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

Mei Fang and the others were so engrossed in their conversation about the new game that they didn’t notice the time passing. It wasn’t until Mei Fang checked his phone that he realized it was almost dusk. When Mei Fang opened his phone, he saw a missed call from Liu Xiaoyu—she and Xiang Bingbing had already taken a ride back after finishing their shopping.

“Well, let’s leave it at that for today… We promised to Youxi’s mom that we’d go home for dinner tonight, so we can’t eat together.”

“Oh… It’s okay. I wasn’t planning to have dinner so soon anyway,” Guo Yun replied.

Guo Yun and Mei Fang exchanged a few more pleasantries. Even with Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi standing behind Mei Fang, she didn’t show any sign of nervousness. It was clear that she was much more confident now than before.

The trio bid farewell to Guo Yun at the entrance of the mall, then Mei Fang hailed a taxi at the crossing to go home directly.

Because Lin Youxi was prone to motion sickness, Mei Fang and Xia Yuan had already discussed that in the future, they would prioritize Lin Youxi’s comfort during long-distance trips.

“We have a new game to develop, new music to compose, and a midterm exam to prepare for. Are you planning to participate in any events at the sports festival? Our schedule is packed.”

Xia Yuan stretched and let out a pleasant yawn. “I’ll rest well today, and tomorrow I’ll start working on homework and preparing for the exam.”

“We still have plenty of time today, so we can study tonight too, right?” Lin Youxi said and smiled. “Even if you choose liberal arts in the future, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit of physics. It will benefit you in some way.”

It was already late October now. During the National Day holiday, everyone was still wearing short sleeves and short skirts, but within half a month they had started wearing autumn clothes.

As the three of them walked back to the residential neighborhood in the evening, a cold wind blew fiercely, sending chills straight to the bone. Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi huddled behind Mei Fang, using him as a human shield against the wind.

Although it was cold outside, there was an inexplicable warmth when they returned home.

Liang Meijuan had already prepared dinner. After washing their hands, they began to eat. Lin Youxi shared her today’s experience with Liang Meijuan. As Liang Meijuan served soup to the three youngsters, she listened to Lin Youxi’s story.

“Is it true that you can just take whatever you want at a buffet and eat as much as you want? That sounds great. But if I secretly take some food back home, wouldn’t the restaurant lose a lot of money?”

“Haha, Aunt Liang, it’s not as easy as you think. They have surveillance cameras, and it’s usually not a good idea to take food away. I feel the quality of the dishes at the buffet is just average, but you can definitely eat to your heart’s content. There’s a girl in Ah Fang’s class who can eat a lot…”

As everyone was chatting happily at the dinner table, Liang Meijuan clapped her hands and said, “By the way… the weather has cooled down recently, so we don’t need to take showers as frequently. Let’s start soaking our feet tonight, okay? I just bought some mugwort leaves, we can use them to soak our feet. It can ward off the cold and is good for our health.”

“Mhm! Okay, Aunt Liang.”

After dinner, everyone settled down in the living room to do their homework and study. Liang Meijuan didn’t want to disturb them, so she turned off the TV and brought over a plate of fruit. Then she curled up on the sofa and took a nap.

It was around 9 o’clock when Liang Meijuan woke up. The three youngsters had also more or less finished their homework. After asking the three if their studies were almost done, she started boiling water to prepare a foot bath for them.

People in the northern Hubei province have different bathing habits than people in the southern and northern regions of China. In the south, people bathe every day, while in the north, people bathe less often. In the northern Hubei province, people generally bathe every day in the spring and summer. In the autumn and winter, they bathe once a week, and for the rest of the week, they use a towel to wipe down their bodies. They changed their underwear every day to maintain cleanliness and neatness.”

The traditionally accepted process of wiping down consisted of four steps: washing the face, washing the hands, washing the buttocks (which required changing the towel), and soaking the feet.

Soaking the feet was the most sacred part of these four steps, and it was a pleasure that could hardly be enjoyed while standing and taking a shower.

One by one, the three of them completed the first three steps. Mei Fang, carrying a foot basin, came out of the bathroom and saw Liang Meijuan pouring hot water into the foot basins for Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi.

Swoosh——

Hot rising steam gushed out from the foot basins in front of the two of them. The mugwort vapor wafted into Xia Yuan’s eyes, making her feel very comfortable.

Xia Yuan stood with her feet on the edge of the foot basin and glanced at Lin Youxi, who hadn’t put her feet in yet.

“Youxi, the water in your basin must have cooled down. Why don’t you try the temperature?”

Lin Youxi shook her head. “I’ll wait a bit longer.”

“You’re still so afraid of hot water. It won’t burn your feet.”

Mei Fang sat down on one side with the foot basin and said with interest to Xia Yuan, “When we were in elementary school, one time Youxi stayed overnight at our house. I remember it was in the middle of winter. My mom wanted her to soak her feet, but she was so afraid of getting scalded that she refused. In the end, she soaked her feet in my basin and stepped on my feet. Oh, it hurt like heck.”

As soon as Mei Fang finished speaking, Lin Youxi fiercely elbowed him, and Xia Yuan’s eyes widened.

“You guys actually soaked your feet together when you were little?! Wasn’t that dirty? You could have transmitted something… um, I mean… that… um…”

“Well, it was alright! We used to soak our feet together when we were little. Children’s feet are naturally small, and the foot basin at our house was quite big.”

“Speaking of which, Xiaoya used to like soaking her feet with me before. She and Youxi were completely opposite. She would put her feet in first and trick me into thinking the water wasn’t hot at all, but ended up scalding me and making me scream…”

Although she was a mischievous little sister, Mei Fang hadn’t seen her in almost half a year, and he couldn’t help but miss her.

At this moment, Liang Meijuan came over with a kettle of hot water and added mugwort leaves and boiling water into Mei Fang’s basin.

“You’re all living in a good era now. In the past, it was difficult for us to soak our feet. We had to wait for the coal-fired kettle to boil, and everyone would rush to use it. In the end, we would all soak our feet together.”

Liang Meijuan walked up to Lin Youxi, crouched down, and tested the water temperature.

“It’s almost cold now. Why aren’t you soaking your feet yet, Youxi?”

“I… I’ll do it a bit slower.” Lin Youxi pursed her lips.

Mei Fang chuckled at Lin Youxi’s reserved expression but was fiercely glared at by her.

“It’s okay, it’s not hot at all. How could your Aunt Meijuan deceive you? Your hands and feet are always cold, so you should soak your feet more to promote blood circulation… Come on, don’t be afraid.” Liang Meijuan forcefully stuffed Lin Youxi’s feet into the foot basin.

Then Mei Fang and Xia Yuan saw Lin Youxi’s face turning red.

She probably wanted to shout that it was too hot, but she didn’t want to act like a child in front of Liang Meijuan and embarrass herself, so she could only bite her lip and endure silently.

“See… It’s not hot at all, right?”

Lin Youxi nodded with a red face, but she kept her head down the whole time.

After Liang Meijuan stuffed Lin Youxi’s feet in, she moved to Xia Yuan.

“I’ll put them in, I’ll put them in. I’ll do it right away.”

Xia Yuan initially laughed at Youxi’s expense, and she didn’t often get the chance to soak her feet, so she actually quite enjoyed it.

Let me test the water temperature first…

Xia Yuan extended her little toes and lightly touched the steaming hot water.

“Hot, hot, hot… Let’s wait a little longer.”

“It wasn’t as scalding hot as you’re saying. If the foot bath isn’t hot, what’s the point?”

Liang Meijuan and Xia Yuan were already quite familiar with each other, so when she saw Xia Yuan’s hesitation, she took action directly.

“Ah, it’s hot, hot, hot, hot…”

Xia Yuan splashed around a bit before finally settling down to soak her feet.

“Haha, so Yuan Yuan is also afraid of the heat.”

While Mei Fang was mocking Xia Yuan from the side, Lin Youxi, who had been tolerating him for a while, took the opportunity when Mei Fang was not paying attention and kicked his foot into the basin.

Since Mei Fang’s foot basin had just been filled with hot water and hadn’t cooled down much, he instantly screamed in pain. Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi looked at Mei Fang’s miserable appearance and burst into laughter.

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