Rebirth: The Comeback of the Girl
Chapter 85: Inconsistency Between Words and Actions

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Inconsistency Between Words and Actions

Zhen Yu defended herself, "When you were drowning, didn’t I go find someone to rescue you?"

"Uncle Han alone was enough to save me, how many people did you call?"

Zhen Yu knew what her brother said was right, but muttered, "Human life is of utmost importance~"

"Ah~" Zhen Yan stroked his sister’s head, "Helping others is a good thing, but you also need to take care of yourself! That day, that day you scared me to death!"

For her brother to suddenly say he was ’scared to death’ by her, Zhen Yu felt guilty—as though her brother, still a child, had been forced to worry and be frightened because of her.

Zhen Yu took hold of Zhen Yan and, looking into her brother’s eyes, she said: "Bro~ don’t be afraid of me! I won’t hurt you."

"I know." Zhen Yan said with a relieved smile, "Let’s go wash our faces now~"

"Okay!"

-

In just one morning self-study period, Wang Ping had spread the glorious deed of Zhen Yu’s eagerness to help throughout the entire class.

After hearing about this, the classmates had a very strange reaction.

Most of them looked at Zhen Yu with an expression of disbelief.

Once class ended, Liu Ting turned around and asked, "Zhen Yu~ did you really help Wang Ping make a fire?"

Zhen Yu nodded.

"Hard to imagine, Zhen Yu! You’ve learned to be duplicitous!"

Qian Duoduo said sternly, "Who are you calling duplicitous?"

She was somewhat angry on Zhen Yu’s behalf—being called duplicitous was not a compliment!

Zhen Yu silently remained expressionless.

Liu Ting chuckled, "I don’t mean to insult her~ at the start of this year, Zhen Yu had such a cold demeanor! I thought she had changed her nature~ turns out she just learned how to keep a straight face all along!"

"What do you mean ’changed her nature’?" Qian Duoduo was confused.

"That you wouldn’t know~~" Liu Ting spoke with a sense of superiority, "When Zhen Yu was in elementary school, she was always the all-out one. Wherever there was trouble, there she was! Always so eager to help!"

-

Qian Duoduo felt like she’d stumbled upon a juicy piece of gossip and couldn’t help looking at Zhen Yu doubtfully.

Was this really the description of her deskmate?

Was Zhen Yu actually such a warm-hearted person before?

Then why, since the beginning of school and getting to know her until now, does she always act as if she doesn’t care about anything, as if nothing concerns her?

It was just one summer break—what did she experience that made her change so much?

"Zhen Yu, you really used to be..."

"Don’t ask me, I don’t know." Zhen Yu interrupted Qian Duoduo indifferently, without even lifting an eyebrow.

Qian Duoduo was taken aback: "????"

-

Zhen Yu genuinely didn’t know.

In a song she heard in her previous life, the lyrics went: ’Happy times are always unforgettable.’

Zhen Yu just wanted to say, what a load of crap!

Compared to happiness, it’s precisely those moments of loneliness, pain, and sorrow that are more haunting.

And the most unforgettable of all must be the moment of utter despair.

It might have lasted only a few short seconds, but it’s enough to bring you to tears every time you recall it throughout your life.

Zhen Yu had long since forgotten what kind of person she used to be in her once happy childhood, many years ago.

-

Seeing that Zhen Yu didn’t seem interested in going into details, Qian Duoduo continued to gossip with Liu Ting.

Before long, the topic shifted back to Zhen Yu.

"Xiao Yu~ how is your revision going? The midterms are this Friday!"

"Not bad," Zhen Yu replied to Qian Duoduo honestly.

Liu Ting incisively said, "When Zhen Yu says ’not bad,’ it must mean she’s got it in the bag! Our class will definitely secure the top spot in the midterms this time! Someone like me would be grateful just to pass everything~"

Hearing this, Qian Duoduo suddenly sat up straight and said seriously to Zhen Yu, "I will give it my all! Let’s compete fairly!"

Before Zhen Yu could respond, Liu Ting suddenly interjected, "Aren’t exams already fair? Surely people like you guys don’t need to cheat?"

Qian Duoduo’s brewing emotions were dissipated by Liu Ting’s comment, leaving her with no choice but to laugh and give her a shove, "Psh~ get out of here!"

"Why are you pushing me~~ I’m just telling the truth~~"

-

During the week leading up to the exams, all the teachers coincidentally stopped teaching new content and systematically reviewed from beginning to end with the students, highlighting key points.

Teacher Cao, the class advisor, was even more straightforward, giving out papers every day and going over the answers in class the next day, then handing out more papers after class.

Zhen Yu found these papers quite easy, so she used the time during the math class the next day to self-study the math for the second year of junior high school.

In less than three days, Teacher Cao became the second teacher to discover Zhen Yu’s self-study.

Like Teacher Qian, he brought Zhen Yu back to the office, where this time not only Teacher Qian was present but also several other teachers that Zhen Yu didn’t know very well were sitting in the office.

Teacher Cao sat behind his desk, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then calmly asked, "Tell me, why are you reading a second year’s book in class? Can you understand it?"

Zhen Yu took a small step back, not wanting to inhale secondhand smoke.

In those days, schools and teachers had not formalized their management practices extensively, and it was normal for male teachers to smoke in front of students, which was not considered strange by either students or teachers.

In the future, such behavior would have certainly invited harsh criticism from the public.

However, Zhen Yu found these undemanding teachers from that era endearing, as teachers at that time almost all deserved the honorable title of ’gardener,’ truly caring for every student from the bottom of their hearts.

Not like in the future where teaching would just be considered a profession, respected solely for dedication to one’s job.

-

After hearing Teacher Cao’s question, Zhen Yu pondered for a moment and decided to be honest about her plans to skip a grade.

She felt that it was better to reveal it sooner to gauge the reactions of the school and her class advisor.

After all, skipping a grade was almost unheard of at this time, and it presumably wouldn’t be easy to accomplish.

"I plan to skip a grade," Zhen Yu said, and a chorus of gasps filled the office, "which is why I’m self-studying the second-year curriculum."

Teacher Cao holding his cigarette froze for several seconds before snapping back to reality.

He tapped the half-smoked cigarette gently into the ashtray before speaking, "It’s the first semester of your first year, have you finished self-studying the first-year material?"

"Not yet," Zhen Yu shook her head, "No need to self-study that."

"No need?"

"I plan to skip a grade after finishing first year. I can just follow along with your teaching systematically for the first-year curriculum!"

Teacher Cao’s brows almost knitted into a "chuan" character, and he said sternly, "You’re not studying first year’s content, but you can understand second year’s textbooks? Can you solve the problems?"

"Ah?" Zhen Yu was confused, not quite understanding the connection between the first- and second-year curriculums.

"I’ve just started reading, planning to flip through the whole book before trying to solve the problems."

In fact, Zhen Yu felt that she had forgotten all the formulas and wanted to ’recall’ them first before actually studying.