Over the weekend, Lu Ying remembered her appointment to treat Du Zheng to dinner. After making arrangements for Lu Chuqing, she rode her bicycle into the city.

She arrived at the city center square before 10 a.m. and scrolled through her call history to find the man's number and compose a text message.

Hello! This is Lu Ying. I wanted to ask if you have any dietary restrictions so I can choose a place in advance.

Although she knew that since the other party had taken the initiative to call, it was impossible for them not to have saved her name in their contacts, she still wanted to politely explain who she was.

Polite yet distant.

The text message was sent, and before the screen even had a chance to turn off, the other end replied.

"That's true. How about I choose the location? Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

Lu Ying held her phone and typed slowly and deliberately.

I have quite a few dietary restrictions, too many to list on my phone. Maybe I should choose the location.

This time the other party replied a little slower, and a new text message popped up shortly afterward.

Okay, send me the chosen location as soon as possible.

Lu Ying replied with a single word: "Okay."

After clicking send, she turned off her phone.

After looking around, I found a relatively decent all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant near the city center square.

It wasn't even 10 o'clock yet, but there were already quite a few people in the store, many of them young students gathered together.

Lu Ying looked around and found a spot that wasn't too cramped or too far to the side.

After speaking with the waiter, she was bored, so she picked up a magazine that was provided nearby and flipped through it to pass the time.

The magazine's content was rich and interesting, and she became engrossed in it without even realizing it, especially one article that particularly caught her attention.

The article is a short story. The story is about a female protagonist who falls in love with a male protagonist who is in a special military branch. Their love is pure and bittersweet. They meet three times in three years. They are attracted to each other on the first meeting and begin to secretly love each other. They only confess their feelings and confirm their relationship on the third meeting. Their love ends on the third meeting.

The male protagonist sacrifices himself in the line of duty, and the female protagonist spends the rest of her life in grief.

This is a sad love story.

But what truly captivated Lu Ying wasn't just the arduous love between the two, but rather the fact that the first half of the story was told by the female protagonist to her granddaughter much later.

After the female protagonist finished telling this story, she was reborn at the time when she first met the male protagonist. Because she had the memories of her previous life, the female protagonist became very brave in this life. She confessed to the male protagonist at their first meeting. Of course, there were many twists and turns in the middle, but the two confirmed their relationship and got together at their second meeting.

The female protagonist always remembered the day the male protagonist went on a mission in her previous life. When that day came, she was unable to stop him, so she had no choice but to secretly follow him. The process was bound to be difficult, but in the end, they both survived.

They later married and had a daughter. Many years later, their daughter grew up and had another daughter.

Then, the elderly woman, well past fifty, told her story to her innocent and naive granddaughter.

The story had a powerful aftertaste; Lu Ying was still in a daze for a long time after reading it.

First, the love between the male and female protagonists is bittersweet and touching; second, stories with this kind of premise are truly rare.

She knew that there were many female protagonists on the market who would get into car accidents or other mishaps and then travel back to ancient times, either recorded or fictional.

But this was the first time she had ever seen someone die and be reborn, changing the tragedy of their previous life.

She couldn't help but wonder, are there really people in this world who can be reborn?

Before she knew it, a long time had passed. She closed the magazine, still wanting more, and picked up her phone to send a text message to Du Zheng.

Are you done with your work? The location is a self-service hot pot restaurant west of the city center square.

This time, the other party didn't reply. Lu Ying assumed the other party was busy and was about to put down her phone when a shadow suddenly fell over the other side.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, didn't I?"

The man wore half-rimmed glasses, his hair was neatly combed, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned. Behind the lenses, his eyes were fixed on Lu Ying, and his apologetic expression was evident.

The white short-sleeved shirt was neat and fitted, paired with dark suit trousers, a conventional belt, and shiny black leather shoes.

In comparison, Lu Ying still felt that the short-sleeved shirt and shorts she wore that night looked comfortable.

They arrived really quickly.

She moved her lips, about to say that it wouldn't be long.

The person on the other end spoke again, "I'm really sorry, a relative of mine is getting married, and knowing I was back, they insisted on having me be their best man. We're good friends, so I couldn't refuse, and it took up a lot of my time."

Hearing what the man said, Lu Ying looked at him again and saw that the man's forehead was indeed covered in sweat.

She paused for a moment, then handed over the tissue box she had placed on her side. "You've worked hard, wipe your sweat."

The waiter came over and asked if they wanted hot pot base. Lu Ying looked at the man wiping his sweat and asked, "Can you handle spicy food?"

Du Zheng threw the tissue he had used to wipe his sweat into the trash can and said gently, "Okay."

After confirming the taste, the waiter left.

Lu Ying spoke first, picking up where he left off, "I just arrived not long ago, and I'm sorry to have made you rush here in such a hurry."

Du Zheng still had that gentle smile, and raised his hand to adjust his slightly slipped glasses. "There's no reason to keep a lady waiting."

Lu Ying smiled but didn't reply, and the atmosphere fell silent again.

She wasn't a particularly enthusiastic person to begin with, and besides, she wasn't familiar with the person in front of her, had no idea, and didn't want to rack her brains to find topics to talk about.

Just as things were getting awkward, the waiter brought over two small pots and placed them in front of the two of them.

Du Zheng then asked, "What would you like to eat? I'll go get it for you."

Lu Ying stood up immediately. "I have a lot of dietary restrictions, so I'll just go get it myself."

"Okay." With that, the man followed behind her to the vegetable section to get the vegetables.

Just as Lu Ying was about to grab a plate, the man behind her stretched out his long arm and grabbed one before she could, handing it to her.

She had no choice but to accept it, saying, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the man replied with a smile.

Du Zheng, holding a plate, looked at the nearest vegetable section and asked her, "What would you like to eat? I'll get it for you..."

Before he could finish speaking, he turned around and found that there was no one behind him!

Looking again, the woman was constantly piling things onto the plate from the meat section, and the not-so-large plate was covered in blood!

Du Zheng, "..."

After finishing picking up the food, Du Zheng looked at the woman across from him who kept putting various kinds of meat and offal into the pot, and his eyes twitched for a moment.

This is called having many dietary restrictions...

However, when he looked up, his face was still that gentle one. "I just wanted a Coke. Do you have any other drinks you'd like? I can bring them over for you."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ying paused slightly, looked at him and said, "Thank you, but I don't like drinking beverages. There's plain water here, this will be fine with me."