Rebirth to Save Myself

When I was in school, time always seemed to pass very slowly. Eight classes a day felt like an endless stream, and there were always assignments and lessons to learn. But before I knew it, it was Friday again, and with the ringing of the bell, the enjoyable weekend began once more.

Su Xia, Chen Yuan, Xia Tian, ​​and Ye Lingling arrived at the school gate and found Chen Wenwei and Lin Mohan standing there, looking inside. Seeing them, Lin Mohan happily waved and called out, "Su Xia, the great goddess!"

"Why are you here?" Chen Yuan asked as she walked over.

"After the exam, I thought I'd come and visit No. 1 High School, but the security guards wouldn't let me in," Lin Mohan said.

“People from other schools can’t come in except for the school anniversary celebration,” Ye Lingling said from the side.

"Would you like to visit now? I can take you in; it's not closing time yet," Su Xia asked them.

"No need, you've had a long day of classes, go back and have dinner," Chen Wenwei said.

"Su Xia, I have a question for you. Are you free now?" Lu Jingnian suddenly appeared and asked Su Xia.

"Let's go to the library when we have time. Yuanyuan, you can show Chen Wenwei and the others around the school. Lingling has to go to class," Su Xia said to Chen Yuan. The school is quite lenient with its students, especially regarding staying on campus to study; they're very lenient. They just require students to go to the library after class so they don't have to search the whole school for them.

"Okay, let's go." Chen Yuan waved to the two of them, then said to Su Xia, "We'll contact each other on QQ later."

"OK."

Su Xia and Lu Jingnian turned and headed towards the library. On the way, Lu Jingnian casually asked, "Who were those two just now?"

"My junior high school friend with Chen Yuan."

"Oh, don't they have classes? Is this time at the entrance of No. 1 Middle School?"

"They came to participate in a math competition."

"Oh, I'm looking at that."

"When did you become so gossipy?" Su Xia stopped and looked at Lu Jingnian with a puzzled expression.

"No, I was just asking," Lu Jingnian said awkwardly, then said to Su Xia, "Let's go, why did we stop?"

"Let's go." Lu Jingnian was too embarrassed to ask any further questions, so he could only follow Su Xia to the library.

With one problem solved, Su Xia asked some more chemistry questions until she noticed two missed calls on her silent phone, realizing Chen Yuan was still outside. Just as she was about to call back, Chen Yuan called again.

"Hey, Yuanyuan."

"Xiaxia, where have you been? You haven't been answering your phone."

"I was in the library, and my phone was on silent, so I didn't hear it."

“Dad knew we hadn’t gone home yet, so he came to pick us up. We waited for you but you didn’t come out, so we left first. Anyway, you and Lu Jingnian are going the same way,” Chen Yuan said mischievously.

"Oh, why didn't you wait for me?!" Su Xia was also embarrassed. What did it mean that she was going the same way as Lu Jingnian?

"Okay, I'm hungry, I'm going home for dinner!" Chen Yuan said and hung up the phone.

Su Xia was left staring at her phone, unsure of what to do. Lu Jingnian, who had overheard the conversation, said, "Let's go home together. It's my fault for keeping you up so late."

"Okay, sure." Su Xia had no choice but to go to the bus stop with Lu Jingnian, comforting herself that he was just going the same way as her.

On the other end, after listening to Chen Yuan and Su Xia finish their phone call, Chen Jianguo asked Chen Yuan, "Didn't you tell me they'd be going very late? We're not far away, let's turn back and pick them up."

"Oh dear, Dad, there's only room for one more person in the car now. If you pick up Xiaxia, you're leaving Lu Jingnian behind. Besides, if it's me and Chen Wenwei who stays behind, who are you going to pick up?" Chen Yuan complained to her father for being so clueless.

"Of course I'd pick you up. If it were Lu Jingnian and Xiaxia, I'd pick Xiaxia up too. It's my own child, how can I compare to other people's? Lu Jingnian isn't legless, he can just take the bus back by himself." Chen Jianguo's words left Chen Yuan speechless, but she still felt warm inside.

"They've probably all gotten on the bus by now, let's go back first," Chen Wenwei said, having roughly understood Chen Yuan's plan.

"Never mind, it's good that Xiaxia didn't come back alone." Chen Jianguo compromised and didn't turn back.

Chen Yuan was so excited about going to the sea that she couldn't sleep, so she went to Su Xia's room to wake her up and asked, "Xia Xia, do you really not need to bring a swimsuit?"

"Hmm, no need, you can't swim anyway." Su Xia wants to sleep, sis, don't you even know what time it is!

"What if we don't encounter the blue tears?" Chen Yuan then asked.

"If we don't run into you, we'll try again next time. We'll eventually run into you if we go often enough." Su Xia turned over, feeling really sleepy!

"Should we sign up for a swimming class this weekend? I see that Xia Tian has a great figure, and she says she swims regularly for exercise."

"Hmm, we'll see and pick one when the time comes."

"Xiaxia, what do you think of Lu Jingnian?"

"Not good at all, just a fool."

What does "傻批" mean?

"It means idiot."

"Oh, so what do you think of Chen Wenwei?"

"That's it. Ugh, I'm so sleepy, let me sleep."

"Okay, you go to sleep."

At that moment, Su Xia's mind was only focused on one thing: sleeping. She thus ignored the meaning behind Chen Yuan's two questions, and by the time she woke up the next day, she had almost completely forgotten them.

It was rare for Chen Chunqi to see Su Xia looking so sleepy, so he asked her, "Xiaxia, did you stay up late reading last night?"

"No, someone climbed into my bed yesterday and chatted with me late at night." Su Xia said, yawning as she looked at the culprit, Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan chuckled and said, "Come and have breakfast, I've got it for you."

Su Xia glared at Chen Yuan before sitting down to eat breakfast. Today, everyone was having millet porridge, along with steamed buns, mantou, fried dough sticks, and other items that Chen Jianguo had bought early in the morning. Although the bread was simple, sometimes a warm bowl of porridge was very comforting.

Lu Jingnian and his friends were already waiting for them downstairs. After finishing breakfast and packing their things, they were ready to leave. With everyone's help, the adults also let them take the bus to the beach on their own.

"Hello, everyone, good morning!" Everyone looked over and saw a boy wearing a casual suit and a fisherman's hat. Next to him stood Lu Jingnian, who wanted to stay away from him.

"Lu Jingnian, aren't you going to introduce him?" Chen Yuan asked him.

"Hello, beautiful lady, my name is Shen Zhiheng." Shen Zhiheng didn't stand on ceremony and spoke directly without waiting for Lu Jingnian to introduce her.

"Hello, my name is Chen Yuan." Chen Yuan didn't hesitate and introduced herself directly.

"Then this beautiful lady must be Su Xia, right? I've heard Lao Lu mention you many times." Shen Zhiheng looked at Su Xia, who saw him as a carefree hoodlum.

Shen Zhiheng was waiting for Su Xia to speak, but Su Xia ignored him and looked at him with disdain, making him a little embarrassed. Shen Zhiheng looked at Lu Jingnian, signaling him to quickly help his brother out of the predicament.

"Be serious." Lu Jingnian warned Shen Zhiheng directly, then said to Su Xia, "That's just how he is. He's been suppressed by school for too long and he's gone a bit crazy. Just ignore him."

Su Xia nodded. If Lu Jingnian said that she should be more tolerant, then she wouldn't want to talk to Lu Jingnian either.

Seeing Lu Jingnian siding with outsiders, Shen Zhiheng was so angry he wanted to hit him, but he had just left a bad impression on everyone and needed to make amends. He quickly put on a serious face and said, "Let's go. I've already planned everything. Just follow me."

"You're not going to sell us off, are you?" Su Xia questioned him, as if he were unreliable.

"How could that be? You have to believe me, Xiaxia." Shen Zhiheng looked so aggrieved that everyone found him repulsive.

"Then tell me, what's your plan? How are we going to get there? Have you arranged accommodations? What attractions and places are we going to visit? How is it planned? How much will it cost per person?" Su Xia rattled off a barrage of questions, leaving Shen Zhiheng speechless.

He stammered, "Do we still need to do all this?"

"You're so unreliable! I heard you organized this trip, and you didn't prepare anything. How are we supposed to go with you?" Chen Yuan was speechless at this person. Then she looked at Lu Jingnian and thought that if his friend was so unreliable, he probably wasn't reliable either.

"Let's go, I've made a plan," Su Xia said to everyone.

"As expected of the great Su Xia, she really puts people at ease." Lin Mohan immediately flattered her, clapping his hands in approval.

"As expected of Xiaxia, Old Lu was right." Shen Zhiheng also started to flatter, even bringing up Lu Jingnian.

"What did Lu Jingnian say to you?" Su Xia asked Shen Zhiheng curiously. He kept saying that Lu Jingnian mentioned her in front of him, and often at that.

"Well, can I tell you this, Lao Lu?" Shen Zhiheng pretended to hesitate and glanced at Lu Jingnian.

"Shut up, what did I say to you? What did I say?" Lu Jingnian's voice rose as Shen Zhiheng raised it, and then he said to Su Xia, "Let's go. We can leave him if necessary."

"Hmm, that's a good idea." Su Xia nodded in agreement, then arranged for everyone to take taxis to the bus station to catch buses, so that the six people could be divided into two buses.

Chen Yuan didn't want to ride in the same car as Shen Zhiheng, so she squeezed into Chen Wenwei's car and said to Su Xia, "Xiaxia, see you at the station."

Su Xia paused for a second, then said, "No, I can squeeze in with you guys."

"Bye-bye!" Chen Yuan told the driver to drive off without hesitation, leaving the exhaust fumes behind.

Seeing that Chen Yuan was so sensible, Shen Zhiheng opened the passenger door and got in, saying to Su Xia, "I get carsick, so I have to sit in the front."

Su Xia, suddenly abandoned by Chen Yuan, no longer resisted Shen Zhiheng's actions as much and went to sit in the back seat. Lu Jingnian glanced at Shen Zhiheng, who winked at him, leaving Lu Jingnian speechless.

As soon as Su Xia got in the car, Shen Zhiheng started a conversation by asking, "I heard from Lao Lu that you're going to participate in the chemistry competition, so we'll be rivals now."

"You participated too?" Su Xia asked curiously.

“Shen Zhiheng’s chemistry scores were among the top in the province before, so this time he’s aiming for a guaranteed admission,” Lu Jingnian said from the side.

"Hehe, we'll both get into Tsinghua University through the recommendation program, and let Lao Lu take the exam himself," Shen Zhiheng said with a silly grin.

“I’m not as good as you. My teacher thinks I’m not good at chemistry, so she made me participate.” Su Xia shook her head. She didn’t dare to think about any guaranteed admission spots. If her homeroom teacher hadn’t insisted that she participate, she wouldn’t have signed up.

"You're being modest. Old Lu didn't even participate this time," Shen Zhiheng said.

“I’ll tutor her in chemistry,” Lu Jingnian said.

"Oh~ I see~" Shen Zhiheng's drawn-out tone and teasing smile seemed to imply that there must be some unspeakable secret between Su Xia and Lu Jingnian.

"Where do you go to high school?" Su Xia couldn't stand his tone and tried to change the subject.

"Didn't Lao Lu tell you? That's so unfair of you! I'm at Huaqing High School Affiliated to Tsinghua University, and Lao Lu and I were junior high school classmates. Then he abandoned me and went to No. 1 High School, sob sob sob." Shen Zhiheng started to cry as she spoke, covering her face and sobbing.

"It's your own fault for not applying to No. 1 High School, and now you're blaming me." Lu Jingnian slapped Shen Zhiheng hard across the face, but Shen Zhiheng easily dodged it.

"Old Lu, all these years of friendship have been wasted in the end!"

"Pfft." Su Xia couldn't help but laugh after all. Shen Zhiheng was too funny; he even said that classic line.

"You should smile more often. You look so handsome when you smile, don't you, Lao Lu?" Shen Zhiheng asked.

"Yes, it looks good." Lu Jingnian nodded in agreement.

Su Xia blushed a little from the bluntness of these two kids. Didn't they know what tact was? Besides, who compliments someone by directly saying they're good-looking? All those adjectives they learned in school were a waste!

With Shen Zhiheng keeping the atmosphere lively, and Su Xia setting aside her initial prejudices, Lu Jingnian felt embarrassed to watch his friend chatting with Su Xia. So when the three of them got out of the car, they were chatting and laughing, which left Chen Yuan and the other two looking on in surprise.

"Xiaxia, over here." Chen Yuan waved, then asked in confusion, "What are you guys talking about, having so much fun?"

“We were talking about chemistry competitions, and also the physics and math competitions from junior high.” Su Xia’s words immediately shut Chen Yuan down. Chen Yuan was speechless. They were out having fun, why were they talking about studying?

“But Xiaxia is really amazing. To be honest, it’s rare for a girl to be so outstanding in science,” Shen Zhiheng interjected.

“Our Xiaxia is not only great at science, but also excels in humanities,” Chen Yuan added.

"That's right, I heard from Lao Lu that you tutored him back in your first year of high school."

"Yes, we tutored each other back then."

"Let's go buy tickets, so as not to waste time. We can continue chatting on the train later."

"it is good."

They went to the ticket hall, bought six tickets to Pingtan, waited a while in the waiting room, and then boarded the train. Lu Jingnian and Shen Zhiheng sat together, with Su Xia and Chen Yuan across the aisle. Chen Wenwei and Lin Mohan sat behind them. As soon as they boarded, they started sharing food, taking out everything from spicy strips and dried fish to fruit and bread, regardless of whether others could share or not; what they ate was theirs.