Chapter 1: After Rebirth, I Only Crave His Body

"Xiao Shuo, wake up. Didn't you say you had the most important thing to do today?"

"Leave it be, let him sleep a little longer. The kid just finished the college entrance exam; he needs to relax."

Hearing his parents' voices by his bedside, Li Shuo unconsciously curled his lips: This dream is too fake. Mom and Dad’s voices are too young, and besides, the college entrance exam? That was ages ago.

Wait...

Li Shuo woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright.

Opening his eyes, what came into view was the old house in Songshan County. In 2014, Li Shuo graduated from university, his parents divorced, and he chose to stay in the big city to make a living. Although he developed well and had a decent net worth before his rebirth, he rarely saw his parents anymore.

Could it be... a rebirth?

Li Shuo felt a sense of incredulous joy. As a veteran reader on Qidian, he had only ever dreamed that one day he would be favored by the Goddess of Fate and granted a chance to redo his life.

"Dad, Mom, I'm up..."

Five minutes later, Li Shuo pushed open his bedroom door, rubbing his eyes while stealing glances at his parents. Sure enough, they had both "become" younger!

"Go wash up."

"Breakfast is ready, eat it at the table. Didn't you say you had something to do today? I prepared a new outfit for you, wear that one..."

Hearing his mother Chen Yuqin’s nagging voice, Li Shuo felt a wave of warmth.

He gave a casual response and ducked into the bathroom, first looking at the teenager in the mirror: 1.8 meters tall, lean build, and as for the face, it was at the average level of a Qidian reader.

He took out his first-generation domestic knock-off phone and glanced at it: June 15, 2010.

"The college entrance exam just finished, the applications shouldn't be filled out yet. There's still a chance!"

Li Shuo muttered to himself. Reborn more than a decade into the past, he couldn't remember some things clearly, but he had imagined the major turning points that could rewrite his life back when he read novels in his previous life.

The first was the college entrance exam. In 2010, he had performed exceptionally well, scoring a full 50 points higher than usual, but he had miscalculated his score, leading him to apply to an ordinary second-tier university. In reality, with his score, getting into a key university was possible.

"To have such a huge error in score estimation is truly absurd. Wait, why exactly did I miscalculate my score?"

Just as Li Shuo was deep in thought, the knock-off phone vibrated; someone had sent him a message.

In this era, high school students didn't like making calls; classmates generally used QQ to communicate. The person messaging him was Li Shuo’s high school best friend, Jiang Hai.

"Didn't you say you were buying a gift today? Hurry up, I specifically took my old man's car out, and I'm parked downstairs at your apartment complex now..."

Buying a gift?

Li Shuo felt his brain jolt, and he finally remembered what was going on

Today was the birthday of Jiang Menghan, the girl he had a crush on during high school. He had planned for a long time to confess at her birthday party, only to be rejected the moment he opened his mouth. He was then ruthlessly mocked by Jiang Menghan’s lackeys, losing all face in front of his classmates.

After that, deeply devastated, he spent the entire summer vacation in a daze, not only miscalculating his score but also mistakenly applying to the Lenghai Institute of Finance and Accounting, a second-tier school that only required around 450 points.

Yet, Li Shuo’s final college entrance exam score was 536—enough to get into a first-tier or even a key university!

A good university is important even for a reborn person, not because it limits the academic level of ordinary people, but because it is an extension of social circles and networks.

The advantage of a reborn person lies in foresight. To succeed, one needs a high-end platform, and for most ordinary people, school is the only shortcut in life to expand their network and even climb the social ladder.

"Xiao Shuo, come out and eat."

"Remember to change your clothes..."

"You're going to someone's birthday party today, right? Here’s 1,000 yuan, take it to buy a gift for your classmate..."

Walking out of the bathroom, Ms. Chen was already urging him. While Li Shuo ate, she brought out a Giordano outfit, saying his uncle had spent a lot of money to bring it back from Hong Kong.

The clothes looked trendy, with a hint of a suit style. In his previous life, Li Shuo liked them very much, but looking at it now, wearing it felt like a child playing dress-up.

"It looks great, I'll call Uncle to thank him..."

Li Shuo picked up his phone, and Ms. Chen urged him from the side: "Alright, alright, thank him when you see him another day. Look at you, I’ve never seen you thank your elders for gifts before! Go on, it’s not good to be late for someone’s birthday..."

That was his mother—she felt they were all family, so she was inevitably negligent in her words, but she placed great importance on outsiders.

Li Shuo didn't argue, agreeing as he grabbed the clothes and left. Only after stepping out did he call his uncle, Wang Jianguo, to thank him.

Relatives are a boost that can add flowers to a brocade. Wang Jianguo did import-export business and often traveled to Hong Kong. Li Shuo had some ideas that required his uncle's help.

Of course, his interaction with his relatives wasn't entirely utilitarian. Listening to Wang Jianguo’s steady, powerful voice on the phone, he could hear an indescribable warmth.

After the call, he arrived downstairs to see the Toyota Camry belonging to Jiang Hai’s father parked in the center of the complex. A dark-skinned, slightly chubby teenager was leaning against the car door smoking.

"Jiang Hai, yo, you're dressed pretty well today, looking like a human being..."

Li Shuo walked up, greeting him while opening the car door.

"Tsk tsk, look who's talking, you've even got the suit jacket and trousers on!"

Jiang Hai replied with a grin, then asked, "Where to?"

"Where else? Straight to Jiang Menghan's house."

"Didn't you say you wanted to buy a gift?"

Jiang Hai asked curiously, "Or is it already prepared?"

Li Shuo said nonchalantly, "I'll just buy flowers on the way."

"Good lad! Who are you trying to fool? You can't just give Jiang Menghan flowers, right? Didn't you say you were going to confess today? Shouldn't you at least prepare some jewelry or something?" Jiang Hai asked in surprise.

Li Shuo teased, "Jiang Menghan is different from you. As the goddess of my dreams, she wouldn't like vulgar things. A bouquet of flowers is enough."

Jiang Hai rolled his eyes, feeling secretly strange. Li Shuo had previously revealed to him that he planned to take all his savings to buy a birthday gift for Jiang Menghan—why had it changed now?

But the reason sounded plausible; he knew that in Li Shuo’s heart, Jiang Menghan was that high-and-mighty fairy who didn't eat the food of mortals.

The Camry started and drove toward a residential area on the south ring of the county. When passing a flower shop on the way, Li Shuo really did get out to buy a bouquet, but...

"What is this? Why isn't it roses? It looks so ordinary," Jiang Hai asked curiously, looking at the flowers in Li Shuo’s hands.

"Peonies. Buying roses would be too blatant. You know me, I'm a subtle person."

Li Shuo mumbled vaguely and urged Jiang Hai to drive faster.

On the road, Li Shuo looked at the scenery outside the window. The further they went toward the south ring, the more newly built high-rises there were, as it was the area the county was vigorously developing. The current housing price was only a little over 1,000, but in the coming decade, it would almost double every year.

Rebirth is the greatest cheat code in life. Regarding major events, Li Shuo knew future economic trends, which industries were profitable, and which properties would skyrocket. He could even just buy some cryptocurrency and live a wealthy life forever.

Furthermore, as he gradually adapted to his rebirth, Li Shuo also recalled some specific events. For example, Jiang Menghan’s birthday party, his failed confession, and being mocked—these were actually just insignificant episodes in the long life of an ordinary person. However, at Jiang Menghan’s neighbor’s house, a "major event" would occur that could be called life-changing for many in the county.

This was also the purpose of Li Shuo’s trip; perhaps he could make his first pot of gold after his rebirth here.

"What are you thinking about so intently? We're here..."

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Hai’s voice pulled Li Shuo from his memories back to reality. Getting out of the car, he looked at the beautiful garden landscape of the complex and let out a soft breath, saying, "As expected of a high-end county complex, it's really beautiful."

Jiang Hai smacked his lips and said, "You're telling me. I heard a house here sells for 200,000."

"Jiang Hai, Li Shuo, why are you only here now? Everyone is almost here, hurry up and help me carry things..."

As soon as the two got out of the car, they heard a shout. It was a little chubby girl with a ponytail. As she spoke, she handed the bags in her hands directly to them.

Jiang Hai immediately reached out to take them. Turning his head, he saw that Li Shuo had already turned and walked into the building. He laughed and cursed, "This kid, he actually learned how to slack off."

"Hmph, useless guy, and he still wants to chase our Menghan! Just wait until I tell on him later!" the chubby girl said, full of displeasure.

The chubby girl was named Li Hongmei. There was only one thing that left a deep impression on Li Shuo: after his failed confession, she had ruthlessly mocked and ridiculed him.

Li Hongmei wasn't pretty, and her grades weren't good either, but she had a sharp, vicious tongue. In high school, she had retorted against Li Shuo countless times. Now that he was reborn, Li Shuo couldn't be bothered with her, but help her? That was absolutely out of the question.

He hadn't walked far when he heard Li Hongmei’s voice. He turned his head and asked, "What was your score on this college entrance exam? Do you have any idea?"

Li Hongmei’s face turned cold: "None of your business. In any case, I did better than you."

"That impressive? Doesn't that mean you scored over 600?" Li Shuo asked, "surprised."

"Who? Scoring over 600? Does our school have anyone like that?"

Jiang Menghan’s house was on the second floor. Because of the birthday, there were many people coming and going, so the door was open. Li Shuo’s voice outside naturally attracted the people in the room, and a girl with long, black hair draped over her shoulders walked out.

She had a good figure, and what was most eye-catching was a face with exquisite features—what people in the future would call a "pure-desire first love face," the kind most young boys couldn't resist.

Li Shuo liked it too. In his previous life, he didn't know what he liked, but in this life, he definitely craved the body.

He said casually, "Li Hongmei. She said she did very well."

Jiang Menghan was stunned and looked at her little lackey: "Hongmei, didn't you estimate your score to be around 500? How did it become 600?"

Li Hongmei stomped her feet in anger, piled all the things onto Jiang Hai, ran over, and shouted, "Don't listen to Li Shuo’s nonsense! I just said I did better than him. This guy hasn't scored over 500 many times, so..."

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Li Shuo: "The scores aren't out yet, but you're certain you did better than me. As it happens, I performed exceptionally well this time; I feel like I can get a 550. So, doesn't that mean you got 600?"

"You... you're talking nonsense! You useless thing, trash, waste..."

Li Shuo realized that Li Hongmei didn't actually have a poisonous tongue; she just had a dirty heart and liked to attack others directly.

"I am pretty useless, I guess I only got 550. Menghan, what do you estimate you got?" He looked at Jiang Menghan.

No matter how fanatical a first love is, the goddess of one's student days is destined to have her image gradually fade and dim with the passage of time, leaving behind only a set of symbols in one's mind.

He came to attend Jiang Menghan’s birthday party out of curiosity about what his "goddess" actually looked like, but more so for the matter next door. Therefore, the way an old man looks at a woman...

Jiang Menghan only felt like a little white rabbit, feeling uncomfortable for the first time under the gaze of her "simp." With a racing heart, she said, "Probably, around 550 or so..."

Li Shuo looked up and down at his former high school goddess, feeling that she was no different from the women he had supported in his previous life. Back then, he liked to scroll through female streamers on Douyin, specifically picking this "pure-desire" type to gift and then meet offline.

He smiled: "About the same as me..."

The implication was: Li Hongmei just insulted you too.

Jiang Menghan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and said with a smile, "Why bring that up? The scores aren't even out yet. Welcome to my birthday party, come inside first..."

Her handling of the situation was understated, with quite a bit of the demeanor of a campus goddess.

But Li Hongmei was furious. Usually, to get close to Jiang Menghan, Li Shuo had sucked up to her quite a bit. How dare he talk to her like this now?

Her eyes rolled, and she shouted, "Oh right, Li Shuo, you like Jiang Menghan so much, what gift did you bring today? Don't tell me you didn't bring anything."

Her eyes lingered on Li Shuo’s bouquet for a moment before moving away: It would be understandable for others to give flowers, but how could Li Shuo only give flowers?

"Here, Goddess Jiang, happy birthday. A gift of white flowers for you; may you always be as pure and brilliant as they are." Li Shuo presented the flowers.

Li Hongmei exclaimed, "Just this? A bouquet of flowers?"

Not roses?

Jiang Menghan was stunned, then took the flowers and said "thank you" with a smile.

She knew Li Shuo had a crush on her and always took it for granted that she could enjoy his various favors and care, eating the snacks and fruit he brought.

This birthday party was special because it was also a farewell party for high school classmates. Jiang Menghan had heard that Li Shuo was going to confess to her at the party and was already thinking about how to reject him.

Now, maintaining the status quo was just fine.

On the stairs above the second floor, a woman wearing a baseball cap and a mask had been standing there. She had witnessed the laughter and playfulness of this group of high school students the whole time. Seeing the bouquet of peonies, she couldn't help but speak up

"Peonies, known in ancient times as 'parting grass,' the flower language is farewell, departure. It means 'I will miss you later, but we have to separate now.' Little girl, is this boy your high school boyfriend? He's breaking up with you here."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell into silence.

——

In the first month of the new book, if you like it, please be sure to follow the latest chapters. The author will maintain two updates a day.

Also, this is a parallel world. The US, China, etc., you know how it is. Some characters and events have been slightly adjusted (such as the order of a series of college entrance exam events, the names of celebrities, etc.)

(End of chapter)