Rebirth to Save Myself

Lu Jingnian suddenly remembered the question Shen Zhiheng had asked him yesterday: What is your relationship with Su Xia now?

What kind of relationship do they have? They seem like good friends, and they also seem like lovers, but they haven't really defined their relationship. So they're currently more than friends but not quite lovers, but Lu Jingnian doesn't care about that. He and Su Xia both know about that agreement. It's as if Lu Jingnian was afraid that they would drift apart during the four years of being in different countries, so he made a four-year agreement, while Su Xia feels that the four-year agreement is like giving her time to deal with things.

So what kind of relationship we have now isn't so important that we have to figure it out. As long as we know that we both care about each other, that's enough.

"Take pictures, I came here to take pictures." Lu Jingnian nodded, then took a few photos of Su Xia in the classroom with his camera. By this time, the other students had all gone to join the fun, leaving only Su Xia and Lu Jingnian in the classroom.

Su Xia studied the camera's delay settings and took a photo of the two of them together. Just as they were huddled together checking the result, a sound came from the classroom door.

"Xiaxia, we're done filming!" Chen Yuan ran over happily, only to find the two of them standing a little too close.

“You’re here! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Where is the others?” Su Xia looked up at Chen Yuan and asked.

"We're here." Ye Lingling and Xia Tian came out and said, "We feel embarrassed seeing you two so close."

"We're just looking at the photos we just took. What are you thinking?" Su Xia tapped each of their heads, leaving no clue what they were thinking all day.

"Ahem, you guys had such an interesting event and you didn't invite me? That's too much." Shen Zhiheng suddenly appeared at the door, still wearing his No. 1 High School uniform, which surprised everyone.

"Why are you here? And where did you get this school uniform?" Su Xia asked curiously.

"I'm popular, so I borrowed it." Shen Zhiheng proudly raised his head, then walked into the classroom and said, "I want to take pictures too."

"No problem, take pictures, everyone take pictures." Su Xia acted like an adult, dealing with the group of kids. As two boys who had taken photos together at the beach and had been influenced by Su Xia, they were perfectly capable of taking pictures for the girls and could even offer some great suggestions. The girls only needed to think of beautiful poses and styles to capture their youthful appearance.

"Go quickly, take a picture together."

"Yeah, it wouldn't be right for you guys not to film it."

"If we don't take pictures soon, the sun will be gone."

A group of people egged Su Xia on to take a picture with Lu Jingnian, and Su Xia hesitated for a moment before going over. However, she was completely different from her previous nonchalant demeanor, and awkwardly didn't know how to pose.

"Just do what you usually do in class," Lu Jingnian said softly, noticing Su Xia's nervousness.

"it is good."

Su Xia tried to calm herself down, looking down at the exercises on the table, trying to figure out how to solve the problem. Lu Jingnian sat beside her watching, sunlight streaming through the glass onto the ground, and a gentle breeze blowing from afar. Chen Yuan and Ye Lingling exchanged smiles; the scene was so beautiful, they didn't want to disturb it.

Finally, everyone took a group photo, ending what had lasted almost an entire afternoon. The teacher unusually announced that there would be no evening study session, so the group decided to go out for dinner to bid farewell to Lu Jingnian as he prepared to return abroad to continue his studies.

"What do you want to eat?" Shen Zhiheng asked everyone, while looking at the restaurant recommendations on his phone.

"I want to eat barbecue." Chen Yuan raised her hand, indicating that she had been craving barbecue for a long time.

"I also can."

"Me too."

"Let's go eat barbecue then. There's a really popular all-you-can-eat place there lately."

"gogogo!"

At the dinner table, sizzling grilled meat sat on the grill, everyone eagerly awaiting the first bite. Su Xia looked at Xia Tian and asked, "Are you leaving tomorrow too?"

"Yes, I have to rush back to continue training." Xia Tian sighed helplessly. She had only managed to get two days off by taking graduation photos. She barely made it to school at noon today, and she had to go back early tomorrow morning.

"We can meet in a few months, it's okay." Su Xia nodded. The art exam is really a difficult path.

"Yes, I'm going to the Central Academy of Drama." Xia Tian clenched her fist, confidently stating that she would definitely get in.

“Then when I’m at Huaqing, we can look after each other,” Shen Zhiheng interjected.

“Yes, we’re all in the capital, so we can look out for each other.” Su Xia nodded. Having a fellow townsman in such a big city is a kind of comfort.

"No way! What kind of 'look after'?" Xia Tian looked at Shen Zhiheng with disdain. In her eyes, Shen Zhiheng was like a street thug! After all, she had only eaten with Shen Zhiheng twice, and everyone thought he was a street thug, so naturally she didn't want to have much interaction with him. Even if Shen Zhiheng was a top student from Tsinghua University, so what?

"Haha, it'll be Xia Tian who takes care of me then, you'll be a big star in the future." Shen Zhiheng laughed to ease the awkwardness, and then everyone treated the matter as a thing of the past and didn't mention it again.

After dinner, everyone went to the park for a stroll, but Xia Tian didn't go because her mother had already called to urge her to come home.

"Excuse me, I have to go back now." Xia Tian sometimes couldn't stand her mother's overbearing control. Even if she just went out to eat with her classmates, her mother would call three or four times to check up on her, which made her friends reluctant to ask her out.

"Drive carefully, we'll meet again when you get back." Su Xia nodded, not pressuring Xia Tian to stay.

"Bye-bye, see you next time." Xia Tian turned around and hailed a taxi home. If she took the bus again, her mother would probably call her non-stop and harass her friends.

Shen Zhiheng was very free, so free that he was a little bored. He strongly requested that everyone spend more time with him, but was ruthlessly rejected by everyone. The reason given was that they still needed to take the college entrance examination, and since he didn't, he wouldn't understand.

"This is ridiculous! I'm so incredibly bored!" Shen Zhiheng wailed. His friends were all using the same excuse to reject him.

"You can start reviewing your university courses in advance and try to take the postgraduate entrance exam as soon as possible," Su Xia suggested.

“But I’m doing a combined bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral program.” Shen Zhiheng said with some annoyance, saying something that hurt everyone’s feelings.

"I want to kill him, does anyone object?" Chen Yuan rolled up her sleeves, ready to do it.

"No comment."

"Go ahead and get it, take mine too."

Shen Zhiheng was subsequently ostracized by the group, who demanded that he shut up, saying that this kind of Versailles-like person deserved to be beaten.

"My flight is tomorrow afternoon, and I don't know when we'll see each other again," Lu Jingnian said, deliberately slowing his pace as he approached Su Xia and looked at the three people playfully fighting in front of him.

"Keep it up, Lao Lu. Let's move forward together and make progress together," Su Xia said to Lu Jingnian.

“Okay, let’s go together.” Lu Jingnian smiled and nodded, his eyes full of tenderness as he looked at Su Xia.

With less than 100 days left until the college entrance examination, the countdown on the blackboard every day reminds them that time is running out. Some students break down and cry while studying, and instead of laughing at them, everyone comforts them. The desks, desks, and chairs are filled with test papers, as heavy as their lives.

The endless formulas, the countless texts to memorize, and the words formed by English letters are all overwhelming. Nowadays, teachers mostly let students study on their own. If there's anything you don't understand, you can go to the front of the class to ask the teacher. They no longer explain the problems; they just say, "I've told you what I need to teach or what I need to highlight. The rest is up to you to work hard."

Su Xia knew all too well that the college entrance examination was the last chance for everyone to start from the same point and sprint together. In an era where studying is more important than money, how many people have had their lives changed because of the college entrance examination?

Since Su Xia's mother was speechless and stopped answering her calls last time, her mother hasn't bothered her anymore. Su Xia's mother probably thinks that with time, the matter will pass, and Su Xia will definitely not abandon her parents. When Su Xia comes looking for her, her mother will definitely give her a slap followed by a sweet treat!

If it were Su Xia from her past life, she would have done the same. Because she craved family, she would strive to obtain what she couldn't have, even being forced to sacrifice a part of her dignity to cling to that pathetic bond. But the Su Xia of today is a reincarnated Su Xia; she has recognized reality, she has changed her mindset, and she feels that such family ties are better off without.

So one person didn't care, and the other was waiting for the other to back down first, which directly led to a stalemate where nothing could move forward.

Su's mother didn't call again until the college entrance examination. Chen Jianguo and Chen Chunqi knew the inside story about Su Xia's parents. Although they wanted to condemn them for letting their daughter go out and not care about her or give her living expenses, they also felt that they were letting them off too easily.

Chen Chunqi complained to Chen Meili, Chen Wenwei's mother, and Chen Meili said directly, "You haven't been back for the past few years, so you don't know, but Su Xia's grandmother has been telling everyone that you're shamelessly trying to raise a daughter for the Su family."

"What? How could this happen? She's ruining Su Xia's reputation."

"Big sister, they're ruining your family's reputation, not Su Xia's. They said you don't have a son, so you're shamelessly insisting on supporting Su Xia. They said that if you expect Su Xia to take care of you in your old age, that's impossible. Su Xia will eventually return to the Su family. You have no idea how awful their exact words were. I was so angry that I stormed off on the spot."

"Our reputation? We don't need her to ruin our reputation. Chen Jianguo's mother has already ruined it. If she talks about Su Xia like that, some people will definitely think that Su Xia is ungrateful. We raised her for so long and she still went back to the Su family. How is Su Xia supposed to go back to her hometown in the future?!"

"It's a good thing you can keep your composure. You formally recognized Su Xia as your goddaughter before, but you didn't announce it!"

“I’m worried that people in the small mountain village will spread rumors and that Su Xia will be looked down upon because she is young. In our area, if the parents are both alive and there are no close relatives, why would anyone take a goddaughter? They might even think that Su Xia is only after our family is rich.”

"Sigh, the village is small, and some people like to gossip about other people's family matters when they have nothing to do. I don't like it either, but luckily I usually stay in the city to take care of my son."

"When the time comes, let Old Chen buy a house in the provincial capital, so we can still visit each other."

“My husband is not as good at making money as your husband. Once my son gets into university, I’ll go out and find a job.”

"Don't say that. Your son will need to buy a house when he gets married! Maybe the girl he'll want won't even want our old cement house back home. You'll have to buy it then. The provincial capital is definitely more developed than the city, and the property value will appreciate. If the couple doesn't want to live in the provincial capital later, you can either live there yourself or sell it to make money."

Chen Chunqi and Chen Meili chatted about various things, completely unaware that Chen Wenwei's future wife would be their own Chen Yuan! They also had no idea that Chen Jianguo, to ensure Chen Yuan wouldn't be mistreated, would generously buy them a villa as their wedding home. Of course, these are all stories for later.

Chen Chunqi was worried that Su Xia might be affected by the Su family and not do well in the college entrance examination, but she did not expect that Chen Jianguo would directly talk to Su Xia.

“Xiaxia, you’ve been with our family for so many years, and we’ve always treated you like our own daughter. Chen Yuan has a share, and you have a share too, and here’s what I have.”

"Dad, don't speak yet, listen to me for a moment." Su Xia interrupted Chen Jianguo and said to him very seriously.

"Okay, you go ahead."

“Dad, I used to think I had weak family ties, that's why my parents didn't care for me and my elders didn't love me. From childhood to adulthood, I tried my best in everything, thinking they would be proud of me. But I was wrong. Some people don't deserve to be parents. I'm 18 now and about to take the college entrance exam. My plan is to transfer my household registration to the university so I can separate from the Su family.” Su Xia paused for a moment, then continued:

"At that time, even if they come to my door to interfere again, they will have no legitimate reason. I have all the expense details since I came to the Chen family, as well as the expense details of the Su family. Even if it goes to court, I will be on the side of justice. Dad, you and Mom have pity on me, raised me, let me study, and never interfered with any of my decisions. Even when I went to the capital for the competition, you brought Mom and Yuanyuan to cheer me on! So, even though we are not related by blood, you and Mom are my real parents."

Chen Jianguo looked at Su Xia, somewhat moved. To be honest, when Chen Chunqi first said he wanted to adopt Su Xia as his goddaughter, he simply felt that Su Xia was too pitiful. But after getting to know her, he found that she had a more stable mind than an adult, and she wouldn't be timid or hesitant because of other people's opinions. He just thought it was good for Chen Yuan to have a playmate.

The more he got to know her, the more he realized that Su Xia was the kind of person who would repay kindness tenfold. By now, he completely considered Su Xia his daughter, but he was a little worried about whether she felt the same way. What if he took it upon himself to arrange for Su Xia to take over the company, and she refused? That's why they had today's conversation.