My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 103 Unforgettable Initial Love
Sunday, at the high-speed rail station.

Zhou Heming waited in front of a convenience store near the exit of the station.

It was late April, when the new greenery had already faded from its peak.

In this season, Wuhan is often rainy and sunny. A spring rain on Friday caused countless green leaves to wither and flowers to fade, but Sunday brought a continuous clearing of the sun, which was so warm that it made people drowsy.

Starting half an hour ago, Lu Bai had been sending messages to Zhou Heming, complaining about the noisy kid in the front seat.

[Zhou Heming]: I heard that high-speed trains now have quiet carriages. See if you have a chance to ride one next time.

[Lu Bai]: /Question
[Lu Bai]: How do you mute it?
[Lu Bai]: Is technology really that advanced now?
[Zhou Heming]: It is a quiet carriage where if someone is noisy, the flight attendant will come and force him to physically quiet down.

[Lu Bai]: Hahahahahaha
[Lu Bai]: These noisy brats should be taught a lesson!

[Lu Bai]: I'm almost at my stop!
[Lu Bai]: I'm already standing at the door, eager to get off the bus!
Lu Bai's messages always come in a burst, giving you the feeling of a puppy wagging its tail and barking wildly in front of you.

In contrast, Cheng Shuangjiang, who has been reborn, is more mature and at ease. Should we say that she is more relaxed and composed as an older person?
As for the eighteen-year-old Cheng Shuangjiang, she was indifferent and detached, only providing key information and almost never adding any words or punctuation that carried emotional elements.

To be honest, it's a bit like a human-machine interface.

Not long after, with another wave of passengers exiting the station, Zhou Heming saw Lu Bai wearing a loose light pink sweatshirt and jeans, a beret, and dragging a suitcase.

As soon as Lu Bai saw Zhou Heming, he waved excitedly, exuding a youthful aura that made everyone around him envious.

"How long have you been waiting?"

She walked gracefully to Zhou Heming, her smile as radiant as a flower.

"Just arrived."

The boy naturally reached out to help pull up the suitcase.

Actually, I waited for about twenty minutes.

Lu Bai smiled, not exposing his little lie, and instead took Zhou Heming's arm.

"I'm starving! Someone on the high-speed train is eating instant noodles. It smells so good, it's incredibly tempting!"

She chattered on and on, recounting her experiences along the way.

For Lu Bai, everything around him seemed very interesting and worth sharing with Zhou Heming; he wished he could have a camera installed on himself.

Even when faced with the annoyance of a noisy child, she can talk about it in a very detailed and vivid way, as if it were some interesting gossip, making you want to hear her continue.

Perhaps all actors are expressive like this?

Passengers nearby turned their gazes over, and the young men were more or less envious of Zhou Heming, who was being linked arm-in-arm with Lu Bai.

"Shall we go home and eat instant noodles?"

Zhou Heming joked.

"No, no, no, I was just mentioning it casually. I've had a long journey, I can't really eat instant noodles!"

Lu Bai immediately waved his hand.

"I'd like to eat your cooking. Can I order?"

"Go ahead."

Thanks to Lu Bai, Zhou Heming's cooking skills improved rapidly, and she would often watch videos of delicacies from all over the country and then ask Zhou Heming to learn how to cook them.

"I saw a picture of braised lamb spine on a social media platform yesterday, and I want to eat that."

"This will take time to make. Let's eat it tonight. I'll go to the supermarket this afternoon."

"Then let's go eat pork kidney noodles for lunch."

Lu Bai showed Zhou Heming an address; it was for a long-established small shop with reasonable prices and lots of customers.

"Okay."

Zhou Heming's anxiety about his declining ranking in the second mock exam vanished somehow when he saw Lu Bai.

He had to admit that Lu Bai's optimistic and positive attitude towards life had indeed influenced him a lot.

"By the way, while you were away the other day, I took the time to finish reading 'Love in the Time of Cholera'."

In the supermarket, Zhou Heming casually put a reasonably priced chilled lamb spine into his shopping cart and looked around to see if there was anything else he hadn't bought.

Lu Bai, who was playing with the shopping cart, stopped.

"Does it look good?"

"It's quite different in style from 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'."

After reading about a quarter of the book, Zhou Heming was able to understand to some extent why Cheng Shuangjiang had asked him to read it.

"Because it mainly focuses on love and romance?"

Lu Bai glanced at the shelf displaying various flavors of potato chips and picked up the cucumber and barbecue flavors that Zhou Heming liked.

"The male and female protagonists in the story fall in love at the beginning but don't end up together. Later, the female protagonist gets married, while the male protagonist becomes involved with different women. It's not until they grow old and the female protagonist's husband passes away that the male protagonist returns to her, and the two fall in love again."

Zhou Heming gave a brief description of the plot and then discussed a few details.

"So, even though the male protagonist has slept with hundreds of women, he still thinks about the female protagonist all the time? Doesn't that sound like such a scumbag, hahaha."

Lu Bai joked.

"Perhaps the author himself did not distinguish these subtle emotions in the book, and there are differences in the concepts between China and other countries."

Zhou Heming recalled a French film he had seen in which the male protagonist, despite openly having a girlfriend, was flirting with several women, and they all seemed to be having a good time chatting together.

Even in "Norwegian Wood," which is considered a "classic of love," Watanabe is still Naoko's boyfriend when he kisses Midori.

"However, the book may be conveying the message that only another kind of love can alleviate the pain of unrequited love."

Just like the protagonist Ariza in the story, he tried to alleviate the pain of losing his first love with different kinds of love. However, after half a lifetime, he still found that he could not forget his initial infatuation. Therefore, even in his old age, he still pursued the heroine Fermina from back then.

"Cheng Shuangjiang wants you to live a good life after you finish reading this book, right?"

Lu Bai remembered the note.

Zhou Heming still keeps those two hundred yuan safe and sound, and he probably won't spend it in his lifetime.

"but."

Lu Bai paused, glancing at Zhou Heming beside him.

"If you really go out and fool around like the male protagonist in a novel, I'll have to buy a wood-chopping knife."

"I have no such plans."

Zhou Heming chuckled to himself.

Where did Lu Bai learn this way of speaking?

He picked up a can of food at random, but his thoughts weren't on the ingredient list or the production date.

While another love can alleviate the pain of unrequited love, what if it cannot?
If you travel the world like the protagonist in a novel, only to find that you still can't let go, should you still chase after your first love?
But Zhou Heming knew that even if Cheng Shuangjiang grew up to that age, she would never be the one he loved.

That's why he was able to get along with Cheng Shuangjiang naturally without any expectations.

As long as neither of them has any expectations when they are together, then the eighteen-year-old girl is just an acquaintance to him.

But Zhou Heming was unable to go any further.

He felt that he could never fall in love with Cheng Shuangjiang, who was almost the same person as her, at eighteen years old.

"Do you want to eat this? I think I ate it when I was a child."

Seeing Zhou Heming lost in thought, Lu Bai picked up the can of food from his hand.

"No"

Zhou Heming then realized that it was canned dace with fermented black beans.

Memories flooded back, and he took a deep breath and thought for a moment.

Have you ever had stir-fried romaine lettuce with black bean dace?

"Is that the one in the script where Cheng Shuangjiang made the dish that tastes familiar to you?"

Lu Bai now knows everything about Zhou Heming and Cheng Shuangjiang's love story.

"Ah."

Zhou Heming nodded.

"I've never had this before! I want to try it!"

Lu Bai put the canned food directly into the shopping cart.

What does romaine lettuce look like?

It looked around like a puppy.

"this."

Zhou Heming took her back to the fresh produce section and got a bunch of romaine lettuce.

"Looking at this makes me want to eat pea shoots."

Lu Bai sighed.

"It seems like the supermarkets here don't sell it, but maybe the wet market does."

Zhou Heming remembered that there was a vegetable market on the way from his home.

In the evening, as Lu Bai wished, Zhou Heming prepared a pot of braised lamb spine and made a dish of stir-fried lettuce with black bean dace.

"good to eat!"

Lu Bai picked up a piece of bok choy with his chopsticks and praised it highly.

Zhou Heming silently took a bite as well.

"what happened?"

Seeing that the boy remained silent, Lu Bai waved the chopsticks in front of his eyes.

"No, I was just thinking that I just couldn't recreate that taste."

Zhou Heming looked away, avoiding Lu Bai's eyes.

"Oh"

Having thoroughly studied the script, Lu Bai naturally understood Zhou Heming's implication. The two ate in silence for a while.

Lu Bai suddenly turned on the TV.

"I forgot, the show is about to start."

The web series in which she plays a supporting role was released today.

Zhou Heming looked at the television screen.

Lu Bai's scenes appeared in the opening sequence.

About five seconds.

"Sure enough, no matter how many times I watch it, it always feels a bit off, hahaha."

Lu Bai dispelled the previous dull atmosphere and began to tell Zhou Heming some gossip about the film crew, connecting it to the plot.

"How about we just watch the episodes where you're in them?"

The boy made the suggestion.

"Hmph, since you've put it that way, I'll reluctantly fast forward!"

Lu Bai looked like he had wanted to do this for a long time, and fast-forwarded.

This was the first time Zhou Heming had officially seen Lu Bai in the film, as the actor Lu Bai.

All I can say is that at first, he was a little hesitant to acknowledge it.

The girl playing the pianist Song Qingqian on TV, apart from looking just like Lu Bai, had completely different behavior patterns, ways of speaking, and micro-expressions compared to the girls around her.

It was as if another personality had awakened within Lu Bai's body.

However, because he was very familiar with Lu Bai, Zhou Heming could still see that Lu Bai was somewhat imitating Cheng Shuangjiang.

It really looks like it.

"Your acting is so good."

Zhou Heming's praise was simple and unpretentious.

"Hehe, I see the comments are all praising me."

Lu Bai scrolled through the comments on the show on his phone and searched for his own keywords on various social media platforms, clearly a self-searching maniac.

"Tsk tsk, I see someone spouting nonsense, let me give them a piece of my mind!"

She has a very sharp eye and can accurately find the one criticizing her from a huge sea of ​​comments.

"Who knows if the person online is real? And won't it damage your image if you argue with them?"

Zhou Heming glanced at the green bird doll on the cabinet. It was one of Jiangcheng's local mascots, called "Garlic Bird".

There's also a sound mechanism inside; pressing it will make it call out in a very cute voice, "Garlic bird, garlic bird, no swimsuit."

It is said that someone actually used this doll to mediate a dispute that was about to break out.

"I'll definitely switch to my alt account and spray."

As Lu Bai spoke, he skillfully set up a VPN, then switched to his alternate account and typed a string of insults back.

"Comfortable."

"Great profession."

Zhou Heming glanced at Lu Bai's alternate account. Ninety-nine percent of the content was about arguing with people. Some people even thought that this account belonged to Lu Bai's haters because it was so pure that it seemed like a mixed-race person.

He was once mistakenly killed and buried by his own allies, namely Lu Bai's own fans.

He even saw a reply: "What kind of fan are you? Do you understand Lu Bai or do I understand Lu Bai?"

It's hilarious.

"I feel like you're going to be famous."

Zhou Heming also browsed through the comments.

What's the name of the actress who plays Song Qingqian? She seems to have great acting skills and a promising future!

[I saw her in a short drama before. Not only is she beautiful, but she also acts very well. The female lead almost couldn't keep up with her.]

The scene where Song Qingqian starts playing the piano again brought me to tears; it was so moving!

[I remember this actress can actually play the piano; I saw a short video clip of her playing the piano in a shopping mall before.]

[Does this actor named Lu Bai have any other works? Sisters in the comments section, if you know, please let me know!]

Because it was a relatively low-budget web series, there were naturally no big-name actors. In comparison, Lu Bai, who was a child star and debuted in movies, was clearly at a disadvantage. In addition, the character's life story was a bit melodramatic but truly tragic, which quickly attracted a lot of attention.

Lu Bai refreshed the trending topics repeatedly, but unfortunately, she still didn't see any related entries before going to bed in the middle of the night.

"Never mind, it's just a web series, its popularity is limited."

She made peace with herself, put down her phone, and looked at Zhou Heming, who was making the most of his last moments before bedtime to study.

The girl walked over and gently called his name.

"Zhou Heming".

"how?"

The next moment, Lu Bai hugged him from behind, the girl's chin resting on his shoulder, their ears rubbing together, tickling him.

"Time to go to sleep."

Lu Bai said in a coquettish voice.

"Okay, I've finished this problem."

Because he spent some time watching TV with Lu Bai in the evening, Zhou Heming didn't go home today. He stayed at the apartment and studied until after midnight.

Lu Bai told him to go to sleep since he had class the next morning.

"Then I'll watch you do the problems."

Lu Bai sat on the edge of the bed, watching Zhou Heming, who hadn't even looked up, doing calculations on a draft paper.

He was very serious and focused, sometimes frowning, sometimes lost in thought.

Lu Bai rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with tenderness.

A few minutes later, Zhou Heming breathed a sigh of relief, checked the answers, and put down his pen with satisfaction.

"This was a challenging question from a neighboring province two years ago. It involved a lot of calculations, but the solution was simple. You could get the points as long as you were careful."

Zhou Heming was still not finished.

"It seems you've already got one foot in the door of Ningbo University."

Lu Bai smiled.

"There are still two months left. The difficulty of the third mock exam should be similar to that of the college entrance exam. We can check the rankings then."

Zhou Heming remained humble and composed.

Now that things have come to this, he has no other choice or way out and can only rush headlong toward the college entrance examination in June.

"You've worked hard today, so I should reward you."

As Lu Bai spoke, he stood up and opened his arms to Zhou Heming.

The boy knew this was his share of the hug for the day.

He gently pulled Lu Bai into his arms.

A slightly different sensation than Cheng Shuangjiang enveloped Zhou Heming.

The two embraced silently, needing not to speak, simply to feel each other's body heat.

At this moment, Lu Bai, who had buried her head in Zhou Heming's chest, made a sound that had a slightly sweet quality.

“Zhou Heming, if I get into Ningjiang University, I estimate I’ll move out and rent an apartment right away in my freshman year.”

"Because of filming?"

"Ah."

The girl nodded, nodding her head.

"I probably go to film sets a lot during college, so it's more convenient to stay on set. That's what I heard from my seniors."

"Rent in Ningjiang must be expensive."

Zhou Heming remembered the neighborhood where Cheng Shuangjiang had rented a place in the previous timeline. Zhou Heming had previously searched for the rent and found that it was not something he, as a college student, could afford on his own.

"So, I wanted to ask you, would you like to move out together and live with me?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, and eventually it was almost inaudible.

"You don't need to pay too much rent. I looked around before, and for a two-bedroom apartment, you only need to pay eight hundred yuan. How about that? Isn't it a great deal?"

As if trying to make amends, she raised her face and looked at Zhou Heming.

Her pale cherry-colored lips reflected the light as she gently pursed them.

Zhou Heming looked at himself reflected in Lu Bai's eyes.

"Never mind, I was just saying it offhand, don't take it to heart. It is indeed a bit strange, hahaha."

Lu Bai felt a little shy under his gaze and couldn't help but turn her face away, jokingly denying her previous proposal.

At that moment, Zhou Heming's voice came.

"I know a pretty cheap house."

"what?"

Lu Bai looked over, and in the boy's deep eyes, he saw her image.

"If we want to rent a house, there is a suitable and cheap one."

Zhou Heming said this.

*
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(End of this chapter)