Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Having lived this life once before, I was no longer that pitifully naive high school student I had been back then.

I scrolled through our chat history.

My expression grew colder and colder.

Ever since she had dropped out in eleventh grade, she had often sent me pictures of the glamorous nightlife outside school.

Then she would act cute and say: “Yuanyuan, I really don’t get what’s so great about studying. Don’t you find it boring? Why don’t you climb over the wall tonight and come out? Let’s go to a bar. I’ll show you the world.”

And my reply had been: “Yaoyao, it’s not safe for a girl like you out there alone. While your student status is still being kept, hurry back and repeat the year! Otherwise, what are we going to do when we’re adults?”

“Cheng Yuan, I’m just not good at studying! Do you have to show off in front of me?”

Her words had gone too far, and after that, I hadn’t wanted to reply. At the time, I really had been angry.

But soon enough, she came looking for me again, sneaking into school to bring me flowers.

“My sweet Yuanyuan, don’t be mad, okay? You know me. That’s just how I am. I don’t know how to beat around the bush. I just want you to be as happy as I am. I feel bad seeing you so tired every day, that’s all.”

“Shuyao, everything is tiring. I just don’t want the future to be so exhausting.”

“Forget it! I’m not talking to you anymore, bookworm.”

Did Song Shuyao really feel bad for me?

If she felt bad for me, would she have picked a fight with me during the placement exam and made me sneak out of school to celebrate her birthday?

If she felt bad for me, would she have claimed she was helping me so Lu Jingnian wouldn’t blame me, then gone to him and embellished that tiny bit of affection I had once felt back in tenth grade?

As I thought about this, I looked at the anxious messages she had sent in the chat box. My face was cold as I typed back: “Yaoyao, why do you need to borrow so much money? What illness is it?”

Just like in my previous life, she flew into a rage from embarrassment, messages popping up one after another in a frenzy:

“What do you mean? Cheng Yuan, if you don’t want to lend it to me, just say so, okay?

“You look down on me, don’t you?

“You’re worried I won’t pay you back, right?”

Looking at those messages, I only found them bitterly ironic. I was about to type out my refusal when a better idea suddenly came to me.

My dear friend, dying was such an easy thing.

Living was where the fun began.

“Yaoyao, I don’t have that much money, but I can pool some together with my roommates. Why don’t you come to my classroom this afternoon? I’ll give it to you then.”

“Yuanyuan, I knew you were the best. See you this afternoon.”

During the afternoon break, Song Shuyao arrived outside my classroom right on time.

The next class was taught by our Chinese teacher, Qin Yu.

Her maternal grandfather was an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, so Qin Yu knew some basic pulse reading and diagnosis. Whenever a student was feeling unwell, she was usually the one who noticed in time and sent them to get medical help.

I deliberately borrowed money in class and made a huge fuss about Song Shuyao being sick.

In my previous life, she had repeatedly warned me not to tell anyone. She said she didn’t want people talking about her.

This time, borrowing money was harder, and she had even forgotten to tell me that.

But even if she had, I would not have listened.

“Yuanyuan, did you get enough money?” she asked anxiously, grabbing my hand.

I was just about to speak.

Teacher Qin Yu suddenly appeared and grabbed Song Shuyao’s arm. “Song Shuyao, why are you borrowing money? And you look so…”

Before she could finish speaking, her face turned ghastly.

“Song Shuyao, come to my office.”

With just that one sentence, Song Shuyao’s expression changed drastically. She shook off Qin Yu’s hand at once. “I’m not a student here anymore. What right do you have to control me?”

“If you’re not a student here, then why are you still coming here? Call your parents over. I need to speak with them about your student status too.”

“You crazy old hag, are you done yet? You think you can call whoever you want? What, just because you’ve got a big face?”

Song Shuyao didn’t even take the money. She shoved Teacher Qin Yu aside and ran off.