Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

Han Zhiruo kept his eyes straight ahead, his attitude completely calm.

She thought that since Jiang Nanqiao was a fujoshi (a female fan of male-male romance), she probably wouldn't be too hostile towards lesbians. It was better to be honest now than to be exposed later.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that she might harbor resentment.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Anyway, her heart had already been tempered and hardened by the trials and tribulations of the past. If Jiang Nanqiao rejected her, she would stay far away and never bother her again.

Jiang Nanqiao bit her lip, frozen for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "You...you're not joking, are you?"

"I wouldn't joke about something like this," Han Zhiruo said seriously. "If you feel uncomfortable, or don't want to be friends with me anymore, you can tell me anytime."

"No, no, I'm not feeling unwell, I just find it a bit unbelievable." Jiang Nanqiao scratched her head, looking somewhat flustered.

Han Zhiruo actually likes girls?

Then what happened when she was holding her arm and wrapping her arms around her waist? It seems like...

"Um, Ruoruo..."

"Um?"

"I was just... just now I was very close to you, and I even put my arm around your waist. You don't... you don't mind, do you?" Jiang Nanqiao stammered, nervous. "Since you like girls, then my behavior was harassment. I'm sorry, Ruoruo. If I had known you... I would have..."

Jiang Nanqiao couldn't continue speaking towards the end.

If Han Zhiruo hadn't brought it up, there was no way she would have known. Yet, she treated Han Zhiruo like a sister, engaging in all sorts of physical contact...

Fortunately, Han Zhiruo was magnanimous and didn't cause her any trouble. He was even worried that she might feel uncomfortable.

Where can you find such a wonderful sister?

Han Zhiruo was momentarily stunned when he saw Jiang Nanqiao's flustered apology.

This is the first time that someone has cared whether she has been "violated" after learning about her sexual orientation.

"Ruoruo, you're not mad at me, are you?" Jiang Nanqiao looked at Han Zhiruo, her voice weak. "If you're not mad at me, let's continue being friends. I promise I won't lay a hand on you again..."

Han Zhiruo hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you afraid that I might have some improper thoughts about you?"

Jiang Nanqiao was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, thinking that Han Zhiruo was testing whether she was qualified to be a friend. She quickly laughed and said, "I'm so ordinary, what kind of thoughts could you possibly have about me? Besides, even if you did, they would disappear after we spend more time together. After all, I'm just an ordinary person, sometimes even childish and unreasonable..."

Jiang Nanqiao listed her shortcomings, hoping to put the other party at ease in this way.

Unfortunately, these words meant nothing to Han Zhiruo.

Who says that after spending a lot of time together, improper thoughts will disappear?

If you meet the right person, your thoughts won't disappear; they'll accumulate and grow.

Just like Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu, they've known each other for so many years, yet they still couldn't escape each other's grasp.

"By the way, Ruoruo, can you tell me what's going on with this bracelet?" Jiang Nanqiao picked up the bracelet on the table and brought the topic back on track.

Han Zhiruo came to her senses and patiently explained the whole story to Jiang Nanqiao.

half an hour...

"Wow, your and Yu-ge's parents are so selfish! What era are we living in? They're still arranging marriages!" Jiang Nanqiao clenched her fists indignantly, as if she was about to rush out and start a fight.

She knew Jiang Chengyu's parents were very strict, but an arranged marriage... such a heinous method, she thought it only appeared in prime-time dramas.

Han Zhiruo: "The Jiang family and the Han family are currently working together to develop a real estate project. Breaking off relations would not benefit either of them, so I plan to remain inactive and wait for the right opportunity to retaliate."

Jiang Nanqiao: "Then... when is it considered mature?"

"I'll have to wait until I graduate high school at least," Han Zhiruo said. "I'm currently looking for ways to make money."

"Make money?"

"Economic independence is the foundation for having a voice. This is a protracted battle, and it's never a bad thing to prepare early."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nanqiao's eyes immediately lit up with admiration. "You and Ayu are alike in this respect. He's also been trying to make money lately. Why don't you two exchange ideas?"

"Is that so?" Han Zhiruo raised her eyebrows slightly. "Then I'll ask him when he gets back."

……

At that time, it was a children's playground.

"Oh ho~"

With a shout, He Ziyu carried Su Chi down the spiral slide and landed on the soft mat.

Su Chi: "I want to play more! I want to play more!"

He Ziyu: "You can play by yourself. I'll wait for you downstairs."

Su Chi: "No, no, I want my brother to come too."

Su Chi seemed to really like He Ziyu, even dragging him along to play on the slide. Helpless, Jiang Chengyu had no choice but to stand next to the slide and act as a human clothes rack.

He held He Ziyu's clothes in his left hand and Su Chi's clothes in his right, watching the two boys, one big and one small, playing happily, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

After an unknown amount of time, the two finally got tired of their antics.

He Ziyu led Su Chi out of the children's playground and saw Jiang Chengyu walking towards them, holding two glasses of freshly squeezed juice.

"Are you tired from playing? Have some juice."

He Ziyu took the juice and took a big gulp.

It's so refreshing and cool!

Jiang Chengyu squatted down to wipe Su Chi's sweat, and then stood up to wipe it for him again.

He Ziyu enjoyed being taken care of by Jiang Chengyu. For a moment, he even had the illusion that Jiang Chengyu had brought his two sons out to play.

He licked his lips, brought the straw to Jiang Chengyu's lips, and asked him to take a sip too.

Jiang Chengyu did not refuse and naturally took the straw into her mouth.

The two stared at each other affectionately for a while, until Su Chi finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"If you keep doing this, I'm going to call my sister!"

"Why did you call her?"

"I want to share a straw with her too, and have her feed me," Su Chi said sourly, puffing out her small chest.

He Ziyu chuckled, "Little one, I can tell you're not that old, but you're quite competitive, even with something as small as this..."

Before he could finish speaking, He Ziyu suddenly froze and looked at the two people not far away.

"This gift is too expensive, let's return it..."

"Why cancel it? You took care of me for so long in the hospital, this is what you deserve."

As they got closer, they saw He Ningqiu and Lan Yuan walking side by side towards them. As they got closer, they also saw He Ziyu.

A flicker of panic flashed in He Ningqiu's eyes.

His father had explicitly forbidden him from associating with Lan Yuan in private. Today, he had secretly run away under the pretense of going to the library, but now that He Ziyu had caught him, he had undoubtedly gotten himself into a huge mess.

"Brother... what are you doing here?" Having already been discovered, He Ningqiu decided to take the initiative.

"I'm here to have dinner with Brother Yu," He Ziyu said, looking He Ningqiu up and down. "And you, are you on a date with Lan Gou... no, with Lan Yuan?"

Oh dear, I almost blurted it out.

Upon hearing the word "date," He Ningqiu quickly denied it: "No, we didn't have a date. We just bumped into each other on the street...on the street."

"Oh wow, you two are really destined to meet."

He Ziyu shrugged, his tone nonchalant.

He didn't want to cause trouble for He Ningqiu, nor was there any need to. After all, based on the course of his previous life, he and Lan Yuan were destined to be together. If a turtle sees a green bean and takes a liking to it, there's nothing he can do to stop it, right?

Looking at Lan Yuan next to He Ningqiu, his face was ashen and looked rather unpleasant.

Ever since He Ziyu beat him up and sent him to the hospital, the two had a grudge. Although Jiang Chengyu later took the beating for him and covered it up, he still harbored a knot in his heart and wanted to find an opportunity to get revenge.

Today was the first time he had a direct encounter with He Ziyu since being discharged from the hospital.

As expected, He Ziyu didn't speak to him. Not only did he not speak to him, he didn't even glance at him, completely ignoring him.

This made Lan Yuan very unhappy.

To get He Ziyu's attention, he deliberately put his arm around He Ningqiu's shoulder and said, "We're just out on a date, Ningqiu. Don't lie to him anymore. Just tell him what our relationship is."

He Ningqiu: ? ? ?

Lan Yuan's reckless act actually achieved his goal.

He Ziyu glanced at him leisurely and said, "Isn't that unnecessary? You two know what your relationship is like, why are you telling me? I'm not your father."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lan Yuan's face darkened even more.

He Ziyu didn't give him a chance to speak. He took a step forward, looked up at him for a few seconds, and then said earnestly:

"Your nose repair doesn't look good; it's still crooked. Did you choose the wrong hospital?"

"..."

"You can't be greedy for small gains in this kind of thing. How about this, I'll go back and help you get into a better hospital so you can go back for another round of surgery?"

He Ziyu is not criticizing for the sake of criticizing.

Lan Yuan's nose is indeed a bit crooked. It's not obvious from a distance, but it looks particularly strange up close, which greatly diminishes his good looks.

Lan Yuan knew about this. He was mentally devastated for the first few days after the bandages were removed. But after being brainwashed by Liu Wen and He Ningqiu, he felt that things weren't so bad after all.

I never expected to run into He Ziyu while shopping today, and he even ruthlessly touched a sore spot.

"Brother, how can you say that about Lan Yuan? Others may not know who made his nose crooked, but don't you know?" He Ningqiu stood up to speak for Lan Yuan.

Upon hearing this, Lan Yuan nearly fainted.

He looked at He Ningqiu and asked, "Didn't you say my nose wasn't crooked?"

He Ningqiu: "I... um..."

Taking advantage of He Ningqiu's stammering, He Ziyu continued to add fuel to the fire: "My brother is kind-hearted. He said some nice things to fool you, and you actually believed him?"

This time, Lan Yuan finally couldn't take it anymore.

Not only was his once proud face disfigured by He Ziyu, but it also became a tool for him to humiliate.

"He Ziyu, are you ever going to stop?" Ignoring Jiang Chengyu's presence, Lan Yuan grabbed He Ziyu by the collar. "Believe me or not, I'll make sure everyone knows about your little affair with Jiang Chengyu right now!"

He Ziyu curled his lips, completely unfazed. "Then go ahead and say it. I want to see if anyone will believe what you, the disgrace of No. 8 Middle School, are saying."

Upon hearing this, Lan Yuan's anger flared up instantly, and he raised his other hand, which was clenched into a fist.

However, before he could even throw his fist, his arm was violently twisted behind his back.