Early Saturday morning, relying on her memories from her previous life, Su Nuonuo took a bus ride that lasted over an hour and finally arrived at Lu Zhiye’s home.
His home was in an urban village in the northern part of the city—a simple two-story building. The exterior walls were somewhat weathered, but the windows and entrance were kept clean and tidy.
The house stood near a street corner. On the ground floor, part of the space had been converted into a storefront, which was Grandpa Lu’s breakfast shop. In the early morning, the lively atmosphere carried the aroma of fried dough sticks and soy milk, drifting far into the distance.
The familiar scent was unmistakable—without needing anyone to tell her, she knew it was the fragrance of freshly fried dough sticks made by Grandpa Lu.
From a distance, Su Nuonuo saw the familiar breakfast shop. No—she realized it wasn’t truly familiar. Compared to the one she remembered from her previous life, this place was much more modest.
She recalled that in her previous life, Grandpa Lu had once told her that after Lu Zhiye became wealthy later on, he had wanted him to stop working. However, Grandpa Lu refused, saying he had been doing this for over a decade and was already used to it; if he stopped, he would only end up dwelling on sad memories.
Thinking of his deceased parents, Lu Zhiye felt for his grandfather. In the end, he did not insist further. He only quietly added a layer of anti-slip flooring over the cement ground and installed additional lighting, making the interior brighter.
Lu Zhiye’s grandfather, Lu Weiguo, was a retired former village chief. He had a cheerful and kind personality and treated others warmly and sincerely.
When Lu Zhiye was ten years old, his parents had died in a car accident, leaving Grandpa Lu to raise him on his own.
To give his grandson a better life, he opened this breakfast shop. The two of them depended on each other for survival.
Although life was somewhat modest, it was steady and peaceful.
These past events were all things Grandpa Lu had once told her in detail in her previous life while sitting under a lamp.
Just as Su Nuonuo came to a stop, Lu Weiguo, who was busy frying dough sticks, looked up and spotted her. His eyes lit up instantly, and his expression softened at once.
An inexplicable sense of familiarity and warmth welled up in his heart. He felt genuinely pleased and quickly greeted her with a smile, “Little girl, want some fried dough sticks? They’re freshly made and very fluffy!”
Su Nuonuo looked at Grandpa Lu before her. His temples were only lightly streaked with white, and the lines at the corners of his eyes were much shallower than when she had first met him in her previous life. Clearly, he was much younger now.
Her heart suddenly ached, and her eyes quickly turned red.
In her previous life at seventeen, she had been timid and lacked the courage to approach Lu Zhiye, missing even the chance to know Grandpa Lu.
She quickly sniffed to steady her emotions and politely greeted him, “Hello, Grandpa. My name is Su Nuonuo. I’m Lu Zhiye’s classmate. We get along quite well, so I came especially to visit him.”
“Oh! A classmate of Little Ye!” Lu Weiguo’s smile grew even brighter.
He quickly wiped his greasy hands on his apron and called out toward the second floor, “Little Ye! Your classmate is here to see you!”
After calling out, he turned back to her and said, “Come in and sit. Don’t stand outside—the wind is strong, you’ll catch a chill!”
Su Nuonuo shook her head. Noticing the freshly kneaded dough on the work surface, she immediately rolled up her sleeves and said softly, “Grandpa, I won’t sit. I’ll help you instead. It looks simple enough—I can lend a hand.”
Before Grandpa Lu could refuse, she had already picked up a pair of long chopsticks and began flipping the dough sticks like the elderly man did. Her movements were unfamiliar but extremely earnest, careful not to burn anything even slightly.
When she saw the soy milk bubbling in the pot, she quickly and skillfully filled bowls and served them to customers. With curved brows and a sweet voice, she cheerfully called them “uncle” and “auntie,” making everyone smile and praise her for being well-behaved.
Lu Weiguo watched all of this and felt deeply comforted. The more he looked at Su Nuonuo, the more pleasing she appeared, and the more he liked her.
While frying dough sticks, he chatted with her, asking about her studies and her family. Su Nuonuo responded gently and softly, showing no signs of being spoiled or pampered.
During a pause in the work, Lu Weiguo sighed, his voice carrying a hint of heartache. “That boy has a hard life. His parents passed away early, and this old body of mine isn’t capable of much. I can’t give him anything good—it’s been tough on the child.”
Su Nuonuo’s hands suddenly paused. Her chest tightened as though something had gripped her heart, causing a sharp ache.
She looked up and smiled at the old man, her eyes filled with unshakable warmth. “Grandpa, you raised him very well. Lu Zhiye is extremely outstanding—he’s good-looking and has excellent grades. Our entire class admires him.”
Those words struck directly at Lu Weiguo’s heart. The old man smiled so broadly that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes gathered together.
Looking at Su Nuonuo, his gaze became even more affectionate, as though he were looking at his own granddaughter.
After greeting Grandpa Lu, Su Nuonuo made her way upstairs with practiced familiarity.
She already knew exactly where Lu Zhiye’s room was from her previous life.
Arriving on the second floor, she pushed open the white-painted door, which had slightly peeled in places, and a familiar scene came into view.
The small room contained a single bed, a desk, and an old wardrobe in the corner. On the desk were textbooks and exercise books, and on the windowsill sat an unremarkable pothos plant, which in the end had grown lush and vibrant.
Every detail was etched deeply into her memory.
How could she not be familiar? In her previous life, after he passed away, she had moved here to stay with Grandpa Lu and help take care of the house. She had lived in this room for over three years until Grandpa Lu passed away.
Standing at the doorway, Su Nuonuo felt her nose sting again. Her heart surged with bitterness and longing, mixed with overwhelming relief at having regained what she had lost.
In her previous life, she had guarded this empty room, crying in the quiet emptiness. Now, everything had started over—he was still here, and everything was still in time.
She steadied herself, peeked her head in softly, and gently called, “Little Ye~”
Lu Zhiye was sitting at his desk playing on his phone. Hearing her voice, he looked up and met her moist, peach-blossom eyes.
His ears turned bright red in an instant, and his handsome face darkened as he snapped, his tone fierce and hurried, tinged with flustered embarrassment, “Who allowed you to call me that? Don’t call me that!”
After speaking, he glared at her and demanded, “How do you even know I’m here? You’re really like a lingering ghost—leave right now!”
The smile on Su Nuonuo’s face froze instantly. All her joy and anticipation were washed away by his harsh words. She felt anger rise within her.
Tears of grievance quickly welled up in her eyes, her nose turning red. Suddenly noticing a small stone near her feet, she bent down without hesitation, picked it up quickly, clenched it tightly in her small hand, stood on her tiptoes, and threw it toward his arm.
The force was not heavy, but it carried her frustration and grievance—a small protest born of anger.
Her body stiffened, her eyes reddened and burning as she stared at him with watery, accusing eyes.
With a choked, tearful voice, she said angrily, “I traveled such a long, long way early this morning just to see you, and you’re this mean to me!”
The small stone lightly struck his arm before falling to the ground.
Lu Zhiye’s chest tightened abruptly. His Adam’s apple rolled several times, and all the harsh words he had been about to say were stuck in his throat—he couldn’t utter a single word.
Looking at the reddened corners of her eyes and her almost-tearful expression, his throat tightened. He raised a hand and rubbed his face irritably.
The fierce look on his face vanished completely, leaving only panic. His voice became hoarse as he said, “No… I wasn’t being mean to you…”
Su Nuonuo bit her lip and said nothing more. She turned and ran downstairs, her small figure radiating deep grievance.
Lu Zhiye stood frozen in place, his gaze falling on the small stone on the ground.
He felt overwhelmed with regret and frustration. He kicked the base of the wall hard, hating his own insincerity and even more so his inability to speak properly—clearly feeling happy inside, yet saying words that hurt her.
Su Nuonuo ran to the breakfast shop and threw herself beside Grandpa Lu, grabbing his arm and gently shaking it. Her voice was soft and delicate, still carrying a hint of a nasal, aggrieved tone. Her eyes were red, and she looked utterly wronged as she said,
“Grandpa, Little Ye is being mean to me.”
“He won’t let me call him Little Ye, and he told me to leave, saying I’m like a lingering ghost…”
She poured out all her grievances in one breath, her small shoulders trembling slightly.