Reborn and awakened, this time I won't be a love-struck fool.

"Xie Yanhuai's physique."

Lin Wu was taken aback and looked at him, seemingly not understanding why he would ask such a question.

Xu Jingwang pursed his lips and added, "I just saw you standing together."

"I don't like him," Lin Wu said without hesitation. "Just looking at him annoys me; I didn't even look at him closely."

"Okay." He smiled slightly.

Unfortunately, Lin Wu wasn't paying attention to him and didn't notice.

Upon arriving safely at the girls' dormitory, Lin Wu thanked her again, saying, "Teacher Xu, you're such a kind person."

Xu Jingwang received another "good guy" card and calmly said, "It's nothing."

As Lin Wu stepped onto the steps and approached the turnstile, he seemed to sense something and turned back.

The boy stood at the bottom of the steps, in the drizzling rain, his eyes slightly raised, silently watching her.

Lin Wu couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart. Her mind was a bit blank, so she raised her hand and waved to the boy, "Bye-bye."

Xu Jingwang nodded slightly in response.

Lin Wu's dormitory was on the top floor. After returning to her dormitory, she went to the kitchen first, opened the refrigerator and saw that there was a box of small grapes.

She unwrapped the plastic wrap and turned on the tap. The clear water wet the deep purple skin of the grapes. Lin Wu suddenly thought of Xie Yanhuai walking out of the passageway in the swimming pool.

She then thought of the question Xu Jingwang had asked her outside the museum.

Actually, compared to Xie Yanhuai's half-covered body, the first person she saw naked was Xu Jingwang.

Even though she wanted to forget, that memory remained vividly in her mind.

She remembered his trembling Adam's apple as it rose and fell, the bulging muscles in his arms, and the strength with which he gripped her wrists as she pinched people everywhere…

And those eyes, shrouded in desire, illuminated by moonlight in the darkness.

The knocking on the door startled Lin Wu from her chaotic thoughts.

She suddenly woke up, looking at the grapes flying everywhere from the water, and without caring that her hands were still wet, she hurriedly rubbed her face.

I felt a slight sense of collapse.

Lin Wu...

You've gone mad...

She cursed herself inwardly, turned off the tap, and opened the door.

Outside the door, Shen Mingluo, carrying two takeout curry rice dishes, raised an eyebrow and said, "Time to eat."

Lin Wu opened the door, making way for the passageway: "Come in quickly, I've washed the grapes."

The restaurant is on the third floor at this time.

Xie Yanhuai sat alone by the window, leaning against the back of the sofa, the steak on the table untouched.

He lowered his head, his face dark as he scrolled through posts on the school forum.

Han Qi, carrying a bottle of cola, sat down in the empty seat opposite him. "Why the long face?"

Xie Yanhuai remained silent.

Han Qi took the initiative to lean over and take a look.

It's unclear who took this picture downstairs at the girls' dormitory. Lin Wu is standing on the steps, with Xu Jingwang holding an umbrella over her head.

He raised an eyebrow knowingly, then sat back down, crossed his legs, and unscrewed the can of cola, causing bubbles to overflow. "Jealous?"

"How could I possibly be jealous?"

Xie Yanhuai scoffed dismissively, turned off his phone, and tossed it aside.

Han Qi took a sip of cola. "Don't worry, Miss didn't bring an umbrella this time. She just posted on her WeChat Moments asking for one."

"Didn't bring an umbrella?"

Xie Yanhuai paused for a moment.

He hadn't even noticed.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, soaking the windows.

In a cemetery in the northwest corner of the capital, Zou Xun struggled to hold up a black umbrella as large raindrops pelted down, forming streams of water that dripped down the umbrella's ribs.

A cold wind swept by, and Zou Xun frowned. The ground was flooded, and his new shoes were already a bit worn out.

Zou Lian usually likes to dress up in a flashy way, but every year on this day, she always goes out without makeup, dressed in all black, and her hair is styled in a low bun.

The tombstone was blank, with no inscription or name. According to Zou Lian, she was too poor at the time and could only be buried hastily.

The person buried inside is said to be the younger brother that Zou Lian recognized when she went out to make her way in the world.

Zou Lian always made Zou Xun call him "little uncle".

Having never met before, Zou Xun found it difficult to develop feelings for Zou Xun.

As Zou Lian lowered her head to wipe away her tears, he stared at the distant, undulating mountains, the sky shrouded in mist.

Perhaps because her feelings were so deep, Zou Lian stayed for the entire day, chatting about everyday things, but mostly gazing at the tombstone.

When Zou Xun got home, his legs were numb, as if they were filled with lead.

"Xiao Xun, take a bath, be careful not to catch a cold."

Zou Lian, wearing a nightgown and holding hair oil, came out of the bathroom.

Zou Xun nodded. He went into the bathroom, took off his soaking wet clothes, and found that the old water heater was not working properly, and the water turned cold after a while.

He didn't take it seriously, quickly finished his shower, changed into his pajamas, and crawled into bed.

Zou found the endless flow novel he hadn't finished reading last time. After flipping through two pages, his eyelids felt heavy, his phone fell from his hand onto the pillow, and he closed his eyes.

Zou Lian talked on the phone with her best friend in her bedroom for nearly half an hour. After hanging up, she ordered takeout.

Before the takeout arrived, she went into the kitchen and boiled two eggs, intending to apply a hot compress to her eyes later.

Twenty minutes later, the delivery guy knocked on the door.

Zou Lian placed the takeout on the table, and while unpacking the box, she called out to Zou Xun, "Xiao Xun, dinner's ready!"

The room was quiet and still.

Zou Xun was an obedient child; he would come out as soon as he was called.

Zou Lian frowned, opened the door to the side bedroom, and after seeing the scene inside, she sighed with a frown: "She's asleep at this hour. What will we do tonight?"

As she spoke, she went inside and shook Zou Xun's arm.

The boy did not react.

Looking at his flushed cheeks, Zou Lian had a bad feeling.

Her hands trembled, and she seemed a little disoriented. Her well-maintained hands landed shakily on Zou Xun's forehead, only to be quickly burned by the heat.

Zou Lian's face turned deathly pale.

She seemed to have returned to that cold late autumn more than ten years ago, with the child in her arms blushing and crying listlessly, an age when he couldn't even speak.

She called Xie Xingbang again and again.

She listened to "Sorry, the number you dialed is not being answered" over and over again.

Unanswered phone calls are like a small dose of poison; one time leaves no harm, but multiple times leave a lingering unease.

In despair, Zou Lian held her child and dialed 120.

She thought it was just a common fever, but she never imagined it would take the life of her own son.

Her son was only two years old.

Zou Lian panicked. She felt like she was back on that desperate day. Refusing to believe it, she dialed Xie Xingbang's number.

The phone rang while the Xie family of three was having dinner.

Ji Huai recently finished filming a drama, and her skin hasn't fully recovered yet; the wrinkles around her eyes are quite noticeable.

She asked Xie Yanhuai with a smile, "Did you have fun at the sports meet these past few days?"

Xie Yanhuai replied indifferently, "It's alright."

Just as Xie Xingbang was about to speak, his cell phone rang.

He assumed it was from a business partner and didn't think much of it. But when he took it out and saw who it was, he froze.

Ji Huai sensed something was wrong, and the smile on his face faded. "Who called?"