Just that one shout!

That one shout was enough to make Bai Yuyang temporarily put thoughts of time reversal, traveling to the past, and other such unscientific things out of his mind.

There were still too many things he couldn't be sure of. In that case, there was no point wracking his brain over things he couldn't figure out anyway.

That was Yuyang's first conclusion.

Besides, there was no guarantee that what had happened in his previous life would happen exactly the same way in this one. He'd just have to take things as they came.

For now, the most urgent thing was dealing with the person outside the door, who was pounding on it and yelling her head off... No, pounding was probably a better word than knocking.

Anyway, he had to get her settled first. She was a real handful.

Lin Qingyu was Yuyang and Yuxi's childhood friend. The three of them had grown up together.

When they were little, their families had lived next door to each other in a courtyard of single-story houses. Now they'd moved into apartments in the city, and somehow their new places were still right across the hall from each other.

The parents had clearly arranged that on purpose.

If he remembered right, in his previous life, Lin Qingyu pounding on their door like this had been nothing unusual.

Yuyang hurried to get changed. Out of habit, he reached for the suit he usually wore, toward where the coat rack should've been.

But his hand caught nothing.

He didn't even touch the coat rack, let alone the suit.

They hadn't bought a coat rack yet.

“Oh, right. Look at me, forgetting we're back in time... Ahem. How am I taking this so calmly? Bai Yuyang, you're a genius.”

Hmm... Maybe Yuyang was a little full of himself sometimes.

Yuyang was used to the school uniform folded by his bed. He hadn't worn it in years, and putting it on again brought back some memories.

He smoothed out the little wrinkles in his clothes, tied his tie, and checked himself in the full-length mirror.

Sure enough, it was him from a few years ago.

Yuyang was just used to his own face. Any girl who saw Bai Yuyang standing there would probably find it impossible to resist his ridiculously powerful charm.

Black hair, dark eyes, a straight posture, and a handsome face.

A bold, heroic air showed between his brows, and his delicate features looked as if Heaven itself had carved them.

The crewneck black-and-white school uniform gave him a youthful look.

He was a few centimeters shorter than he would be when he started working, but even now he stood at 182 centimeters.

“Hmm. Not bad. Not ugly, at least.”

Yuyang combed his bangs over to the right with his hand and nodded.

Time to wash up. Didn't Xiao Xi say today was the opening ceremony?

He'd have to leave the house and find out what was going on now.

Just as he was about to leave his room...

“Bai Yuyang!! Are you sleeping in there or what? You told me to wait outside! Could you hurry up?! Do you seriously want me to be late with you on the very first day of school?!”

Her voice came closer and closer.

Her footsteps pattered along with it.

Yuyang stopped and sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

All right. Stay right here and get ready for the storm.

Sure enough, the next second, his bedroom door flew open with a bang. It was practically knocked off its hinges.

With that kind of force, Yuyang wouldn't have been surprised if a wild boar had charged in.

But the person who came in wasn't a wild boar. It was...

A little loli with cherry-blossom-pink hair and eyes, looking furious but not the least bit scary.

That was Yuyang's childhood friend, Lin Qingyu.

Calling her a loli wasn't an exaggeration. It was a perfect fit.

Just look at her.

She was eighteen by now, but barely reached 1.5 meters tall. Even her school uniform had been specially made smaller than the smallest size.

The saddest part was that even seven years later... Lin Qingyu would still be exactly this height. She wouldn't grow at all.

Her naturally curly, cherry-pink hair fell to her waist, and she was incredibly cute... if she weren't looking so “fierce” right now.

So, Qingyu, you really aren't scary at all!

Whenever she got this worked up, Yuyang couldn't help imagining a little tiger going “rawr, rawr.”

The little tiger charged in without stopping, heading straight for Yuyang.

“Yuyang, brace yourself! Take this headbutt!”

“Hey, hey, watch where you're going!”

Yuyang had no intention of dodging. If he did, this clumsy little loli might run into a cabinet or a chair.

Neither option would feel good, so if someone had to get hurt, Yuyang would take the hit!

First, Yuyang felt a fairly solid shove against his waist. Then...

Then the force against his waist vanished, and he had barely moved an inch.

“Ow!”

Lin Qingyu had charged at him with all her might, but she was so light that the moment she hit Yuyang, she bounced right back.

She stumbled backward with a clatter, took a few steps, and finally fell to the floor...

“That was it? Ahem... No, wait! Qingyu, are you okay?!”

Yuyang started to go over and help her up.

But Lin Qingyu wasn't someone who needed help. She was a tough, stubborn little loli.

“I'm fine!” The little girl clearly wasn't ready to admit defeat. She sprang right back to her feet.

Maybe she felt that falling like that had cost her face. She planted her hands on her hips and said angrily,

“Just you wait until I get a little taller! Let's see if you're still so smug then!”

No, no... I wasn't being smug at all. You ran into me and fell over all by yourself.

Almost as soon as she said that, Bai Yuxi came jogging over, panting.

“Haa... Sorry, Big Brother... I couldn't stop her. Big Sister Qingyu was charging around like she wasn't even human.”

“You're the one who's not human, you little brat! How do you manage to insult me without even trying?!”

“But it was your fault, Big Sister Qingyu...”

Seeing the two troublemakers about to start arguing, Bai Yuyang hurried to break them up.

“Ahaha... All right, all right. What are you two making such a fuss about this early in the morning? Qingyu, didn't you come to call me to school?”

“Of course I did!” Just thinking about it made Lin Qingyu furious. “Yuyang, how dare you say that? Yesterday, you told me to wait outside so we could go to the opening ceremony together. Bai Yuxi was right there listening, too! And what happened? I waited outside for twenty minutes! We're about to be late, and you two idiots aren't even in a hurry?!”

“Pfft...”

Her words made Yuyang laugh, and even Yuxi couldn't help letting out a couple of giggles.

She looked like she was in a huge hurry, yet she kept chattering away, determined to explain the whole thing properly. It was just too funny.

Lin Qingyu herself had always thought of her personality as hot-tempered.

But Yuyang thought her very nature was cuteness. She was just like Xiao Xi—both of them had practically grown up on cuteness.

Yuyang held up a hand in front of her to calm her down.

“Stop! All right, Qingyu, I get it. We're already late, so there's nothing we can do about that, right? Go have some water on the sofa. I haven't washed up yet. Once I'm ready, we'll head out together.”

“You haven't even washed up?! You're not in a hurry at all, are you?”

“We're already late, so what's the point of rushing? Be good, Qingyu.”

As he spoke, Yuyang reached out and patted the top of her head.

“You jerk! Don't treat me like a kid!”

Even as she protested, Lin Qingyu only blushed slightly and looked away. She didn't resist at all, or move Yuyang's hand from her head.

Before heading to wash up, Yuyang suddenly stopped and turned to ask,

“By the way, Qingyu, Xiao Xi, do you remember the cake I bought you yesterday evening?”

It was a sudden test.

Because the “cake from last night” had been from yesterday evening in his previous life. Yuyang had managed to get a limited-edition cake on sale and brought it home for the two of them to share.

He wanted to see how they would react.

“Cake? What are you talking about, Big Brother? It wasn't anyone's birthday yesterday,” Yuxi said, puzzled.

“You probably just wanted cake. Honestly, you're hopeless,” Lin Qingyu said, shrugging as if it didn't matter.

Yuyang only smiled. “I see. It's nothing, I was just asking. Go wait on the sofa. I'll be right there.”

For now, it seemed they didn't remember their “previous life.”

But... Yuyang fell into thought.

If he thought carefully about it, had any of what just happened taken place on the day of the opening ceremony in his previous life?

Like Qingyu charging at him and falling just now.

Even if he couldn't remember a small detail like that, Yuyang was sure he hadn't been late for the opening ceremony in his previous life.

And this time, he was late because he'd overslept.

Which meant...

What had happened in his previous life wouldn't necessarily happen exactly the same way in this one.

Right?