Rebirth

The wind, carrying a piercing din, swept past my ears. Standing on the edge of a skyscraper, with broken clouds beneath my feet, it seemed as if a bottomless abyss lay hidden beneath them.

The sky was dark, and the surrounding skyscrapers appeared and disappeared like a group of silent giants standing side by side.

The footsteps behind me were always neither too close nor too far, like drumbeats striking my heart, carrying a kind of inhuman oppression.

Liang An dared not look back, enduring the dizziness as he ran and jumped between the tall buildings, each step feeling like he was treading on the edge of emptiness. Panic was like a hand clenching its throat, making its breath hot and rapid.

Suddenly, the building in front of them snapped open, revealing a bottomless, dark abyss, while the aura behind them grew closer and closer, carrying the smell of decay.

In a state of extreme panic, Liang An instinctively leaped forward, his feet dangling in the air as his body plummeted downwards.

From the depths of the abyss, countless hands glowing with blue light seemed to reach out, rapidly enveloping and swallowing the falling Liang An…

Liang An suddenly opened his eyes, sat up abruptly, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath.

He tried to calm his breathing and banish the fear from his dream.

I sat quietly on the bed for a few minutes, staring blankly at the floating spots of light on the ceiling. My temples throbbed, as if an invisible hand was stirring inside my head, making me feel suffocated.

After slowly regaining his senses, he gently lifted the thin blanket, his steps unsteady, and slowly walked to the window, using the setting sun to drive away the gloom.

This was the second day after Liang An's rebirth. His thoughts were still like beads on a broken string, scattered and unable to be strung together. His whole brain felt swollen and heavy, making it difficult to concentrate.

When he woke up yesterday, he was still immersed in a sense of chaos and disorder, his mind filled with the terrifying feeling of weightlessness from falling from a great height, and the fear of death as he was gradually swallowed up by darkness.

A wave of nausea surged through his stomach, making him feel as if he were submerged in water, his mind a jumbled mess, unable to grasp any clear thoughts. He spent his first day in a state of alternating clarity and confusion.

When I woke up the next morning, my mind was a little clearer. The first thing I felt was the heat wave and the rapid, high-pitched chirping of cicadas; this was not an autumn scene.

Liang An belatedly picked up his phone and checked the date: August 15th. Two months into the new semester, it was already late autumn, so why was it still August?

He endured a severe headache as he checked messages on his phone. The words spun and jumped before his eyes like little bees, making him dizzy and lightheaded.

In the end, he confirmed that he seemed to have been reborn, back to mid-August, before the start of high school.

Why is it the 15th of August?

Why couldn't it have been sooner? Why couldn't we go back to before Mom and Dad's accident? What was the point of being reborn...?

Liang An had a terrible headache and soon fell asleep again. When he woke up, it was already dusk.

The last rays of the setting sun gradually faded away and were swallowed up by the deepening twilight. Liang An looked at the lights of thousands of homes gradually lighting up outside the window and sighed softly.

As his thoughts gradually cleared, hunger brought Liang An back to his senses. He quickly changed his clothes, went out to his usual wonton shop, ordered a bowl of his favorite wontons, and enjoyed the familiar and authentic atmosphere of everyday life while eating.

After finishing his meal, Liang An carried the fruit home. He stared blankly at his parents' portraits for a while, then got up, picked up a rag, and carefully cleaned the altar, wiping every corner until it shone. He then carefully placed his parents' portraits back on the altar, arranged the fruit he had just bought, and lit three sticks of incense.

He wiped everything down and put everything away according to his previous habits.

Then, he picked up a mop and patiently pushed away the dust and stains on the floor tiles bit by bit. He didn't miss any of the areas, such as under the bed in the bedroom, the crevices of the sofa, or the corners of the balcony, mopping and washing repeatedly until the floor was spotless.

Looking at the brightly lit room, all the strength seemed to have been drained from my body, and even raising my hand felt sluggish.

Dragging my weary body, I quickly washed up and collapsed onto the bed. The soft blankets enveloped my exhaustion, and my limbs instantly relaxed.

Outside the window, the night was deep and dark. Inside the room, all was quiet. The aches and pains from bending over to wipe things turned into a deep weariness. My eyelids were so heavy that I could no longer keep them open. My consciousness finally stopped, and I slid into a peaceful sleep, sleeping soundly.

When Liang An opened his eyes again, he was no longer drowsy. His mind seemed to have returned to normal functioning, and his limbs felt relaxed—as if all the dust that had accumulated for a long time had been washed away, and even his breathing became light.

Liang An bought flowers and went to his parents' graves, bidding farewell to the muddle-headedness of his previous life. In this life, he wanted to face everything that happened with greater clarity.

Looking at my parents' final resting place, I feel even more grateful for my aunt's thoughtfulness in finding such a good burial site for my parents to be buried together under such circumstances.

After paying respects to his parents, Liang An felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, his mind clear and calm. All his tangled thoughts and tense nerves were gently soothed.

He believes that his parents in heaven have pressed the reset button for his life. Although they will never come back, he should carry the confidence they gave him to take every step of his life well.

Back in the city, Liang An went to the market, intending to do what his mother had always done: buy groceries and cook.

Life is all about eating and drinking. It all starts with eating, and once you've eaten well, you can face the challenges that await you.

However, Liang An overestimated his cooking talent and underestimated the difficulty of cooking. He used to watch his mother humming a little tune in the kitchen and easily prepare three dishes and a soup, thinking that cooking was nothing special. But after actually trying it, he realized that he was a kitchen disaster.

In the end, Liang An could only tidy up the kitchen in a sorry state and eat instant noodles as his main food. Perhaps this was an unsettling hint that his life was not going well, starting with food.

-----------------

As the start of the school year approached, Liang An finally added Wen Zhi, this potential troublemaker, to his list of concerns. Yes, Wen Zhi was synonymous with trouble for Liang An; he neither loved nor hated Wen Zhi, and cared nothing for him whatsoever.

In his previous life, Liang An was immersed in the grief of losing his parents and couldn't get over it for a long time. Post-traumatic stress disorder made his perception of the outside world blurred, and he was unable to generate much emotion or feeling towards others.

Liang An never took Wen Zhi's provocations and inexplicable affection to heart. He simply believed that Wen Zhi had psychological problems, and he just happened to be unlucky enough to encounter him at that time.

The fall was an accident, and Wen Zhi estimated that the fall was even worse, so he was reborn. Liang An believed from the bottom of his heart that everything should be reset to zero.

In this life, I only wish to stay away from Wen Zhi, like two parallel lines that never intersect.

The first step to staying away from Wen Zhi is to go to the same school, but never be in the same class.

With so many classes and classmates in the school, apart from your classmates, the other classmates are like NPCs you pass by in a game; you basically have no interaction with them or any impression of them.

He and Wen Zhi should have just passed each other by, never having any interaction.

To avoid the troublesome Wen Zhi, Liang An actively prepared for the class placement exam after enrolling in school.

In Wen Zhi's "Golden Ninth Class," some students wouldn't officially begin classes until after the placement exam, and Wen Zhi was one of them. Therefore, Liang An could focus on his studies before the placement exam. As long as he successfully entered the experimental class, the possibility of becoming Wen Zhi's classmate would be eliminated.

Liang An was quite confident in his knowledge and test-taking abilities. In his previous life, he was unable to vent his grief, which led to a mental breakdown and reading impairment. He couldn't even read the questions, let alone solve them.

This time, Liang An was confident that he could get into the experimental class and get rid of Wen Zhi, this troublesome person.

Time marched on day by day, and finally the class assignments were announced. Liang An was admitted to the experimental class as he had hoped.

At that moment, Liang An simply wanted to make the most of his three years of high school, get into his dream university, choose a major he liked, and then live a peaceful life as his parents hoped.

But how could fate allow Liang An to escape its control so easily?

-----------------

After the placement exam, the first-year students of Haicheng No.1 High School gradually began to get used to high school life, settled down to integrate into the new group, or buried themselves in their studies or slacked off.

Liang An was assigned to Class One, the legendary elite experimental class.

Having experienced a rebirth, Liang An cherishes his limited time even more. Life doesn't end only when you reach the end; sometimes it can end inexplicably. Especially with Wen Zhi, this ticking time bomb, hanging in the air, Liang An feels an even greater sense of urgency, and studying can alleviate this urgency to some extent.

Constantly inputting new knowledge, striving to grasp the key points from the vast sea of ​​books, and glimpsing a small part of the origin of the world is like giving the brain a deep massage, even giving one a feeling of euphoria.

Liang An had just finished solving a difficult physics problem and was feeling quite pleased with his ingenious, logically rigorous, concise, and efficient solution, a smile playing on his lips. Suppressing the urge to boast, he looked up at the window and saw a small group of wealthy patrons from Class 9, led by Wen Zhi, passing by in small groups.

"What bad luck." Liang An was about to turn away nonchalantly when he met Wen Zhi's gaze from outside the window.

Wen Zhi glanced at Liang An, but didn't stop walking. He continued to stroll towards Class 9 with his cronies, acting nonchalant.

Liang An pretended to be looking down at his book, but calmly observed every detail in his mind.

“Wen Zhi shouldn’t have been reborn. The way he looked at me was filled with unfamiliarity and curiosity, and he didn’t flinch or show any other unusual reaction when our eyes met. Given his personality, if he had been reborn, he definitely wouldn’t have been so unresponsive.” Liang An thought to himself, a sense of powerlessness welling up inside him.

Even if Wen Zhi hadn't been reborn, meeting and exchanging glances with him so soon was still frustrating.

Liang An could only console himself that it was just a glance, and maybe the other person didn't take it to heart at all. It was impossible for them to fall for him just because of a glance.

But how could the script of fate be easily changed because of Liang An's luck? He and Wen Zhi were destined to meet and become entangled.

In fact, after that first glance, Liang An did leave a deep impression on Wen Zhi. It was hard to forget Liang An simply because of his outstanding appearance.

Wen Zhi has always been a person who acts on his whims. Since he has Liang An on his mind, he will take action.

Fortunately, Liang An and Wen Zhi were not in the same class in this life. Although the boys in Class 9 often misbehaved, they were still young and had someone to keep them in check. Class 9, being their familiar territory, allowed them to act more recklessly.

However, Liang An's class was a key experimental class in the school, and they were not familiar with Liang An himself, unlike his classmates who got to know him better by spending time together. Therefore, they did not have much interaction with Liang An.

Without the jeers of those around him, Wen Zhi did not target Liang An as early as he had in his previous life.

He would often pass by Class 1 unintentionally, looking for Liang An during the morning exercises. He felt a little strange and didn't want to share this strange feeling with anyone else.

Wen Zhi's restraint allowed Liang An to enjoy a peaceful period of high school. Just when Liang An thought he could let his guard down, things took another turn.

After Liang An entered high school, he would usually go to the toilet when there were fewer people before class. In his previous life, Wen Zhi's inexplicable affection for him had indeed left a psychological shadow on Liang An. In this life, he subconsciously tried to avoid more physical contact with the same sex, so he would be more accustomed to going to the toilet when there were fewer people.

The toilet that Liang An frequents is quite far from Class 9, so he usually doesn't run into anyone from Class 9.

Unfortunately, Wen Zhi arrived at school late today and, as usual, strolled to the window of Class 1, but didn't see Liang An. Since class was about to start, he wandered over to the nearby restroom.

As soon as he entered the restroom, he looked up and saw Liang An standing with his back to him. His shirt was slightly rolled up, revealing a section of his fair and supple waist. His waistline was slender yet powerful, and his skin shone with a pearly luster under the light and shadow. The faintly visible lines of his buttocks were like exquisite sculptures hidden under his dark school uniform pants, but the faint outline only made people's imaginations run wild.

Wen Zhi stared intently at Liang An, his face flushed suspiciously, and his body instantly reacted in an indescribable way.

Liang An felt a chill run down his spine. He subconsciously pulled up his pants and turned around, only to see Wen Zhi staring intently at him.

"Pervert." Liang An cursed inwardly, but outwardly treated Wen Zhi as a classmate he didn't know, quickly washed his hands, and just then the bell rang, so he ran to the classroom.

Wen Zhi stood there stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. He walked to the sink, splashed cold water on his face, and slowly walked towards Class 9.

That night, Wen Zhi had a dream when he got home, a dream filled with him and Liang An. When he woke up in the morning and saw the marks on his underwear, Wen Zhi realized that his first erotic dream was about a boy, and he also understood why he had been inexplicably wanting to see Liang An lately.

It's really interesting that love at first sight could happen to me, Wen Zhi.