Rebirth: The Comeback of the Girl
Chapter 70 Northeast Winter

Chapter 70: Chapter 70 Northeast Winter

Not far from the Qian Family’s home, Han Mingyue couldn’t help confronting Zhen Yu: "You lied when you answered Teacher Qian’s question today!"

Zhen Yu remained silent.

Unable to get a response from her, Han Mingyue pressed further: "Why did you lie? Your little aunt has never been to your home..."

"Enough!" Zhen Yu rebuked in a low, stern voice.

An awkward silence filled the space between them.

After walking a bit further, Zhen Yu finally said softly, "I have my reasons for lying, it’s just not convenient for me to tell you right now."

Han Mingyue asked gloomily, "Just like it was inconvenient for you to tell Teacher Qian?"

"Uh-huh."

Hearing Zhen Yu’s affirmative answer, Han Mingyue blurted out the question, "Then why didn’t you just lie to me as well!?"

Zhen Yu was silent again.

For a long time.

A few steps away from the fork in the road where they would each go their separate ways home, she suddenly stopped.

Han Mingyue halted his steps too, turning to face the girl.

The girl in front of him had clear, bright eyes and spoke with a serious face, "I don’t want to deceive you. And I will never deceive you!"

Han Mingyue was somewhat dazed, staring at her blankly.

Why is she telling him this? She...

Lost in thought, Han Mingyue didn’t realize the girl had already turned around and started walking towards the Zhen Family home, her voice barely audible in the breeze, "When we grow up..."

The rest of her words were scattered by the wind, and he didn’t catch them, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Han Mingyue walked toward the path leading to the Han Family with a smile on his face, suddenly filled with anticipation for the future.

And so he set off in the other direction.

When one has overcome the mountains and rivers halfway, one will draw ever closer to the other side of destiny’s semicircle.

-

Early Monday morning at school, the classroom stove was blazing.

Today was the first day of heating, and the fire in the stove had been started by the homeroom teacher, Teacher Cao.

Starting tomorrow, it would be the students’ turn to take turns keeping it lit.

Last Friday, Teacher Cao had already informed the students that the nap time was canceled.

It’s from this day every year that the school shortens the dismissal time in the evening.

In the northeast, winter nights fall particularly early, and to prevent students from traveling home in the dark, the school only allows half an hour for lunch each day.

The school has a canteen, where boarding students always eat.

Students who commute bring their lunches to save money or if they are unaccustomed to the canteen food.

As soon as Zhen Yu arrived in the classroom, she first took her two bundles of firewood to the corner of the class and informed the class monitor.

Afterward, she placed her iron lunchbox on the stove, closer to her seat.

"Xiao Yu! What lunch did you bring?" Qian Duoduo asked while getting up to give Zhen Yu her seat.

"Rice."

"Pfft~" Fu Yu’s laughter burst out from behind, prompting Qian Duoduo to whirl around and glare at him fiercely.

"Why glare at me? I’m not the one who insulted you!" Fu Yu bristled when glared at.

"Who let you laugh at me!" Qian Duoduo was not to be outdone.

Ever since they struck up a friendship picking up firewood, Qian Duoduo and Fu Yu became more familiar with each other, both love to show their toughness in words, often causing Zhen Yu a headache.

"Stop!"

Qian Duoduo heard Zhen Yu’s light call and immediately shut her mouth and turned to sit up straight.

Don’t ask her why she was so obedient; she couldn’t help it...

If she didn’t listen, Zhen Yu would not share lunch with her, and for a bite to eat, she was willing to go all out.

Fu Yu was different though; he kicked Zhen Yu’s stool hard.

Emphasizing, "It was you who teased her in the first place!"

Ever since Zhen Yu started wearing her hair up every day, he had no chance to tease her anymore!

Now, other than kicking stools, there’s nothing that can be done about Zhen Yu.

Zhen Yu ignored him; kicking her stool wouldn’t cost her any meat, this kid was the typical kind who’d get more cheeky the more attention you give him. It’s right to just ignore him.

Fu Yu kicked the stool a couple more times, found Zhen Yu truly uninteresting, and turned to whisper with his deskmate.

-

The weather turned colder, and during the big break after the second class, they disbanded immediately after the flag-raising ceremony.

Zhen Yu had already been wearing a mask, a hat, a scarf, and gloves for several days, because in her previous life she was young and clueless, and during her first year of junior high in winter, she ended up with frostbite on her hands and feet.

She had poor blood circulation, with hands and feet cold all year round, and she hadn’t brought many things to the dormitory when it wasn’t that cold yet.

It wasn’t until her hands and feet started itching did she realize it was too late to keep them warm.

Covered in frostbite, her fingers swelled like carrots, both painful and itchy.

Not only did her feet swell and itch, but they also cracked and bled, causing her agony.

During classes, the itch made her unable to sit still, yet she couldn’t just take off her shoes to scratch in the classroom; the feeling was...

Both the classroom and dormitory were heated, and the warmer her hands and feet got, the itchier they became.

Left with no choice, she had to seek help from Mr. Han.

The treatments did cure it, but it would recur if not careful.

At that time, Zhen Yu was truly a child, how could she know when to be cautious?

Thus, during her middle school years, her life was constantly troubled by frostbite.

This time around, Zhen Yu didn’t want to experience it again, especially since after the frostbite healed, she found out her finger joints had become thick and dark, no longer slender as before.

In later years, it’s often said that hands are a woman’s second face, the frostbite from her previous life had almost ruined Zhen Yu’s hands.

-

Hearing the word "disband," Zhen Yu wanted to head towards the classroom immediately.

In this life, she wasn’t willing to stay outdoors for a second longer than necessary.

But just as she lifted her foot, she got pulled back by someone.

"Xiao Yu, accompany me to the bathroom!" Qian Duoduo put on an ingratiating face, committing the common folly of women.

"I won’t go." Zhen Yu was not at all interested in going to the bathroom in pairs.

"Please! Just accompany me this once!" Qian Duoduo refused to give up, shaking and tugging at Zhen Yu...

"Fine! Let’s go!" Zhen Yu gave in.

Qian Duoduo, hopping with excitement, grabbed Zhen Yu and ran, "Hurry up!"

Zhen Yu caught up with her quickly.

If you’re so desperate, just hurry up and go! Why do you still have time to hassle me? You’re not even afraid of wetting your pants!

-

It might’ve been that some classmates’ lunchbox lids were not tight enough, after two hours of baking, the third class began with a soy sauce aroma.

It was just unclear if it was soy eggplant or something else soy...

Later, the pervasive aroma in the classroom was such that one could no longer distinguish the dishes, yet it gave all the students the illusion of being in a canteen.

Perhaps Teacher Cao was also too enticed to continue the lesson, as halfway through, the class took a turn and became a pop quiz.

But Zhen Yu guessed, it’s more likely that the students were so distracted by the aroma, that Teacher Cao decided to hand out a test paper to make everyone cool down.

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, Teacher Cao announced it was time to collect the papers.

Holding the papers and before leaving, Teacher Cao left a message, "Everyone! Tomorrow, wrap your lunchboxes with cloth!"

Everyone: "..."

-

The last class was physical education.

Zhen Yu, all bundled up, jogged slowly with her classmates.

The winter PE classes, for Zhen Yu, were equivalent to torture.

Though she was a native Northeasterner, she didn’t like winter at all.

Currently, the cold wind wasn’t too strong, it merely made her nose run uncontrollably.

When the real winter comes, the wind feels like a knife, causing headaches.

After running a short distance, you would feel your nostrils burning, as if your lungs were hung with icicles.