Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

This was a story that took place during the 2004 Lunar New Year.

Mei Fang and the others were still in the second grade of elementary school.

As the festive lanterns quietly lit up, on the winter night of 2004, the residents were immersed in the joy of the arrival of the New Year. Various vendors’ stalls had already spread throughout the entire cultural square.

Mei Fang followed his parents to the cultural square to visit the night market. At this time, Mei Ya had just turned one year old and was still having difficulty walking, but she could already babble and utter words.

“Xiaoya, look who this is.”

“Mama, mama.”

Little Mei Ya raised her head and called out to her mother, Xiang Xiaoxia.

“And who is this?”

Mei Fang cooperatively made a funny face towards her younger sister in her mother’s arms.

Her sweet and childish voice couldn’t help but make people exclaim how adorable she was. Even Mei Fang, who had been reborn, couldn’t help but ruffle her hair a few times.

“My sister is the cutest sister in the world!”

“Then you have to protect your sister well in the future.”

“Mhm, mhm!” Mei Fang nodded. “I will take good care of her.”

Only Mei Lijun still had a unhappy expression on his face.

“Why can’t she call me dad? This girl…”

“Dad, these things depend on fate. You can’t rush it.”

“You talk too much.”

Mei Lijun was currently tapping his son’s head when he happened to see the Xia family who were out shopping together——

“Oh, isn’t this Teacher Yu?”

“What a coincidence, Mei Fang’s mom and dad!”

When Xia Yuan saw Mei Fang’s family, she also excitedly approached them and respectfully greeted, “Hello Aunt Mei, hello Uncle Mei!”

“Hello, Yuan Yuan!”

Xia Yuan was immediately attracted by little Mei Ya in Xiang Xiaoxia’s arms.

“Aunt Mei! Can I, can I touch your baby?”

“Be careful and gentle, Xiaoya is still delicate.”

“Yes, I will be careful…”

Xiang Xiaoxia sat on a stone bench on the side, Xia Yuan approached and gently touched Mei Ya’s cheek with her hand.

Little Mei Ya blinked her big eyes and curiously observed this unfamiliar sister.

“She smiled…she smiled at me! Did you see, Mei Fang?!”

Excited, Xia Yuan kept shouting, while Xiang Xiaoxia noticed that her daughter kept looking in one direction as if she wanted to reach out and grasp something.

“It seems like she likes your hairpin.”

“This…this one?”

Xia Yuan took off a peach flower hairpin from her own hair and showed it to Mei Ya.

“This hairpin has a sharp end, you’re still too young, you can’t hold it directly, okay?”

“Mama, mama…”

Little Mei Ya reached out her hand, wanting to grasp it, while making a pleading sound towards her mother.

“You really can’t touch this one, it’s too dangerous…”

Mei Ya clearly didn’t understand Xia Yuan’s words. Unable to get what she wanted, she immediately cried in distress.

“My my… Xiaoya, be a good girl… Sister Yuan Yuan is right, that thing is still very dangerous, you can’t touch it now.”

Xiang Xiaoxia held Mei Ya and stood up to comfort her, gesturing to Xia Yuan to quickly put the hairpin away.

“…”

Xia Yuan put the hairpin back on her hair. At this moment, Teacher Yu gently patted her daughter’s shoulder and said, “Did you bring your little purse today? You can go play at the small stalls over there with Mei Fang, but don’t go too far.”

“Mhm, okay!”

As soon as Xia Yuan received permission, she turned into an unruly horse and pulled Mei Fang’s hand, running off.

“Mei Fang, let’s go play over there!”

“Hey, wait… Didn’t I say not to go too far!”

Xia Yuan, who had entered elementary school, no longer needed Mei Fang to take her out to play, but she wouldn’t go out alone either. Following other kids and playing together was Xia Yuan’s usual routine.

As long as they held hands, she wasn’t afraid of anything.

Xia Yuan took Mei Fang to see others shooting air guns and playing ring toss.

During the Lunar New Year in Baimei County, there was a popular game of throwing dice. The dice had various animal shapes drawn on them, and people would place bets on how many of a certain animal would appear to earn corresponding rewards. Because the dice were large, the process of throwing them involved pulling a thick rope to make the dice roll down from above a wooden board, which was quite a visually appealing experience.

Xia Yuan was still watching from the side when Mei Fang asked her, “Aren’t you going to try placing a bet?”

Xia Yuan shook her head. “Mom said that’s gambling, and kids shouldn’t do that.”

“But you’re clearly interested!”

Xia Yuan blushed. “It’s nothing… just curious.”

“Then I’ll play.”

Just as Mei Fang was about to roll up his sleeves, Xia Yuan grabbed his arm, causing Mei Fang to frown. “You’re not going to tattle to Teacher Yu, are you?”

“I didn’t mean that…”

Xia Yuan took out a 10 yuan bill from her purse. “Mei Fang, I’ll give you money to play. That way, I can feel involved too… If you win, it’s yours; if you lose, it’s mine. What do you think?”

“Alright… What animal do you want to bet on?”

“Rabbit, rabbit! Bet on rabbit all the way!”

“This game costs 2 yuan per round. Do you want to bet once on rabbit or bet consecutively 5 times?”

“Just play one round! Just… just one round… Please place the bet on rabbit for me.”

Mei Fang listened to Xia Yuan and placed a bet on rabbit, and everyone placed their bets again before the next round started.

“Place your bets, place your bets! We’re about to start throwing the dice!”

The shopkeeper held the thick rope, and Xia Yuan was too scared to watch. She just held onto Mei Fang’s arm and covered her eyes.

Mei Fang found her reaction amusing and playfully rubbed her little head.

“Speaking of which, Xia Yuan, your hairpin looks really nice…”

“Yeah, right? I really like this hairpin!”

As Xia Yuan finished speaking, the shopkeeper pulled the rope, and three large dice rolled down from the board.

Rabbit.

Rabbit.

And rabbit…

“It’s three rabbits!”

“Wow, yay!”

Xia Yuan happily embraced Mei Fang to celebrate, saying, “Being with you brings such good luck!”

Although getting three rabbits at the same time was a very rare random event, the prize they received was only 20 yuan.

As promised, Xia Yuan handed 18 yuan of her earnings to Mei Fang, and then they continued to stroll around together.

They hadn’t been walking together for long when they heard someone calling Xia Yuan’s name from behind.

When they turned around, they saw a little girl named Lin Youxi. She let go of her father Lin Guochuan’s hand and ran happily towards Xia Yuan to greet her.

“Lin Youxi, you’re out playing tonight too!”

Lin Youxi nodded and curiously looked at Xia Yuan and Mei Fang. “What are you two playing?”

“We’re watching people throw rings! There’s someone who throws the rings really accurately and wins a lot of gifts.”

“Mei Fang is also really good at throwing. Why don’t you let him give it a try?”

Lin Youxi excitedly gestured and said, “A few days ago, we played throwing rings together. You don’t know, he’s really amazing!”

Xia Yuan immediately crossed her arms and put on an annoyed expression. “So you came here by yourselves a few days ago? Why didn’t you call me?”

“No, no… We didn’t come by ourselves. Uncle Mei took us to play together. We were playing on the main street at that time.”

At this moment, Lin Guochuan walked over to greet the children. After asking about their parents’ whereabouts, he reminded the three of them, saying, “There are people releasing sky lanterns on the south side of the square. Do you want to go there and play? You can buy lantern there too. If you want to play, you can release it together.”

“Sky lanterns? What are those…?” Xia Yuan tilted her head.

Mei Fang reminded her from the side, “They’re lanterns that can be released into the sky. Look at the night sky over there, you can see them, right?”

“Oh, it looks so beautiful! I want to release a lantern too.”

So Lin Guochuan gave Lin Youxi 5 yuan and instructed them, “If you want to release lantern together, take this money and buy one.”

Lin Youxi tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Dad, aren’t you coming with us to release a lantern?”

“It’ll be more fun if you kids release it together.”

Lin Guochuan patted Lin Youxi’s head, saying, “Just remember not to wander too far, especially near the pond in the south.”

“I know, Dad! Don’t worry, Mei Fang is with us. He’s a brave boy, he will protect us!”

Lin Youxi raised her little head, her clear eyes filled with infinite trust in Mei Fang.

Translator's Notes:

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