Let Me Go, My Childhood Sweetheart [Rebirth] - Chapter 9

The next day was the weekend. Jin Yi slept until nearly noon, curled up into a ball. She had suffered from insomnia the night before, only falling asleep when the sky was starting to turn grey. Even then, her sleep was restless, filled with a chaotic jumble of bizarre dreams; one moment Qin Zhaomu was cheating on her, and the next, Chu Weiran was lying in her arms, covered in blood. Even after waking up, she was reluctant to get out of bed and continued to nestle under the covers.

Qu Yin had already been out for a while and returned with lunch. Neither of them had eaten much of the Malatang the day before, and since the craving hadn’t subsided, Qu Yin bought it again.

“Get up, time for Malatang.”

Jin Yi shifted slightly in her cocoon but still didn’t get up. Losing her patience, Qu Yin whipped the blanket off her. Although it was September, the days had grown colder since the start of autumn. The sudden exposure made Jin Yi shiver. She looked outside and saw it was raining; the window was open, no wonder it was so cold. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing cotton short-sleeved pajamas with only a pair of panties underneath.

“Are you crazy? It’s freezing today!”

Qu Yin placed the two containers of Malatang on the desk and said with a grin, “Cold? If it’s cold, eat Malatang. It’s nice and hot.”

Jin Yi shot her an annoyed look and wrapped the blanket back around herself. As a result, she got scolded again.

“Have you lost your mind from sleeping? Who eats Malatang wrapped in a blanket?”

Ah, right. She really was acting a bit silly.

After some fussing, Jin Yi changed her clothes. She had always dressed casually in the dorm, so she just threw on a T-shirt and lounge pants. Just as she was about to pick up her chopsticks, she asked Qu Yin, “Is it extra numb and extra spicy?”

“Yes.”

“Did you add vinegar?”

“I did.”

Only then did Jin Yi settle down to eat. With the very first bite, her hair got in the way. Before graduating from university, she had always kept her hair long; later, she had cut it short because long hair was too much trouble. Now, she wasn’t used to it at all. She tucked it behind her ear, but it fell forward again after a few moments of eating.

“Jin Yi, why are you so fussy about eating today? Can’t you just tie your hair up?”

“…Oh.” She had forgotten.

After satisfying her hunger, Jin Yi felt a familiar itch in her chest. She asked Qu Yin, “Do you have a cigarette?”

Qu Yin instinctively covered her pocket, her expression looking a bit flustered. “How did you know I have cigarettes?”

Oh, she had forgotten again. At this point in time, she hadn’t started smoking yet, and she wasn’t supposed to know Qu Yin hid them. She had to make up a quick lie.

“I saw them in your pocket yesterday.”

In her past life, she started smoking during her senior year. The pressure was immense, and she couldn’t find an outlet; seeing Qu Yin smoke, she had asked for one. To Qu Yin, smoking wasn’t a big deal—otherwise, she wouldn’t be doing it herself—but she found Jin Yi’s request hard to believe. Jin Yi had always maintained the image of a “good girl,” and now that image was suddenly cracking. Nevertheless, she handed over a cigarette.

Watching Jin Yi’s practiced movements, Qu Yin was stunned again. “You…”

With the cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth, Jin Yi looked back in confusion. She looked incredibly cool.

Dammit, she forgot again. She had spent all night thinking about the benefits of rebirth—not being with Qin Zhaomu, stopping Chu Weiran from being with Ye Yuan—but she hadn’t considered the drawbacks. Smoking like this didn’t fit her current persona at all.

“Well, when I was a kid… I watched the adults smoke and picked it up. I’m not addicted, I just have one occasionally.”

Sorry, Mom and Dad. No one in her family actually smoked. Qu Yin nodded, half-convinced.

After finishing the cigarette, Jin Yi said earnestly, “If you can quit, you should.” In her past life, she had been addicted, but now, she wasn’t. And she didn’t want to be.

If Jin Yi remembered correctly, she had to go to her part-time job this afternoon because she was broke. Thinking about this, she really felt her father, Jin Hai, was quite ruthless. In her past life, she had been truly obedient and refused to admit defeat. She thought that if others could do it, why couldn’t she? But now that she thought about it… she kind of couldn’t do it anymore.

If it weren’t for that part-time job, she would never have met Qin Zhaomu, and without meeting her, none of those things would have happened. Jin Yi’s memory wasn’t particularly great unless it concerned extremely important matters. So right now, she wasn’t even sure if she and Qin Zhaomu had met yet, or how close they were.

After taking a shower to wash off the smell of Malatang, Jin Yi began to rummage through her wardrobe. Her current style of dress looked childish and overly gaudy to her now. After a long search, she finally picked out something decent: a V-neck white T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. As for her hair… she couldn’t decide whether to leave it down or tie it up, so she spent a long time fussing with it.

Qu Yin, who was lying on her bed scrolling through her phone, caught sight of Jin Yi in front of the mirror out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but speak up. “Are you going to a beauty pageant? Or are you in love?”

“Um… what?”

“So you are in love?!”

For some reason, when Qu Yin mentioned being in love, Chu Weiran’s face appeared in Jin Yi’s mind. It was inexplicable and strange. Jin Yi felt a bit uneasy herself. After a moment of silence, she said to Qu Yin, “Come help me with my makeup.”

“What? Did I hear that right?” Qu Yin put down her phone and walked over to Jin Yi’s bed, her expression one of utter disbelief.

“You heard right. Help me with my makeup,” Jin Yi replied, her voice crisp and clear—not at all like the Jin Yi she knew. At an age that should be full of youthful energy, Jin Yi usually lived like an old official; even though she was two years younger than Qu Yin, she was always the one lecturing her.

It had to be said that Jin Yi was truly beautiful, with large eyes, exceptionally long eyelashes, and a perfect lip shape. Being young, her face was full of collagen. Qu Yin gave her a simple look; since their styles were different—Jin Yi looked so pure and youthful—Qu Yin was afraid of ruining it.

“There, that’s it. Next time, let’s go buy some makeup that actually suits you.”

“Okay.” Jin Yi looked in the mirror. Well… she couldn’t actually see much of a difference. Forget it, this would do. She didn’t feel like doing her hair either; leaving it down was fine.

She stood up, thanked Qu Yin, and finally answered the question she had ignored. “I’m going to quit my job, not go on a date.”

“Quit?” This made Qu Yin anxious. “If you quit, what about your living expenses?”

“I’ll manage. I have money.”

Since she was starting over, Jin Yi didn’t want to live the same way she did in her past life. Her family was wealthy; why should she be so frugal? She had so much New Year’s money saved up; why suffer? Most importantly, she didn’t want anything to do with Qin Zhaomu ever again.

Qu Yin’s eyes widened. “If you’re not in love, have you met some rich person? Don’t do anything stupid, like falling for some middle-aged ‘sugar daddy’!”

“…Stop overthinking.”

The calmer Jin Yi remained, the more panicked Qu Yin became, inventing a whole drama in her head. “No wonder you wanted me to do your makeup! No wonder!”

“It’s really not like that…” Jin Yi sighed and decided to tell her the truth. When Qu Yin finally heard the reality of Jin Yi’s family background, she sat stunned for a long time before cursing at her, just like in the past life.

“You’ve been faking it this whole time! You’re playing with my emotions!”

“Aaaaah! Why didn’t I insist on you treating me yesterday? My hairy crabs!”