Chapter 1: The Meaning of Rebirth
2024, Chang'an City.
At the Jinhanting Clubhouse, with its resplendent decor, in the Wuzhuxuan private room.
Xue Rui lay on a soft foot bath sofa, his eyes filled with endless fatigue.
A rather attractive young woman was carefully scrubbing his size 44 feet, her slender fingers fair and soft.
“President Xue, is the water temperature suitable?”
“Mhm.” Xue Rui, smelling of alcohol, let out a long yawn, a few tears squeezing from the corners of his eyes.
He suppressed his drowsiness, casually pulled out over a dozen red bills from his bag, and placed them on the nearby table:
“Huihui, the New Year is approaching. This is New Year’s money for your son.”
“Thank you, President Xue! President Xue is so generous…” The woman repeatedly thanked him.
Xue Rui was a senior member of this clubhouse. Every time he came, he would ask for Wang Huihui, number 66; it had almost become a habit.
He and Wang Huihui were actually university classmates, but their social statuses now were worlds apart.
“President Xue, you’re almost thirty and still not married. Aren’t you lonely?”
As Wang Huihui spoke, she pressed his foot with a little more force.
“Married? How dare you, a divorced woman, say such a thing?” Xue Rui endured the pain in his sole, grimacing as he joked.
However, Xue Rui had to admit that Wang Huihui was right.
Out of 365 days a year, he spent almost half of them staying overnight in various clubhouse private rooms…
Because whenever he sat alone in his 350-square-meter large flat, an endless void and loneliness seemed to swallow him whole, suffocating him.
Anyway, Xue Rui was alone, and it didn't matter where he slept. The clubhouse offered food, showers, and girls who understood how to listen and reminisce about youthful days.
“Beep, beep, beep.” Xue Rui’s phone rang. He pinched his brow, his muscles instinctively forming a fake smile.
“Ah, President Wang, yes, yes, yes, I’m at Liangbaolou…”
The period before the New Year was busy, with many payments waiting to be settled, and one round of socializing after another left him exhausted.
Before Xue Rui finished his call, his other phone rang. He glanced sideways; it was his mother calling.
“President Wang, you absolutely must do me the honor. In short, we won’t go home until we’re drunk tomorrow night…”
Xue Rui said some pleasantries with a smile. After putting down his foldable phone, he picked up another iPhone.
After taking a deep breath, he tapped the answer button. As if anticipating the mood of the person on the other end, he deliberately held the phone a bit farther away.
As he expected, a roar came from the phone:
“Xue Rui! The New Year is in a few days, and you’re another year older! Have you found a partner? It’s always ‘next year, next year.’ I want to see if you’ll keep your word this year…”
It wasn't that Xue Rui didn't want to find someone; it was just that after he left school, he realized that the seed called love seemed to only take root and sprout in the soil of the campus. Planted outside, it would only grow coins smelling of rust.
“Xue Rui, are you listening?!”
Xue Rui was used to it. He lowered the phone volume and placed it on a nearby table, letting his mother on the other end vent her emotions.
Suddenly, Xue Rui felt a palpitation, his chest felt blocked, and he had difficulty breathing.
“Oh no!” Xue Rui had a bad feeling. He often scrolled through TikTok and knew this could be a precursor to sudden death.
“Quick! Call an ambulance.” Xue Rui’s chest heaved violently. He propped himself up and reached out, pushing his two phones forward.
Wang Huihui’s face changed drastically. She quickly reached out to grab the phones Xue Rui offered, but only heard two “plop” sounds;
Both expensive smartphones fell into the foot bath basin, and Xue Rui completely lost consciousness.
Xue Rui used his last shred of consciousness to dispose of the two phones.
He didn't know if he could be saved, but in any case—he wanted to leave a good name behind.
…
…
“Xue Rui! Wake up! The Class Teacher is here.”
Xue Rui’s head was shaken until he was dizzy. He struggled to lift his head, thinking he was most likely lying in a hospital bed now, and whoever this person next to him was, they were so rude. He definitely had to deduct their year-end bonus severely.
“Thump, thump, thump.” A rhythmic sound of high heels slowly approached.
Xue Rui subconsciously shielded his eyes from the light, allowing them to slowly adjust to the surroundings.
When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw his aunt, Xue Xiaying, looking down at him with a serious expression.
Xue Xiaying was wearing a crisp white shirt and had her hair neatly tied up, looking very capable. Her complexion was much better than when he had seen her last year.
“It’s the New Year, Auntie. Why are you in Chang'an too?”
“Speaking of which, you look so much younger after divorcing that scumbag. You look just like when you were my Class Teacher back then.” Xue Rui teased.
Xue Xiaying’s expression grew even colder. She pinched Xue Rui’s ear and said sarcastically:
“Students, look at the sleeping god in our class. I’ve only been in a meeting for ten minutes, and he’s already wandering through Chang'an City. Xue Rui, did you see Yang Guifei?”
“Hahahahaha…” A burst of boisterous laughter erupted around them.
Xue Rui was pulled up by Xue Xiaying. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked at his surroundings.
Around him were students all wearing identical white sports short-sleeved shirts, with “Hedong City Second Senior High School” written on their backs.
He glanced at the table: a thick stack of new books, not even written on, with a pink-covered “Physics Elective 3-1” on top.
Xue Rui realized he seemed to have returned to his high school days. This was probably late August 2012, the first day of the second year of high school after the division into arts and science classes.
The surrounding students watched Xue Rui, laughing heartily. Some even couldn’t help but bang on their desks, the classroom was chaotic.
Xue Xiaying leaned close to Xue Rui’s ear and said coldly, “Didn’t I tell you not to call me Auntie at school? You must address me by my title.”
He knew Xue Xiaying’s fiery temper when she was young. There was no time for Xue Rui to think, he subconsciously shouted, “Class Teacher, I was wrong!”
His high school Class Teacher was his aunt, and he had also chosen the science stream under his aunt’s “earnest persuasion,” and “coincidentally” ended up in Xue Xiaying’s class.
“Everyone, quiet down. Let’s move past this little interlude.” Xue Xiaying swept her sharp gaze across the classroom, and everyone instantly quieted down.
This was the unique aura of a Class Teacher; just a look, a gesture, could create an irresistible pressure on students.
“Xue Rui, come up and introduce yourself.” Xue Xiaying slowly walked to the podium.
“Me?” Xue Rui pointed at himself in disbelief. He looked at his deskmate, Qiu Mengze, with an inquiring gaze.
To be honest, after more than ten years, Xue Rui had no impression of these classmates in front of him; he could barely name a few;
However, he still remembered Qiu Mengze, his childhood best friend with whom he had played since they were small, setting off firecrackers in toilets, skipping class to go online, fishing for shrimp…
Qiu Mengze looked straight at the blackboard, his lips not moving at all, as if he had learned some clumsy ventriloquism, emitting a tiny, hoarse sound from his throat: “Everyone is introducing themselves, it’s your turn.”
“Do I still need to introduce myself?” Xue Rui said with a big laugh.
Although he didn't remember these classmates, with his “notoriety” from high school, there shouldn't be many in the whole school who didn't know him.
“Stop talking nonsense, come up!” Xue Xiaying commanded in an unrefusable tone.
Xue Rui hadn't fully accepted reality yet. He slowly shuffled from the back row to the podium, and with the side of a piece of chalk, he grandly wrote the two large characters “Xue Rui” on the blackboard.
Xue Rui wrote his name very large; only two characters, but they consumed two whole pieces of chalk and occupied one-third of the blackboard’s area.
Below the stage, some female students watched in astonishment, while some male students nodded in admiration;
The calmest expression belonged to Qiu Mengze. He knew Xue Rui too well; this was just Xue Rui’s style of doing things.
“My name is Xue Rui. Is there anyone who doesn’t know me? We can have a good chat and get to know each other better.”
Xue Rui clapped the chalk dust from his hands and said with a grin.
“You’re making a fool of yourself, go stand by the back door of the classroom!” Xue Xiaying couldn’t help but kick Xue Rui, sending him off the podium.
“Next.”
“Hello everyone, my name is Li Lingling, I was in Class 6 in the first year of high school.”
“My name is…”
Actually, most of these students knew each other in the first year of high school. After the division into subjects in the second year, the classes were reshuffled again.
Xue Xiaying had this self-introduction session to speed up the integration of the class.
Xue Rui stood at the very back of the classroom, leaning against the wall, constantly pondering what was happening and why he had returned to his high school days.
A slender figure passed in his peripheral vision. Xue Rui found this person very strange, wearing a long-sleeved school uniform in 36-degree weather.
“My name is Lin Ruoxi.” Lin Ruoxi’s voice was very soft, making many students lean in to listen.
“What? I’m in the second row and I can’t hear her.” A girl mumbled.
“Lin Ruoxi.” Lin Ruoxi’s voice trembled slightly, but was noticeably louder.
“What? Can’t hear you!” A male student jeered.
Xue Rui heard the name and suddenly looked up. Standing on the podium was a tall, thin girl.
It was a hot summer day, yet she wore an oversized autumn school uniform that was ill-fitting, as if it could hold two of her. Her beautiful hair was like black silk, long, smooth, and lustrous;
However, she kept her head down, her bangs completely covering her eyes, and the strands of hair on both sides hung low, making it impossible to see her face clearly.
Xue Rui stared intently at Lin Ruoxi on the podium, his heart uncontrollably quickening.
“Perhaps, this is the meaning of my rebirth at this time.”