Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

The following week passed uneventfully for Li Zhao.

With the halo of "English God of New Taipei No. 6 Elementary School", no one dared to bother Li Zhao as the national competition approached.

Let alone those who want to cause trouble or target others, even the two top students, Jiang Qi and Liu Mingyu, who have been frequently coming to ask for advice lately, have to think carefully about whether their questions are worth asking.

Aside from He Shuyao, who remained as usual, even Chen Nian became a bit more polite.

According to him, Li Zhao has an aura that makes people feel that wasting his time is a serious crime.

Li Zhao thought to himself that he hadn't changed much lately, hadn't lost his temper or acted pretentious, so how did he come up with this persona?

Chen Nian said that it had nothing to do with what he actually did; everyone decided what to do based on other people's reactions.

That makes a lot of sense.

Cai Chao no longer dared to act out in front of Li Zhao, and Squad Leader Ma stopped targeting him. Their awe was read by the other students and transformed into caution in their interactions with Li Zhao.

Jiang Qi and Liu Mingyu's deliberation stemmed from this kind of caution.

"Sometimes you're practically a social philosopher," Li Zhao commented on Chen Nian's conclusion.

Chen Nian grinned foolishly.

"However, theory needs to be combined with practice."

"What do you mean?"

"Since you've said that, why are you so nervous?"

"That's right!"

So Chen Nian recorded the conversation in "Li Zhao's Observation Diary".

However, this "aura" will be broken at two special moments.

Firstly, He Shuyao sought out Li Zhao.

He Shuyao is unaffected by the class atmosphere or aura; every time she looks for Li Zhao, it inspires a group of people to look for Li Zhao as well.

Most of them came to ask questions, led by Liu Mingyu, with another group of people watching from the side. Then, when a classmate whom Li Zhao couldn't remember came out to ask a question, another group of people would gather around to listen.

However, Jiang Qi, the class monitor, would not participate in such situations.

Li Zhao noticed several times that Liu Mingyu wanted to bring Jiang Qi along, but Jiang Qi shook her head evasively.

The wonderful thoughts of children.

Secondly, Liu Yiting came to find Li Zhao.

Li Zhao really didn't expect that the girl would stand at the door and ask directly, "Is Li Zhao here?"

Amidst the intense gazes of everyone, Li Zhao walked to the door and then loudly answered Liu Yiting's question.

It's the same as always: challenging questions, insightful ideas, direct questioning, and a clean exit.

Therefore, even the Eight Trigrams had no room to ferment.

It was merely an academic exchange between the top English student and the second-best in English; everyone was more concerned about the splash damage from those who couldn't understand the vocabulary.

However, Li Zhao was actually not very willing to answer English questions, as he was a humanoid dictionary and a grammar lookup robot that looked up grammar beyond the syllabus.

Actually, my math skills are also quite advanced, but you can't ignore that just because there are no competitions!

Interestingly, after Liu Yiting finished looking for Li Zhao, Jiang Qi always followed closely behind.

Chen Nian said this was "a competition among study committee members".

Elementary school students, especially sixth graders, are in a very wonderful stage.

The end of infancy, the eve of adolescence.

Based on Li Zhao's observations since his rebirth, it seems that when you think they are naive, they are more mature than you think; when you think they are mature, they are more naive than you think.

For example, the ability to read between the lines in class, such as He Shuyao asking a question and others joining in, or Jiang Qi asking questions in a strange, sequential fashion...

They already understand a lot about human relationships; the class is a small society. But they don't know much; they are straightforward and not suitable for applying adult world analysis.

Li Zhao was already very good-looking, but because of the national English competition, he became a celebrity. He has an inexplicable sense of composure and is very comfortable dealing with his teachers.

It's perfectly normal to be liked by others.

No matter how crisp and direct Liu Yiting's questions were, or how little communication Jiang Qi usually had, Li Zhao could easily see through their emotions when they came to ask questions.

His affection was written all over his face.

This is normal; it's just a child's affection, naivety, and innocence.

No need for a response, no need to remember, it will fade away in a decade or so, and become a source of amusement to share with your partner.

Unless there is continuous interaction afterward, but that's another matter.

What he couldn't understand was He Shuyao.

In my past life, I couldn't understand He Shuyao from elementary school to high school, and I never had the chance to understand her in the end. Now, with my 36-year-old soul, I still can't understand He Shuyao in elementary school.

To the other classmates, she was Li Zhao's closest female classmate, but in Li Zhao's eyes—

So natural, so pure.

So much so that Li Zhao dared not read any other possible emotions besides "good friend".

He couldn't even sense that naive and innocent affection.

Given his experience, if he continues down this path with He Shuyao, they might end up becoming close friends, like childhood sweethearts. When they're single, they're always together, but neither of them would ever mention dating.

When the topic finally came up, the result was always the same: "We're too familiar with each other to be a couple."

Then their relationship faded, they each started their own families, and gradually lost contact with each other.

In his past life, Li Zhao only cared about his grades and never took his "good friend" relationship with He Shuyao seriously. He only knew that he felt very comfortable with her.

However, he had to admit that He Shuyao had a special significance to him, and the fact that the happiness system always added three points to her score was proof of that.

Looking back from Li Zhao's perspective today, he actually didn't understand He Shuyao at all.

The girl who comes to mind as "aloof" has a very different image from his memory of her during elementary school.

Perhaps, even if He Shuyao hadn't met with an accident in her previous life, the two of them would have ended up as "overly familiar childhood sweethearts."

Thinking of this, Li Zhao suddenly felt a bitter feeling well up in his heart.

The soul of a 36-year-old is stuffed into the body of a 12-year-old. In other aspects, the person is experienced and mature enough to handle parents, teachers, classmates, and even strangers with ease.

Only love.

In his past life, during the prime of his life when he should have been experiencing love passionately, he crushed himself; when he finally felt the stirrings of spring, he was met with a funeral; and when he finally immersed himself in the embrace of love, it turned out to be a trap.

Having lived a whole life, I have never even experienced what "liking" is, but I have accumulated a lot of doubts and even fears about tenderness and affection.

Li Zhao sighed.

They noticed that Chen Nian looked extremely terrified.

"What's wrong with you now?"

"That's my question!"

What's wrong with me?

Chen Nian shook his head and imitated Li Zhao's sigh, "My goodness, you were just like an old man! After class, you suddenly stared silently at Shu Yao. You were so profound, I don't even know what word to use."

"...I didn't look at her."

"And," Chen Nian's eyes widened, "I finally understand why Cai Chao and the others are arguing about whose father you are."

"What?!" Li Zhao thought he had misheard.

"Oh right, I haven't told you yet," Chen Nian lowered his voice, "Last time after school, Cai Chao, Liu Jie, and Wu Haoxian were walking in front, and I was behind. Cai Chao said to Liu Jie, 'The way you look at him is like your dad.' Liu Jie got upset and said, 'What do you mean, like my dad? He looks like your dad!' Then the three of them started arguing."

"..." Li Zhao found it hard to keep a straight face.

"Isn't this ridiculous? They're actually arguing about whose dad you are." Chen Nian suppressed a laugh. "Damn, but the way you were acting just now, it really did seem like it."

"Like your dad?"

"..." Chen Nian realized he had gotten himself into a mess. "No, no, no, I meant you look really old. But the way you look at He Shuyao doesn't seem like a father looking at his daughter."

"She and I were never father and daughter to begin with..."

Li Zhao was exhausted, so he picked up his water glass and drank some water.

"This four-knife guy is practically my godfather!"

Zhao Pengwei suddenly made a declaration from the back row.