Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

When their eyes met, Jiang Chengyu actually saw a hint of pleading in He Ziyu's eyes.

He quickly hooked his arm around He Ziyu's waist, bringing him closer to him.

"Ayu, what's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly saying things like that?"

He Ziyu shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just that you suddenly mentioned death, and it made me think about how everyone has to die eventually. I also don't like the feeling of loss. If two people who love each other have to go first, I hope it's me, so I won't be in pain or sad..."

"So you're willing to make me sad?" Jiang Chengyu's lips curled up slightly, but her smile was tinged with bitterness. "I can't even imagine a life without you."

Although he has only lived for a little over a decade, He Ziyu has been by his side since he can remember, so much so that the boy in front of him has become the oxygen he can't live without.

"I don't care, you have to listen to me on this." He Ziyu puffed out his cheeks and pinched Jiang Chengyu's ear in a slightly spoiled manner. "No matter what method you use, whether you eat a thousand-year-old ginseng or an old turtle, you have to outlive me. Just consider me selfish, anyway, I never want to experience the pain of losing a loved one again..."

Again?

Upon catching this word, Jiang Chengyu paused for a moment.

He Ziyu realized he had misspoke and quickly explained, "Um... I meant my grandma. She was very good to me, but she passed away when I was very young. I cried my eyes out when I went to her memorial service. My voice was hoarse for several days afterward, and my eyes were so swollen I couldn't show my face in public. You should remember that, right?"

Jiang Chengyu thought for a moment and nodded.

He remembered that when he was in elementary school, He Ziyu did come to school with his eyes swollen like peaches for a few days. Some classmates teased him about it, and he even got beaten up by them.

"So, Brother Yu, you must stay with me, always and always," He Ziyu grabbed Jiang Chengyu's hand that was supporting his waist, raised it, and held it in his palm. "Please..."

Jiang Chengyu had never seen He Ziyu like this before. His half-threatening, half-coquettish manner made his heart ache, and he wished he could protect him in his arms forever. So, without thinking, he replied, "Okay, I promise you, I will stay with you forever, until you are too old to walk and your teeth have all fallen out, I will never abandon you."

"Can't I just get dentures?" He Ziyu laughed, shaking off Jiang Chengyu's hand and hooking his arm around his neck. "When I get old, besides dentures, I'll also dye my hair and get fashionable. What if you meet an even more handsome old man and get snatched away?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chengyu smiled, his eyes shining brightly.

He liked watching He Ziyu get jealous; it was cute and genuine. It was during these moments that he could truly appreciate He Ziyu's care for him and his subtle, unspoken concern.

"I like He Ziyu, not the young He Ziyu, or the He Ziyu who knows how to dress," Jiang Chengyu explained earnestly. "What I like is the He Ziyu who is sometimes radiant, sometimes disheveled, but whose heart is always strong and kind."

Jiang Chengyu's gaze was deep and unfathomable, and He Ziyu's figure was reflected in his dark pupils.

My thoughts seemed to drift back to a long, long time ago.

He must have just started elementary school at that time. He was thin and small and was often bullied. Once at noon, while lining up to get his lunch, he was knocked over by a bully in his class, and his food was spilled all over the ground.

The little tyrant is tall and strong. He likes Xuanxuan, the class's discipline monitor, but Xuanxuan is always sticking to him.

Children at that age are generally simple-minded; they're willing to play with whoever is pretty and academically gifted. Xuanxuan was no exception, and that's how she caught the eye of the little tyrant.

The bully rallied his classmates to ostracize and bully him, often putting bugs in his pencil case and sticking notes on his back...

His choice in the face of all this was to endure it.

On the one hand, he was too proud to admit his mistakes, and on the other hand, his parents were away from home all year round and didn't take good care of him. All these reasons made Jiang Chengyu a coward at that time, living in the shadows every day but not daring to speak out.

Until that day, the little tyrant spilled his food and said to him, "It's so dirty and disgusting."

He knew that Xiaobawang was saying this to Xuanxuan, because Xuanxuan was standing right next to him at the time. But to his surprise, Xuanxuan only glanced at him before turning around and leaving.

Just when he was in utter despair, He Ziyu stepped forward, snatched the lunchbox from Xiao Bawang's hand, and slammed it on his head.

The little tyrant rushed over in a fit of rage, only to be punched by He Ziyu and sit on the ground wailing.

He will always remember the scene of He Ziyu standing tall in the crowd, saying loudly, "If anyone dares to bully Jiang Chengyu again, I will throw him into the muddy ditch to keep him company with the rotten fish and shrimp." He will also always remember the shining look on He Ziyu's face when he said to him, "If anyone causes you trouble again, I will beat them down for you."

In short, from then on, the little tyrant dared not bully him anymore, and his relationship with He Ziyu changed from ordinary playmates in the neighborhood to inseparable friends.

Returning to the present moment, Jiang Chengyu looked at the boy in front of her, who had shed his childishness and grown into an increasingly handsome young man, and felt incredibly fortunate that the red thread of fate had brought them together.

He vowed to hold He Ziyu firmly in his grasp for the rest of his life and never let go.

He Ziyu: "Brother Yu, what are you thinking about?"

Jiang Chengyu snapped out of her daze. "Oh right, weren't you going to delete the photos?"

"Yeah, I haven't deleted the photos yet." He Ziyu clicked his tongue, sat on the bed, and opened his phone's photo album. "It's all because you're too charming; I can't help but stare at you."

Jiang Chengyu smiled. "You've been watching this for over ten years, aren't you tired of it?"

He Ziyu: "That's a question I should be asking you. You've been looking at me for over ten years, aren't you tired of it?"

"Not greasy."

"I won't get tired of it."

After deleting the photos, He Ziyu didn't rush to return the phone. Instead, he took it upon himself to open He Ningqiu's WeChat.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

Previously, He Ningqiu had been very protective of his phone, and he couldn't find a decent reason to look through it. Today's incident, however, allowed him to open the "Pandora's box" inside the phone in a perfectly legitimate way.

"He Ningqiu must have been in contact with his birth mother during his time at the He family. I need to find that woman's contact information." He Ziyu muttered to himself as he flipped through his contacts. "Seriously? This guy's contacts are cleaner than a rice bowl that Eryu licked clean..."

"Phone calls and text messages can be checked through the carrier; he probably wouldn't be so blatant," Jiang Chengyu analyzed rationally. "Why don't you check WeChat?"

"That makes sense!" Upon hearing this, He Ziyu quickly opened WeChat.

He Ziyu frowned as his gaze swept over the person at the very top of his WeChat profile.

He was all too familiar with Lan Yuan's nickname. In his past life, he had even shamelessly pinned it to the top of his chat list and treated him like a treasure. But now, seeing Lan Yuan's WeChat messages only made He Ziyu feel nauseous.

He didn't bother to find out about He Ningqiu and Lan Yuan's little schemes, so he simply opened his contacts and started checking them one by one.

Aside from Zhou Ying, the contacts in his address book were all men. He didn't recognize a few of them, but they were probably Lan Yuan's friends. Their nicknames were either "Young Master X" or "King X," exuding a strong sense of adolescent angst.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on an ID nicknamed "Love River".

Love River, Love What.

The name itself is enough to make one's imagination run wild.

The user "Love River" is identified as female, and her Moments are very clean. Her most recent post was a repost from half a year ago about pearl powder for beauty and skincare...

He Ziyu's intuition told him that this was the person he was looking for.

"Brother Yu, could you use your phone to write down a phone number for me?"

"it is good."

The WeChat account "Aihe" is linked to a mobile phone number. Although it is unknown whether the number is still in use, at least it is possible to trace the owner behind it.

After noting down the phone number, He Ziyu used He Ningqiu's phone to make a call to that number.

As expected, the other party prompted me to shut down the phone.

He Ziyu frowned, then pretended to be He Ningqiu and sent a WeChat message to "Love River".

Still no response.

He had witnessed firsthand how cunning Xiao Shan was in his previous life. Although the police ultimately classified his mother's car accident as an accident, looking back after his rebirth, Xiao Shan was highly suspicious, both in terms of the timing and the circumstances of the scene.

Such a shrewd woman, having prepared to hide in the shadows, would not easily reveal any flaws.

He Ziyu deleted the contents of the chat box and turned off his phone.

"I'll go to the service center and ask. If this number belongs to Xiao Shan, then we'll have this leverage over her."

"handle?"

"Yes," He Ziyu nodded, his gaze very firm. "My mother doesn't know about that woman's existence yet, and I never plan to let her know. So I'm going to use Xiao Shan's information to question my father and force him to make a clean break between that woman and his family."

……

In the evening, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and there was lightning and thunder.

Jingran, holding a warm cup of milk tea, nestled on the sofa and sipped it contentedly.

"He Ningqiu just left like that? He hasn't even apologized to Mr. Huozhong yet." Jiang Nanqiao said, glancing at the phone on the coffee table. "And he didn't even take his phone."

Bei Yao: "He probably didn't go too far since he didn't take his phone. Maybe he went out to get some fresh air and will be back in a bit."

Jingran: "How can I relieve my worries in such heavy rain? I hope I don't get struck by lightning."

No sooner had Jingran finished speaking than a deafening clap of thunder sounded outside.

Meanwhile, on the street next to Xinrong Jiayuan residential area, He Ningqiu squatted in a corner, shivering like a stray cat.

His face and body were covered in water, and his eyes revealed an undisguised ruthlessness.

With a loud "boom," another bolt of lightning struck. He Ningqiu grabbed the white lotus pendant around her neck, ripped it off, and threw it to the ground in a fit of anger.

There was a lot of water on the ground, and the pendant rolled into the nearby sewer with the water flow.

He Ningqiu chuckled softly, muttering to herself, "He Ziyu, I'll make you pay..."