Gu Qiu’s eyebrows lifted slightly as he stared at the official account’s article title for a few seconds.
Driven by curiosity, he scrolled down.
The story was roughly about a girl who broke up with her first love over practical issues, then fantasized about going back to when they had just gotten together and rewriting their ending by making a few changes.
Nearly a thousand words long, it was overflowing with genuine emotion and regret, and it should have been able to harvest plenty of tears from those “nostalgia-brained” readers.
The comment section below was mostly readers’ replies to the question raised by the title.
Some said, “Even if I chose ten thousand times, I’d still want to be lovers.”
Others said, “Be friends. At least then I can still catch a glimpse of her happiness.”
But what was interesting was that “Can you add a get-rich option too?” became the most-liked comment.
In his previous life, Gu Qiu probably would not have voiced an opinion, or he might have muttered to himself, “People are really strange. They don’t live in the present; they live in their memories!”
But now, he seemed to have become the person most qualified to speak.
After staring and thinking for a moment, he left a comment in the section:
『Forget each other; being strangers is best!』
Since being Reincarnated, Gu Qiu’s heart had been in turmoil these past few days.
Especially every time he received a message from Qin Zhiyi, he agonized over how he should face her in this life!
Looking back on everything from his previous life, he could understand Qin Zhiyi’s desire to shine in the field she loved and excelled at, and he could understand her desire to prove to her parents that her abilities far surpassed those of her younger brother, who had stolen away so much of the love that should have been hers since childhood. But in the end, understanding was only understanding… he did not want to repeat the same mistakes!
He just wanted to live a simpler life.
If he were alone, he’d smuggle his way through the rest of his life.
If there were two people, he’d keep a dog or a cat, spend the day bowing his head and hustling for a few scraps of money, and keep each other company at night to feel that the world was worth it. In his spare time, he’d lie flat and slack off, or take a trip wherever he felt like going… love would have its echo, and affection could endure.
Him and Qin Zhiyi.
As lovers, his previous life had already proven they were incompatible!
As friends… could someone you truly loved really be just a friend?
So, they were better off going their separate ways… bridges to bridges, roads to roads, never to meet again!
At that thought, Gu Qiu raised his eyes slightly, seeming to have made up his mind.
He scrolled, exited the official account, and reopened his chat window with Qin Zhiyi.
After taking a deep breath, he slowly typed:
『Ah Yi, I have a girlfriend now. I’m worried she’ll misunderstand, so let’s keep in touch less!』
But right after typing that sentence, Gu Qiu shook his head again.
Saying it like that, anyone who did not know better would think he was a scumbag!
Besides, he and Qin Zhiyi were simply incompatible; she had not committed any principle-level mistake. And the current Qin Zhiyi had not yet turned into a “cold workaholic,” so it would be better not to say anything too hurtful.
After thinking it over, Gu Qiu edited it again.
『Ah Yi, I want to focus on my career right now. I’ll probably be very busy from here on and won’t have much time to chat with you. You should make more friends in real life!』
He murmured it twice, confirmed there were no typos, and pressed send.
“With such an obvious farewell, she should be able to tell, right?”
Gu Qiu muttered inwardly.
Unexpectedly, the very next second, Qin Zhiyi’s reply popped up in the chat box.
『So when you said before that no matter what happened, you would never leave me, that was a lie?』
『Hmph, and I even specially prepared a surprise for you!』
『Just you wait!』
After reading Qin Zhiyi’s messages, Gu Qiu curled his lip.
This woman still had the nerve to bring up promises. In his previous life, who knew how many things she’d promised him but never actually followed through on.
She wanted him to wait? Fine, he’d wait!
It was not like she could follow the internet cable all the way here and beat him up, right?
Just then, the lunch break bell in the hallway rang.
“Ring ring ring!”
Gu Qiu had graduated from a fairly well-known university in the country, majoring in archaeology.
But because he’d dreamed of becoming a teacher since childhood, he obtained his teaching certificate early and last year joined this fairly good private middle school in Yuncheng.
He was currently a first-year high school history teacher, and the first class of the afternoon happened to be his!
Gu Qiu shook his head, temporarily setting the matter of feelings aside.
He drained the last bit of water in his cup, tidied up the textbooks on his desk, and was about to go teach class.
But just as he was about to stand, his eyes collided with a figure appearing outside the door, and his whole body jolted.
Qin Zhiyi!
She really came following the internet cable?
Gu Qiu rubbed his eyes and pinched his cheek.
Only after confirming he was not dreaming did he stare blankly at the young woman walking into the office.
On her somewhat cool oval face, her delicate features looked as if they had been carved. Most striking were her clear, stream-like eyes, and the tear mole hidden beneath the outer corner of her right eye was the perfect finishing touch, making her utterly enchanting.
She wore a pure white blouse, paired with a skirt of the same color, and carried a small shoulder bag.
Clean and dignified, she absolutely fit a boy’s fantasy of a “white moonlight.”
However, this differed somewhat from Gu Qiu’s impression of Qin Zhiyi.
In his previous life, whether because of her tall figure or her cool temperament, Qin Zhiyi’s clothes tended toward mature, steady dark colors. A soft, gentle white ensemble like today’s was almost nonexistent in his memory.
But he had to admit that after changing her style, this woman seemed even more beautiful.
Even though he had been extremely familiar with her in his previous life, seeing her again now still left him stunned!
Thinking about it again, no wonder he used to always brag about having married an unbelievably beautiful wife, treating it as a point of pride!
Suddenly, Gu Qiu realized his mind had been entirely focused on Qin Zhiyi’s beauty.
He hurriedly shook his head to clear it!
No, no!
What he should be caring about most right now was why Qin Zhiyi was here, wasn’t it?
The grade director who came in behind Qin Zhiyi quickly gave the answer.
Grade Director Cui Jianguo was over forty, with a Mediterranean haircut and not very tall. He spread his hand toward Qin Zhiyi and introduced her with a smile:
“This is Teacher Qin, whom the school has just specially hired. She’ll be temporarily responsible for teaching first-year biology.”
There were five teachers in the office, including Gu Qiu, and all of them showed surprise.
They all taught first year, and as early as last week they had heard that a new biology teacher would be added.
They had heard the other person came from a Double First-Class university, had won countless awards, and had published in journals. Everyone guessed she might be some retired professor coming here to coast into retirement, but they never expected the newcomer to be such a young beauty.
After a moment of stunned silence, the few of them became warm and friendly with Qin Zhiyi.
“Welcome, welcome!”
“Welcome, Teacher Qin!”
“Teacher Qin is really beautiful!”
“…”
By comparison, Gu Qiu seemed somewhat absent-minded.
Qin Zhiyi was two years older than him!
According to the trajectory of his previous life, she should currently be pursuing a master’s degree and simultaneously have been offered a high salary by a biopharmaceutical company in Hangcheng. How could she have come to the small county town of Yuncheng to be some kind of teacher?
Suddenly, he remembered the message he had just overlooked.
Could this be the surprise she was talking about?
At that thought, Gu Qiu could not help lifting his eyes to glance at Qin Zhiyi, only to find that she was still staring straight at him, her starry eyes hiding endless tenderness.
Gu Qiu nervously swallowed, and an inexplicable thought suddenly arose in his mind.
Had Qin Zhiyi also been Reincarnated?
This was technically their first meeting in this life, but her gaze did not seem like the way one should look at an online friend on first meeting. Instead, it was more like seeing an old acquaintance after a long separation!
But he quickly denied the idea.
After all, whether from personal experience or from novels and TV dramas, the conditions for Reincarnation usually required death.
How could Qin Zhiyi, perfectly fine, have lost her life?
At the same time, seeing that the teachers had used up every compliment they could think of while Qin Zhiyi still had no reaction, Cui Jianguo hurriedly reminded her.
“Ahem, Teacher Qin, would you like to say a few words?”
Only then did Qin Zhiyi withdraw her gaze, the corners of her lips lifting slightly as she bowed in thanks.
“Hello everyone, my name is Qin Zhiyi.”
“I’m new here, so please take good care of me, fellow teachers…”
After she finished speaking, Cui Jianguo looked around and found that there were two empty seats left.
One was across from Gu Qiu, but the desktop was piled with a lot of things, making it look somewhat messy.
The other was beside a young female teacher, with a clean, tidy desk, and a pot of succulents placed on the windowsill beside it.
The difference was obvious at a glance!
But before Cui Jianguo could make arrangements, Qin Zhiyi took the lead and walked to the desk across from Gu Qiu, casually asking:
“Is anyone sitting here?”
As she said this, her gaze once again fell on Gu Qiu.
Gu Qiu subconsciously shook his head.
Immediately, Qin Zhiyi smiled.
“Then I’ll sit here!”
Because of the angle, others may not have noticed that Qin Zhiyi had been looking at Gu Qiu the whole time, but Cui Jianguo was standing right between the two of them and naturally saw everything. Now that Qin Zhiyi had proactively suggested sitting opposite Gu Qiu, he asked curiously:
“Teacher Qin, A-Qiu, do you know each other?”
Gu Qiu jolted and blurted out:
“No, we don’t know each other!”