Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts Side Story 1 – If Route: Fate Binds Us Together (1)

Side Story 1 – If Route: Fate Binds Us Together (1)

The pinyin title is “Yuan ding Fang Xi“

***

February 14, 2023, Shenzhen.

Looking out from the company’s floor-to-ceiling windows, the traffic on the street was bustling. Estimating that the commute ho would be heavily congested, i Fang decided to continue working overti tonight.

“Brother Fang, it’s Valentine’s Day today, you know… I won’t be working overti tonight.”

“OK, OK, no problem. Relax and enjoy.”

“Brother Fang, too!”

“Brother Fang, then I also——”

“Xiao Cao, you don’t even have a date. What are you celebrating today?”

“Since I’m single, I’ll go where the other single people are, hahaha!”

The younger team mbers bid farewell to i Fang one after another. Watching them leave, i Fang realized he would have to eat dinner alone tonight without his usual companions.

The usually crowded restaurants were empty today. i Fang ate while looking at his phone and quickly finished his al to return to work. The office was nearly empty, with only the boss, Mr. Yu, still working at his desk.

Around nine o’clock, Mr. Yu got up from his desk, fetched so water, and asked i Fang:

“i Fang, how’s the project going?”

“The progress is fairly optimistic… As long as there are no major changes, we should have a product ready for online testing next month.”

“Good, good. You’ve worked hard! If the company stabilizes and goes public, you’ll definitely get your share of the equity.”

“Thank you, Mr. Yu, for your support.”

“Today is Valentine’s Day, don’t work too late. Your partner… ah… right, even if you don’t have a girlfriend, take good care of yourself.”

“Got it, haha.”

“Let think… How about we set a KPI for the company this year to help you find a girlfriend?”

“No need for that, haha.”

i Fang scratched his head and chuckled, “At my age, with my family’s situation, this is just how things are. Right now, all I can think about is making money.”

“Ah, that won’t do. You need both a family and a career to have a fulfilling life.”

The boss wanted to say more to i Fang, but after checking the ti, he grabbed his coat and waved goodbye, “I have to go watch a performance, or my wife will scold .”

“Hurry up, Mr. Yu.”

i Fang smiled as he saw his boss off, then took a deep breath and focused on the project’s progress.

Without a programr to assist, understanding the process took a bit more ti, but having worked on it for so long, he could handle many aspects himself.

However, if he had studied programming in college, would things be easier and more relaxed now? Would the project progress faster?

i Fang couldn’t help but sigh.

The lost days won’t co back. Learning to code now, with his current workload, would be impossible.

The project needs to go online soon.

The sooner, the better.

This way, at least I can get a bonus, and maybe my previous salary cut can be recovered…

Then, I can pay off my dad’s debts, and I’ll have money to renovate the new house I bought back ho.

What next?

i Fang couldn’t help but sneeze. He looked out at the mottled night sky. Now, he was the only one left in the office.

Everyone really did go ho early today.

Even though most of them are also single… They’re probably just using this occasion as an excuse to go ho early.

But it’s understandable.

I should go ho early today too.

Working overti until 10:30, i Fang turned off all the company lights, locked the door, and went downstairs. On his way to get a taxi ho, he saw that all the restaurants were closed, except for the nearby Lawson convenience store, which was still brightly lit.

Might as well grab so food before heading ho… better than getting hungry and eating instant noodles later.

i Fang walked into the convenience store, ordered so oden skewers, grabbed a can of sugar-free cola, and sat down at the self-service dining area.

Next to him was a rather elegant urban office lady with long, slightly frizzy black hair. She seed not to take much care of her appearance, wearing no makeup.

At this mont, she was resting her chin on her hand, staring out the window, with many empty beer cans on the table.

She has such pretty features, yet she’s spending Valentine’s Day alone?

And drinking so much… she must be heartbroken.

This wasn’t the first ti i Fang had seen her. He usually spent so ti at the convenience store after working overti, and they often encountered each other.

Of course, they hadn’t interacted much before.

i Fang wasn’t the type to strike up conversations with won.

While eating his oden, i Fang refreshed today’s ga-related news.

Wow, Wo Long[1] is coming out soon.

You can fight alongside Guan Yu to defeat Yan Liang and Wen Chou. It looks really cool.

Unfortunately, with the project’s tight schedule, I’ll only be able to watch the walkthrough videos during lunch…

As he watched the video, i Fang couldn’t help glancing at the woman.

She had been in the sa position for a long ti. From this angle, he couldn’t see her expression, and the beer can in her hand had been held up in the air without moving, making him worried.

Oh no, she didn’t fall asleep, did she?

i Fang wanted to raise his hand to call out to her, but his hand hesitated and pulled back.

Sigh… I don’t want to be misunderstood as a pervert.

When i Fang used to work in the capital and took the subway, he was once complained about by a young woman for standing too close to her. She intentionally shouted very loudly, putting i Fang in an awkward situation. Ever since then, he subconsciously kept a certain distance from won.

I’ll finish my oden first and see. If she’s still like that when I’m done, I’ll call out to her.

i Fang finished his oden with his head down, with half a can of sugar-free cola left.

She was still in the sa stiff position…

…

i Fang was genuinely worried about her condition. He cleared his throat and softly called out to her.

“Um… hello? Beautiful lady?”

The woman moved slightly at i Fang’s call. She rubbed her numb elbow and looked at i Fang with a sowhat puzzled expression.

At the sa ti, the ID hanging around her neck slipped down.

Seeing the na on her ID, i Fang paused for a mont. Just as he was about to strike up a conversation, his phone rang.

“Sorry…”

The one who sent the video call request was i Fang’s mother, Xiang Xiaoxia. Seeing this, i Fang quickly declined the video request and instead called back with a voice call. The two then began conversing in their hotown dialect.

“The signal here is bad, what’s up?”

“Just checking in on you.”

“Don’t we usually talk on weekends?”

“Are you still outside now? Have you eaten? You’re not still working overti, are you?”

“No, I’m outside…” i Fang hesitated, “Having dinner with a friend!”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, so it’s probably with a girl, right?”

“Uh… you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Okay, okay. You two have a good chat, haha… Don’t work too much, take care of your health.”

“I know.”

i Fang hurriedly hung up the phone and then noticed the woman he had woken up was still watching him.

“Sorry… I saw you weren’t moving and thought you had fallen asleep.”

She gently shook her head. “Thanks, I’m fine.”

“Mm…”

i Fang glanced at her ID again but didn’t say anything more.

The young woman took a small sip of beer, shook the can thoughtfully, then turned to i Fang, smiling as she asked, “You’re from Baii County, aren’t you?”

She asked this in their hotown dialect, which surprised i Fang. “What a coincidence… Are you also from Baii County?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “But I haven’t been back for many years.”

“Uh… not even for the New Year?”

“No one is really there anymore. My mom died in a car accident when I was very young, and my dad passed away from illness just after I graduated from college. As for other family mbers, there’s nothing worth ntioning.”

“…”

i Fang didn’t expect her to casually share such unfortunate details with a stranger. He didn’t know how to respond for a mont.

“Well… um, I guess it doesn’t really matter to talk about this now, but people have to keep moving forward.”

“Keep moving forward, huh…”

i Fang smiled slightly, seeing the woman’s blank stare. “Did you go to Baii No. 1 High School? Weren’t you the one who was always at the top of the class?

“Do you recognize ?”

“You really are Lin Youxi. We were in the sa grade, I was in Class 14, on the sa floor as you. By the way… I’m i Fang.”

Lin Youxi stared at i Fang for a while, then finally showed a warm smile:

“I rember your na.”

“Haha… how could you rember ? I didn’t do anything notable in high school, and my grades weren’t impressive.”

“I went to the sa kindergarten as you. You wet your pants in kindergarten, borrowed soone else’s pants, and everyone called you the ‘Bedwetting King’.”

“Hey, hey… When did that happen? You rember sothing from decades ago so clearly! I’ve completely forgotten about it!”

Lin Youxi smiled slightly at i Fang and said, “Because you wet the bed at that ti, the teacher had you wash yourself in a washtub or so kind of basin. Everyone was standing around watching you, so I rember it. That was the first ti I saw a boy’s willy.”

“Let’s not bring up that dark history…”

“Hahaha——”

Lin Youxi laughed and rubbed her eyes.

In high school, she was an unapproachable top student. After starting work, her goddess-like aura had diminished a bit, but she still appeared cold and aloof from a distance. i Fang never imagined she could laugh so brightly.

“As expected of a top student, your mory is amazingly good… You rember things from kindergarten so clearly.”

“It’s not just that… there’s another reason I rember it so clearly.”

“Oh?”

Lin Youxi propped her chin on her hand and drank the rest of her beer.

“When you were in kindergarten, you were very close to a childhood sweetheart of mine. She always followed you around.”

“Really? Are you talking about a girl? I’ve never been popular with girls, and I’ve been single my whole life.”

“At least you were back then.”

Lin Youxi gently tapped the empty beer cans around her, realizing she had finished them all. She stood up to get another pack of beer, surprising i Fang with her nonchalance:

“Drinking so much, isn’t your boyfriend worried about you?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, sa as you, single since birth.”

Lin Youxi placed a pack of beer on the table, “It’s rare to et a fellow townsman in a place like Shenzhen. Want to have a drink together? My treat.”

“Uh…”

i Fang wasn’t much of a drinker and got tipsy easily, but Lin Youxi seed genuinely interested, and he was curious about her childhood sweetheart. So, he agreed and opened a can of beer, taking a small sip.

“By the way, what’s your childhood sweetheart’s na? I might rember.”

“Her na is Xia Yuan, does that ring a bell?”

“It sounds vaguely familiar…” i Fang tried to recall mories of Xia Yuan but could only rember vague images, “Did she also go to Baii No. 1 High School? Which class was she in?”

Lin Youxi stared at i Fang for a long while, then suddenly shook her head and smiled.

“You really don’t rember her.”

She then lowered her head and gulped down her beer.

“Sorry, I really don’t have much of an impression…”

“It’s not your fault.”

Lin Youxi looked up at the bright ceiling and gently said, “After all, she passed away when we were in the fourth grade.”

“What?”

i Fang was astonished when Lin Youxi softly recounted this part of her past. It was a story straight out of a novel, reminiscent of To Live[2]. The world seed to have heaped all its hardships on Lin Youxi, yet it was incredible that she hadn’t beco disillusioned with life.

i Fang felt deeply apologetic.

“I’m really sorry for making you think of sad mories again.”

“It’s been so many years. The sadness is gone, replaced mostly by fond mories.”

Lin Youxi gently continued, “Yuan Yuan was a very dear friend to .”

“I grew up without a mother, so she always played house with and pretended to be my mom.”

“My family was very poor, and I couldn’t afford toys or dolls. Yuan Yuan always shared her things with , and they weren’t her old toys; she gave even her new ones.”

“When I was little, I was always dirty and didn’t even know how to tie my shoelaces. No one liked except Yuan Yuan, who taught hygiene and how to tie my laces. She was the only one willing to be my friend… She was like an angel, you know?”

As Lin Youxi vividly described her dear friend, Xia Yuan, i Fang felt more and more moved by her story. Beer after beer, i Fang started to learn more about this extraordinary woman.

After a few cans of beer, i Fang was already a bit tipsy, but Lin Youxi seed to be fine. Noticing i Fang’s drowsiness, Lin Youxi took the beer can from his hand.

“You don’t seem to drink much usually. It’s okay… you don’t have to drink with .”

“It’s fine… I can have a little more…”

i Fang’s cheeks were slightly flushed, and his gaze was sowhat unfocused. “It’s rare to et a fellow townsman. It’s okay to drink more.”

“You’re kind of cute when you’re being stubborn.”

Lin Youxi propped her chin on her hand and looked at i Fang. “By the way, do you work nearby? I feel like I often see you around this ti… What do you do?”

“? I’m a ga developer…”

“What a coincidence, I also make gas,” Lin Youxi smiled. “Are you an artist, a designer, or a programr? I’m a programr at Tencent QQ here.”

“That’s impressive! I’m a ga planner, the lead planner, but at a small company. You probably haven’t heard of it.”

“Small companies have their own perks. At least you don’t have to deal with too many idiots, right?”

“You have a point… hahaha, but QQ must still have many talented people.”

“Yeah…”

Lin Youxi smiled at i Fang. “Actually, working for others isn’t very fulfilling. I really want to make my own gas.”

Her words piqued i Fang’s interest. “What kind of ga do you want to make?”

“I haven’t thought about the specifics yet; you planners are better at project proposals.” Lin Youxi spoke softly. “But for my first ga, I’d like it to be a tribute to Yuan Yuan, my childhood sweetheart, my best friend in life.”

“That’s wonderful, a tribute to your best friend. I wish you success.”

“Hehe… thank you.”

Lin Youxi clinked her beer can against i Fang’s. “Just a toast, you don’t need to drink more.”

“It’s fine… I’m okay.”

i Fang stubbornly gulped down the beer, with Lin Youxi watching him.

“I admire you for still pursuing your dream of making gas.”

“To keep living, we all need sothing to look forward to, right?”

Lin Youxi looked at i Fang. “What about you, i Fang? What are you looking forward to?”

“? Well… I’m waiting for the industry to improve. The licensing issues are a hassle…” i Fang thought to himself that he was just thinking about making money.

He outwardly supported Lin Youxi’s plan, but deep down, he knew perfectly well that pursuing a good career in gaming was a luxury reserved for the rich second generation. It had little to nothing to do with ordinary workers like himself.

He didn’t have the skills for indie ga developnt and had stopped dreaming about it.

But…

Why couldn’t he be honest with Lin Youxi about his thoughts?

“Indeed, the environnt is tough,” Lin Youxi nodded with a smile. “But continuing to persevere and striving in this industry is already remarkable.”

She glanced at her phone; it was just past midnight.

“So, you didn’t lie to your mom after all.”

Lin Youxi smiled at i Fang. “You had dinner with a girl and chatted through Valentine’s Day.”

“I guess you could say that…”

“I heard from your call earlier. Your mom really cares about you. Don’t let her worry too much.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Looking at the slightly tipsy Lin Youxi, i Fang, emboldened by the alcohol, felt more courageous.

“By the way… do you want to walk you ho? It’s quite late, and it’s not safe for you to go back alone.”

“I’m okay,”

Lin Youxi gently smiled and waved her hand. “I’ve been used to being alone for many years and know how to take care of myself. Thank you for your concern. Let’s exchange contact info?”

i Fang and Lin Youxi exchanged WeChat IDs. Lin Youxi’s ID was 【Mountain Has Lush Forest】.

After settling the bill and leaving the convenience store, i Fang and Lin Youxi stood one after the other at the intersection, waiting for their respective rides. They didn’t exchange many words during this ti.

i Fang felt deeply embarrassed by his earlier impulsive behavior.

What on earth was I thinking, doing such a foolish thing… How could I directly suggest going to a girl’s house when I’ve just t her?

She must think I’m a creep now!

But still, it was pure luck that we t in this city.

Even though her life hasn’t been smooth sailing, she still wouldn’t be interested in soone like .

Soone like …

What kind of person am I, exactly?

i Fang was actually very interested in the ga Lin Youxi wanted to create.

But work was exhausting, and he was always busy. He didn’t have the ti to work on sothing that was unlikely to make any money.

He could only wish her success.

As i Fang was lost in thought, Lin Youxi’s ride arrived first.

“I’ll head off then,” she said.

i Fang snapped out of his reverie and replied, “Safe travels.”

“You too.”

Lin Youxi waved goodbye to i Fang and then got into the taxi.

The warmth in her smile vanished the mont she got in.

She gently rubbed her temples; the beer had given her a headache.

I drank too much today…

Why did I share so much with that person?

She had never opened up to anyone like that before, treating him like a dumping ground for her emotions and mories.

Looking at the newly added WeChat ID, distant mories began to surface.

The taxi stopped at a long red light.

Lin Youxi rolled down the window slightly, letting the February night breeze cool her down.

She almost felt like throwing up.

She slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the distant nightscape.

Maybe if she had made a friend earlier, she wouldn’t have felt so lonely all these years.

But…

If I do that…

I’ll forget about Yuan Yuan.

After Xia Yuan’s death, Lin Youxi never wanted to make another friend, never wanted anyone else to get close to her heart.

Because for her, that would an forgetting Yuan Yuan.

And then Yuan Yuan would be truly gone.

She didn’t want that.

For this stubborn reason, Lin Youxi had held on for many years.

Many, many years…

She might continue to be this way, as so far, no one had truly entered her heart.

Valentine’s Day 2023 ended without any surprises, just like any other day.

…

While Lin Youxi was waiting at the red light.

Another person’s footsteps were drawing closer.

His steps quickened.

Faster and faster.

Accompanied by shouting and waving.

“Wait, wait!”

“Mr. Driver, wait a second!”

Just as Lin Youxi’s taxi was about to move, soone grabbed onto the window beside her.

“Hold on!”

A flash of surprise crossed Lin Youxi’s face as she saw a sweaty, red-faced figure in a disheveled state.

i Fang had caught up from behind, stopping Lin Youxi.

“What’s going on?”

“About… about the ga you want to make…”

“The ga to commorate your childhood sweetheart—Xia Yuan.”

“After thinking it over, according to what you said, she should count as my childhood sweetheart too.”

Panting, i Fang spoke to Lin Youxi, one word at a ti, “If possible, can we complete this ga together?”

“Though I’m not very skilled, I am a lead planner… I have all the necessary skills.”

“Since the ga is to commorate the old days with our childhood sweetheart, it must have a connection to Baii County, which makes quite suitable…”

As i Fang outlined his strengths, Lin Youxi’s eyes gradually brightened.

“Sure.”

“Then let’s work on it together!”

At this mont, an impatient voice ca from the front seat, “Hey, is he getting in or not? The cars behind are honking.”

“Mr. Driver let him in first, I have sothing to say to him.”

“Uh… I, I actually just want to say this and leave.”

“It’s okay, you can co to my place for a while. I have so sour plum soup to help you sober up.”

Lin Youxi opened the car door and pulled i Fang inside, handing him a tissue to wipe his face.

“But why didn’t you just say it on WeChat? Why co all the way here to tell ?”

“I thought… this would feel more formal.”

i Fang smiled slightly at Lin Youxi. “Since starting a project is a significant decision, I thought it would be better to talk about it in person…”

“So, have you thought about what kind of ga you want to make?”

“You’re asking right now? Hmm… let think. A text adventure or RPG might be good, depending on the scale we’re aiming for. Whether it’s realistic or fantasy…”

i Fang and Lin Youxi chatted for a long ti in the taxi.

The Valentine’s Day of 2023 had already passed; after all, it was now February 15th.

A new day had begun.

Author’s note:

This chapter is a “what if” side story imagining if i Fang hadn’t suddenly died and been reborn. It’s a bit of a bittersweet tale, focusing on the healing story of two people who have lost each other, embracing for warmth in a lonely city. If everyone likes this kind of plot, I’ll continue serializing it when I release side stories in the future. If not, you can just skip this “if” route side story. It isn’t related to the main story and doesn’t involve parallel universe mories.

Translator's Notes:

sen.wikipedia/wiki/Wo_Long:_Fallen_Dynasty↩︎sen.wikipedia/wiki/To_Live_(novel)↩︎

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