Rebirth Must Be Happy

Xu Jinhuan tried to remain calm as Song Zhiyu linked arms with him and they walked out of the house unhurriedly. He waited until they reached the bottom of the stairs before he said to Song Zhiyu in a low voice, "Are you really not afraid that I'll get beaten to death?"

"This is called 'feigning weakness to appear strong, and vice versa,' a military strategy, do you understand?"

Song Zhiyu rolled her eyes playfully. "That way, it will seem more open and natural, and Aunt and Uncle won't overthink it. You don't understand these things, just listen to me."

"hehe!"

Xu Jinhuan didn't believe her nonsense. Thinking back to the little girl's previous lie that her parents already knew about their sleeping together, he strongly suspected that the little girl actually wanted the fact that they were sleeping together to be exposed.

In this way, no matter how angry her parents are, at least they know about it, which provides Song Zhiyu with an extra layer of protection.

After all, Xu Haiguang and Song Xiaohui's stance naturally leans towards her, and they have almost the only influence on Xu Jinhuan in the world.

From this perspective, it becomes reasonable for her to deliberately claim that Song Xiaohui already knew about their sleeping together.
—Because in this way, whether Xu Jinhuan takes the initiative to confess to her parents or becomes less discreet as a result, the objective reality will allow things to develop in a direction that is favorable to her.

Xu Jinhuan understood all this and wasn't angry. Instead, he felt a little guilty. Seeing the snowflakes falling outside and dusk completely enveloping the area, he turned to Song Zhiyu and said, "Hurry up and get in the car."

"Isn't it only a little past four o'clock?"

Song Zhiyu hadn't expected it to be so dark. She muttered something, let go of Xu Jinhuan's hand, hunched her neck, quickly went to the car, climbed into the passenger seat, and took out her phone to take pictures out the window.

"What are your classmates going to do?"

As Xu Jinhuan started the vehicle, he asked,
“Singing.”

Song Zhiyu took two photos, but perhaps dissatisfied, she pouted and started recording again, this time with a voiceover, her voice sweeter than usual: "It's snowing! The New Year is almost here, and it's snowing again~"

As she spoke, she casually turned her phone camera towards Xu Jinhuan, even shifting it to include the steering wheel logo in the shot. She chuckled twice, her tone laced with undisguised boastfulness and smugness: "Luckily, I had a driver to pick me up~"

The ending note adds a touch of playfulness and cuteness. Although it sounds boastful, it's not annoying; instead, it conveys a sense of innocent naivety and charm.

Xu Jinhuan asked curiously, "Who are you going to send it to?"

In the past, data traffic was still in the era of 30MB for 5 yuan. Price reductions and speed increases were still in the planning stages. There weren't many social platforms that supported video sharing, unlike more than ten years later when "unlimited data" was readily available and every software supported short video functions.

Song Zhiyu said, "Send it to the group chat."

She hasn't yet sought out Xu Jinhuan to "explode gold coins" like in the original story, but with living expenses from both her parents, she's not short of money. Although data traffic is expensive, she doesn't mind. She sent the message to the group while talking.

Then he sent a voice message: "Let me show you the snow~"

Judging from the tone, this was probably sent to Chen Xingzhu and the others, because Xu Jinhuan herself had also received a message notification. However, as she started the car, she saw that the message was still being sent and couldn't help but ask, "Who is this being sent to this time?"

“My former classmate registered for WeChat, which is the overseas version of WeChat.”

Song Zhiyu casually replied, "Many international students also use this software... Sigh, I've noticed that people abroad basically don't use Chinese software, but many people in China use foreign software even when they have to bypass the Great Firewall."

"Take it slow, and solve development problems through development."

There was snow on the road, so Xu Jinhuan didn't dare to drive too fast. He slowly drove out of the residential area and first took Song Zhiyu to the KTV. "Are you having dinner out tonight?"

"Eat up. Tell me when you're leaving, and I'll go with you."

Song Zhiyu turned to look at him, "If I finish first, I'll come find you."

"...Okay, just call me when you're done, and I'll come pick you up."

Xu Jinhuan was feeling guilty, and seeing what she really wanted to say, he naturally wouldn't refuse and took the initiative to tell her. He was also pretty sure that Song Zhiyu would definitely finish early and come to him later.

The parties and such are not important; what's important is that she needs to make her presence felt.

"I'm leaving now, bye-bye~"

Upon arriving at the mall entrance, Xu Jinhuan parked the car. Song Zhiyu put on the hood of her down jacket, waved to him, got out of the car, and hurried inside.

Xu Jinhuan then went to the place where they had a get-together—after a semester of university life, everyone had matured a lot, which could be seen from the location of their get-together.

Although I still went to an internet cafe, this time I chose a much more upscale one, which cost nearly ten yuan per hour and had private rooms.

However, when Xu Jinhuan arrived, Xie Zhiqiang and his group weren't in the private room, but rather in the non-smoking area lobby, where seven or eight people were playing a custom game. "Brother Huan's here!"

"Should we return it?"

They were playing 4v4, and when they saw Xu Jinhuan arrive, they seemed to be planning to quit and restart. Xu Jinhuan quickly said, "No rush, you guys play, I'll watch..."

He sat down next to Xie Zhiqiang, glanced at the score, and after 23 minutes, with a kill score of 19-32, couldn't help but complain, "Are you guys really that bad?"

"It's not my fault."

Xie Zhiqiang was still a little annoyed with him, but this annoyance had been lingering for a long time. Although he hadn't forgiven him yet, he had gotten used to it. He pouted and said, "That son of a bitch Wang Chi only knows how to arrest me..."

Wang Chi, standing to the side, said disdainfully, "Why don't you just say you're easy to catch?"

The economic gap was too large, and Wang Chi's side quickly destroyed the base, restarted the 5V5 mode, played two rounds, and then went to a nearby restaurant to eat stewed chicken.

"Holy crap, a Land Rover?"

"Huan-ge changed his car?"

Another classmate drove his family's Lavida over. It wasn't a luxury car, but having a car was very convenient, and he and Xu Jinhuan drove each other there.

Everyone was familiar with Xu Jinhuan's S500, so seeing that he had changed cars again, they couldn't help but be amazed.

"Where the hell would I get that much money? It's Chen Xingzhu's family car."

Xu Jinhuan didn't try to hide it for the sake of saving face, and truthfully laughed, "I'm living off a woman..."

"Even if you're a kept man, you have to be capable."

"You'd be better off not explaining at all; it'll only make you more hated!"

The crowd teased him, but Xie Zhiqiang remained silent, though his gaze toward Xu Jinhuan grew increasingly displeased.

He was already upset about his sister's relationship with Xu Jinhuan, but then Chen Xingzhu got involved, which made it even worse. If his sister hadn't warned him, and if he weren't one of the few people in the world who could be suppressed by Xie Wanqing's personality, he probably would have punched Xu Jinhuan a couple of times.

"Ding Dong"

Traffic regulations aren't widely accepted these days, but Xu Jinhuan certainly wouldn't make a mistake in that regard. He hadn't been drinking while driving, and was just chatting and eating chicken wings when his phone rang.

He picked it up and saw a message from Song Zhiyu: "This is boring. I don't want to play here anymore. Can I go find you?"

Xu Jinhuan: "Address."

Song Zhiyu sent over the address, and Xu Jinhuan stood up and said, "I have an extra person here, and my sister wants to come over. Is that convenient?"

"Of course you'd be welcome!"

"It just so happens that Xiao Yuanxi and a few other girls are here too,"

"come on!"

Xu Jinhuan greeted them and went out to pick up Song Zhiyu. He parked his car outside the mall and was about to send a message when he saw Song Zhiyu wearing a down jacket hood and jogging towards him. A boy followed her out and called out, "Song Zhiyu!"

Song Zhiyu turned around, saw the other person, stopped, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"me……"

The boy seemed a little nervous. "I...I have something I want to tell you."

Song Zhiyu immediately understood the situation, so she waved her phone in her little hand, "It's snowing! Let's talk on the phone!"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned around, ran over, and deftly opened the car door and got in.

In the wind and snow, the boy stared blankly for a long while, neither speaking nor moving, watching the vehicle drive away, before finally taking out his phone to search for vehicle information in the cold wind. (End of Chapter)