My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 95 You're quite skilled at it, aren't you?

Zhou Heming subconsciously shifted his body back.

"Were you serious about taking half a step back?"

Lu Bai looked at Zhou Heming awkwardly.

"Not suitable."

Zhou Heming didn't make any jokes, but spoke quite seriously.

"After all, men and women are different. Although we are friends, it is not appropriate for me to stay overnight, both in terms of courtesy and reason."

As he spoke, he stood up, intending to pack his things and go home.

At this moment, Lu Bai grabbed his wrist.

Warm, soft, yet with a kind of struggling force.

Are you going to leave me all alone too?

She said it with a hint of resentment.

hum-

Zhou Heming was momentarily speechless.

"Can't you be a little more considerate of girls?"

Lu Bai spoke in a slightly resentful tone.

"During the Lunar New Year, after watching such a sad movie, I feel a bit lonely because I can't find anyone to talk to at night."

By the end, she had lost all confidence and was only driven by emotion.

For some reason, Zhou Heming suddenly thought of Cheng Shuangjiang, who was alone in the hospital in the previous timeline.

She, too, was all alone.

I don't have any clean clothes to change into.

Zhou Heming sat back down and sighed.

"The 24-hour convenience store downstairs should have it. Let's go downstairs and buy it together."

Lu Bai sniffed.

"By the way, I'm hungry, I need to buy some snacks and drinks."

She spoke with a reason that Zhou Heming could not refuse, and stood up.

"Then we'll watch the rest of the movie when we get back?"

Some people may not believe this, but Zhou Heming is genuinely concerned about movies.

"Uh-huh."

Lu Bai nodded vigorously and picked up his phone.

Zhou Heming's clothes were stained with Lu Bai's snot and tears, so he had to take them off and put on his coat directly, feeling a little empty.

The two took the elevator downstairs. By then, the mall had already closed, with only the cinema still lit up and the passenger elevators open.

Accompanied by a cheerful background music, they walked into the 24-hour convenience store one after the other.

Zhou Heming quickly found the shelf selling spare clothes, picked the cheapest one, and also bought a towel and a toothbrush, just to get by.

Picking up the box, he turned around and saw that Lu Bai had already taken a basket of snacks and several cans of juice with unknown flavors.

"Get it for me."

Lu Bai handed the shopping basket to Zhou Heming, seemingly wanting to buy more.

"so much?"

"I'm too lazy to go downstairs during the Spring Festival."

Lu Bai explained and put the potato chips into the basket.

"That's enough, let's go pay the bill."

When the two arrived at the cashier, the clerk seemed to recognize Lu Bai and greeted him with a smile.

Then he saw Zhou Heming next to Lu Bai, and his smile froze.

Di-

She swept up the spare clothes, toothbrush, and towel in the basket, but the shop assistant remained calm with remarkable professionalism.

Only the wavering in her eyes showed how much she had been shocked.

I think this little girl is a high school student?
Are high school students' extracurricular lives really this rich now?

This little brother doesn't look very old. Could he be a classmate?
Are they planning to stay in bed all Spring Festival because they bought so much food?
Wait a minute, it seems they didn't buy any protective measures. Should we remind them? It would be terrible if someone got killed.

Why does this little girl look like she's been crying? Her eyes are red. Seriously, do you high school students play this big?
A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind, and so on.

"Is that all? Did you forget to buy anything?"

The shop assistant maintained a professional smile, asked to confirm, and glanced at the small box on the counter.

"Now that you mention it, I remember."

Lu Bai suddenly spoke, causing the shop assistant to breathe a sigh of relief, as if a huge weight had finally been lifted from her heart.

"I think I can redeem your free cup with my membership card points. Can I do that now?"

"?"

The big rock that fell to the ground eventually hit its own foot.

The shop assistant was taken aback for a moment before slowly saying...

"Sure, which one would you like?"

She took out several different styles of mugs from the drawer.

Which one do you think looks better?

Lu Bai then asked Zhou Heming.

"I?"

Xiao Zhou was confused.

"It's here for you to use."

Lu Bai answered as a matter of course.

hiss--

The shop assistant couldn't help but gasp.

"Then, the green one, please."

Zhou Heming initially wanted to refuse, but then he thought that he might visit Lu Bai's family again in the future, so he picked up the dark green mug anyway.

"Then I'll pay for it all at once."

Lu Bai simply tapped the phone to pay, then looked at his phone and smiled.

"I made a profit, and I even got a 56-cent red envelope."

She was crying her heart out just a moment ago, but she recovered in an instant. No wonder she is Ms. Lu Bai.

Zhou Heming glanced at the money he had spent on the clothes and wrote it down. Carrying two plastic bags, he followed Lu Bai, who was carrying a large bottle of Coca-Cola. Amidst the shocked gaze of the shop assistant, they left the convenience store.

Back in the warm living room, Lu Bai immediately opened the potato chips, heated up the takeout food from the night before in the microwave, asked Zhou Heming to wash the cups, poured two glasses of cola for him and himself, and put some ice cubes from the refrigerator into the glasses.

"Iced Coke?"

Zhou Heming glanced at the bubbling soda.

What's the point of drinking cola if you don't drink it iced?

Lu Bai spoke with righteous indignation, then turned off the living room light, leaving only the dim table lamp, and continued playing the movie.

Ten minutes later, Lu Bai was crying his eyes out and had even forgotten to eat his potato chips.

"How about you have a sip of Coke?"

Zhou Heming picked up Lu Bai's cup and handed it to Lu Bai, who was wiping away tears with a tissue.

"Get out of here!"

Despite saying that, Lu Bai still obediently took the cup and gulped down a mouthful.

"Salty."

She sobbed and complained.

"Because of the snot."

"Couldn't you just say it was tears!"

"It's possible that both."

Zhou Heming ate a potato chip; it was cucumber flavored and very refreshing.

*
It was past 12:30 when the movie ended.

"You can use the bathroom first. I might take a while to get ready. I need to wash my hair today."

Lu Bai pointed to the bathroom.

"Oh."

Zhou Heming responded and picked up the clothes.

"Use any shampoo and shower gel you like; you should know which is which."

Lu Bai still looked a little tearful, rubbing the corners of his eyes.

Zhou Heming tiptoed into Lu Bai's bathroom.

Although it was clean, the items were arranged in a somewhat messy manner. Zhou Heming saw many skincare and cosmetic products, makeup remover, etc., that he had never seen before at Cheng Shuangjiang's place.

After taking off his clothes, Zhou Heming looked around for a place to put his change of clothes and saw some of Lu Bai's underwear in the laundry basket on one side of the bathroom. It seemed that Lu Bai had forgotten to wash them after taking a quick shower that morning.

Was this the plot twist I was hoping for?

Zhou Heming tried hard to resist glancing at the light pink clothes.

Why is there a bow?

He looked away, turned on the tap, and let the hot water wash over his entire body.

After washing up, Zhou Heming came out with his hair still a little wet and saw Lu Bai leaning on the sofa scrolling through short videos, laughing heartily at the silly and cute pet videos.

"All right?"

Upon seeing Zhou Heming nod, Lu Bai immediately stretched like a cat, displaying his flexibility, before taking his clothes and walking into the bathroom.

Zhou Heming saw that Lu Bai had already put the hairdryer on the coffee table, so he prepared to dry his hair.

At this moment, Lu Bai peeked out of the bathroom in a somewhat flustered manner.

"You just saw it?"

"No."

"I haven't told you what I saw yet!"

Zhou Heming was taken aback.

Then she realized that Lu Bai could see through lies. "Sorry, I saw it by accident."

He turned around and sincerely apologized.

"N-nothing, it's my fault for not putting it away."

This time, Lu Bai felt a little embarrassed. She scratched her head and quickly closed the sliding door to the bathroom.

Zhou Heming only realized it at this moment.

The bathroom sliding door is unlocked.

Moreover, the door is made of frosted glass.

Under the bright light of the bathroom heater, one could vaguely make out the outlines and movements of the people inside.

For example, Lu Bai is currently taking off her hoodie and putting it in the laundry basket, and then...
Zhou Heming looked away, blowing his hair as if his thoughts were in disarray.

In the past, he would never have stayed overnight at a girl's house like this.

He couldn't even keep his promise to study at Lu Bai's house.

But, my friend, is that really the case?
Zhou Heming felt that he and Lu Bai were less friends and more relics left behind in this world by Cheng Shuangjiang, who had been reborn.

A certain ambiguous connection, akin to complicity, brought the two closer than ordinary friends. In fact, upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that if the reborn Cheng Shuangjiang were still by their side, joining their actions so far, it would feel perfectly natural.

Zhou Heming and Lu Bai were just pretending that Cheng Shuangjiang was still getting along the same way.

They paused for a moment in that old time, lingering, clinging to the lingering warmth of their time together.

Amidst the clatter of the hairdryer, Zhou Heming recalled the scene in "Norwegian Wood" where Watanabe and Naoko, after the death of their mutual friend, were left alone, clinging to each other.

After drying my hair and turning off the hairdryer, the sound of running water from the bathroom became the melody that filled the entire room.

Zhou Heming sat on the sofa, looked up, and caught a glimpse of the frosted glass in the bathroom out of the corner of his eye.

Fortunately, the shower area is further inside, unlike some love hotels where it's all dimly lit and seems like you can see everything.

He picked up his phone and decided to do a set of practice questions to calm his nerves.

Halfway through writing, the sound of washing up stopped, and then the sound of a sliding door came through.

Zhou Heming suppressed the urge to look up and kept staring at his phone screen.

However, I couldn't solve a single problem.

Until he saw a pair of damp, flip-flop-clad feet appear in front of him.

Toes as round and smooth as pearls.

An elegantly shaped arch.

Fair-skinned ankles.

Slightly fleshy yet slender calves.

Fair and clean knees.

Those thighs were a bit too dazzling.

Light pink cotton shorts.

Her navel and waist were faintly visible through the loose hem of her pajamas.

A short-sleeved pajama top with cute English letters stretched out of shape.

Her arms were as slender as lotus roots.

A slightly reddened neck.

The damp hair stuck to her ears.

Moist, pale pink lips.

Eyes misty with moisture.

The most beautiful face in the world.

In those brief few seconds of looking up, Zhou Heming tried his best not to incorporate what he saw into his memory.

But when Lu Bai, dressed in cotton short-sleeved pajamas, stood in front of him, drying her slightly curly, long hair with a towel, he truly understood why Lu Bai was as famous as Cheng Shuangjiang in terms of appearance.

In any case, the image of a young girl emerging from the bath is no different from torture to an eighteen-year-old boy.

Looking away, Zhou Heming cleared his inexplicably dry and hoarse throat.

"Ahem, the hairdryer is here."

He pointed to the coffee table.

"Is it easy to use? I bought it at a bargain price. It was originally 300, but I only used it for 50."

Lu Bai said with a grin, picking up the hair dryer.

"It works quite well."

Zhou Heming responded and saw Lu Bai sitting on the sofa next to him, plugging in the hairdryer and starting to dry his hair.

The noisy sounds filled the room again.

The boy stared blankly at the girl who was carefully drying her hair, a sense of déjà vu rising in his mind.

Then, seemingly noticing Zhou Heming's gaze, Lu Bai temporarily turned off the hair dryer and handed it to Zhou Heming.

"I can't reach the back, can you hold it for me?"

Zhou Heming was taken aback for a moment before hesitatingly picking up the hair dryer and turning it on.

Zhou Heming was somewhat stunned as he watched Lu Bai rub his hair with both hands, letting the hot air penetrate deep into the roots of his hair and gradually dry it from the scalp.

Then, as if possessed, he raised his hand and gently ran his fingertips between Lu Bai's hair.

suddenly.

Lu Bai paused, his body trembled slightly, as if he were a little tense.

She didn't make a sound, but silently lowered her hand and let Zhou Heming dry her hair little by little.

The boy's hands touched her scalp, ears, back of her neck, and cheek, causing the girl's breathing to quicken slightly.

In less than fifteen minutes, Zhou Heming had dried Lu Bai's hair.

"You're quite skilled; it takes almost as long as it does for me."

As he turned off the hairdryer, Lu Bai touched his hair, turned his head and smiled.

“Well, because.”

I don't know how many times I've blow-dried Cheng Shuangjiang's hair.

Zhou Heming remained silent for a moment.

"Because your hair is a little short."

It is slightly shorter than Cheng Shuangjiang.

Thanks.

Lu Bai naturally understood Zhou Heming's implication. She pursed her lips, got up, put away the hairdryer, took a thick blanket from the closet, and then took a cushion from her bed to the sofa.

"The heating here should be enough. Cover yourself with this blanket and use this cushion as a pillow. Make do for now."

"OK, all right."

Zhou Heming took the blanket and quickly arranged the sofa.

Based on his afternoon nap experience, this sofa is actually quite comfortable to sleep on, with just the right firmness. It's just that the length is a bit of a limitation, making it impossible for Zhou Heming to fully stretch his legs.

Goodnight.

Lu Bai turned off the living room lights, leaving only the bedside lamp in the bedroom.

"Good night."

Zhou Heming crawled into the thick blanket.

The heating was on full blast, so it wasn't cold at all. The sofa and pillows were also very comfortable. He lay on his side, but then he noticed that Lu Bai had turned off the bedside lamp without closing the bedroom door.

The world fell into darkness and silence.

Zhou Heming's heartbeat was normal at the moment; on the contrary, he felt a sense of relief.

Like.

Previously, when I was quietly doing my homework with Cheng Shuangjiang.

Previously, when Cheng Shuangjiang and I were lying on the same bed, snuggling together and reminiscing about our childhood.

Previously, when Cheng Shuangjiang and I woke up in the morning, in the soft light of dawn, we looked at each other and smiled, giving each other a good morning kiss.

"Tomorrow—no, today is New Year's Eve—what are your plans?"

Lu Bai's voice came through the darkness, and even in the pitch black, Zhou Heming could imagine her lying flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Me? I need to go to the funeral home."

Zhou Heming looked towards the bedroom, but could only see a blurry shadow.

"Having New Year's Eve dinner with your uncle?"

Lu Bai seemed to have also turned to lie down, and in the darkness where they couldn't see each other, the two looked at each other.

"Yes, and we also need to sweep my mother's grave; Lunar New Year's Eve is the anniversary of her death."

Zhou Heming spoke the truth.

"Excuse me."

Lu Bai apologized.

"It's ok."

Zhou Heming knew that when he said those words, Lu Bai would clearly understand that he genuinely didn't mind, and wouldn't misunderstand it as politeness or euphemism.

"What about you? Aren't you going home? Are you with relatives or colleagues?"

"Me? I'm all alone. I'll go downstairs and see which restaurants are still open, then I'll go get a meal."

Lu Bai said without much emotion.

"This won't work."

Zhou Heming immediately rejected Lu Bai's plan.

"How can I spend New Year's Eve alone?"

Anyway, I'm used to it.

Lu Bai smiled, seemingly somewhat helplessly.

"if."

Zhou Heming closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then, as if making a decision, spoke.

"If you don't mind, would you like to come and have New Year's Eve dinner with me and my uncle and his family?"

Silence once again enveloped the dark apartment.

Just as Zhou Heming was about to speak up to change the subject, perhaps because he felt he had been presumptuous and carried away, he heard a muffled reply, seemingly coming from under the covers.

"Okay."

*
Thank you everyone for your subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendation votes!
　Thank you to [云出天门] for the 100-coin donation!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)