After being reborn, I gained a childhood sweetheart who appeared out of nowhere.

When they left the mall, it was already 10:30 p.m. The two of them were lucky enough to catch the last shuttle bus back home. However, when they got back to their neighborhood, it was almost 11 p.m. and the streets were deserted.

Only the deep yellow streetlights cast long shadows on the two of them. Chen Xiyu walked ahead, occasionally stepping on Lin Chuan's shadow.

"Did you tell Aunt Zhang that you moved back?" Lin Chuan asked.

Chen Xiyu thought for a moment and said, "Mom probably knows."

Lin Chuan was taken aback. "What do you mean by 'should'?"

"I've already texted her, but I don't know if she'll see it or not." Chen Xiyu kicked at the fallen leaves at her feet, her tone calm and even indifferent.

Lin Chuan didn't press further. He didn't actually know much about Chen Xiyu's family situation, and since she didn't bring it up herself, he didn't press her further, since it didn't seem like something worth discussing.

Soon the two arrived at their respective front doors. Lin Chuan took out his key and opened his own door, and the first thing he saw was his mother sitting in the living room.

"Why are you back so late?" Mom asked.

"I accompanied someone to buy some things after the military training ended," Lin Chuan said truthfully.

"Why are you buying something so late at night?" Mom asked, puzzled.

"Aunt Wang, you're still awake? I asked Lin Chuan to go with me to buy sunscreen today," Chen Xiyu said with a smile, peeking out from behind Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan had been caught sneaking online before, but he always said he was out playing with Chen Xiyu. As long as he had this "shield," his mother wouldn't be angry because Chen Xiyu was a model student, and he could just buy her an ice cream afterwards.

This time, however, he wasn't lying, because it was indeed the other party who dragged him to buy things.

My mom smiled and asked, "Is your military training very tiring?"

"Ugh, I'm so tired, my legs are aching from standing, and it's so sunny," Chen Xiyu said.

"You must be exhausted. You should get some rest early tonight."

"Okay, Aunt Wang," Chen Xiyu said with a smile.

The door closed, and Lin Chuan returned to the house. His mother reminded him to wash up and get some rest before going back to her own room.

Lin Chuan took his clean clothes and went into the bathroom. He finished and came out ten minutes later.

Back in his room, Lin Chuan sat at his desk by the window, waiting for his hair to dry. He took out his phone and saw several unread messages. He clicked on a Totoro anime avatar; it was Zhao Jiajia.

"There are fifteen girls in total," Zhao Jiajia said. "But I think I forgot to ask Xiaoyu. Why don't you go ask her?"

Lin Chuan was taken aback and asked, "Who is Xiaoyu?"

"It's Chen Xiyu," Zhao Jiajia replied.

Lin Chuan was somewhat helpless. This girl gets to know people so quickly. They'd only exchanged a few words today, and she was already calling him "Xiao Yu"? And why does Mom call him "Xiao Xi"? There's also "Xiao Yu" here. They're just missing "Xiao Chen" to make a total of three names.

He'll call him Xiao Chen from now on, but that's more like how he addresses his subordinates at the company—Xiao Chen, Xiao Wang, and so on.

"I understand," Lin Chuan said. "Then our classmates will be charged according to the cost price I gave you, just charge them whatever amount is due."

"Oh, oh," Zhao Jiajia replied.

Lin Chuan continued typing, "If there are any others who haven't bought any, ask them privately. If it's because you're short on funds, you can send them a few pairs of disposable insoles privately, but don't tell anyone."

"Understood," Zhao Jiajia replied.

Just a moment later, Zhao Jiajia's chat window, which Lin Chuan had already closed, popped up again: "I've realized that you're definitely better than me as class monitor."

"Please note that I was appointed class monitor by Lao Xue; it wasn't my own choice," Lin Chuan said.

Zhao Jiajia responded with a chuckle.

The next day, it was just beginning to get light.

Lin Chuan was standing in front of his own door, about to knock, when the door opened and Chen Xiyu stood behind it. She was still wearing her military green training uniform, her long, soft hair tied in a ponytail, and she was carrying a light blue backpack.

"Let's go." Lin Chuan didn't say anything more after seeing the other person's expression.

"Wait a minute," Chen Xiyu suddenly called out to him.

Lin Chuan stopped and turned to look at her.

Chen Xiyu walked up to him, one hand hidden behind her back, and said, "Close your eyes."

"What? Are you trying to assassinate me?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Never mind that, just close your eyes."

Lin Chuan didn't know what his neighbor across the hall wanted to do, so he closed his eyes first.

A few seconds later, a cool breeze wafted over him, carrying a very faint floral fragrance. Lin Chuan opened his eyes in surprise, and Chen Xiyu was holding a white bottle of sunscreen spray in front of him.

"I'll spray some sunscreen on you," Chen Xiyu said.

Lin Chuan touched his face; it was still cool, with a thin layer of mist. "Is it a bit girly for a guy like me to spray this?"

"I can't tell, do you like getting tanned like a black ball?" Chen Xiyu put the sunscreen spray back into her backpack. She glanced inside and saw wet wipes, throat lozenges, and her own water bottle.

Sure enough, she was more experienced on the second day of military training and brought more things. However, she brought her own water, so the boys who wanted to give her water would be disappointed.

"A guy with dark spots looks manly," Lin Chuan said.

"Too much UV exposure will not only tan your skin, but also cause sunburn," Chen Xiyu earnestly advised.

"Okay, okay, Teacher Chen, let's hurry up or we'll be late," Lin Chuan said.

More than half an hour later, Lin Chuan and Chen Xiyu got off the bus together.

As soon as he got off the bus, he didn't go straight into the school. Instead, he walked to the breakfast stalls next to the school. There are always various stalls near the entrance of the No. 1 Middle School. He walked up to one of the uncles who had set up a steamer basket for breakfast and called out, "Uncle Zhao."

The middle-aged man looked up, glanced at Lin Chuan, and paused for a moment, then asked, "You're Xiao Chuan, right?"

"it's me."

"You've started attending No. 1 High School?"

"yes."

"You've got potential," Uncle Wang said with a smile.

Uncle Zhao is also a resident of that old neighborhood in Linchuan. However, because he sells breakfast every day from dawn till dusk, we haven't had many chances to meet recently. It seems that later on, due to the need for standardized management in front of the school, stalls were no longer allowed to be set up casually, so he stopped doing this.

At this moment, Uncle Wang saw Chen Xiyu again. Upon asking, he learned that she was the little girl who lived upstairs. He praised her again, saying things like how she had grown up to be so beautiful.

Uncle Wang opened a corner of the steamer, and white steam billowed out. "There are meat buns, vegetable buns, steamed buns, spring rolls... What do you two want to eat? Uncle Zhao is treating you today."

"Really? Thank you, Uncle Wang." Chen Xiyu said with a smile, not standing on ceremony. "Then I'll have a meat bun, a spring roll, and a cup of soy milk."

"Me too," Lin Chuan said.

"Okay." Uncle Wang skillfully packed them up and handed them over.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Wang, the two walked inside together. Chen Xiyu ate her breakfast with a smile, saying, "It's delicious."

Lin Chuan took a bite, and the hot, delicious meat juice overflowed, filling his mouth. Free things are indeed very tasty. He remembered that Uncle Zhao used to run a shop, making breakfast and fast food. Later, because of something happened to his child, the shop was sold and turned into a stall.

When they arrived at the playground, they parted ways. Chen Xiyu needed to go back to her dormitory to put away her backpack. She didn't want to bring her backpack during military training because it would get dirty. It's easy to wash dirty clothes, but it's not so easy to wash a backpack.

Lin Chuan searched the playground for a while and soon saw Wang Xu and Zhao Jiajia chatting together. It had only been a day, but the two seemed to be quite familiar with each other.

"Zhao Jiajia, Lao Wang," Lin Chuan greeted from afar, "Are you two free later?"

"It's okay," Zhao Jiajia said.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Xu asked.

"Of course we need you to do your part for the class," Lin Chuan said. "Come with me."

Lin Chuan led the two through the playground and basketball court, to the very end of the school wall, where there was a small wrought iron gate with an old lock.

"Old Lin, what are you doing?! Are you going to skip school?" Wang Xu asked. Back in junior high, the two of them had done this kind of thing before, so they were quite familiar with it, like climbing over walls and picking locks.

"Screw you, the insoles I bought yesterday will be delivered today. Come here to pick them up," Lin Chuan said casually.

Just then, his phone rang. After answering, he continued, "Boss, have you arrived yet? Yes, just keep walking along the wall, and you'll soon see a small iron gate. I'll be waiting for you there."

"I know," came the middle-aged man's voice from the phone.