I Don’t Want to Be Reborn With You v2c22

Chapter 22: The Last Step

This was Chu Jingyi’s eighth time being elected as Class Monitor. She stood proudly on the podium, reading out the inviolable class rules. From childhood to adulthood, she had always been the Class Monitor, the Grade Leader, or the Student Council President, always at the highest level of the school hierarchy. Lazy students trembled when they saw her, rebellious students wouldn’t dare to act out in front of her. From Yiwan Elementary School to Chuanhai No. 1 High School, Chu Jingyi’s name was known throughout all the schools – she was Chu Xiaodong’s only daughter.

Chu Jingyi didn’t like this feeling of being overly respected. Everyone who saw her would inevitably mention her father, her grandfather, and her family. “How is your esteemed grandfather recently?” “How is your respected father?” were the two phrases she heard most often, spoken by the principal and some precocious classmates. But she was the one standing in front of them speaking, why did they always associate her with her father and grandfather?

This kind of life continued until her first year of high school, when Chu Jingyi encountered her first rebel. He was a handsome and quiet young man, not particularly well-groomed, simply wearing the school uniform, his bangs casually swaying in the wind. He was good-looking. This was Chu Jingyi’s first impression. He was clean, calm, and natural, always smiling, as if there was nothing in the world to worry about. If she only looked at his appearance, Chu Jingyi would never have guessed that he would be the problem student with the highest absentee rate in the next three years of high school.

“His name is Lu Li, right? Lu Li, Lu Li, ‘So varied are their gatherings and dispersions’, ‘So dappled are their ups and downs’. It’s a nice name.” Chu Jingyi held the class roster and finally learned the name of the boy who was always alone.

For the entire semester that followed, the name Lu Li left a deep impression on her – he was simply too much. Not only did he skip class meetings, but he also skipped morning readings. He would disappear in the middle of class, and he owed a total of seventeen apology letters. What was even more outrageous was that the homeroom teacher was actually covering for him. In Chu Jingyi’s world, students should be sitting in the classroom, discussing astronomy, geography, poetry, and romance, not disappearing all the time and being associated with strange rumors.

At the beginning of the first year of high school, the homeroom teacher had asked each student about their goals and aspirations. Chu Jingyi remembered Lu Li saying that he wanted to go to college and make a lot of money, which drew snickers from many – of all the students in the class, only Lu Li’s dreams and aspirations were tainted with the smell of money. But if he wanted to go to college, why didn’t he study hard? His grades weren’t bad, but they were just average, still far from being able to go to college, right?

Even though Lu Li repeatedly ignored the class rules, Chu Jingyi still planned to talk to him calmly and persuade him – she had always done this, and it had always worked. But after Chu Jingyi finished her long speech to the young man, she only received a disdainful look from Lu Li:

“What you said is useless to me. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Is it puberty? Chu Jingyi thought. The books said that when people reach adolescence, they will have a rebellious mentality. Lu Li must be going through puberty. In that case, as the Class Monitor, she should correct her misguided classmate. In the days that followed, Chu Jingyi simply paid attention to Lu Li silently, looking for a suitable opportunity.

Unintentionally, Chu Jingyi memorized his habits – he always arrived at school just on time, was the first to leave after school, and it was said that he even secretly worked part-time outside of school. He liked to look into the distance, as if pondering some profound question. He didn’t seem to study much every day, but he always kept up with the teacher’s pace. When he encountered a difficult problem, he wouldn’t smile, but would only show a heart-wrenching expression. Nothing ever seemed to discourage him, and she had never seen him angry or lose his temper.

Oh, and she had also seen a poem written by Lu Li. It was a modern poem written on the cover of his Chinese textbook. The words were simple and plain, not like a poem at all. She had seen the award-winning works of the students in the literature club, all of which were poems with gorgeous rhetoric and neat parallelism. Was Lu Li also a literature enthusiast?

Every time there was a class meeting, Chu Jingyi’s gaze would always fall on Lu Li’s seat first. She always wondered if Lu Li would be obedient today.

Their first conflict erupted suddenly. Chu Jingyi stopped him after school and said she wanted to invite his parents. She swore to God that she just wanted to correct Lu Li’s behavior. She still remembered Lu Li’s expression vividly. It was a mixture of disgust and incomprehension. “Class Monitor, can you please stop trying to do ideological work on me? I know what I want. Every time you talk to me, I get called to the Dean’s office for a lecture. You’re causing me a lot of trouble!”

Chu Jingyi hurriedly shouted, “I didn’t snitch to the Dean!”

“You know in your heart whether you did or not.”

Misunderstanding bred anger. She grabbed Lu Li’s schoolbag and said with a stern face, “Your parents must come to school tomorrow!” Her voice was loud and attracted the attention of many students who hadn’t gone home. Lu Li’s expression darkened. “I can’t do that! I’m leaving. Please let go of me, okay?”

“You’re not allowed to leave!”

“…” Lu Li sat back down. “What do you want?”

“For your parents to come to school.”

“I said I can’t do that. What else do you want? Ask for something else.”

“I want this.”

Lu Li said in a low voice, “You’re being unreasonable.” He left his schoolbag behind and got up to leave. Chu Jingyi panicked and quickly grabbed the boy’s arm. “You’re not allowed to leave.” Lu Li shook her hand off, his voice slightly raised. “I don’t have parents. Do I have to shout it out here? Are you satisfied? I’m an orphan without parents?!”

Chu Jingyi was stunned. She subconsciously felt that Lu Li was lying. Because she had never seen a real orphan in her life. Her peers might have been missing a father or a mother, but they could never be called “orphans.” The other students were whispering, not to her, but pointing at Lu Li. Chu Jingyi wanted to tell them to stop watching, but looking at Lu Li’s handsome face with a hint of anger, she didn’t know what to say.

Piercing a young man’s pride was one of the greatest sins in the world. Chu Jingyi could only watch Lu Li leave in anger. That day, the little girl didn’t eat her dinner comfortably. At the dinner table, she asked her all-powerful father, “Dad, are there any orphans at Chuanhai No. 1 High School?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there are, maybe there aren’t.” His meaningless answer was very much in his fatherly style. He could always drag out a sentence, repeating it over and over again. “What’s wrong? Has my little treasure reached the age of compassion?”

“What if I do something wrong?”

It was her mother who answered, “Just walk backwards fifty steps.”

Chu Jingyi pouted. “It’s not like I broke a pinky promise.”

Her mother gently cupped her daughter’s small face. “It’s the same, silly. Just undo what you did wrong. Isn’t it just walking backwards fifty steps?”

“Is… is that right?”

“Yes, it is.”

***

One step, two steps… Lu Li beside her was walking backwards with her, silent. Unknowingly, Lu Li had actually become her best friend. A year ago today, she was still wondering what kind of person that boy was. She had thought that Lu Li would hate her, but when they met again, Lu Li never mentioned the past, so magnanimous that the girl felt a little ashamed.

When they reached the twentieth step, the girl’s pace gradually slowed down. She secretly glanced at Lu Li. He was indeed a liar, but she was really happy with him… She felt praised, needed. But she was also very sad to be deceived by him. For a moment just now, she even thought that all the tears in her life would be shed.

If we were just friends, why would you be sad? Lu Li’s words echoed in her heart. Chu Jingyi’s thoughts were in turmoil. She stumbled, but fortunately, Lu Li reached out and supported her slender waist.

“Be careful. Do you still want to go back?”

“Yes…” Her tone wasn’t as firm anymore.

“The music you made is great. Some players praised you.” At this moment, Lu Li suddenly brought up an untimely topic. But it was this topic that caught Silly Goose’s attention.

“…Oh…” She was a little happy, but more than that, there was an inexplicable sadness.

After walking back for a while, she suddenly stopped. “One more step back, and our friendship is completely over.” Her big eyes looked at Lu Li. Her tears had stopped, leaving only faint tear stains. The more she looked at him, the more adorable she found him. Lu Li couldn’t help but smile. “Okay.” Chu Jingyi felt a surge of frustration. Why was Lu Li smiling so happily? Was he happy to break up with her? That way, he could be with Baili every day… and, and kiss her…

Thinking about kissing, the girl suddenly felt uncomfortable. She thought about the last time Lu Li took the initiative to kiss her, and then she thought about the scene she saw today.

What was this feeling?… She pressed her hand against her chest. A little bit of jealousy… She didn’t want her good friend Lu Li to hug other girls, she didn’t want her good friend Lu Li to kiss other girls, not even An Baili. Could this still be considered friendship? She was lost in confusion.

“I still want to be friends with Chu Jingyi.” Lu Li suddenly spoke, but his eyes were looking straight ahead, not at the girl beside him. “Chu Jingyi is the kindest girl I’ve ever met. Meeting her must have been because I saved the Milky Way in my past life.”

I’m not that good… She silently refuted in her heart. But she couldn’t take the last step. In the end, it was Lu Li who took the last step first. He spread his hands as if relieved. “This way, our pinky promise doesn’t count anymore, right?”

Chu Jingyi stood still, looking at him with resentment. She hadn’t even taken the last step, how could he…

Lu Li extended his little finger again.

“…What are you doing?” The girl was still angry.

“Making a new pinky promise.”

“You’ve already taken the last step, why are you still making a pinky promise with me?” There was a hint of complaint in her tone.

“Mom said that if a pinky promise is broken, you just have to walk backwards fifty steps and it’s like nothing ever happened.” Lu Li said with a smile. “But she didn’t say that you have to break up after walking back. I don’t want to break up with Chu Jingyi.”

“…You’re being a scoundrel…”

“I am being a scoundrel. I just don’t want to break up with Chu Jingyi.” His shameless attitude made Chu Jingyi laugh. She had never imagined that Lu Li had such a side to him. He was less ethereal than she had imagined, more human.

“I did hate An Baili when I made the promise to you, but a lot has happened in the past two days.” Lu Li’s tone became serious. “Are you willing to give your good friend Lu Li a chance to explain?”

“…” There was no response, no movement. The slender girl stood under the osmanthus tree, facing the autumn wind, like a scene from a painting. A pale yellow petal brushed past Lu Li’s nose. The sweet scent of osmanthus mixed with the girl’s fragrance, making him unable to tell whether the flower or the person smelled better.

After a long time, Silly Goose finally spoke: “Is… is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

Memory and reality overlapped. The girl suddenly raised her small fist and punched him, crying, “You big liar!” She suddenly understood that she would never be able to take that last step.