Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn

Chapter 807: Chapter 119: Reunion After a Long Separation (Part 2)

"Take a look at Xuerou’s face, it looks like a bitter gourd. Each of you pick a few, you can put them in your wallet, so in the future when we go our separate ways, seeing the photos, you’ll remember how we were at sixteen or seventeen," Yiyi picked several photos, then let Xiao Xian and Xuerou choose as well.

"Look at it again, I’m already sick of seeing your baozi face every day. Besides, where could we go? Aren’t you all staying in Beijing, so you can’t ’whoosh’ disappear, right?" Xuerou teased Yiyi with a sarcastic tone, making Xiao Xian’s heart skip a beat.

After the three had selected their photos, they went to the shop owner to laminate them. The owner was busy and shouted upstairs, "Xue, come down and help, such a big person, idling upstairs all day, looking neither human nor ghost."

Someone came thumping down from upstairs. Upon seeing Xiao Xian and her friends, everyone was stunned, "Captain Bai Xue."

Bai Xue was taller than a few years ago; she had dropped out of school and stayed home for the past few months, her face was pale, her figure was much plumper than when she was in school. Her eyes were empty and soulless, avoiding the gaze of her old teammates, appearing more awkward in the cramped shop.

None of them expected Bai Xue’s mother to be running this small shop. But it made sense, as it was just over a ten-minute walk from East Leaf Park where Mao Yi had arranged to meet them, and Bai Xue’s home was nearby in East Leaf District.

Upon hearing that Xiao Xian and friends were her daughter’s former classmates and came specifically to see Bai Xue, her mother was very excited, repeatedly expressing her gratitude, "Thank you so much. Even now, you still remember our disappointing daughter. Since she returned from the United States, she’s changed so much. Asking her what happened, she wouldn’t say anything. We, as parents, don’t expect much from our children, we just hope they study well and have a good future. She was always such a good child, but...". Xuerou saw Bai Xue’s mother starting to tear up while speaking and quickly comforted her.

Bai Xue said nothing, only mechanically took the large headshots from Xiao Xian and friends, helping to laminate them, cut them, and placed them into several white envelope covers.

Compared to her mother’s excitement, Bai Xue appeared very wooden. This numbness had lasted for several months.

"Auntie, you go ahead, we will take Captain Bai Xue out for a walk," Xiao Xian saw Bai Xue’s appearance and knew she was using her numbness to disguise herself, so she persuaded Bai Xue’s mother to step aside, and proposed that Bai Xue go out with them for a walk.

Bai Xue didn’t refuse, she only grabbed a baseball cap at the door, put it on, covering most of her face.

Bai Xue’s mother, seeing her daughter always going out like this, could only sigh, hoping that her daughter’s old classmates’ visit might bring some liveliness to Bai Xue’s near-autistic reaction.

The four walked down the street, Bai Xue and Yiyi’s height alone drew a lot of attention.

Seeing Bai Xue’s gloomy appearance, passersby quickly stepped aside.

"Haha. Captain, I’ll walk with you instead, every time I walk with the two of them, I always feel like a man," Yiyi initially was scared by Bai Xue’s almost solitary demeanor, but among the three, she was the one least comfortable with silence, so she immediately grabbed Bai Xue’s hand, hand in arm, walking side by side.

Bai Xue paused a bit but didn’t shake off her hand, when nearing "East Leaf Park," Xiao Xian said, "Captain Bai Xue, actually today, Mao Yi senior also agreed to come and see you, he’s waiting up ahead. If you really don’t want to meet him, we can just walk around nearby."

Mao Dazhu had already told Xiao Xian that Mao Yi had been admitted early to Beijing Sports University, though the two had started at similar points, they were now worlds apart. With Bai Xue’s strong pride, meeting Mao Yi might make her even more uneasy.

"Thank you all, don’t call me captain anymore, I’m no longer your captain," Bai Xue murmured, her voice sounding like shattered glass, making people’s hearts palpitate.

Yiyi’s nose tingled, her eyes misted over, "No, Captain Bai Xue, you’ll always be our captain. None of us believe you took banned substances, you must have been wronged."

"Yiyi," Xuerou stopped Yiyi from continuing. Bai Xue’s demeanor showed she hadn’t yet shaken off the shadows of the past, mentioning this now might upset her.

"It’s okay. In fact, I don’t even believe I didn’t take any banned substances myself. You know, all my teammates, during the competition period, ate and lived together, and I didn’t leave the team to act autonomously, but I was the only one who tested positive in the urine test. I couldn’t explain it clearly, and nobody believed me. Since I’ve gone home till now, neighbors and former classmates and teachers despise me, only Coach Ni Shahe and you all would still believe in me, I..." Bai Xue burst into tears, and seeing someone nearing 1.9 meters suddenly cry, the people next to her became somewhat bewildered.

"Isn’t that Bai Xue and Xiao Xian over there? I’ve been saying I didn’t see anyone, hey, Da Mao, come here, everyone’s over here." Near the park’s vending machine, a gaudily dressed male student, having heard the commotion, looked up and recognized Xiao Xian and her friends.

This person, who came like noisy sparrows, hardly needed an introduction—the group’s guess could only be that he was Qu Yang, the high school heartthrob from Sacred Heart Middle School, making his long-awaited appearance as (to be continued). If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian () to vote for it, monthly ticket, recommendation ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.