Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

When I opened my palm, it was a mint.

The mint candy was wrapped in blue-green plastic wrapping paper, which sparkled and shimmered in the sunlight.

Knowing that He Ziyu liked mints, Jiang Chengyu specially prepared a handful and put them in his pocket, thinking that if He Ziyu was in a bad mood in the future, he could use the candy to coax him and maybe it would solve his immediate problem.

He Ziyu unwrapped the candy, put it in his mouth, and the cool sweetness instantly spread to every corner of his oral cavity.

Even after all these years, he still loves the taste of mint, like his first love—fresh, cool, and invigorating.

"This candy is delicious, do you have any more?"

Jiang Chengyu nodded and took out a few more from his pocket.

He Ziyu didn't take them all; he only picked one, peeled it, and offered it to Jiang Chengyu's lips.

Jiang Chengyu glanced at He Ziyu's slender fingers, his Adam's apple bobbed, and then he opened his mouth and took the candy in his mouth.

The carriage was soon filled with a faint scent of mint.

Halfway through the drive, He Ziyu received a WeChat voice message from Jingran. Without thinking much about it, he played it through the speakerphone.

"Ah Yu, hurry up and get on the BBS! Quick, hahaha..."

In the eight-second voice message, Jingran laughed for six seconds, and even made a pig-like squeal in the last second.

The BBS that Jingran mentioned was the campus forum of No. 8 Middle School. Since all the administrators were students, it was often a chaotic place with gossip flying everywhere.

The school leaders initially considered intervening in this situation, but later found that there were spoiled rich kids among the administrators, so they had to give up.

"What did he see that made him so happy?" Jiang Chengyu took off his left earphone, a little curious.

"Who knows? Maybe it's just gossip. Our school has no shortage of gossip," He Ziyu said, while using his left hand to operate his phone and log into the campus forum.

Typing on a phone with one hand is a bit difficult, especially with the left hand. When He Ziyu was typing in the URL, he accidentally pressed the letters next to the text several times and had to delete and start over. Even so, he was reluctant to let go of his right hand, which was clasped with Jiang Chengyu's.

After seeing him delete it several times, Jiang Chengyu, afraid of bothering him, tried to pull her hand back, but unexpectedly, it was gripped even tighter.

He Ziyu turned his head and glared at him, his eyes saying, "You're dead if you dare to let go."

Faced with He Ziyu's loving "threat," Jiang Chengyu felt as if his heart was soaking in a honey pot, sweeter than any mint candy he was eating.

Because of his family background, he was not a person who liked to be controlled, but with He Ziyu, he wished to be restrained by him at all times in order to gain enough security.

After persistent efforts, He Ziyu finally succeeded in logging into the forum.

In the discussion area, a newly posted thread has already received over ten pages of replies, with a prominent red "Hot" icon next to it.

He Ziyu glanced at the title.

[Can someone explain what happened on Saturday when LY was beaten up?]

The account that posted the message was newly registered, and it was probably an out-of-school student who was unaware of the inside story. The words revealed a strong desire for gossip.

The No. 8 Middle School forum is open to the public, and students from other schools can also come in to exchange ideas. This leads to a surge in the popularity of posts when some major events occur at the school.

He Ziyu remembered that after Fan Xunmei jumped off the building in his previous life, the number of online users on the forum broke the record for the highest in those years. The posts about the causes and consequences of Fan Xunmei's suicide received thousands of replies, and the server almost crashed.

With his thoughts returning, He Ziyu opened the post.

The first few floors were relatively normal, with everyone talking about what they saw on Saturday. But then an insider with the ID "Sweet Strawberry Jam" appeared, and the tone suddenly changed.

The reply from "Sweet Strawberry Jam" was quite long. First, he recounted his past grievances with Lan Yuan in junior high school, rewriting his one-sided pursuit of Lan Yuan as "He Ziyu admired Lan Yuan and wanted to learn basketball from him, so he kept taking the initiative to show his affection." He also mentioned that Lan Yuan mistakenly thought he liked him and made a promise at a dinner party that "He Ziyu will definitely pursue me within a month." Finally, he didn't forget to post a few photos of Lan Yuan being beaten black and blue to mock him.

As soon as this post was published, Lan Yuan's face was instantly slapped hard, and onlookers from all walks of life said that this drama was too good to watch, and they started exchanging ideas in the comments with great interest.

[Italian panna cotta]: First of all, I am from another school. I had the opportunity to see Lan Yuan's performance in the league when I was in junior high school. I admired him quite a bit. I never expected him to be so low.

[Pure Duck]: What the heck is this "thought He Ziyu was pursuing him"? How can there be such a narcissistic person in this world? Now that He Ziyu has beaten him up like this, does his face hurt?

[Tender Beef Wrap]: I'm not surprised he did something like this. My best friend wrote him a love letter before, and he turned around and told his buddies that my best friend was ugly. He talks about girls behind their backs. His character is absolutely rotten.

[Sake Offering]: I can't take it anymore, hahaha, sorry hahaha, look at that photo, doesn't Lan Yuan look like Ouyang Feng from The Eagle Shooting Heroes? Hahaha...

[Brother, please be gentle]: The person upstairs, don't insult Ouyang Feng!

He Ziyu opened the profile of "Sweet Strawberry Jam".

Judging from her registration time and the content of her posts, it is not difficult to see that this person is from No. 8 Middle School, knows Lan Yuan very well, and is an ally.

After being reborn, what He Ziyu wanted to do most was to erase his experience of pursuing Lan Yuan in junior high school.

Although this sounds like a very difficult task, fortunately, he almost never said anything like "I like him" while pursuing Lan Yuan. His actions spoke louder than words, so it's understandable that "Sweet Strawberry Jam" helped him clear his name, and many people even believed it.

He Ziyu suppressed a laugh and scrolled down.

Dozens of sarcastic posts followed, including one from someone claiming to be a member of the basketball team who exposed all the despicable things Lan Yuan had done behind the scenes.

Immediately afterwards, experts started to Photoshop the images.

In the photo, Lan Yuan is being beaten on the ground. Someone was so mean that they photoshopped a rocket behind him, making him fly into the sky with a bruised and swollen face. Someone else photoshopped several elderly people carrying vegetable baskets, eating sunflower seeds, and watching the show next to him.

That wasn't all. In the end, a genius even turned the photo into a GIF: a basketball flew from the horizon and "thud" hit Lan Yuan on the head, Lan Yuan's expression twisted for a moment, then another basketball flew by, and he twisted his face again.

It's so crazy and absurd, it's on an endless loop.

He Ziyu finally couldn't hold back any longer and, just like Jing Ran in the voice recording, burst into unrestrained laughter.

While laughing, she leaned against Jiang Chengyu.

Jiang Chengyu was about to ask what was so funny when she glanced at the screen and saw Lan Yuan's distorted face. She couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.

"Ouch, hahaha, my stomach, my stomach hurts..."

He Ziyu clung to Jiang Chengyu's arm, tears streaming down his face as he wiped them onto Jiang's shoulder, unable to stop.

Before today, he had no idea that Lan Yuan had made that kind of bet with his friends.

Are you betting he'll change his mind within a month?

It seems this guy is still lost in his own beautiful dream.

After a long while, He Ziyu finally finished laughing and used the forum's private message function to send a message to "Sweet Strawberry Jam".

[Miss, this is He Ziyu. Thank you for speaking up for me in the comments. Can we get to know each other?]

……

At this moment, at the entrance of Class 7, Grade 11.

Jingran clung to the back door frame, craning her neck to peer inside.

He came to return the clothes.

Last night, Bei Yao lent him his coat and insisted that he wear it back. He couldn't refuse the guy, so he had to agree and also machine-washed the coat for him.

Right now, the entire baseball jersey smells wonderfully of laundry detergent.

"Handsome young man, who are you looking for?"

Jingran was intently searching for her target when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder.

He turned around and saw a senior student with long, flowing hair, bright eyes, and white teeth smiling at him.

Jingran paused for a moment, her gaze unconsciously drifting to the senior's long, straight legs beneath her school uniform skirt.

"I'm looking for..."

"He's looking for me."

Bei Yao's voice came from beside my ear.

The next second, Jing Ran looked in the direction of the sound and met Bei Yao's gaze, which was filled with a hint of displeasure.

The senior student glanced at Bei Yao, then at Jing Ran, and then gave a meaningful smile.

"So you're looking for Yao-ge? Then I won't bother you any longer."

After saying that, she walked gracefully into the classroom.

Jingran stared blankly at her senior's retreating figure.

Everyone loves beauty. Regardless of gender, Jingran will take a second look at anyone who is good-looking. Just like that senior student, she was clearly a class beauty. She had a pretty face, a great figure, and most importantly, she spoke very gently.

"Is it pretty?"

"nice."

"You like this type?"

"Such a beautiful girl, who wouldn't..."

Halfway through her sentence, Jingran suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

After regaining his composure, he noticed that Bei Yao had put his arm around his shoulder at some point, and his fingertips were circling around his hair intentionally or unintentionally.

Jingran shuddered and quickly jumped back half a meter.

"Why are you asking this? Are you trying to introduce me to a girlfriend?"

Bei Yao grinded his back teeth with a forced smile.

He was in a good mood when he arrived at school, but when he got close to the classroom door, he saw Jingran talking to the class beauty, and his eyes kept glancing at her legs...

What, are you trying to force him to wear stockings and show off his legs next time?

"She's the prettiest girl in our class. The line of guys chasing her could stretch all the way to the pancake stand outside the school. Plus, she likes big, burly men with thick necks and big gold chains. You have no chance with her."

Upon hearing this, Jing Ran's lips twitched twice.

With his broad shoulders, thick waist, and big neck, and wearing a large gold chain, is he definitely not a protection money collector?

Besides...

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm not going to pursue her." Jingran shrugged and shook Beiyao's arm off. "If you like her, just go after her yourself. What kind of skill is it to be wary of others?"

Upon hearing this, Bei Yao's expression immediately turned cold. "I'm not pursuing her. I already have someone I like."

Upon hearing this, Jingran blinked and put on a gossipy expression.

"You have someone you like? Who is it?"