Volume 1 Rebirth - The Eve of High School Chapter 3 Warmth Like Water

  Walking on the asphalt road in the campus, looking at the willow leaves fluttering in the wind, my mood also inexplicably became lighter. The confusion that had just returned from rebirth gradually disappeared, and Aizi Qing's mouth slowly curved upwards. Ah, who says youth is gone forever?

  Isn't this youth coming back? 16 years old, what a beautiful age, must grasp it well, this tender era... 1997!

  Bai Hao returned from outside the school and thought of pushing Ai Zi Qing, but ended up making her lose her footing and fall into the water, which made him regret it endlessly.

  How is that silly girl doing?

  Although he was thinking about it in his heart, he didn't go see her.

  Because I didn't dare and also because I couldn't. Not daring to look at her was due to fear of being condemned by my conscience, unable to confirm is because of that beautiful girl named Xu Qian.

  Yes, she is beautiful, thinking of this, Bai Hao also smiled.

  But in the next second, his smile froze at the corner of his mouth, because he saw Ai Zi Qing, saw her lips curled up in a beautiful smile, and her unique temperament, that kind of eyes and smile that didn't belong to anyone, yet everything was under control, was so beautiful, confident!

  It's not just him, everyone who has been by Zi Qing's side has been infected with her quiet and distant temperament, extremely mature, yet seemingly transcending time and space.

  The two passed each other by, Ai Zi Qing didn't notice Bai Hao, but Bai Hao turned his head back, "Zi Qing?"

  Hearing someone call her, Zi Qing subconsciously raised an eyebrow and turned around, "Hmm?"

  Bai Hao had never seen her so confident and calm, slightly dazed. Ai Zi Qing looked carefully and was stunned. This familiar yet strange face, 14 years ago, how many times did he dream of her at midnight with tears streaming down his face, heartache making it hard to breathe? He held another girl's hand, giving the tenderness that once belonged to her to... Xǔ Qiān?

  Thinking of this, Ai Zi Qing didn't show it on her face, she smiled slightly and raised her voice a little, "Huh?"

  Bai Hao then realized his mistake, feeling a bit embarrassed, and smiled gently as usual, "Are you okay now? I really didn't mean to do that at the time. You know, you were emotional back then, and I accidentally pushed you away. Sorry about that. Are you okay now?"

  Ai Zi Qing thought back to that time, and indeed she had lost control a bit, but all she did was try to hold his hand with tears in her eyes. He looked up and saw Xu Qian walking over, so he pushed her away and walked towards Xu Qian. Hmph, had she already become that detestable? Men really only ask about new loves and ignore old loves' tears.

  So Aizi Qing just smiled indifferently, "It's okay, if nothing's wrong, I'm going home to sleep." After finishing speaking, she didn't even give a facial expression, turned around with one hand in her pocket and the other lightly waving goodbye behind him, truly living up to that phrase, waving her sleeve but not bringing away a wisp of cloud.

  With a wave of her hand, Ai Zi Qing felt a bit regretful. This gesture of waving goodbye with a pocketed hand should be more handsome when done by a man. Wasn't it a bit weird for a pure and innocent girl from the 90s to do this? Hmm, pure and innocent, at least that's how Ai Zi Qing positioned herself.

  Bai Hao was stunned, this carefree and unpretentious person is Ai Zi Qing? How does it seem like not the Ai Zi Qing he knew? In short, some things seemed to have been lost, far away from himself... very far.

  Back home, Ai Zi Qing felt warmth. Working in Shanghai all year round, she could only return once a year. This small house of over 40 square meters was filled with all the memories of her childhood, warm like water.

  Open the door to my own room, a simple single bed, a desk with a small table lamp on it, I remember that was an eye-protecting lamp bought by my father when I was in elementary school. On the desk, there is also a notebook, star-shaped paper, I remember that in those years, little girls all liked to fold some paper stars, and on the desk, there is already a jar, Ziying hopes to save 999 of them to give to Bai Hao, celebrating their love, haha, now it looks a bit ridiculous.

  "Really doesn't care, maybe it's a bit of wounded self-esteem." Ai Zi Qing said with a self-deprecating smile.

  The small room was filled with warmth, Ai Zi Qing walked over and sat down at the desk, taking out one textbook after another. Although she had attended university and studied advanced mathematics, who could guarantee that all the questions on the middle school entrance exam would be okay? After all, it had been more than a decade since then, especially the parts that required memorization, which were quite unfamiliar now. She had no choice but to review again, do some mock test papers given by the teacher, and get a feel for it.

  Before they knew it, it was past 5 o'clock and their parents started coming home from work one after another. Ai Guohua and Jiang Qin couldn't help but feel relieved seeing their daughter studying hard. Jiang Qin quickly went to cook dinner in secret, preparing to comfort her daughter properly. Ai Guohua also nodded repeatedly, softly praising his daughter for being sensible and starting to study as soon as she got home.

  When the aroma of food wafted up to her nose, Aizi Qing finally came back to herself, realizing that it was time to eat. Her parents had already finished work and were now younger by over a decade. As she pushed open the door, her eyes reddened slightly as she softly called out "Dad, Mom!"

  "What's wrong with this kid? What injustice has he suffered, tell Mom!" The old mom is still so protective. Remembering the college entrance exam scores came out last time, even No. 2 Middle School had to pay tuition fees, parents were worried sick and borrowed money everywhere. This time it won't happen! Zi Qing secretly made up her mind.

  "Dad said in a soft voice, 'Zi Qing, don't cry. If there's something on your mind, tell Dad and I'll take care of it.' Actually, Zi Qing's father was quite a strict parent, but he loved his daughter dearly, just like her mother, and couldn't bear to see her suffer the slightest injustice."

  Looking at the young father, with a national character face, tall and handsome, the young mother, beautiful and gentle, Ai Zi Qing rarely acted like a child, "Nothing, Zi Qing will definitely take a good high school exam, and then reward Zi Qing, okay?"

  "Hey! What's mom still hesitating about? Speak up, what reward does this kid want!" Jiang Qin rolled her eyes and said.

  "Hmm... I'll just buy some clothes myself, they don't quite fit and it's time for a change." Aizi Qing's words came from the heart, this was also her first major worry after rebirth.

  "Hmm, it's all because Mom and Dad are too busy, no time to take you shopping for clothes. It's been a long time since Ziqing bought new clothes, right? Alright, I'll take charge of this matter, no need to talk about rewards or not. Ziqing can buy whatever she wants herself. The exams are coming up soon, let's use the remaining money to buy some study materials. From young till now, Ziqing has never caused Mom any worry." Jiang Qin said as she took out 200 yuan.

  To be honest, Jiang Qin felt a bit guilty. The children hadn't bought new clothes for a long time. Although the two of them worked hard and earned less, their living expenses were still manageable. They couldn't save much money, and when something big came up, they had to borrow from all over the place. However, they could still afford to buy clothes and pocket money for the kids. But Zi Qing was a sensible child, introverted by nature, and never asked for money on her own initiative. The two of them had forgotten about it, and now they had to wait for the child to bring it up herself. What a dereliction of parental duty!

  Ai Zi Qing smiled and accepted the money, knowing that this time she could get into a good high school, saving a large sum of expenses, and her family's life was still not under too much pressure. She said that after a while, she would also study ways to improve her life, so taking this money was still reasonable.

  Only Ai Guohua and Jiang Qin felt that their daughter was a bit different, as if she had become more cheerful, smiling like a little rascal, why did they feel a bit uncomfortable, making the two of them confused, but still agreed that it's good for their daughter to be more cheerful!

  A family's warmth is like water on the dinner table.