Chapter Two: Say That Again?

After walking for another half hour, he finally reached the county road. As soon as he arrived at the stop, a bus heading from the town to the county rolled up. Zhou Xuan hurried aboard, handed the conductor a yuan, and made his way to the back—surprisingly, there were still empty seats. Today, luck was truly on his side.

He sat down at last, able to contemplate the matter of his rebirth. In his previous life, Zhou Xuan had lived to the age of ninety-four, passing away peacefully as one might expect. Who could have guessed that a single trip to the moon would change everything? An unexpected accident—one moment, the sightseeing craft exploded with a bang, and the next, Zhou Xuan was gone.

Never in his life had he imagined he'd get a second chance—to return to his sixteen-year-old self, back in his third year of middle school. Wasn't this the stuff of novels? He still couldn't be sure if he had truly been reborn, or if this was nothing but a dream.

Reflecting on the decades he'd lived, Zhou Xuan was filled with regret. Born in the countryside, he had done well in primary school, but was too fond of play, and his grades fluctuated. In his first year of middle school, he excelled, even ranking in the top ten. But his second year was spent lost in novels and games, and his grades plummeted. Fortunately, he came to his senses in the third year, and with the encouragement of his homeroom and English teachers, he managed to get into the county's top high school.

High school, too, was a disappointment. He hadn't worked hard, and after repeating a year, he was only admitted to an average university, majoring in computer science. Had he applied himself in university, perhaps he might have joined a major internet company after graduation, and built a good career. But his studies were lackluster, his skills mediocre, and he ended up spending decades as a mere code monkey at small firms—a fate, perhaps, that could not be avoided.

Yet, Zhou Xuan marveled at the whims of fate. After such a lackluster life, he was now reborn in this era—with the knowledge and experience in his mind, he possessed the greatest fortune in the world. A fan of rebirth novels, he understood the significance of his situation well. Besides, Zhou Xuan had an advantage few other reborn souls possessed: he had lived a full ninety-four years in his first life.

Those ninety-four years were not to be underestimated. Most people, if they were reborn, would only go back a few years or decades, but he had traveled seventy-seven years into the past. At the thought, Zhou Xuan couldn't help but chuckle foolishly, drooling at the corners of his mouth.

The man sitting beside him turned to look, as if he were staring at a fool. Zhou Xuan indeed looked the part—staring into space, breaking into silly grins, even letting drool dribble down his chin.

"Bus station ahead, everyone please gather your belongings," called the conductor.

Jolted from his reverie, Zhou Xuan looked around at the snickering faces and, glancing down, saw the wet patch of drool on his T-shirt. He wished he could vanish on the spot in embarrassment.

Damn it, how humiliating—to be mistaken for a fool! As the bus arrived, Zhou Xuan wanted nothing more than to rush to the front and get off immediately, but seated at the back, he had to follow the crowd step by step.

Once outside, Zhou Xuan hurried toward the school, eager to escape the place where he'd made a spectacle of himself.

"Second Middle School, here I come..."

It was Sunday night, the first period of self-study. Though the teacher sat at the front, the room buzzed with suppressed energy. Zhou Xuan, seated in the seventh row on the right, listened to his results, smiling wryly.

"Zhou Xuan, 455 points. Rank: 250th in the grade."

What? 250th place! I remember last time it was 249th—how did it change? Zhou Xuan was perplexed. He had been reborn right after the last test, so the scores ought to be the same as before. How strange!

A barely suppressed snicker sounded beside him. Zhou Xuan didn't have to look to know it was his desk mate and best friend, Zhou Lin.

"Xuan, you're amazing! You actually scored that low! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Zhou Lin couldn't hold back his laughter, though only a few nearby students could hear.

Were it not for the class in session, his laughter would probably have filled the whole room.

Zhou Xuan sighed inwardly. With a friend like this, what could he say? If it weren't for their friendship, he'd have kicked him out long ago.

Zhou Lin was his neighbor from the same village; they'd grown up together, played together, and now attended the same class, walking to and from school side by side. The only reason Zhou Xuan had come to school alone yesterday was because Zhou Lin had been away visiting relatives. That was how the mugging happened. But Zhou Xuan hadn't mentioned it to Zhou Lin—just as he hadn't in his previous life.

Back then, he'd borrowed money from Zhou Lin to get through the crisis, saying he'd lost his living expenses by accident. For two weeks he subsisted on pickled vegetables; Zhou Lin didn't eat well either during that time. Years later, after they'd both established families, Zhou Xuan once urgently needed money, and Zhou Lin sent him tens of thousands without hesitation. Such brotherhood was unforgettable, and this time, Zhou Xuan vowed to make sure his friend lived a good life too.

Looking at Zhou Lin, Zhou Xuan said with a carefree smile, "Go ahead, laugh all you want. You're not ranked any higher than me, are you?"

"Ha! You two are a pair of fools!" came a jarring laugh from behind, wiping the smile off Zhou Xuan's face.

He didn't need to look; it was Xu Shaoyun from the next row. His grades were even worse than Zhou Xuan's, always near the bottom, and he'd been at odds with Zhou Xuan since the first year of middle school. Arguments between them were routine.

Zhou Lin turned and snapped, "Xu Shaoyun, are you looking for trouble?"

"Psh! Scored 250th and can't take a little teasing?" Xu Shaoyun, their perennial rival, wasn't the least bit intimidated. "Two hundred and fifty! That's what you are. What are you gonna do about it?"

"You—" Zhou Lin bristled, but didn't descend into a shouting match.

At this, Zhou Xuan turned to glare coldly at the smug Xu Shaoyun. "Say that again if you dare."

Now Zhou Xuan was truly angry. In his previous life, Xu Shaoyun and the class math monitor, Wei Xinyu, had always targeted him. But, owing to his temperament, Zhou Xuan had swallowed his pride, never confronting them.

But things were different now. They were still the same, but Zhou Xuan was no longer who he used to be. From the moment he was reborn, his life was destined to bid farewell to the past.

"You're a fool! Your whole family's a bunch of fools!" Xu Shaoyun retorted, his mouth as foul as ever. This time, however, Zhou Xuan's response was a swift, resounding slap.

Smack!

The sound echoed through the noisy classroom, instantly silencing everyone. Students all around turned to see what had happened.

"You dare hit me!" Xu Shaoyun finally reacted, lunging at Zhou Xuan.

"So what if I hit you? Someone has to teach you some manners," Zhou Xuan replied, deftly dodging Xu Shaoyun's swing and landing another slap.

But before they could get any closer, their classmates intervened, pulling them apart.

After a moment's standoff, a familiar figure appeared at the classroom door, followed by a thunderous shout.

"What on earth is going on here!"

The homeroom teacher stood in the doorway, face like a thundercloud.