Reincarnation: Trying to pretend to be ordinary, but it turns out it's really impossible.

After walking with her mother, Su Ningning returned home. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Shen Xingbai and her father huddled together in the living room.

They were chatting and laughing, the atmosphere was harmonious and relaxed.

Su Ningning walked over quickly and asked curiously, "What are you two talking about that makes you so happy?"

Su's father glanced at her and smiled subtly.

"It's nothing, we just talked about your university days. I didn't expect you to have such a colorful life at school."

Su Ningning tilted her head and thought for a moment, then realized it wasn't a big deal.

In the following days, Shen Xingbai suddenly mentioned that she was going to visit her older and younger cousins.

They said they wanted to send them study materials.

Su Ningning was puzzled and couldn't help but ask him:

"Didn't you always send it by express mail or electronic copy before? Why did you insist on delivering a paper copy in person this time?"

A barely perceptible smile flashed in Shen Xingbai's eyes, but he spoke with remarkable naturalness:

"It's a rare opportunity to come to Ningcheng. I'll definitely be busy with work afterwards, and I might not even have time to come back for the Spring Festival."

"Since we have some free time now, let's go see the elders together and chat with the younger siblings."

"Oh." Su Ningning subconsciously wanted to slack off. "Can I not go? I want to stay at home."

Without a word, Shen Xingbai reached out and grabbed her hand, his tone brooking no refusal:

"No, we both have to go."

After saying that, he took her hand and began visiting each house one by one.

After running around like this, Su Ningning couldn't help but complain in her heart that these past two days had been even busier and more tiring than the busy New Year's greetings.

When they arrived at each of their relatives' homes, the elders looked at the two of them holding hands and smiled meaningfully. Then they thanked Shen Xingbai profusely.

Su Ningning quietly stayed by Shen Xingbai's side, listening to their casual conversation.

She suddenly felt as if she were accompanying Shen Xingbai to his relative's house.

Until they went to the last cousin's house, the one where they had previously asked Shen Xingbai for her contact information.

Just as Shen Xingbai turned to say a few words to some elders, his cousin immediately came over, grabbed Su Ningning, and questioned her:

"Didn't you say Shen Xingbai is gay?"

Su Ningning was completely bewildered: "What does 'gay' mean?"

My cousin took a deep breath, rolled her eyes, and gave her a rather irritating explanation:

"You don't even know what 'gay' means? Are you even a modern person? 'Gay' just means you like boys."

Su Ningning blinked slightly, then immediately shook her head.

"Then he definitely isn't! He doesn't like men, how could he be gay?"

"But you told me last time," my cousin said, frowning.

"He's only ever around guys, never girls? Even if girls write him love letters, he doesn't even look at them and just throws them in the trash?"

Su Ningning nodded blankly and responded truthfully:

"Yes, that's what he told me. He said he only associates with boys at school."

He never got close to those girls; he wouldn't even read their love letters, he'd just throw them in the trash.

My cousin fell silent immediately after hearing this.

She seemed to smell a strong, sour, pungent scent of romance.

Happy days always fly by, and a week passed in the blink of an eye. It was time for Shen Xingbai to leave.

During this time, He Siqi and Zhang Tianyu took turns sending him messages.

A barrage of messages kept coming in, urging him to go back to work.

Su Ningning didn't go with him; she planned to return to school closer to the start of the semester.

She had already made plans for the rest of the summer vacation.

Once Shen Xingbai left, she teamed up with Fu Jingyan and the others to climb the ranks, play ranked matches, and have a blast playing together—whatever made her happy.

Shen Xingbai stood at the door, looking at Su Ningning beside him, who was beaming with joy and showed no sign of reluctance to part with him.

A bittersweet feeling welled up inside me.

He stepped forward, reached out and pulled Su Ningning into his arms, gently resting his chin on the top of her head.

He held her tightly, refusing to let go, his voice muffled, filled with deep reluctance:

"I really have to go. Don't you even want me to stay a little longer?"

Su Ningning reached out and patted his back, looking completely at ease: "But your work is important, I'll come find you when school starts."

With a hint of reluctance in her eyes, Shen Xingbai asked softly, "Will you miss me after I leave?"

Su Ningning tilted her head and thought for a moment, then answered seriously, "I'll probably miss you when I'm not playing games."

Shen Xingbai was immediately amused and annoyed. He gently poked her forehead with his fingertip and said helplessly:

"Can't you think of me when you're playing games? Can't you think of me anytime, anywhere?"

"That won't do," Su Ningning blinked, speaking with absolute certainty.

"If I'm distracted by thinking about you while playing games, I'll definitely make mistakes and won't be able to play the game well."

She paused, then quickly added:

"But I'll definitely think of you when I'm eating, and also when I'm eating cakes!"

Shen Xingbai couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to gently pinch her soft cheeks.

Are you sure you miss me, or just the food and desserts I made for you?

Su Ningning grinned, revealing two small canine teeth, and said matter-of-factly, "We have them all, they're all the same anyway!"

Shen Xingbai sighed helplessly.

He carried his luggage to the door, paused, and then suddenly turned back.

Su Ningning tilted her head: "What is it now? We'll see each other when school starts, there's no need to be so clingy."

He didn't say anything, but gently cupped her face in his hands, lowered his head, and kissed her pouting lips hard: "You heartless wretch."

After the kiss, he turned and walked away quickly without looking back.

Su Ningning stood there, watching his car slowly drive out of sight, and suddenly felt empty inside, as if a piece of her heart was missing.

She was playing games with some friends that night, and she lost focus several times in a row, missing her skills and making positioning mistakes. What was usually a game where she could easily win was now a struggle.

Only then did she belatedly realize that she couldn't help but think of him when playing games.

When Shen Xingbai made a video call that evening, she lay on the bed and muttered softly:

I thought of you while I was playing games today.

Shen Xingbai's eyes lit up with surprise, and her tone became lighthearted: "Really?"

"Really," Su Ningning said with a sullen face, "We almost lost the game today. Jiang Hao even suspected that the other team had changed players."

Shen Xingbai chuckled softly, "Then why don't you come find me?"

"No," Su Ningning shook her head, "I still want to stay at home. Let's wait until school starts, maybe I won't want to anymore in a few days."

Shen Xingbai was both angry and amused, but he couldn't do anything about it.

The two chatted casually about the day's events before reluctantly hanging up the phone.

Sure enough, a few days later, Su Ningning got into the zone completely, no longer getting distracted while playing games, and her skills became both steady and ruthless.

That day, he was playing games with Jiang Hao and Lin Xu, and the two of them were getting thoroughly thrashed by Su Ningning.

Jiang Hao initially tried to hold on, but eventually he couldn't take it anymore and decided it would be better to team up with Sister Su to crush others.

Su Ningning didn't care.

While the group was playing games and chatting, Jiang Hao suddenly mentioned something:

"Sister Su, now that you've joined the first team, you'll definitely have to participate in internal challenge matches, right?"

"An internal challenge?"

Jiang Hao explained, "Well, you suddenly landed in Team 1, so there's bound to be some people who're not happy about it."

After all, the team is ranked according to strength; whoever is stronger has more say. Those veteran players probably want to put you on your toes.

Su Ningning's eyes lit up, and she said with great interest, "Great! I was just worried about not having any opponents. I've been so bored playing games these past few days."

Jiang Hao: "..."

Lin Xu: "..."

"We are sorry to Sister Su. We are too weak and not worthy of you."

Su Ningning thought about it seriously: "It's alright, at least you guys are much better than the randomly matched strangers."

Jiang Hao and Lin Xu: "..."

Su Ningning added, "You two need to practice more. Now that you're in the second team, your skills are really not up to par."

Jiang Hao's face fell immediately, and he wailed:

"Sister Su! Not everyone is as abnormally strong as you!"

Our skill level is definitely among the top in Team 2. If it weren't for someone using connections to jump the queue, we would have been a sure thing in Team 2 long ago!

Su Ningning raised an eyebrow slightly, showing no mercy whatsoever:

"Alright. But Fu Jingyan has also joined the second team. Compared to him, the gap between you two is quite obvious."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hao and Lin Xu both became speechless, looking utterly dejected, and immediately begged for mercy.

"Sister Su, please, please stop talking. Let's just play the game, okay?"

"All right."