Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

"You're...crying?" He Ziyu was startled by Jing Ran's appearance and quickly pulled him to a quiet corner. "Who bullied you? Was it Bei Yao? Hmm?"

Jingran stood there blankly for a moment, then nodded.

He Ziyu was shocked. "He really bullied you? How did he bully you? Tell me, I'll help you..."

Before he could finish saying "vent your anger," Jing Ran seemed to realize something and quickly shook his head, "He...he didn't bully me."

"I didn't bully you, why are you nodding?" He Ziyu was confused by Jing Ran's words and a little anxious.

Last night, Jingran went to People's Park with Beiyao. It's hard not to wonder why she's changed like this after just one night.

"It's really nothing, Ayu, don't ask anymore." Jingran broke free from He Ziyu, returned to her seat, and remained silent.

He Ziyu: "If you don't want to talk about it, fine, I'll go ask him myself."

Jingran: "Hey, don't..."

Jingran grabbed He Ziyu's sleeve, her expression conflicted. "Don't look for him, okay? I'm telling you, alright?"

……

Let's rewind a few hours.

Jingran woke up from her sleep and felt something in her arms.

Thinking it was a cushion, he rubbed it hard, but the more he rubbed, the more something seemed off.

Why is this cushion firmer and warmer than usual?

Has the body pillow come to life?

Lost in thought, Jingran opened her eyes and was shocked to find herself straddling a half-naked man.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, scattering golden dappled light across the man's muscular, honey-colored chest, creating a serene and beautiful scene.

Jingran was stunned, thinking she was hallucinating, and quickly blinked.

The man is still alive.

To prove this wasn't a dream, he swallowed hard and, almost unconsciously, touched the man's pectoral muscles.

"Hmm..." The man hummed softly, frowned slightly, turned around and used his strong arms to pull Jingran into his embrace.

Now Jingran could see his face clearly.

"Bei, Bei Yao?!"

Bei Yao didn't open his eyes, and mumbled incoherently, "It's me, baby."

Jing Ran: "..."

After a brief silence, "Little Lightning" sprang out of Bei Yao's arms with lightning speed, covering her chest with her hands like a wronged wife, and roared, "Pervert!!"

Bei Yao was awakened by the roar and struggled to open his eyes.

Wherever his gaze fell, Jing Ran, sporting a head full of tufts of hair, was staring intently at him, his expression a mix of horror and fear.

Bei Yao slowly sat up, moved his arm which had gone numb from being used as a pillow by Jing Ran, and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Who are you calling a pervert?"

Jingran: "Of course it's you!"

Bei Yao was unconcerned about Jing Ran's personal attacks, and even felt a little pleased.

He smirked, a hint of amusement in his eyes, and asked, "How am I a pervert?"

"You, you..." Jingran stammered for a long time without getting a straight answer, finally summarizing what she had seen concisely: "You slept without clothes on, hugged me, and called me 'baby'..."

Bei Yao: "First of all, I don't usually wear clothes to bed, it's just my personal habit. Secondly, although I hugged you, you also rode on me. Finally... 'baby' is an affectionate term between friends, just like how Taobao customer service calls buyers 'kiss'."

Jing Ran: "..."

This well-reasoned explanation left everyone speechless.

Jingran choked for a moment, then said, "Well, even so, there's no reason for me to sleep in your bed, is there?"

"That's a question for you to answer," Bei Yao said. "Last night, you accidentally fell asleep while waiting for a shooting star. I took you to a taxi. On the way, you seemed to be dreaming. You kept clinging to my arm and wouldn't let go, and you even said you wanted to come home with me."

"impossible!"

"It's true! I even recorded it. Do you want to listen to it?"

As Bei Yao spoke, he picked up his phone from the bedside table.

Jingran initially didn't believe it, but seeing Beiyao's calm demeanor, she immediately backed down.

"I'm not listening, delete the recording right now..."

Upon hearing this, Bei Yao's smile deepened. "You can delete it, but you have to take responsibility for me."

"Huh?" Jing Ran looked bewildered. "What responsibility do I have for you?"

"You were sleepwalking after you got home yesterday. You hugged me, kissed me, and touched me. You know I'm a bit conservative, and I don't want anyone to take advantage of me. So, what do you think of our relationship...?"

"Bei Yao, are you sick?!" Jing Ran finally lost her temper and jumped off the bed. "I'm straight, how could I possibly hug or kiss you?"

Not to be outdone, Bei Yao threw off the blanket, revealing scattered marks on his body that resembled "kiss marks".

"You did all of this, I swear to God."

"!!!"

Jingran's almond-shaped eyes widened, her mind a complete mess.

Could he really be so desperate as to give Bei Yao...?

Jingran clutched her head, trying hard to recall what had happened last night, but she couldn't remember anything.

Just as he was about to give up and apologize to Bei Yao to smooth things over, Bei Yao couldn't help but laugh.

"Idiot, I was just kidding. You didn't kiss me or touch me. These marks are actually..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jingran grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at him hard.

"Is it funny to tease me? Hmm?"

"No, I..."

"Shut up, I don't want to hear you!"

Jingran angrily put on her school uniform and stormed out of Beiyao's house without looking back. She only realized it was almost noon after she got into a taxi.

Thinking about how she had inexplicably skipped several classes and been teased by Bei Yao, Jing Ran couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

……

He Ziyu: "You cried your eyes out like this because of this?"

Jingran nodded, not daring to look He Ziyu in the eye.

"Are you kidding me?" He Ziyu cupped Jingran's face, forcing him to look at him. "You often skipped classes in junior high too, why didn't you cry then? And when your mom chased you for blocks with a rolling pin, you didn't cry either, so why are you so aggrieved over a few jokes with Beiyao?"

Jing Ran: "..."

He Ziyu: "Xiao Jing, tell me the truth, what really happened? If you don't tell the truth, I'll tell you about using pink sheets, pink duvet covers, pink towels, and pink toothbrushes..."

Jing Ran quickly covered He Ziyu's mouth.

"I'm telling you the truth, but it's not possible right now. There are too many people here. Can we find a quiet place for our lunch break?"

"OK."

……

After lunch, He Ziyu hurriedly dragged Jingran to a secluded corner of the school.

Under persistent questioning, Jingran finally confessed.

And she cried again.

"It feels so good, that thing really feels so good, Ah Yu, do you think I'm a pervert? Waaaaah..."

"..." He Ziyu's lips twitched.

The "thing" Jingran was referring to was none other than Bei Yao's pectoral muscles.

"I took advantage of him... when he wasn't looking... and touched him a few times... hiccup." To prove that she was really a pervert, Jingran sobbed as she added details about her abnormal behavior.

"Don't cry, it's nothing. It's just touching a pectoral muscle. Pectoral muscles are nice to touch, and I love touching them too. Take a deep breath and relax."

Upon hearing this, Jingran took a deep breath and then posed a new question.

"That's not right. You like men, so of course you like touching them, but I don't?"

"What does this have to do with whether or not you like men? Some straight women even touch other women's breasts..."

To comfort Jingran, He Ziyu resorted to all sorts of fallacies and heresies.

But while it's comforting to offer words of comfort, the problem still needs to be analyzed.

"But Xiao Jing, to be honest, it's strange that you're so fixated on this issue. It's perfectly normal for people of the same sex to admire each other's figures, but your reaction is so strong that I can't help but suspect..."

Jing Ran: "Suspicion of what?!"

He Ziyu: "I suspect you... have something to hide."

Once the words were out, Jingran finally stopped sobbing.

He started to withdraw into himself.

Because of Ho Tzu-yu, the word "gay" is not actually far removed from him.

But from childhood to adulthood, he has always assumed that he is straight and has never thought about himself in that way.

What happened this morning was a sudden and unexpected blow to him.

Riding Beiyao was nothing, touching Beiyao's pectoral muscles was nothing...

But instead of rejecting it, he actually found it quite exciting. That doesn't make sense, does it?

"No matter what, Xiao Jing, don't put too much pressure on yourself." He Ziyu patted his shoulder earnestly. "If you really like men, there's nothing shameful about it. Look at me, I'm living a perfectly fine life, aren't I?"

Jingran pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

He Ziyu: "Now that I've come to that, I'm more curious about another question."

Jing Ran: "What?"

He Ziyu: "Didn't Bei Yao say you didn't kiss or hug him? Then where did those 'kiss marks' on his body come from?"

Hey, where did you come from?

Jingran pondered for two seconds, then slapped her thigh hard: "I know! It must have been someone else who kissed me!"

He Ziyu: "..."

"That shameless bastard! He slept with other people and then turned around and made fun of me. No way, I'm going to settle the score with him!"

After Jing Ran finished speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and rushed to the playground, leaving He Ziyu alone, bewildered in the wind.

……

After the afternoon classes, He Ziyu called Jiang Nanqiao and prepared to buy some things to visit "Fire Seed".

Jiang Chengyu was originally going to participate in student council activities, but when she thought about He Ziyu's absence, she got all sticky and reluctant, and in the end, she took it upon herself to push the work onto the vice president.

The vice president is completely bewildered.jpg

The three of them bought some milk and fruit at a supermarket near the school, then hailed a taxi on the roadside.

The taxi was parked on the side of the road. Jiang Nanqiao sat in the front, while He Ziyu and Jiang Chengyu sat in the back.

It was the first time Jiang Nanqiao had ridden in a car with her favorite couple, and she was a little excited. She kept glancing at the two of them through the rearview mirror. Eventually, even the driver couldn't stand it anymore.

"Little girl, why don't you sit in the back? There are three people who can squeeze in there, and it'll be easier for you to keep an eye on them."

"oops……"

When the driver saw through her little scheme, Jiang Nanqiao blushed with embarrassment.

However, this did not stop her from continuing to find sweets in the cracks.

Seeing how hard she was searching for candy, He Ziyu, with a heart full of sympathy, took Jiang Chengyu's left hand...