CH 13

The study tyrant’s notes were even better than textbook exercises. Jiang Xiao cherished them so much he didn’t dare to write on them.

Thanks to the notes, he and Lin HeYuan crossed paths more often. Jiang Xiao had trouble understanding certain sections, so he would go over to ask about them during breaks. Lin HeYuan might not talk much, but he got to the point when it came to studying. Jiang Xiao was also very thorough, so student and teacher got along well.

Lin HeYuan seemed to have taken to heart what Jiang Xiao said about Lin QingYu. He didn’t lose his temper with her. He just secretly went to the boy and talked to him about it. The other party took it surprisingly well and was fair-minded, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to see things from Lin QingYu’s point of view. After they had a talk, everything was resolved.

Jiang Xiao’s small business was also going smoothly. And because of Lin HeYuan, his new friend, studying was plain sailing too.

Ye YingYing, who was led into a new realm by Jiang Xiao, had begun experiencing the hardships of seriously learning how to draw and paint. It wasn’t effortless fun like he’d imagined at the start. From time to time he looked at Jiang Xiao with resentful eyes, but everything else was good. Even Xia WanWan’s health, the thing Jiang Xiao worried about the most, was much improved.

But he never expected to see Lin ChengYu in Houlin county.

By now it was almost December. The weather had turned cold, and Jiang Xiao was wearing a heavy turtleneck sweater. The school uniform coat was a little thin, but he still felt warm because the fabric blocked the wind.

Now that he had the shelf, Jiang Xiao’s merchandise was selling even faster. In addition to the students, young girls who lived nearby also came to buy things. Some of the most popular items had already sold out. He calculated that when the weather got colder he could add some new products. Hats, gloves, and hand warmers would be easy to sell in this season. Liujiang’s goods were fresher than Houlin’s. There was money to be made.

Houlin was much, much colder than Liujiang on the southern coast. In wintertime, it snowed. Jiang Xiao had lived in Liujiang for a long time in his last life and hadn’t seen the snow in many years. After he got out of school, he walked home. His thoughts were brimming with plans as well as hope for the future.

Ahead on the street there was an old man collecting plastic bottles. The road was slippery and the man suddenly fell. The opening of his plastic carryall was loose, and plastic bottles dropped with a clatter all over the ground. Suddenly a cold wind gusted, and the jugs began to roll away. The old man was anxious. He finally managed to stand up, but he couldn’t catch the bottles that had been blown in all directions by the wind.

Jiang Xiao happened to see it and immediately bent down to help pick them up. He’d naturally lent a hand with this sort of thing. He was young and quick and didn’t think it was especially dirty. He soon picked up the bottles that had rolled the farthest, but he didn’t have a bag to put them in. His hands were full, and the cold wind that was blowing was a little miserable.

Just as he reached down to pick up another bottle, he saw someone come over to help. Jiang Xiao’s head was lowered, so all he saw of this kind-hearted person were some very high quality black trousers and a knee-length gray coat, which weren’t at all cheap-looking. The man bent down beside him and picked up the bottles Jiang Xiao couldn’t get to.

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It wasn’t that Jiang Xiao was a snob who paid a lot of attention to people’s clothes. It was just that one rarely saw this type of clothes in Houlin. It was too conspicuous to wear that kind of design in the current year. Jiang Xiao didn’t have to think about it to know it was a famous foreign brand.

This rich stranger was very kind.

He wasn’t paying much attention at the moment, but the man picked up some bottles and quickly approached him. Jiang Xiao didn’t notice, and when he stepped backward, he almost ran into his arms.

“Sorry, I…”

After all, he hit someone. Jiang Xiao automatically moved back and apologized. As soon as he looked up, he saw the person’s face.

“It’s okay. Be careful.” The man laughed a little, then replied in a very familiar voice, “You… are you hurt?”

Holy shit!

At that moment, Jiang Xiao’s heart flashed like a thunderstorm. A chorus of swear words rolled through his brain. To cover up his emotions he turned to the old man and handed him the bottles. Then he quickly cleared his expression and pretended he hadn’t noticed anything. For a moment he couldn’t suppress his shock.

How was this possible? How could Lin ChengYu be here?

But it was really Lin ChengYu. He didn’t have to look closely. Even if he turned into dust, Jiang Xiao would know him. How could he make a mistake? They’d been together too long, and the memories ran deep.

He was younger now, about fourteen years old, wearing a gray coat, and he was as good-looking as ever. His face was small, which made his blue-gray eye color more noticeable. As he stood there, he looked like a person who’d walked out of a painting. He was so young and beautiful it was almost unearthly.

But his looks no longer excited Jiang Xiao. He’d been cheated enough by that face. Now his immunity was unsurpassed, and his mind was filled with doubts. He felt strange and just wanted to avoid him.

He returned the bottles to the grandpa1 and wanted to run away, but Lin ChengYu didn’t let him go.

He followed Jiang Xiao step by step. When Jiang Xiao handed the things to the grandpa, Lin ChengYu also reached out to hand over a bottle.

“You’ve a good heart, student kid,” the grandpa thanked them in the local dialect. “Thank you, thank you.”

Jiang Xiao also replied in local dialect that it was fine. He thought to himself that it would be best if Lin ChengYu passed on by. It had to be a coincidence. But as soon as he picked up his feet to leave, his arm was held in someone’s grip.

“Classmate, don’t go.” Lin ChengYu’s voice was a little quiet and nervous. “Can… Can I ask you for directions?”

Jiang Xiao: “…”

With this question, he knew Lin ChengYu hadn’t met him here by chance.

Lin ChengYu was born and raised in Liujiang. After Jiang Xiao saved him, he heard about Lin ChengYu’s previous life. The Lin family had been well-to-do in Liujiang before, but later they went bankrupt.

But no matter how Jiang Xiao worked it out, it was absolutely impossible for Lin ChengYu to come to Houlin at this time and find him by accident. This Lin ChengYu had a cold personality. Even if he retreated ten thousand steps, he would never stumble across a little-known county like Houlin. And he wouldn’t ask a random person for directions if he was really lost.

He was reborn, too.

After Jiang Xiao’s mind reached this conclusion, he calmed down from the initial shock.

If he was reborn, it was possible for Lin ChengYu to be reborn too. It wasn’t hard to accept. It was just a bit strange for this person to come over to find him.

They weren’t appropriate for each other at all. Wouldn’t it be best if they each minded their own business and made a clean break after they were reborn? What was he playing at?

Jiang Xiao pulled his arm out of Lin ChengYu’s hand with a little force. He frowned, turned his head, and looked at him squarely.

He had nothing to hide in front of Lin ChengYu.

“What kind of directions?”

Jiang Xiao asked in a calm voice with no abnormality on his face, like he was looking at a total stranger.

But when Lin ChengYu met Jiang Xiao’s eyes, the calm which Lin ChengYu had been feigning suddenly collapsed. He tried his best to suppress it, but his eyes were too honest, almost shedding tears.

Standing in front of him was the living Jiang Xiao.

It was the first time Jiang Xiao had seen a fourteen-year-old Lin ChengYu, and it was also the first time Lin ChengYu had seen Jiang Xiao at this age. He wanted to carve this person’s appearance in his mind.

Jiang Xiao was wearing a school uniform with a thick turtleneck sweater underneath. Because of the cold weather, the collar of the sweater was pulled up and half of his chin was sunk into the fabric. At age fifteen, there was still some baby fat on his cheeks, which was set off by the turtleneck. It looked a little cute. His lips were a bit red, like cherries, from the cold. When he spoke, those eyes just blinked.

Jiang Xiao had the type of appearance that was warm and trustworthy. Anyone would feel at ease when they saw him.

But Lin ChengYu had more than just a good feeling. It had been so difficult to lose this person and find him again. He wanted more than anything to hold him at this moment, to make sure his beloved was real, and no longer the cold tombstone that was left to him.

But no, two people who’d just met for the first time wouldn’t do that.

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Nothing Lin ChengYu knew would make him think Jiang Xiao might have been reborn. It wasn’t his first assumption.

Under the impact of this huge surprise, he didn’t even notice that Jiang Xiao, who always loved to smile, didn’t smile at all when facing him. It was clear that he’d pleasantly greeted the bottle collector. But when he looked at Lin ChengYu, his face had no expression.

Apathy, scrutiny, wariness. There was no longer any semblance of love or goodwill.

TL Notes:

study tyrant – 学霸 – xué bà – Alternatively: academic tyrant, study overlord, straight-A student

plastic carryall – 蛇皮袋子 – The words literally mean snakeskin bag, but it’s a bag made of woven plastic strands. Like this.

best if each minded their own business – 桥归桥路归路 – the bridge to the bridge, the road to the road – avoid mixing to avoid offending each other, strictly distinguish things and keep the peace, keep separated to avoid confusion