Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

"Wow, that drift was amazing!"

"Ahhh, I'm so nervous, it's the last lap!"

"We won! We won! You're amazing, sister!!!"

Amid cheers, Han Zhiruo, disregarding that she was still wearing a skirt, strode off the motorcycle and said to the two people beside her who were staring in disbelief, "Let's go play the next one."

He Ziyu & Jiang Chengyu: "..."

The "interesting place" that Han Zhiruo mentioned was the arcade in the commercial district.

The arcade was packed with people on the weekend. When the three of them bought their tokens and went inside, they found that only two motorcycles were still empty.

Han Zhiruo chose the car on the far side, while Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu shared a car next to her.

As a result, both of them lost two rounds, but Han Zhiruo was still advancing.

As the track became increasingly winding, more and more people gathered around Han Zhiruo. By the time she entered the final lap, almost everyone in the motorcycle section had crowded around her.

In the end, Han Zhiruo won, breaking the machine's historical record over the years.

The onlookers were dumbfounded, including Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu.

The two looked at the completion screen on Han Zhiruo's screen, then at their own riding results...

I really want to get my game currency back, pretend nothing happened, and just walk out the back door, haha.

A short while later, a staff member came over carrying a huge fluffy rabbit.

"Beautiful lady, congratulations on breaking the record! This plush rabbit is a gift from our store."

Han Zhiruo glanced at the rabbit and said, "Take it back. I was just playing with it."

What a casual game!

They broke records so easily!

qaq

He Ziyu clung to Jiang Chengyu's arm, looking weak, pitiful, and helpless.

"Beautiful lady, you're too modest! This rabbit is our store's mascot, and anyone who breaks the record gets to receive it!" the staff member enthusiastically introduced. "If you find it troublesome to carry, you can ask these two handsome young men over there to help you carry it; you'll definitely look good walking down the street!"

Whether it saves face or not is another matter, but trouble is certain.

He Ziyu and Jiang Chengyu aren't her protectors, so why should they help her carry such a big thing?

Just as Han Zhiruo was about to refuse a second time, a soft, sweet voice came from beside her ear.

"Sister, I want that big rabbit!"

"That belongs to someone else, we can't take it."

"But I really want one! Even the rabbits in the machines aren't that big..."

The speaker was a handsome little boy, about seven or eight years old, wearing a small suit and trousers, looking quite precocious for his age.

The girl was getting a headache from his nagging. She pursed her lips, trying to figure out how to distract her little darling, when the girl holding the rabbit suddenly strode over and stood in front of her.

"Jiang Nanqiao?"

Upon hearing her name, Jiang Nanqiao was stunned for a moment. Then, she saw that the person standing opposite her was Han Zhiruo.

"Ruoruo, it's you?" Jiang Nanqiao's eyes widened as she looked Han Zhiruo up and down. "I didn't even recognize you dressed like this."

Just now, when the two were far apart, Jiang Nanqiao didn't recognize Han Zhiruo at all. Now that they were closer, she found it even more unbelievable.

This dress, this little handbag...

That's so out of place!

Jiang Nanqiao hadn't known Han Zhiruo for long, so she shouldn't have any preconceived notions about her. But for some reason, seeing her dressed like this made her feel strange.

"My parents invited Yu Ge's parents out for dinner today," Han Zhiruo said. "A Yu is here too; they're over there."

After speaking, Han Zhiruo looked at the little boy Jiang Nanqiao was holding hands with, "Who is he?"

"Oh, this is my cousin, Su Chi. You can call him A-Chi," Jiang Nanqiao said, ruffling the little boy's head. "A-Chi, quickly say hello to your older sister."

"Hello, sister."

Han Zhiruo smiled, held up the rabbit in her arms, and asked, "Achi, is this what you want?"

Su Chi nodded.

"Then I'll give it to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the rabbit fell into Su Chi's arms.

Su Chi was overjoyed and said "Thank you, sister, you're so kind" several times, making Jiang Nanqiao feel embarrassed.

She came out to attend a relative's wedding today. After it ended at noon, she took her cousin out to play, and they ended up at this arcade.

To cheer Su Chi up, she used her allowance to buy some game tokens, hoping to win him a plush toy. However, she almost ran out of tokens and still didn't manage to win a single one.

"You must have taken a long time to catch this, right?" Jiang Nanqiao scratched his head, feeling a little guilty. "Why don't you take it back? I'll go and catch it for Achi a few more times. He'll eventually catch it."

Su Chi hugged the rabbit tightly, her disdainful little eyes seeming to say: Sister, wake up, stop dreaming.

"I won this while riding my motorcycle, it didn't cost me any money. If Achi likes it, I can help him win a few more."

"what?"

Jiang Nanqiao was stunned for a moment. Before she could ask how to win by riding a motorcycle, Han Zhiruo pulled Su Chi and walked towards the empty basketball shooting machine next to them.

……

After a while, Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu also arrived. The four of them stood around the basketball shooting machine, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Jiang Nanqiao: "Girls are less strong, so it's very difficult for them to throw this..."

"How will you know it won't work if you don't try?" Han Zhiruo flexed her wrist. "Let's insert a coin."

Jiang Nanqiao, holding a plastic basket full of game coins, bent down like a little follower and put in two coins.

Games start.

Han Zhiruo's pitching speed is very fast and the angle is very accurate, but after all, she is a girl and her arm strength is a bit weak. Although she got a high score, it is still far from the historical record.

"Put in the coins now."

"..."

He Ziyu wanted to persuade her to switch to another game, but seeing how persistent she was, he figured she would stick to this game for a while, so he and Jiang Chengyu went to look around somewhere else first.

The arcade was noisy, and there were queues for some of the popular machines. The two wandered around aimlessly for a while, not knowing what to play, and decided to go back the way they came.

As they passed the claw machine, Jiang Chengyu suddenly stopped.

"You want to play?" He Ziyu looked at him, blinked, "These machines have their odds rigged. It's more cost-effective to just buy tickets than to try your luck here."

Jiang Chengyu didn't answer him, but pointed to a machine not far away and said, "That teddy bear... is the same as the one you gave me."

He Ziyu looked in the direction Jiang Chengyu was pointing, and in just one second, his face turned as red as an apple.

It's not shyness.

Rather... it's embarrassing.

The teddy bear in that machine was indeed exactly the same as the one he had given to Jiang Chengyu.

Because the one he gave to Jiang Chengyu was won from a claw machine!

He Ziyu was filled with shame and quickly grabbed Jiang Chengyu's arm, pulling him forward while muttering, "How are they the same? You must have seen it wrong, haha."

He clearly remembered that he and Jingran had caught that teddy bear less than ten times, and it only cost them a dozen yuan.

How heartbroken he would be if Jiang Chengyu knew that the birthday present he had always treasured actually came from this source...

"I couldn't possibly be wrong."

Jiang Chengyu broke free from He Ziyu's grasp, grabbed his hand, and forcibly pulled him to the machine.

He Ziyu: "..."

Public execution is a terrible experience.

"Um, Brother Yu, actually, last time on your birthday..."

Just as He Ziyu was about to explain, he suddenly saw Jiang Chengyu put two game coins into the machine.

"Huh??"

The next second, the claw machine's background music started playing cheerfully.

Jiang Chengyu focused intently on moving the joystick, aiming at a teddy bear that was relatively close to the exit, and then grabbed it with one claw.

They didn't catch them.

Seeing that he was about to insert another coin, He Ziyu quickly tugged at his sleeve and said weakly, "Brother Yu, what are you doing? Can't I just admit my mistake?"

"Hmm? Admit what mistake?" Jiang Chengyu was so focused on playing the claw machine that he didn't notice that He Ziyu next to him was so guilty that he wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground.

"It's the bear I gave you..."

"What happened to that bear?" Jiang Chengyu glanced at him. "Were you originally planning to give it to someone else?"

"It's definitely for you, but I lied to you and said I bought the bear on purpose. Actually, Jingran and I caught it when we went to the arcade..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chengyu released the joystick.

He Ziyu swallowed hard, thinking: It's over, it's over, this is it.

They kept saying it was a sweet treat for my darling, but this is the kind of thing they gave me as a birthday present.

Isn't this a slap in the face?

"Is that all?" Jiang Chengyu raised an eyebrow, looking indifferent. "I don't care whether you bought it or captured it. As long as it's a gift from you, I like it."

He Ziyu was stunned.

He had never expected this answer, nor dared to even think about it.

Jiang Chengyu: "I just want someone to be arrested so that the one in my room can keep me company."

He Ziyu moved his lips slightly, "I thought..."

"What did you think?" Jiang Chengyu's lips curled slightly. "Did you think I wanted to pick a fight with you this way?"

He Ziyu shrank to the side, not daring to speak.

This might be what they mean by judging others by one's own petty standards...

How could someone as magnanimous as Jiang Chengyu hold a grudge against him over such a trivial matter?

"Silly boy, that's all in the past." Jiang Chengyu rubbed his head, his eyes incredibly soft. "Back then, you liked Lan Yuan, so it wouldn't be strange if you gave me anything, or even if you didn't, it would be normal."

Upon hearing this, He Ziyu's eyes flickered slightly. "But we were friends back then, very good friends. I abandoned my friends because of that scumbag. It was my fault..."

"Then what should we do?" Jiang Chengyu put his arm around his shoulder. "How about I get some compensation?"

He Ziyu: "...How will you compensate me?"

Jiang Chengyu lowered her head and whispered in his ear, "I learned a few new moves the other day, and I wanted to show them to you, look..."

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of enthusiastic cheers came from afar.

Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu exchanged glances simultaneously.

He Ziyu: "Is Ruoruo going to break the record?!"

Jiang Chengyu: "Theoretically speaking, the probability is very low."

"I'll go take a look," He Ziyu said, stuffing the game tokens into Jiang Chengyu's hand. "Brother Yu, you go first. Remember to grab a fluffy one for me, okay? Also, about that thing you mentioned... I'll talk to you about it when we get back!"