Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 64

Lately, He Qiao felt that she had been smiling much more often.

In the past, her daily routine of going to school, coming home, and eating felt like the life of a walking corpse. She would wake up thinking about how many sets of exam papers she had to finish. On weekends, she would consider going out for a walk, only to realize she had no one to invite, so she would simply burrow back into her room to continue her exercises.

At school and within her class, she was the “top student among top students.” Her parents held high expectations for her, and teachers constantly praised her, telling the struggling students to look up to her as a role model. Over time, He Qiao found herself without friends.

But ever since Fu Qiao transferred and sat beside her, He Qiao felt as though she had changed significantly. Now, when she woke up, besides thinking about her workload, she also thought about sharing difficult problems with Fu Qiao so they could solve them together.

Back when she ate alone at school, she used to bring a book to the cafeteria; reading while eating made her feel less lonely. Since becoming close with Fu Qiao, they went to the cafeteria together every day to see what the chef had prepared. If they ordered different dishes, they would even swap food.

Even hearing Fu Qiao praise her for being smart felt far more pleasant than the compliments of her parents or teachers. These were all experiences she had never had before.

Fu Qiao didn’t notice the depth of He Qiao’s gaze. She was busy taking out materials for the next class. She turned and whispered to He Qiao, “The next class is for going over the test papers, right? The last two big questions?”

He Qiao nodded, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “It should be.”

“I got the very last question wrong. I really didn’t know how to solve it.”

“Mm, actually… it’s not that hard.” He Qiao thought for a moment before fishing a workbook out of her drawer and handing it to Fu Qiao. “The solution is in this one. You can buy a copy of this to practice with.”

Fu Qiao’s eyes lit up. “Thank you so much! Why don’t I treat you to a chicken leg at lunch? I just topped up my meal card.”

“There’s no need.”

“I just want to treat you, don’t be so polite with me.”

“…Alright then, thank you.”

Seeing He Qiao’s quiet, shy demeanor, Fu Qiao’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Qiaoqiao, you really are easily embarrassed. Why be so formal with me? You’ve helped me so much, and you always explain the problems I don’t understand. Why say ‘thank you’ just for a chicken leg?”

As He Qiao watched Fu Qiao laugh—noticing the two shallow dimples on her face—she felt her heart rate speed up significantly. However, being naturally introverted, even though the tips of her ears turned slightly red, she looked no different than usual on the surface.

At lunch, Fu Qiao didn’t just buy her a chicken leg; she also bought her a bottle of soy milk.

“This soy milk is served warm.” Fu Qiao poked a straw into it and placed it in front of He Qiao. “The last time Xu Yingran and I went out to eat, we had this. It’s delicious—it doesn’t taste like bean dregs at all; it tastes like milk.”

He Qiao touched the glass bottle, feeling its gentle warmth. “Did you… go out shopping with Xu Yingran?” she asked in a low voice.

“No.” Fu Qiao hesitated, deciding not to mention the arts exam. She felt that talking about the arts exam at a school like this would make her seem out of place. So, she said, “We had lunch together because we were both at training classes.”

He Qiao nodded. “I see.”

She took a sip from the glass bottle. The soy milk was sweet; that first sip left He Qiao pleasantly surprised.

“Good, right?” Fu Qiao saw her eyes light up and smiled. “I knew you’d like it.”

After finishing their meal, Fu Qiao decided to wander around the school to help digestion and chat with He Qiao.

“Speaking of which, Xu Yingran’s exam scores dropped a lot,” Fu Qiao said to He Qiao as they walked against the wind. “I feel like it’s because she’s been looking for me too often lately. I need to figure out a way to arrange a study plan for her. Qiaoqiao, what do you think?”

“A study plan?” He Qiao looked at Fu Qiao as they walked along the red rubber track. “What kind of plan would she want?”

Fu Qiao put her hands behind her back and thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. Xu Yingran is actually quite smart and learns things quickly, but she’s too playful. I want to make a plan that isn’t too grueling—just enough so she can stabilize her grades and get into a university.”

“That’s quite simple,” He Qiao told her. “In a bit, we can make a spreadsheet for her to organize her study hours. If you don’t want it to be too intense… there are ways to do that.”

“Really?” Fu Qiao was delighted. “I knew a top student would be an expert at this. I was right to ask you.”

He Qiao smiled back, her usually gloomy face looking much brighter. She said to Fu Qiao, “Let’s do it during the noon break then.”

“Great! I’ll treat you to Oden after school!”

“Okay.”

That night, Fu Qiao sent the study plan to Xu Yingran. It wasn’t long before Xu Yingran called. After a moment’s thought, Fu Qiao answered.

“Hello?”

“What is this?” Xu Yingran asked. “Did you make this specifically for me?”

“Yes,” Fu Qiao said, sitting on her bed. “He Qiao and I spent our entire lunch break putting this together. See if it suits you. If not, I can adjust it for you tomorrow.”

Xu Yingran zoomed in on the image, scrutinizing it. “It suits me… it suits me quite well, but I feel like I won’t be able to finish it.”

“How will you know if you can’t finish it if you don’t try?” Fu Qiao said sternly. “Your grades can’t get any worse. You have to think about your parents. If you don’t get into university, how will they feel?”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’,” Fu Qiao said righteously. “It’s too late today, so start following the schedule tomorrow. I’ve sent you the list of books and workbooks you need. Ask your parents to buy them on their way home from work tomorrow, then take a photo and send it to me every day.”

Listening to Fu Qiao’s arrangements, Xu Yingran could only let out a helpless sigh. Fine, fine. She would work hard for the sake of their future.

Hearing Xu Yingran agree, Fu Qiao’s mood improved. She clutched her phone and said, “By the way, didn’t Auntie use your phone to ask about my parents’ shop renovation? I asked them, and they said it’s basically done. They want to invite your parents over for dinner next Friday.”

“Sure!” Xu Yingran agreed without a second thought, laughing as she said, “That’s perfect. We’ll see each other on Friday, and then again on Saturday. It’s great.”

“What’s so great about it?” Fu Qiao said awkwardly. “Don’t forget your study plan. If your scores are at the bottom again next time, I’m going to ignore you.”

“Hey, I’ll definitely listen to you. Don’t worry.”

On Friday, Xu Chunjian hailed a taxi and took his family of three to the Fu family’s new shop. After a month of work, the renovation was finished. Xu Yingran and her parents were the very first customers of this barbecue and hotpot restaurant.

“The weather is cold, so we only grilled a few skewers. We’ll mainly eat hotpot,” Fu Jun said, a cigarette in his mouth, as he poured a glass of liquor for Xu Chunjian. “I really didn’t expect that after all these years, I’d finally have a shop of my own.”

“Exactly. Rent goes up every year; it’s better to buy a storefront,” Xu Chunjian replied with a smile. “This place is quite large! You could fit twenty or thirty tables in here, couldn’t you?”

Since the renovation had just finished, the tables and chairs hadn’t all arrived yet, so the shop looked a bit empty. Currently, there was only their single table set up.

“Just about,” Hu Mei said with a smile as she blanched meat in the hotpot. She said to Zhao Yu, “The tables, chairs, and the counter will be delivered in the next two days. We figured we’d be busy once it starts up, so we hurried to invite your family over for a meal. Consider it a housewarming.”

“Your hotpot base smells wonderful.”

“Does it? We hired a master chef from Sichuan to make it. It smells fragrant but tastes spicy. This pot is only ‘mildly spicy’!”

Seeing the four adults chatting away in pairs, Xu Yingran blanched a slice of mutton and placed it in front of Fu Qiao, saying with a grin, “Try it, see if it’s good.”

Fu Qiao rolled her eyes. “This is my family’s shop. Do you think I haven’t tasted it?”

When they first started testing the flavors, Fu Qiao smelled hotpot every single day. Even coming home late from school, she would be dragged over by Hu Mei to taste a newly adjusted broth. To be honest, Fu Qiao couldn’t tell the difference; they all tasted roughly the same to her.

Xu Yingran, however, ate happily. The steaming hotpot made the autumn chill vanish, leaving her feeling warm from head to toe.

“Xiao Qiao,” Hu Mei called out to her daughter. “Go to the kitchen and bring out two bottles of beer and some drinks. Your Dad and Uncle want a drink.”

Fu Qiao gave a word of assent and stood up to head to the kitchen. Xu Yingran also put down her chopsticks and said, “I’ll go too!”

Hu Mei and Zhao Yu shared a look and smiled helplessly. “Those two… their relationship is still so close.”

Once they reached the kitchen, Xu Yingran smoothly shut the door behind them. The “thud” of the door made Fu Qiao turn around. Holding two bottles of beer, she saw Xu Yingran approaching and asked, “Why did you come too?”

“I was afraid you couldn’t carry so much, so I came to help.” Xu Yingran leaned in and asked, “What drinks should we take?”

“A bottle of juice and a bottle of coconut milk,” Fu Qiao said. “My mom doesn’t drink carbonated sodas; they always think those are bad for you.”

Xu Yingran nodded and took two bottles of drinks from a nearby shelf. Even though they had what they came for, Fu Qiao saw that Xu Yingran showed no sign of leaving. She asked in confusion, “What is it?”

At that moment, Xu Yingran looked back at Fu Qiao. Counting it out, they hadn’t seen each other in a whole week. Since they had lunch last Saturday, Xu Yingran had dropped Fu Qiao off at Professor Chen’s and ridden home on her scooter to start on that custom study plan.

Truth be told, the plan was quite effective; at least Xu Yingran’s quizzes this week hadn’t been quite so embarrassing.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk properly in a long time, have we?” Xu Yingran said to Fu Qiao.

“Have we not?” Fu Qiao tilted her head. “Don’t we talk for ten minutes on the phone every night?”

“That’s nowhere near enough…”

Xu Yingran thought for a moment, set the drinks down, and took the beer bottles from Fu Qiao’s hands to set them aside as well. Then, with a very serious expression, she asked, “Fu Qiao, can we kiss now?”