The guardianship issue that had plagued and tormented Yu Shulin for many years in his past life was resolved so simply and neatly. The remaining trivial matters could be handled by Ling Chun alone. To avoid Yu Xiu, who was somewhat emotionally unstable, He Long took Yu Shulin to a restaurant outside, chatting while they ate.
Several years of prison life had left some impact on Yu Shulin. He ate quickly, but his table manners weren't bad; it was just that his movements seemed overly rigid.
He Long observed him for a long moment, feeling somewhat puzzled. Noticing his gaze, Yu Shulin paused while picking up food with his chopsticks. He lowered his head, swallowed the food in his mouth, and then spoke, "Thank you for today."
"You're welcome," He Long withdrew his gaze and brought up another matter. "What do you plan to do about the accident compensation money your uncle used up?"
"Nothing special. Have him return it according to the regulations." Yu Shulin was unwilling to talk much about Yu Xiu. After answering, he quickly finished the last bite of rice in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a napkin, indicating he was full.
He Long glanced at his clean bowl and also hurried to finish his own meal, saying, "Wait a moment. After I finish eating, I'll take you back."
Neither of them was particularly talkative, and the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence for a while. After dropping him off, He Long looked at Yu Shulin, who stood with his head bowed, appearing well-behaved and docile. He frowned, took out something he had prepared beforehand, and handed it over, saying, "Call me if you have any problems. This is for you."
Yu Shulin took the bag and asked, "What is this?"
"A cell phone."
"...Thank you."
He Long swept a glance over his thin shoulders, his voice unconsciously softening. "I'll leave now then. After you've sorted your things, give me a call. I'll pick you up and take you to the hotel."
Yu Shulin nodded obediently.
After seeing He Long off, he quickly closed the door, took a few strides into the living room, and collapsed onto the sofa. He took out the new phone from the bag and touched it, his mind in chaos for a moment before he suddenly felt somewhat lost—he had broken free from Yu Xiu, but had chosen a completely unfamiliar Liang Zhou. He didn't know if this choice was right.
Thinking of his miserable life in his past life, he smiled self-deprecatingly, turned over, and buried himself in a cushion, sighing. Forget it, no matter how wrong it might be, it couldn't be worse than his past life. Besides, although cell phones were basically commonplace these days, adults rarely provided them for children. He Long gave it away so readily, which suggested his current guardian was probably quite well-off... He probably wouldn't scheme for his little bit of assets like Yu Xiu did.
The heavy stone that had been pressing on his heart suddenly disappeared. His tightly strung nerves relaxed all at once, making him feel drowsy.
In this life, he should be able to study peacefully and then get into a university he liked... It seemed he had forgotten something... Ah, never mind. If he couldn't remember, he wouldn't force it.
As it turned out, some things aren't so easily forgotten. When he received the phone call from his homeroom teacher, Yu Shulin finally realized deeply that he had been reborn back to age fifteen.
Fifteen years old, just after finishing the high school entrance exams.
The timing of his rebirth was utterly disastrous. It happened right in the middle of the last exam. At the time, he only thought he was dreaming and sat foolishly in his seat doing nothing. By the time he realized everything around him was real, there were only ten minutes left in the exam.
Remembering that starkly blank exam paper, he covered his face, wanting to cry but having no tears. After struggling and wrestling with himself, and through constant self-psyching, he bravely got up and decided to go to school to check the answers.
Yes, that's right, check the answers!
The day after the high school entrance exams ended, newspapers with all the exam answers would be printed. Their homeroom teacher, responsible as ever, would gather the students back at school to collectively check answers, make a detailed score estimate, and discuss school choice with the students.
In his past life, he had been in a daze and missed this. But in this life... in this life, he couldn't escape it.
...God knows how many years it had been since he last touched a textbook or exam paper.
A true warrior dares to face a dismal exam score. Before age fifteen, Yu Shulin had been an absolutely good student. But after fifteen... well.
Homeroom teacher Hu Jun held the estimated score slips for each subject, his hand trembling slightly, the furrows between his brows deep enough to trap flies.
"Well, Shulin..."
He straightened his back, his expression calm on the surface but his heart somewhat uneasy. He looked up and responded obediently, "Teacher Hu, please speak directly. I... can take it."
Hu Jun looked at his face, which had thinned considerably, thought about his family situation, and found he simply couldn't bring himself to voice any reproach. In the end, he could only sigh and speak helplessly, "Shulin, how did your English and science subjects... this, these scores..."
"I'm sorry," he lowered his head, obediently admitting fault. Because he couldn't remember the exam questions at all, he had estimated his scores based on the results from his past life. Considering he had handed in a blank paper for the last exam, his estimated scores were... even lower than what he had scored in his past life.
Scores worse than his past life's slacker grades—one could imagine how pitiful they were. No wonder the homeroom teacher looked like he was thinking, "These scores are unscientific, I'm suffocating."
Seeing him so well-behaved, Hu Jun found himself even more unable to say anything. He shook his head, put down the score slips, pondered for a long time, and then hesitantly said, "Shulin, with these scores, it will be difficult for you to get into a good high school. Your foundation is solid; you just didn't perform well this time. How about... how about repeating a year? If you're willing, I'll still be your teacher for that repeat year."
"Thank you for your kindness, Teacher Hu. But repeating a year... I probably won't need to." A warmth spread in Yu Shulin's heart, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face, making his delicate features appear even more amiable. "My current guardian is from City B. In a while, I'll be leaving here to go to City B. Whether I repeat a year or go directly to high school there will depend on his opinion. Please don't worry, Teacher. I won't neglect my studies."
Hearing this, Hu Jun's expression softened a bit. He nodded and said, "I see. But is your uncle living in City B now? I hadn't heard about that."
The smile on Yu Shulin's face faded slightly. Various thoughts raced through his mind, and he finally chose to put on a hurt expression, lowering his head and saying, "It's not my uncle. My current guardian is my brother."
"Brother? What's going on?" Hu Jun frowned and asked, "Weren't you an only child? Did something happen?" He believed he had a certain understanding of Yu Shulin as a student. He had met Yu Xiu a few times, and the man seemed decent enough. How had the guardian become someone else now?
"Uncle he... used my mother's accident compensation money to buy a car..." He glanced up at Hu Jun, then lowered his head again, his fingers gripping the newspaper used for score estimation in a nervous, almost neurotic manner, his knuckles turning white from the force. "People all say he got close to me for the money. I don't know... but he really did use my mom's accident compensation. That was money my mom exchanged with her life. I'm very angry, but he's my uncle. I don't know what to do..."
"What!" Hu Jun, who had spent his entire life teaching and nurturing students with upright values, was stunned by this news. After a moment of dazed silence, he turned to look at him with slight urgency, asking hurriedly, "Is everything you said true? Are you sure?"
"Yes." He lowered his eyes, hiding the flicker of calculation within them, his voice still soft. "I didn't want to believe it either, but the accounts in the lawyer's hands really don't add up, and my uncle can't produce that sum of money..."
"This... this is utterly beastly!" Hu Jun slapped the table heavily, his face flushed with anger, his heart aching painfully for his student's troubled fate. "I thought he was a decent man, but to think... he truly has no sense of honor or shame, a heartless ingrate!"
