Chapter 19: The Sis-Con’s Rush

“Alright, that concludes our lesson for today. Class dismissed! Oh, and remember to be careful when leaving school for lunch. Class Monitor Bai YuYang, please help me carry these documents to the office.”

Qin Yan had finished the lesson remarkably early. With five minutes still remaining until dismissal and nothing left to teach, she had simply announced the end of class ahead of schedule.

Everyone understood. A class where the teacher taught quickly and students learned even faster could afford such whims.

Conversely, YuYang paused, glancing at the clock on the wall, and it took him a moment to fully process the situation.

‘Oh… right,’ he thought. ‘Coming back to life truly means readapting to many things.’

He had forgotten that Teacher Qin was someone who thoroughly disliked performing useless tasks.

There was no need to waste time; if class could end early, she would never wait an extra minute.

‘Ahem… Though YuYang remembered that before long, Teacher Qin would be called in by the school leadership for constantly dismissing class early, having been reported by the neighboring class.’

Still, it was probably best not to tell her about this in advance.

YuYang had no desire to influence future events based on his memories.

There was no telling what kind of butterfly effect it might create. With nothing certain, it was always best to proceed with caution.

And the most prudent course of action was to let nature take its course.

***

Students quietly gathered their belongings, leaving the classroom in a steady stream. YuYang, too, slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.

At the desk in front, Mo Sishi remained motionless, her head still bowed as she worked on her exercise book.

YuYang knew her habit: she always waited until everyone had left, then found a quiet spot to eat the lunchbox she had brought.

It was inconspicuous, yet remarkably serene.

In his previous life, Sishi had told YuYang that she rather enjoyed eating alone, as it allowed her to ponder many things.

‘If that’s the case, then continue to relish this period of tranquility,’ he mused.

‘Just be mentally prepared. When the time is ripe, I will reunite with you once more, shattering this fleeting happiness and stepping back into your life.’

‘Since I chose you in my previous life, whether other girls can avoid me is something YuYang couldn’t say for sure; he could only try his best.’

‘But as for you, Sishi, even if you try to avoid me, you won’t be able to~’

YuYang gazed at her back, a gentle smile gracing his lips.

He then quickly made his way around the front of the podium, stopping beside Lin QingYu’s seat.

“Quick, QingYu, pack up! We have important work to do!”

“What nonsense are you spouting now…?” QingYu slowly placed her textbooks into her backpack. “There’s nothing urgent. Lunch is already prepared, and we can eat as soon as we get home. Don’t worry, it won’t delay your nap time.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant, you silly loli! Let me help you pack! Just hurry up, we need to pick up Xiao Xi from school!”

“?”

Before QingYu could even react, YuYang reached out to help her pack her bag. He was swift and knew exactly what QingYu needed to carry, quickly handing her the neatly organized bag.

QingYu accepted the backpack with a hint of exasperation.

“Picking up YuXi from school… is that really ‘important work’? The second-year and first-year academic buildings are so close. Why are you rushing as if you need to cross mountains and rivers to get her…? Is it really that big of a deal?”

“Of course it is!” YuYang declared, his tone resolute and self-evident. “It’s Xiao Xi’s first day of high school; she’s bound to be disoriented. At a time like this, it’s our duty as her older brother and sister to appear promptly! Run, QingYu!”

“Go to hell… you sis-con.”

‘Does he really can’t live without his sister?’

But to be honest, sometimes QingYu truly envied YuXi.

YuYang’s doting on YuXi had reached an utterly outrageous degree.

‘Ahem… Of course, QingYu would never admit she was jealous! Absolutely not!’

Left with no choice, seeing YuYang in such a hurry, QingYu could only follow behind him, preparing to wait by the first-year academic building.

Noticing YuYang about to leave, Qin Yan, who was tidying documents at the podium, became anxious. “Hey?! Bai YuYang, don’t leave yet! At least help me carry these attendance sheets to the office first!”

‘Those are only sixty sheets of paper! Can’t you carry them yourself?!’

‘Is that more important than my adorable sister?!’

“Teacher, carry them yourself!”

YuYang didn’t even break his stride, rushing out of the classroom with Lin QingYu, neither of them looking back.

Their haste was even more urgent than a scholar rushing to the capital for imperial exams in ancient times!

“Ah, this… Is he going to pick up his little girlfriend? He’s like he’s eaten gunpowder. Carry them myself, then. Oh, to be young is truly wonderful. Not like me, almost forty, and my blind date failed. What a wasted life.”

Teacher Qin sighed, much like Aunt Zhang from the infirmary, expressing the lament of a woman nearing middle age.

She certainly didn’t notice that when she had just mentioned whether YuYang was going to find his “little girlfriend”…

Mo Sishi, who had been furiously writing below, suddenly paused, pressing down with such force that the tip of her pen snapped instantly.

***

“Phew, I’m exhausted! What was the point of running… I told you we wouldn’t be late!”

The two academic buildings were only dozens of meters apart. YuYang and QingYu took less than a minute to go from the second-year building to the first-year building.

QingYu wanted to complain! Despite such a short distance, YuYang had insisted on running the entire way!

“Isn’t your brain usually so quick? How is it that whenever it concerns YuXi, you become like rusty, decaying scrap metal! Calculate it yourself!

The homeroom teacher dismissed class five minutes early, and YuXi just started school, so her homeroom teacher will definitely give extra instructions, probably extending class. Why come early? To pick up thin air?!”

“Calm down… QingYu, calm down. Wasn’t I just… better early than late?”

“There’s no such thing as *this* early! Honestly!”

In the second and third-year buildings, day students were gradually leaving school, while boarding students went in the opposite direction to the cafeteria or back to their dorms.

Over at the first-year building, however, class had not yet dismissed at all.

YuYang and the others had all chosen to be day students since their residential complex was very close to the school.

So what could QingYu do now? Just keep waiting!

The loli, fuming, sat on a bench by a nearby flowerbed.

She mumbled something under her breath, gently fiddling with the holly bushes in the flowerbed.

“What is it… what is it… Is your sister the only good thing in the whole world…?”

‘What is she mumbling about?’

YuYang moved closer, and just as he sat beside her, QingYu shifted away, as if in a huff, retreating to the very edge of the bench.

It was as if she was saying, ‘Don’t sit so close, I don’t want to talk to you!’

“Hey, QingYu, are you even cuter than usual today?”

*Clang!*

Reacting too strongly, QingYu nearly hit her head on the iron railing behind her!

Fortunately, she managed to put her hand out at the last second to stop herself.

“You, you, you, what are you suddenly saying?!”

Her eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

YuYang stood up, looking up at the clear blue sky, an endless expanse above.

“I just feel… QingYu, you’ve been behaving very well today, as if you’ve suddenly grown several years older.”

QingYu’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

Grown several years older?

‘Could YuYang suspect that she had been reborn?’

But in truth, YuYang’s words carried no other meaning.

He shifted his gaze from the sky back to QingYu in front of him.

“Hmm… saying you’ve grown up isn’t quite accurate, since you’ve actually always been very sensible.”

“It’s just that today you’re exceptionally sensible. I had originally intended to take the blame for you, but you unexpectedly stepped forward without hesitation and explained the situation to the class. I think that’s really good.”

“YuYang…” QingYu felt a touch moved. ‘Could something so minor truly make YuYang feel gratified?’

At this, YuYang chuckled.

“Ahaha, of course. Saying you’re cuter today also includes that flat-ground fall; it cracked me up… I really didn’t think there were clumsy, adorable lolis like you in real life. I’ve only ever seen them in manga… Hey, QingYu?”

Then.

YuYang watched as QingYu silently stood up.

She took a few steps back, assuming a charging posture.

Then she sprinted towards him!

“Eat this headbutt!!”