Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 10

Yao Jin was one of the few friends Xu Yingran could truly confide in. In her past life, every time she was driven mad by work or personal life, Yao Jin had acted as the “trash can” for her grievances.

Truthfully, Xu Yingran felt she shouldn’t have told Yao Jin those secrets so soon, but what was said couldn’t be unsaid. More importantly, Xu Yingran was currently in a state of chaos; she needed a strategist.

Yao Jin clearly fit the bill.

“A-Jin, don’t be so hostile toward me. I just want us to be on good terms,” Xu Yingran said to her. “If you really don’t want to hear about that stuff anymore, I won’t bring it up again.”

Yao Jin frowned. She was still inexperienced—just an eighteen-year-old girl. She couldn’t hold out long against an “old fox” like the reborn Xu Yingran. Within a few sentences, her budding suspicion was quelled. Xu Yingran even added, “My secret involves my personal safety, so you must keep it a secret for me.”

As for keeping a secret, Yao Jin definitely would. After all, if she went around telling people what Xu Yingran said, people would think she was the one with the problem.

She didn’t want to be hauled off for a psychiatric evaluation.

Yao Jin gave her a long, deep look. If Xu Yingran hadn’t sounded so logical and grounded, Yao Jin would have dragged her to the hospital herself for a full checkup.

“You students over there! What are you doing?”

The school gates had already closed. The Dean of Students, a somewhat stout man, shouted at them, “Morning self-study is starting! Why are you still wandering around? Get back to class!”

While Xu Yingran wasn’t afraid of the Dean, she didn’t want to go looking for trouble. She grabbed Yao Jin’s hand, shouted back, “We’re going!” and pulled her into a sprint.

Just as they reached the teaching building, the bell for morning self-study rang. They dashed up the stairs.

Fortunately, Class 5 was near the staircase. Seeing that the homeroom teacher hadn’t arrived yet, Xu Yingran slipped through the back door and sneaked into her seat.

Fu Qiao turned around to look at the two of them sneaking in. Her gaze lingered on Yao Jin’s face.

Fu Qiao hadn’t seen the scene outside the gates, but the classroom was already buzzing with gossip. Everyone knew Yao Jin had arrived in a black luxury car, that a driver had opened the door for her, carried her bag, and called her “Miss.”

These were plots from idol dramas. No one expected to see them play out in real life.

“Oh, look, our class’s Little Miss is here~”

Chen Yu, with her usual face of someone looking for trouble, sneered at Yao Jin. “What was the new girl’s name again? Does your family own a gold mine? Why’d you come to our crappy school?”

Yao Jin was someone who had seen the world. She didn’t even turn her head, acting as if she hadn’t heard a thing as she pulled out her textbooks and stationery.

Seeing Yao Jin’s cold indifference, Chen Yu’s annoyance spiked. Just as she was about to spit out more sarcasm, Xu Yingran spoke up coldly.

“People come and go as they please. Why is a ‘servant girl’ so worried about it?” Xu Yingran added, “What’s the saying? The Emperor isn’t worried, but the eunuch is frantic.”

The class erupted into laughter. Chen Yu slammed her desk and stood up abruptly. “Xu Yingran, who are you calling a eunuch?”

The words had barely left her mouth when the homeroom teacher walked through the front door. Hearing Chen Yu’s shout, the teacher’s face instantly darkened.

“Chen Yu,” the teacher said sternly. “It’s morning self-study. Why are you standing up? Do you want to come up here and give the lecture?”

Chen Yu sat down sullenly.

“Who told you to sit down?” the teacher snapped. “What were you shouting about? Do you know what grade you’re in? Who were you fighting with?”

Xu Yingran was about to stand up, but Yao Jin was faster. With her usual calm expression, she said, “It was me.”

The teacher blinked. She remembered the Principal’s instructions: this transfer student, Yao Jin, had an extraordinary background. Rumor had it her family had donated an entire building to the school. Naturally, the teacher couldn’t scold Yao Jin. She turned her glare toward Chen Yu and frowned.

“I can tell you started it. Skip self-study. Go stand in the hallway.”

Chen Yu was shocked and furious. She pointed at Yao Jin. “Why doesn’t she have to go?”

“You’re comparing yourself to her?” The teacher slapped the desk in displeasure. “If you want to compare, compare your grades or your test scores, not this nonsense. Talking back again? Take your books and get out!”

The students turned to watch Chen Yu. Everyone knew she had a wild streak, poor grades, and was a bit of a “delinquent” girl. Most were just enjoying the show, and their stares made Chen Yu incredibly uncomfortable.

Left with no choice, Chen Yu grabbed her books and stormed out the back door in a huff.

Several students leaned out to peek at her, but the teacher tapped the blackboard sharply. “What are you looking at? Anyone else who looks can join her outside.”

Once the class settled, the teacher turned to Yao Jin. “You may sit. Don’t fight with your classmates. You’re in your senior year; focus on your studies. As for the rest of you, don’t mess around with Chen Yu. Look at her behavior—do you still want to get into university?”

The teacher used Chen Yu as a cautionary tale for a five-minute lecture before finally leaving them to their study.

Once she was gone, the class let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Hey, the transfer student is pretty cool,” a male student whispered, clapping lightly. “A real chivalrous lady~”

Yao Jin remained unmoved, but Xu Yingran caught a slight curl at the corner of her lips. She was clearly pleased. From the corner of her eye, Xu Yingran noticed Fu Qiao staring at her. There was a look in Fu Qiao’s eyes that seemed to hold a heavy emotion. Xu Yingran pretended not to see it and lowered her head to her textbook.

Since she had decided not to follow the old path, she couldn’t give Fu Qiao false hope. She had to learn how to keep her distance.

Meanwhile, Fu Qiao watched the girl with her head buried in her books. After a long silence, she shifted her gaze to an application form on her own desk.

It was a transfer application. Fu Qiao had gotten it from the teacher a few days ago. She remembered the teacher telling her to think it over—changing schools in senior year was bound to affect her grades, and Fu Qiao was such a high achiever.

The business at Fu Qiao’s family barbecue stall had always been good, and they had saved a lot of money over the years. Her parents didn’t have many expenses and wanted to buy a house for Fu Qiao—a place of her own for her future work and life.

The house was in a new development, a thirty-minute drive from the old factory dorms they lived in now. Furthermore, her parents had purchased two storefronts there to open an indoor barbecue restaurant so they wouldn’t have to worry about the weather.

Fu Qiao figured that if they moved, she would have to go with them. A thirty-minute commute was too far, so a transfer was inevitable.

She hid the application under her textbooks. Fu Qiao actually wanted to stay. She had someone in her heart, but that heartless person didn’t seem to care about her at all…

At noon, Xu Yingran took Yao Jin to the nearby snack street. The three of them, including Fu Qiao, squeezed into a Snail Rice Noodle (Luosifen) shop to steal some air conditioning.

A cream-colored cat took a liking to Fu Qiao and kept clinging to her during the meal. By the time the other two had finished, Fu Qiao was only halfway through.

“We’re running out of time, we have to go back,” Xu Yingran said, checking her watch. “Eat quickly. If you can’t finish, I’ll go buy you a pork loin pancake next door so you don’t go hungry later.”

Not wanting to delay them, Fu Qiao used her chopsticks to shovel the remaining noodles into her mouth. She took a sip of the spicy, salty broth, feeling like she was about to catch fire.

Amused, Xu Yingran grabbed a bottle of Fu Qiao’s favorite drink from the cooler and handed it to her. “Drink this. Look how hot you are.”

Yao Jin glanced at them before getting up to pay the bill.

Seeing Yao Jin pay, Fu Qiao asked in surprise, “Why did you pay for everything? We could have paid for ourselves.”

Xu Yingran stopped her. “It’s fine. Three bowls of noodles don’t cost much.”

Fu Qiao didn’t agree. “But we shouldn’t take advantage of the new student.”

Take advantage of her?

Xu Yingran looked at Yao Jin with a smirk. “A-Jin, are we taking advantage of you?”

Yao Jin put her wallet away and said, “Yes.”

Fu Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, leaving Xu Yingran with a wry expression. She sighed helplessly, “Fine, next time the ice cream is on me.”

After leaving the shop, Fu Qiao finished her drink, tossed it into a bin, and followed the other two toward the school.

As they passed a crosswalk, Xu Yingran saw Chen Yu leaning against a wall across the street, whispering with a group of shady-looking characters.

If Xu Yingran saw them, Yao Jin and Fu Qiao naturally did too.

Chen Yu had her school jacket tied around her waist. She was laughing with the group, but when she turned and saw the three of them at the traffic light, her eyes narrowed. She jerked her chin toward them, and the group turned their heads in unison to stare.

Xu Yingran’s brow furrowed. She instinctively stepped in front of Fu Qiao to protect her. Yao Jin looked at Chen Yu calmly, but her lips were pressed thin, showing her tension.

Beep, beep, beep—

The light turned green. Xu Yingran saw the other group preparing to walk over. She took Fu Qiao’s hand and said to both of them, “Don’t engage. Let’s go this way.”

Yao Jin agreed. As the light changed, they hurried across the crosswalk toward the school.

As the two groups brushed past each other on the zebra crossing, Chen Yu smirked. Standing in the middle of the road, she called out to Xu Yingran and Yao Jin:

“You two better have the guts not to leave after school.”