Gu Chenshi stood silently before the trash can.
He had been reborn, reborn at the most humiliating and desperate moment of his past life.
He suddenly let out a self-mocking laugh and reached out to retrieve the garbage on top.
It was a pink scarf. At one end of the scarf, a cute cartoon character was knitted, and beside the pattern, there was a small character “Ran.”
It was no secret that he liked Lin Ranran.
He wasn’t the only one who liked her—many boys did.
Lin Ranran was the goddess in the hearts of many boys—beautiful, gentle, elegant, and poised.
Although she could be a bit proud and willful at times, who could blame her? She was Lin Ranran, Gu Chenshi’s princess, and a princess should be haughty and proud!
Even if her unintentional words or actions made Gu Chenshi uncomfortable, keeping him awake all night, the moment he saw her smiling face again, he would forget everything.
Every beautiful moment he imagined had her in it. He couldn’t imagine how he could go on without her in the future.
He remembered one day when she received an expensive gift from a boy and complained unhappily, “I hate boys like this the most. Do they think the more expensive the gift, the more it can move someone’s heart?
How tacky!
That trick only works on gold diggers, and I’m not a gold digger.
Me? I still like boys who put in effort. Only sincerity is the most precious thing in the world.”
Gu Chenshi was deeply moved at the time, relieved that he hadn’t liked the wrong person.
Later, Lin Ranran’s birthday was approaching.
Gu Chenshi racked his brains over what gift to give her.
Lin Ranran’s birthday fell in the season of heavy snowfall.
Gu Chenshi decided to give her a scarf he knitted himself.
Although almost no boys would knit things, wouldn’t that make his sincerity stand out even more?
For the over-a-meter-long scarf, Gu Chenshi clumsily held knitting needles, following tutorial videos, and spent an entire month knitting it!
When he joyfully gave the scarf to Lin Ranran and eagerly told her he had prepared it himself, he thought she would be deeply touched.
However, Lin Ranran glanced at it, her face expressionless, and only uttered a perfunctory “thank you.”
In the end, it seemed he had only moved himself.
Perhaps she just didn’t show her emotions easily.
But when she received gifts from others, she would always smile sweetly and say, “Thank you, I love it!”
Gu Chenshi felt disheartened but still blamed himself for not doing well enough. Maybe Lin Ranran didn’t like scarves, or perhaps she didn’t like the cartoon pattern on it. He should have found out her preferences beforehand and planned accordingly.
Yet, in his past life, he had forgotten at that time—the cartoon pattern was Lin Ranran’s favorite anime character!
After they left the hotel, Lin Ranran said she was thirsty. Without hesitation, Gu Chenshi immediately ran to a nearby milk tea shop to buy her favorite flavor. But when he hurried back with the milk tea, what did he see?
He saw Lin Ranran casually tossing something into the trash can, carelessly and without a hint of attachment.
What was thrown away was a pink scarf.
The scarf he had secretly knitted for a month in his room, pouring all his love for her into it, afraid his parents would laugh at him!
What she threw away wasn’t just a scarf—it was Gu Chenshi’s sincere, passionate heart for her!
In his previous life, amidst shock and grief, Gu Chenshi had retrieved the scarf he had personally knitted from the trash bin and questioned her about why she had thrown it away.
At that time, he had desperately hoped to see a trace of guilt on Lin Ranran’s face, to hear her take back the scarf and explain, “Oops, sorry, I made a mistake.”
But there was none.
After a flicker of panic flashed in Lin Ranran’s eyes, she masked her embarrassment with annoyance: “I don’t like it. Even if I took it home, it would just gather dust in a corner. Besides, I have too many things and couldn’t carry it all, so I threw it away. Is there a problem?”
Righteous and unapologetic, without a hint of remorse.
Gu Chenshi was utterly disappointed.
Oh, so that’s how it was.
Sorry, the mistake was his.
He shouldn’t have been so presumptuous, mistakenly treating his own sincerity as something precious, pouring it into a cheap and laughable scarf in an attempt to win her over.
She wasn’t wrong. Things you don’t like should be thrown away. Otherwise, why take them home? To annoy yourself?
After hearing her response, Gu Chenshi was deeply devastated.
At the time, there were about a dozen classmates present, watching him with either sympathy or schadenfreude.
Gu Chenshi’s cheeks burned as if he had been slapped hard across the face.
In that moment, his dignity was tossed to the ground and trampled upon by Lin Ranran’s careless words.
He was mortified, wishing he could dig a hole and bury himself right then and there.
Distraught, he walked home and, failing to dodge in time, was struck by a speeding private car, breaking both his legs.
Though his life was saved, he was left permanently disabled.
Paralyzed in bed, consumed by endless hatred, regret, and despair for the future, he passed away a year later, depressed and broken.
Gu Chenshi never dreamed that he would one day be reborn and return to this day.
Seeing the discarded scarf in the trash bin again, he no longer felt the anger he once had.
Because it wasn’t worth it!
For a girl who never cared about you, who wouldn’t even give you the most basic respect, and who ultimately ruined your life—she truly didn’t deserve it!
Calmly, Gu Chenshi took a tissue and wiped the filth off the pink scarf, folded it neatly, tucked it into his backpack, inserted a straw into his drink, and slowly walked toward the group chatting and laughing by the roadside not far away.
Hearing the noise, Lin Ranran turned around.
It must be said, she was truly beautiful.
As stunning as the most popular celebrity.
With delicate features, flowing long hair, and a perfectly proportioned figure, she would look good even in a burlap sack.
Perhaps she was perfect in every way, except for the fact that she had no place for Gu Chenshi in her heart.
But liking or not liking someone is her freedom, isn’t it?
Yet all Gu Chenshi wanted was respect—isn’t that the most basic courtesy between people?
After all, while he liked her, he had never pestered her like other boys, and she had never said she disliked him!
If she had just once said, “Gu Chenshi, stop hovering around me. I really dislike you,”
Gu Chenshi would have wisely kept his distance, abandoning any dreams of winning her over.
Lin Ranran, since you don’t like me, why did you let me think I had a chance?
A year later, seeing her breathtaking beauty again, Gu Chenshi felt nothing in his heart.
Lin Ranran, in this second life, I will live for myself, and you are merely a passerby about to be erased from my world.
Lin Ranran tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear while naturally chatting and laughing with others, then casually extended her hand toward Gu Chenshi.
She wanted the milk tea in Gu Chenshi’s hand.
In the past, when Gu Chenshi bought milk tea for her, he would insert the straw before handing it to her, carefully passing it over.
He wanted to do everything he could for her.
Yet, without realizing it, he had turned himself into a pathetic figure, completely unaware.
Having lived a second life, he would no longer foolishly hold a scarf and confront Lin Ranran.
Some answers only needed to be heard once; he didn’t want to humiliate himself again.
In this life, he would live for himself and for those who truly loved him.
Gu Chenshi put the straw in his mouth and took a sip. Hmm, it was so sweet and cloying.
Seeing that Gu Chenshi didn’t hand her the milk tea as usual but instead drank it himself, Lin Ranran was stunned.
This had never happened before…