Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

"Alright, I'm really fine, I don't like anyone!" Xie Jiangqing forcefully changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, when are you two going to get your divorce certificate?"

Hu Mengdie shook her head and blinked: "It's still early, it hasn't been that long..."

Xie Jiangqing nodded, thinking to herself, "Is it still early? I thought it would be a month before I got here."

"Have you been on any blind dates lately?" Hu Mengdie asked.

"No, no, I'm so annoyed with work! I really envy you, being your own boss!"

"I'm busy too. Being the boss is more tiring than being an employee..."

"Why don't you just stop teaching and hire a new teacher? You can collect your year-end bonus!"

"When will I get the money? Are you going to support me?"

Xie Jiangqing said in a strange tone, "Go find your husband to support you, anyway, your husband can afford it!"

Hu Mengdie lightly slapped Xie Jiangqing: "Here you go again! I'm already divorced from him, how could I ask him for money again..."

Besides, it's really inhumane to take advantage of other people's goodwill and keep demanding things from them!
The two drove up to Qi Haoyu by the roadside, and he pointed to a restaurant next door and said with a smile, "Ladies, would you do me the honor of joining us today?"

"No need, we've already eaten." Xie Jiangqing didn't give the other person a friendly look and held out her hand, saying, "Where's the food?"

"Was it really necessary to have a little misunderstanding from the past?" Qi Haoyu smiled and shook his head, handing over a box.

"From now on, if you need anything, don't contact Hu Mengdie. Just tell me directly. She's a married woman now; don't let people misunderstand!"

Qi Haoyu blinked and asked, "Didn't Mengdie lose her memory? Do you like your current husband?"

Xie Jiangqing said impatiently, "What's it to you?"

"I just feel sorry for Mengdie," Qi Haoyu said with a hint of resentment. "She has no right to choose what she's doing, having to marry and live with someone she doesn't love!"

Hu Mengdie looked up at him, while Xie Jiangqing was already extremely annoyed: "This is none of your business!"

Qi Haoyu sighed, his face full of concern: "Your parents are quite domineering, aren't they? Are you forcing yourself again?"

Hu Mengdie opened her mouth, but remained silent.

"Don't worry, her husband is a hundred times better than you. Don't worry about Mengdie's affairs!" Xie Jiangqing clicked her tongue, then pulled Hu Mengdie away.

"Mengdie, if you need any help, just come to me!" Qi Haoyu didn't press the matter, but simply called out from behind the two of them.

Hu Mengdie couldn't help but turn around and glance at him; he was smiling at her.

"Ignore him!" Xie Jiangqing said.

“Oh…” Hu Mengdie turned her head away.

The two got into the car, and Xie Jiangqing stared at the box: "What's inside?"

Hu Mengdie hesitated for a moment, but still opened the box in front of Xie Jiangqing.

The box itself wasn't heavy; it contained a few small gifts exchanged between the two, with some photos underneath.

Hu Mengdie looked at these trinkets, touched them, but didn't recognize them. Then she took out the photos, only to find an envelope underneath.

She didn't open the envelope, but first picked up the photos to look at them; almost all of them were pictures of her and Qi Haoyu together. The photos looked quite old, but Hu Mengdie recognized the person in the photos—smiling—it was herself.

She also had many photos with Li Zhuangsheng, but when she looked at those photos, she always felt a sense of distance, a feeling of unfamiliarity, as if the person in the photos was not herself, but another mature and beautiful older sister.

In a sense, isn't our future selves just strangers?
And the person in these photos looked so familiar, clearly the one from my memories. Even with the less-than-clear image quality, her eyes and brows radiated a youthful smile that was clearly visible to the naked eye.

Hu Mengdie stared at the photos for a long time, lost in thought. For a moment, she felt dazed, as if she hadn't lost her memory, nor was she an adult. She was still that high school student who had dozed off in class, a child with countless wonderful dreams for the future.

She flipped through the photos of herself and Qi Haoyu, her eyes gradually becoming unfocused and misty. For a moment, she didn't know what expression to make.

The youthful beauty captured in that hazy, blurry image is something that cannot be imitated by the Polaroid photos taken with Li Zhuangsheng later on.

"These photos..."

Xie Jiangqing frowned as she looked at the photos, but she couldn't force them to be taken away, since these photos had all actually existed. They showed the two people in their black and white school uniforms, a glimpse of the campus, and those once carefree smiles.

"Did you remember anything?" Xie Jiangqing asked, thinking to herself, "Please don't let it just be things from high school!"
Hu Mengdie shook her head silently.

"Then don't look at it... what's so interesting about it!" Xie Jiangqing couldn't help but put the photo in Hu Mengdie's hand back into the box.

Hu Mengdie glanced at Xie Jiangqing with a puzzled expression. Why was Xie Jiangqing so averse to any connection between her and Qi Haoyu? She had already divorced Li Zhuangsheng. She always called Qi Haoyu a scumbag, but why wouldn't she explain why he was a scumbag?
Hu Mengdie currently has a good impression of Qi Haoyu. Although Xie Jiangqing always says that Qi Haoyu would deceive her with his body, he hasn't bothered her these past two days, and when he asked her to come pick up something, he even offered to bring Xie Jiangqing along. If Qi Haoyu were truly a con artist, would he say such things?

Xie Jiangqing was vague about the reasons for their breakup, only saying that Qi Haoyu had probably cheated on her. Qi Haoyu, however, said it was because he was too busy and unaccustomed to his new job, which led to misunderstandings between them.

She was a little unsure who to believe.

Putting the photos away, Hu Mengdie picked up the envelope again. The envelope wasn't thin; inside were three folded letters.

Hu Mengdie opened one of the letters; the paper was already yellowed. She recognized her own handwriting; it was a short essay, similar to a love letter, written to Qi Haoyu.

"How silly..."

Hu Mengdie read it silently, and the words inside made her face feel a little hot.

As they say, people act foolishly when they fall in love. She thought.

She then opened the next two letters, both written during their high school years, and the last one was written after their college entrance exams, promising something like forever.

Hu Mengdie watched silently, her nose tingling, and her eyes welled up with tears.

She didn't know why she wanted to cry; perhaps it was a sigh for the relationship that ended without a trace, perhaps it was sadness over her amnesia, or perhaps it was resentment.

I can't remember anything about myself; I've lost everything about my most beautiful first love.

"What are you looking at?"

After parking the car downstairs in Li Zhuangsheng's residential area, Xie Jiangqing tilted her head and glanced at it. In just one glance, she guessed what was going on.

"Why are you looking at these things?" Xie Jiangqing couldn't help but mutter. "Who hasn't made a fool of themselves when they were young?"

Hu Mengdie pursed her lips, not arguing, but simply humming in agreement.

She thought to herself, "Why does Xie Jiangqing treat such precious memories of mine with such contempt?" (End of Chapter)