"What's the difference?" Shang Yunmiao seemed to be intrigued by the topic. She tilted her cute little face up and thought for a while before saying, "It must be terrible. For me, without you, Chen Bing, I feel like my life would be missing a lot."

"That's not necessarily true." Chen Bing stopped the car at the traffic light and turned to Shang Yunmiao beside her with a smile. "Even without me, you will have other experiences to fill these gaps."

Taking Chen Bing's words as a starting point, Shang Yunmiao then imagined the following.

"If we really didn't know each other, I think I would probably still fall for you."

What do you mean?

“Because…” Shang Yunmiao counted on her fingers and began to list Chen Bing’s outstanding qualities.

"Chen Bing, your junior high school Chinese teacher was my mother. You were so outstanding back then. Even if we weren't in the same class or school, I would definitely have heard about you from my mother."

You ranked first in the city during your high school entrance exam. Reaching first place in the city is a remarkable achievement in a small county like ours, especially since you applied to the experimental high school where your dad teaches. I'm sure I'll get to know you, become curious about you, and then, seeing how handsome you are and learning about your wonderful personality, I'm sure I'll secretly fall for someone as outstanding as you.

Is it excellent?

Turning his head, Chen Bing's gaze at the road ahead was slightly unfocused. What was originally just a casual conversation on the road had now completely occupied his thoughts.

Am I... good enough?

This problem may be somewhat unsolvable, not because Chen Bing, as the person being evaluated, cannot objectively evaluate himself, but because this is his second twenty-first year of life.

Chen Bing thought he was probably sick. He had been reborn for more than 20 years, so why was he only starting to think about this problem now?

Perhaps it's related to Shang Yunmiao's flattering words just now, where she said that even if they were complete strangers, she would still fall in love with the outstanding version of herself.

Does this mean that she wouldn't have liked her if it were her true self from her previous life?

This might be Chen Bing overthinking things. After all, he is who he is, both in his past life and now.

But is this outstanding guy me?

Yes and no.

Yes, there is obviously more of the "yes" element, but is it the self from the past life or the self in this life?

This question seems rather philosophical, and figuring it out would probably take quite a while. Therefore, Chen Bing decided to set aside thinking about it for the time being and focus on preparing for the exam.

Sitting in her seat in the examination room, Chen Bing began to write her answers at the invigilator's signal.

His thinking remained as sharp as ever, and he wrote with great ease, whether on simple or difficult questions.

This feeling of ease exists only in this lifetime. When did it begin? A very, very long time ago, you could say it's been there from the very beginning.

Chen Bing's disciplined study life over the years has cultivated a very strong mind, enabling him to continue thinking, thinking, and thinking even while answering questions.

As the last period was placed and the exam paper was checked one last time, the bell rang to signal the end of the exam.

Looking at the strong and powerful handwriting on the exam paper, a blurry image suddenly appeared in Chen Bing's mind.

The portrait looked very old, and his cloudy eyes, like those of other elderly people, held the experiences of a lifetime. Chen Bing also remembered those eyes vividly.

In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.

Putting down his pen, Chen Bing waited for the scrolls to be collected while reminiscing about the days when he learned calligraphy from his grandfather.

It's been almost twenty years already. When I go home this year, I'll take Shang Yunmiao to visit him.

After packing up her stationery, Chen Bing picked up the transparent bag and left the examination room.

The two exams on the 25th passed in a flash, and when Chen Bing returned home, she was somewhat silent.

Shang Yunmiao, who had been keeping an eye on him, quickly noticed this. So after dinner, the little girl came over with a thermometer in her hand and asked him with a worried look what was wrong and if he felt uncomfortable anywhere.

Seeing the genuine worry in the little girl's eyes, Chen Bing didn't know how to answer.

The reason I acted this way was because of our chat this morning? Because of her ingratiating words, which made me feel that if I were my past self, she wouldn't like me anymore?

Chen Bing patted Shang Yunmiao's head and said he was fine.

No, actually he still has something on his mind; he suffers from a serious mental illness.

Although she was reborn with memories of her past life, so many years had passed that the person she was before her rebirth was indeed a thing of the past. She should have thought of it that way, but Chen Bing remained sullen.

He couldn't help but overthink, wondering about his many years of being single in his previous life, and whether Shang Yunmiao would still like him if he were experiencing life for the first time.

His overthinking made him mentally ill, and it seemed to have affected his physical health as well.

At nine o'clock in the evening, after reviewing the knowledge points for a while, Chen Bing felt a little dizzy.

After glancing at Shang Yunmiao, who was diligently studying on the balcony, Chen Bing got up and prepared to go back to her bedroom.

"Chen Bing, where are you going?"

Chen Bing paused, then replied calmly, "I'm going back to my room to find a book."

After nodding "Oh, oh," Shang Yunmiao stared at Chen Bing for a second before lowering her head again to study.

Relieved, Chen Bing strolled back to her bedroom.

I'll keep the fact that I might have a fever a secret from Shang Yunmiao for now.

Chen Bing was afraid that the little girl would worry, so she made the decision to hide it and secretly go back to her room to take her temperature.

When Chen Bing saw the number and symbol 37.4°C on the thermometer, she knew that she was indeed sick. She was also glad that she had been overthinking things today, so she didn't get close to the little girl when she got home.

Although I didn't get a nucleic acid test, during this special period, I'm almost certainly infected with COVID-19, and most likely I got it during today's exam. The reason is that I felt hot during the exam, so I moved my mask down, exposing my nose to breathe.

Chen Bing gently patted his head, not taking it seriously. He believed that headaches and fevers wouldn't necessarily affect his ability to solve problems; on the contrary, many exceptional performances were achieved while suffering from headaches and fevers.

The fact that he had contracted the virus was not a big deal for Chen Bing; his only worry was that he might infect Shang Yunmiao.

No, besides not being able to infect her, I also can't let her know, otherwise it will affect the girl's exam the next day.

With this in mind, Chen Bing began to think about how she could reduce her contact with Shang Yunmiao without arousing her suspicion.

He quickly prepared several plans in his mind.

Picking up a reference book at random, Chen Bing pushed open the door.

But as soon as the door opened, he saw a petite and lovely figure standing in front of it, holding a "gun".

"Hands up!"

Chen Bing thought to herself that Shang Yunmiao was probably cosplaying as a female police officer upholding justice, trying to interact with her. Although she was holding a thermometer, Chen Bing didn't believe that Shang Yunmiao suspected she had a fever.

Worried about infecting her, Chen Bing improvised, backing away while pretending to act normally, exclaiming dramatically, "Damn it, have I been discovered? Looks like I have no choice but to surrender!"

After saying that, he slowly raised his hand and squatted down at the same time.

As Xiao Shang gradually approached, Chen Bing felt a slight headache.

Not only physically, but also psychologically. He was worried that Xiao Shang genuinely wanted to get close to him this time, and that his plan would fail later.

However, the die was cast and the arrow had to be released. As Chen Bing watched Shang Yunmiao's approaching footsteps, a lewd smile appeared on his lips. He then looked at Shang Yunmiao with a wicked grin.

Clearly, Shang Yunmiao is not a foolish child. Moreover, she has been with him for many years, so when she saw the expression he put on, she should have guessed that if he got any closer, he would suddenly retaliate, suppress, and "bully" her.

In addition, Shang Yunmiao is a very serious child, and she has an exam tomorrow. So, anticipating her possible next move, she will most likely make a face and say, "I won't fall for Chen Bing's tricks," as she runs out of the bedroom.

Even if the little girl really wanted to get close to him, Chen Bing had a backup plan in mind, and he was sure he could trick her away before she even got close.

In just a few seconds, Chen Bing's brain was working at lightning speed, while also thinking about whether there was anything he hadn't thought of or anything that needed to be improved.

After making a mischievous expression, Chen Bing clearly saw Shang Yunmiao pause for a moment.

Very well, it seems the follow-up plan won't be needed; Shang Yunmiao will be gone soon. I can just chase after her with a mischievous grin, say a few flirtatious words from afar, and there shouldn't be any major problems tonight. The two of them won't see each other again before going to sleep.

As for tomorrow, I've already figured out what to do. I'll just go straight for it then...

"Beep! 37.6c!"

A mechanical electronic voice sounded on Chen Bing's forehead. He looked up in a daze and saw Shang Yunmiao staring intently at him with a wronged look on her face.