Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 43

When Zhou Wan pushed open the office door clutching a stack of documents, she spotted Fu Qiao standing to the side, speaking with Li Yuwen.

“Hello, Teacher Li,” Zhou Wan said cheerfully. She glanced at Fu Qiao and walked over to place the materials on Li Yuwen’s desk. “Our Teacher Wang said these are the documents you requested; she asked me to hand them over to you.”

Li Yuwen nodded. “I see. Just leave them there.”

Zhou Wan nodded in return. She looked back at Fu Qiao and blinked curiously at her.

Why are you here?

Zhou Wan signaled desperately with her eyes, but Fu Qiao only spared her a glance before lowering her head, silently twisting the hem of her jacket.

“Fu Qiao, I’ll say it again—transferring schools now that you’re already a senior is truly inappropriate,” Li Yuwen said earnestly. “If you have time, please ask your parents to come to the school, or I can personally go speak to them some day after school when I’m free. Your grades are excellent; a transfer would have a significant impact on you.”

Fu Qiao remained as silent as ever; it was impossible to tell if she was actually taking the words to heart.

Li Yuwen truly didn’t know what else to say, so she pinned her hopes on Fu Qiao’s parents and dismissed both Fu Qiao and Zhou Wan.

“Senior Fu Qiao, are you transferring?”

Outside the office, Zhou Wan asked curiously, “Your grades are so good, why would you want to transfer? Especially during such a critical time like senior year.”

Fu Qiao looked at her junior and spoke slowly: “Actually, I haven’t quite decided whether to transfer or not. Besides, I know my own level. Even if I perform exceptionally well, I won’t make it into a top-tier university. In that case, studying anywhere is the same.”

In the senior year, there were essentially no new lessons; it was all revision of previous material. Fu Qiao could do this at home; which school she attended didn’t make a huge difference.

However, watching her parents work past midnight every day, Fu Qiao felt she couldn’t let them worry about her anymore. Their new home was so far from the school that if she didn’t transfer, she would spend one or two hours a day just commuting.

Hearing this, Zhou Wan still disagreed.

“If it really doesn’t work out, Senior, you could always live on campus,” Zhou Wan suggested as they stood by the office door. “Our school has dormitories. You don’t necessarily have to transfer.”

Fu Qiao looked at her, but before she could speak, Xu Yingran appeared out of nowhere with Yao Jin in tow.

The moment Zhou Wan saw Xu Yingran, her face turned beet red. she ducked behind Fu Qiao, tightly clutching the corner of the older girl’s school uniform.

Ever since she had found out that Xu Yingran liked girls, Zhou Wan’s heart had been in a flutter. Seeing Xu Yingran so suddenly now made her feel like her brain was about to explode with excitement.

An atmosphere of youthful ambiguity instantly swirled among the four of them, and the air seemed to fall still.

Fu Qiao looked at Zhou Wan hiding behind her and thought with lowered eyes: She really does like Xu Yingran.

But in Xu Yingran’s eyes, the scene had a completely different flavor.

To her, this junior, Zhou Wan, was using her status as an excuse to pull and tug at Fu Qiao right in front of her. Look at that face, red as a tomato—who couldn’t see that Zhou Wan liked Fu Qiao?!

Dammit, someone was eyeing her wife. Xu Yingran was very unhappy.

The sharp-eyed Yao Jin observed the three of them for a moment, appearing to catch on to the situation.

Though Xu Yingran was annoyed, she tried her best to maintain a peaceful expression. She turned to Fu Qiao and said, “Next period is in the lab. I’ve brought all your things; let’s head over directly.”

Fu Qiao looked back at Zhou Wan. Only then did Zhou Wan release her grip on Fu Qiao’s jacket, whispering into her ear: “Go ahead, Senior. I have to get to class too.”

“Alright.”

Zhou Wan stole two more glances at Xu Yingran before scurrying away.

Xu Yingran crossed her arms and curled her lip. That little brat had actually rolled her eyes at her twice before leaving—talk about a provocation!

Yao Jin was the first to speak: “Let’s go. Don’t just stand there like an idiot, or we’ll be late.”

“What does it matter if we’re late? It’s just lab class anyway,” Xu Yingran muttered, though she still started walking downstairs. Noticing Fu Qiao hadn’t moved, she looked at her curiously. “What’s wrong?”

Fu Qiao snapped out of it, shook her head slightly, and followed.

As Fu Qiao walked behind her, Xu Yingran caught a whiff of her usual laundry detergent—it was lemon-scented. The crisp, clean lemon scent had a hint of sweetness that Xu Yingran loved.

She remembered that they had used this same detergent after they were married. Back then, they both carried each other’s scent. Thinking about it now felt like a dream.

As Yao Jin walked ahead, Xu Yingran gradually slowed her pace, intentionally moving closer to Fu Qiao until her pinky finger lightly brushed against Fu Qiao’s hand.

At first, Fu Qiao thought it was an accident, but after it happened twice more, she looked up at Xu Yingran curiously and asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Xu Yingran said with a light laugh. “Let’s hurry.”

With that, she proactively took Fu Qiao’s hand. The two of them quickened their pace to catch up with Yao Jin, and the three entered the lab together.

Evening self-study naturally ran late. After Yao Jin was picked up by her driver, only Xu Yingran and Fu Qiao were left again.

Fu Qiao hadn’t been in a bright mood all day. She was still brooding over the school transfer. She understood the logic, but she was still hesitating.

Broadcasting studies. Transferring schools.

Fu Qiao hadn’t told her parents about any of this; they had no idea what she was really thinking.

Lately, because they had no business to attend to, Fu Jun and his wife had been busy with the new shop and the new house, and they didn’t intend to tell Fu Qiao much. Perhaps, in the minds of parents, their business was their own affair and had nothing to do with the child.

Fu Qiao was sensible enough not to pry. But not prying didn’t mean she wasn’t worried; she still couldn’t bear to be away from her parents.

“Fu Qiao!”

While Fu Qiao was lost in thought, Xu Yingran suddenly ran over from somewhere holding two ice cream cones, handing one to her.

“It’s almost November. Where did you get ice cream?” Fu Qiao accepted the sweet, soft, marshmallow-like white cone and looked at Xu Yingran in surprise.

This person had just been beside her a moment ago—how did she suddenly appear with two ice cream cones? It was like a magic trick.

Xu Yingran grinned heartlessly, showing her two small canine teeth. “I saw the sign on the shop over there. I realized I haven’t had one in a long time, so I bought two.”

With that, she took a satisfied lick of the soft white ice cream.

Under the dim, yellow glow of the streetlights, the light spilled over their heads and shoulders. Fu Qiao quietly watched her childhood friend, then slowly looked down at the cone in her hand and took a bite of the tip.

The icy texture melted in her mouth, carrying the sweet fragrance of cream.

Perhaps because it was nearly ten o’clock and the shop was closing, the cones Xu Yingran bought were particularly substantial—it felt like double the usual amount. It made one feel a bit chilly all over.

Xu Yingran finished first and couldn’t help but hug her shoulders and shiver.

“So cold!” she cried out.

Fu Qiao’s mouth was also freezing. Looking at the remaining half of the cone, she thought about it but couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. Both of them were penniless; they weren’t about to luxuriously waste a rare snack.

But seeing her holding it without eating, Xu Yingran knew she was cold. She decisively snatched the remaining cone and took a bite. “Don’t eat anymore. It’s too cold; don’t freeze your stomach.”

Fu Qiao watched blankly as Xu Yingran polished off the rest of the ice cream in a few bites, her brow furrowing slightly.

She had already eaten half of that cone. Xu Yingran wasn’t a child anymore—didn’t she know how to avoid such intimacy?

Xu Yingran looked at Fu Qiao and was about to speak, but the cold autumn night wind blew, making it impossible to open her mouth.

Fu Qiao felt bad for her. She looked around; not many shops were open, basically just the convenience stores.

There happened to be a 24-hour convenience store nearby. Fu Qiao pointed toward it and said to Xu Yingran, “Let’s go get some Oden. Look at you—your lips will be blue by the time you get home.”

Xu Yingran wrinkled her nose sheepishly. She vowed never to eat ice cream on a cold day again.

In the empty convenience store, Fu Qiao ordered two servings of Oden and asked the clerk for extra broth. She also bought a seaweed rice ball and cut it in half.

The hot Oden and rice ball were much more comfortable to eat than the ice cream.

I’m definitely going to have diarrhea after this, Xu Yingran thought as she ate.

The two of them slowly finished the Oden and shared the rice ball. In the quiet, brightly lit convenience store at ten o’clock on an autumn night, they watched the leaves outside being blown to one side by the wind.

“The wind is picking up,” Fu Qiao said softly. “The temperature will probably drop again tomorrow.”

Xu Yingran nodded. The temperature had plummeted over the last two days. One autumn rain after another had brought the city’s temperature down below ten degrees. Even if it warmed up later, it would be like a “grasshopper after autumn”—it wouldn’t last long.

At noon on Wednesday, Fu Qiao was called away by a wandering Zhou Wan.

The moment Xu Yingran looked up and saw her leave, she began poking her cheek with the cap of her pen, her face practically screaming “unhappy.”

“Give it a rest. Don’t act like you’ve swallowed gunpowder every time Zhou Wan shows up,” Yao Jin said, looking up from organizing the class notes. “The teacher just said we need to buy something—do you remember what it was?”

“I don’t remember.” Xu Yingran craned her neck to watch the two figures outside the door. “I’m going to go ask Fu Qiao.”

Yao Jin knew exactly what she was up to. She quickly yanked her back into her chair and said sternly, “Can’t you be a bit more mature like me? It’s Fu Qiao’s business who she makes friends with. Are you her father or her mother? Even Uncle and Auntie aren’t as strict as you are.”

She acted like she wanted to stuff Fu Qiao in her pocket and take her everywhere.

Xu Yingran hummed sullenly: “She’s my wife.”

Yao Jin propped up her head and let go. “Fine. Go ahead and rush out right now and tell Fu Qiao she’s your wife. I promise I won’t stop you.”

Xu Yingran glanced at her, puzzled. “A-Jin, whose side are you on anyway? You aren’t a reinforcement sent by Zhou Wan, are you?”

Yao Jin gave a wry smile. “I wish I were.”