Small Town Rebirth: Starting From Birth

On the internet, people often commemorate their childhoods. Chen Bing, a young man from a small town who was one of them, found himself back 24 years ago, in the small town of his birth, after his ...

Side Story (2): Back to the Past

After the door creaked open, Liu Yue turned her head and saw Chen Bing and the other person changing their shoes in the entryway.

"I'm telling you two kids," Liu Yue said, hands on her hips, with a lecturing look on her face, "Even if you're on vacation at home, you can't stay indoors all day. Even if it's for the sake of having a baby, you can't..."

Shang Yunmiao's cheeks were flushed red. As a novice in such matters, she had indeed been somewhat absurd under Chen Bing's coaxing these past few days, but that was one thing, and being pointed out by her parents was another.

As the other party being lectured, Chen Bing didn't care at all, just responding with "yes, yes, yes" while checking today's breakfast.

During their meal, Liu Yue continued to chatter on and on. Even after finishing her own meal, she peeled eggs for Shang Yunmiao while lecturing Chen Bing.

"You two should go out for a walk today. Don't stay at home all day. It's not good for the baby. I remember when I was pregnant with Bingbing, I would go out for a walk every afternoon. Look how well she's growing now."

"Come on, Yunmiao, eat the egg Mom peeled." In the middle of her lecture, Liu Yue pushed the peeled egg in front of Shang Yunmiao.

Regardless of the little girl's reaction, Liu Yue continued, "Anyway, even though Mom and Dad aren't home today, you can't stay home all day. Go anywhere is fine. Bingbing will take Yunmiao out for a walk. Yunmiao, remember to remind her, okay?"

"Um... I know, Mom..." Faced with Liu Yue's enthusiastic gaze, Shang Yunmiao was too embarrassed to look at her and answered timidly with her head down.

"Okay, I'm going out now. I'm going out with Dad today. I'll go see how his preparations are going."

After saying that, Liu Yue stood up with a smile and left the kitchen.

Shang Yunmiao's gaze followed the still-young figure as he left, until he completely disappeared from sight. Then, she turned to look at Chen Bing, who was eating in silence.

Without saying anything, Shang Yunmiao ate her meal in a daze.

"Phew~ I'm done eating. Are you full?"

Chen Bing leaned back in his chair, sipping his tea as he asked Shang Yunmiao.

"Yes, I'm done eating."

"Let's go then, as we agreed yesterday, let's go home and do naughty things." Chen Bing grinned mischievously, walked up to Shang Yunmiao, and grabbed her wrist, looking like she had planned this all along.

"Oh, no, Mom said we should go out for a walk."

"Will walking around make it easier to have a baby?"

"What?" After a shy rebuttal, Shang Yunmiao noticed that Chen Bing's mischievous smile wasn't the kind that meant she was up to no good, but rather the kind that meant she was trying to tease her.

After giving him a disapproving look, Xiao Shang slapped Chen Bing's hand away, stood up, and said, "Let's wash the dishes and then go for a walk."

"Ugh, what a hassle. She's so old and still listens to her mother." Although she was complaining, Chen Bing was still quite obedient in her actions.

After helping Shang Yunmiao arrange the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, the two of them immediately went out.

Although they obtained their marriage certificate four months ago, Chen Bing and her husband haven't had a wedding ceremony yet. This is mainly because they've been very busy lately and haven't been able to find the time.

Even so, the two still moved out of their respective homes.

Although they say they've moved out, they're actually still living in the same neighborhood, just one at the west end and the other at the east end.

After towing out an electric scooter, Chen Bing patted the back seat of the scooter, gesturing for Shang Yunmiao to get on.

"What do you mean? Where to give birth? Oh wait, I mean, where to go for a trip?"

Shang Yunmiao suspected that Chen Bing had deliberately made a mistake, but she had no evidence.

"How about we go to the wetland park? It should be nice in April or May."

After discussing it, the two got on an electric scooter and leisurely traveled while sightseeing.

"Speaking of which..." As Chen Bing looked around at the scenery, she suddenly realized that there was a sense of familiarity about this place. "Have we walked this road before?"

Shang Yunmiao understood what Chen Bing meant, and she confirmed, "Yes, back in my second year of high school, around this time of year, the school organized a spring outing, and we took this route."

Oh, no wonder it felt familiar.

Chen Bing recalled for a moment, then smiled and said, "I also remember now, you sprained your ankle back then, and I carried you there."

"I didn't sprain my ankle. It was clearly Chen Bing who wanted to carry me, that's why she did it."

"Really?" While waiting at the traffic light, Chen Bing turned around and asked, "Are you sure you didn't remember wrong?"

Because of the long passage of time, Shang Yunmiao, who had been so confident, began to doubt her own memory after hearing this.

However, she was not swayed by Chen Bing in the end and stuck to her own point of view.

Seeing that she couldn't fool Shang Yunmiao, Chen Bing felt a little disappointed.

To his further disappointment, after cycling for more than ten minutes and finally arriving at the park, he discovered that it was closed to the public that day.

"What a wasted trip." Chen Bing turned to look at Shang Yunmiao behind her, looking quite disappointed.

Out of kindness, Shang Yunmiao was about to comfort Chen Bing, but before she could say anything, Chen Bing immediately said, "There's no other way, go home and do bad things."

"How could you say that?" Blushing, Shang Yunmiao patted Chen Bing's shoulder and said, "Chen Bing, why do you keep thinking about that?"

"Nonsense, it's clearly what you think, I'm just saying it for you."

Chen Bing's words sounded like nonsense at first glance, but they were actually true.

After all, she's a young girl; she knows what's what. Once you open Pandora's box, it's hard to turn back.

However, this time, it seems that's not the case at all.

Unlike Chen Bing's expectations, Shang Yunmiao did not easily coax him to go home. Instead, she insisted on going out more and taking walks.

If there's any secret behind this, it's not hard to guess by recalling what Liu Yue said this morning. Chen Bing smiled wickedly to himself, but didn't expose Shang Yunmiao's little scheme, planning to tease her about it later that evening.

But if we don't go to the park, where should we go?

They got back on their electric bikes and continued along the familiar road. Soon, a familiar school gate came into view.

How about... going back to high school?

He exchanged a glance with Xiao Shang in the back seat, and the two reached a decision through eye contact.

"Hmm... As social outcasts, we want to get in, but I don't know if your former principal's half-ton family background will be of any use."

Ignoring Chen Bing's strange way of addressing her, Shang Yunmiao suggested, "Why don't we call the teacher or send a message to ask?"

"Good idea. Do you have Comrade Jianjun's contact information?"

"I have WeChat friends."

"Take it out and ask."

After giving the order, Chen Bing glanced at the school gate not far away, seemingly reminiscing about his glorious high school years.

"The teacher replied and said he would come to pick us up right away."

Nodding, Chen Bing led Shang Yunmiao to park the electric scooter and then walked straight towards the school gate.

Chen Bing originally thought that she and Xiao Shang would have to wait at the school gate for a while before the homeroom teacher arrived, since as unemployed people, they would most likely be stopped by the security guards.

It's like something out of a fantasy novel: a sect's prodigy becomes an emperor and then travels incognito to his former sect, only to be stopped by a gatekeeper who doesn't recognize his true worth.

Immediately afterward, a group of sect elders rushed out, shouting the Great Emperor's name, while the gatekeeper disciple looked ashen-faced. The Great Emperor himself merely glanced coldly at the disciple, listening to his exclamation, "You! You are...! Uh ah!"

"Oh, you're Chen Bing?"