Rebirth Must Be Happy

Even with the principal's intervention proving fruitless, the leadership of the school had no choice but to abandon their hopes of a perfect resolution and begin preparing to receive reporters.

Chai Qingqing arrived in Pengcheng by plane on August 2nd. The school sent a car to pick her up from the airport. They met for a casual meal and chatted for a while before the interview officially began before classes started in the afternoon.

"Let's get to the second floor of the administration building at 1:40."

Chen Xingzhu received the notification on her way home from school and turned to ask Xu Jinhuan, "Are you coming with me?"

"Go, why don't you go?"

Xu Jinhuan smiled and said, "I don't accept interviews, I'll stay with you."

Chen Xingzhu felt that he was teasing her again, and rolled her eyes at him.

"We're back!"

When the two returned home, they saw their mother carrying out a plate of food. Xu Jinhuan asked in surprise, "Mom, how can you do such a small thing? Where are Zhizhi and Xiaoxie?"

"Xiao Xie is a head chef now!"

Song Zhiyu came out of the kitchen with a bowl and chopsticks, puffing out her cheeks and snorting, "You have to show some respect to Chef Xie, or you won't get any food!"

"Did your sister cook today?"

Xu Jinhuan glanced at the dining table. As her mother put down the plates, there were already four dishes on it: stewed fish, stir-fried pork, stir-fried cowpeas, cold lettuce salad, and cold dried bean curd salad.

Chen Xingzhu was also very surprised and asked, "Did Sister Wanqing make all of this?"

Song Xiaohui smiled and said, "Half for each of us."

"That's amazing!"

Chen Xingzhu looked at her with admiration and went to the kitchen. She saw Xie Wanqing pouring the stir-fried shredded meat into the pot and mixing it with the shredded potatoes. She said, "Sister Wanqing, you don't need to make so many dishes... Aren't you hot?"

"fine."

Xie Wanqing smiled as she awkwardly stirred the food, "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do, so I might as well cook a little longer. It's quite fun."

"Was this stir-fried by Wan Qing?"

Xu Haiguang also returned. Upon hearing that Xie Wanqing had cooked the dishes, he didn't even bother to wash his face before exclaiming in amazement, "Wow, that's amazing!"

"delicious!"

Everyone sat down around the table, each one speaking eloquently and paying close attention to providing Xie Wanqing with emotional support.

It wasn't all flattery. It was Xie Wanqing's first time trying it, but she was quite talented. Apart from the potato and meat stir-fry being a little too salty, there was basically nothing wrong with it.

'I was so stupid, really!'

Seeing her aunt and uncle's beaming faces, Song Zhiyu couldn't help but sigh inwardly: 'I only knew Chen Xingzhu would pick the fruit before I grew tall enough to reach it, but I didn't know Xie Wanqing would pick it too…'

While inwardly grumbling about her miscalculation, she couldn't resist picking up two more slices of meat and putting them in her bowl. She ate them with large mouthfuls of rice, mumbling, "So delicious!"

Xie Wanqing smiled and said, "Then you should eat more."

"Uh-huh!"

Song Zhiyu nodded vigorously. She had already felt wronged enough, so she couldn't let her stomach and mouth suffer any more. She definitely had to eat more.

Do you like girls who can cook?

After a short rest at noon, Xu Jinhuan and Chen Xingzhu met at the entrance and went downstairs together. Chen Xingzhu suddenly asked a question.

"Why do you ask this suddenly?"

Xu Jinhuan knew why, of course, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Being able to cook is definitely a good thing, but not being able to cook doesn't have any impact. You can't judge it based on that."

Chen Xingzhu asked, "Then what criteria should be used for evaluation?"

"It depends on whether you like it or not."

Xu Jinhuan looked at her and smiled, "I like what I like, and I don't like what I don't like. It won't change because of other factors."

This is undoubtedly a lie, and a very absurd one at that, but there's no way around it, women love to hear this, especially girls of this age.

"I don't believe it."

Chen Xingzhu blushed a little under his gaze and quickened her pace downstairs. But when she turned the corner of the stairwell, she couldn't hide the sweet smile on her lips, showing that even Chen Xingzhu loved to hear sweet words.

'You think I don't know you?'

Xu Jinhuan felt smug and went downstairs. Just as he reached his car, he saw Cong Miaoyin run out from the next building. As soon as she saw him, she smiled as if she had seen RMB.

"Ah! Xu Jinhuan—"

She jogged over from Miaoyin, still dragging out her words, "I love your... car to death!"

She ran up to him, jumped down, and landed with a bang, her long hair flying in the air. Then, the stray hairs covered half of her face, and she said with a bright smile, "Quick, let me hitch a ride in your car... I won't bother you two, will I?"

Chen Xingzhu recognized her naturally and shook his head with a smile.

"That's good, because I'd also like to hitch a ride if I had to bother you, it's so hot here."

She quickly opened the back door and climbed in. "You don't need to worry about me, just pretend I don't exist... I heard you have a refrigerator in your car, is that true?"

"It's right in front of your head."

Xu Jinhuan had really forgotten about his childhood sweetheart these past few days, and felt a little ashamed. "There seems to be ice cream inside. Feel free to eat it, don't be shy."

"I'm not going to be polite with you."

Miao Yin, curiously examining the car, then gossiped, "Chen Xingzhu, they said this car is yours, and Xu Jinhuan is the driver, is that right?"

Chen Xingzhu said, "I can't drive, so he helped me drive."

"So that's your driver. That's great. If I could drive, I'd be happy to be your driver too."

Since Miaoyin was a bit of a chatterbox and had been talking to Chen Xingzhu the whole way, Xu Jinhuan couldn't help but complain, "Didn't you say you were pretending I didn't exist? You've been muttering to yourself non-stop, how can you pretend I don't exist?"

"If you don't say anything, am I supposed to chat with Xingzhu?" "...You win."

They arrived at school quickly. Miaoyin got off the bus, still cheerful, and exclaimed, "Wow, that went by so fast... Shall we go?"

Xu Jinhuan said, "You go first, she has an interview about me."

"What do you mean by an interview about her..."

Miao Yin repeated it twice, unsure of how to punctuate it. Fortunately, she had heard about it and asked out of curiosity. She learned that he was going to accompany Chen Xingzhu to an interview about him that he refused to attend. So she waved her hand and said, "Then you guys go ahead, bye-bye."

"She has such a nice personality."

Watching Miao Yin leave, Chen Xingzhu whispered with a hint of envy, "She seemed very happy."

Xu Jinhuan laughed and said, "Don't you think her personality is a bit like Zhizhi's?"

Chen Xingzhu stared at him with a slightly strange look for two seconds, then shook her head. "Doesn't seem like it."

"what?"

Xu Jinhuan was surprised that she would deny it, and found it very strange. "Doesn't it seem like it?"

"Not like."

Chen Xingzhu shook his head again, then paused for a moment and said, "After returning from Huangshan, it might be somewhat similar."

"..."

Xu Jinhuan wondered if she was blind, or if she herself was blind. "Are you sure you didn't say it backwards?"

As he accompanied Chen Xingzhu toward the administration building, he said, "When Zhizhi first came to my house and we went to Huangshan, her personality was basically exactly the same as Cong Miaoyin's, just as mischievous. She only became much more well-behaved after we came back from Huangshan."

"That's just on the surface; she's putting on an act."

Chen Xingzhu looked at him and said softly and earnestly, "Zhizhi only became truly happy after we came back from Huangshan."

Xu Jinhuan opened his mouth: "...Huh?"

"Ok!"

The two walked into the administration building. Chen Xingzhu slowed her pace, tilted her head slightly to look at him, and nodded very seriously, "I'm sure."

"...Xu Jinhuan, you're here too?"

Ruan Jingqiu's voice came from behind. Xu Jinhuan turned around and saw that she had come with Xie Zhiqiang. She smiled and said, "You're right on time."

Xie Zhiqiang asked, "Weren't you not coming?"

"I only said that I would not give interviews, and that I came with her."

Xu Jinhuan pursed her lips, "Let's go."

The four of them went up to the second floor together. The first office had a sign that read "Principal's Office" hanging above it, and the door was closed.

Xu Jinhuan knocked on the door and vaguely heard voices inside before stopping. Then the office door opened, revealing Zhuang Cheng'an's face.

Upon seeing Xu Jinhuan, Zhuang Cheng'an was visibly taken aback, almost asking directly, "Weren't you not coming?"

However, he still greeted them, "Come in."

The office was very spacious; even with four people in, it didn't feel crowded. Fu Qingxuan and Principal Qu Liangcai were both there, along with a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her thirties. She wore black-rimmed glasses and a light gray short-sleeved business suit; she had an ordinary appearance but a good figure.

"This is reporter Chai from Yilin."

Qu Liangcai and Zhuang Chengan also saw Xu Jinhuan. They were initially surprised, but then their faces lit up with joy. Qu Liangcai took the initiative to stand up and help introduce them.

Afraid of being exposed, Xu Jinhuan smiled and said, "Hello, Reporter Chai, I am Xu Jinhuan's current deskmate. My name is Liu Liangfu."

???

Everyone, including Qu Liangcai, couldn't help but stare at him, wondering what kind of trouble he was up to now.

Xu Jinhuan simply didn't want to be interviewed, and politely shut up after saying that.

There was a brief pause in the office atmosphere before Fu Qingxuan, who was sitting next to Chai Qingqing, introduced them: "Liu Liangfu is Xu Jinhuan's new deskmate, and he's not very familiar with Xu Jinhuan. Next to him is Xie Zhiqiang, Xu Jinhuan's former deskmate, and they're more familiar with each other..."

She briefly introduced Xie Zhiqiang and Ruan Jingqiu's identities, then looked at Chen Xingzhu and said, "This is Xu Jinhuan's friend. The two of them often study together. Xu Jinhuan's improved grades are largely thanks to her."

Looking at Chen Xingzhu's near-perfect, beautiful face, Chai Qingqing seemed to understand something and smiled, "Hello, classmates, please sit down. Let's continue..."

Qu Liangcai seemed to want to interrupt, but before he could, Chai Qingqing asked, "You just said that Xu Jinhuan wanted to use the May Day holiday to test the game, but Principal Qu canceled the holiday, so Xu Jinhuan got angry and knocked over your plate... What happened next?"

???

All four students, including Xu Jinhuan, looked at Qu Liangcai with incredulous eyes.

Is that so?
"Then we had a holiday."

Qu Liangcai continued seriously without blushing or skipping a beat, "At the time, I didn't know what he was going to do with the holiday, but canceling the holiday was indeed wrong. Although there was a reason, a mistake is a mistake, and we can't cover it up. Besides, I had said beforehand that if anyone had any opinions, they could come to me. He gave his opinion, I received it, and adopted it, so the holiday was allowed as normal."

Chai Qingqing asked in surprise, "Didn't you punish him?"

"How can you blame him?"

Qu Liangcai waved his hand, "We cannot punish students just because they point out the school's mistakes; that would be detrimental to their growth and development."

"It is precisely because of Principal Qu's broad-mindedness and open and inclusive teaching philosophy that our school has produced students who have achieved success in different fields, not just academic performance."

Zhuang Chengan chimed in, "Xu Jinhuan is a perfect example. Xu Jinhuan has enough spare time to complete game development and testing, which is also thanks to Principal Qu."

"Oh dear, I dare not take credit for this."

Qu Liangcai quickly declined, saying modestly, "This is due to the student's own interest and talent, and of course, the guidance of the subject teachers, especially the homeroom teacher, is also indispensable..."

This time, Xu Jinhuan was dumbfounded. It was one thing for Qu Liangcai to be so shameless, but even Zhuang Cheng'an, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, could say such things.

These guys are all even better actors than Zhizhi! (End of Chapter)