Rebirth to Save Myself

As the first semester of seventh grade came to a close, Su Xia finished first in the grade. Chen Yuan ranked third in the grade and first in her class, while Chen Wenwei ranked second in his class and fifth in the grade. The biggest improvement was made by Lin Mohan, who was praised for achieving fifth in his class and ninth in the grade, and received the most New Year's money he had ever received.

Knowing that both of his daughters had achieved good grades, Chen Jianguo generously gave each of them an MP4 player as a reward, and also gave Su Xia a 500 yuan red envelope and Chen Yuan a 300 yuan one.

"That's not fair, Dad! Why does Xiaxia have two hundred more than me?" Chen Yuan protested after looking at the two red envelopes.

“Because Xiaxia’s grades are better than yours, if you ever do better than Xiaxia on a test, I’ll give you a thousand yuan,” Chen Jianguo said with a smile.

"Never mind then, you don't know that Xiaxia's total score this time exceeded the second place by a full thirty points!" Chen Yuan said exaggeratedly.

"Xiaxia is amazing!" Chen Chunqi was also very happy. His two daughters were both good at studying, and it was something to be proud of.

"Thank you for the compliment, godmother, and thank you for the gift, godfather." Su Xia was also very happy.

"Come on, let's go upstairs and download some songs." Chen Yuan took Su Xia's hand and went upstairs. She had been wanting this MP4 player for a long time, which was why she had promised Chen Jianguo that if she did well on her final exams, she would buy it for her. The important thing was that this one could play novels, making it much more advanced than the MP3 players her classmates had.

"Xiaxia, I want to download all the novels I like. What do you want to download?" Chen Yuan asked as she turned on her computer.

"English vocabulary listening practice." Su Xia's words silenced Chen Yuan. What the heck? English vocabulary listening practice? Isn't this for listening to music and reading novels?

"Not just listening practice, I want to download some songs too." Su Xia stopped teasing Chen Yuan and helped her collect songs. At this time, Google and NetEase Cloud Music hadn't appeared yet; cassette tapes and CDs were still the main distribution channels. But songs weren't like they would be later, where you had to pay for everything. Plus, Su Xia was familiar with the process, so she quickly downloaded two MP4 files. She then taught Chen Yuan how to use them before taking her own MP4 home.

It's not Chinese New Year yet, and Su's parents won't be back so early. Plus, Su Yue and Su Yaoche are both in Pucheng. They've been planning to spend the New Year at Su's mother's house in Pucheng, but it's not finalized yet, so they haven't informed Su Xia.

Since Su's mother left, Grandma has reverted to her old ways, ignoring Su Xia. If Su Xia comes home promptly, she can have a meal; if she's late, there's either no food or no dishes. She's too lazy to care about Su Xia, even though Su's father gives her a little money for food. Grandma feels that after taking care of Su Xia for so many years, that little bit of money is far from enough.

Su Xia is no longer the little girl she once was, an age when her grandmother would go hungry if she didn't cook. Over the years, she has saved all the money her parents occasionally gave her, and now it's a considerable sum. At least when she needs to pay tuition at school or buy notebooks and stationery, she doesn't have to ask her grandmother for money anymore.

Su Xia didn't tell her parents or grandmother about recognizing Chen Jianguo and Chen Chunqi as her godparents, feeling it was unnecessary and might cause them more trouble. Chen Chunqi also understood that everything was a topic of discussion in this small mountain village, and to avoid gossip, he didn't boast about it; only a few close relatives knew about it.

Su Xia maintained her excellent grades as always, and her mother didn't insist on her transferring to a school in Pucheng like she had in her previous life. Although there were regrets, she had made some good friends in junior and senior high school in Pucheng, and one of them she was still in touch with even after she started working. But there are always trade-offs; changing the trajectory of her life in her hometown meant she inevitably lost something.

"I'll go find her after I get into university and leave," Su Xia thought to herself. As long as she remembered her home address and whereabouts, she could find her and become friends with her again.

Ten days before the Lunar New Year, Su's mother called and invited Su Xia to spend the holiday in Pucheng. She told Su Xia to take a bus to the provincial capital first, and then her father would pick her up and take her to Pucheng. Su Xia refused outright, saying she could get to Pucheng alone. After all, she had traveled there many times in her previous life and wouldn't forget.

"Don't worry, I can do it myself."

Su's mother thought that Su Xia had been smart since she was a child, and now that she was older, it would be good to train her. So after thinking for a moment, she agreed to Su Xia's idea, but asked Su Xia to find a public phone in the provincial capital to let her know that she had arrived safely.

Su Xia charged her MP4, declined Chen Jianguo's offer to escort her, and boarded the bus to the provincial capital by herself. Everyone was a little surprised to see her traveling alone, but after Su Xia displayed a calmness befitting an adult, no one said anything. She wasn't their own child; other parents weren't worried about abandoning their children, so why were they so concerned?

Su Xia arrived in Pucheng around 5 p.m., where her father was already waiting to pick her up. He praised her courage for traveling alone from Nancheng to Pucheng. The two then took a bus to Su Xia's aunt's place, planning to visit Su Xia's mother's house together the next day.

This year was much the same as Su Xia's previous life, nothing special. The only difference was that her mother asked her, "Do you want to come to Putian to study?"

"No need, I'm doing just fine studying at home. Coming here would mean adapting to a new environment, and it would be a hassle if I fell behind." Su Xia refused outright. Coming to Pucheng wouldn't be as free as back home. Back home, her grandmother basically wouldn't care where she went; if she slept at Chen Yuan's house at night, her grandmother wouldn't even come looking for her. But in Pucheng, she'd be under her parents' watchful eyes every day, and she'd have to find time to do housework and help them take care of her younger siblings. She wasn't willing to do that.

Su's mother only asked the question, showing no expression when Su Xia refused. In her previous life, Su Xia's poor grades and bad temper led her mother to transfer her to Putian, believing that Su Xia wouldn't be able to attend high school if she stayed in their hometown and continued her studies poorly. But now, Su Xia's grades were excellent, and although she was a bit quiet, she was still polite. She was also worried that Su Xia would feel awkward without her, since Su Yue and Su Yaoche were with their parents. That's why she asked Su Xia.

Su Xia understood her mother's intentions, so she decisively rejected the suggestion to transfer to a school in Pucheng. Right after the New Year, Su Xia was about to start school, so she took a bus back to Nancheng by herself. Her birthday was also approaching after the New Year, but since her birthday usually coincided with the start of the school year, she rarely celebrated it with her parents.

Su's parents also felt that children didn't need to celebrate their birthdays, so they never mentioned it, and Su Xia got used to it.