Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

"Speak up, what's going on?"

Xie Jiangqing slammed her hand on the table angrily.

Li Zhuangsheng and Hu Mengke exchanged a glance. Li Zhuangsheng then draped his coat over Hu Mengke's shoulders, saying, "It's cold, don't get cold."

"I'm talking to you!" Xie Jiangqing's forehead veins bulged.

"Speak up, I'm listening..."

Li Zhuangsheng lowered his head and spoke in a muffled voice. Sure enough, joy turns to sorrow, and fortune and misfortune are intertwined... Li Zhuangsheng was just fantasizing about which anime heroine Hu Mengke would cosplay in the future when Xie Jiangqing caught him cheating on her in bed.

Fortunately, it was Xie Jiangqing who caught her, at least it wasn't Hu Mengdie.

"When did you two get together?!" Xie Jiangqing's face turned ashen.

Li Zhuangsheng muttered to himself, "This is a long and complicated story..."

"How can you do this to Hu Mengdie?!"

"Uh...you can't say that. Strictly speaking, I shouldn't have wronged her...we're divorced..."

Xie Jiangqing was momentarily speechless, then burst into anger: "Didn't you just apply for the divorce? You haven't even gotten the divorce certificate yet! Besides, you're doing this right after the divorce? It's like a seamless transition!"

"The prerequisite for a seamless transition is that we were connected before, right? Hu Mengdie and I never had any feelings for each other... It shouldn't matter who I'm with, right..."

"You son of a bitch..." Xie Jiangqing was furious and stepped forward to tear at Li Zhuangsheng's face. "Try arguing with me again!"

"Ooh...Ooh...kerosene..."

"Hmph, do you know that's cheating on me!" Xie Jiangqing gritted her teeth. "What you're doing is scum! You can't like Hu Mengdie and then... Ugh, I'm too ashamed to even say it! How can you keep giving up on yourself like this!"

"Let's go to bed, why the hell did you have to wear this kind of sexy outfit!" Xie Jiangqing glanced at Hu Mengke's strange halter dress, feeling both angry and helpless.

"Huh?" Li Zhuangsheng was speechless for a moment, blinking his eyes. "No, what are you talking about? I already said I don't like Hu Mengdie!"

"What's the use of being stubborn now! You don't have a chance to like me now, hmph!"

"I really don't like Hu Mengdie, you're just slandering me!" Li Zhuangsheng said, pulling Hu Mengke close. "I only like Mengke!"

Xie Jiangqing was taken aback... She looked Li Zhuangsheng up and down, her gaze filled with scrutiny and doubt. After a long while, she asked, "You don't like Mengdie?"

“Yes, if I liked her, why would I be in such a hurry to divorce her?” Li Zhuangsheng felt extremely wronged.

"Why don't you like her?" Xie Jiangqing was taken aback again.

"Why would I like her?" Li Zhuangsheng asked, looking puzzled. "Like her... I didn't even know her before!"

Xie Jiangqing blinked, her face filled with confusion and bewilderment, as if to say, "Is this a reason?"
"You, you...you swear?"

"I swear!" Li Zhuangsheng raised his hand. "I really don't like Hu Mengdie. What is it about Hu Mengdie that I like?"

He had a crush on this campus goddess before, but that was all. Even a loser like him would be attracted to a beautiful lady... But when it comes to feelings of "liking," he probably liked the girl who gave him the "golden lock" more.

Of course, none of that matters now. That lively and cheerful girl is probably already happily married, and he now has his favorite Hu Mengke.

"You, you're lying!" Xie Jiangqing's pupils dilated in shock.

"I've already sworn an oath, what more do you want from me!"

"You, you actually don't like Hu Mengdie..."

Xie Jiangqing muttered to herself, looking incredulous, which puzzled Li Zhuangsheng. He gently nudged her and asked, "Are you alright? How did you figure out that I like Hu Mengdie?"

"So you took her home that night?"

"Isn't that... helping others?"

"You usually help her out so much?"

"I already said it, it's about helping others!"

"She...she told you to sleep on the floor and you did?"

"She only has one bed, I can't exactly be a pervert, can I? Besides, if I don't sleep in her room, her parents might beat her up again... Oh, right, it's also a way of helping others!"

Xie Jiangqing's eyes grew increasingly blank: "All that you did for her was for the sake of helping others?"

Li Zhuangsheng nodded, taking it for granted: "Yes, she's had a tough time too, let's all help each other out."

Xie Jiangqing's lips twitched, emitting a dry sound that was hard to tell whether it was a cry or a laugh.

"Hehe, hehehe... But how could you not like her..."

"How did we end up back where we started?" Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head, feeling like he was about to cry. "Liking someone might need a reason, but disliking someone doesn't need a reason, right?"

"Isn't Mengdie pretty?"

“Meng Ke is very pretty too!” Li Zhuangsheng said.

Xie Jiangqing pressed further, "Yes, they're both beautiful, so why do you like her instead of your wife?"

"What nonsense..." Li Zhuangsheng felt that Xie Jiangqing's words were a bit strange, but he still answered honestly, "Because she likes me, she is very good to me... and she cooks for me and does housework for me every day. I think Mengke is a very excellent girl!"

Of course, it's also because the two of them had a relationship inexplicably in the beginning.

Xie Jiangqing fell silent, her eyes shifting and unfocused, lost in thought. Li Zhuangsheng and Hu Mengke exchanged glances, and Hu Mengke pouted playfully.

"...When did you two get together?" After a long silence, Xie Jiangqing asked in a hoarse voice.

"Anyway, it was after I lost my memory..." Li Zhuangsheng looked at Hu Mengke, then couldn't help but ask for confirmation, "Right?"

Hu Mengke nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Mmm!"

"Yeah, so I wouldn't call it cheating, right?" Li Zhuangsheng blinked his innocent eyes.

"You, you don't consider this cheating?"

"Hu Mengdie didn't treat me like a husband, and I didn't treat her like a wife. Besides, we've already divorced peacefully, so it's not wrong for us to find our own partners... She can go find Qi Haoyu too!"

Qi Haoyu,
Upon hearing this name, Xie Jiangqing's pupils constricted sharply: "How did you know...?"

What a stupid question. Even in Li Zhuangsheng and Hu Mengdie's current memories, Hu Mengdie and Qi Haoyu hadn't started dating yet... but Li Xiuyu knew, Hu Mengke knew, and it could even be said that everyone from Xingpeng back then knew. It was never a secret.

“I saw it,” Li Zhuangsheng said.

"You saw them together?"

"Yes, there are videos on Bilibili."

Xie Jiangqing stared blankly at Li Zhuangsheng: "bilibili?"

"It's Bilibili, don't you know it?"

"What video?" Li Zhuangsheng subconsciously touched his pocket, then remembered that his phone was in Hu Mengke's down jacket, and went to Hu Mengke to retrieve it.

"I remember... what was it again..." Li Zhuangsheng muttered, recalling the keywords Zhang Qixiang had entered, and finally found the video from back then.

I want to be with Brother Qi forever!
Xie Jiangqing's face turned pale instantly, her lips trembled, and she said anxiously, "They, they are just..."

So that's how it is. She remembered Li Zhuangsheng's strange, high-pitched voice earlier.

"Uh, I know, I know...they were just together before," Li Zhuangsheng quickly reassured her. "I know she didn't cheat on me after marriage!"

"Yeah! Who hasn't met the wrong person when they were young..."

"Uh, you also have a Brother Qi?"

"I didn't!" Xie Jiangqing quickly retorted, as if afraid of being tainted by something dirty. Suddenly realizing something, she quickly slapped Li Zhuangsheng, "Don't give me this nonsense. What are you thinking right now!"

"What else can I think? I've already gotten a divorce... And look, Hu Mengdie now likes her Qi... cough cough, Qi Haoyu, right? Isn't that perfect..."

Xie Jiangqing firmly objected: "We can't let her go to Qi Haoyu!"

Li Zhuangsheng asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Xie Jiangqing frowned, clicking her tongue in exasperation: "Do you even know who Qi Haoyu is?"

Li Zhuangsheng shook his head: "I don't know... Isn't he a good person?"

"Anyway, it's probably not a good thing!"

“You can’t say ‘should’… Oh, Xie Jiangqing, I know you’re a good person, and you want Hu Mengdie and me to be happy, but love is a matter of freedom. You can’t stop Hu Mengdie from pursuing love…”

"This has nothing to do with love... I've already said Qi Haoyu isn't a good person. Even if he were, Hu Mengdie would still get hurt if she were with him!"

"why?"

"Because it was like that before!"

"Just because they didn't get along before doesn't mean they still don't get along now... Maybe Qi Haoyu will learn from his past experiences? Uh, by the way, is Qi Haoyu married?"

"He's a nobody! He works at a relative's factory, earning only five thousand a month!"

“Five thousand is not low, it’s higher than my salary at work…” Li Zhuangsheng thought about the income text message he received from the bank a few days ago and felt a little sad for no reason.

"He's not even comparable to you!"

"I'm not writing a novel right now... What bad things did he do in the past?"

Li Zhuangsheng sighed. He thought to himself that Qi Haoyu was quite handsome and earned more than him when he didn't write novels, so he really didn't understand why he was rated so low.

Xie Jiangqing asked angrily, "I don't know... Hey, what's wrong with you? You just watched Hu Mengdie jump into the fire, and now you're not doing a good deed?"

"It's their choice to be in a relationship, what can I do? I don't know if it's a bad situation or not... You should talk to her."

"She won't listen to me!"

"Oh, then she'll listen to me even less..."

Li Zhuangsheng thought to himself that Hu Mengdie had been wanting to find Qi Haoyu for a long time, and might have even secretly met him. Xie Jiangqing, you're going a bit too far! Since Hu Mengdie already has someone she loves, you can keep it from me, but why keep bothering me?
"No, no, how did it turn out like this!"

Xie Jiangqing shook his head vigorously. He had clearly come to confront Li Zhuangsheng, but somehow he had fallen into Li Zhuangsheng's rhythm.

Hu Mengke got up and went out.

"Where are you going?" Xie Jiangqing quickly grabbed her.

"It's time to make dinner, Sister Jiang Qing. Why don't you stay for dinner tonight?" Hu Mengke smiled slightly.

Xie Jiangqing was about to lose her temper and was extremely frustrated: "Is this about food?"

"Xie Jiangqing, since you know, then you know." Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head. "Mengke and I are dating now. You can scold me if you want, but don't scold her... Besides, I think Mengke and I are dating legitimately, and Hu Mengdie and I haven't done anything, so it's not like I'm two-timing!"

Xie Jiangqing was speechless. She quietly looked at Li Zhuangsheng with an inexplicable gaze, remaining silent for a long, long time.

Is it truly beyond repair?

Xie Jiangqing's sigh broke the silence.

"Unless both she and I regain our memories... I can't say what will happen then."

Are you still blaming Mengdie and holding a grudge against her?

"There's nothing strange about it. She doesn't like me anyway. It's just a girl's instinctive reaction when something like this happens."

Xie Jiangqing said calmly again, "I thought you liked her..."

Li Zhuangsheng asked in surprise, "Why would you think that?"

"Isn't Mengdie very pretty? Wouldn't any normal man be interested in her?"

"Uh, it shouldn't be that bad..."

Li Zhuangsheng thought to himself, "I haven't yet discovered any other merits of Hu Mengdie besides her beauty... except for her strong drive. Unlike me, a lazy bum, she goes to work early, but her performance at work isn't great either."

Oh, no, she can also dance... Li Zhuangsheng couldn't help but think back to the blue sky during his first year of high school military training, a sky as romantic as a fairy tale... He had recalled that scene countless times, but for some reason, recently that scene has become increasingly blurry, so blurry that he has begun to doubt whether he has ever really seen that graceful dance.

"How could it not be?" Xie Jiangqing thought to herself.

Being Hu Mengdie's friend is truly unfortunate; whenever the two of them are together, she steals all the spotlight.

Xie Jiangqing had noticed this a long time ago, but it wasn't until college that she realized reality was even crueler than she had imagined.

That lousy second-tier university student, who was bored out of her mind, had quite a few guys pursuing her. She thought maybe it was time to start a relationship, since she was just idling around anyway. Just then, a familiar-looking guy walked into her field of vision; the resemblance in his features made her feel inexplicably nostalgic.

That's him.

The boy was quite ingratiating towards her, which made Xie Jiangqing very pleased, as if she had returned to that nostalgic and fun time... Until not long after, she took the boy to meet Hu Mengdie.

Not long after, she dumped the boy.

Many men continued to pursue her, but Xie Jiangqing would always show them a picture of Hu Mengdie. She couldn't explain her feelings; perhaps it was playfulness, perhaps self-deprecation… but without exception, they all showed interest in Hu Mengdie.

Even after all these years of blind dates, Xie Jiangqing would still mention her beautiful best friend, and they would still not believe her. She would still take out Hu Mengdie's photo and then admire their expressions.

As always, their eyes gleamed with admiration, and they couldn't help but ask about Hu Mengdie's personal information... Xie Jiangqing once thought that if anyone could refrain from mentioning Hu Mengdie before parting ways, she might give them a chance.

But it's a pity.

So how could there be a man who doesn't like Hu Mengdie? But Li Zhuangsheng, Hu Mengdie's nominal husband, just doesn't like her.

Xie Jiangqing dared not tell anyone that when she heard these words from Li Zhuangsheng, she couldn't help but feel a wicked, secret joy; she was actually secretly chuckling to herself in a despicable way. (End of Chapter)