My IQ has been increasing year by year.

Early summer, 1998.

The cicadas were chirping loudly in the banyan tree outside the window, as if venting their resentment towards the sweltering weather.

In the classroom of the kindergarten, the air was sticky, a mixture of the sweat and talcum powder from dozens of children, and the musty smell of the old wooden floor emanating from the corner.

"Give me back my blocks! Wow—"

"Teacher! Wang Hao wet his pants!"

"I want to go home! I want to find my mom..."

Screams, cries, and the scraping of desks and chairs as they were dragged together created an indescribable wave of sound that echoed through the not-so-spacious classroom.

This would be a disaster for any psychologically normal adult.

Chen Zhuo sat in the corner of the last row of the classroom, feeling like his brain was about to explode.

He sat on a small red hard plastic stool, his hands supporting his chin. His gaze was not as unfocused or enthusiastic as that of the other children; instead, he stared intently at the air about thirty centimeters from his nose.

There is a beam of light there.

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the slightly mottled glass window, cut into a straight beam by the window frame, and slanted into the dim classroom.

Inside the beam of light, countless tiny dust particles were swirling and dancing.

Some collided and bounced apart, while others drifted down unsteadily.

Brownian motion...

The term from Chen Zhuo's high school physics textbook popped into his mind.

But that's it.

He wasn't calculating any fluid dynamics formulas, nor was he building any three-dimensional models—

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary graduate from a second-tier university. He had long forgotten his advanced mathematics and couldn't solve these problems at all.

He stared at it purely out of boredom.

Being reborn as a five-year-old kid sounds awesome, but the actual experience is terrible.

No cell phone, no computer, no internet.

Every day, my parents would force me to go to kindergarten on time, where I would be locked up with a bunch of immature kids and listen to the teacher explain the stupid "1+1=2".

What's worse is this body.

Chen Zhuo felt like an old 286 computer running Windows 10.

The soul belongs to an adult, with a large memory, but the brain's hardware is not yet fully developed, and the CPU is too weak.

Thinking about anything complicated, like recalling lottery numbers from a past life, makes my brain feel dizzy as if I'm lacking oxygen, followed by an irresistible drowsiness.

He spends most of his time each day in a dazed, almost paralyzed state.

"Chen Zhuo? Chen Zhuo!"

A high-pitched female voice pierced through my eardrums.

Chen Zhuo did not turn around immediately.

It wasn't that he was trying to act aloof, but rather that his brain was indeed a bit slow in processing the sound signals.

About two seconds passed.

He slowly turned his neck, his face showing a dazed expression as if he hadn't woken up yet.

His homeroom teacher, Ms. Li, was standing in front of him, holding two Transformers toys that had been disassembled into pieces, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Everyone's gone to the playground to play games, why are you still sitting here?"

Teacher Li is actually a very responsible young woman, but she has been driven to despair by Chen Zhuo these past few days.

This kid is so dense.

No crying, no fussing, no fitting in.

He's always daydreaming in class, and always in a corner after class.

Other children are like mischievous monkeys, but he's like a breathing sculpture.

"Teacher..." Chen Zhu blinked and said in his soft, childlike voice that hadn't yet broken down, "I'm sleepy."

That's the absolute truth.

Teacher Li sighed, squatted down, and reached out to touch his forehead.

"It's not hot."

She looked at the unusually quiet child with some concern.

"Chen Zhuo, are you feeling unwell? Or... do you not like playing with other children?"

Chen Zhuo looked at her.

He really wanted to say, "Teacher, I'm a thirty-year-old soul, and I really can't play eagle catches chicks with a bunch of kids who are still wetting their pants."

But he can't.

At this age, being too smart will make you look like a monster; only mediocrity and dullness are the safest form of protection.

Besides, he really couldn't react in time; this body was too easily fatigued.

"I just want to sit for a while," Chen Zhuo answered honestly.

Teacher Li stood up helplessly: "Fine, then you can lie down in the classroom for a while. This child, why does he look like a little old man..."

Chen Zhuo nodded obediently and lay back down on the table.

He buried his face in his arms, but didn't sleep. Instead, he opened his eyes again and looked at an ant crawling on the edge of the table leg.

An ant is carrying a crumb of biscuit and is struggling to crawl through a crack in the floor.

Chen Zhuo just watched.

He didn't need to ponder any profound philosophical principles; he was simply observing.

In his past life, he was restless and anxious, constantly scrolling through short videos, and would feel anxious if he didn't look at his phone for more than five minutes.

Now, limited by his small body, he was forced to slow down.

But he was surprised to find that when he focused all his attention on one point, the world seemed to change.

The swaying of an ant's antennae, the drifting trail of dust, even the rhythm of the cicadas chirping outside the window...

Everything became exceptionally clear.

This seems to be his only advantage after his rebirth.

The patience of an adult, plus a blank brain that, though slow to react, is absorbing information like a sponge.

……

Evening, Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital.

The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Chen Zhuo sat on a high examination chair, his two short legs dangling in mid-air, swaying back and forth.

Sitting opposite me was an old doctor wearing thick-rimmed glasses.

Chen Zhuo's parents stood beside him, looking nervous.

The father, Chen Jianguo, was a technician at a machinery factory, wearing faded work clothes. The mother, Liu Xiuying, was a textile factory worker, clutching the registration slip tightly in her hand, her knuckles turning white.

"Doctor, is this child... a little slow-witted?"

Liu Xiuying's voice trembled slightly, as if she had made a great decision before asking the question.

"His kindergarten teacher said that he is very slow to react. Other children can learn a nursery rhyme after being taught it once, but he still doesn't react after hearing it three times. When his name is called, he is always a beat behind."

Chen Jianguo frowned and patted his wife's shoulder, trying to appear rational.

"Don't talk nonsense. We don't have the genes for stupidity in our family. I think this is just introversion, or... late bloomer?"

The old doctor pushed up his glasses and looked at Chen Zhuo.

"Come on, little one, look at Grandpa."

The old doctor took out a set of brightly colored cards from the drawer, with pictures of apples, bananas, and tigers on them.

"Tell Grandpa, what is this?"

Chen Zhuo looked at the card with a red apple drawn on it.

Of course he knows Apple.

But his mind was indeed a bit foggy right now, and... this test was so stupid, he just couldn't muster any energy.

He didn't want to play dumb; he was genuinely too lazy to talk.

Chen Zhuo yawned, and after several seconds, he slowly squeezed out two words: "Apple."

Liu Xiuying's eyes instantly reddened: "Look, even such a simple picture takes him so long to think about."

The old doctor didn't say anything, and then changed to a picture of a tiger.

"What about this one?"

Chen Zhuo rubbed his eyes, and this time he spoke a little faster: "Tiger."

Next was building blocks; the doctor asked him to stack several blocks together.

Chen Zhuoxin thought this was too boring, but he still cooperated by extending his hand.

Because the small muscle groups in his fingers were not fully developed, and he was also sleepy, his hands were shaking a bit, and when he was stacking the third piece, it all collapsed with a crash.

Chen Zhuo: "..."

This is very awkward; the dignity of an adult is shattered.

He sighed, gave up resisting, and simply sat down in the chair, staring blankly at a button on the doctor's white coat.

The button was about to fall off, with a loose thread hanging from it, swaying back and forth with the doctor's breathing, making his obsessive-compulsive disorder flare up.

The test ended ten minutes later.

The old doctor took off his stethoscope and slowly wrote something in the patient's medical record.

Chen Jianguo and Liu Xiuying held their breath, like prisoners awaiting sentencing.

"Don't worry, he's not mentally challenged."

The old doctor's words almost made the couple collapse to the ground.

"Then why..." Liu Xiuying asked anxiously.

"This child's development is normal in all aspects."

The old doctor looked up, his eyes filled with inquiry, at Chen Zhuo, who was still staring blankly at the buttons.

"When I tested him just now, I found that although he moved and spoke slowly, his attention was actually very focused."

"attention?"

"Yes. A typical five or six-year-old sitting in this chair would be wiggling around and looking everywhere. But he's different."

The old doctor pointed at Chen Zhuo: "He's been very quiet since he came in. When the blocks he was building collapsed, he didn't throw a tantrum or cry. He just calmly accepted it. This composure is unlike that of a child."

Chen Jianguo laughed when he heard this: "So that means being wise in a foolish way?"

"I knew it! How could my son, Chen Jianguo's son, be an idiot! I've already chosen a name: Chen Zhuo, the 'Zhuo' in 'great skill appears clumsy'!"

"Maybe."

The old doctor smiled and said, "Some children develop their brains differently. Some children speak faster than they think. This child may be a slow starter. With patient guidance, his concentration may be stronger than others in the future."

"Yes, yes, I will definitely guide him." Liu Xiuying smiled through her tears and picked up Chen Zhuo in her arms.

"That scared me to death! As long as he's not mentally challenged, it'll be fine!"

Chen Zhuo leaned on his mother's shoulder, smelling the faint scent of face cream on her hair, and breathed a sigh of relief.

This doctor is quite skilled. Although he didn't see through the fact that the man was a time traveler, he at least saw through the man's unwillingness to move.

……

I got home at 7 p.m.

The Chen family's house was a staff housing unit allocated by the machinery factory, with two bedrooms, a living room, and a total area of ​​over 60 square meters.

After dinner, Chen Jianguo didn't watch TV as usual, but instead called Chen Zhuo to the small study that had been converted from the balcony.

The table was piled high with various mechanical blueprints, as well as some scrap parts that Chen Jianguo had brought back from the factory.

"Son, come here."

Chen Jianguo sat at the table, holding an old pocket watch in his hand, looking somewhat annoyed.

This watch was left to Chen Jianguo by his father, and it stopped working completely a few days ago.

Chen Jianguo, who considered himself a promising eighth-level fitter, spent the whole night tinkering with the machine, taking it apart piece by piece, but he just couldn't put it back together.

"The doctor said you have good concentration. Come on, help Dad take a look and see what's wrong with this little thing?"

Chen Jianguo was simply trying anything as a last resort, and also wanted to amuse his son.

Chen Zhuo leaned over the table, looking at the pile of tiny parts: gears, hairsprings, screws...

Chen Zhuo looked at the pile of things and felt dizzy.

This is far too complicated.

He knew nothing about watch repair or mechanical principles.

He just thought these shiny little metal discs were pretty.

"Dad, where does this wheel go?" Chen Zhuo asked, pointing to a gear.

"Um... cough, that should be the one in the middle, right?" Chen Jianguo himself was a little unsure.

Chen Zhuo didn't speak. He rested his chin on his hands, staring at the pile of parts as if he were staring at dust in kindergarten.

He's not in a hurry.

He has plenty of time.

He picked up the largest gear, turned it in front of his eyes, and then picked up a smaller gear next to it, trying to mesh them together.

Not suitable.

its stuck.

He changed to another one.

It's still not suitable.

Chen Jianguo watched from the side, intending to offer some guidance, but seeing his son's earnestness, he couldn't bear to disturb him.

Ten minutes have passed.

Twenty minutes have passed.

The father and son sat there quietly.

Chen Zhuo was like playing an extremely difficult jigsaw puzzle.

He doesn't understand the principles, but he has the exhaustive thinking and patience of an adult.

This one isn't right? Then let's try the next one.

Still not right? Try another one.

at last.

When Chen Zhuo tentatively pushed a small ratchet into a slot—

Click.

A very faint, crisp sound.

The two gears meshed together perfectly.

Chen Zhuo's eyes lit up, and he stretched out his finger and gently turned the large gear.

As the large gear rotates, it drives the small gear, which in turn drives the connecting rod next to it... A series of mechanical reactions spread out like dominoes.

Although the watch is not yet repaired, at least this part of the transmission structure is working.

"Dad! It's moving!" Chen Zhuo exclaimed in surprise, pointing to the two rotating gears.

Chen Jianguo suddenly leaned closer, his eyes wide open.

"Oh dear! It really is! So the ratchet is installed backwards? No wonder I couldn't install it no matter what last night!"

He scooped Chen Zhuo up in his arms and rubbed his face against him haphazardly: "Not bad, son! You have good eyesight! Better than your dad's!"

Chen Zhuo felt a little itchy from the stubble, but he smiled.

It wasn't because the watch was fixed, but because of the feeling I had just experienced.

When the gear clicked into place, he felt that the long-standing, hazy fog in his mind seemed to dissipate a little.

The pleasure derived from that logical closed loop is a million times greater than eating candy.

He doesn't understand mechanics, but he likes this kind of order.

He likes the feeling that as long as you're clumsy and willing to spend time trying and failing, you'll definitely find the answer.

"dad,"

Chen Zhuo leaned on his father's shoulder, pointed to the remaining pile of parts on the table, and said earnestly.

Let's go to the library tomorrow.

What are you going to the library for?

"I want to read a book."

Chen Zhuo said in a childish voice.

"I want to know why these wheels are spinning."

Since you're not very bright, then read more books.

If you don't understand the principles, then go and learn them.

Anyway, life is still long.

He can take his time.