Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

There was a reason why Du Zihan accepted Mei Fang’s challenge so readily and arrogantly.

He had been skating in this cultural square for several months and was quite familiar with the kids who played rollerblades nearby. This was the first time he had seen Mei Fang and his friends.

Lin Youxi’s skill level was self-evident, and Xia Yuan’s equipment indicated that she had just started skating.

Mei Fang might be more skilled, although he was a bit effeminate. After all, he was a boy, and his skill level couldn’t compare to the two girls.

Moreover, today he was wearing new rollerblades that he had just bought at home. He felt so powerful and confident while skating!

Du Zihan used to be bullied by Mei Fang when they were in kindergarten. Although it had been a long time since he had sought revenge, as the saying goes, “It’s not too late for a gentleman to take his revenge within ten years”. Today was the time for Mei Fang, who played with girls, to pay the price!

“The rules of the competition are very simple. We skate from one end of the square to the other end and then return, which counts as one round. We will skate two rounds in total, and the first one to finish will be the winner.”

“Are there any restrictions on equipment?”

“No, you can do whatever tricks you want.”

So Mei Fang called Xia Yuan and pointed at her rollerblades, “Let me borrow your rollerblades.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Yuan blushed and said, “Mei Fang, mine are inline skates, not as stable as quad skates^[1]. If you haven’t used them before, it might be easy to lose balance…”

“I know, it’s okay… but I’m more used to inline skates.”

“Okay…”

After hesitating for a while, Xia Yuan said, “I can lend them to you, but you have to turn around and wait for me to change shoes.”

“…Huh?”

Xia Yuan turned Mei Fang around, making sure that Lin Youxi was watching and not letting him peek. Then she quickly took off her shoes, revealing pink anime socks with Cardcaptor Sakura-themed wings, and swiftly put on white sneakers to let Mei Fang change equipment.

“Mei Fang, I know you want to stand up for me, but do you really need to compete with Du Zihan and get angry?”

Lin Youxi squatted down and advised Mei Fang, who was putting on his shoes, “This is so childish.”

“Are you saying this because you’re afraid I’ll lose?”

“I didn’t mean that… But even if you win against Du Zihan, won’t you still lose face?”

Mei Fang thought for a moment, then nodded, “That makes sense.”

“Hey, are you guys going to compete or not?” Du Zihan, who was impatient, angrily said, “Stop wasting time. If you’re afraid of losing, just admit it!”

“I’m here, I’m here!”

With the support of Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi, Mei Fang stood up and said, “I’ve changed my shoes.”

Du Zihan looked disdainfully at Mei Fang’s pink inline skates, “You really are a sissy, wearing girls’ shoes, and inline skates at that. There’s hardly any difference in speed between inline skates and quad skates, and inline skates are easier to fall with. Can you handle it?”

“Well, let’s see then?”

Mei Fang smiled slightly, his casual gaze making Du Zihan even more annoyed.

This guy… he’s been like this since forever… acting all grown-up! Let’s see how I can crush his arrogance this time!

Du Zihan and Mei Fang stood on the starting line, both crouching down, but Du Zihan crouched even lower.

Seeing someone preparing to race, some children playing nearby voluntarily made way and stopped on both sides to watch.

“Get ready… Three, two, one!”

With Xia Yuan’s signal, Du Zihan rushed out ahead, while Mei Fang’s reaction seemed a bit slow, causing him to lose some ground.

Haha! I knew it! I am the strongest!

Du Zihan skated forward with all his might, swinging his arms to the limit.

He closed his eyes, feeling the wind dance and listening to the cheers that came and went, as if he had become the most handsome guy in the cultural square, and the entire audience was praising his superb roller skating skills.

Until… Mei Fang waved at him.

…

???

Du Zihan saw Mei Fang waving at him in the opposite direction—

H-h-h-h-he’s actually skating backwards!

Skating backwards was one thing, he could barely do it himself; but Mei Fang wasn’t doing his usual twisting and turning, but rather smoothly skating in a straight line and in a serpentine pattern, constantly changing directions. He directly surpassed Du Zihan!

Mei Fang turned out to be a hidden roller skating master!

Faced with such a blow to his skills, even Du Zihan, who was stubborn, had no reason to continue.

When Mei Fang finished skating one round and was skating back, Du Zihan, who had reached the end, stopped chasing and stood still, pondering for a while.

He chose to continue forward and quickly leave the square.

It’s not too late for a gentleman to take his revenge within ten years!

Mei Fang, you win today, but I will study and practice hard. One day, I will make you call me dad!

But won’t come to the cultural square for a while, it’s really embarrassing…

When Mei Fang was about to reach the finish line, he was reminded by Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi to look back, only to find that Du Zihan had already found his escape route.

Hey, has he apologized to Lin Youxi yet?

“Mei Fang, Mei Fang, you’re so amazing! How long have you been learning? You even kept it a secret from me… not a good friend!”

Xia Yuan excitedly grabbed Mei Fang and questioned him. The onlookers from before didn’t disperse, but instead followed Xia Yuan to ask about sliding techniques.

Being surrounded by this group of elementary students made Mei Fang feel uneasy. He could only come up with an excuse that his cousin’s older brother had taught him.

After all, in his previous life, he was a member of a university roller skating club. That muscle memory came along with his rebirth, so even if he hadn’t played roller skating for a long time, it was still not difficult to deal with these elementary students who were just started learning.

The group of three friends skated at the cultural square until they were sweating profusely, and only then did they remember that they should go home for dinner after the sunset.

The three of them bought ice cream at a small shop on the street. Bathed in the sunset glow, they ate ice cream and chatted about the interesting things that happened today.

Seeing Xia Yuan struggling to carry her shoes, Mei Fang reached out proactively.

“Let me help you carry them.”

“It’s okay, I can do it myself.”

“Why be polite?”

Mei Fang took the bag and accidentally touched Xia Yuan’s fingers. As a result, Xia Yuan instinctively pulled her hand back, and her shoes fell to the ground.

Lin Youxi, who was on the side, saw this scene and couldn’t help but make fun of it.

“Clearly, Xia Yuan used to love holding hands the most, but now she’s feeling shy?”

Faced with Lin Youxi’s teasing, Xia Yuan didn’t respond directly but turned her head away.

“I have homework… I should go home and do it. Can I come to your house to do homework today? Will Lin Youxi come too?”

“I don’t need to. You guys can do your homework.”

Lin Youxi waved her hand and smiled, “I finished my holiday homework at school.”

Mei Fang returned home and found that no one was there, except for a note left by his mother, saying that the family of three had gone out to eat and would bring food back for him later.

Feeling a sense of no longer being important, Mei Fang took a shower. After a while, Xia Yuan, who had also finished showering, came to his house with her school bag. The two of them sat in the living room and did their homework together.

After writing for a while, Xia Yuan stopped and thought, looking at Mei Fang’s hand holding the pen. Then, she nudged Mei Fang with her elbow.

“Mei Fang, can you stretch out your hand for a moment?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Like this, spread out your fingers.”

Xia Yuan stretched out her other hand and pressed her palm against Mei Fang’s. “I… I just want to see how big the difference is between our palms.”

Although girls enter puberty earlier than boys, compared to Mei Fang, Xia Yuan’s hand was still small and soft when pressed against his.

Because they were so close, Mei Fang could still smell the fruity scent of her body wash.

“Hmm… boys’ hands are indeed much bigger.”

“Xia Yuan.”

“Hmm?”

Mei Fang smiled and said, “Are you trying to avoid looking too close with me in public? We’re usually so casual at home…”

Just a while ago, they were pinching each other’s faces, so it shouldn’t be embarrassing to touch fingers.

“What are you talking about? I’m not embarrassed…”

Xia Yuan blushed and said, “My hands were sweaty at that time, so I didn’t want to touch you. How could it be embarrassing! We grew up together since we were young, what is there to be embarrassed about?”

“That’s true.”

Xia Yuan has always had the burden of being an idol, and she didn’t want to show herself in a negative side…

However, if Mei Fang were to really believe that, then she had grown up in vain.

Mumbling to herself, Xia Yuan let go of Mei Fang’s hand, leaned down, and with a lazy and slightly resentful tone, she said:

“And if we’re talking about having a good relationship, Lin Youxi is much closer to you than she is to me now.”

“Why would you say that? Clearly, you two have a good relationship. I’ve never seen you two argue, you always scold me together.”

“But…”

Xia Yuan frowned, “She only wants to come to your house and doesn’t want to come to mine. Doesn’t that say something?”

“That’s because I have a computer at home, right? We play… ah, we always watch anime together. She’s already too old to play house with you. Besides, she also likes to play with my younger sister, little Ya…”

“Mei Fang, Mei Fang… I’m only telling you this, please don’t tell her, okay?”

Xia Yuan whispered, “Actually, I feel like she doesn’t really like my parents, that’s why she doesn’t want to come to my house.”

Translator’s Notes:

1. Difference between inline skates and quad skates: https://www. cora.org/inline -vs-quad- skates/↩︎