My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 31 I forgive you~
Something seems to have happened?
Qiao Jinchen didn't know.

He could only feel his heartbeat, along with the broadcast station's narration, pulling him forward.

His hands and feet didn't feel like his own. Forget about stopping; even slowing down a little would disrupt his running rhythm and cause him to collapse to the ground.

In the last few hundred meters, on a long straight road, there was no one behind, but in front of him was a crowd of people—it was the finish line.

This is his battle with himself.

He thought he heard cheers, but he couldn't make out what they were.

My eyelids are so heavy, I feel like falling asleep. Oh right, it's the National Day holiday, I'll just sleep it off, sleep like a log. Wait, I think I have some kind of appointment, an appointment with someone to study with. Oh right, it's an appointment with Youyou.

In an instant, Qiao Jinchen saw a strangely familiar figure on one side of the finish line.

She was shouting something loudly, waving her hands, completely unlike her usual calm and sarcastic demeanor. Instead, her face was flushed, making her extremely, extremely, extremely cute.

Just then, the voice in Qiao Jinchen's ear suddenly became clear.

"Qiao Jinchen, you idiot, run!"

Xu Youyou shouted.

Qiao Jinchen grinned.

I've never had a chance to make my daughter Youyou so anxious that she started swearing.

He felt time was moving slowly, everything was slowing down like a memory, except for the finish line and the girl, who suddenly rushed towards him.

The next moment, as Qiao Jinchen crossed the finish line, she lost all her strength and fell straight forward.

Then, I nestled into a warm, soft embrace.

Looking up, Qiao Jinchen's eyes were filled with Xu Youyou's face.

Is there a better first-place reward than this?

He thought to himself, and wearily closed his eyes, letting the cheers fade away, as if the world consisted only of the two of them.

*
"It's a minor issue, just a scratch. A little medicine will do the trick."

In the infirmary, the elderly school doctor, who was nearing retirement, examined Zhou Heming's injuries and took out iodine.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

Zhou Heming scratched his head and apologized to Zhao Jiayu.

"It's okay, I probably couldn't outrun the other person either. Actually, at that point, I was already starting to feel the strain."

Zhao Jiayu said with some emotion, still panting and not yet recovered from the afterglow of the long run.

Just as Zhou Heming described, this student Zhao is essentially a good person, and can be considered a gentleman.

A virtuous person can be deceived by reason.

Despicable as Zhou Heming was, he took advantage of his kindness.

Because he believes in humanity.

Zhou Heming glanced at the girl standing next to him, and was about to say something when he heard a series of hurried footsteps, accompanied by the heavy sound of a door suddenly opening.

"Zhou Heming!"

A stern voice rang out, even causing the old school doctor to straighten his body, his hand wiping Zhou Heming's wound with a cotton swab dipped in iodine.

"hiss!"

Zhou Heming immediately gasped in pain.

"Are you OK!"

The stern voice instantly turned to worry as it drew closer.

Cheng Shuangjiang looked at the bloodstains on Zhou Heming's arm with heartache, her pretty face scrunched up in distress.

"It's a minor issue; the doctor said I'm very healthy."

Zhou Heming found it quite amusing to look at the top student in the grade, who seemed a bit flustered.

"No fractures or concussion or anything, are you still conscious? They say someone fell and seemed fine, but actually had a serious problem. Here are a few fingers, can you still recognize them?"

The girl raised her left hand and asked, looking slightly flustered.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

Zhou Heming grasped her hand and gently kneaded it, trying to soothe her chaotic emotions.

"There are others too."

Cheng Shuangjiang murmured, her face, which was already flushed from running over, now turned even redder, with her ears turning crimson.

"Cough cough, apply the medicine first."

The old doctor, being a man of the world, didn't forget his mission even when he saw the young couple showing affection here.

That was enough for Zhou Heming to present him with a banner that read "A doctor with a benevolent heart, dedicated to saving lives."

"Uh, since everything's alright, shall we head out now?"

Zhao Jiayu also found an opportunity to speak out at this time.

Good heavens, is this what couples in love are like? They can even force a mouthful of dog food on a complete outsider like me at a time like this?
"Thank you for bringing him here."

Cheng Shuangjiang then thanked the two of them and bowed.

"N-nothing."

Zhao Jiayu slipped out of the infirmary.

He saw the petite girl who had come to help also slip out.

"This is the first time I've ever seen the Frost God like that."

Perhaps out of genuine surprise, or perhaps to ease the choking sensation from eating dog food earlier, Zhao Jiayu brought up a topic.

"Yes, yes."

The girl nodded in agreement.

"You're from Class 3, right? I think I vaguely remember you."

"Yes, I'm from Class 3, my name is Chai Xixi."

"Chai Xixi?"

Zhao Jiayu was stunned.

The signature on that love letter, I think, was also [Xi]?

Is there really such a coincidence in the world?
*
"Senior Qiao Jinchen, right? Think about what you want to say first, and we'll give you about thirty seconds later."

On the platform, at the broadcasting station, station chief Yu Xin was giving instructions to Qiao Jinchen.

"Can I say anything?"

"Things that are not harmonious cannot be said."

Yu Xin rubbed his temples, feeling that his position as stationmaster was becoming increasingly difficult, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to reach the other side. Just in case, he asked again.

Are you going to confess your feelings?

What if I say yes?

"Then I'll prepare my resignation letter first."

"Don't worry, senior, I won't make things difficult for you."

Qiao Jinchen patted him on the shoulder.

"I don't need to confess my feelings."

"Life in our school's senior year is quite fulfilling, huh?" As a single guy, Yu Xin felt like he'd been hit with a barrage of attacks today.

He prepared the broadcast and connected the line.

"Hello everyone, we are honored to interview Qiao Jinchen, the first place winner of this year's mass long-distance running competition, from Class 7 of Senior Three. Senior, what would you like to say?"

The previously noisy playground suddenly became much quieter.

After all, Xu Youyou's press release had already made it quite obvious when they crossed the finish line, so it's perfectly reasonable for Qiao Jinchen to respond with a confession or something similar.

Even the teachers were relaxed, taking a sip of their goji berry water and waiting to see what happened.

Only Xiao Ding looked a little uneasy. After all, Xu Youyou was his favorite student. If it were someone like Zhou Heming who was trying to climb up to the top of the class, he wouldn't say anything. But what was Qiao Jinchen? He was a guy who didn't even make the cut-off score for a first-tier university. What was so great about him?

Qiao Jinchen cleared her throat and took the microphone.

He glanced at the crowd below the stage, the densely packed people on the playground.

They found the person almost instantly.

Xu Youyou stood at the headquarters of Class Seven, gazing at the area.

The two looked at each other from a great distance.

Then, Qiao Jinchen spoke.

*
"Doctor, are you sure there are no problems? Will there be any aftereffects or anything?"

Cheng Shuangjiang spoke with the old school doctor for a full ten minutes before finally confirming that Zhou Heming had only suffered a scrape from a fall and had no other problems.

The old school doctor returned to the office next door with a smile, leaving only the two of them sitting opposite each other by the bedside in the infirmary.

"No problem, don't worry. I've controlled the speed. Besides, for long-distance running, as long as you disrupt his rhythm, you can make sure he can't outrun A-Chen."

“I believe Zhao Jiayu is a good person, so he would lend a helping hand when faced with an accident around him.”

"With Sister Youyou's encouragement, Qiao Jinchen was able to unleash her full potential and run to first place."

“I wrote a love letter for Chai Xixi and asked her to wait there. If all else fails, then I can only encourage her to let Zhao Jiayu ‘get to know’ her sooner and give up on confessing.”

Zhou Heming smiled and comforted the girl, explaining his solution to the problem.

"Now, this way, Lu Bai can be spared from an undeserved disaster, and the two of them can have a fantastical encounter. Everyone can get a good ending, isn't that great?"

However, the next moment, Cheng Shuangjiang turned around, her expression serious and solemn, like cold frost.

"Alright, now that we've confirmed you're alright, we can begin the explanation."

Oh my god.

Zhou Heming immediately stopped laughing.

Everyone sat up a little straighter.

"We originally agreed to run behind them and wait for them to lap you, then disrupt Zhao Jiayu, stop him and disrupt his rhythm, and if all else fails, cause an accident to push him off the track, right? Why use this self-harming method now?"

Her tone was calm, not like she was questioning someone, but more like she was solving a math problem.

You can use the completing the square method or factorization to solve this problem. If you really can't figure it out, you can use the formula method to calculate it by hand. What the heck is the graphical method?

So and so.

In fact, Cheng Shuangjiang had offered an even more radical proposal.

So radical that Zhou Heming realized that this girl was only so gentle and kind in front of him.

She can indeed be a bit extreme, domineering, and ruthless in other matters.

"Because I'm worried that something might happen and someone would get hurt."

Zhou Heming spoke the truth.

"...Aren't you human? Have you thought about what would happen if you got hurt? What if it affected your exam?"

Cheng Shuangjiang suddenly became excited.

"Why are you always like this, willing to sacrifice yourself to help others? Can't you be kinder to yourself?"

This was nothing like her usual self. Instead, she resembled the lonely and solitary little girl that Zhou Heming sensed through her QQ space updates, clinging tightly to the only person sitting next to her, unwilling to let them leave.

The girl, who had always faced her severe hand injuries with a smile, was now so afraid, so nervous, and so panicked.

Simply because I was worried about his safety.

So Zhou Heming raised his hand, grasped her left hand, and opened her palm.

With his other hand, he wrote a few strokes in her palm, then gently pushed her to close her fingers.

"With the lucky charm you gave me, everything will be alright."

The girl, her eyes moist and her nose stinging, fell silent.

"By the way, this is mine; we've essentially swapped them."

I'll give you my sincerity in return.

For a moment, only the rustling of the wind through the treetops filled the infirmary.

"Not enough."

Cheng Shuangjiang remained silent for a long time before sniffing lightly, letting out a hum, and turning her face away.

"You acted on your own and made me so worried. Well, I guess I'll have to buy you a cake to appease me."

"A cake would be fine?"

Why is this girl so easy to please?

"It's not an ordinary cake, it's a strawberry cream cake that the cafeteria has been offering for a while now. It's sweet, has a very mild flavor, and has a refreshing fruity aroma. It's super delicious, but it costs thirty yuan, and I can't bear to eat it."

She knows the school cafeteria like the back of her hand.

"Then let's go buy it now."

"Now?"

Before she could react, Zhou Heming immediately took Cheng Shuangjiang's hand, walked out of the infirmary, and jogged towards the cafeteria.

His injuries still hurt a bit, but it didn't affect his light steps; adrenaline gave him maximum energy.

Arriving at the cafeteria window, Zhou Heming immediately swiped his card and bought the palm-sized cake, which looked a bit cheap but was also very tempting. He found a seat and sat down next to Cheng Shuangjiang.

"Cheng Shuangjiang, please."

He handed the spoon to the girl next to him.

Having composed herself, though her eyes were still a little red, she took the spoon, deftly scooped up a piece of cake with strawberries, and placed it in front of Zhou Heming.

"Then eat this bite, and I'll forgive you!"

"I?"

"When people are injured, they might want to eat something sweet to replenish their energy."

The girl smiled.

Just then, Qiao Jinchen's voice came through the loudspeaker outside.

"I have no regrets about my high school life, and I hope everyone's high school life will be the same, because we are invincible today!"

Zhou Heming chuckled upon hearing this. Looking at her like this, he rubbed his nose, took the spoon, and ate the bite of cake.

Just as Cheng Shuangjiang said.

Sweet, mellow, and with a refreshing fruity aroma.

It was the best cake Zhou Heming had ever eaten in his life.

(End of this chapter)