Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 81

The weather grew colder and colder. After three consecutive days of snow, a clear, sunny day finally arrived.

On New Year’s Day, the school showed a rare mercy by giving the third-year students a day off. Upon learning that Fu Qiao’s school was also on break, Xu Yingran invited the other two out to have some fun.

“One must balance work and play, after all,” Xu Yingran said, standing by the roadside in her open, mustard-yellow down jacket. She looked at the other two and asked, “Why do you both look so miserable? The weather is so beautiful today; shouldn’t you smile more?”

Yao Jin sat on the bus station bench, legs crossed and head propped up on her hand. She looked utterly perplexed. “I understand what you’re saying, but aren’t there many ways to relax? For instance, going to the arcade or hitting an Internet cafe to play games together. What is the meaning of bringing us to a temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha?”

Fu Qiao also looked up at the mountain peak, which was neither too high nor too low. Because of the previous snowfall, the entire mountain appeared snowy white, punctuated only by a few specks of dark green. Squinting her eyes slightly, she asked, “Are we going to climb up?”

“There’s a cable car, but it’s expensive,” Xu Yingran told them. “We’re young; climbing a mountain won’t kill us.”

Seeing Xu Yingran so cheerful she was practically bouncing, Yao Jin sighed helplessly. She stood up from the bus bench and said to Fu Qiao, “Let’s go. If we don’t accompany this fool on her climb, she’ll cause a ruckus all day.”

Yao Jin’s words made Fu Qiao burst into laughter. Taking advantage of the green light, she jogged after Xu Yingran and said to the two of them, “Since we’re already here, let’s not complain. There are quite a few people burning incense for New Year’s Day. It’s a good thing we didn’t have your driver, Ajin, bring us here; there’s nowhere to park.”

“My driver is a professional at finding parking spots. Let’s have him pick us up after we finish burning incense. I really don’t like taking the bus—it’s stuffy and slow, nothing like the comfort of a private car.”

“That works.”

On New Year’s Day, many people came to the temple to burn incense, so the path up the mountain was crowded. However, most were middle-aged; students like them were a rare sight.

Climbing was effortless for Xu Yingran. When she reached the mid-mountain platform, she turned back to look at the two following her and smiled, revealing her small canine teeth.

“You two are way too slow!” Xu Yingran said, hands on her hips. “Ajin, you’re already panting. How are you going to climb the remaining half?”

Yao Jin was breathing too hard to even curse. She stood with her hands on her hips, pointing at Xu Yingran to let her figure out her frustration for herself.

Fu Qiao was doing better, but her stamina was only slightly superior to Yao Jin’s. Reaching the platform beside Xu Yingran, she panted heavily and suggested, “We… should… take… a break.”

“Fine then.” Xu Yingran sighed and shook her head. She found a bench, wiped it clean with a tissue, sat down, and patted the spot next to her. “Come sit.”

The three sat in a row on the bench to rest. Looking at the beautiful scenery from halfway up the mountain, they felt the sunlight warming them through.

“Fu Qiao,” Xu Yingran suddenly turned her head toward the girl beside her and asked, “What did Professor Chen mail to you? It’s been so long, I forgot to ask.”

“Nothing much.” Fu Qiao stretched out her legs and rubbed her knees. “Just some photos he took of the college, pictures of him with the hosts, and things like that. He told me to study hard for my exams and strive to remain his student.”

Yao Jin leaned against the back of the bench and stretched her legs out as well, looking like a bullfrog waiting to be slaughtered.

“This Professor Chen really values you,” Yao Jin said, looking up at the leaves of the evergreen trees. “With your grades, getting in shouldn’t be a problem. It won’t be a problem for me to get into a university either. It all depends on Xu Yingran now.”

“Her?” Fu Qiao joked. “If she gets into a university, it’ll be because we burned incense.”

Xu Yingran wasn’t angry. Instead, she said triumphantly, “That’s why we’re here to burn incense today! We’ll pray to the Bodhisattva so that all of us can get into our favorite universities.”

“If you were truly that pious, you should have come at midnight to burn the ‘First Incense.’ Look at what time it is now; you’re showing no sincerity to the Bodhisattva.”

“Didn’t I just think of it after waking up this morning? Besides, the First Incense doesn’t have to be on New Year’s Day. I’ll come back during the Spring Festival to pray again and show the Great Bodhisattva my sincerity.”

The other two played along with Xu Yingran’s nonsense as they chatted. Once they had rested enough, the three continued the second half of the climb.

Upon arriving at the temple, they found a queue for burning incense. The three chatted while they waited. When it was finally their turn, they not only burned incense but also donated some “incense money.”

It wasn’t much—how much pocket money could kids have?—but it was the thought that counted.

Going up the mountain was hard, but coming down wasn’t easy either.

By the time they reached the bottom, Yao Jin’s legs were shaking. As soon as she got into the car, she started rubbing her knees, feeling that she had worked far too hard today. She decided she had to reward herself, so she chose her favorite Western restaurant and spent quite a bit of money on a meal.

Life passed by slowly. Initially, Xu Yingran thought that since Fu Qiao was no longer taking Professor Chen’s classes, she would finally have time to hang out on the weekends.

Last time, browsing the bookstore and watching a movie had been great—they were just like a young couple on a date.

However, Fu Qiao spoke to Xu Yingran with righteous conviction: “I’ve decided to spend my weekends studying in the classroom. We’re in our third year now; don’t always think about going out to play.”

At that moment, Xu Yingran, who was lying in bed having a “night chat” with Fu Qiao, sat bolt upright and asked in confusion, “Why are you still having classes on the weekend?”

“It’s not classes,” Fu Qiao explained. “Doesn’t the school have boarding students? They don’t go out on weekends; they stay in the classroom to study. I feel I can focus better there than at home, so I plan to go there every weekend for self-study.”

Furthermore, Fu Qiao’s family shop had recently opened. Because the food tasted great, business was booming. Fu Qiao’s parents were now waking up even earlier than she was; she hardly ever saw them, and she had to cook her own meals.

Although Fu Qiao knew how to cook, it didn’t taste very good. Besides, grocery shopping and cooking took up too much time. It was better to just eat at the school cafeteria.

It was convenient and cheap.

“Have you told your parents about this? Will they agree?”

“They’re so busy with the shop every day they have no time to look after me. They’d be more than happy for me to go to school every day instead of staying at home.”

Having said that, Fu Qiao spoke helplessly to Xu Yingran: “If you ask me, you shouldn’t be so idle either. How is the study plan I gave you coming along? With so much arranged for you on the weekends, how do you still have time to sneak out and play?”

Xu Yingran got a headache the moment she heard about studying. She curled back into her quilt and said aggrievedly, “I’m doing everything according to plan. I’m being very diligent every day; Ajin can testify for me.”

Fu Qiao gave a soft snort of disagreement.

“Hey, how about this?” Xu Yingran came up with another “crooked” idea and said to Fu Qiao, “You can bring your phone to school on the weekends, right? Why don’t we do a video call? That way, I can see you more.”

Fu Qiao was stunned for a moment, then her face turned bright red as she said, “What is there to see? You’ve looked at me for over ten years; aren’t you tired of it yet?”

Xu Yingran smiled and said, “I wouldn’t get tired of it even if I looked for another ten years.”

Fu Qiao shook her head. “You’re getting more and more ‘greasy’ with your words. Are you really only eighteen?”

Xu Yingran whimpered and grumbled playfully, rolling around on her bed until Zhao Yu knocked on her door and scolded her a few times before she quieted down.

Despite Fu Qiao’s various expressions of disdain, she still brought her phone to school on Saturday. She started a video call with Xu Yingran under the pretext of supervising whether the other was completing the assigned study plan on time.

Even on the weekend, there were many people at school, most of whom were boarding students.

Once the video was on, Fu Qiao didn’t dare talk to Xu Yingran much. She just sat in her seat quietly working on her practice papers, only occasionally looking up at Xu Yingran. But every time, it seemed Xu Yingran sensed her gaze in advance and looked up to meet her eyes.

This made Fu Qiao exceptionally embarrassed.

She poked her chin with the cap of her pen, feeling that she and Xu Yingran were far too much like a couple in love—unable to be together on the weekend, yet still needing to video call. It seemed overly clingy.

But then again, she missed the other girl too.

As Fu Qiao wrote, her ears began to turn red. Xu Yingran, who happened to be stuck on a difficult problem, looked up and saw Fu Qiao’s bright red ear tips.

Hmm?

Curious, Xu Yingran leaned in closer to take a look. She thought her wife was truly strange—how could someone’s face turn red just from writing on a test paper? Was there something “inappropriate for minors” on that paper?

“Fu Qiao.”

Xu Yingran’s voice suddenly came through the video, making Fu Qiao instinctively look up to check on her classmates.

Fortunately, everyone was studying seriously, and since Xu Yingran’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, no one turned to look at her.

“What?” Fu Qiao gave Xu Yingran an annoyed glare. “Focus on your own paper.”

Xu Yingran’s eyes curved into a smile. She held her test paper up to the camera and peered around it, saying, “I don’t know how to do this problem. Can you take a moment to explain it to me?”

Seeing that it was a serious matter, Fu Qiao leaned her head toward the screen to take a look. However, whether it was the resolution of the video or the fact that Xu Yingran’s hand kept shaking, she couldn’t see it clearly.

“I can’t see the question,” Fu Qiao told her. “Take a photo and send it to me. I’ll see how to solve it.”

Xu Yingran hurriedly put the paper down, took a photo, and sent it to Fu Qiao.

Fu Qiao clicked on their chat window, took a look, and said, “This problem isn’t hard. We covered this right at the start of the semester. Were you not paying attention in class?”

As Xu Yingran listened to Fu Qiao explain the problem while drawing and writing, she looked at the person on the screen and couldn’t help but sigh in her heart.

My wife seems even prettier today than usual. Is it because their classroom is brighter?

My wife’s hands are so beautiful. They’re usually soft and tender to hold, and even the way she holds her pen is pretty.

My wife’s lips are so pink… Xu Yingran was already starting to miss the memories of her and Fu Qiao kissing.

Sigh…

I want to kiss my wife.

I want to kiss her right now.

When Fu Qiao finished explaining the problem, she realized Xu Yingran was actually dazing off on the other side. She immediately became unhappy and snapped at her, “I’m here explaining the problem and you’re just spacing out, aren’t you?”

“I’m not,” Xu Yingran said aggrievedly. “I was listening. I just feel like you look even more beautiful today than when I saw you two days ago.”

Fu Qiao froze.

Xu Yingran smiled at her, leaned closer to the camera, and said, “Fu Qiao, can I kiss you now?”

Although Xu Yingran’s voice was very low and Fu Qiao had put on headphones when she started explaining the problem, she was still startled by these words. In a flurry of panic, she cut off the video.

Xu Yingran: “…”

Wife?

She quickly picked up her phone and sent Fu Qiao a message: 【Wife, why did you hang up on me? No one could hear what I said.】

But after a long time, there was no reply. When Xu Yingran sent another 【Wife】, she saw a red exclamation mark appear next to her little green bubble.

Well then.

Not only was her wife angry, but she had also deleted her as a friend.