Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 5

“Xu… Xu Yingran, slow down… slow down…”

Fu Qiao ran behind Xu Yingran, clutching her backpack, her fair little face flushed red. She wasn’t as tall as Xu Yingran, and her legs weren’t as long, so no matter how hard she tried, she kept falling behind.

Xu Yingran looked back at Fu Qiao, who was nearly out of breath, and laughed. “Run faster! We’re going to be late in a second.”

Fu Qiao caught up to her, panting heavily. “Isn’t it because you had to copy my homework that we’re late? If you had written it seriously last night, would we even…”

Before Fu Qiao could finish her nagging, Xu Yingran grabbed her hand and started sprinting again, calling out as they ran: “You look exactly like you do ten years from now when you lecture people! Stop talking, let’s go!”

“?”

Fu Qiao wanted to ask what “ten years from now” had to do with anything, but Xu Yingran was dragging her toward the school so fast that she didn’t have the breath to speak.

By the time they reached the school gates, the crowds had thinned. The Dean of Students stood at the entrance checking his watch. When he saw Xu Yingran pulling Fu Qiao toward the gate, his brow furrowed.

“Wait a moment.”

The Dean was a middle-aged man in his forties, slightly plump, wearing silver-rimmed glasses. Perhaps from years of teaching, his expression was very stern. He stopped Xu Yingran and scrutinized her and Fu Qiao for a long time.

Xu Yingran’s heart rose to her throat. She was wearing her badge today! She was in her uniform! Why was she being stopped?

“Teacher?” Xu Yingran asked, puzzled. “Is there a problem?”

The Dean looked at them with a dark expression before saying, “Don’t chase and play on the road. There are many cars and people out there. What if you get hit?”

Xu Yingran breathed a sigh of relief and flashed a smile at the Dean. “Thank you for your concern, Teacher. We’ll head in now; we’re almost late.”

“Go on, go on,” the Dean waved them through.

The two shared a silent understanding and hurried into the campus. Fu Qiao was clearly terrified of the Dean; she gripped Xu Yingran’s hand tightly and didn’t let out a long breath until they were far away.

Seeing her so scared, Xu Yingran’s eyes crinkled. “What’s wrong? Even a top student is afraid of the teacher?”

Fu Qiao glared at her, still a bit breathless. “Who isn’t afraid of teachers? Aren’t you?”

To be honest, the old Xu Yingran might have been, but the current her certainly wasn’t. As long as she didn’t break school rules and acted like an honest “good kid,” what right did a teacher have to control her? A child might have a natural “filter” regarding teachers and adults, but Xu Yingran’s mental age was that of an adult; she had her own independent thoughts.

She looked at Fu Qiao and gently squeezed the girl’s palm. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll protect you from now on.”

Fu Qiao didn’t listen to Xu Yingran’s “crazy talk.” She felt Xu Yingran had been exceptionally strange these past two days; it was better not to encourage her.

“Let’s go,” Fu Qiao said, looking at the empty campus. “If we don’t get back to the classroom, we’ll be late.”

Xu Yingran snapped out of it and pulled Fu Qiao upstairs, stepping into the classroom just as the bell rang.

The moment they entered, they saw the room was packed. The students had just arrived not long ago. Seeing Xu Yingran walking in holding Fu Qiao’s hand, dozens of eyes fixed on them.

“Oh?”

A few people sitting in the corner by the window teased, “Just called her ‘wife’ yesterday, and today you’re coming to school hand-in-hand?”

“Xu Yingran, we know you and Fu Qiao are close, but isn’t this a bit too intimate?”

“Could it be that you two are actually together?”

The group burst into laughter, their eyes filled with mischief.

Eighteen-year-olds haven’t matured yet; their lives revolve around studying and family. They can be both innocent and cruel, speaking without thinking and saying whatever comes to mind.

This was why Xu Yingran hated “naughty kids.”

Hearing them talk about her, Fu Qiao instinctively fell silent. She let go of Xu Yingran’s hand, gave her a look, and walked to her seat.

The group laughed again at this sight, making Xu Yingran very unhappy. She had indeed decided not to be with Fu Qiao this time, but she couldn’t stand seeing others bully her “ex-wife.” Her temper flared up, and she glared at the gossiping girls.

“Is everyone so free first thing in the morning? How Fu Qiao and I come to school—does it require your commentary?”

“Hey, Xu Yingran, why are you getting worked up?” someone sneered. “It’s just a joke.”

“A joke is only a joke if people find it funny. If it’s not funny, it’s not a joke.” Xu Yingran glanced at them and said calmly, “If you’re so free, why don’t you go downstairs and run two laps, or go to the hallway and memorize some books? Let the poems and literature of the ages wash out your mouths.”

The crowd didn’t expect Xu Yingran to actually get angry. They all sat stunned until the homeroom teacher entered the room, frowning. “I could hear you talking from the hallway. Every other class is doing morning self-study—what are you doing?”

The homeroom teacher was a young woman. She looked at Xu Yingran and frowned with displeasure. “Xu Yingran, why are you standing? Why aren’t you back in your seat yet?”

Xu Yingran had no choice but to take her bag and return to her desk.

Perhaps Xu Yingran’s outburst had made her classmates behave; after morning self-study, no one dared to discuss her and Fu Qiao. Xu Yingran kept quiet and obediently handed in her homework.

Fu Qiao sat not far in front of Xu Yingran. She had been restless throughout the entire morning study session. She stole a glance at the person reading in the back row, feeling that something in her heart wasn’t quite right.

She remembered they had attended the same kindergarten—a small one for factory dependents. Being neighbors, she and Xu Yingran were like conjoined twins, always glued together.

Fu Qiao remembered that Xu Yingran was very afraid of the dark as a child. Xu Chunjian and Zhao Yu were factory workers and hospital staff, respectively, and sometimes had night shifts. When they were both working, they would leave Xu Yingran at Fu Qiao’s house to sleep.

Back then, Xu Yingran would sleep with Fu Qiao every night, two three-or-four-year-olds squeezed onto one bed.

Fu Qiao recalled how Xu Yingran always had to hold her hand to sleep peacefully. If she let go, Xu Yingran would open her large, grape-like eyes in the dark and stare at her. She would even follow Fu Qiao if she had to go to the bathroom.

So, Fu Qiao had always thought she would take care of Xu Yingran for a long time. She hadn’t realized that at some point, Xu Yingran had grown taller than her and could run faster than her.

Fu Qiao squeezed her own palm, wondering if drinking a few more cartons of milk would help her grow another two centimeters…

The small interlude from the morning study passed quickly. The students weren’t so bored that they spent all day gossiping; senior year academics were heavy. By the second period, Xu Yingran’s relatively clear mind had turned into a pot of bubbling porridge.

As an adult, she couldn’t remember a single knowledge point from senior year. She wasn’t allowed to have a phone, so she couldn’t even read a novel. Being in class was no different from being in prison.

In prison, you could at least stretch your limbs, do some handiwork, use a sewing machine, or learn a lesson. After only two days of looking at textbooks, she was already starting to regret her rebirth. If she had known she’d have to go through the College Entrance Exam again, she’d rather just go home by 9:00 PM and be in bed by 11:00 PM every night.

Letting out a long sigh, Xu Yingran closed her book. She decided to see if she could understand the next lecture. She didn’t believe it—she had scored over 500 on her original exam; she couldn’t be totally blind, could she?

But soon, Xu Yingran felt exactly what a “totally blind” state was.

The second period was with the homeroom teacher, but someone else came in with her.

Yao Jin stood beside the teacher, wearing her own clothes instead of a uniform. She carried a black calfskin British-style backpack. Her long black hair was tied in a neat, low ponytail, with two curled strands of bangs framing her face. She stood on the podium, looking very calm.

“Let me introduce someone to you,” the teacher said to the curious students. “This is a transfer student joining Class 5. She’ll be studying with us from now on. Everyone, please welcome her.”

A new student transferring in so soon after the start of the semester piqued everyone’s curiosity. Xu Yingran heard the girls in the front row whispering: “Is that hair professionally done? It looks so pretty, it must have cost a lot.”

“More than that—look at her jacket. I remember seeing it at a department store counter; I think it’s over ten thousand yuan?”

“Over ten thousand? Is she a rich second generation?”

Xu Yingran propped her head on her hand and thought calmly: Yao Jin’s family isn’t just “rich second generation”—they are wealthy beyond your imagination. That ten-thousand-yuan jacket might actually be the cheapest thing she owns.

At the thought, Xu Yingran couldn’t help but chuckle.

Standing on the stage, Yao Jin heard the whispering. Suddenly, her eyes caught Xu Yingran laughing, and she fixed her gaze on her face.

Their eyes met. Xu Yingran, propping up her face, mouthed the words: ‘A-Jin.’

A-Jin?

Yao Jin felt a jolt in her heart. It had been a long time since she had heard someone call her that. Did this stranger… know her?

While Yao Jin was thinking, the teacher glanced at her and said, “Student, please introduce yourself.”

Yao Jin looked away from Xu Yingran, nodded to the teacher, and calmly scanned the room. “My name is Yao Jin. ‘Jin’ as in ‘a future as bright as brocade.’ Please take care of me from now on.”