In his previous life, Xu Ge had indeed been surrounded by many women. They confessed passionately and pursued him enthusiastically, as if their entire hearts and attention belonged only to him.
But whenever Xu Ge looked at their faces, the only thing he could remember was the unpleasantness of their first meeting.
Karina had called him a beggar. What angered and aggrieved Xu Ge the most was that the clothes he wore that day had actually been his most comfortable everyday outfit.
Yu Tingmei had made things difficult for him everywhere. When others ran ten laps, she always found a reason to make him run twenty.
Would Xu Ge like women like them? He had been completely annoyed by those people.
Now that he had lived a second life, Xu Ge no longer cared about things that had not yet happened in this life. He only wanted to slack off and did not want to have any connection with them again.
Looking at Xu Ge’s dejected appearance, Mu Jing raised her hand and patted his shoulder.
“Alright, alright. Let’s not think about those things anymore. If we came to the water park, we should just enjoy ourselves.”
“Mm.”
Around two in the afternoon, the sky indeed became overcast. Moisture gathered in the air. From the very beginning, the midsummer rainstorm had never planned to make a quiet entrance.
Mu Jing rested her chin on her hand and looked at the torrential rain outside the glass window. After thinking for a moment, she raised her phone and took a photo, sending it to Mu Jianbai.
The original Mu Jing had a very good relationship with her father and often chatted with him. Mu Jing had continued that habit, frequently sending Mu Jianbai little updates about her life. His replies sometimes came quickly and sometimes slowly, but every time they ended up chatting for a long time.
Xu Ge sat across from her. When he saw this, he tilted his head slightly and hinted, “You’re taking pictures?”
“Yes. When you go out to play, you have to take a few photos as souvenirs. Otherwise, who would know you went out?”
“Mm. Last time… last time too.”
Mu Jing failed to understand his hint. She took a few selfies of herself and then snapped several photos of the food on the table.
Xu Ge tapped the table with the hand resting on it. Ever since he had been criticized during their mountain-climbing trip for his poor photography skills, he had quickly studied the basics of portrait photography.
It was not because of Mu Jing.
It was simply his competitive spirit.
Who was Xu Ge? In his previous life, he had been the embodiment of perfection. There had never been anything he could not do or was not good at.
Yet after being reborn, the Big Boss had actually been criticized to his face for having poor photography skills. That was absolutely intolerable.
He picked up a cup of water and took a sip while looking at the top of Mu Jing’s head as she lowered it to edit her photos.
Mu Jing never gave him the opportunity to prove himself.
Xu Ge watched her for a while before deciding to take out his own phone and secretly snap a few photos of her. After all, who didn’t have a smartphone capable of taking pictures?
He opened the camera, adjusted the parameters slightly, and adopted the same serious attitude he once used when facing business rivals. With a blank expression, he adjusted Mu Jing’s angle on the screen.
At that exact moment, however, the System volunteered to help Mu Jing edit her photos. Since she no longer needed to lower her head to edit them, Mu Jing raised her head—and locked eyes with Xu Ge, who was holding up his phone and secretly photographing her.
Mu Jing: ?
Xu Ge: …
“You’re… taking pictures of me?” Mu Jing widened her eyes. Even as she said it, she lacked confidence in her guess.
But when she saw Xu Ge lowering his phone and avoiding her gaze, she finally confirmed it.
Xu Ge had been secretly photographing her.
Why?
A man whose photography skills were so terrible had actually been secretly photographing her?
What had she done wrong to deserve this kind of suffering?
Xu Ge looked at the raging rain outside and felt that his mood was just as stormy.
After being stared at by Mu Jing’s shocked and aggrieved gaze for a while, Xu Ge clenched his fist and coughed lightly against his mouth.
“Ahem. I can explain. I just wanted to prove that my photography skills have improved. I studied it.”
Mu Jing stretched out her hand, her tone dangerous.
“Give me your phone. I want to see exactly what kind of monster you turned me into.”
“…‘Monster’ isn’t a good word. Don’t describe yourself like that.”
“Hurry up and give it to me!”
“…I didn’t say I wouldn’t.”
After taking the phone Xu Ge handed over, Mu Jing entered the password. Because Xu Ge had not exited the camera earlier, the interface was still on the camera page.
Mu Jing opened the photo album.
After seeing the first picture, she covered her forehead with her hand, feeling her head buzz.
What kind of thing was this?
The moment she had looked up, her face had turned into a blurry afterimage, like a female ghost appearing in a horror story.
“Look at this yourself. Does this look good?” Mu Jing returned the phone so he could witness his own photography skills.
Xu Ge glanced at it, turned the screen black, and stubbornly said despite lacking confidence, “It’s viewable. I know it’s you… and you know it too.”
“Then keep it carefully. Don’t delete it. Better yet, set it as your phone wallpaper and look at it every day.”
Mu Jing spoke angrily without thinking.
But after hearing her words, Xu Ge stared at her for a moment and then smiled faintly.
This woman clearly liked him. She even wanted to use her own photo as his wallpaper.
Xu Ge sighed. After operating his phone for a moment, he held it up for Mu Jing to see, speaking in a tone as if coaxing a child.
“There. Stop making trouble.”
Mu Jing: …
He had actually set that ugly photo as his wallpaper?
Wouldn’t he get scared every time he unlocked his phone?
Xu Ge must truly have damaged his brain because of rebirth. No matter how much the System tried to refute it, Mu Jing firmly believed her own conclusion.
After the rainstorm ended, the temperature dropped sharply. Outside, the air carried the damp, earthy smell of wet soil.
Mu Jing shrugged and moved closer to Xu Ge.
“I already called a taxi. Let’s go straight back to school.”
“Mm.” Xu Ge took off his sun-protection jacket and draped it over her, then raised the surrounding temperature slightly.
Mu Jing immediately felt comfortable. She could not help but praise the human air conditioner.
“It’s great having abilities. No need to buy an air conditioner—warm in winter and cool in summer.”
“No wonder the Young Lady didn’t want me. You’re rich. In the future you can buy an air conditioner and carry it around yourself.”
“…Can you stop being so petty? You’re someone who’s been reborn once. Isn’t there a saying that people who’ve died once become enlightened? Why are you still so petty?”
“I’m not enlightened enough?” Xu Ge snorted. “Everyone who offended me in my previous life—I didn’t kill a single one of them in this life. I’m already extremely kind and magnanimous.”
There was no point arguing with him, so Mu Jing snorted as well.
Just then the taxi she had called arrived, and the two of them sat in the back seat.
Each occupied a window on opposite sides, and the driver in the front mistook them for a couple having an argument.
The broad-minded and enthusiastic uncle warmly advised Xu Ge to be more accommodating to his girlfriend and said that women should be coaxed.
How much Xu Ge actually listened to was impossible to know.
The class they had skipped that day unfortunately took attendance.
Mu Jing had already gone through university once in her previous life, so she was very experienced. She simply went to the homeroom teacher afterward to submit a leave slip and later canceled the absence with the teacher during class.
Good luck and bad luck always came together.
Mu Jing had been happy and perfectly healthy that day, but when she woke up the next morning, she felt dizzy and weak, her body burning with fever.
She was the only one in the dormitory.
In her hazy state, she vaguely recalled someone calling her earlier. She must have replied with something, though she could not remember what it was. Her roommates were probably all attending class.