“Ding-dong-ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-ding-dong-dong.”
A sharp alarm rang out. Frowning in annoyance, Zhao Che reached out, pressed the button to turn off the alarm, and rubbed his eyes, his mind still groggy. He looked around his surroundings in a daze—the No. 2 High School uniform draped over the back of the chair, the group photo hanging on the wall, and the desk piled high with textbooks and anime figures…
His vision gradually grew clearer, and as it did, an expression of sheer disbelief washed over his face.
Isn’t this my old bedroom in Fengjing Garden?!
He bolted up instantly. Without even bothering to put on shoes, he ran barefoot into the bathroom and stared at the youthful face in the mirror for a long time. A distinct air of innocence radiated from his reflection. He couldn’t help but gasp, “Holy shit!”
I… I’ve been reborn!
Even after realizing the truth, Zhao Che still found it hard to digest. Thinking it might be a dream, he gave his thigh a hard pinch, wincing in pain as the sharp sting shot through him.
It really isn’t a dream?!
Zhao Che racked his brain, trying to recall his final memories. He remembered taking the brunt of the impact, holding Gu Yu tightly in his arms to protect him.
Well, barring any miracles, he was almost certainly dead in that timeline.
Could God have pitied him for dying so young and given him a second chance at life?
Zhao Che turned on the tap, splashed water over his face haphazardly, and checked the time on his phone—Monday, May 20, 2019.
2019… The year 2019…
If he remembered correctly, he should be seventeen years old right now, in the second semester of his sophomore year in high school.
Doesn’t that mean I have to go to school?!
Without time to think any further, Zhao Che threw on his school uniform and rushed out. According to Gu Yu’s routine, right now he would definitely be…
Sure enough, Gu Yu was already sitting at the dining table, halfway through a sandwich with a half-empty glass of milk in front of him—exactly as Zhao Che remembered.
“Morning, Gu Yu,” Zhao Che greeted him in the lighthearted tone of his teenage self.
If he used his CEO tone from six years in the future, wouldn’t he be taken for a lunatic?
Wang Xue walked out carrying a pitcher of juice. Seeing the two sitting opposite each other without saying a word, she asked with a smile, “Why so serious during breakfast? Did you two have a fight?”
Both of them shook their heads in denial at the same time.
“Glad to hear that. Ah Che, make sure you yield to Ah Yu a bit more, okay?”
Zhao Che stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and mumbled with puffed cheeks, “Don’t worry, Mom. When have I ever picked on him?”
He was someone Zhao Che had cherished and protected since childhood; how could he ever bear to pick on him? Besides, having inexplicably returned to his high school days, looking at the seventeen-year-old version of Gu Yu in front of him made his heart melt.
“Good to hear. Hurry up and get off to school.” Wang Xue stuffed two bottles of juice into their backpacks and nudged them out the door.
Walking along the cobblestone path of Fengjing Garden, Zhao Che kicked a pebble on the ground, trying to start a conversation. “Gu Yu, isn’t the sun especially round today?”
“…”
“Gu Yu, isn’t it super windy today?”
“…”
“Gu Yu, don’t I look exceptionally handsome today?”
Seeing that Gu Yu was ignoring him, Zhao Che leaned in closer, studying his face inch by inch. “Student Gu Yu, why aren’t you talking to me?”
Unable to stand it any longer, Gu Yu stopped in his tracks and uttered every word distinctly, “Shut. Up.”
Zhao Che didn’t mind at all. Delighted to be back in his wonderful high school life, he lazily whistled a tune.
It wasn’t until they got on the bus that Zhao Che noticed Gu Yu’s pale complexion and suddenly remembered that Gu Yu suffered from motion sickness.
Zhao Che used to get motion sick when he was little, too, so Wang Xue always kept peppermint candies on hand for him, though he eventually outgrew it as he got older. Later, when he noticed Gu Yu also got motion sick, he gave him one of Wang Xue’s peppermint candies, and to his surprise, it worked remarkably well.
Ever since then, he always kept a box in his pocket.
At the thought of this, Zhao Che quickly reached into his uniform pocket and indeed pulled out a container of grape-flavored mints. “Here.”
Gu Yu froze for a moment, but he didn’t refuse. He popped two oval-shaped mints into his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly as he swallowed. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. A compliment saying I’m handsome will settle the score.”
“Get lost.”
Zhao Che didn’t talk back; he just secretly curled his lips into a smile, thinking that Gu Yu was still as easily flustered as ever.
After an unknown amount of time, an automated female voice chimed, “Arriving at Experimental No. 2 High School—”
The two walked shoulder to shoulder toward the school gates, only to see two duty teachers catching tardy students.
Zhao Che pulled out his phone to check the time, his peach blossom eyes widening in shock. “Holy shit! We’re dead—we’re ten minutes late!”
On his very first day of rebirth, he managed to make Gu Yu late!
Gu Yu furrowed his brows. “Yeah. At this hour, the flag-raising ceremony should have just started.”
Hearing “flag-raising ceremony,” Zhao Che suddenly remembered the brutal punishment for being late at No. 2 High back in his past life. Normally, being late just meant writing a 1,000-word self-criticism essay. But on Mondays, if you were late, you had to wait until the flag-raising ceremony ended and stand on the podium for a public “execution.”
Feeling a bit awkward, he said, “What do we do? It’s Monday today. If we get caught, we might have to make a ‘speech’ on stage.”
Gu Yu raised his chin toward the side. “Climb over.”
Looking in the direction Gu Yu pointed, a few students wearing designer logo t-shirts were covertly gathered under a section of the fence, and someone had already climbed over to the other side.
“Guess that’s our only option.”
Standing beneath the fence, Zhao Che rolled up his uniform sleeves to his elbows. “I’ll go first!”
With that, he leaped onto the fence, agile and light on his feet, landing steadily on the concrete ground on the other side within seconds.
“Throw your backpack over,” Zhao Che called out to Gu Yu, opening his arms. “Don’t be scared, I’ll catch you.”
“Catch me?” Gu Yu rolled his eyes at him, tossed his backpack over, and grabbed the iron bars, preparing to push himself up. Suddenly, a sharp shout boomed from behind him: “What do you think you’re doing?! What are you doing?!”
The group that had already climbed over saw it was a duty teacher and tried to bolt, but the teacher held up his phone and shouted, “Run, go ahead and run! I’ve taken photos of all of you! Before the first period is over, you’ll all be standing outside my office!”
As if that wasn’t enough, the duty teacher added, “Plus a 5,000-word self-criticism essay!”
Those words instantly froze the group in their tracks, even though they had already sprinted over ten meters away. Hanging their heads, they trotted back from around the corner.
The duty teacher marched over aggressively. Spotting the sparse, pitiful few strands of hair on top of the teacher’s head, Zhao Che thought to himself: Isn’t this the sophomore year head, Mediterranean? Oh, wait, no, Li Zhonghai.
“You little brats, pulling these tricks every single day!” Li Zhonghai glared at the crowd. “Put your uniforms on and follow me to the podium! And you…”
Li Zhonghai’s gaze landed on Zhao Che, who was holding two backpacks and neatly dressed in his uniform. He said in disbelief, “Zhao Che?!” Then he turned to Gu Yu, who was outside the fence and also wearing the No. 2 High uniform, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor. “Gu Yu?!”
“What are you two doing here?!” Li Zhonghai was clearly furious.
Zhao Che scratched his head and said, “Hello, Director Li. We arrived late this morning.”
“Even if you’re late, you can’t climb over the fence!” Li Zhonghai raised his voice. “This is a serious violation of school rules! Don’t think you’re an exception just because you have good grades! Follow me to the podium to confess your mistakes!”
“No problem, Director Li,” Zhao Che agreed, then turned his gaze toward Gu Yu outside the fence. “Can we let Gu Yu in first?”
“Hmm—” Director Li was about to nag some more when he saw Gu Yu reaching out to grab the iron bars. He panicked instantly. “Wait, you… what are you doing? I’m looking for the key to the side gate! Are you trying to climb over too?!”
He hurriedly found the key labeled “Side Gate” from a keyring, unlocked the door, and let Gu Yu in.
“Thank you, Director Li,” Gu Yu said politely.
“Save your thanks for later,” Director Li snapped, glaring at him. “The flag-raising ceremony is almost over anyway. Follow me.”
Walking at the back of this line of “tardy offenders,” Zhao Che slowed his pace and leaned closer to Gu Yu, whispering, “Hey, jokes aside, the hairstyle on that guy in front of us is actually pretty cool.”
Hearing this, Gu Yu raised his eyes to look ahead, paused, and asked emotionlessly, “Do you want one too?”
“I do!”
“Then stand under a tree next time it rains.”
“Huh?”
Before Zhao Che could figure out what he meant, Director Li’s voice boomed from the front: “What are you whispering about back there? Your hair looks like it was struck by lightning! Get it cut tomorrow!”
The student protested indignantly, “Sir, this is a foil perm!”
Zhao Che: “…”
Now he understood. Even though Gu Yu was poking fun at him in a roundabout way, Zhao Che couldn’t bring himself to be angry at all. Instead, he felt like laughing.
When the flag-raising ceremony ended, Director Li announced, “All of you, get up here and line up!”
The group leisurely took their spots, and the crowd below instantly erupted into a commotion.
Fills of doubt echoed across the field, the clearest of which was: “Did they make a mistake? Why are those two top students in that line?”
Director Li picked up the microphone and cleared his throat. The noisy playground instantly quieted down. He switched into “Tang Seng 2.0 Mode”—one second he was bragging about the highlight moments of Experimental No. 2 High, and the next he was launching into a long-winded speech about the importance of the flag-raising ceremony.
Just as everyone was growing bored out of their minds, he suddenly landed a soul-crushing blow on the unlucky latecomers standing behind him: “Now, it’s time for our wall-climbing experts to share their thoughts!”
The few students in front were repeat offenders, well-versed in giving insincere apologies without even needing a script. They fluently listed their mistakes, expressed agreement with Director Li’s discipline, and promised to reform themselves in the future. After a round of this, their speeches sounded identical.
Next up was Zhao Che.
“Respected leaders, teachers, and fellow students, I am Zhao Che from Class 2-1. I deeply reflect on my wrong behavior of being late and climbing the fence this morning…” Zhao Che’s voice echoed across the playground through the microphone. Once he finished the usual self-criticism, he suddenly looked up at the crowd below, his tone becoming noticeably more serious. “Apart from that, I also want to share a small thought regarding the school rules. Making tardy students perform public self-criticisms on the podium every Monday is unreasonable… I hope the school can consider a more humane approach. In the future, I will strictly follow discipline and accept everyone’s supervision.”
The repeat offenders who had finished their speeches cast admiring glances at him, as if saying, Not bad, bro, you’ve got guts.
The more Director Li listened, the more off it sounded. But before he could interrupt, he heard Gu Yu speak up: “I am Gu Yu from Class 2-1. Being late today was indeed wrong on my part, but I did not climb the wall. I will strictly abide by the school rules in the future. Additionally, I believe Student Zhao Che is right, and I hope the school administration will reflect on this.”
As soon as he finished, an uproar broke out among the students below.
Director Li’s face completely fell. Was this a self-criticism? They were clearly using this opportunity to incite dissatisfaction! He turned to them and roared, “You’ve completely lost your minds! Both of you, get down here right now!”
At that moment, Zhao Che glanced down at the crowd and, as expected, spotted his homeroom teacher, Old Chen, standing next to Class 1’s line. He was glaring at Zhao Che and Gu Yu with a ash-gray face.
That glare alone looked sharp enough to tear the two of them into pieces.
Zhao Che quickly retracted his gaze and followed Director Li to the office.
“You two really have some nerve! Openly defying the school!” Director Li was just about to give them a severe lecture when the warning bell rang, immediately extinguishing half his anger. “I have a class this morning… You two write a 3,000-word self-criticism each, leave it on my desk when you’re done, and get the hell back to class.”
Zhao Che let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t mind writing a few thousand words, as long as they didn’t have to listen to his “lecture.” In his past life, because of a top-school-heartthrob contest on the campus wall, Director Li had kept them in the office lecturing them for two full hours!
Holding his textbooks, Director Li opened the door to leave, then turned back to glare at them. “If you dare write any nonsense again, just you wait!”
The door slammed shut with a BANG.
Only Zhao Che and Gu Yu were left in the office, holding pens and writing their self-criticisms.
After a while, a wave of regret washed over Zhao Che. He poked the person beside him with his pen and said glumly, “Gu Yu, it’s my fault we were late today. I woke up too late.”