Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 2

The distance from the old house to the school wasn’t far—just a two-street walk.

Xu Yingran was still in a daze, but her adaptability was strong. She had roughly pieced together her current situation.

It was the first semester of her senior year of high school. Her parents were still alive, and she wasn’t yet with Fu Qiao. The two of them were still long-time best friends and neighbors. Every morning, rain or shine, Fu Qiao would wait at Xu Yingran’s doorstep to go to school together.

Born only a few days apart and living next door to each other, they had attended the same schools practically their entire lives. After Xu Yingran’s parents passed away in her previous life, the Fu family had taken her in, treating her like their own daughter during holidays and festivals. Later, when Xu Yingran and Fu Qiao got married, she had truly regarded Fu Qiao’s parents as her own.

Xu Yingran remembered that Fu Qiao’s parents used to run a barbecue stall at the night market; she wasn’t sure if they were still doing that now.

She stole a glance at the person beside her. Today, Fu Qiao was exceptionally quiet. She sipped on a carton of pure milk and hadn’t said more than two words to Xu Yingran the whole way. Since Xu Yingran was still adjusting to her rebirth, she hadn’t initiated much conversation either.

By now, Fu Qiao had finished her milk and was idly playing with the empty carton. Sensing Xu Yingran watching her, she tilted her head curiously. “What’s wrong with you today? You seem weird.”

Xu Yingran blinked and looked away. “Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

Fu Qiao didn’t question it. She walked quickly to a nearby trash can, tossed the carton in, then jogged back to walk side-by-side with Xu Yingran again.

Watching her wife run back and forth, Xu Yingran inexplicably felt that the current Fu Qiao was incredibly cute.

No, no, no. Had she forgotten how strict Fu Qiao was after they got married?

They weren’t like that when they first wed, but once Fu Qiao took control of the household and company finances, she began to manage Xu Yingran step by step. Business dinners after work had to be reported; she had to be home by 9:00 PM. If she wasn’t, the phone calls would be non-stop, or Fu Qiao would simply show up to fetch her.

At night, regardless of what they were doing, they had to sleep by 11:00 PM. Even during their most intimate moments, Fu Qiao’s voice was never loud; she would just lean into Xu Yingran’s arms and pant softly. Only when her wife was in a good mood after being well-served could Xu Yingran get a bit more pocket money.

That’s right—Xu Yingran, a big boss, had a fixed monthly allowance of only six or seven hundred yuan. The rest of the company’s earnings went straight into Fu Qiao’s pocket.

Even Yao Jin said she was a “wife-slave”—not just a slave, but completely henpecked.

The more Xu Yingran thought about it, the more she felt her previous thought was absurd. Whether Fu Qiao was “obedient” now had nothing to do with her; she didn’t plan on marrying this person again.

But… “a day as a couple means a hundred days of grace.” They had been together for ten years. To just drop her like that felt a bit sub-human.

However, Fu Qiao didn’t have her memories of the future. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity for Xu Yingran? She could find someone she truly loved to be with.

But if she didn’t marry Fu Qiao, who would Fu Qiao end up with?

The more Xu Yingran pondered, the more unsettled she felt. A “little devil” on one shoulder told her to stay far away from Fu Qiao, while a “little angel” on the other shoulder whispered: “If you don’t marry her and she marries someone else, you’ll have nowhere to go to regret it!”

While the two little voices were arguing, they arrived at the school gates.

Students were trickling in, and a row of student monitors wearing red armbands stood at the entrance, checking for school badges.

Xu Yingran’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively felt her chest, only to realize she wasn’t wearing her badge.

In her memory, the Dean of Students was extremely strict. Not wearing a badge meant losing points for the class and being forced to stand as punishment for the entire morning self-study period. Xu Yingran couldn’t remember where her badge was and stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

Noticing something was wrong, Fu Qiao glanced at Xu Yingran’s chest and leaned in helplessly.

“Forgot your badge?” Fu Qiao whispered.

Looking at the girl so close to her, Xu Yingran nodded silently.

Fu Qiao glanced at the Dean, then reached up to unpin the badge from her own chest and moved to pin it onto Xu Yingran.

The morning sun was still golden, casting a glow over Fu Qiao’s cheek that highlighted the fine peach fuzz on her skin. Inexplicably, Xu Yingran’s heart began to race.

After pinning the badge, Fu Qiao looked up at her. “Use mine first. Give it back to me when we get to the classroom.”

Coming back to her senses, Xu Yingran asked in a low voice, “Then what about you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Fu Qiao said, looking back at her. “I’m a good student. If I ‘forget’ once in a while, they won’t make me stand. You, on the other hand… the Dean will keep his eye on you. Don’t let him find a reason to give you trouble.”

Xu Yingran didn’t know what to say. Just as she opened her mouth, Fu Qiao tugged at her sleeve, giving her a look that signaled her to stay quiet.

Seeing Fu Qiao about to walk toward the gate, Xu Yingran quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side. She pointed at the hollow metal fence. “Wait for me here. I’ll go in first and then pass the badge back to you through the fence.”

Fu Qiao looked at the fence, thought for a moment, and nodded. She whispered a reminder: “Hurry up then. There are only five minutes before we’re late.”

Xu Yingran’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she held Fu Qiao’s hand. “It’s only five minutes. I definitely won’t let you be late.”

Quickly passing the Dean’s inspection, Xu Yingran sprinted toward the fence. As she ran, she felt the warmth of the rising sun. Seeing Fu Qiao standing by the railing, she felt her heart beat even faster.

When she handed the badge back to Fu Qiao, her pulse was thundering.

What’s going on?

Xu Yingran frowned in confusion. She used to see her wife every single day, and her heart never raced like this. Why was it that after starting over, she couldn’t control herself?

Watching from a distance as Fu Qiao pinned the badge and entered the school, she saw Fu Qiao check that the Dean wasn’t looking before waving at her to hurry to class.

On the first morning of her return to her senior year, Xu Yingran suddenly felt that everything was unexpectedly beautiful.

During the Monday flag-raising ceremony, Fu Qiao went on stage to give a speech as a top student. Although the content was the same old platitudes she’d heard a thousand times, Xu Yingran thought Fu Qiao looked exceptionally beautiful today.

Fu Qiao’s grades had always been excellent, consistently in the top three of their year. Unlike a “tail-ender” like Xu Yingran, it really was a miracle that Fu Qiao hung out with her every day.

Back in the classroom, the day’s lessons began. Sitting at her desk, Xu Yingran stared blankly at the test paper in front of her. She listened to the teacher’s lecture with a mind full of question marks.

What is this person saying? What am I supposed to be doing? I recognize every word on this paper, but why can’t I solve a single problem??

Xu Yingran clutched her head in agony as the teacher assigned a massive pile of homework. “Hand these in before class tomorrow,” the teacher announced.

Homework? I still have to do homework?

Xu Yingran hadn’t touched homework since graduating high school. Even in university, she had been a “60-percent-is-enough” student. To suddenly pick up a senior-year high school paper left her completely bewildered. Other people who transmigrate back to high school aim for Tsinghua or Peking University; she, on the other hand, had forgotten even basic formulas.

By the end of the day, Xu Yingran felt like her brain was going to explode. Not only had she understood nothing, but she also had a backpack full of papers. Looking at them gave her a headache.

While she was massaging her throbbing temples in pain, Fu Qiao finished packing her things and walked over. Standing by the desk, she asked, “School’s over, why aren’t you packing? Are you planning to do all these papers here?”

Xu Yingran closed her eyes in misery. “Wife, don’t talk to me for a second. My head hurts.”

She was still busy thinking about how to handle the mountain of assignments.

The moment the words left her mouth, Xu Yingran realized something was wrong. She looked up to see the students who hadn’t left yet all turning to stare at her. Fu Qiao’s face had turned a deep, burning red, and she was glaring at Xu Yingran with a mix of embarrassment and urgency.

Only then did Xu Yingran realize what she had just called Fu Qiao.

“Oh ho! We knew you two were close, but we didn’t know you were already calling her ‘wife’.” A few classmates looking for gossip teased them. “Calling her ‘wife’ now… what are you going to call her later?”

Fu Qiao shot a glare at the gossiping students, then glared at the seated Xu Yingran. Finally, without a word, she turned and stormed off.

The classroom erupted in jeers. Xu Yingran frowned and shouted at the gossipers, “What? What? So what if I want to call Fu Qiao ‘wife’? Is it any of your business? Careful you don’t wear your tongues out with all that talking.”

With that, she shoved her homework into her bag and scrambled to chase after Fu Qiao.

Fu Qiao wasn’t walking very fast. Xu Yingran caught up to her just as she was heading down the stairs.

“Fu Qiao! Fu Qiao, Fu Qiao!”

Xu Yingran skipped down the steps and caught up, asking sheepishly, “Are you angry?”

Fu Qiao stopped and looked back at her, her cheeks still flushed. “Twice.”

Xu Yingran: “Huh?”

Fu Qiao raised her fair face to look at Xu Yingran, repeating, “You called me ‘wife’ twice today.”

As she reached that last word, “wife,” Xu Yingran saw Fu Qiao’s face turn even redder.

“Is that all?” Xu Yingran’s eyes crinkled with a smile. She leaned in close and said, “You’re angry at me just for calling you ‘wife’ twice? Why such a bad temper?”

Fu Qiao looked at her in shock. She instinctively took a step back, staring at her intently. “Do you even know what you’re saying?”

What I’m saying?

Xu Yingran had called Fu Qiao “wife” for so many years; it had just slipped out naturally. Was it really that big of a deal?

But seeing that Fu Qiao seemed genuinely upset, Xu Yingran rubbed her nose and apologized in a low voice: “I’m sorry. From now on… I won’t call you ‘wife’ anymore.”