No one understands rebirth better than me

Chapter 275 Congratulations, you pighead!
The entire private room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

If it weren't for the still-vibrant colored lights and the faint singing coming from other rooms, one might easily mistake it for a karaoke room.

Even when the word "boyfriend" came out of her mouth, Xiaolihua herself felt a little unreal.

"...Guan Ren, I like you... Will you be my boyfriend?"

Gu Youli's words left everyone speechless with shock.

Even though Du Zihan had been somewhat mentally prepared just moments before, she was still dumbfounded. It took her a long time to slowly and secretly shift her gaze to Luo Xiaobei, who was sitting next to Guan Ren in the corner of the sofa.

Despite this, Luo Xiaobei's face was calmer than ever before.

However, Du Zihan, as Luo Xiaobei's best friend, still squinted in the dim light and caught Luo Xiaobei's chest heaving due to her disordered breathing, as well as the obvious trembling of her fingertips.

On the other hand, because it happened so suddenly, almost no one else had time to react immediately.

……

Definitely.

After all, the girl holding the microphone on stage is Teacher Gu's younger sister, Gu Youli.

This former class beauty from Class 8 of the first year of high school was known for her exceptionally indifferent personality; it seemed that she only ever had studying on her mind.

Given Mr. Gu's usual strict image, it's safe to say that everyone who knows Gu Youli has always assumed that it's absolutely impossible for her to get involved in romance during her school years.

……

But the reality is that Gu Youli has actually gotten into a confession incident tonight!
And it was she who took the initiative to confess her feelings to a boy!
Such a stark contrast in events naturally leaves many people somewhat bewildered.

After a two-second pause where the air in the private room seemed to freeze, Zhang Xue and the other girls opened their mouths wide, revealing a shocked yet maternal smile. After exchanging excited glances, they exclaimed in unison, "Wow!"

Next up are the boys.

The guys first looked at each other with silly smiles, and then, amidst low exclamations of "Holy crap!", they looked back and forth between Guan Ren and Gu Youli.

……

Zhang Chi, being somewhat "enlightened," exchanged a glance with Du Zihan, who was "enlightened" on the woman's side. At this moment, which should have been filled with the bittersweet feelings of youth, they both saw a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes.

……

"Second Master! Say something! Hahaha!"

"Hey Ren-ge, Gu Youli is asking you a question! Say something!"

Liu Xiong and Xu Hui also put their arms around Guan Ren's shoulders with playful smiles.

At this moment, Guan Ren's face was slightly stiff, but his mind was not just a mess, it was a complete mess.

what's the situation?
what's the situation? !

Little Pear Blossom confessed her feelings? To me?
And in front of so many people?

This...this is so different from what Guan Ren himself had envisioned!
……

Guan Ren had always anticipated that he wouldn't be in a hurry to establish a romantic relationship with the girls around him.

The safest approach is to wait until you're in university, where you have more freedom in terms of time and space, before pursuing this.

After all, he was not a narrow-minded person from the beginning.

Therefore, in matters of the heart, one may need to plan more slowly than the average person in order to make long-term plans.

Within this general direction, Guan Ren had also considered the possibility that things might get too intense and the relationship might become too close prematurely.

Because human emotions are inherently impossible to quantify.

Even in this scenario, Guan Ren anticipated that the worst-case scenario would be that after the other party confessed their feelings in private, he would stall and delay, and everything would still be easier to resolve once they reached university.

However, to his utter surprise, a change occurred.

And it even appeared on the unexpectedly beautiful Pear Blossom.

Guan Ren never imagined that one day, this earnest, well-behaved, meticulous, and gentle girl would actually muster the courage to confess her feelings to him in front of so many people.

This even included... in front of Luo Xiaobei.

Therefore, putting everything else aside, in the instant that Guan Ren came to his senses like everyone else, he first firmly established a belief in his heart.

That is: whatever you do, don't turn your head and look at Luo Xiaobei! ...

Faced with Gu Youli's public confession, what will Qingmei's feelings be? What colors might appear in her eyes...?

Guan Ren was probably aware of all of this.

He really wanted to turn around immediately, to look into her eyes, which might have been glazed over, and to gently call her name.

But he can't.

Because Gu Youli is just as important to him as Luo Xiaobei.

On stage, Xiao Lihua, holding a microphone, had a face that was trying to appear calm but was actually filled with nervousness.

The light shining in those expectant eyes was the shyness of a young girl confessing her feelings for the first time, and also the greatest courage she had mustered since childhood.

If you're confessing your feelings to one girl, but then turn to look at another girl...

Such a small gesture is undoubtedly full of meaning!
Guan Ren couldn't estimate whether doing this subconsciously would harm Gu Youli at this moment, or how much harm it would cause.

Similarly, when faced with a group of classmates around him, Guan Ren was completely unable to stall or delay by saying "let me think about it."

It was all because of the brilliance in Little Pear Blossom's eyes, a brilliance that seemed to have given everything.

……

"Brother Ren!"

"Haha, Ren-ge is still shy!"

"Damn, even Second Master has moments of shyness, hahaha..."

Time passes, thoughts come and go, but in reality, it's all just a fleeting moment.

Guan Ren's brain was already working hard to multitask, so much so that after thinking about so many things in an instant, he still tried to adjust his originally stiff expression and deliberately showed a slightly embarrassed smile so as not to let Gu Youli notice the struggle and confusion in his heart.

"Agree to her! Agree to her!"

Several girls, having watched too many TV dramas, immediately started cheering and clapping along.

Laughter and an increasingly ambiguous atmosphere echoed throughout the private room, and also resonated in Guan Ren's mind, like death knells urging him to respond.

"Gu Youli."

And so, Guan Ren finally spoke.

Luo Xiaobei, who had been silent all along as if all the excitement was irrelevant to her, finally turned her head slowly, her eyes unfocused as she looked at the profile of the boy beside her.

Looking into his eyes, so focused on Gu Youli, and watching his lips slowly part to reveal a tender smile to her:
"I like you too, will you be my girlfriend?"

……

So next.

On stage, the girl's eyes showed surprise, and her face flushed.

In the audience, students were screaming and laughing with joy.

All of this seemed to be rapidly becoming increasingly blurry in Luo Xiaobei's ears at that moment.

"Xiaobei..."

Du Zihan quietly moved closer to the crowd:
"Are you... alright...?"

Luo Xiaobei shook his head.

There was no dramatic scene like those in soap operas where someone storms out of the door.

There was no exaggerated heartbreak or despair.

Luo Xiaobei, along with the others, watched as her childhood friend was ushered onto the stage to stand next to Gu Youli, then clapped and chuckled sweetly.

"Congratulations, you pighead~"

Just to hold back her sobs, her throat felt like it was being cut by a rusty knife, it hurt so much.

(End of this chapter)