behind on last month’s rent. If you continue to be behind on rent, I don’t mind taking you to the police station.” This was intimidation. Zhang Yang knew the other man was trying to scare him, but still pretended to be scared, “Uncle John, I’ll definitely pay it when I have the money.” “Have the money? I’d like to hear you give a fixed deadline! We have a good relationship, but if you don’t pay rent for a long time, I don’t mind kicking you out.” “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you.” “That’d better be.” John said, walking out of the room and slamming the door shut. Zhang Yang let out a long sigh. John was usually quite nice, and their relationship was alright. Even though he was a month behind on rent, John hadn’t pressed him too much. But if he thought he could continue living there without paying rent, he was definitely daydreaming. "This life is too hard." Zhang Yang sighed, forced to continue brooding in front of the screen. He was a stubborn man; when faced with difficulties, he always confronted them head-on rather than running away. This was why he had been able to live alone for over twenty years in his previous life and even build a considerable fortune. His only regret was not having established a family and career, leaving him with no ties even after transmigrating. That was pathetic. "Even a hero can be brought down by a penny, but I must get through this!" Zhang Yang made up his mind. PS: (Note) Weibo is a collective term for f*******:, Twitter, and other similar platforms. It refers to a platform used by [the user] to promptly publish personal information.