My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 88 Script
1-1
Location: Inside a room, daytime

Characters: Boy, Girl, Screenwriter

▲In the dimly lit room, on the dining table where test papers, exercises, and textbooks were laid out, a boy opened a brown-covered notebook.

▲The boy picked up a pen and tried to write something in his notebook, but he couldn't decide what to write after several attempts. He hesitated and then picked up his phone to check the status update that had been frozen for a long time.

Animated text:
I'm sorry, A-He, I lied to you.

Even though you saved me three times, and even though I really want a future with you.

But in reality, we were never together.

▲There was text below the dynamic, but the boy did not scroll down to view it. Instead, he put down his phone, picked up a pen, and wrote the text while reading it aloud in a low voice.

The young girl, Cheng Shuangjiang, a musical prodigy and the unattainable beauty of Jiangcheng Middle School, was involved in a serious car accident one day. The truck, which went out of control due to the driver's sudden death, destroyed the happiness of several families and also caused serious injuries to the girl's hands.

The young woman said: For her, the piano was not only her talent, but also the only connection she had with her beloved grandfather.

▲The boy paused, then continued writing, describing the cruel reality in cold, hard words.
For the girl, being unable to play the piano anymore was tantamount to losing all hope.

Young man: If she had a few kindred spirits, if she had loving and close family, if she had a lover with whom she could give her heart, then perhaps she could use this to calm her emotions and continue on, dejected but certain.

The boy: But the seventeen-year-old girl, at that moment, only touched the shape of despair.

On the first day after being discharged from the hospital, the girl, feeling utterly hopeless, bought a brand-new brazier and black coal. She tried to end everything by taking her own life. Being so young, she couldn't distinguish that what she wanted to end was only the pain, not life itself.

Boy: She closed the doors and windows smoothly, lit the charcoal, sat in the chair, and quietly awaited her death.

Boy: However, unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, the boy living next door smelled the unique scent of death. He broke down the door, rushed into the cramped room, and saved the girl who was about to fall into the abyss.

Screenwriter OV: (Angrily) Nonsense!

A deep, chilling voice suddenly rang out in the room. The boy turned around and saw a middle-aged man wearing a white shirt and a dark coat, whose face resembled his own, standing there.

Screenwriter: (Helplessly) Wake up, this is all a lie.

▲The screenwriter stared at the boy, then sighed, pulled out a chair from somewhere, and sat down backwards with his hands crossed on the back of the chair.

Screenwriter: (Coldly) You should know that the real truth is far more cruel and tragic than this. Quickly put your imaginative mind to work and uncover the truth of this story!

Boy: (puzzled) The truth?
Screenwriter: (Slightly manic) Yes, that's right, you actually knew she was lying to you all along, you just didn't want to believe it.

Boy: (Increasingly confused) What are you talking about? I don't understand.

Screenwriter: You're really bad at lying, because you've been deceiving yourself all along.

Boy: (urgently) I don't have any.
Screenwriter: (Interrupting) Since you realized she lied to you about Lu Bai, why didn't you notice something? No, you did notice, but you deliberately ignored it.

Boy: (Confused) What is it?

Screenwriter: Lu Bai once told you that when people lie, they have some habitual little movements.

Screenwriter: Don't you know that Cheng Shuangjiang subconsciously purses her lips when she lies?
▲Thump—

▲The boy felt his heart beat a beat slower, and everything from the past rushed by before his eyes.

Screenwriter: Yes, that's her habitual action when she lies. Now, let's see what she's lied about.
Flashback

▲Inside the funeral home

Girl: (Pouting) Actually, I was reborn when I was thirty-five. At that time, we were already married, you and me.

▲Inside the used bookstore

Girl: (Pouting) Say I'm your first love.

[Flash out]

Screenwriter: Yes, you were never together.

Screenwriter: You did meet again when you were thirty, and you started writing a script with her encouragement, but you didn't get married or even become lovers.

Screenwriter: So, what exactly is your relationship?

Flashback

▲In the secret base
Girl: (Pouting) Actually, when we were thirty-five, we had dinner with Qiao Jinchen and also met with Xu Youyou.

[Flash out]

Screenwriter: She never met Qiao Jinchen and Xu Youyou when they were 35. If you really knew each other back then, why wasn't she there when you met your old friend?
Flashback

▲Inside the library coffee shop
Girl: (Pouting) Anyway, I recognized you at first glance. To repay you, I treated you to a meal. We chatted and found that we got along quite well. That's how we got together.

[Flash out]

Screenwriter: The answer is, you didn't recognize her.

Boy: (Incredulous) How is that possible? There's absolutely no way I wouldn't recognize her. (Stunned) You mean...
Screenwriter: Think about it, how did she describe your meeting when you were eighteen?

Flashback

▲Inside the library coffee shop
Girl: (Pouting) Later, I heard from the doctor that it was you who smelled the scent when you got home, which is why you broke down the door and rescued me.

[Flash out]

Screenwriter: Think about it carefully. Are your doors really that loose and easy to break down? And can you really smell the deadly charcoal fire?
▲The screenwriter remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh.

Screenwriter: The girl's suicide caused a small fire, which even damaged the front door.

Screenwriter: You witnessed the fire, which enabled you to break down the door and save the girl.

Screenwriter: Similarly, the girl's injuries were not just from inhaling toxic gas, but from being burned by flames.

Screenwriter: Haven't you realized it yet? The fiery girl that Lu Bai portrayed is the female lead in your first script, it's her!

▲The boy's eyes trembled. He opened his mouth, but only a few short sobs came out of his throat.

Flashback

▲At Zhou Heming's home, next to the dining table
Girl: (Pouting) Oh my, our A-He is really amazing, but in my past life, you were the one who pursued me~

[Flash out]

Boy: (Hesitant, shocked) So, when we met again, she...
▲The boy hesitated to utter those vicious words, but the cold-blooded screenwriter spoke up coldly.

Screenwriter: Yes, she's disfigured and disabled to the point that you wouldn't recognize her at all.

Screenwriter: Think about it carefully. Why does she know so much about that coffee shop? She didn't even go to college, so how did she get a job at the library?

Screenwriter: (almost growling) Because, she's thirty years old, and she's a disabled person working there!

▲The boy leaned dejectedly against the table. He didn't blame the girl for deceiving him; he just felt sorry for her, wondering why all the suffering had to be inflicted on her.

Screenwriter: (With a slightly manic, cold laugh) Now, you can rewrite the story of how you met.

▲The boy picked up the pen blankly, looked at the screenwriter, then at the notebook, crossed out what he had written before, and reconstructed the story.

The boy: Due to an accident, the burning brazier caused a fire, which also engulfed the girl who longed for death. Hearing the screams and seeing the flames, the boy almost instinctively broke open the already burning door and rescued the girl who was being burned by the flames. It was an unfortunate disaster, but it led to an even more desperate outcome.

▲The screenwriter watched the boy start writing, nodded in satisfaction, and paced back and forth in the room, listening to the boy's voice.

Boy: Just as she told me, the fire caused a huge uproar. I used her as the model for my screenplay, and then... (He suddenly stopped writing)
Screenwriter: (Chuckles) You realized that?

▲The boy turned to look at the screenwriter

Young man: I did write a script for thirty episodes, but I wasn't thirty years old, I was eighteen.

Boy: I want to keep her here, like in One Thousand and One Nights, by updating her every day, so that she can calm down and give up on death.

Boy: We would communicate by passing around the script, and during that time, I...
Screenwriter: (sneers) Yes, you were already in love with her at eighteen. In the last episode of the script, the boy confessed to the girl.

Screenwriter: And the seventeen-year-old girl also fell in love with you.

Boy: But we were never together.

Screenwriter: Because she's afraid of holding you back.

Screenwriter: At the center of public opinion, her face was robbed by flames, and even her body was crippled. She knew that being with you would only bring misfortune to both of them.

Screenwriter: So she ran away. She didn't respond to your confession and disappeared into the crowd. She never even had the courage to add the QQ number that you left in the script, which was already engraved in her memory.

▲The boy suddenly realized something and he gripped the pen.

Boy: Is this why I went to Ningjiang?
Screenwriter: (Nods) Very good, you're getting into the swing of things.

The boy said: I lost contact with her without knowing anything. I only learned that she had been transferred to a hospital in Ningjiang. So, I applied to a university in Ningjiang and rented a place there.

The reason we chose to be near Ningjiang University is because Ningjiang University has one of the top hospitals in the country.

The boy said: "I am so familiar with Ningjiang University because I naively thought that she would resume her studies here, that she would be admitted here, and that I would meet her here unexpectedly."

▲The screenwriter gently patted the boy's shoulder.
Screenwriter: But what you don't know is that after being discharged from the hospital, she returned to Jiangcheng, dragging her already broken body and living a life full of devastation. In that coffee shop, she relied on the movies shown every week to eke out a living.

Screenwriter: So, you should be able to guess when you saved her for the second time.

Boy: (Hesitatingly) Yes, when I'm thirty?
Young man: I finally returned to Jiangcheng when I was thirty years old, and spent my weekends writing obituaries in the library's coffee shop.

Boy: During that time, the girl also reached her limit and was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Screenwriter: Then, struggling alone, she met you, who had returned to her hometown, and you, with the same gentleness, tried to save her from despair.

Boy: She recognized me immediately, but I couldn't make out her appearance. So, the girl hid her identity and gradually became familiar with me as a stranger.

Screenwriter: You discuss movies, life, everything, even if the other person has a grotesque appearance or a physical disability, you discover that this girl has a gentle and beautiful heart, and you are willing to give her everything and treat her with sincerity.

Young man: With her encouragement, I truly began writing the script. At the same time, I gradually became attracted to her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known so much about me. We would have inevitably become lovers at some point.

Screenwriter: (Snorts coldly, disdainfully) Your love is like destiny, regardless of time, place, or circumstances, like a joke played by fate.

Boy: But just as I was about to confess my feelings and decide to accept her despite her disability.

Screenwriter: She left again. Boy: She sensed my attraction, and she also knew that if the two of us were really together, all the filth of the past would rush up and completely drown me, who was about to emerge.

Screenwriter: She even sent your script out, so that it ended up in Lu Bai's hands.

Young man: In the years that followed, after losing her, I gradually rose in the industry, collaborated with Lu Bai on many films, and even won a major award.

Screenwriter: And then, it was the last time you saved her.

▲The screenwriter chuckled and tapped his finger twice on the table.

Boy: (Muttering) The last time.
Screenwriter: Do you remember how the main character died in the movie you watched that day?
Young man: Yokomichi Yonosuke, 35 years old, was hit by a train and died while saving a girl.

Screenwriter: (Sadly) Similarly, Zhou Heming, who was thirty-five years old, saved Cheng Shuangjiang in that car accident. Cheng Shuangjiang had always been silently by his side, paying attention to his career development, and always wearing a mask when attending award ceremonies and roadshows!
▲Snap—

▲The boy slammed his pen on the table, staring blankly into the void before him, lost in thought for a long time.

Screenwriter: And then.

▲He patted the boy on the shoulder, signaling him to get up, and then sat down at the table and picked up a pen.

Screenwriter: And then, it's the story of the reborn.

Boy: (in a daze) But, wasn't she reborn? Wasn't she able to stop most tragedies before they happened? Why did she disappear?
Upon hearing this, the screenwriter composed himself and lowered his voice.

Screenwriter: Didn't she already tell you that?

Screenwriter: (In an aggressive tone) The butterfly effect—she used that term with you when she was trying to make up for the regrets of Qiao Jinchen and Xu Youyou, right?

Screenwriter: The idea you've discussed is that after making up for the regrets of the two of you, Zhou Heming, who is thirty-five years old, will disappear, right?
Boy: (Hesitatingly) But this is just...
Screenwriter: (Sneer) Just a pretext? No, this is the answer. She told you from the very beginning.

▲The boy remained silent. He tried to speak up, but his lips trembled and he couldn't utter a single word. After a long while, the screenwriter sighed and wrote in his notebook as he spoke.

Screenwriter: Are you thinking, even if the butterfly effect occurred, it all started because of her, so why did she disappear?

▲The boy nodded silently.

Screenwriter: Do you know about the closed loop of fate?
Boy: A closed loop of fate?

Screenwriter: When the girl was reborn, she was already aware of something, as she was academically excellent and intelligent.

Boy: (Confused) What's wrong?

Screenwriter: She was reborn because of your death, which means that she has witnessed and anchored the future of your death.

Screenwriter: No matter how this butterfly from the future flaps its wings, as long as she exists, she cannot change the fate of the person she most wants to save.

Screenwriter: Cheng Shuangjiang, 35 years old, cannot coexist with your future.

Screenwriter: In the closed loop of fate, she, who was reborn, is the strongest anchor point.

Screenwriter: There is only one way to break the cycle of fate, and that is...
Girl OV: I will enter the end, and you will welcome the future.

▲A soft, girlish voice echoed in the room. The boy and the screenwriter looked around but couldn't find her.

▲The screenwriter rubbed his nose, picked up his pen, and started writing again.

Screenwriter: If Zhou Heming, who is seventeen, wants a future, then Cheng Shuangjiang, who is thirty-five, must put her life into the chamber of a gun and perish together with that unreasonable fate.

The screenwriter said: She deeply understands that when your love is completely equal, when you truly fall in love with her, when you are equally willing to sacrifice yourself for her, and when you say "I love you," that is the moment of your own demise.

Screenwriter: Her consciousness will completely dissipate, leaving only cold memories, her eighteen-year-old self, and a future where you exist.

Screenwriter: She knew that in the storm of fate, some butterflies that try to reverse the future will inevitably end up falling.

Screenwriter: She knew that in this story, which was destined to be a tragedy from the beginning, she would meet her final victory with her fall.

Screenwriter: She also knew that when she successfully stirred up the storm and shattered the unbreakable cycle of fate, she would be completely annihilated; she would...
▲The screenwriter stopped writing, as if putting the story on hold, and the story would not come to an end, but would only remain at its most beautiful point.

▲However, an illusory hand gently touched his pen, and the girl's clear voice murmured in his ear, making everything seem like a binary star that had broken through the Roche limit, rushing headlong toward the end.

Girl: I will become a part of him forever. Isn't that a very romantic thing?

Girl: If we can make such a sacrifice to prevent so many tragedies from happening.

Girl: (Smiling) The price is negligible.

Girl: I'm just a ghost yearning for true love.

Boy: (Trembling) She is, she is, when did she make this decision?

Screenwriter: At the beginning.

Screenwriter: As a reborn person, she could have thrived, reshaped her perfect life, and gained a brand new future, but when she met you, she made a decision.

Screenwriter: You are more important than that world.

Screenwriter: So, what she said about renting a place with you during college was fake, preparing a surprise for you on your birthday was fake, going to the planetarium again was fake, reading and traveling during summer vacation was fake, hugging you every day was fake, and watching the first snow in Jiangcheng together was also fake.

Screenwriter: She knew from the beginning that she couldn't be with you for the rest of your life.

▲The screenwriter remained silent for a long time before finally starting to write again, penning words that seemed to have been brewing for many years, accompanied by the bright voice of a young girl.

Girl: It was a lingering, twilight evening. She, who had traveled a long way, met you, who were waiting alone. You, with the same kindness, tried to save her from her impending death.

Girl: Just like in her past, in your future, and in what you did.

Girl: Just like the first time we met.

Girl: And so, at that moment.

Girl: (Smiling) The girl pursed her lips and resolutely went to face her destiny.

Screenwriter: In this story that was destined to be a tragedy from the very beginning, she never hesitated, never wavered, and went without looking back.

▲The boy stared blankly at the girl standing in front of him. He wanted to say a thousand words, but when the words reached his chest, only a short sob came out.

Boy: (Breaking down) But if you keep going like this, I can't go on alone.

Girl: I know, so I left you a story, Ah He.

Girl: Do you remember the two things you promised me? One of them was, don't forget me, remember that there was a girl who lived so proudly.

Girl: (Smiling) Now, I'm going to talk about the second thing~
Girl: (softly) Ah He, you always like to use yourself as a price to help others. I know that you saved me by chance. At that time, no matter who was in danger, you would step forward and sacrifice yourself.

Girl: You can't accept everything you have with a clear conscience. You spend your whole life testing other people's love for you. You can't confirm your own value. You hope to end your journey with a magnificent destruction. That's why you end up like that.

Girl: If I want to change that future, I must leave you with a story.

Girl: It was a short-lived but beautiful memory that could last a very long time.

Girl: That was a golden time that brings a smile to my face whenever I think of it.

Girl: That is an eternal vow that can only be made if our love is equal.

▲The girl's hand wanted to touch the boy, but withdrew it after a brief pause.

Girl: When a person is about to pass away, they always want to leave something behind for the world.

Girl: Some curse the injustice of the world, some leave behind endless longing for their loved ones, and some place their hopes on the world.

▲The girl lowered her head, but quickly raised her face again and looked directly into the boy's eyes.

Girl: And I, a butterfly trying to manipulate the hands of time, before facing the storm that destroys everything, what I want to leave for my loved ones is a blessing.

▲The girl hesitated slightly, but still chose to speak.

Girl: I'm sorry, I can't walk with you anymore, so...

Girl: (softly) A-He, promise me.

Girl: Live on.

Girl: You must move forward, not by being pushed by fate, but by your own will, witnessing the scenery along the way, making kind companions, encountering memorable feelings, becoming the person you imagine yourself to be, and walking on until the lights are bright and spring is in full bloom.

Girl: This is a promise, a wish, and also, a curse.

Girl: From here on, you have traversed a difficult path.

Girl: From here, you will embark on a long journey.

Girl: So.

Girl: (Smiling broadly) Ah-He, from now on, be happy every day!

Young man: Frost's Descent.

▲The boy called her name, but the girl just gazed at him tenderly and said nothing more.

▲After a long while, the screenwriter resumed writing, and at the same time, he recited aloud in a deep voice.

Screenwriter: Fate once asked the world a question, and the girl gave her answer.

Screenwriter: Spanning a long period of time.

Screenwriter: Creation, a story that exists because of you.

Screenwriter: And now.
▲The screenwriter sighed deeply, putting down the last few strokes for this script.

Screenwriter: —And now, the curtain has fallen.

Screenwriter: The story of the reborn has come to an end.

Screenwriter: The story of them at eighteen has only just begun.

▲The screenwriter, or perhaps the young man, let out a long sigh, put down his pen, closed the brown-covered notebook, stood up, and smiled at himself in the mirror.

▲Then, he pushed open the door and stepped into tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)