Rebirth: The Comeback of the Girl
Chapter 41: On the Eve of School Starting

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: On the Eve of School Starting

"Brother!" Zhen Yu called out loudly.

"What do you want, little sis?" Zhen Yan leapt energetically to his sister’s side.

Zhen Yu gave him a glance, "Talk more, sing less!"

Zhen Yan knew he was tone-deaf, but he just loved to hum a tune. Now he weakly said, "...I just want to sing~"

"Stay right here and don’t move! You can sing after we’ve walked away!"

"Pfft~" Han Jiaoyang pointed at Zhen Yu and laughed, "Listen to her! She’s telling Zhen Yan to stand here by himself and sing! That’s too much!"

Zhen Yan’s face darkened. It wasn’t necessary to threw him to the roadside alone! Was this sister really biologically related? He must have been picked up from somewhere!

"Xiao Yu~" Han Mingyue noticed Zhen Yan’s displeased expression and made a gesture to Zhen Yu.

Zhen Yu took a look at her brother and grudgingly changed her tone, blandly saying, "You actually took me seriously when I was just teasing!"

After saying this, she turned around and walked away.

Zhen Yan paused for a second, then dashed over and began to shake his sister vigorously from all directions.

While shaking her, he said, "You little rascal! Can’t you feel at ease without ticking me off every single day?"

Zhen Yu, struggling to endure the dizziness, forcefully said, "Yes!"

"..." Zhen Yan hesitated with his hand, suddenly switching from shaking to tickling.

"Ahahaha..." Zhen Yu let out a surprised laugh and quickly broke free and ran off.

-

Watching his sister’s back stop not far ahead, Zhen Yan started singing again with a smile.

"Taking a lamp of fishing fire, let it warm my eyes; Leaving a strip of true emotion, let it anchor by the side of the maple bridge; Helpless me~~~~"

The last verse cracked like a wolf howling, successfully provoking Fu Yu to burst out, "Zhen Yan~ I beg you to stop singing! I can’t take it anymore!"

"Ha ha... Noise demon!" Han Jiaoyang laughed as he gave Zhen Yan a nickname.

"Who are you calling? You little stinker! Stop right there..." Zhen Yan shouted as he lunged at him, and Han Jiaoyang took off running.

Fu Yu also pounced in, and they horsed around, leaving Han Mingyue and Bai Xue trailing behind.

"Um, Han, Han Mingyue!" Bai Xue called his name shyly and stammering.

Han Mingyue’s gaze remained fixed on Zhen Yu’s back, faintly asking, "What’s the matter?"

Bai Xue, head bowed and fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, said even more quietly, "Summer homework, can I borrow yours?"

Han Mingyue let out a sigh of breath, contemplated for two seconds, and finally nodded, "Come get it from Zhen Yu’s house this afternoon."

"Great!" Bai Xue, who had been holding her breath, shouted in delight when she heard his agreement.

Which startled Han Mingyue quite a bit.

Bai Xue didn’t mind, laughing and running off to chase after Zhen Yu.

Han Mingyue resigned himself to the situation and began to stroll alone at a leisurely pace.

-

Two girls and four boys in the living room, sitting or standing, were tallying their respective gains.

Prompted by Bai Xue, Han Mingyue showed a bit of brotherly care, "Jiaoyang, did you finish your summer homework?"

Feeling guilty, Han Jiaoyang’s eyes darted around, pretending not to hear.

Han Mingyue smacked him hard, "School starts the day after tomorrow! Do you want the teacher to call our parents?"

Han Jiaoyang puckered his lips, "I’ll write it this afternoon!"

After that, he suddenly caught sight of Zhen Yu, forcibly squeezed past Fu Yu, got close to her, and whispered, "Can I copy your summer homework~"

Zhen Yu, who was listening to Bai Xue brag about her shopping haul, responded without even lifting her head, loudly saying, "You’re not copying my homework."

"!" Han Jiaoyang abruptly turned his head towards his brother, who was indeed glaring at him. He guiltily turned back and started drawing circles in his mind to curse Zhen Yu.

That Zhen Yu, what a brat! Darn girl! If you’re not gonna give it, then just don’t, but she had to rat him out!

How can Zhen Yan have such an annoying little sister! Lucky for him, he doesn’t! Girls just love to tattle, none of them are good!

Humph! Not gonna play with her again!

Upon hearing the word ’homework,’ Fu Yu revitalized as if he had unblocked his Ren and Du meridians. He yanked Han Jiayang behind him and stood beside Zhen Yu again.

Commandingly he said, "Zhen Yu! Let me copy your homework! I can’t finish mine!"

Zhen Yu didn’t react much; Bai Xue prodded her, whispering, "Lend it to my cousin this once! I heard he hasn’t written a single word~"

"No lending."

"You!" Fu Yu’s voice seized with frustration, "Zhen Yu! I’m never being friends with you again!"

"Suit yourself."

"Humph!" Annoyed, Fu Yu turned and walked away, not leaving the living room but just sulkily sitting down in a corner far away from her.

Zhen Yan hurriedly went to comfort him.

Bai Xue leaned in and quietly asked Zhen Yu, "You really won’t lend it? If he gets called in by his parents, he’s for sure going to get a beating from my uncle!"

"A beating does a body good."

Bai Xue blinked, the phrase sounded smooth, but what did it mean? A beating that was healthy? Ridiculous!

She didn’t go on persuading him. After all, her summer homework was taken care of, her cousin could borrow it from someone else if not here!

Later, she’d suggest Fu Yu go borrow it from someone else. It wasn’t as if only Zhen Yu had finished -- it’s just that her cousin was being silly!

Everyone chatted idly all morning and then went back to their respective homes at noon.

As she saw everyone to the door, Zhen Yu spoke up, "Bring your summer homework this afternoon, let’s study together."

The expressions on her friends’ faces said it all, but in the end, they all agreed to come.

Zhen Yu’s house had a big round dining table that could seat eight people.

After lunch, Zhen Yu didn’t let her brother fold and lean it against the wall as usual, but instead, she cleaned it and left it propped in the corner by the platform bed.

Setting a half-hour alarm clock, they both took a nap, and when they woke up, not a single person had arrived yet.

It wasn’t until everyone was there that Zhen Yu realized there were six people: two had finished; two were writing their own; two were frantically copying.

This was a grand assembly of top students, average students, and slackers.

When Bai Xue took the summer homework from Han Mingyue, Zhen Yu finally rolled her eyes for the first time since she was reborn.

But she didn’t stop her. Bai Xue was the kind of slacker who was beyond saving, too broken to pick up.

Fu Yu arrived last and had managed to borrow summer homework from somewhere. He got to the table and started writing intensely without a word.

Han Jiayang still had homework to finish, not as little as Zhen Yan, nor as much as Fu Yu, so under his brother’s watchful eye, he could only write it slowly by himself.

Zhen Yu looked around and saw Han Mingyue was still reading "Essays 36 Strategies", so she wrapped her arms around herself and returned to her small bedroom to read her own essay selections.

This scenario persisted until the last day before school started, late in the morning, when Fu Yu burst out shouting, "Done copying!"

Everyone was finally free from suffering.

Zhen Yu announced that she would make everyone a tasty lunch to celebrate, and then they could all play freely in the afternoon!

Unnoticed, these people had been under Zhen Yu’s management for three days, and now they seemed accustomed to her taking charge.

Perhaps because school was starting the next day, nobody really felt like going out after lunch.

So, Zhen Yu instructed her brother to drag the bamboo mats under the tree and put seven or eight melons in the water vat by the door to soak, then called everyone to sit under the yard’s sand pear tree and play poker.

She watched from the sidelines for a while before turning to go back inside to read.

Soon after, Han Mingyue also came in to sit down at another desk, and the room filled with the fragrance of books while the sound of laughter from outside occasionally drifted in.

Times were peaceful and everything seemed serene and untroubled.