Chapter 1

The bell for class rang and the noisy corridor fell silent at once.
At the end of the corridor in the restroom, Qiao Zhenzhen stared at the mirror above the sink in a daze.
Her reflection showed pale, clear skin; instead of looking haggard from overtime, she looked remarkably well, as if years had been peeled away. Most important of all, the jagged scar on her right cheek had suddenly vanished.
That scar had been left when she was kidnapped after graduating high school; it had been on her face for ten years, and now it had disappeared as if it had never existed.
Wasn’t she hit in front of the company? Why was she suddenly in a restroom, why was she wearing her senior-year uniform, why had the scar on her face vanished… Questions crowded her mind, and then an unbelievable thought formed, ,
Could it be… she’d been reborn?
No sooner had the thought arisen than a flood of information crashed into her head. She realized she was the original female lead in a novel.
In the original story she should have lived happily, but the transmigrated supporting heroine Zhao Lianqiao schemed at every turn, trying to take everything from her.
That year’s kidnapping had been arranged by Zhao Lianqiao; she intended to make Qiao Zhenzhen disappear from this world, but she hadn’t expected Chi Shen to be there. Seeing her in danger, Chi Shen fought desperately to protect her; the kidnappers had no choice but to take them both. In the end Chi Shen died in the abduction while she survived.
Chi Shen.
At the mention of his name, Qiao Zhenzhen’s mind filled with a pale, handsome face and her heart tightened.
If he hadn’t tried to save her, Chi Shen wouldn’t have died. She still remembered him lying in her arms as he died, his pale face stained with blood, his dark eyes reflecting her cheek with a focus and stubbornness that left no room for anything else.
She had been on the receiving end of that look for three years, but back then she basked in everyone’s adoration and never appreciated anyone’s kindness. Fearful of his seriousness and mystery, easily swayed by Zhao Lianqiao, she had always treated him as something venomous, only after he died for her did she realize how terribly wrong she’d been.
Now she’d been reborn into her senior year, could Chi Shen… still be alive?
Qiao Zhenzhen’s eyes brightened and she was about to rush out to find him when a weak female voice came from a stall: “Is anyone out there?”
She paused, realizing she wasn’t alone in the restroom.
“Yes,” she answered.
The girl sounded relieved: “Um… do you have an extra tissue?”
Qiao Zhenzhen immediately patted herself down, found a tissue, and slid it under the stall: “Here.”
“Thank you!” the girl said gratefully.
“You’re welcome.”
Qiao Zhenzhen finished speaking and was about to leave when a notification sounded in her ear, ,
[Favor +0.01, Current: 0.01]
What? Qiao Zhenzhen looked around in bewilderment; the wide corridor was empty except for her.
“This is favor value. Accumulate a certain amount and you can pause time. For example, on first use, 10 favor points will freeze the novel world for thirty seconds, 20 points will freeze it for a minute. While time is stopped, only the host may move, and the host can use that frozen time to do anything legally permissible to change the fate the transmigrated supporting heroine has messed up.”
Suddenly an electronic voice sounded, and Qiao Zhenzhen froze.
The voice continued: “After time is paused, the host can also avoid water thrown at them, open a locked door, dodge an incoming slap…”
“…What use are those abilities to me?” Qiao Zhenzhen, who had been surprised a moment ago, was left speechless.
“How is that useless? As the heroine of a novel, having these abilities is basically cheating,” the electronic voice snorted, then went on to explain, “Of course, if the host doesn’t need time-pausing, you can spend favor points on other things, like winning the lottery or extending someone’s life, but the limits will be higher; some functions can only be used once in a lifetime…”
“Extend someone’s life?” Qiao Zhenzhen cut in suddenly.
The voice brightened when it saw her interest. “Yes. Take Chi Shen, the one you care about, even if you avoid that kidnapping, in the original story he dies before age twenty. But if you collect enough favor points, you can help extend his life.”
“So if I want to change fate and make Chi Shen live to a ripe old age, I have to collect favor points?” Qiao Zhenzhen frowned.
“Yes! Favor points, literally other people’s goodwill. There’s no limit on who you collect from or how you collect; as long as someone feels favorably toward you, you gain points. For example, when you handed someone a tissue just now, you earned 0.01 favor points from them.”
“How do you use favor points to extend a life?” That was the question she cared about most.
“Every ten favor points extends a life by one month.”
“…So I have to hand out a thousand tissues to give him an extra month?” Handing out a thousand tissues assumed a thousand people happened to forget theirs. Qiao Zhenzhen pictured it and couldn’t quite force a laugh.
The electronic voice faltered. “Uh… people are cold in modern society; getting 0.01 already counts as pretty good.”
Qiao Zhenzhen: “…” So even 0.01 is considered a lot.
“Host, anything else you don’t understand?” the voice asked.
Qiao Zhenzhen shook her head. The voice went on, “Good. My name is Xiao Ba. To avoid you being treated like a lunatic, you can call me in your mind from now on, no need to speak aloud.”
“Okay.”
No sooner had she agreed than silence settled in her head. She gathered herself, took a deep breath, and headed for the classroom.
Classes were still in session; the hallway was empty. She ran unimpeded and reached the classroom door in record time. Staring at the closed door, she swallowed and, trembling, reached out to push.
Time seemed to slow the instant she pushed. She forgot to breathe, her heart seeming to stop, until the doorframe struck the wall with a thud, then the world began to move normally again.
The classroom was empty; not a soul in sight.
She paused, glanced at the digital clock on the back wall, and checked the time.
It was September 11th of her senior year; she had one month until her eighteenth birthday.
In nine months, the kidnapping that would change both her life and Chi Shen’s would happen. After the abduction, Chi Shen would die, her parents would divorce, and she and her mother would leave with nothing. Zhao Lianqiao and her mother would move into the Qiao household, taking their place as Qiao Jian’s wife and daughter.
But for now, Chi Shen was still alive, Qiao Jian and her mother were not divorced, Zhao Lianqiao’s mother was merely Qiao Jian’s secret lover, and Zhao Lianqiao herself was just the daughter of an untouchable mistress, pretending to be her friend while secretly slinging dirt at her and steadily driving a wedge between her and everyone else, leaving her isolated and helpless before she even realized it.
This time, she vowed, she would protect her mother and protect Chi Shen, she would not let the tragedy happen again.
Qiao Zhenzhen’s heart quickened; a heat gathered at the corners of her eyes. It took her a long moment to steady herself, then she turned to the blackboard to check the schedule.
It was Friday. By the timetable, this was the second-to-last class of the afternoon… Qiao Zhenzhen scanned down the list, and when she saw the words “P.E. class” her brow instantly furrowed.
Chi Shen was reclusive and strange, and he always seemed to shadow her like a ghost. She was afraid of him and avoided him at every turn, didn’t even want to hear his name, so she didn’t really know his situation. Years after he was gone she’d learned from former classmates that in high school he had been isolated and bullied by people led by Zhao Lianqiao, and P.E., held once a week, was especially when trouble tended to find him.
…So where was he now? Was someone giving him trouble?
Her stomach dropped; without another thought she ran toward the sports field.
The corridors were still empty. She dashed downstairs and, upon reaching the first floor, saw an old woman staggering and about to fall. Instinctively she reached out to help, but she herself tumbled to the ground. Wearing only short sleeves, she scraped her elbow while, under her protection, the old woman was unharmed.
She helped the woman to her feet, and the woman immediately thanked her gratefully.
[Favor +0.02, current total 0.03 points.]
Qiao Zhenzhen glanced at her bleeding elbow, then at the pitifully small favor total, and was speechless again.
She hadn’t found Chi Shen yet and had no time to think. After leading the old woman to the shade she resumed running to the field. Nearing the playground, she slowed, scanning the crowd for his figure. Growing anxious at not finding him, she heard the jeering of boys from the alley between the two classroom buildings,
“Smelly and rank, how long has it been since you bathed?”
“Even if he washed it wouldn’t help, stinky to the core. So what if he’s good at studying? He’s still a perverted idiot.”
Qiao Zhenzhen drew a breath and, without hesitation, walked toward the alley.
In the alley, Chi Shen was filthy, shoved into the farthest corner by them.
The boy’s back was pressed to the wall with no escape, but his face showed no panic, only a pair of inky eyes that peered coldly through his fringe at those around him.
Chill and damp, like a silent venomous snake, just being looked at by him sent a shiver down your spine.
Everyone felt a chill under his stare. The ringleader suddenly flushed with anger, gritted his teeth and twisted open his water bottle. "I don't believe it won't wash off. Tell you what, I'll do a good deed today and help you..."
"If you dare splash water on him, I'll make sure you can't come to school tomorrow." Qiao Zhenzhen had just turned the corner and, seeing him about to throw water, her face went cold.
When she spoke, Chi Shen's fingertips trembled and he abruptly dropped his gaze. The few who'd been bullying him froze; when they turned and saw it was her, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Isn't that Qiao Zhenzhen? Don't worry, I'll teach this pervert a lesson for you, he won't dare follow you again." The leader grinned, his tone a little obsequious.
"No need," Qiao Zhenzhen snorted as she recognized him: classmate Qian You, the brother Zhao Lianqiao had claimed in high school. "Get out."
"...Are you out of your mind? We're sticking up for you!" Qian You hadn't expected her to be so curt; his tone soured.
The tension snapped taut, and nobody noticed that after Qian You snapped at Qiao Zhenzhen, Chi Shen, cornered, grew darker in the eyes.
Qiao Zhenzhen's face remained expressionless. "Since when did I ask you to help?"
"You!"
Qian You scowled and stepped forward to argue, but someone blocked him. "Cool it, her dad's on the school board!"
At that, Qian You gritted his teeth and, with the others, stalked off angrily. As he passed Qiao Zhenzhen she suddenly called after him, "Hey."
"What?" Qian You snapped.
Qiao Zhenzhen turned to him. "For the sake of being classmates, I'd advise you to keep a lower profile from now on, don't be so arrogant."
If she remembered correctly, at the start of senior year this guy had somehow offended someone and was doused with water and locked in an abandoned bathroom for a full day and night. When he was finally found he had a fever and a broken leg; he ended up dropping out to recover. The original account skimmed over those small-time thugs, she didn't know who had done it.
She'd only meant it as a friendly warning, but in Qian You's ears it sounded like a threat. He shot her a black look, didn't dare truly cross her, and spat a curse before turning away.
Qiao Zhenzhen had said it offhandedly; seeing he wouldn't listen, she let it go and looked ahead.
The troublemakers' footsteps receded and the alley fell silent.
She stood at the mouth of the alley, staring at Chi Shen in the far corner, and suddenly felt hesitant to approach. In her world Chi Shen had been dead for ten years. Over those ten years she'd dreamed of him countless times, always as he stood now before her: skin so pale it didn't look human, black hair hiding his eyes, only a straight nose and bloodless, thin lips showing, making him seem all the more frail and spare.
Every time she dreamed of him he felt this real, so much so that for a moment she wondered if everything now was only a dream.
She stood motionless for a long time. He had one hand hidden behind his back, standing still in the corner as if quietly studying her. Finally Qiao Zhenzhen took a deep breath and hesitantly stepped forward, each step bringing her closer and making the scene feel more real.
When she was about three paces away she caught a peculiar scent from him and stopped abruptly. It was an odd, unpleasant mix of flowers and fish, strange and off-putting, but it made her keenly aware that both their lives had been reset.
Just as she was lost in that familiar smell she looked up and met his gaze, and only then did Qiao Zhenzhen realize what the eyes he'd long hidden beneath his bangs were like.
Black and white distinct, clear as glass, no trace of timidity, but open and pure, as if born indifferent to notions of good and evil, unconcerned with rules; nothing in the world could confine him to any frame.
Confronted with such eyes, she suddenly felt nervous.
Her fear of Chi Shen had stemmed not only from the way he shadowed her like a bound spirit, but from the impression he gave, like a mad, homeless stray dog.
Fragile and pitiful, yet fierce and stubborn, repulsive; he radiated danger. When you spoke to him you'd meet a cold, hollow stare as if he could lash out at any moment. No one liked that kind of freak, not even the old Qiao Zhenzhen.
But after he'd died for her, everything changed.
Qiao Zhenzhen stared at him for a long moment, swallowed, and slowed her breathing. "Are you... okay?"
Chi Shen watched her quietly, as if still measuring her without a flicker.
Seeing him ignore her, Qiao Zhenzhen felt awkward. She noticed his right hand stayed hidden behind his back and hurried to change the subject. "Is your hand injured?"
As she spoke she reached out to help him, but her hand was barely halfway there when Chi Shen suddenly stepped back and, without looking back, bolted out of the alley with a speed that made it seem as if a rabid dog were chasing him.
Qiao Zhenzhen: "..." She couldn't believe Chi Shen could run that fast.
She stared at her hand suspended in midair, then slowly drew it back. Just as she was about to leave, a notification popped into her mind,
[Affection +10; current total 10.03 points.]
"Congratulations, host! You're incredible! This is the first time I've seen someone collect so many affection points right after rebirth!" A cheerful electronic voice rang in her head again.
Used to seeing affection values that began with 0.0, Qiao Zhenzhen was surprised. "Chi Shen's?"
"Yes!"
Qiao Zhenzhen asked, puzzled, "Is it because I saved him that so much affection appeared?"
Compared to the previous two times, she had barely even moved her lips; even if she had saved him, ten points felt excessive.
"Even if the affection display is delayed, it won't exceed a minute. You saved him five minutes ago, so it's not because of that."
Qiao Zhenzhen paused. "If not because of that, then why?"
"Uh... according to the data, it should be because you spoke to him."
Qiao Zhenzhen: "?" Just that?