After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's "White Moonlight" - Chapter 1

“Enough, Cheng Siyu! What right do you have to talk to me like that? Being with you only makes me feel disgusted!”

The rain drizzled incessantly. Cheng Siyu dragged her suitcase out of the corridor of the luxury villa district. Her eyes were faintly red, as if she had just finished crying; she looked utterly lost and soul-crushed.

As she reached the exit of the neighborhood, she suddenly realized she hadn’t brought an umbrella. But going back now…

The image flashed before her eyes again: Ji Yun and that popular starlet entwined in bed. Tears broke through her eyelids once more, cascading down uncontrollably.

I should have known it would end like this, she thought. Cheng Siyu curled her lips in a bitter smile. She didn’t choose to go back. Instead, she kept dragging her suitcase, stepping down the stairs in a daze.

“Ji Yun.” “Ji Yun.” She muttered the name. These two words had been the thread running through her life from university until now.

She had given up everything for her, losing all her friends in the process, only to be met with: “What right do you have to ask me to give this up?” Indeed, Cheng Siyu suddenly remembered the last thing her former best friend, Shen Moxu, had said to her: “Cheng Siyu, I want to see if a person like Ji Yun is truly worth everything, you’re doing for her.”

Cheng Siyu continued walking aimlessly through the rain. Suddenly, a flash of light blinded her from the side, followed by the harsh screech of brakes. She seemed to have forgotten how to react.

In the next second, a sensation of weightlessness hit her. The sound of shattering glass mingled with the friction of tires against the pavement. Before Cheng Siyu could process what was happening, she lost consciousness.

The last thing she saw in her life was the rainwater stained red with blood and the piercing high beams of a truck.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Ji Yun was waiting for Guan Yuexi to finish her shower. She looked out the window at the sound of the rain, remembering that Cheng Siyu hadn’t taken an umbrella when she left. A flicker of irritation rose in her heart—a hint of regret—but it was quickly suppressed.

Ji Yun, haven’t you wanted to get rid of her for a long time? Shouldn’t you be happy today? Even though she thought this, the expected sense of relief never came. Only the image of Cheng Siyu’s red-rimmed eyes and her look of utter disappointment lingered in her mind, refusing to fade.

“Siyu? Siyu?”

Cheng Siyu felt the world spinning, but a familiar voice pulled her out of the darkness.

“Cheng Siyu, did you stay up all night looking at hot guys? Today is the school anniversary! How can you not wake up?”

Cheng Siyu opened her eyes and found herself in a scene from the past. Standing before her was Shen Moxu—no, a Shen Moxu from several years ago.

Cheng Siyu stared blankly. She hadn’t seen this version of Shen Moxu in a long time—hair down, radiating a youthful energy. The last time she had seen her, Shen Moxu had her hair in a high ponytail, wore a business suit, and treated her with chilling indifference.

“What’s wrong with you? What did you dream about? Did you dream that I became the most beautiful woman in the world?”

Seeing her dazed expression, Shen Moxu thought she had been spooked by a nightmare. She waved two fingers in front of her face. “How many fingers am I holding up?” Unexpectedly, Cheng Siyu lunged forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry. Thank you for still being willing to talk to me.”

She was incoherent; there were too many things to apologize for, and she didn’t know where to start. She could only repeat her apologies over and over. Shen Moxu, confused, could only pat her back gently to comfort her.

After a while, Cheng Siyu calmed down and asked softly, “What time is it now?”

“It’s Year XX, Month XX! Today is the school’s 100th anniversary. Did you sleep yourself stupid?” Shen Moxu placed a hand on Cheng Siyu’s forehead, checking for a fever.

Hearing the year, Cheng Siyu froze. She looked around; the environment was no longer a dark, damp street, but her university classroom. The calendar hanging by the door confirmed it: ten years ago.

“It’s too late, the performances are about to start!”

Before Cheng Siyu could figure out how she had returned to a decade ago, Shen Moxu grabbed her hand and led her toward the door.

Stepping outside, Cheng Siyu felt the long-lost crispness of the air. But looking at the buildings—both familiar and strange—tears fell from her eyes once again.

Just as they reached the auditorium, a notice board made Cheng Siyu stop in her tracks.

It read: “Today’s grand finale piano performance: performed by a freshman.” Behind the bold text was a silhouette that made Cheng Siyu’s heart tremble. Ji Yun’s words seemed to echo in her ears again:

“Cheng Siyu, you were the one who shamelessly crawled to me. You truly disgust me.”

In a panic, Cheng Siyu shook off Shen Moxu’s hand and scrambled backward.

“What’s wrong?”

“No… nothing. I feel a bit unwell. I’m going to the restroom.” After speaking, Cheng Siyu turned and ran without looking back.

Her behavior caught the attention of a few passing students, but she didn’t care. After running aimlessly for a while and looking at the old buildings, she crouched down and began to cry helplessly.

This was a scene from ten years ago, but to her, it felt like a lifetime. Too much had happened in those ten years.

“Siyu, what happened? Did someone bully you?”

Shen Moxu had caught up at some point. Looking at the crouching Cheng Siyu, she felt helpless. Everything about Cheng Siyu had been strange since she woke up.

“I’m fine… I just had a very bad dream,” Cheng Siyu’s voice came out muffled.

It was true. Those ten years of loving Ji Yun felt like a dream—a nightmare that had torn her life apart.

“Sigh, so it was just a dream.” Shen Moxu breathed a sigh of relief. “Dreams and reality are opposites. A grown girl like you getting scared like a little hamster.”

“I am not!” Cheng Siyu looked up. Though her tone was stubborn, the tear tracks on her red cheeks betrayed her.

“Alright, alright, ‘Big Hamster Cheng.’ Get up. Didn’t we promise the President we’d help out?”

“Mhm,” Cheng Siyu hummed, but didn’t move.

“Then get up already!”

Before she could respond, Shen Moxu pulled her up and handed her a tissue.

“Let’s go. If you keep crying like this, people will take pictures and spread rumors that you’ve been dumped.”

Cheng Siyu stared blankly at Shen Moxu’s face before being half-pushed, half-pulled toward the auditorium.

We have to meet sooner or later anyway, Cheng Siyu encouraged herself, though her heart was still uneasy. Looking at the familiar decorations, she remembered: this was where she first met Ji Yun. It was the place she had revisited countless times in her dreams.

“Why are you so late? It’s already started.” The club coordinator looked annoyed but checked their names off the sign-in sheet anyway.

“The professor went over time,” Shen Moxu lied smoothly. “Is there anything you need us to do?”

“Go push those props to the backstage. The stage manager just finished counting them; they haven’t been moved back yet.”

“Orders received!” Shen Moxu grabbed Cheng Siyu and headed for the prop cart.

Fifteen minutes later, they successfully pushed the cart backstage, both breaking a sweat. Cheng Siyu temporarily pushed aside her unpleasant memories and chatted with Shen Moxu.

“Have you heard back on the resume you sent to the music company?”

“No, not yet.” Cheng Siyu thought back. In her previous life, she had received the reply right when she started dating Ji Yun. At that time, Ji Yun said she wanted Siyu to focus entirely on her, so Siyu had ignored the acceptance email.

“Aren’t you going to ask which company I applied to?” Shen Moxu nudged her shoulder playfully.

Cheng Siyu snapped out of it and nudged her back. “I don’t know. If I find out which company is willing to take in a ‘monster’ like you, I’ll light three sticks of incense for them every day.”

“Cheng Siyu, are you asking for it? I’ll twist your head off!”

“Help! A college student is beating her best friend!” Cheng Siyu shouted dramatically.

“Alright, enough joking. I applied to Xiyue Entertainment. I don’t know if I’ll pass. I’d be happy just to be an extra; I just want to see my idol, Qin Xiangqing.”

“Xiyue Entertainment…” Cheng Siyu froze. She remembered that the last time she saw Shen Moxu in her previous life, Shen had become an artist for Xiyue’s rival company.

Shen had gone through a lot. There were several late nights when Shen would call her, drunk from social obligations, asking to be picked up. Back then, Cheng Siyu’s world revolved around Ji Yun, and she had brushed off Shen’s attempts to talk.

Later on, Shen stopped calling. She told Siyu she had found a powerful “backer”—a woman, a very influential figure. Perhaps that was when their relationship began to fade.

“Excuse me, is the dressing room here?”

Suddenly, a voice shattered the cheerful atmosphere. Hearing it, Cheng Siyu flinched and immediately turned her back.

That voice… in an instant, it transported her back to that rainy day.

It had been Ji Yun’s birthday. She had happily baked a cake and called Ji Yun, but there was no answer. She had sent a text anyway, telling Ji Yun to get ready. Looking back, it was all her own wishful thinking.

She would never forget the moment she pushed open the bedroom door: the floor littered with tissues and wrappers. The two people inside had been so caught up in the moment they forgot to close the door. Standing there with the cake, she had been nothing more than a joke.