Chapter 1 That Night...

  The school has a rule that the lights must be turned off at 10 o'clock sharp. The dormitory doors are also closed and no one is allowed to go out again. At 10 o'clock, the school gate will also be closed and the teaching building will be locked up.

  All this is to prevent accidents, so that students won't run out in the middle of the night, and there are usually some delays. However, the two people chatting today were really too engaged and forgot about time. Now it's already past the delayed time, and now they can't enter the dormitory or leave the campus. Even thinking of finding a place to rest in the teaching building is not possible anymore.

  "What...what's going on?" He Yuanyan suddenly panicked and looked at Liu Yifei with a pitiful expression.

  Liu Yifei also furrowed his brow, in his previous life he had experience of returning late due to playing games outside, but at that time they were several boys, climbing over the wall was definitely not a problem, and then climbed back in through the window behind the dormitory. Now he can still use this method, but what about He Yuexuan?

  "Can you girls' dormitory open the window at midnight and jump in?" Liu Yifei asked tentatively.

  "No way, I definitely can't jump in myself. If you help me, then...then the whole school will know about it tomorrow, I...can't take it! This is absolutely not okay!" He Yuerong shook her head repeatedly, a large blush spreading across her face, clearly thinking of the rumors that would spread like wildfire tomorrow.

  "We can only jump out of the school then, and I'll send you back home. But thinking about it, you probably don't dare to go back home either. So we can only go stay in a hotel. Do you have any money on you?" Liu Yifei patted his own pocket, only to find that he had less than 10 yuan on him. He had just bought lunch tickets today, and the original 10 or so yuan was enough for a week's worth of spending. But if they were going to stay in a small hotel outside, it would be far from enough.

  "I... I just changed into new clothes and don't have any money." He Yuer looked at Liu Yifei with a bitter face.

  "That's really troublesome." Liu Yifei also furrowed his brow, this long and endless night, if the two of them didn't have anywhere to go, it would indeed be a very painful thing. He had thought about going to Lin Miao's house, but taking He Yuexuan there in the middle of the night was not a good idea, not to mention that Lin Miao might get the wrong idea, even He Yuexuan probably wouldn't want to go either.

  "What to do... Liu Yifei, you think of a way quickly." He Yuanyan was now very helpless and grabbed onto Liu Yifei's arm.

  "Don't worry, I'm thinking." Liu Yifei patted He Yuexuan's hand, his mind racing quickly. After all, he had lived for over 30 years and was a man. At this moment, he was extremely calm, and neither of them noticed that their actions were much more intimate than usual.

  Seeing Liu Yifei so determined, He Yuexuan relaxed a bit, but looking at this small forest now, it doesn't seem elegant anymore, but rather dark and eerie, unknowingly she leaned closer to Liu Yifei's side.

  "Are you going out tonight? Doesn't Li Ya know?" Liu Yifei asked again.

  "She... she knows I came to practice oral English with you." He Yuetian first awkwardly explained a sentence, remembering Li Ya's secretly joking words, but Ma Yu suddenly called out in a low voice, "This is bad, she knows I'm with you, if I don't go back for one night... then... then..."

  Later on, He Yuanyan's tone was already trembling with sobs.

  Liu Yifei also knew that letting others know about this matter would be troublesome. Although the boys didn't know yet that he had gone out with He Yuanyuan, two consecutive nights of not returning to the dormitory to sleep would surely make those guys suspicious too. He could simply say he was staying at Lin Miao's place, which would also be believable, but it wouldn't be easy for He Yuanyuan to explain if Li Ya were to spread this matter around again. She might not be able to face that kind of rumor and gossip.

  Looking at He Yuanyan's panicked expression, Liu Yifei suddenly thought of high school students more than a decade later. At that time, it was extremely common for high school students to have sexual relationships, and even if they went out to live with someone, it would be something worth showing off. A girl like He Yuanyan at that time would be considered an outlier.

  "Think of something quickly!" He Yuanyan looked at Liu Yifei who didn't respond and urged again anxiously.

  "You don't have to worry, now that you know it's just Li Ya who came out with me, as long as we shut her mouth, there won't be any problem. Moreover, Li Ya is your good friend, she wouldn't spread the word about this matter, so rest assured, nothing will happen."

  "What if... she says it out loud tonight?"

  "It shouldn't be, if she had said it out loud, the dorm would have been in an uproar a long time ago, and they would have also informed the teacher in charge of the dorm. Could nobody have found you? It must be Li Ya covering for you, but... what she's thinking can only be asked by you."

  "Will it really be like this?" He Yuanyan's greatest fear now is that this matter will stir up a big fuss, if only Li Ya knew about it, then it wouldn't be so bad.

  "Hmm!" Liu Yifei nodded heavily, having lived for over thirty years and gained some understanding of human nature. At this point, his guess shouldn't be off by much.

  "That...that's good." Liu Yifei's words finally made He Yuanyan breathe a sigh of relief.

  Liu Yifei patted He Yuanyuan's shoulder and said, "Alright! Don't think so much, let's just think about how to spend this evening now."

  "Ah!" He Yuanyan cried out softly, releasing her grip on Liu Yifei's arm, then took a step back. Her facial expression was somewhat strange.

  Liu Yifei immediately knew why He Yuexuan was like this, a girl who wants to spend the night alone with a boy of the same age, it's impossible not to be nervous. She lifted her foot and shook off the water on it, saying: "We can't stay in the water all night, let's get up."

  "Oh!" He Yuanyan lowered her head, not daring to look at Liu Yifei either. She shook the water off her feet in the same way as Liu Yifei, then hastily put on her shoes and stood up, looking somewhat at a loss.

  No matter how proud He Yuanyan usually appears, and no matter how high and mighty she seems to the boys in her daily life, at this moment, He Yuanyan is just a "homeless" poor little girl. The awe and admiration that Liu Yifei had for He Yuanyan over ten years ago have completely disappeared.

  Liu Yifei stood up and suddenly chuckled, saying: "Are we two now considered to be drifting on the streets, with no home to return to?"

  Liu Yifei's joke didn't make He Yuanyan feel at ease, she lowered her head and nervously looked at Liu Yifei's feet, afraid that he would suddenly walk towards her. Just then, Liu Yifei lifted his foot, and He Yuanyan's heart rose to her throat.

  However, Liu Yifei's feet did not move towards her, but instead turned in a direction and walked under the small bridge, which made He Yuanyan let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Liu Yifei.

  "Stand here and don't move, I'll go take a look at the situation and then decide what to do." Liu Yifei turned back to beckon to He Yuexuan, then turned around and walked through the woods.

  He Yuanyan wanted to call out, but no sound came out. She stood alone on the small bridge.

  There was no Liu Yifei. That kind of loneliness suddenly enveloped He Yuanyan's heart, all around were small trees, although not tall, but also over three meters high, the mottled tree shadows gently swayed with the night breeze, making a rustling sound, in the forest there were still many unknown insects chirping non-stop, under the bridge occasionally fish jumped out of the water, the sound was not loud, but also quietly entered He Yuanyan's ears.

  Originally, these sounds were heavenly, but now they didn't sound that way to He Yuanyan. Especially the mottled tree shadows, which seemed like ghosts in the dark, making her feel like they could pounce on her at any moment. The insect chirping around her sounded piercing and eerie, as if some unknown terrifying creatures were slowly closing in on her.

  He Yuanyan's heart suddenly rose to her throat, although she didn't dare to look, but still couldn't help turning back from time to time, and her body also started trembling uncontrollably.

  "Rustle, rustle", the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, He Yuanyan knew that this might be Liu Yifei coming back, but her heart was still racing wildly, staring straight at the direction where the footsteps were coming from. When she saw that it was indeed Liu Yifei, her body suddenly went limp and she sat down on the bridge with a thud.

  Liu Yifei was startled and hurried over to support He Yuexuan, anxiously asking: "He Yuexuan, what's wrong?"

  "He...he..." He Yuanyan's body shook uncontrollably, tears welling up in her eyes, her pearly whites biting tightly into her lower lip. Suddenly, she flung herself into Liu Yifei's arms and burst out crying with a loud "Waaah".

  Liu Yifei was stunned for a moment, and soon guessed why she was so scared. He felt a great deal of guilt in his heart, having forgotten that in such an environment, He Yuexuan, a girl, must have been very frightened. Holding He Yuexuan tightly, he gently patted her shoulder and said softly: "Sorry, I forgot you were alone here and scared. It's okay, I won't leave you behind again."

  He Yuanyan buried her face in Liu Yifei's chest and cried for a while, then suddenly clenched her small fist and pounded on Liu Yifei's chest, crying and complaining: "It's all your fault, who made you leave me behind? I'm so scared, I'm really scared...". Then she buried her face in Liu Yifei's arms again and continued to cry.

  Liu Yifei was taken aback, never expecting He Yuexuan to behave like this. The soft, warm and jade-like hug was quite enjoyable, but what's more surprising was that it was He Yuexuan, who had secretly loved him for two years in his previous life but didn't have the courage to confess. Looking at her pitiful appearance, he felt even more sorry for her and hugged her tightly, saying: "It's my fault! It's my fault, I didn't take good care of you, and let you get frightened."

  He Yuanyan's crying didn't stop, this kind of grievance was something she had never experienced from childhood to adulthood, wherever she went, she was the object of everyone's admiration, that feeling of loneliness and helplessness was absolutely her first experience in life, so it would be like this.

  "Don't cry like that anymore, it's so quiet on the playground. If someone in the dormitory who hasn't fallen asleep hears us, we'll be in trouble." Liu Yifei tried to comfort her for a while, but had no choice but to use his killer smile.

  "Ah!" He Yuanyan let out a low cry, forcibly stopping her tears, and immediately pushed Liu Yifei away with force, lowering her head to twist the hem of her clothes, her shoulders still slightly shaking.

  Liu Yifei gently patted He Yuanyan's shoulder and said, "I'm just teasing you, no one can hear us, we're so far away from the dormitory, how could anyone possibly hear?"

  He Muyan raised her head, with a hint of annoyance in her red eyes, and scolded: "I'm already scared like this, and you're still teasing me!"

  Liu Yifei smiled and said, "Otherwise, you'll cry nonstop, I can't take it."

  "Go away! You're still crying!" He Yuanyan glared at Liu Yifei again, sobbed for a moment, and immediately stood up.

  Liu Yifei also stood up, and didn't mention He Yuexuan's loss of composure earlier. Instead, he said: "He Yuexuan, I just took a walk around the area, and there really isn't anywhere good to rest. Tonight, we'll either be wandering the streets or spending the night over there." Liu Yifei pointed to a long stone bench not far from the small bridge.

  "Here..." He Yuanyan's eyebrows furrowed.

  Liu Yifei sighed and said, "Well, we'll definitely have to find a place to rest for the night. Otherwise, no one can bear it. We don't have any money on us, so we can't go out to find an inn, nor can we let others know that we're homeless. So, we can only make do with staying here for the night."

  He Yu Yan stared blankly at the stone bench, and after a while, she turned her head to look at Liu Yi Fei, saying with great vigilance: "That's just one stone bench, for the two of us..."

  Liu Yifei smiled slightly and said, "You've rested well, I'm a boy, staying up all night is nothing, the most important thing is that you can't let others see that you didn't sleep all night, that's a terrible thing."

  "This...". He Yuanyan was still very hesitant, saying: "Forget it, let's just stick it out for one more night. It's almost eleven now, we can just tough it out and it'll be over soon."

  Liu Yifei didn't say yes or no, knowing that He Yuexuan would not be able to accept sleeping in this situation, so he said: "Okay, anyway it's nothing, let's continue practicing our oral English."

  "Practicing oral language?" He Yuanyan didn't expect Liu Yifei to have such enthusiasm at this time, but thinking about it, it wasn't a bad way to kill time either, so she nodded in agreement.

  In the small woods of the campus at midnight, a mixture of English and Chinese voices gradually rose, initially somewhat dull, but after a while, it became relaxed, and later, there were bursts of laughter, in this quiet campus, it was also a special flavor, unfortunately, only the two of them knew.

  As time went by, He Yuanyan was no longer as spirited as before, her eyes began to droop, and she unknowingly sat down on the long bench, feeling a bit drowsy.

  "Just sleep for a while, I'll keep an eye on you and make sure no pervert gets close to you." Liu Yifei knew that He Yuexuan had always refused to sleep, mainly because she was worried that if she fell asleep, Liu Yifei would do something to her. A girl's self-defense consciousness still existed, so he took the initiative to clarify and dispel He Yuexuan's concerns.

  He Yuanyan's face suddenly turned red, and she scolded: "I'm not afraid at all. If anyone dares to touch me, I'll fight him to the death."

  "Hmph... Don't worry, I won't give you a chance to fight me to the death." Liu Yifei smiled lightly.

  "Get out, you also have the guts." He Yuanyan glared at Liu Yifei fiercely.

  Liu Yifei secretly shook his head, He Yuexuan didn't know how to protect herself even if she had a sense of self-defense. At this time, using such a tone would easily put her in danger. However, Liu Yifei didn't have any thoughts about He Yuexuan at the moment. After all, with his current state of mind, when facing He Yuexuan, he mostly felt nostalgic for the wonderful times they had in high school. Being able to walk this close to He Yuexuan already fulfilled half of his unfulfilled wishes from high school.

  "I don't have the guts, forget it, go to sleep, I'll take a nap too." Liu Yifei sat down directly on a certain place at the edge of the stone bench, resting his head on one corner of the stone bench.

  "Hey, you're sleeping too? Then I..." He Yuanyan suddenly became flustered.

  Liu Yifei originally wanted to let He Yuanyan feel at ease, but he had neglected her fear of the dark. So he sat up again and said: "Heh, I'm not afraid you'll worry that I have ulterior motives towards you. If you're not afraid of me, then go ahead and sleep peacefully. I'll be your guardian."

  "I'm not afraid of you." He Yuer muttered, but she didn't dare to meet Liu Yifei's gaze. At this moment, she was really tired. Liu Yifei's words had also put her at ease a lot. She bit her teeth and leaned sideways, shrinking onto the stone bench, saying softly: "You stay with me... and talk to me some more."

  "Hmm! What do you want to say?" Liu Yifei sat on the grass with his knees bent, his head resting on his knee, smiling at He Yuexuan.

  "I don't know either, just say whatever you want." He Yuer's eyes were slightly closed, apparently extremely sleepy.

  Liu Yifei thought for a moment and said: "Then I'll tell you a story."

  "Mm." He Yanyan softly responded with her eyes already closed.

  Liu Yifei gazed up at the starry sky, his thoughts had already flown back to the experiences he had before his rebirth. After his rebirth, he had never thought about those past failures, but now he suddenly felt an urge to talk about them. And for He Yuexuan, those things were just someone else's story, nothing more.

  "There was a young man who, after graduating from university, joined the army of job seekers. His university wasn't any good and his major was extremely mediocre. Moreover, he didn't even study seriously for a single lesson during his four years in college. After completing his colorful yet decadent university life, he suddenly fell into an endless abyss, unable to find a good job, and could only work a few days here this month and then run to another place to mix around for a couple of days next month..."

  Liu Yifei seemed to be completely immersed in his own words and didn't even notice that He Yuexuan had fallen asleep long ago.

  Under the starry sky, by the small bridge in the campus, a girl lies sideways on a stone bench, while a boy sits beside her telling a bumpy life story, what a beautiful youth idol drama.

  The following is not included in the word count:

  It's been uploaded, and I don't even remember how many times it's been uploaded today, maybe six or seven times in total. But I've never felt as anxious and uneasy as I do today, my mind is a mess, and I haven't written a single word all day. If you say that the book's performance is poor, I personally don't think it's too bad. Maybe it's because this new book has made some changes, and I wrote it with more dedication and care, so my expectations are higher, which is why I'm feeling so anxious about gains and losses.

  It's finally time, and it's finally on the shelves. The moment to judge whether a book is successful or not has also arrived. And the only standard for judging a book is subscription, so I hope everyone can subscribe if possible, or help subscribe to one or two chapters, which is also a great help to me tomorrow.

  Also, I want to rush the monthly ticket chart tomorrow. I really, really want to rush it. Tomorrow's goal is not just about making money from the chart, but because the position on that chart is too good. If we can make it onto the monthly chart, this book will definitely become known to more people, which would be like a strong recommendation.

  So I hope everyone can help smash the monthly ticket, as long as the monthly ticket is smashed fiercely, tomorrow's update will definitely be fierce. Of course... even if everyone doesn't smash it fiercely, tomorrow's update won't be bad either. Tomorrow, I don't dare to guarantee anything else, but when it comes to updates, I have never owed anyone.

  But the more monthly tickets, the more motivation, come on! Let's also make a loud and fierce rush...