Reborn in 2006, I met Mr. Zhou from the past.

Su Fengnan was drinking yogurt and thinking when someone suddenly sat down at the table.

"Su Fengnan," Wang Bo suddenly called her.

Su Fengnan looked up, her face blank: "Huh?"

"Hey, Wang Bo, what are you up to now?" Ning Xiaojun pushed up her glasses and glared at him.

"Hehe, Saturday is my birthday, I'd like to invite you two out to have some fun."

Su Fengnan and Ning Xiaojun exchanged a glance.

Ning Xiaojun asked, "Where is it? We won't go if it's too far."

"Over there by the Rainbow Bridge and the lake, you can fly kites, ride bicycles, and have barbecues. How about it, you two ladies, do me the honor?" Wang Bo said with a smile.

He and Ning Xiaojun were junior high school classmates, and their families were both in the county town. They knew each other well and he knew that she was just a playful person.

Before the two could reply, the school bell rang.

"It's settled then, you two absolutely have to come!" With that, Wang Bo dashed back to his seat.

The classroom gradually quieted down. After all the students had arrived, the young male teacher walked in carrying a stack of test papers and a ruler.

Sigh, it's math class again. Su Fengnan's heart tightened; she dreaded math the most, and she was probably going to get punished again today.

The math teacher stood on the podium, his face gloomy and displeased.

The classroom instantly fell silent; you could hear a pin drop. Everyone lowered their heads, barely daring to breathe, staring intently at their textbooks, afraid that if they accidentally looked up and made eye contact with the teacher, they would be dragged away and criticized.

The teacher started calling roll, and the students whose names were called went up to receive their papers. Anyone who scored below 90 was punished with a ruler.

"Zhou Li, 65 points."

"Snap—" A crisp sound, it hurt just to hear it.

"Ruan Mingfeng, 79 points..."

"Jiang Xue, 78 points..."

"Zhou Jian, 80 points..."

Su Fengnan wasn't spared either; she scored 78 points and also received a beating with a ruler. Having just been injured in a collision yesterday, being beaten today was truly adding insult to injury.

Ning Xiaojun scored 108 points and was thankful to have escaped a disaster.

This was last Friday's exam, and it's only being released now. This slow-paced and somewhat forgetful math teacher is just...I just want to put a sack over his head.

It seems that math tutoring is really urgent.

After the hair curling test, the math teacher didn't start the lesson. Instead, he turned around and wrote two words on the blackboard: "College Entrance Examination".

He put down the chalk, placed his hands on the podium, and began to speak:

"Today is the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao), so we won't have a class today. Instead, I'll talk about my Gaokao experience back then."

Then, in a friendly tone, he earnestly recounted his college entrance examination experience and emotional journey.

After hearing this, the students' initial frustration at being beaten eased considerably.

It's like being hit with a stick and then given a treat; you want to cry but can't.

"Alright, your lives are your own. How you live them and what kind of life you become depends entirely on your choices now. Every day in the future, you will pay the price for the decisions you make today. Students, cherish the present. get out of class dismissed."

After saying that, the math teacher glanced at the time and left the classroom.

The next two classes in the morning were followed by a surprise quiz from the Chinese teacher. Everyone was already used to these unprepared tests.

In the teacher's words: You must be prepared at all times.

For Su Fengnan, Chinese was much easier than math. By the time the teacher reminded her that there were ten minutes left to hand in her paper, she had already finished writing and checking it, and planned to hand it in early and leave.

As she stood up, she whispered to Ning Xiaojun, "I've handed in my paper. Are you going to?"

Ning Xiaojun nodded gently: "Mm."

After the two handed in their papers, the rest of the class also handed in their papers one after another.

As they walked out of the classroom, Ning Xiaojun caught up with Su Fengnan in the stairwell.

"Susu, wait for me."

Su Fengnan turned around, and Ning Xiaojun immediately took her arm: "How did your exam go?"

"I didn't finish the poetry fill-in-the-blank exercise, and the composition was a bit difficult too. Oh well, whatever," Ning Xiaojun said nonchalantly.

Su Fengnan shook his head helplessly as he looked at her carefree attitude.

"SuSu, it's Wang Bo's birthday this weekend, do you want to go?"

As they spoke, the two had already reached the playground.

"It's not certain yet, I might go home this weekend," Su Fengnan said.

"Come on, let's go for a bike ride together," Ning Xiaojun said, clinging to her arm and acting coquettishly.

"Hey, you seem to have chosen the wrong person to fawn over." Su Fengnan deliberately made a disgusted expression.

"Oh, come on, come on." Ning Xiaojun clung to her even tighter.

Su Fengnan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had no choice but to agree: "Then... I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

The two chatted and laughed all the way to the school gate, where they waved goodbye.

In the internet cafe, Su Fengnan opened a webpage and saw that her novel's readership had exceeded a thousand, and subscriptions were still steadily increasing. There were also many fans leaving comments below, some following the updates, and others urging for more updates—all without any promotion or publicity.

She immediately decided to apply for a contract. Only by signing a contract could she increase her exposure. After filling in all the information and confirming that everything was correct, she clicked submit.

Looking at the time, there was still an hour before class, so Su Fengnan hurried to continue writing the next part of the story.

This novel was written in her previous life when she was recuperating at home from depression. At that time, her mental state fluctuated. One day, she felt particularly gloomy and almost couldn't hold on, but she still wanted to leave something behind in the world, so she decided to write down the story in her heart.

At first, the writing was chaotic, a jumble of thoughts, but as she wrote, she gradually became more clear-headed. She began to ponder the plot, contemplate the meaning of the story, and revised it from scratch, straightening out every illogical part. By the time the novel was finished, her depression had gradually subsided. She has always been grateful that this unwavering dedication had pulled her out of the abyss.

At that time, she lacked confidence and was afraid that others would not like it, so she kept it on her phone and never posted it.

Having been reborn, she has the opportunity to choose her future again, and this time, she doesn't want to back down.

The novel is called "Return," a modern female-centric story about rebirth. The protagonist endures childhood hardships and heartbreak in her youth, dies with resentment, and is reborn to seek revenge, repay kindness, and save herself.

In the story, the reborn female protagonist is fully awakened in terms of thought, economy, emotion, and spirit. She is no longer timid and dares to break through worldly views. She is economically independent, emotionally self-sufficient, and spiritually autonomous, creating a clear-headed and self-reliant modern woman.

Su Fengnan typed very quickly, after all, it was a story she had already written once, and she already had a draft in mind. In just six days, she had already written 100,000 words.

Now, all we have to do is wait for the contract application to be approved.

.........

On Friday after school, Su Fengnan and Ning Xiaojun went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy study materials. Along the way, there were students everywhere who had just finished school, and the atmosphere was lively.

As soon as they reached the main street, Ning Xiaojun tugged at her sleeve: "Su Su, look, so many people are strolling around in groups. The internet cafes must be packed with people by now."

"The college entrance exam is over today, everyone is free, so it's normal for there to be a lot of people," Su Fengnan said casually.

Upon entering the bookstore, Su Fengnan headed straight for the high school sophomore supplementary materials section.

After buying the materials, the two went into the nearby Xinzhi Bookstore—a second-hand bookstore with the most complete selection of old books.

"Susu, what else do you want to buy?" Ning Xiaojun asked curiously.

"Let's browse around first, and then decide what to do if we find something suitable."