Rebirth: Once Again With You

"I'm doomed." Chen Ruolan said gloomily as she pulled her long hair to cover her face.

"No, you are doing fine, Lan Lan," Zhou Ya patted her back while looking up at the ranking list pasted on the announcement board in front of them.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I think I will not make it, after all."

Feng Nian clicked her tongue. "This is only a midterm result. You still have the end-term exam to make up for it."

"Even so, I'm 98 out of 278 students. Forget about class A; I might not be able to reach class B at this rate. I will be the only one with a separate class from you guys." Chen Ruolan said weakly. "I hate this, waah."

Zhou Ya sighed. "We still have three months before the next term starts. If we study together regularly from now on, you'll make it."

Li Caiyi nodded. "That's a good idea!"

"No! What about my movies, then? I have a lot of backlogs because I have been busy studying these days. I have to watch them!"

"You are seriously troublesome." Feng Nian massaged her throbbing temple.

"Easy for you to say. You three are in the top 50. A very different class than a mere commoner like me," Chen Ruolan pouted before shifting her aggrieved gaze to Li Caiyi, "Especially Caiyi. She is the third in our class and 28th in the overall ranking. Compared to her, I'm just a peasant!"

"Calm down, you peasant. You can level up easily if you just shift your focus on movies to study instead." Feng Nian chided in half irritation and amusement.

"This is where you are supposed to deny that I'm in a lower class than you all. How mean."

Zhou Ya sighed in exasperation before looking at the giggling Li Caiyi. "But seriously, I'm amazed you can improve so much in a short time. All that studying really paid off, I guess?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised too. I have never reached this high, even in my previous—I mean, in my whole life."

"Unlike someone else, you have been diligently studying in your free time and even spent time in the library after school. You deserved it, Caiyi."

"Uhm, Ya Ya? Can't you praise me too? I'm dying here." Chen Ruolan poked Zhou Ya's shoulder, which the latter conveniently ignored.

"Now, what should we do after this? Should we celebrate by going to the ice cream parlor again after a long time?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, guys. I don't think I can make it today." Li Caiyi scratched her cheek embarrassedly.

"Why? Do you have any other plans already?"

"Well, yes."

Feng Nian leaned in to check on Li Caiyi's expression, and a knowing smirk appeared on her face. "Let me guess, a date?"

Zhou Ya and Chen Ruolan immediately perked up and stared at Li Caiyi with brightened eyes, expecting a reply. Pressured by her friend's hopeful gaze, Li Caiyi answered reluctantly.

"Y-yes, I guess so?"

"I knew it!"

"A date with Dai Zhiqiang? That's so romantic!"

"When did the two of you get into that phase? Spill the tea!"

Their reactions overwhelmed her, and she quickly raised both of her hands to calm them down. "No, I will only accompany him to buy some presents for his family. After that, we will visit his sick father in the hospital."

"What? He already reached the level where he would introduce you to his parents? Wow, I never knew that a guy could move so fast." Chen Ruolan exclaimed in awe.

"You guys looked like a cozy couple, but who knows how passionate you are?" Feng Nian said sarcastically.

Only Zhou Ya, who relatively had a milder reaction. "Oh my god! That's so cute! What kind of gift do you have in mind?"

"Hm, I don't know. Zhiqiang said he wanted to buy something nice for them, but I don't know their preferences."

"Is his dad very ill? If yes, then perhaps a gift that will help him pass the time will be a good idea," Feng Nian added after contemplating.

Li Caiyi also considered that option, but in the end, it was Dai Zhiqiang who knew his father best, so she would consult this idea with him later. "En, I'll think about it."

"But you two really went chummy with each other fast. I bet almost all girls in this school were burned with jealousy towards you." Chen Ruolan folded her arms in front of her chest. "Even yesterday, some upper-class girls went to class 2-A to check on our school's new star. I heard they were chased away ruthlessly, though."

"And that new star is treating our friend gently. In fact, he talked more with Caiyi than anyone else in the school, so I'm pretty sure some will be very jealous," Zhou Ya nodded in agreement.

"Even if Dai Zhiqiang is popular, he became popular only recently. Thankfully, he still didn't have any fanatic fans yet. Compared to Senior Meng's hardcore fans, he is a safer choice, I guess."

Feng Nian snorted at Chen Ruolan's analysis. "Why are you comparing them with their fanbase? In the end, our Caiyi chose Zhiqiang, and that's that."

"I'm glad Caiyi can finally have her springtime of youth, but I wonder what you are going to do about Senior Meng? Despite the rumor circulating, he seems very determined to chase after you." Zhou Ya asked carefully.

"There's nothing I can do," Li Caiyi sighed. "Even if I rejected him, he would still come back like a ghost. And he actually helped me a lot, so this makes me feel guilty too."

"Just make sure you tell us if anyone comes to harass you again. If only you told me about it, I would go and pick a fight with them." Chen Ruolan cracked her knuckles like a gangster.

"True. Those delusional girls won't understand human language, so it's better to teach their body directly," Feng Nian added with a dark smile.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ya could only shake her head helplessly. "No, that's a bad idea, you guys. Don't add more trouble to Caiyi's plate."

Although she agreed with Zhou Ya, Li Caiyi felt warm inside, knowing her friends cared so much about her.

As strange as it sounds, Li Caiyi initially thought people wouldn't take her closeness to Dai Zhiqiang kindly. After traumatic experiences with some of Meng Renshu's fans, Li Caiyi was highly vigilant about everything now.

However, she might be worrying unnecessarily because nobody expressed their dissatisfaction with her except for giving her snarky comments once or twice. That alone was enough to give her more space to breathe.