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

The next morning, Mei Fang woke up earlier than usual and waited for Xia Yuan at the entrance of the community.

Because their elementary school was not far from home, Xia Yuan usually went to school by herself and did not follow her mother. Of course, it was not like in the country of Sakura^[1] where childhood friends went to school together every day.

When Mei Fang saw Xia Yuan, she was still squinting and yawning, looking like she had just woken up. She was surprised and happy to see Mei Fang waiting for her at the entrance.

“Good morning, did you wait for me the whole time?”

“I happened to see you coming, so I waited for a while.”

“I see…” Xia Yuan lowered her head and pursed her lips, pondering for a moment. Then she raised her head and smiled, “Let’s talk while we walk.”

On the way to school with Mei Fang, Xia Yuan explained what had happened at her home last night and recently.

Although Xia Yuan’s father’s hotel business seemed prosperous, it had actually been running at a loss for a long time. As a result, he had been borrowing money from outside and owed a lot of debt.

After her mother found out about this, she advised her father to sell the hotel to cut losses. However, her father did not intend to do so and even wanted to mortgage their house to repay the debt.

The argument between the two in the room alarmed Xia Yuan. After failing to persuade them to stop arguing, Xia Yuan’s father stormed out of the house.

Xia Yuan’s mother told her the cause of the incident, hoping that she could persuade her father to stop acting stubbornly.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen my father with that expression… He used to be a gentle person and never scolded me or my mother.”

Xia Yuan’s expression was bitter. “But when I talked to him about this last night, he completely ignored me and even scolded me, saying that children shouldn’t interfere in adult matters.”

Although Xia Yuan’s words were subjective, Mei Fang had also roughly understood the whole story.

The hotel that had been running at a loss, her father wanted to continue investing to turn it around, while her mother believed it was a bottomless pit.

Based on the outcome of their past life, Xia Yuan’s father achieved his goal, but it also resulted in even greater losses, causing their family’s financial situation to eventually fall into an abyss and be destroyed.

Based on Mei Fang’s observations over the years, Xia Yuan’s parents were people who valued social reputation very much.

Their social reputation was reflected in their personal cultivation and the way they educated their daughter. Regardless of wealth, they were very easygoing in their interactions with others.

However, these values could only be maintained on the basis of material wealth. Once they lost their material wealth or accumulated debts, their social reputation could not be maintained.

Xia Yuan’s father is indeed a person who cares about social reputation. Xia Yuan’s father, in Mei Fang’s eyes, losing social reputation is indeed more uncomfortable than losing his life.

But it is difficult for Mei Fang to imagine that they would eventually go to such an extreme, taking their daughter with them.

“I think… you are just a child. If you only speak logically, your father will definitely not listen to you.”

Xia Yuan nodded, “I know. I really don’t want my dad to open another hotel. He is becoming more and more fond of drinking with those friends. I see him less and less at home after I started elementary school. And seeing how obsessed he is with the hotel… it’s like he’s gone crazy, it scares me.”

“There are limits to what a child can do. We are not on an equal footing with adults. It is almost impossible to persuade them with words alone.”

Xia Yuan said disappointedly, “My mom told me clearly last night that if my dad continues to act stubbornly, she plans to divorce him and asked me who I want to be with. I’m really afraid that my parents will really get divorced… I don’t want to make that choice.”

Mei Fang thought for a moment, “Since you don’t want to see your parents’ relationship break apart and want to stop your dad from acting stubbornly, maybe this plan can be effective…”

“What plan are you talking about?”

Mei Fang looked at Xia Yuan and explained her plan word by word.

“Run away from home?”

A child can only hope that their parents will listen to them when trying to persuade them to agree to something. For example, if you want to have a cat, a new school bag, or a toy, you can make an agreement with your parents about how many points or what rank you will achieve in the next exam.

After achieving this goal, most parents will agree to fulfill the child’s expectations.

But this is only limited to material rewards.

When it comes to things related to one’s future career development, like Xia Yuan’s father, it is only possible to discuss opinions with adults.

The child’s perspective is completely unnecessary to consider.

Unless the parents can understand the child’s urgent demands.

One should be in charge of their own affairs, so children often assert their independence and running away from home is an external manifestation of this independence.

There are many reasons why children run away from home. On one hand, it can be due to heavy academic workload, on the other hand, it can be due to the lack of affection from indifferent parents, and a few may be tired of the monotonous life and want to explore the outside world.

In addition, the lure and instigation of bad people is also one of the reasons why children run away from home.

Like Mei Fang.

“Are you… serious about me… to run away from home?” Xia Yuan was shocked by Mei Fang’s proposal, “How would this solve the problem?”

Mei Fang nodded, “Think about it, your parents love you so much. If you run away from home, won’t they put down everything and go find you? That way, they will take your thoughts seriously. The most crucial thing here is your thoughts.”

“But… that would make things too big!” Xia Yuan muttered, “If I really run away from home, my parents will definitely go crazy looking for me.”

“You are pretending to run away from home, using the method of making them worry and to make them consider your thoughts and opinions.”

“Like those on TV? But I didn’t argue with my family, so running away from home would be too strange.”

“When you see your parents arguing and you feel helpless, don’t you feel sad? Your Mom even said she wants to divorce your Dad and let you choose who to live with. Do you want that?”

“If they really get divorced, think about when you go to middle school, high school, college, and even when you get married. What if your dad re-marries someone else? Then…”

Mei Fang’s whisper made Xia Yuan gradually realize the huge crisis. She quickly covered Mei Fang’s mouth.

“Don’t say it! You… you’re so annoying!”

Mei Fang still played the role of comforting a child steadily, and Xia Yuan started crying.

Seeing that they were about to reach school, she quickly rubbed her eyes.

“I admit that I speak harshly, but what I say is the truth. That’s why you have to run away from home, show your sadness through actions, and force your parents to take your opinions seriously. If your Dad continues his investments and bankrupts your family, or if your Mom really divorces your Dad, these are not what you want to see, right?”

“But… but…”

Xia Yuan looked at Mei Fang with pleading eyes, “I’ve never run away from home before, and I don’t know if I have enough money. What if I really encounter bad people, what should I do…”

“What are you afraid of? We are such good friends, how could I possibly let you be alone.”

Mei Fang patted Xia Yuan’s shoulder, “I’ll run away from home too—”

“And accompany you in running away from home.”

Translator’s Notes:

1. Japan ↩︎

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