For a brief moment, Mu Wanqing simply stood before the mirror, staring at her younger self.
And by now she has accepted the fact that she had come back.
A smile slowly appeared on her lips.
But before that smile could fully bloom, she thought of something and the smile on Mu Wanqing’s face gradually disappeared.
Her eyes became dull for a moment, and despair slowly crept back into them.
She lowered her head.
Was all of that truly over or had she merely been given another chance to suffer through it?
Her fingers trembled slightly, “No…” She suddenly lifted her head.
The despair in her eyes slowly disappeared, replaced by a cold, unwavering determination, “I shouldn’t be thinking about those things.”
Her voice was quiet, but every word carried weight, “It is already in the past.” She stared at her reflection, “As for this life…” Her hand slowly curled into a fist, “This time, I will not let a single thing repeat itself.
I will never let those people trample me again.”
There would be no more blind obedience, no more swallowing humiliation and certainly, no more dying like a fool.
But before she could decide what to do next, there was something far more important she needed to know.
Exactly when had she been reborn?
She already knew she had returned to her high-school years.
But high school lasted three years.
If she wanted to change her fate, she needed to know precisely which year, and more importantly, which day, she had returned to.
Mu Wanqing quickly wiped the water from her face with her sleeve.
Her clothes were still damp from the earlier struggle, and strands of wet hair clung to her cheeks, but she did not care.
She pushed open the washroom door and stepped outside.
The familiar sight immediately appeared before her.
A vast school playground stretched beneath the afternoon sky, nearly the size of a football field.
Beyond the playground stood a six-story concrete building with rows of classroom windows.
The teaching block.
Mu Wanqing stopped for a moment.
Everything was exactly as she remembered.
Once she came out of her train of thoughts, she did not head toward her classroom.
Instead, she slowly walked toward the center of the playground.
At the heart of the school stood the familiar clock tower.
Unlike ordinary clocks, the large electronic display beneath it showed not just the time but date as well.
Mu Wanqing raised her head, “28 May, 20XX.”
She stared at the numbers for several seconds and silently counted backward and forward in her mind.
Then suddenly, her expression changed, “Wait…”Her breathing stopped for a moment.
Wasn’t this the year she was supposed to sit for the College Entrance Examination?
Her eyes widened, she immediately turned around abruptly, and ran toward the school entrance as though someone were chasing her.
Several junior students walking across the playground turned their heads in surprise.
“Isn’t that the senior everyone has been talking about on the school forum?”
“Yes.
That’s Mu Wanqing.
And look at her face, it’s simply divine looking.”
“Exactly, the photos on the forums did no justice to that exquisite face.”
“I’ve seen the posts too.
They say she hid her real appearance for three whole years until today, the last day of school.”
“But why would she do that?
Hiding such a face, if I were her, I would openly flaunt my looks to the entire world.”
“I heard she is poor, and lives in Hongkou district, those old districts aren’t very safe, so she may be hiding her face just to be safe.”
“Than why would she come all made up today?”
A girp nearby sneered, “isn’t it obvious?
She wanted to seduce the school heartthrob Si Yifan, didn’t you hear, she used to follow him like a dog and has been simping for his attention forever?
She might have thought, today was the last chance she could get to propose brother Yifan.”
“Exactly, i heard she even write love letters for brother Yifan and was later caught by homeroom teacher of senior year.”
“Not just one but a stack of it.”
The gossip followed her like the wind, but Mu Wanqing ignored every word.
A girl folded her arms and sneered, “Seriously?
Does she really think she can win over the school heartthrob?” There was an unmistakable trace of jealousy in her voice.
A boy beside her chuckled, “With that face?
Which normal man would reject her?”
The girl immediately glared at him.
The boy shrugged, “I’m only telling the truth.
If she looked like she did before, perhaps Si Yifan wouldn’t even spare her a second glance.
But now…” He laughed meaningfully, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some other thoughts.”
The students laughed among themselves.
Mu Wanqing heard them, but she couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Only one sentence had caught her attention.
Today is the last day of school.
Last day?
Her footsteps suddenly slowed.
She had almost reached the school entrance.
There, beside the main gate, stood the large bulletin board where important notices, examination information, school announcements, and student activities were posted.
Mu Wanqing rushed toward it.
Her gaze immediately fell upon the enormous handwritten countdown displayed across the board.
The characters were written in thick red ink.
COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION COUNTDOWN
10 DAYS TO GO
Mu Wanqing froze.
Only ten days?
Her lips parted slightly, “T…
This can’t be.” Her face slowly turned pale.
She stepped closer to the bulletin board as though getting nearer would somehow change what she was seeing.
But it did not.
She had not been reborn one year before the College Entrance Examination or six months before, not even one month before.
She had returned exactly ten days before the examination.
Mu Wanqing stood completely motionless.
Then she covered her face with both hands.
A strange, almost hysterical laugh escaped her lips, “Ha…” What kind of joke was this?
Was Heaven playing with her?
People said that when someone was reborn, it was because they had died carrying too many regrets.
Mu Wanqing’s greatest regret had been that she had never gotten the chance to take the College Entrance Examination.
On her privious life, just few days before the collage entrance exam her adoptive parents had tried to sell her off to some old man, for money, and in dispertion she ran away overnight.
From that day onward, the path of her life had been decided by others.
Later she wanted to appear for collage entrance examination, but her household registration booklet has been secretly hidden by the Shen family.
And she couldn’t even go to make a new one at public security bureau, because her leagal guardian was Mu Qinglan and she was only seventeen, and wouldn’t turn eighteen until few months.
And therefore she never entered university.
And never got to experience the world beyond Shanghai.
She had never even been given the chance to decide what kind of person she wanted to become.
That was the one regret she had carried all the way to her death.
And now although heaven had given her another chance, it has played the most crule scheme.Ten days to prepare for the collage entrance examination was nothing more than a ridiculous joke.
She was already an average student in the entire class in her privious life, and even if had got a chance to appear for collage entrance examination, she would have scorec enough for a second tier university.
But now…
In this life?
There was no way she could even get into some technical collage.
Afterall it’s been fifteen years, and she remember nothing.
For the first time since her rebirth, Mu Wanqing felt like crying, “What is the use of being reborn…” She muttered weakly, “If you were going to give me another life, why couldn’t you have sent me back a little earlier?”
She looked toward the six-story teaching building and her expression became complicated.
For several seconds, she seriously considered whether she should simply climb to the top of the building and jump.
At least then she could die a second time without having to face this absurd situation.