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

Lin Youxi, who came from an average family background, didn’t fulfill the wish of studying in the same class as them three years ago. But of course, their friendship didn’t end there. Living close by made it easy to visit each other, so Lin Youxi still spends weekends playing with Xia Yuan and Mei Fang.

According to the promise Mei Fang lost to Xia Yuan some time ago, this week he would accompany Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi to the cultural square to play roller skating.

In 2005, kids didn’t have smartphones or tablets, and computers were rare. Internet cafes and game arcades were only for the troublemakers. More mainstream entertainment leaned towards outdoor activities.

With the gradual establishment of roller skating rinks in Baimei County, roller skates found a big market. Whether big kids or small ones, even some college students would choose roller skating as their weekend leisure activity.

Mei Fang rode on his dad Mei Lijun’s motorcycle to reach the cultural square.

This motorcycle had been with Mei Fang ever since his rebirth and was the most important means of transportation in their family. Clearly, Mei Lijun’s living standards hadn’t improved despite Mei Fang winning the lottery.

After all, his mother had left her institutional job early, which caused a reduction in the stable family income source. The burden on Mei Lijun’s shoulders became much heavier.

But his concern for Mei Fang hadn’t lessened due to the presence of his daughter.

Especially regarding Mei Fang’s social relationships, he showed deep concern.

“Um, Mei Fang, not to criticize you, but don’t you occasionally hang out with boys? Besides Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi, I always see you either playing with your sister little Ya at home or with girls.”

“Boys are too childish. I just can’t get along with them.”

Mei Fang’s words were indeed sincere. After all, even if girls were childish, they wouldn’t affect him too much. For example, they wouldn’t suddenly jump behind him while walking and give him a surprise attack, creating a scene of “One Thousand Years of Death.”^[1]

“Aren’t you a kid yourself… Although sometimes I feel like you’re a bit old-fashioned.”

Mei Lijun scratched his head. “Do you three want me to pick you up on the way home?”

“No need, you can go back and play with little Ya.”

“Children grow up so fast… Indeed, little adorable children are the best!”

Mei Lijun hurriedly rode his bike home to take his daughter out. Mei Fang smiled and said nothing, watching how long his dad could enjoy himself.

The cultural square is the largest park in Baimei County. It is always bustling on weekends and holidays, with people flying kites, setting up stalls, having picnics, and setting off fireworks. It is a place where you can feel the cultural atmosphere of your hometown and make you feel that it is very prosperous with great development potential in the future.

However, at that time, people probably didn’t expect that this place would continue to hold the title of the largest park in Baimei County for the next 20 years, and the development of their hometown would always stagnate.

Mei Fang strolled around the square for a while when suddenly someone tapped his shoulder from behind. When he turned to look from the left, the person tapped his shoulder from the right. When he turned around, he saw Lin Youxi smiling at him.

“Today Xia Yuan finally managed to get you out of the house, it’s not easy.”

Perhaps due to their close relationship, Xia Yuan’s changes over the past few years didn’t seem significant to Mei Fang. The little angel had just grown into a slightly bigger little angel.

But Lin Youxi’s transformation could be described as earth-shattering.

She had abandoned her previous unhygienic habits and started paying attention to her appearance. Her clothes were clean and tidy, and her previously messy hair was now black and shiny, tied up in a high ponytail. The constant runny nose she used to have was also nowhere to be seen. At first glance, she looked like a cool sporty girl.

As for the biggest difference, she used to always hide behind Xia Yuan like a little bean, but now she was even taller than Xia Yuan and her temperament had completely changed.

Although she still looked a bit immature, she had already taken on some of the characteristics of a top female student.

“Why do you have such a silly expression? Is there something on me?” Lin Youxi looked down at her outfit and then pushed Mei Fang.

“Haha, I remembered something from your childhood, like when you used to have a runny nose—”

“Don’t you dare think about it!”

Lin Youxi kicked Mei Fang lightly, “If you dare bring up the past, I’ll expose your bedwetting incidents.”

“Who are you going to tell? You don’t have many friends at school.”

“Mei Fang, you’re such a dog!”

Being hit where it hurt, Lin Youxi chased after Mei Fang and started beating him up. Mei Fang could only run away.

Although she had a similar appearance to her past life, as soon as they started communicating, her true nature would show. Lin Youxi was still a tomboy, not only rude in speech but also heavy-handed.

She was still far from the cold and aloof top student he knew in high school.

While the two were playing around, Xia Yuan ran over.

“You two, you always have to make a fuss whenever you meet. Stop it.”

Lin Youxi, as always, listened to Xia Yuan. As soon as Xia Yuan spoke up, she stopped and even explained her behavior, “Why do I need so many friends? I don’t need that many friends. It’s too tiring to communicate with so many people. Just a few friends are enough…”

Apart from playing around with Xia Yuan and Mei Fang, Lin Youxi was always seen alone at school. Occasionally, she would be seen talking to girls, but it was always in a normal and plain manner, giving off a very aloof vibe.

It seemed that only when she was with Xia Yuan and Mei Fang could she show her true self.

“Finally, we can skate together today. Did you bring your own skates?”

Lin Youxi and Mei Fang shook their heads. Mei Fang asked in confusion, “You can rent skates here, 10 yuan per pair, and you can play all day. Why buy them?”

“But the rented skates here don’t come with protective gear. I think it’s quite dangerous, especially for beginners…”

“It’s okay, how can you learn without falling a few times?” Mei Fang glanced at the big bag Xia Yuan was carrying and showed a disgusted expression, “You didn’t bring the whole set of equipment, did you?”

“Yeah! My dad heard that I was playing roller skating and specially bought it for me, afraid that I would fall!”

Whenever Xia Yuan mentioned something her dad bought for her, she always had a proud expression. Seeing her childish look, Mei Fang couldn’t help but tease her:

“Xia Yuan, have you heard of a saying, ‘students with poor academic performance have a lot of stationery’?”

Lin Youxi and Xia Yuan were stunned after hearing Mei Fang’s words. Xia Yuan frowned and fell into deep thought. Lin Youxi, who reacted first, punched Mei Fang.

“You bad person, always bullying Xia Yuan!”

The group came to the roller skate rental booth. After choosing the roller skates, the three of them sat on a bench nearby to change their protective gear.

Because the roller skates here didn’t require taking off shoes, they could be directly worn over their existing shoes. Mei Fang quickly changed his equipment and saw Lin Youxi still struggling with her shoelaces, so he couldn’t help but comment:

“Why are you still the same… I’ve taught you so many times, you should know by now!”

“Of course I know, I don’t need you to teach me…”

Lin Youxi was still stubborn, but Mei Fang had already approached.

Because it was inconvenient to wear roller skates, Mei Fang half-knelt in front of her to help Lin Youxi tie her shoelaces. After pushing her away for a while, Lin Youxi stopped insisting and let Mei Fang tie her shoelaces. At this moment, she suddenly reminisced:

“When I first started elementary school, I couldn’t tie my shoelaces at all. They always came undone… Especially during PE class, the teacher required us to wear sports shoes to attend. I would stuff the shoelaces into the shoes, but they would come undone after a few steps. I even tripped once.”

“At that time, I was crying and thinking, if only I could be in the same class as you guys, because you and Xia Yuan would definitely help me tie my shoelaces.”

“Even though I was good at studying and playing games, my self-care ability was pitiful.”

Mei Fang looked up at Lin Youxi and teased, “Furthermore, even if you asked a classmate for help, it wouldn’t be a big deal, right? It’s just that you have thin skin.”

“Hmph… It’s all your fault.”

“Blaming us?”

Mei Fang frowned, “Hey hey, are you blaming me and Xia Yuan for being too good to you and turning you into a useless person?”

Lin Youxi didn’t respond directly, just closed her mouth and looked elsewhere.

At the same time, Xia Yuan sat on the side, finished changing her protective gear, and was about to greet Lin Youxi and Mei Fang. She saw Mei Fang half-kneeling on the ground, holding Lin Youxi’s shoes and chatting happily with her. Suddenly, a scene from the Cinderella story where the prince helped Cinderella put on the glass shoe appeared in her mind, like a dreamlike scene.

“Um…”

Xia Yuan pursed her lips and made a low humming sound. For the first time, an indescribable complex emotion arose in her heart.

Translator’s Notes:

1. One of ninjutsu in Naruto. 😀 (ref:https://naruto.fandom.com/ wiki/ One_Thousand_Years_of_Death) ↩︎

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