Chương 38: An Encounter

"Next, we'll elect class officers." Teacher Chen adjusted her glasses, her gentle gaze sweeping across every corner of the classroom.

"Who wants to run for class monitor?"

As soon as she finished speaking, seven or eight hands shot up in the classroom. Su Yuqing practically jumped to her feet, her high ponytail tracing a cheerful arc in the air: "Teacher! I want to try!"

Lin Che leaned back in his chair, watching the scene with great interest.

The image of himself from his past life, standing on the podium, his palms sweating and his voice trembling with nervousness, seems to still be vivid in his mind. Now, watching this group of energetic young men and women eagerly raising their hands, he feels even more deeply the boundless nostalgia contained in the adults' saying, "Youth is so wonderful."

"Su Yuqing is very motivated," Teacher Chen said with a smile as she wrote her name down on the roster.

"Anyone else?"

A boy wearing black-rimmed glasses stood up steadily, his gaze behind the lenses revealing a maturity beyond his years: "I believe a class monitor needs the ability to coordinate the overall situation..."

Soon, candidates were chosen for each class officer position. At this moment, Su Yuqing secretly turned around and glared at Lin Che with dissatisfaction—her eyes clearly asking, "Why don't you raise your hand to run for office?"

Lin Che pretended not to see it and looked down to draw a crooked smiley face on his notebook.

After a grueling twenty-minute election, Su Yuqing lost the election for class monitor by three votes, but was successfully elected as the arts and culture representative. She pouted as she returned to her seat, muttering under her breath, "My speech was clearly more impressive..."

"Alright," Teacher Chen closed her notebook.

"Class leaders, stay after school today for a short meeting. Now, let's begin class."

After the class officer election, the classroom quickly returned to normal. The math teacher walked up to the podium and began to explain the concepts of sets and functions. Lin Che stared at the formulas on the blackboard, but his thoughts drifted away.

My gaze swept across the classroom—Su Yuqing in the front row was diligently taking notes, while some of her classmates were dozing off, some were secretly flipping through extracurricular books, and others were quickly passing notes when the teacher turned away.

This is what youth is all about. He gently curled the corners of his mouth, an indescribable feeling surging in his chest.

In his past life, when he was overwhelmed by work, he would occasionally dream of scenes like this: a classroom bathed in slanting sunlight, chalk dust floating in the air, and whistles and laughter coming from the distant playground.

And now, all of this was truly surrounding him, making him unable to resist taking a deep breath, as if to etch this vibrant feeling into his memory.

Throughout the morning, Lin Che maintained a quiet observer's posture. He would sometimes flip through his textbook, sometimes stare out the window in a daze, and most of the time he looked like a still silhouette.

Su Yuqing, on the other hand, was the complete opposite—she seemed to have her own spotlight on her, and every time the bell rang after class, she was immediately surrounded by chattering girls.

"Yuqing, the hair clip you're wearing is so cute! Where did you buy it? Is it a limited edition?"

"How about we go to the newly opened bubble tea shop this weekend?"

She responded to every question with a bright smile, occasionally making exaggerated gestures that drew bursts of silvery laughter from those around her.

Lin Che leaned against the window, watching his younger sister's natural ease, feeling both gratified and somewhat envious.

In my past life, I was too shy to make friends until college. Now I truly felt this girl's innate social talent. In my previous life, she didn't have many friends until college, just like me. Perhaps it was because the tragedy of her sister and mother suppressed her true nature.

He keenly noticed that whenever they were chatting most enthusiastically, Su Yuqing would unconsciously glance in his direction, her bright eyes clearly filled with a resentful "come talk to me" look.

"This girl, she must be really pent up, right?" He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. In their previous life, they only met in college, and they didn't have the experience of being classmates in high school.

However, according to their agreement, they would not reveal their sibling relationship for the time being, so Su Yuqing could only refrain from talking to him. Seeing her clearly wanting to rush over but having to pretend that they were not familiar with each other, Lin Che found it inexplicably interesting and cute.

As soon as the bell rang, Lin Che got up and walked towards the cafeteria. When he passed Su Yuqing's seat, she was slumped on the table, looking completely drained by the class, a stark contrast to her earlier social butterfly persona.

"Are you that tired?" He shook his head helplessly and left the classroom first. They had agreed to meet at the cafeteria entrance at noon.

"Yuqing, want to go to the cafeteria together?" Su Yuqing's deskmate, Chu Yao, invited her enthusiastically. This girl with a high ponytail and round eyes was packing up her stationery.

"I know which window sells the best food."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Chu Yao." Su Yuqing straightened up, giving an apologetic smile.

"I already have plans with someone, maybe next time."

Chu Yao blinked her curious eyes: "A date on the first day of school? Who is it?"

"It's a secret for now." Su Yuqing smiled mysteriously, turned and left the classroom. Chu Yao's eyes followed her back, secretly guessing the identity of the mysterious person.

At the same time, Lin Che stood at the crossroads outside the teaching building, momentarily lost in confusion.

Jiangchuan No. 1 Middle School's campus was much larger than he had imagined—the main teaching building, laboratory building, art center, and gymnasium were scattered in a well-organized manner, with several tree-lined paths covered with ginkgo leaves winding through them, and the shimmering waves of the artificial lake in the distance under the sunlight.

"Is this a maze...?" He frowned and looked around, completely unsure of which direction the cafeteria was in. His memories from before his rebirth were useless here, since he never had the chance to attend such a good school in his previous life.

"Hey, you must be in my class, right?" A cheerful voice came from behind.

Lin Che turned around and saw a tall boy waving at him. The boy had neat short hair, wheat-colored skin, and a row of neat teeth when he smiled. He exuded a sunny aura.

"Have we met before?" Lin Che raised an eyebrow in confusion.

The boy exaggeratedly clutched his chest, feigning heartache: "That's so hurtful! We just had three classes in the same classroom! My name is Lu Mingyuan, and I sit diagonally in front of you."

Lin Che then remembered that there was indeed such a person, but he had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't paid much attention to the appearance of his classmates.

"Sorry," Lin Che smiled awkwardly, "I have a bit of face blindness."

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Lu Mingyuan waved his hand.

"You look so troubled, are you lost?"

"... Is it that obvious? I can't find my way to the cafeteria now."

"It's perfectly normal for freshmen to get lost! I had to come here a few times before the semester started to figure it out myself," Lu Mingyuan laughed heartily.

"To get to the cafeteria, just walk straight down this road, turn left after you see the library, that's the building with the red roof. Want me to show you?"

"Thank you, but you don't need to lead the way," Lin Che politely declined.

"Don't mention it, we're classmates." Lu Mingyuan took out his phone.

"We'll be spending the next three years together, how about we exchange contact information? We can play ball together sometime."

Lin Che hesitated for a moment, but still exchanged numbers with him. This sunny and cheerful boy reminded him of a colleague from his past life—equally enthusiastic and equally good at socializing.

But that colleague later suffered a mental breakdown due to company layoffs and never recovered. Looking at the energetic Lu Mingyuan in front of him, Lin Che secretly hoped that his life could always maintain such a bright tone.

Following the directions, Lin Che quickly found the canteen, a spacious and bright two-story building. The first floor was the public dining area, while the second floor offered a variety of snacks.

It was lunchtime, and the hall was bustling with activity. The aroma of food filled the air, and students lined up in long queues. The sounds of plates clattering, laughter, and soft music from the loudspeaker blended together to create a lively lunchtime symphony.

He stood in the shade by the cafeteria entrance waiting for Su Yuqing. His gaze inadvertently swept across the crowd and suddenly settled on a petite figure.

It was a girl wearing a junior high school uniform, with short hair that reached her ears, standing alone in front of the vending machine.

The way she tilted her head slightly and stared at the screen made it seem as if she were examining some kind of complex scientific instrument rather than choosing a beverage.

What is most striking is the aura she exudes—almost sharp and indifferent, which contrasts sharply with the noisy environment around her. Students naturally avoid her, as if there is an invisible barrier around her.

Lin Che unconsciously glanced at her a couple more times.

The aloof yet wary aura she exuded inexplicably reminded him of the magical girl in the blue and white battle suit. Although their appearances were completely different, their cold eyes and slightly tense posture were almost identical.

He stared at her, lost in thought, without even noticing that the girl had turned and was walking towards him.

"What do you want?" It wasn't until a cold voice suddenly rang out in front of him that Lin Che realized that the girl was already standing close by, looking him up and down with indifferent eyes.

"Uh..." Just as he was organizing his thoughts, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him—

"Ah Che!... And Xiao Li?"

Su Yuqing had somehow appeared behind him, her eyes wide, her gaze darting back and forth between him and the middle school girl.

"How did you two run into each other?"