Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 1

In the private room of a five-star hotel, cups clinked and wine flowed as Xu Yingran entertained some business partners.

Xu Yingran owned the largest and only barbecue city in the city. Though the barbecue business might seem small, dirty, and chaotic, it was extremely profitable, especially after being well-managed and scaled up. It had essentially become a local landmark; even people from the tourism bureau would specifically promote Xu Yingran’s Barbecue City.

This was especially true during the peak summer tourist season, when advertisements were ubiquitous.

After all, who doesn’t want some barbecue and crayfish in the summer?

This evening, Xu Yingran hosted a dinner with other merchants. As they drank to their heart’s content, a middle-aged, overweight man, clearly quite drunk, swayed his wine glass and asked Xu Yingran, who was sitting across from him, “General Manager Xu, I heard your wife calls you precisely at nine o’clock every night to rush you home. Is that true?”

Xu Yingran’s body stiffened. She looked up at the supplier and gave a helpless smile.

It was true. Her childhood sweetheart, whom she had been married to for five years, would call Xu Yingran exactly at 9:00 PM, asking when she would be home, what time the event would end, if she had been drinking, and whether she needed to be picked up.

This constant communication often made Xu Yingran the butt of jokes among her peers in the business world.

“It’s more than that,” said a colleague sitting nearby, smoking a women’s cigarette. “Our General Manager Xu is completely henpecked. Just watch, it’s almost nine, and her wife is definitely going to call her.”

Everyone laughed, which made Xu Yingran feel extremely uncomfortable.

Just as Xu Yingran was about to say something to save face, the cell phone on the table lit up. The screen displayed the two bold characters: [Fu Qiao].

“See? I told you so.”

“Hahaha, General Manager Xu, hurry up and answer! Don’t keep the madam waiting too long.”

Xu Yingran sighed, silenced the phone, and flipped it over. She raised her glass to the crowd and said, “Aiya, aiya, please stop making fun of me, brothers and sisters. My wife just misses me. I’ll toast you all with this drink, and then I’ll be leaving first!”

Everyone laughed and accepted Xu Yingran’s toast, watching as she gathered her things and left the private room.

Once in the corridor, Xu Yingran secretly pulled out her phone to check; the call had already ended.

Since she had been drinking, she couldn’t drive, so Xu Yingran had to hail a taxi home. When she arrived at her doorstep, she discovered the door lock code had been changed, and her face instantly darkened.

She rang the doorbell twice, but no one answered. She called, but no one picked up.

She figured Fu Qiao must be angry.

Xu Yingran was helpless—she certainly couldn’t sleep on the street.

After thinking it over, she decided to throw caution to the wind. Taking advantage of the 30% battery remaining on her phone, she made a call, arranging to meet her friend at a bar for another round.

She took another taxi to the bar she frequented. The moment she stepped inside, the deafening noise made her head ache.

Xu Yingran searched through the crowd for a long time before finally finding Yao Jin, a friend she had known since the third year of high school. She sat down next to her and ordered a drink.

Yao Jin was amused by her state; she knew Xu Yingran had a strict curfew. She asked curiously, “It’s past nine. Didn’t your wife call to rush you home?”

In the past, Fu Qiao would have been calling non-stop. How was Xu Yingran able to be out enjoying herself at a bar?

“A-Jin, I am truly fed up with being controlled by my wife. If I were given another chance to start over, I definitely wouldn’t marry Fu Qiao!” Xu Yingran was clearly drunk. She held her wine glass and told her friend, “Do you know? Now I can’t be home after 9:00 PM every night. I have to go home right after work. I have to report all my social engagements in advance, and she even insists I go to bed before 11:00 PM.”

Xu Yingran just didn’t understand. “I’m only 28 this year. Do you think I can fall asleep before 11:00 PM???”

Yao Jin sat beside her, listening to Xu Yingran ramble on all night. She couldn’t help but glance at the watch on her wrist. Seeing it was nearly 10:00 PM, she started to laugh, casting a playful look at her friend. “You should hurry back. You’re already an hour past your curfew. Aren’t you afraid Fu Qiao will give you trouble tomorrow?”

“I’m not going back,” Xu Yingran tossed her long hair, leaning back on the sofa. “If she wants to call, let her call. I’m not going back anyway. I’m going to stay out all night tonight. The main theme is rebellion.”

She actually wanted to go back, but since Fu Qiao wouldn’t let her in the house, what could she do?

One must have backbone.

If she’s not allowed in, then she won’t go in. She could easily find a place to stay up all night.

At worst, she would just rent a hotel room.

However, she’d have to borrow the money for the room from Yao Jin, as she only had 200 yuan for pocket money.

Yao Jin was amused by Xu Yingran’s bold declaration. She and Xu Yingran had been close friends for so many years, having met in the third year of high school. Although they only became really close after attending the same university, it had been about ten years, right?

She knew this person all too well. She spoke so defiantly now, but just wait. When her wife came for her, she would happily scurry back home.

Xu Yingran sipped the iced drink in her glass. She had indeed made a grandiose statement, but now, seeing it was almost 10 o’clock, she felt restless, as if she had pins and needles in her butt. She kept anxiously checking her phone repeatedly.

A moment later, the phone on the table started vibrating with a cheerful ringtone. The screen once again showed the two characters: [Fu Qiao].

Yao Jin glanced at the contact name, took a light sip of her drink, and said, “Your wife is calling.”

Xu Yingran was genuinely drunk. She stared at Fu Qiao’s call for a long time, finally extending her finger, pausing for two seconds on the screen, and then hanging up!

“Whoa!” Yao Jin hadn’t expected the usually wife-loyal Xu Yingran to be so bold today—actually daring to hang up on Fu Qiao. She burst into laughter and said gleefully, “You’re going to be in big trouble tomorrow.”

“How could I be in trouble?” Xu Yingran told Yao Jin, “I’m telling you, I’m not going back tonight. I won’t answer Fu Qiao’s calls, and I won’t sleep before midnight. I’m going to stay out all night!”

Yao Jin rolled her eyes, pulled out her phone, and started recording a video of Xu Yingran. As she recorded, she said, “Xu Yingran, what did you just say? Repeat it for my camera.”

Xu Yingran cooperated, made a ‘V’ sign, and said to the camera, “I, Xu Yingran, am not answering Fu Qiao’s calls today, I won’t sleep before midnight, and I’m going to stay out all night!”

“Good,” Yao Jin gave her a thumbs-up. “Well said. When Fu Qiao calls later, tell her that exact thing.”

Just as the words left her mouth, Xu Yingran’s phone rang again. It was Fu Qiao’s number.

“Hello, wife?” Xu Yingran held the phone and said ‘hello’ for a long time before realizing she hadn’t actually answered the call. Squinting, she swiped to answer and then told the person on the line, “Wife, I’m staying out all night tonight. Please don’t call me again…”

Perhaps she had drunk too much wine. After that, she didn’t remember what Xu Yingran had said or what the person on the phone had replied. All she remembered was sleeping soundly on the bar sofa with her phone cradled in her arms.

When she woke up, Xu Yingran still hadn’t fully realized what she had said the previous night.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. It took a long time before she rubbed her head and sat up in bed.

What greeted her eyes were old furniture and a decades-old communal apartment building. Xu Yingran patted her head, which was throbbing from the hangover, and looked around in confusion. She puzzled, “Yao Jin, why did that woman bring me to the old house?”

Xu Yingran currently lived with Fu Qiao in their new home, a high-end villa in an upscale community. Their old family house was scheduled for demolition soon; although the belongings were still there, Xu Yingran had already contacted movers to deal with them. She never expected to wake up sleeping back in her old house.

Looking at the familiar, period furniture, Xu Yingran felt as if she had suddenly gone back ten years. Before she could indulge in a moment of sentimentality, she abruptly remembered her ‘grand declaration’ from last night.

What did she say?

She wouldn’t go home before 9:00 PM, she wouldn’t sleep before midnight, she would stay out all night, and she told Fu Qiao not to call her again.

Xu Yingran: “!!!”

No wonder Yao Jin sent her to the old house! If she had been sent home, her wife would have surely skinned her alive!!!

Xu Yingran gasped, leaping out of bed and frantically searching for her phone and car keys. She thought that if she rushed home now to kneel on the washboard, it might still be early enough!

It was then that Xu Yingran realized something was very wrong.

The old house was too clean; it didn’t look like a place that hadn’t been visited in years. Moreover, there were many traces of recent life, proving that someone had been living there. Clothes were hung on the balcony, already dried but not yet taken down.

Because the old house was street-facing, Xu Yingran could hear the vendor calls downstairs: sellers of breakfast, morning tea, and vegetables—the clamor was lively and continuous.

But Xu Yingran clearly remembered that the old street had been abandoned for many years due to urban redevelopment and was slated for demolition along with the old houses. Where were these calls coming from now?

Just as she was confused, she suddenly heard a knock on the door from the outer room.

‘Knock, knock, knock—’

The old wooden door had no doorbell. The person outside knocked twice and then shouted into the room in a voice Xu Yingran knew well: “Xu-Ying-ran, we need to leave for school. If we don’t go now, we’ll be late again!”

Xu Yingran had initially walked toward the door when she heard the knock, but her pace quickened until she was practically running to open it.

When she opened the old wooden door, she saw the rising sun shining on the corridor of the communal apartment building. Fu Qiao stood in the doorway, like a freshly bloomed white magnolia. Her clear, bright eyes focused on the person in front of her. After sizing up Xu Yingran, she slightly furrowed her brow.

Xu Yingran knew the sight of Fu Qiao frowning all too well. Every time she messed up and made her wife angry, she wore that expression; it hadn’t changed since they were children.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Fu Qiao frowned her delicate eyebrows and leaned closer to Xu Yingran. “We’re going to be late for school soon. Why haven’t you even changed into your uniform?”

Hearing Fu Qiao’s words, Xu Yingran realized Fu Qiao was wearing a blue-and-white school uniform and carrying a backpack, with a carton of plain milk in her hand.

“School?” Xu Yingran couldn’t react for a moment. She asked curiously, “What school, wife?”

Xu Yingran said ‘wife’ so naturally that Fu Qiao was slightly stunned. At the same time, Xu Yingran’s parents, who had just returned from buying breakfast, were also frozen in the doorway.

Fu Qiao also noticed Xu Yingran’s parents, and her face instantly flushed red. She stomped her foot and angrily said, “You, you, you! What are you shouting about!”

Xu Yingran didn’t have time to consider Fu Qiao’s feelings, as she saw her parents, who were alive and well. She was utterly dumbfounded.

Whether she accepted it or not, the fact proved that she had indeed returned to the past, specifically her third year of high school.

“A−Jin,Iamtrulyfedupwithbeingcontrolledbymywife.IfIweregivenanotherchancetostartover,Idefinitelywouldn′tmarry∗∗FuQiao∗∗!”

The words from the bar were still vivid in Xu Yingran’s memory. She had indeed thought that if she could go back to the past, she would never get together with Fu Qiao. She had only been saying it casually, but she never expected it to come true after waking up.

Xu Yingran’s parents passed away unexpectedly during her third year of high school. Since then, she was essentially cared for by Fu Qiao’s parents, spending holidays at the Fu household. Coupled with Fu Qiao confessing her love back then, the two naturally ended up together.

Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Returning to her third year of high school now felt like a dream to Xu Yingran. It also felt as if the world had given her a chance to make a new choice.

Xu Yingran’s father, Xu Chunjiang, a factory worker, was smiling as he placed the small pot of soup on the table. He turned to Fu Qiao and said, “Xiao Qiao, come in and wait for Ranran. It’s not that early for school yet, is it?”

Xu Yingran’s mother, Zhao Yu, glared at him and said, “It’s Monday today. The school has a flag-raising ceremony, so they have to go early. How could you forget?”

Xu Yingran’s mother, an accountant at the hospital, turned and told Xu Yingran, who was still frozen in place, “Ranran, hurry up and change your clothes. I’ll get you some buns to eat on the way.”

“Ah? Oh…” Xu Yingran looked at her vibrant parents, guessing they had gone downstairs early to buy breakfast and hulatang (spicy soup), which was why she hadn’t seen them when she woke up. She went back into her room, found her school uniform, and put it on, feeling bewildered and awkward. She then pushed the door open and said to Fu Qiao, who was drinking milk in the outer room, “Let’s go.”

She was still a bit confused and needed time to calm down. Besides, her parents also had to go to work, so anything important would have to wait until the evening.

Fu Qiao sat on the stool, biting the straw, and looked at her. She asked, “Where’s your schoolbag?”

Xu Yingran: “Huh?”

Schoolbag? What schoolbag?

Oh, right, she had to carry a schoolbag for school!

Xu Yingran almost forgot about that. She quickly found her schoolbag from her room and slung it on. She also instinctively asked, “Where are my phone and car keys?”

“Why would you bring a cell phone to school?” Xu Yingran’s mother, Zhao Yu, glanced at her. “What’s wrong with you today, child? Why are you so muddled after sleeping?”

Xu Chunjiang smiled, eating his breakfast, and said to his short-tempered wife, “Don’t scold the child. Let her go quickly. Xiao Qiao has been waiting for a long time.”

Fu Qiao heard her name, looked at Xu Yingran, and whispered, “It’s alright, Uncle and Auntie.”

Looking at Fu Qiao, who was slightly different from her ten-years-later self, Xu Yingran thought her current ‘wife’ was so well-behaved.