“No!”
A determined light flashed in Ning Qing Yin’s beautiful eyes when she heard that Xia Yuan would “get together with someone else.”
“No what? You won’t take the initiative to chase him, but you won’t allow others to do so either?”
Lin Miao Miao looked serious, but she was secretly delighted in her heart. I need to give this stupid girl another push. “It’s almost time for the college entrance exam. If you don’t confess now, you won’t have any more chances to do so, and then your big brother will be someone else’s.”
Hearing this, Ning Qing Yin immediately became anxious. Her face was a little red, but she was determined.¹ So she said, “I’ll go! Isn’t it just sending a love letter? Who said I don’t dare to do it!?”
…
“Brother Yuan, are you going to PE class?”
Xie Wen Qi walked in front and Xia Yuan followed behind him. People passing by saw him and directly opened their mouths to greet him. Although they looked familiar, Xia Yuan couldn’t remember their names, so he just nodded and smiled in response.
When passing by the restroom, Xie Wen Qi turned around and handed the ball in his hand to Xia Yuan.
“Brother Yuan, wait for me, I’ll go release some water.”
Xia Yuan didn’t go to the restroom and just stood at the door while holding the ball. He looked inside the bathroom, at the big mirror in front of the sink. Xia Yuan could clearly see his appearance in the mirror.
Refreshing short hair, distinct and outstanding features, and a clean face. The simple short-sleeved school uniform on his body looked exceptionally nice.
This… is how I looked when I was 18! Did I return to the past? Did I get reincarnated!?
As he walked out of the bathroom, Xie Wen Qi saw Xia Yuan looking at himself in the mirror.
“Brother Yuan, stop looking! I know you’re handsome! Come on, let’s go to the stadium!”
Xie Wen Qi wanted to quickly go and play ball and urged Xia Yuan. He was a little confused. Why is Brother Yuan acting so weird today?
Previously, Xia Yuan always ran faster than rabbits when it was time for PE.
“Brother Yuan? Are you okay?” Xie Wen Qi was a little worried as Xia Yuan hadn’t moved.
“Nothing, let’s go.” Xia Yuan put aside his doubts and didn’t think about these things anymore. Things had already happened, so there was no point in dwelling on it. Besides, there was no reason to not be happy to become young again.
The two went downstairs, preparing to go to the playground.²
However, as Xia Yuan got down, he inadvertently moved his eyes and saw a familiar figure on the other stairs. That figure… is my wife! Or rather, she was his future wife.
Xia Yuan immediately turned around, ran up the stairs, and followed Ning Qing Yin. Xia Yuan looked at Ning Qing Yin, who had stopped at the door of his classroom.
At the moment, all the students in the class had PE, so there wasn’t anyone in the classroom. Ning Qing Yin walked into the classroom with something in her hand and then walked towards his seat with such confidence and familiarity that it was as if she had done it many times before. She bent down to put the thing in her hand into the drawer.
“What’s in your hand?” Xia Yuan was intrigued seeing Ning Qing Yin being sneaky, and he instantly got interested in the thing that she was holding.
Ning Qing Yin was frightened when she heard a sound behind her, and her hand shook, making the thing in her hand fall to the ground. However, Ning Qing Yin reacted quickly and picked up the thing and hid it behind her. Her face was red with nervousness, and she didn’t dare to look at Xia Yuan directly.
She stammered in a small voice, “No… nothing.”
Xia Yuan saw what was on the ground. It was a pink envelope with a small butterfly bow tie and a small heart on it. Looking at the decoration… it seemed to be a love letter. That letter made him remember something.
In his past life, he saw a love letter with the exact same decorations as this one in his drawer. At the time, he had complained about the decoration and just threw it into the trash can.
He didn’t open the letter and had no idea who sent it. He had never expected the love letter to be from his wife, and he had never realized until now Ning Qing Yin had a crush on him since high school! He had always thought that they developed feelings for each other when they got in touch after university.
The first time they met was at a high school reunion. Previously, Xia Yuan had only heard her name, and his sole impression of her was that everyone agreed that she was the school beauty. They later added each other’s WeChat during the reunion and got in touch more. She took the initiative to chat with him, showed concern for him, and maintained a friendly relationship with him.
That lasted until the time when he fell ill and stayed in the hospital for half a month. For that half month, Ning Qing Yin stayed with him and took care of him in the hospital every day.
He felt that Ning Qing Yin was way too kind to him, so he half-jokingly said, “If you aren’t my girlfriend after this, then it wouldn’t be worth all the trouble you went through these days.”
Unexpectedly, she just lightly smiled, nodded, and said, “Okay.”
Just like that, the two of them got together. There was no vigorous confession or emotions.
Two years after they got together, something happened to Xia Yuan’s family. Xia Yuan’s father died, so the responsibility of supporting the family fell onto him. On top of that, the company his father worked so hard was also on the brink of bankruptcy. This was truly the worst time of Xia Yuan’s life. Xia Yuan could have lost everything at any moment.
However, Ning Qing Yin continued to stay with him, encourage him, and support him, allowing them to pass the most difficult times in their lives.
Later, when Xia Yuan’s health and financial situation stabilized, the two of them got married.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ 服气. Convince, satisfy, succumb. Like when Person A beats Person B in something and asks, “Are you convinced (that I’m better than you)?”
² Author wrote playground instead of ball stadium this time, not sure if it was a typo or if it was intentional.