Chapter 1: How could it be her?

August, the swelter unbearable, yet even hotter was the fervent passion between lovers.

In Goose City, inside a room on the top floor of the Eastern Holiday Hotel.

A couple in love would today cross the bridge of their hearts, connecting to the sacred realm of Eros.

One minute later, Yan Qingxin trembled, tightly embracing her lover beneath her, her beautiful face slightly contorted from the intensity.

“Um… I, it’s my first time, so…”

Lu Zhao gently tucked the hair sticking to her forehead behind her ear. “It’s okay, I understand. Take it slow.”

“Mhm!” The understanding from her beloved was sweeter than any candy.

“By the way, my mom’s coming here on a business trip today. Want to meet her with me? I told her about us.”

Yan Qingxin lightly inhaled the scent of Lu Zhao’s hair, a faint minty freshness she adored.

Lu Zhao’s heart skipped a beat.

Meeting the parents, huh? Never experienced that, not even in his past life.

Lu Zhao had a little secret: he was a reborn soul.

To put it simply—truck, human flying, failed rescue, reborn in another world.

His first sight in this world was snow falling heavily under a streetlamp.

If he hadn’t been quick to cry out loud, he might’ve set the record for the fastest death after rebirth.

He grew up in an orphanage, and aside from there being more women around, the environment didn’t seem much different from his previous world.

At least, that’s what he thought at first, until elementary school shattered that notion.

Not only were there more women in this world, but they were stronger too—he lost at arm-wrestling.

“Seriously, why are you joining in? A guy like you thinks he can compete with us in strength?” a female classmate had scoffed.

His worldview was completely overturned in middle school, after learning about politics, history, biology, and geography.

“What… what kind of place is this?”

“So that’s why the uncles and aunties at the orphanage kept telling me to be careful when going out alone as a boy!”

His shattered perspective was pieced back together in high school, albeit slightly altered.

Because…

“Senior Lu Zhao, I like you. Will you be my boyfriend?”

He received no fewer than twenty such love letters over his three years of high school. At least write your names, people!

Perhaps the heavens felt they owed him for cutting his life short, so they gifted him strikingly good looks in this world.

Coupled with the already skewed gender ratio, he became even more popular, which meant he had almost no male friends in high school.

Lu Zhao was fine with that. Honestly, he couldn’t get used to dealing with the so-called male classmates, who, in his eyes, were just… odd.

What kind of normal guy discusses cosmetics?

Okay, maybe he was the abnormal one, but that wasn’t important.

His solitary social circle provided a perfect environment for taking up part-time jobs after high school graduation.

The past was hard to revisit. Lu Zhao shook his head, casting off those old memories.

Seeing him shake his head, Yan Qingxin thought he was unwilling.

“It’s… it’s fine. If you’re not ready, we can talk about it later. My mom’s not the easiest person to get along with anyway.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I was just thinking about what gift to bring for your mom. Some ideas I had might not be suitable.”

Yan Qingxin’s bright eyes sparkled with delight, her lips curving into a joyful smile.

“Really? That’s great, baby! My mom will definitely like you!”

“So, what gift should I bring?”

“No need to bring anything. Just you being there is enough.”

“Oh.”

If he didn’t know Yan Qingxin was too pure-hearted to have ulterior motives, Lu Zhao would’ve thought her “just you being there” had deeper implications.

“A-Auntie, hello. I’m Lu Zhao, Qingxin’s boyfriend.”

His smile was a bit forced, his pupils trembling uncontrollably, his heartbeat so loud he wondered if others could hear it.

“Hm.”

Yan Ruyue didn’t even lift her eyes, just adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and leisurely flipped through the menu.

Lu Zhao’s stiff expression made Yan Qingxin think it was due to her mother’s cold demeanor.

“Mom, what’s with you? Didn’t you agree to meet him? Why are you acting like this now?”

Yan Qingxin sat beside her mother, shaking her shoulders.

The swaying motion hit Lu Zhao’s senses like waves crashing against his mind.

He knew this woman was like this. He also knew, beneath that crisp professional attire, was a powerful yet captivatingly refined figure.

Yan Ruyue gave a helpless smile, setting down the menu. “Alright, alright, I just wanted to see what this boy you’re always talking about looks like.”

Lu Zhao swallowed hard, his scalp tingling. “Auntie, hello, I’m…”

He was about to introduce himself again when Yan Ruyue cut him off.

“Oh, hello. I’m Qingxin’s mother. You can call me Auntie Yan.”

The woman’s lips curved into a kind smile, truly resembling a parent meeting her daughter’s boyfriend.

Seeing her mother’s smile, Yan Qingxin beamed. “See, Mom? I told you Lu Zhao’s great. You seem pretty satisfied. And you should smile more often—it’s so pretty when you do.”

Was Yan Ruyue beautiful? To Lu Zhao, that was beyond question.

Four words to describe her: breathtakingly stunning.

Her features were so striking from every angle, and her phoenix-like eyes elevated that beauty to another level.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, Lu Zhao would dream of those eyes—eyes that seemed to see right through him.

“Alright, don’t just stand there. Sit down.”

With Yan Ruyue’s approval, Yan Qingxin happily pulled her boyfriend to sit, placing herself between them.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was harmonious. Though her mother’s usual icy demeanor was slightly different, Yan Qingxin, enveloped in joy, didn’t notice these small details.

“Xiao Lu, when did you and Qingxin meet?”

A routine question. Yan Qingxin didn’t think much of it.

But when Lu Zhao looked over, Yan Ruyue placed her chopsticks near her lips, her delicate tongue lightly grazing them.

Lu Zhao’s hand trembled, struggling to control his expression. “It was, uh, when we started university.”

Yan Ruyue’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Oh? So, less than a month?”

“Cough, cough…” Lu Zhao choked on his saliva, coughing. Yan Qingxin quickly patted his back.

“How are you so careless? And Mom, what do you mean, less than a month?”

“Nothing. You’ll be sophomores soon. Don’t let dating distract you from your studies.”

“Got it, got it.”

Yan Ruyue picked up an oyster, locking eyes with Lu Zhao behind Yan Qingxin’s back as she sucked it in, her tongue sweeping up the remaining sauce.

“I, uh, need to use the restroom.” Lu Zhao averted his gaze.

Splashing cold water on his face, the cool sensation calmed him slightly.

“How could this happen? How could it be this coincidental?”

His reflection in the mirror showed eyes filled with disbelief.

Ding-dong*—

It wasn’t a system notification; it was his phone’s message alert.

A friend request, with an avatar he hadn’t seen in a year. The verification message was just two cold words.

[Pass.]