On a muggy summer evening, the two walked slowly toward the bus stop, pushing their bicycles alongside them.
The world was a busy place, and young people could be seen walking together everywhere. The two small figures made their way side by side. When they got hot, they bought two soft-serve cones with a half-price offer at a McDonald’s dessert stand, then prepared to sit on some nearby steps to eat.
Su Yuan laid a tissue on the step for Lu Sili.
“I don’t need that,” Lu Sili said.
Su Yuan only smiled and said nothing. Lu Sili glanced at him, recognized it as another one of Su Yuan’s habits of taking care of him, and sat down.
Lu Sili, Li Ya, and Old Xu all came from well-off families, but none had been spoiled by their relatives. Yingnan No. 3 High School also did a good job teaching students from different ABO categories together, and Lu Sili didn’t have the bad habits of a pampered rich kid.
Eating his ice cream, Lu Sili sighed. “I haven’t eaten a soft-serve cone like this in years.”
Su Yuan watched him. “Hearing you say that with such a baby face is hilarious.”
Lu Sili fired back, “And a high school student editing graduate students’ research papers isn’t hilarious?”
Their eyes met, and they burst out laughing.
“But I tried doing some worksheets,” Lu Sili said with a sigh. “I’ve forgotten so much. Everything feels familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.” He crunched into his cone as he spoke.
“I’ve been reviewing too,” Su Yuan said. “Things I couldn’t understand in high school are actually much easier now. Even though I’d forgotten the material, learning it all over again is going quickly and smoothly.”
“Showing off, are we?”
Su Yuan hurriedly caught his hand. “Not at all. I mean, I could tutor you.”
Perhaps they’d tried so many kinds of roleplay since becoming a couple that Lu Sili’s thoughts immediately strayed somewhere decidedly unsuitable for high school. He grew bashful.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to?” Su Yuan asked with concern.
Lu Sili looked up at Su Yuan. The instant their eyes met, Su Yuan understood what he’d been thinking.
Su Yuan lowered his head with a helpless smile and privately resolved not to slack off on his self-improvement for a single day over the next two months. He didn’t want to disappoint Lu Sili.
They parted at the bus stop at the intersection. There were many people around, so they couldn’t embrace or kiss goodbye, but they waved cheerfully.
“See you Monday.”
“Okay, see you Monday.”
Nobody knew whether they’d be able to return to their original time, so they still had to take the college entrance exams seriously.
When Lu Sili reviewed screenplays for work, he’d sometimes read the original novels if the scripts were adaptations. He remembered reading plenty of stories about people returning to their school days. Back then, he hadn’t questioned the trope of traveling back in time and instantly becoming a brilliant student. Now he could only say how utterly unrealistic it was.
Never mind Li Ya; Lu Sili himself had forgotten most of what he’d learned. Only Su Yuan had been studying all this time and had a reasonably sharp memory, but even he needed to work hard.
Fortunately, Lu Sili took his studies seriously enough and remained in reasonably good spirits. He hadn’t changed so drastically as to draw suspicion.
After their first monthly exams, the four friends gathered at KFC.
Li Ya had done the worst. It was quicker to count his ranking from the bottom. A few days earlier, he’d tried to make his parents happy by telling them about two stocks that would make money. His father had beaten him for it and told him to wait a few years before squandering the family fortune. With no money or brokerage account of his own, Li Ya suddenly felt that life was hopeless.
Old Xu held a stack of exam papers. After seeing the score on the first one, he looked at Li Ya, whose face suggested he wanted to die. Old Xu started to say something several times but, in the interests of his friend’s mental health, ultimately kept quiet.
The second paper belonged to Lu Sili. After reading it, Old Xu raised his head toward him.
Lu Sili smiled.
“You dropped twenty-one places,” Old Xu said. “Lu Sili, does growing up make people stupid?”
“You’re even stupider than I am when you grow up.”
“…Why are you making this personal?”
As he spoke, Old Xu turned to the final paper, which belonged to Su Yuan.
“…” Old Xu stared at him. “Ninth place. How did you do it?”
“I stayed up late studying,” Su Yuan answered.
Old Xu looked him over again and sighed. “It’s so hard to imagine what they say you’re like as a calm, handsome doctor when you’re older.”
“If I remember correctly, it wasn’t until my sophomore year of university that I really grew into my looks. I got over 180 centimeters tall too. But I’ve been exercising actively and eating well lately, and it feels like I’m growing like crazy. Maybe I’ll grow even taller this time.”
Su Yuan’s voice was calm and his expression composed. He spoke clearly and logically, nothing like a bookish high school student.
Beside him, Lu Sili sat with his chin propped on his hand, eating fries. He didn’t forget to offer one to Su Yuan.
Su Yuan opened his mouth and ate it.
“I want to order more chicken wings and some egg tarts,” Old Xu announced.
Li Ya agreed. So did Lu Sili.
“I can’t eat any more. I’ve been working out lately,” Su Yuan said.
Li Ya reached over and squeezed Su Yuan’s arm. It really had gotten sturdier. Leaning back with his legs crossed, he teased, “Why are you working out? Afraid your wife will leave you?”
Old Xu gave them a long-suffering look. “I’m begging you, can you stop calling each other husband and wife? It gives me goosebumps!”
Everyone burst out laughing.
After the gathering, Lu Sili and Su Yuan parted from the others and spent some time together.
Falling in love at thirty had been difficult, but at seventeen or eighteen it felt wonderfully carefree.
Their careers had kept them so busy in their former lives. Now, unexpectedly, they were getting another chance to enjoy the unhurried romance of their school days.
So falling in love could be this simple.
They could exchange a glance during class, go to the restroom or school shop together during breaks, do homework together after school, watch films and eat out on weekends, and wander aimlessly through the streets.
As a married couple, they’d worked during the day and spent their evenings together. As students, they spent the day at school together and returned to separate homes at night. The experience was completely different.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. The National Day holiday had arrived, and Lu Sili’s results in the latest monthly exam had improved.
Grandma studied his report card and smiled in satisfaction. “See? Your results are still quite good. You must simply have been off your game last time.”
“I’ll do even better next time.” As Lu Sili peeled a tea egg, his eyes darted around as though he were plotting something.
Grandma set the report down and took a sip of juice. “I hear Li Ya’s grades have dropped badly.”
“Mm.” Lu Sili smiled awkwardly. “A little.”
“Didn’t you say you all studied together every day? Why have his results dropped? Li Ya has always looked like a clever child.”
“Haha.” Lu Sili laughed dryly. He could hardly explain that after more than a decade of eating, drinking, and enjoying himself, Li Ya had forgotten everything he’d ever learned.
Lu Sili stumbled over his words. “He…”
“Could he be dating someone?” Grandma asked.
Lu Sili couldn’t help laughing, though he felt a little guilty.
Then he remembered that Li Ya had differentiated in November of their original timeline. So he said, “I think maybe he’s getting close to differentiating, and it’s affecting his mood.”
“Oh, honestly.” Grandma laughed.
Seeing her in such a good mood, Lu Sili cleared his throat. “Grandma, could I stay out overnight with Li Ya and the others?”
“Overnight? Where are you planning to stay?”
“At that campsite where our class went for the spring outing last year. We want to spend the day there, stay in one of the cabins, and come back tomorrow.”
“Would that be safe? Why don’t you go for the day, and I’ll ask Uncle Zou to pick you up around midnight?”
Lu Sili pouted slightly, looking troubled.
“All right, all right. I know boys your age care about saving face. Have Li Ya’s and Old Xu’s families agreed too?”
Lu Sili nodded.
“Fine, then. But be back by noon tomorrow. Understand?”
Lu Sili could barely contain his delight. “Okay!”
“Your mother and father, honestly. Neither has been home in more than half a month.” Grandma frowned a little as she complained, clearly bothered by it.
Lu Sili only smiled gently. “They’re both up for promotions, aren’t they? They must have a lot of work.”
Grandma looked at him, surprised by the change. Normally he’d been very attached to his parents and asked after them whenever they were away for a few days. Why was he suddenly being so understanding?
“I’ll go upstairs and do my homework, Grandma. I’m heading out at noon.”
Grandma smiled. “Have you got enough money?”
“Enough.”
As he went upstairs, Lu Sili spotted his parents’ wedding photograph hanging on the wall. He looked at it for a while, pressed his lips together, then continued on his way with light steps.
He understood that he couldn’t change his parents’ decision to divorce.
Because this time, he’d noticed details he had overlooked in his previous life.
Ever since learning three months earlier that they both had opportunities for promotion, his parents had always arranged to come home at different times. If they needed something collected, they sent their assistants. There were letters from law firms arriving at the house too. Even during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which they’d always made time to celebrate together, his father hadn’t come home this year.
That afternoon at two, Lu Sili finished part of his homework and began packing.
After putting his pajamas and homework into his schoolbag, the experienced Lu Sili remembered there was something a student might not find convenient to purchase.
Lu Sili stepped out of his bedroom. The house was empty. He went down the corridor toward the room at the other end, his parents’ bedroom.
The doors in the house were rarely locked. Lu Sili pushed open his parents’ bedroom door. It was so quiet that even the dust seemed motionless. It was obvious nobody had lived there for quite a while.
He went over and opened a drawer in the bedside table.
The first thing he saw was a document bearing the name of a law firm. He guessed it concerned the divorce.
He had no intention of prying into the adults’ private affairs. Without opening it, he looked briefly beneath it. Not finding what he’d come for, he shut the drawer and left the room.
Before Lu Sili and Grandma had noticed anything, his parents’ relationship had already changed irrevocably. Perhaps they’d delayed the divorce until after his college entrance exams. Perhaps their unusual jobs involved complicated procedures and financial arrangements that took time to settle.
In any case, Lu Sili would never again believe that they’d divorced because he differentiated into an Omega.
Not finding what he’d wanted, he ended up buying it from a convenience store on the way.
The cashier hesitated a moment on noticing a box of condoms tucked among the pile of snacks, but quietly rang up his purchases.
Licheng had already had its first autumn rain by October, and it had rained again that morning. The air was cool. Lu Sili wore a loose gray-and-white crewneck sweatshirt with blue-and-green English lettering.
He didn’t have much muscle at this age, but his frame had already grown enough to fill out the loose, casual style. It was a kind of youthful energy that only belonged to boys his age.
Lu Sili liked this sweatshirt very much.
So he was surprised to see that Su Yuan was wearing one just like it.
After two months, Su Yuan looked nothing like the bespectacled Beta who had always hunched his shoulders before.
His shoulders were broad and his legs long. He’d changed his glasses and clothes, and his whole bearing was different.
Although they were classmates, Su Yuan looked more like an older student.
“When did you buy that?” Lu Sili asked, jogging over.
Su Yuan wore the same sweatshirt in a different color: black, with red-and-white lettering.
Unable to resist, Su Yuan put an arm around Lu Sili’s waist and looked him up and down. “You’re wearing yours too.”
Then he took the shopping bag from Lu Sili and carried it himself.
“You bought the same one as me on purpose, didn’t you?” Lu Sili said, smiling.
Su Yuan made no attempt to hide it. “Mm. I liked it when I saw you wearing it last time. I couldn’t afford it back then, but now I can.”
“Does editing other people’s papers pay that well?” Lu Sili asked, puzzled.
Su Yuan nodded emphatically. “Very.”
The two walked side by side toward the cinema. Su Yuan opened the plastic bag Lu Sili had brought. “You bought so many snacks. Should we still get popcorn?”
As he spoke, he rummaged through the bag, originally just to see how much there was and whether it would all fit in his schoolbag. Then he spotted a box of condoms.
“Lili.” Su Yuan couldn’t help laughing.
Lu Sili didn’t understand. “Huh? What’s wrong?”
Su Yuan glanced around to make sure nobody was near them before taking out the small box. “You bought these?”
Lu Sili: “…”
“Very safety-conscious,” Su Yuan said.
They’d been married for years, so Lu Sili decided there was no point pretending. “What’s wrong with that? I’ve waited two whole months! I’m over thirty in my head, you know!”
“All right, all right.” Su Yuan drew close and gently put an arm around Lu Sili’s shoulders, squeezed his arm, and whispered by his ear, “Actually, I bought some too.”
The film they saw was an imported blockbuster, coincidentally produced and distributed by F&A. It was the second installment of a series and ranked first at the box office during the National Day holiday.
They thoroughly enjoyed the film, and despite having eaten two large tubs of popcorn, they were hungry again.
“I’m really growing. I’m hungry every single day,” Lu Sili said, rubbing his stomach.
Su Yuan checked the queue ticket. “Two more tables before us.”
It was a date that followed a very conventional itinerary.
Meet up, chat, watch a film, have dinner, then head to the hotel.
“Hello, you two stu… gentlemen. Do you have a reservation?” the woman at reception asked.
“Yes,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili looked at him, surprised that he’d booked ahead.
At first, the receptionist had worried that they were underage, but after checking their identity documents, she was reassured. Typing on her keyboard, she said, “Su Yuan, is it? One room with a double bed. Please wait a moment…”
Then she looked up at Lu Sili. “I’ll need to see your ID too. We have to register everyone.”
Lu Sili was about to search his schoolbag when someone suddenly called, “Lu Sili.”
He froze and didn’t dare turn around. The voice was far too familiar.
Su Yuan turned first, then gently tapped Lu Sili’s elbow. They exchanged a glance, and without really moving his lips, Su Yuan whispered indistinctly, “It’s Fiona.”
“…” Lu Sili turned and saw Fiona staring at him in astonishment. For a moment, he nearly forgot that he and Su Yuan had traveled back in time and were high school students again, and that Fiona wasn’t Fiona yet. She was Xue Mingxuan.
“Big Sister Mingxuan.”
Lu Sili quickly worked out the timeline. Fiona was still in her fourth year of university. She was already very close to Grandma, had visited their home many times, and knew the younger Lu Sili quite well.
Fiona hurried toward them with a frown.
She seemed to have come for a forum or conference. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore a slightly ill-fitting suit with canvas shoes. Holding a laptop bag, she looked Su Yuan over and asked Lu Sili, “Lili, what are you doing here?”
“We…” Lu Sili began.
“Who’s this?” Fiona demanded.
Su Yuan was inwardly torn between amusement and embarrassment, but maintained a polite smile. “Hello, Big Sister. I’m Lu Sili’s classmate.”
It might have been better if he hadn’t spoken. As soon as he did, Fiona turned her full attention on him. “What are you two doing at a hotel?”
Su Yuan pressed his lips together.
Fiona turned to the reception desk. Standing ramrod straight, the receptionist answered, “Checking in.”
“Wait here.” Fiona picked up Su Yuan’s ID card from the counter, held onto it, and took out her phone to make a call.
Lu Sili knew at once that she was about to call Grandma. He hurried over and begged, “Sister Mingxuan, don’t tell Grandma! Please, we’re really just… just here to do homework!”
Su Yuan couldn’t help lowering his head and laughing at that.
And there were two boxes of condoms in their pockets.
Even the receptionist laughed.
“Lu Sili, you’ve learned to lie now!” Fiona grew even angrier, determined to ask Grandma to intervene. With the college entrance exams approaching, how could Lu Sili be dating a classmate and booking hotel rooms?
Lu Sili wailed and wrapped his arms around Fiona. “Sis, please don’t tell Grandma!”
If it had simply been young romance, and they could keep their priorities straight and put their studies first, Fiona wouldn’t have been so firm. But booking a room at a hotel was another matter. How could students preparing for university entrance exams do that?
Realizing they couldn’t stop her, Lu Sili and Su Yuan resigned themselves to waiting in the lounge.
“What do we do?” Su Yuan whispered, brushing Lu Sili’s knee. “Will we get a beating?”
“Probably not. Grandma hasn’t hit me in ages.”
“I meant me.”
Lu Sili pressed his lips together. “…”
Nobody knew what Fiona was telling Grandma. After almost ten minutes, she finally hung up and came over. “Come on. We’re going home first.”
They looked at each other. Was that it?
Lu Sili signaled with his eyes: Hurry and go.
“Then I’ll be leaving. Goodbye,” Su Yuan said, turning to go.
“Wait.” Fiona grabbed his arm. “You’re coming home with us too.”
Half an hour later, they were both seated on the sofa at Grandma’s house.
The last time they’d sat here together had been for their marriage.
“Have some water first,” Grandma said.
“I’m not thirsty,” Lu Sili answered.
Su Yuan obediently picked up his glass and took a sip.
“So you two went to a hotel to get a room and study?” Grandma asked.
Su Yuan didn’t dare speak. He looked at Lu Sili.
Lu Sili could only steel himself. “Mm.”
Grandma’s expression was unreadable and she didn’t say much. That only made Lu Sili more confused and nervous.
She turned to Su Yuan. “Are you in Lili’s class? What’s your name?”
“Yes, Grandma. My name is Su Yuan,” he replied.
“Have you differentiated?”
“I’m a Beta, Grandma. There aren’t any Alpha or Omega genes in my family either,” Su Yuan explained gently and without embarrassment.
“What do your parents do?” Grandma asked. Su Yuan had a pleasant bearing and was dressed reasonably well, so she assumed his family circumstances were comfortable.
“My parents both passed away. I live with my aunt’s family. My uncle lost his job, and they’re getting ready to open a little supermarket.”
Su Yuan answered honestly and addressed her as Grandma so naturally. Learning that his parents had passed away softened her heart immediately. She no longer wanted to interrogate him. With a smile, she nodded, then turned back to Lu Sili. “Why have you never told me about this classmate? Didn’t you say you were going to the campsite with Li Ya today?”
His lie exposed, Lu Sili was suddenly at a loss for words.
He wasn’t someone who was accustomed to lying.
The living room remained silent for a long time. Grandma and Fiona exchanged glances, and Grandma finally sighed.
“Lili, Xiao Su, Grandma wants to have an honest talk with you.”
“All right, Grandma.” Lu Sili lowered his head without thinking.
The more understanding Grandma was, the guiltier he felt about having lied to her.
Seeing him like that made Su Yuan’s heart ache, but he couldn’t simply take Lu Sili’s hand and comfort him as he would have done after their marriage.
Grandma folded her hands. “I’m old and my ideas are conservative, but I’m not unreasonable. You’re at the stage of preparing for the college entrance exams. There are some things you shouldn’t be doing. If you want to study, there’s no need to go to a hotel.”
Grandma deliberately stressed the word hotel. The two high school students, who were mentally more than thirty years old, bowed their heads in embarrassment.
“Here’s what we’ll do,” Grandma continued. “If Lili’s desk isn’t big enough, I’ll rearrange that room at the end of the corridor and put a large desk in there. In future, if you want to study, come here. There’ll be someone to cook for you, and Uncle Zou can take Xiao Su home when you’re done. It’s more convenient than a hotel.”
Lu Sili was overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thank you, Grandma.”
Who could have imagined that, even after he’d returned to the past, Grandma would still be so supportive of his relationship with Su Yuan?
It was getting late, and Grandma asked Uncle Zou to take Su Yuan home.
Although their first plan had fallen through, Lu Sili’s heart was warm.
They hadn’t said it outright, but they understood each other.
Lu Sili hugged Grandma’s arm, just as he had when he was a student. “Love you.”
“Lili.” Grandma placed her hand over his. “But Grandma has to remind you of something. If you choose a Beta, he won’t be able to give you children!”
Lu Sili looked up. “Huh?”
Grandma seemed to have… misunderstood something!