Rebirth 08
June 3, 2008.
At Chuncheng No. 3 Middle School, the sun was blazing, and the heat was rolling in. Fortunately, the ground floor of the teaching building was covered with camphor trees, so the classrooms on the third floor were not exposed to the scorching sun.
The long rainy season had just ended, but the summer heat was intensifying. The students were too sweltering to study, drenched in the sweat-scented summer breeze. Ceiling fans whirred, and sweat dripped onto the yellowed desks, leaving them sticky.
Fu Xue was shaking a math textbook in her right hand, with ice water on her left cheek. She closed her eyes, chewed mint candy quietly, and recited English words silently.
Reluctantly finishing the last drop of the iced drink in the thermos, she opened her mouth to savor the chill. Behind her, Xia Qiqi looked enviously at the large bottle of iced water in the top student's hand. She rummaged through the drawers and found a crumpled banknote among the pile of test papers.
"Xiaoyu~Xiaoyu..."
The girl by the window had long, shiny black hair, which was now all tied up. Occasionally, a strand of hair dripped down along with the fine beads of sweat, leaving red marks on her fair face.
Yu Shu opened her eyes, dazed.
All she saw was the person in front of her opening and closing his mouth. The cute baby-faced girl had eager desire in her eyes, and her rosy little face reminded her of a plush doll with blush on.
It was her deskmate in her second and third year of junior high school, Xia...Qiqi.
Is she really...reborn?
"Why are you so blank? Are you going or not~"
Unexpectedly, the wind blew open the half-closed window, and Yu Shu looked into the distance following the sound of the wind.
In the shade of the trees under the scorching wind, the curly-haired boy blinked his exceptionally deep and charming black eyes. His eyelashes were thick and long, like a palm-leaf fan, and his cheeks were slightly flushed from exercise. "Xiaoyu, do you want some orange soda?"
He held the orange basketball in his right hand and wiped the sweat off his face with the corner of his clothes with his other hand.
Their eyes met, and Yu Shu nodded to the boy subconsciously.
Xia Qiqi came over, clutching her two yuan, and quickly poked her head out: "Lan Xing, bring me a bottle too."
She pointed to the money in her hand.
Lan Xing was stunned for a moment, then smiled widely and made an OK gesture.
The boy ran towards the distant store, his curly hair fluttering in the wind.
Xia Qiqi picked up the math book on the table and fanned herself and Yu Shu vigorously.
On the desk was the quiz paper from the previous self-study class, with the two numbers 57 in the upper right corner standing out in bright red.
Yu Shu picked up the test paper, flipped through it from front to back, and then from back to front. She read the paper until it was torn apart, and also cried about her future.
The word "understanding" was written in the answer section of each question, but only the first blank of the first three questions had the steps written in, and were rewarded with a few hard-earned points.
She finished scanning.
Very good, now it’s even worse, there are almost no questions I can do.
Xia Qiqi reached out and took the test paper, then pulled out another crumpled piece of paper from the drawer.
"I've already talked about this one. Your paper is still here with me."
The red score on the test paper in her hand was so big that it seemed to float in front of Yu Shu’s eyes. It was a high score of forty points!
Yu Shu widened her eyes, unable to accept this fact.
I feel dizzy...very dizzy. The sticky sweat mixed with the non-breathable nylon school uniform trousers makes me feel so dizzy that I want to vomit. I want to lift up the trouser legs, roll them up to my thighs, and run a lap in the cool breeze to dry the sweat.
Yu Shu closed her eyes, eager to fast forward to graduation from college.
She shouldn't have chosen to be reborn. It would have been nice to just lie down and play with her phone.
[Host...please wait a little longer. The system is applying for rewards for you at headquarters. I believe that the host will gradually feel the beauty of struggle.]
The system spoke quietly.
After the system finished speaking, Yu Shu opened her eyes, pretending to be melancholy, and looked around the room with her head propped up and nostalgia.
There are sixty-four students in Class 10, and she has long forgotten the faces and names of most of them.
I only vaguely remember some outstanding classmates in the class... and the people sitting at the tables next to her.
Her eyes, which were not yet nearsighted, could see everything very clearly. Her deskmate Xia Qiqi was secretly reading The Adventurers under the pile of books, while Fu Xue, who sat in front of her, was still a top student, doing English exercises that she could not understand.
The blackboard is filled with today's class schedule.
The clock was ticking, and there was only one class left.
There was a lot of noise at the classroom door. Many people in Class 10 knew Lan Xing and greeted him.
He smiled brightly and walked towards the innermost group.
His fluffy curly hair was all wet with sweat from exercise and he casually pushed it behind his head. His blue and white summer school uniform was so thin that it was translucent, revealing his smooth wheat-colored muscles. He was holding two glass bottles of soda in one hand.
He casually chatted with squad leader Li Qi for a few words and waved his hand: "Xiaoyu, Xia Qiqi, your soda."
The glass bottle with water droplets standing on the golden table instantly emits the fragrance of orange.
Lan Xing looked around and saw that there was no empty seat for him to sit down, so he stood in the aisle with his head down.
Yu Shu waved at him: "Wipe the sweat off your face."
There was a small pack of handkerchiefs printed with cartoon characters. When one piece was opened, it was as big as a book. The small round holes let in the slanting light and were swayed by the wind.
Xia Qiqi handed the money she found to Lan Xing.
Lan Xing took the paper and wiped her face and neck carefully: "I bought it so long ago, I didn't expect that the first person to use it would be me."
He bent his waist slightly, and his slender fingers flexibly turned a cat pen. Yu Shu lowered her head. When did the pen on the table get into his hand?
Yu Shu tried hard to recall, but she couldn't remember when she bought the paper.
After all, Lan Xing suddenly went abroad in the third year of junior high school and has been studying abroad ever since.
As she grew fatter and fatter, she became more and more transparent, and gradually she became unwilling to contact him, until they broke off contact.
Over the years, no matter how many beautiful details there are, they are lost in time.
"Then I'm going to go to class."
The boy walked out of Class 10 with his long legs. The blue and white school uniform looked so good.
She was, indeed, back to her teenage years.
With a bang, Xia Qiqi had already opened her soda.
Bubbles of happiness are bubbling up in the air.
[Ding! The host's exclusive reward plug-in has been installed. Do you want to enter the cartoonist mode?]
When Yu Shu heard the voice, she still asked that question.
"Can you take me back now?"
Before her rebirth, she had just attended a family dinner.
In the evening, a person sat on a chair in the park, in a daze.
It seems that everyone in my circle of friends has a successful career, a happy love life, and is traveling around the world.
But she has always been an invisible person among her peers, with no outstanding career, no enviable academic qualifications, and no beautiful appearance.
I live my life in a muddle, with a feeling of resentment in my heart that makes it hard to breathe, but I don't have the courage or perseverance to change myself.
[No, of course not. The host has already bound to this system. Next, please work hard to become a true cartoonist.]
[And host, don’t you want to try the tailor-made rewards? You can become more beautiful.]
While she was in a daze, the cartoonist achievement system found her and said that she was the system's destined host.
With it, Yu Shu can become a world-famous cartoonist.
But she had been a lazy person for too long and couldn't believe that she had such great perseverance to move towards her dream.
I casually said that if she could take me back to my second year of junior high school and help me become more beautiful, she would accept the task.
"Well, when I get home, tell me about the specific mission."
[Ding! The system is waiting to serve you]
The bell for class has rung, and the head teacher, Lao Yi, walks in wearing a blue striped polo shirt.
He kept wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief, and his blue clothes were stained with sweat into a gradient color.
Su Yuekang, the podium guardian, took out his old palm-leaf fan and fanned Old Yi in a flattering manner.
Old Yi looked around and saw that the four fans on the ceiling were squeaking, their blades were yellowing but they still didn't cool down.
"Students, please hold on a little longer. The air conditioners ordered by the school leaders have arrived at the school. They will be installed after school today. Tomorrow, you can enjoy the air conditioning."
As he finished speaking, everyone in the class, whether they were daydreaming, reading extracurricular books, or doing exercises, all burst into exclamations!
Lao Yi smiled proudly and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Even though we have air conditioning, you can't make excuses for being too hot. Each class has a fifty-yuan electricity bill per month, so everyone should still use it sparingly. Once it's used up, you'll have to pay the class fee."
Perhaps the arrival of the air conditioner had an encouraging effect, and everyone's enthusiasm for class was unprecedentedly high.
Yu Shu could actually barely understand a few questions.
You know, she is now an "older classmate" with no foundation and no understanding at all.
She bit the clear mouthful that Xia Qiqi handed her. It was sweet and cool, like drinking a bowl of melted mint water.
My brain feels so refreshed.
After Lao Yi finished explaining a problem at the podium, he saw two people who were at the bottom of the math class by the window. They were listening attentively and writing carefully, which was rare.
I don’t know if the two of them understood.
After school, Yu Shu said goodbye to Xia Qiqi and sat on the back seat of Lan Xing's bicycle.
Yu Shu hadn't sat for a long time, so she felt a little unfamiliar with the cushion under her.
Lan Xing turned around and glanced at Yu Shu's hand that was clasped below.
"Hold on tight, there's a big slope coming up."
He was very thin, and Yu Shu didn't know where he got so much strength to carry her up and down the hills every day.
You know, although they are about the same height now, she weighs much more than him.
On the way home, you will pass a steep slope about 150 meters long.
Lan Xing only braked slightly, and the two of them slid down along the terrain.
The wind flowed from Yu Shu's limbs into her school uniform, swelling it into a balloon, and her hair was blown all over the place by the wind.
Covering the eyes and wrapping around the neck.
Before he had even finished going down the slope, Lan Xing tried to look back.
Her hair got caught on the collar of his school uniform.
Yu Shu held his head nervously.
"Do you understand safe driving?"
"You haven't been talking much today. I thought you were unhappy."
Lan Xing was still trying to turn back.
Yu Shu held his left and right ears.
In the scorching evening breeze, a rich aroma wafted from a roadside restaurant, and the melancholy that had trapped me in isolation for many years dissipated, and drum beats louder than those on the bandstand began to ring in my heart.
"It's too hot today."
She spoke slowly.
The closer she got to home, the more homesick she felt. Everything from her youth was about to start over again in her hands.
"Then I'll ride faster so we can go home early and enjoy the air conditioning!"
Boys and girls in school uniforms sped past on bicycles.
The car owners and their companions waiting for the green light laughed good-naturedly and turned on the radio:
"Let's continue listening to the song "Lily of the Valley" requested by our listener.
Warm spring breeze
Butterflies are in love too..."
Although he was driving fast on the road, Lan Xing still had to slow down when he returned to Wenxin Garden to greet the security guard and the aunt in the mail room.
At the corner of the stairs on the third floor, the backpack in Lan Xing's left hand returned to its owner.
"Okay, go back and enjoy the air conditioning."
Yu Shu's home is on the third floor, and Lan Xing's home is on the fourth floor.
The home I have lived in for almost 30 years is so familiar to me.
Yu Shu took the key from the milk carton that was half-open at the door and opened the door. The decoration was familiar, but the color was much newer.
Feeling relieved, I couldn't wait to turn on the purple standing air conditioner in the living room.
A cool breeze was blowing.
Yu Shu lay comfortably on the rattan chair.
"System, now let me introduce you to the tasks and rewards."
A transparent panel suddenly appeared in front of Yu Shu, with a long paragraph of text in the middle.
Yu Shu tried to flip through it with her hands and found that the text could scroll down continuously.
"This is?"
Sorry, that was a mistake.
The panel suddenly closed, and the system's voice was a little flustered.
[The system backend just got stuck, and the system installation package manual was displayed]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
