Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

"Hu Mengdie..." he called cautiously, "Your parents might come over tonight. Should I lock the door? Don't worry, I'll just stay here and won't do anything!"

Hu Mengdie remained silent.

“Then I’ll lock it,” Li Zhuangsheng said again.

Hu Mengdie remained silent.

Li Zhuangsheng carefully turned the lock; he was really tired and didn't want to argue anymore.

"My family doesn't allow us to lock the door."

Hu Mengdie finally spoke again. She raised her head and spoke softly, her voice indistinguishable between a sob and self-mockery.

Li Zhuangsheng was stunned again. What kind of rule was it not to lock the door? Or did Hu Mengdie not want to lock the door herself?

Are you stupid? What if your parents come in and see us like this if we don't lock the door? Do you expect me to listen for every sound outside the door?

"Then, shall I go and tell your parents?" Li Zhuangsheng said.

His response was still silence.

Li Zhuangsheng sighed heavily, slowly got up, opened the door and left, then knocked on his parents-in-law's room door. He asked if he could lock the door, and unsurprisingly received the reply, "It's your room, you can lock it if you want."

"I asked your parents, and they said it's okay to lock it." Li Zhuangsheng returned to the bedroom, locked the door, and then shrank back into a corner to sit down. He thought to himself, "Now what excuse do you have?"
Perhaps Hu Mengdie herself didn't want to lock the door. But Li Zhuangsheng was tired and didn't want to keep guessing with her, nor did he want to be constantly on guard against her parents' "room checks."

If Hu Mengdie doesn't say anything, then let's just keep it locked up like this.

Hu Mengdie looked up at Li Zhuangsheng, her lips moved, but she didn't say a word.

The two remained silent, lost in thought. Li Zhuangsheng stared at his phone; perhaps from sitting for too long, his buttocks began to ache, so he shifted his position, but the pain persisted.

Suddenly, Hu's mother sent Li Zhuangsheng a WeChat message, reminding him to turn off the lights and rest early if he saw it.

“Your mom said to turn off the lights earlier.” Li Zhuangsheng waved his phone. “Want to take a look?”

Hu Mengdie silently reached out and pressed the switch by the bed. Li Zhuangsheng was quite satisfied with Hu Mengdie's cooperation at this moment; it at least made him feel much more relaxed.

Is she going to sleep? Li Zhuangsheng turned his phone brightness down to almost the lowest setting.

However, a short while later, the phone's glow reappeared on the bed. So Li Zhuangsheng turned the phone's brightness up a little more.

The two fell silent again, with Li Zhuangsheng shrinking into the corner behind the door.

He grew increasingly bored, constantly dragging the animation's progress bar. He suddenly felt like Lu Mingfei, who was with Erii—both were unlucky guys with beautiful girls, but at least Lu Mingfei had a bathtub to lie in.

But thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem right. Hu Mengdie doesn't resemble Erii at all. The other person is Nuonuo... oh no, the other person should be Chen Wenwen.

However, Hu Mengdie is prettier than Chen Wenwen. Although it's not appropriate to compare fictional characters with real people, Li Zhuangsheng has never actually seen anyone more beautiful than Hu Mengdie.

If we're talking about someone prettier than Hu Mengdie is now, the only one is Hu Mengdie at 16.

Li Zhuangsheng recalled Hu Mengdie, who wore an orange and white short-sleeved school uniform. Her ponytail swayed behind her head like a butterfly fluttering up and down.

It seems like only yesterday, the memory is still so vivid. Who knew that three days in the cave felt like a thousand years in the human world?

"If I hadn't taken that nap, would I still be a high school student now?" Li Zhuangsheng wondered. He shifted his position, thinking, "If Lu Mingfei had confessed his feelings back then, in that Michelin-starred restaurant, would I be in the same situation as I am now?"
That doesn't make sense, does it? He's an S-rank, has Lu Mingze as a cheat code, Chu Zihang and Caesar both take care of him, Principal Angers treats him like his own son, he has a Russian loli following him around, and a group of caregivers always on standby. Chen Wenwen is no match for him!

You can't make wild guesses about others just because you think this way!

Thinking about it carefully, I really didn't know Lu Mingfei had all these features, and yet he's always talking about this thing all the time!
If I had that many cheat codes, I'd sleep with Chen Wenwen first, then Liu Miaomiao, and I wouldn't let Su Xiaoqiang go either... Oh, why make so much trouble? Lu Mingze, come and set up a harem for me, one empress, four concubines, and nine consorts, I want Erii to be my empress!
Li Zhuangsheng thought fiercely, then suddenly chuckled to himself.

In fact, Li Zhuangsheng has a strong first love complex. In any work of art, he hopes the male protagonist will end up with the girl he first loved. He can't quite explain why. Although in most works of art, such female characters are usually just cannon fodder.

When he watched Dragon Raja 1, he kept thinking that Chen Wenwen would fall for Lu Mingfei and be completely indifferent to Nuonuo. Even though Chen Wenwen chose that other person.

When he watched Dragon Raja 2, he saw Chen Wenwen break up with that person and thought Lu Mingfei's opportunity had come. In fact, things seemed to be going smoothly. At that Michelin restaurant, Li Zhuangsheng once thought that the two of them were going to get together... But Lu Mingfei eventually backed down.

Even in Dragon Raja 2, he still secretly hoped to see Chen Wenwen fall for Lu Mingfei. But when he saw Lu Mingfei about to confess his feelings, he suddenly felt a little unwilling.

What makes Chen Wenwen so special now? After being used and dumped by that guy, she falls for Lu Mingfei, whom she used to look down on. If that's the case, why couldn't she have liked Lu Mingfei from the beginning?!

So, while anticipating it, he was also filled with resentment and unwillingness.

"Are you asleep?"

The voice was so soft it didn't sound like a question.

Li Zhuangsheng looked up, thinking he had misheard.

"I'm sorry..." Hu Mengdie said softly again.

Perhaps because of the slap from Hu's father, or perhaps out of gratitude for Li Zhuangsheng standing in front of her, she gradually calmed down and felt that she had let Li Zhuangsheng down a bit.

Actually, Li Zhuangsheng didn't do anything wrong; he was quite innocent.

He likes me so much, but what I said today was indeed inappropriate and hurtful. Regardless of whether it was true or not, I shouldn't have said it like that.

"Huh? Oh...it's nothing."

Li Zhuangsheng waved his hand gently. He wasn't sure why Hu Mengdie was apologizing—was it because of what she said at the dinner table, because she felt she had caused him trouble today, or because of her previous attitude?

But it doesn't matter, whatever the reason, he can say he's fine.

Hearing that Li Zhuangsheng forgave her so easily, Hu Mengdie was not surprised.

Not every "I'm sorry" can be met with an "It's okay," but her "I'm sorry" certainly can; she's long been used to it.

“You’ve been sitting on the ground for so long, it must be uncomfortable,” Hu Mengdie said softly.

"Ah...ah...actually, it's alright..."

Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head, thinking that he really felt uncomfortable and wanted to go home and sleep in his bed.

Then Hu Mengdie spoke softly again: "You can sit on the chair or sleep on the table."

(End of this chapter)