Returning to High School to Save My Wife - Chapter 13

“Are you feeling any better now?”

Jiang Yuan had already led Liang Qi in a full circle around the playground, yet Liang Qi was still clinging to her like an octopus, showing no sign of being able to walk on her own.

Only then did Liang Qi realize she had been stuck to Jiang Yuan for too long. She hurriedly let go of Jiang Yuan’s arm. “Much better, much better. The numbness has faded; I should be able to walk normally now.”

“Are you certain?” Jiang Yuan was still a bit uneasy. “Try taking a few steps?”

Liang Qi moved around for a couple of steps, then turned back to look at her. “See? I’m really fine.”

“That’s good,” Jiang Yuan looked at her, thinking to herself that it wouldn’t do if every PE class ended up like this. She asked, “By the way, has your constitution always been this poor?”

Liang Qi was quick to deny it. “It wasn’t this bad in tenth grade. I used to participate in PE activities normally. I suppose I was just lax over the summer break, so my physical fitness dropped a bit.”

“No wonder you suffered heatstroke last time and keep getting stomach aches. But what do you plan to do for future PE classes? You can’t just rest forever. If you fail the physical exams, it will affect your future college applications.”

“I’ll step up my exercise,” Liang Qi promised her. “I won’t trouble you too much.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing,” Jiang Yuan nodded. Seeing that Chen Hong had dismissed the lines in the distance, her gaze returned to Liang Qi. “Don’t forget to explain the situation to Teacher Chen as well.”

“I know, I will,” Liang Qi nodded. Seeing Jiang Yuan preparing to return to class, she hesitated, “Um, Jiang Yuan.”

“What is it?” Jiang Yuan stopped. Seeing Liang Qi’s face looking off, alarm bells rang in her head. “Are you feeling unwell again?”

“No, no,” Liang Qi hurriedly denied. “I’m not unwell. I just wanted to ask, are you free after school today?”

“After school?” Jiang Yuan was puzzled. “Why are you asking?”

“I don’t know how to do the radio gymnastics. Could you teach me after school?” Liang Qi asked, looking a bit shy.

Having graduated so many years ago, Liang Qi had long since forgotten how to do radio gymnastics. To be precise, she had never done them seriously back in high school. When Chen Hong was teaching earlier, Liang Qi was sitting far away, and her view had been blocked due to the angle, making it impossible for her to memorize the detailed movements.

A high schooler’s time was very tight, let alone that of a top student like Jiang Yuan. Liang Qi felt a bit embarrassed to take up her after-school time for something like this.

Liang Qi only now realized that since her rebirth, she seemed to have been troubling Jiang Yuan constantly.

One is soft-mouthed when eating others’ food and short-handed when taking their things, let alone repeatedly receiving favors. Although Jiang Yuan hadn’t complained yet and Liang Qi helped her occasionally, anyone would find it a burden if it continued like this.

She wanted to get closer to Jiang Yuan and start as friends; she didn’t want their relationship to devolve into a mere cycle of repaying debts.

It seemed she needed to find a way to make Jiang Yuan have an even better impression of her.

Jiang Yuan did indeed hesitate for a moment. Meeting Liang Qi’s bright gaze, she finally nodded. “Okay, fine. But it can’t take too long; I have to be home on time.”

Hearing Jiang Yuan agree, Liang Qi felt a secret surge of joy.

The high school version of Jiang Yuan was actually quite easy to get along with.

“I won’t delay you for long,” Liang Qi promised. “I learn things very quickly. I’ll probably have it down after following you once.”

Jiang Yuan nodded. “Then let’s go to the rooftop after school.”

After school in the afternoon.

Liang Qi packed her bag early and followed Jiang Yuan to the rooftop. Jiang Yuan gave her a demonstration, and Liang Qi quickly mastered about seventy to eighty percent of the movements.

“You certainly learn fast.”

For the second time in less than a day, Jiang Yuan’s opinion of Liang Qi shifted.

Even when she was learning the gymnastics in PE class, she hadn’t been as fast as Liang Qi. Liang Qi seemed to have a specific talent for this, memorizing the movements with ease.

Liang Qi couldn’t help but feel a little smug. “Right? I’m not boasting, but I memorize things very quickly.”

A smile appeared on Jiang Yuan’s face as she checked the time on her phone. “Since you’ve mostly learned it, I should head home.”

“Why don’t we go back together? I’m heading home too,” Liang Qi suggested, seizing the moment. “Even though we don’t live close to each other, there’s still a stretch of road we can walk together once we leave the school gates.”

Jiang Yuan met her gaze. Liang Qi’s almond eyes were like a pair of lakes, transparent and dazzling under the afterglow of the setting sun, with emotions flowing within them that Jiang Yuan couldn’t quite read.

“No,” Jiang Yuan declined politely, just as Liang Qi expected. “My brother is waiting for me downstairs. We have things to do today and need to get back as soon as possible.”

Though it was phrased subtly, Liang Qi heard the underlying meaning.

To Jiang Yuan, she was an outsider.

Jiang Yuan clearly didn’t like others interfering in her life outside of school. Although Liang Qi didn’t know why, she understood the principle of not forcing oneself on others, so she didn’t press further. “Alright then, hurry home.”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Yuan turned and headed downstairs. Liang Qi watched her back disappear down the steps before suddenly following after her a few seconds later.

At the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, Jiang Mu was leaning against the wall, clutching his school uniform in one hand and a basketball in the other. He was bored, occasionally checking the time on his phone. The prayer beads on his left wrist gleamed with a woody luster in the sunlight.

“Sis, why were you so slow today?” Seeing Jiang Yuan come down, Jiang Mu couldn’t help but complain. Although he had received a message earlier saying she would be late, he was at that restless age of sixteen or seventeen.

“I was teaching a classmate radio gymnastics; it took a bit of time,” Jiang Yuan stopped at the base of the stairs. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Okay,” Jiang Mu only got one word out before he stopped. His gaze moved past Jiang Yuan’s head to Liang Qi, who was coming down behind her. He recognized that face. “Eh? Is that the girl?”

Jiang Yuan glanced back at Liang Qi, then quickly looked away. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Jiang Mu toyed with the basketball as he walked and asked, “Sis, she’s your desk-mate, right? When did you two meet?”

Jiang Yuan: “We just met this semester. That time during summer break was an accident; she had heatstroke, so I brought her back.”

Jiang Mu: “Whoa, what a coincidence!”

Liang Qi listened to their conversation, walking behind them the whole way as quiet as a quail.

There was only one road out of the school. If Jiang Yuan and Jiang Mu were taking it, she had to take it too; there was no reason for her to intentionally avoid it. Although, she did seem to be walking a bit too close.

Thus, while waiting at a red light, Jiang Mu stopped and turned to look at Liang Qi, who was standing a step away looking somewhat solitary. He lowered his voice and said to Jiang Yuan, “Sis, your desk-mate seems to be taking the same way home as us.”

Jiang Yuan turned her head and unexpectedly locked eyes with Liang Qi.

Liang Qi stood a few paces away with her backpack on. Her dark brown hair swayed gently in the wind, tinted by the sunset like an oil painting. The golden light spilling onto her shoulders looked like a layer of brilliant gold dust applied to the canvas.

She just stood there quietly. Unlike her usual enthusiastic and bold self, she looked somewhat pitiful, as if she had been intentionally abandoned by Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan: “…”

Liang Qi: “…”

Silence followed.

The atmosphere was inexplicably awkward.

“Sis, since we’re going the same way, why not walk together? This is awkward.” Jiang Mu was blunt and spoke his mind, not knowing what had transpired between the two.

“How should I know?” Jiang Yuan’s sentence was only half-finished. She glanced at Liang Qi and felt an inexplicable sense of being played, yet she couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong or how to explain it.

How did she end up with such a desk-mate?

Helpless, Jiang Yuan had no choice but to bring Liang Qi along. “Since we’re going the same way, let’s walk together.”

A look of joy immediately spread across Liang Qi’s face. she gave Jiang Mu a secret wink. “Sure!”

Although Jiang Yuan was stingy with her words, her brother’s personality was the complete opposite; he was quite cheerful and talkative.

“You’re my sister’s desk-mate?” Jiang Mu had a slight impression of Liang Qi from when he visited Jiang Yuan’s classroom yesterday.

“I am,” Liang Qi watched Jiang Yuan’s expression from the corner of her eye. “She’s helped me out a lot.”

“It wasn’t much,” Jiang Yuan suddenly interjected, her tone flat.

“She said you helped,” Jiang Mu raised an eyebrow, mercilessly exposing her. “It’s not like you did anything bad, so why deny it? It was the same when you helped Sister Zhi and Sister Yao last time.”

“It was just in passing. If I helped, I helped; there’s no need to keep dwelling on it.”

“Sis, it’s fine to be like that with others, but don’t be so guarded with Sister Yan; she’ll be unhappy.”

Liang Qi caught every word of their conversation.

Sister Zhi and Sister Yao likely referred to Jiang Yuan’s friends before she entered the Rocket Class, Mu Zhizhi and Liu Jiayao. But who was this Sister Yan? Was she also from Shengjiang No. 1 High School?

Liang Qi could see that Jiang Yuan and her brother had a very good relationship, which was why Jiang Mu knew all of Jiang Yuan’s friends so well. Although Liang Qi wasn’t close with Mu Zhizhi and the others, she could tell from Jiang Mu’s words that Jiang Yuan was very close to them.

Beside them, Jiang Mu steadily spun his basketball, occasionally tossing it up and catching it perfectly on a finger, attracting the attention of many girls their age along the way.

When Liang Qi knew Jiang Yuan in her past life, Jiang Yuan’s mother and brother had already passed away, and she almost never mentioned the past. However, Liang Qi remembered clearly that when Jiang Yuan first moved in with her, she helped organize her luggage and found Jiang Mu’s medical records. In her memory, Jiang Mu seemed to have passed away from bone cancer.

Bone cancer is a malignant tumor that is very difficult to treat, often triggered by bone damage or infection. In the late stages, it can cause symptoms like anemia, weight loss, and loss of appetite, requiring frequent chemotherapy or even amputation.

Looking at how spirited the boy was now, Liang Qi found it hard to imagine him passing away from such a disease later on.

What happened later?

She suddenly recalled the Buddha statue in Jiang Yuan’s home and the prayer beads on Jiang Mu’s wrist.

Could it be related to those?

It would be too rude to pry into someone’s family matters, so Liang Qi suppressed her curiosity, thinking she would find a way to figure it out later when the opportunity arose.

At the third traffic light, Liang Qi and Jiang Yuan’s paths diverged.

Liang Qi stopped, pointed to the right, and waved at her. “I have to head that way. See you tomorrow then.”

Jiang Yuan nodded. “See you tomorrow.”

Fenghuali was at the end of this street.

Liang Qi stopped in front of the community gates. Before she could swipe her card to enter, she heard a delicate yet somewhat arrogant voice behind her.

“Liang Qi.”

The voice sounded familiar. Liang Qi turned around and was surprised to find that the person calling her was actually Yue Suxin.

What was Yue Suxin doing here?

She remembered that when she first told Jiang Yuan she lived in Fenghuali, Jiang Yuan’s attitude had visibly cooled. Combined with the friction between Jiang Yuan and Yue Suxin… did Yue Suxin also live in Fenghuali?

Yue Suxin didn’t have her followers with her this time; she was alone.

Her air wasn’t as aggressive as usual, but her gaze remained haughty. “Liang Qi, do you have time? Let’s chat.”

Seeing her posture, Liang Qi couldn’t guess what she wanted, but she was willing to listen. “About what?”

Yue Suxin’s lips curled slightly as she looked at the high-end community behind Liang Qi. Her gaze lingered for a few seconds before returning to her. “To be honest, I also live in Fenghuali. My father has donated several buildings to the school; you should know that. Our family backgrounds are essentially on equal footing.”

Her tone was thick with superiority.

Looking at her, Liang Qi sensed what she was here to talk about.

She didn’t expose her immediately.

“And?”

“I imagine you don’t know Jiang Yuan’s background. Her parents are divorced, and her father remarried long ago. Her mother even quit her job to take care of her and Jiang Mu. Jiang Yuan and people like us are from two different worlds.”

Yue Suxin was full of confidence. She felt that the only reason Liang Qi kept helping Jiang Yuan was because she didn’t understand the difference in their backgrounds. Once she told Liang Qi the truth, with Liang Qi’s intelligence, she would surely weigh the pros and cons and choose her side.

So, she added emphatically, “I don’t think we have any reason to be enemies. Instead of constantly targeting each other, you should consider being friends with me.”

Liang Qi couldn’t help but laugh, responding with a tone that was almost mocking.

“I’m sorry, I have no interest in being friends with you.”

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