Chapter 1 |
“Xu Lin, if we could time travel like in the novels, what would you want to do?”
A big guy, holding a basketball, sat on the steps, looking at the distant playground, speaking sentence by sentence.
“Li Bin, can you let me be alone for a while? Go play your basketball.”
On the side, a slender and handsome young man cast a disdainful look at him, then lowered his head, gazing at his blue and white school uniform. He sighed.
“Well, I’ll go play basketball. It takes some time to adjust. Failing at confession is no big deal; next time, try even harder!”
“Besides, Ji Yun didn’t agree to that guy next door either.” After saying this, he ran out, holding the basketball, and joined the other boys, basking in the sunlight.
Xu Lin, looking at the group of boys, muttered to himself, “Time travel… What am I going to do with this?!”
Yes, he, Xu Lin, is indeed a time traveler—no, correction, a reborn person. From being a 24-year-old ‘average’ novice office worker, he returned to being a 17-year-old, still ‘average’ high school student.
Yesterday, after his rebirth, he wasn’t particularly excited; in fact, he felt a bit annoyed.
But with this sudden transition, his card for the experience of being a rich second-generation person suddenly disappeared.
Although he could wait a few years, or even, like other novel protagonists who traveled through time, make more money through foresight and anticipation,.
But he had been lazy since childhood. If he could make money lying down, why bother standing up? Having enough money to spend was good enough. Taking it easy for a lifetime seemed pretty sweet.
However, today, returning to school, he was stirred by many memories, and some regrets were brought back to light.
One of them was Ji Yun, an excellent girl—beautiful, academically successful, and with a good personality—fitting the image of a first love for most people.
At that time, though, he was a socially awkward person. For three years in high school, they were in the same class, but they hardly talked.
Yet he secretly watched and admired her, like many ordinary guys.
I watched her become more beautiful, mature, and stable until I heard at a class reunion that she got married right after graduating from college.
Amidst reluctant congratulations from a group of guys, he swallowed his feelings and it became the eternal, unrequited love in everyone’s hearts.
Before his time travel, he used to self-mockingly say, “If I had $5 million at that time, would I have had the courage to confess to her?”
Now that he’s back in high school, he wanted to give it a try!
Initially, he planned to build a good relationship with her before making a move. But he unexpectedly mentioned it in a chat with some friends.
Word got out to other girls, and, with no way out, he reluctantly went for it.
He didn’t expect that the first thing he would do the day after time-traveling was confess, and, of course, the result was a smooth rejection.
The reason remained the same: she only wanted to focus on studying and didn’t want to consider anything else.
Of course, the ‘tall, rich, and handsome’ guy from the neighboring class was rejected too, making him feel less awkward.
But he did anticipate this outcome; after all, for success, some groundwork had to be laid.This impulse is just his attempt to fulfill a past, unfulfilled wish.
So, he’s not really sad; no major adjustments are needed. He just feels the weather is too hot—only someone sick would play basketball, and it makes sitting in class even more uncomfortable with all the sweat.
“The first wish is fulfilled; the next is to study well; that should be easier.”
Although Xu Lin has issues like laziness, avoiding trouble, a tendency to be socially withdrawn, and difficulties in socializing, studying is not a problem. Even though, in his previous life, he only got into an ordinary university in his home province due to its proximity, he has a good mind. If he puts a bit more effort into it, getting into a better university shouldn’t be a problem.
It might make his grandparents happier, and he could visit his hometown on weekends; it’s been a while since he last saw them.
With his mind made up, he took a deep breath, stretching lazily, but a pair of slender legs came into his view.
“Student Xu, why aren’t you playing basketball?”
A pleasant voice sounded from above, and he quickly stood up, turning to look.
“Hello, teacher!” Xu Lin pointed at the sun. “Even though it’s autumn, it’s too hot today. I’m afraid of getting heatstroke while playing basketball.”
“Sit down, let’s chat.”
The person raised a slender eyebrow, took off a small suit, revealing a chiffon shirt underneath, and sat on the steps without any pretense.
“Sure.” Xu Lin quickly sat down, gazing at the teacher’s gentle oval face, suddenly recalling some things.
Su Qingwan, who is only 6 or 7 years older than them, was his English teacher when he was in Class 3. However, she left after spending two years at Class 3, around the time he entered his senior year.
Her presence, he could say, made many lazy students pay attention, sacrificing a bit of sleep for one class.
But compared to Ji Yun, as she is a teacher, the male students didn’t have any ulterior motives; it was just admiration. Perhaps every student has a goddess teacher in their life.
But all of this is not important. What matters is that this teacher did not have the same happiness as Ji Yun later on.
At the class reunion, he learned that this stunning teacher who had captivated the hearts of all the boys and girls in the school was no longer in this world.
Novels need logic, but reality doesn’t. After leaving the school, she went to a foreign country for further studies but got involved in a bank robbery, and in an attempt to protect a friend, she was shot and killed.
Su Qingwan looked at Xu Lin just like the other boys did, and seeing his absent-minded expression, she actually felt relieved.
“It seems like you’re not upset about being rejected by student Ji. The teacher is relieved.”
“Teacher, how did you know… well, in school, there’s nothing the teachers don’t know? It’s just whether they want to understand it or not.”
Xu Lin smiled too, sitting beside her, intentionally keeping some distance.
“Of course, teachers know everything that happens in school. But students should prioritize their studies.”
“Of course, if students don’t study well, they will surely regret it in the future. I understand.”
When Xu Lin graduated and started looking for a job, he deeply experienced the differences in treatment among different universities.
“Yeah, that’s good. Three years of effort won’t be in vain.”
“By the way, teacher, do you have something to do?”
“No, just a power outage, and the office is stuffy. So I came out for some fresh air.”
“But it’s not much cooler outside. Teacher, do you eat ice cream?”
“Huh?”
Su Qingwan was momentarily puzzled, then saw Xu Lin stand up and walk towards a small grove in the distance. She also curiously got up and followed.
Half a minute later, he reached the school’s railing. Outside was the road, and on the roadside was an old lady with a small cart.
“Grandma, give me two ice creams.”
“Coming.” Saying that, she pushed the cart to the railing. Xu Lin reached through the gap in the railing, starting to make his selection.
Watching from the side, Su Qingwan was dumbfounded.
Could this be done?
“Cough! Student Xu, isn’t this against the school rules?”
The old lady only noticed Su Qingwan’s disapproving expression now. Her face changed instantly. She grabbed the cart and made a sharp turn, disappearing from their view.
“Hey! Take the money! Teacher, it’s PE class now, and it’s also the last PE class for the seniors. PE class is a time to enjoy youth, right?”
Xu Lin handed one of the ice creams he held to her, but Su Qingwan didn’t take it.
“Not interested in eating? Then I guess I’ll have to eat it myself.” Xu Lin sighed, preparing to put the ice cream in his pocket.
The next moment, a slender hand reached over, grabbing his hand and taking the other one.
“I’ll have this one.”
Xu Lin looked at his empty right hand and smiled helplessly. After all, despite being a teacher, she’s only a 23-year-old girl. Hopefully, in this lifetime, she could…
Just when he was thinking like this, his right hand seemed to be shocked by static electricity—a slight pain followed by intense pain in his head!
He leaned back suddenly, hitting a tree, but then an interface slowly unfolded before his eyes.
[Congratulations on activating the Twelve Zodiac Love System.]
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