Now, everyone called her by the name “Xia Hua.”
Then let’s go with that—Xia Hua.
The name had a bit of a grounded feel to it, but the meaning behind it was beautiful: taken from the idea of living as brilliantly as summer flowers.
She was still deep in thought—where exactly was she?
“We’ll now continue with the method for solving derivatives…”
The math teacher in the classroom was once again preaching earnestly and with great care.
So—”High school. I’ve returned to high school. And…” Xia Hua glanced at herself—her body was brimming with girlish charm, with slightly dry long hair and smooth, full arms…
What she was most familiar with, though, were the dark-rimmed glasses perched on her face.
She had severe nearsightedness, about -5.00 diopters.
She used to be called “glasses boy.” Now? Probably “glasses girl.”
“This has to be a dream, right?” Xia Hua said with a hint of hesitation.
From time to time, she glanced toward the window.
Reflected there was a girl with a beautiful face—though not without flaws.
A bit of baby fat, and judging by her figure, not exactly on top of her fitness game.
That girl was… herself.
“Baby fat. Cute.” That was putting it nicely.
If she didn’t start taking care of her body soon, she’d probably earn the nickname “Little Round” on the streets.
“No, no. Something’s not right.” Xia Hua shook her head vigorously again.
“I clearly…” Xia Hua recalled the moment she was run over by a female driver while lost in a daze. “I already died! So… am I dreaming right now, or trapped in some illusion?”
One thing was certain—she had become this girl named “Xia Hua.”
Next, she had to figure out why.
[When in doubt, blame quantum mechanics. If that doesn’t work, it’s time travel.]
That classic line finally had a fitting use.
The only thing Xia Hua could be reasonably sure of was that she might have actually transmigrated.
And that’s just a possibility, she reminded herself.
Then came the real question: was she dead or not?
Following that line of thinking… she’d have to consider Lin An.
What was Lin An’s dying wish again? Xia Hua furrowed her brow. “Emmmm… that guy… he… he actually wished for his best buddy—me—”
“To turn into a girl!?”
“And his wish came true! I really turned into a girl. So I have every reason to believe this might be the afterlife—a world meant to fulfill Lin An’s dying wish!?”
Xia Hua suddenly felt a shiver of fear. Just what was Lin An trying to do?
I treated him like a best bro, and he—
Xia Hua quickly shoved those disturbing thoughts out of her mind.
Between “transmigrating” and “entering a post-death wish-fulfillment world for Lin An,” she leaned toward the latter.
She pulled an old smartphone from her pocket and checked the time.
She stared at it for a long time, mentally calculating, then mumbling aloud.
Mental math, verbal math, all tools deployed.
After furiously tapping on the calculator app like a man possessed, she finally said, “The current point in time is… right when I was in second year of high school, about to move into third year.”
“I remember this period…”
“Mm, I don’t recall specific events clearly.”
“I’ll ask my classmates about it later…”
That said, Xia Hua already had a rough idea in her heart.
Judging by the time period—second year turning into third year, the run-up to the college entrance exams and combining it with Lin An’s final words, there was a high probability this was exactly the time he’d mentioned: when a celebration was held for upcoming third-year students. Yes, it had to be around now.
So, Xia Hua tentatively concluded this world was the “afterlife where Lin An’s wish is fulfilled.”
Once she got into thinking mode, Xia Hua’s original nature as a guy surfaced.
She unconsciously folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall, trying to strike a “cool” pose.
After a while, she muttered, “So… I’m supposed to fulfill Lin An’s wish?”
“No, wait. Lin An’s dying wish was for me to become a girl, right?”
“Well, that’s already happened!!”
“And also…”
“I died too, didn’t I?”
“I got run over real bad by that female driver…”
“I’m definitely dead, right?”
“Or… is it that the so-called ‘wish-fulfillment afterlife world’ administrator got lazy and threw me and Lin An into the same world? Then what’s my wish?”
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist.”
“An artist.”
“A doctor.”
“A police officer.”
“A wandering hero.”
“A cultivator.”
“A mutant freak.”
“A superhero.”
“……”
Xia Hua began counting off her childhood dreams on her fingers.
You could say she had lofty ideals as a child and as an adult, her thoughts only became more chaotic.
Because she had already made up her mind that this was “a world created to fulfill Lin An’s wish after death”, Xia Hua had overlooked another possibility—
What if this world… was actually real?
Gradually, Xia Hua’s expression turned more and more troubled. “I had so many dreams when I was a kid… how am I supposed to know if I had any regrets? No matter how hard I think about it, it’s like I didn’t even have any dreams left before coming to this world.”
“I really have to thank Lin An for that. He made my entrepreneurial life way too comfortable.”
“Every day I just drank tea and occasionally scolded a few pretty female employees.”
“Twenty-something years old, already living like a two-hundred-year-old about to be buried in peace.”
“So what the hell was my wish?”
Xia Hua racked her brain, and then suddenly panicked, “Please don’t let Lin An be the only one who reaches enlightenment!”
If we’re both dead now, and we’re still best bros, then come on—when it comes to something as glorious as ‘reaching enlightenment,’ don’t leave your bro behind!!
You’ve got to pull your brother up when it counts—though if dragging him down counts as ‘pulling,’ well…
Xia Hua made up her mind: “Back in the other world, yeah, you helped me a lot. I’m grateful. But until I achieve enlightenment, please don’t go transcending just yet. Thanks.”
Her thoughts swirled as the late-May afternoon drifted by in peaceful silence.
There were a few students scattered across the playground, braving the blazing sun as they jogged on the rubber track.
Xia Hua’s classroom was on the third floor.
From time to time, a faint thump~ would echo through the building. T
hen, after seven or eight seconds—or maybe more—thump~ again.
Someone had finished playing basketball.
And as expected, no one could just quietly carry the ball back to class. They had to dribble it a few more times. As the sound grew closer…
Xia Hua narrowed her eyes. “Lin An. It is you…”
This version of Lin An was full of youthful energy—worlds apart from the emaciated, terminally ill cancer patient he’d been in the hospital.
His personality was that of a warm, gentle guy, and his looks? Extremely handsome.
Back when he was a teenager, Lin An still had a touch of boyish immaturity.
That signature goofy charm, the warm-but-clueless air—it practically radiated from him.
In his twenties, though, Lin An had matured into a man widely praised as a gifted gentleman.
Even the daughter of a major CEO had her eyes on him.
Xia Hua looked at that youthful face and muttered, “This idiot… turned her down every time.”
She raised the math textbook in her hand, using it to half-cover her face.
When Lin An walked past the classroom, he didn’t dare bounce the ball anymore.
Instead, imitating a basketball star, he tossed it into the air.
At that moment, Xia Hua was debating—should she say hi to him?
They didn’t know each other yet, right? So how should she greet him? Should she just walk up and say: “Yo! Best bro!!”? Yeah… probably not.
Lin An leapt up, trying to catch the ball smoothly as it came down.
That was the plan, anyway.
But just as the ball was rising and he was mid-jump—
A tall, radiant figure shot forward, a whiff of perfume trailing in the air. She beat him to it.
With slender hands, she smacked the ball with a clean thwack~, intercepting it perfectly and knocking it out of bounds.
The ball soared from the third floor down to the first, bounced once, and rolled even farther away.
“That’s not how you play basketball,” Xia Hua said coolly as she landed on her feet.
Returning to high school. Her first meeting with her old best friend. This counted as saying hello, didn’t it?
She was bold, she was dazzling, she was stunningly beautiful— And then she heard: “XIA!!! HUA!!!!!~”
The furious voice of the math teacher shattered the moment.
She was dragged back into the classroom—not to her seat, but straight to the blackboard to “stand and reflect.”
So… her name was Xia Hua, huh?
Lin An watched her get called out and lectured.
“I know, I know, I was wrong,” Xia Hua said, head hanging low in mock repentance.
Like she was saying: I know I was wrong. I’ll totally do it again next time.
Still, now and then, she threw a glance his way.
And for some reason… in her eyes, there seemed to be a hint of “that’s all?”
Lin An felt vaguely… insulted.
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