I Can't Fall for My Own Wife Again After Reincarnation, Right? (GL) - Chapter 24

After school, Xu Yingran dragged Fu Qiao and Yao Jin to the nearest bookstore.

The autumn heat in early October was still intense, but the bookstore’s air conditioning was set very low. Fu Qiao sneezed loudly as soon as she stepped inside.

Xu Yingran glanced back at her and asked, “Do you want to wear my jacket?”

Fu Qiao rubbed her nose and shook her head. “No need, it’s probably just the sudden chill.”

Still concerned, Xu Yingran avoided the air vents as much as possible and led them to the section with study materials for senior high school students.

The shelves were packed with rows upon rows of practice books. Besides the three of them, students from other schools in their uniforms were also browsing through the selections.

Xu Yingran located a particular stack of shelves from memory and picked out several workbooks, handing them to the other two. They were all quite challenging.

Yao Jin flipped through them casually and frowned. “These problems look really hard. Do we actually need to practice such difficult ones? The college entrance exam probably won’t have questions this tough, right?”

Xu Yingran replied, “They are a bit difficult, but this year’s exam will definitely be harder than previous years. It doesn’t hurt to practice more.”

She remembered that the year she took the exam, the questions had indeed been tricky, not impossibly hard, but not easy to score on either.

After the exam, her school had organized a review session. Based on her memory, the workbooks she picked now closely matched the types of questions that had appeared. Since she was essentially reliving her life, she figured she might as well make use of this advantage.

The three of them carried stacks of workbooks to the car, and Yao Jin asked the driver to drop Xu Yingran and Fu Qiao off at their neighborhood first.

On the way, Xu Yingran handed Yao Jin the money for the books, including Fu Qiao’s share.

Yao Jin didn’t hesitate, accepting the exact amount. Fu Qiao, however, felt a little embarrassed.

“Xu Yingran, I’ll pay you back when we get home,” Fu Qiao said softly, clutching the bag as she sat beside her. “I didn’t bring enough money today.”

The decision to buy the workbooks had been made just before leaving school. Fu Qiao didn’t usually carry much pocket money, thinking a few books wouldn’t cost much. But she hadn’t expected workbooks to be so expensive, the three of them had spent nearly two hundred yuan in total.

Even split evenly, each person had to pay sixty or seventy yuan.

Xu Yingran didn’t mind. Her parents gave her a generous allowance every month, and she still had savings from New Year’s money and other sources. Her “treasury” was quite substantial, so she didn’t need Fu Qiao to pay her back.

“Don’t worry about it. Why be so formal with me?” Xu Yingran smiled. “Just treat me to a meal sometime.”

Yao Jin glanced at them through the rearview mirror and chimed in lazily, “I want in too.”

Xu Yingran shot her a look. “What are you butting in for? I already paid you.”

Yao Jin immediately pulled the money out of her pocket and handed it back. “Now can I join?”

Xu Yingran stared at her speechlessly, then promptly took the money and stuffed it into Fu Qiao’s hands. “Just use this to treat both of us to a meal.”

Fu Qiao was torn between laughter and exasperation. She didn’t understand how Yao Jin, who had transferred less than a month ago, had already become so close to Xu Yingran.

It was as if they’d known each other for over a decade.

Upon arriving home, Fu Qiao and Xu Yingran got out of the car and walked through the bustling old street back to their neighborhood. Fu Qiao hadn’t gone to help at the market stall today because she still needed to prepare her speech for the school broadcast next week.

When Zhao Yu found out that Fu Qiao had ranked third in the entire grade for this exam, she couldn’t help but feel envious. She repeatedly urged Xu Yingran in front of her to learn from Fu Qiao and strive to improve her own grades.

Xu Yingran could only reluctantly agree.

Over the weekend, Xu Yingran didn’t go out aimlessly as usual. Instead, she surprisingly stayed home and diligently worked on her homework.

Yao Jin, whose grades had slipped, was sternly criticized by her father and had a tutor arranged for her. Her Saturdays and Sundays were packed with study sessions, so it was unlikely she’d have much time to hang out with them in the near future.

Fu Qiao steamed soft and sweet osmanthus cakes and gave half to Xu Yingran’s family. The sweet, fragrant scent of osmanthus filled the entire house, making Xu Yingran feel as though her heart was brimming with warmth.

The snow-white osmanthus cakes were dotted with golden osmanthus honey, making them look especially beautiful.

—

The broadcast speeches were scheduled according to school rankings, Monday for the first-place student, Tuesday for the second, and Wednesday for Fu Qiao.

On Wednesday morning, during the last class before lunch, Fu Qiao was still preparing her speech and the questions the host might ask.

The process was actually quite simple: first, Fu Qiao would deliver a one-minute speech, then interact with the host by answering a few study-related questions, and finally, say a few well-wishes to everyone. The whole thing would be over in just over ten minutes.

Moreover, the host’s questions had already been given to Fu Qiao the previous week. She just needed to write her answers and read them from the script, there wasn’t much that required special preparation.

But since this was Fu Qiao’s first time going to the broadcasting room, she was still a little nervous.

“What’s there to be afraid of?”

Xu Yingran sat on the chair in front of Fu Qiao and said, “Weren’t you perfectly natural when you gave speeches under the national flag before? The broadcasting room doesn’t even have any outsiders, just the host. There’s even less reason to be nervous.”

Fu Qiao nodded, clutching her speech draft helplessly. “That’s true, but I still feel nervous.”

It was lunchtime now, and students were gradually heading to the cafeteria. Just then, someone knocked on the door and said to Fu Qiao, “Fu Qiao, are you ready? It’s time to go to the broadcasting station.”

Hearing this, Xu Yingran could clearly sense Fu Qiao’s tension.

“Don’t be scared,” Xu Yingran reassured her. “Just read what you’ve prepared. Didn’t Teacher Li say you’d be fine? Yao Jin and I will wait for you in the cafeteria.”

Fu Qiao looked at Xu Yingran, then finally nodded and followed the broadcasting station student out.

Xu Yingran glanced at Yao Jin and sighed. “Let’s go. We’re eating in the cafeteria today, let’s grab something good for Fu Qiao.”

Yao Jin had no objections either, shoving her hands in her pockets and coolly following Xu Yingran to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Fu Qiao, gripping her speech draft, followed the broadcasting station student to another building. This was likely the administrative building, where the principal’s and dean’s offices were, along with some extracurricular classrooms and computer labs. The broadcasting station was located at the very end.

The broadcasting student knocked on the door, and it slowly opened a crack, revealing what seemed to be a teacher.

“Teacher, Fu Qiao is here,” the leading student announced.

“Alright, thank you for your hard work.” The teacher smiled at the student before opening the door and saying, “You can go ahead for lunch now. Fu Qiao, please come in first. We’ll start shortly.”

Fu Qiao nodded and entered the broadcasting station.

The school’s broadcasting station wasn’t particularly impressive, but it had all the essentials.

A classroom had been divided into two sections. The inner part was separated with soundproof materials and glass, revealing the equipment inside, while the outer area looked less professional, filled with cabinets, files, and scattered items like clothes and backpacks.

“Zhou Wan, come here for a moment,” the broadcasting teacher called out to another girl in the room, who was wearing a school uniform and had her hair tied in a ponytail.

The girl named Zhou Wan walked over and greeted Fu Qiao warmly.

“Hello, I’m Zhou Wan, a broadcaster from Class 1, Grade 11,” she said enthusiastically. “I’ll be co-hosting with you today. Please guide me, senior.”

Looking up at Zhou Wan, who stood a full head taller, Fu Qiao couldn’t help but wonder if all juniors these days were so much taller than her.

“Hello,” Fu Qiao replied. “This is my first time here, so please remind me if I miss anything.”

Zhou Wan smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. “Of course, senior.”

While preparing at the broadcasting console inside, Zhou Wan helped Fu Qiao put on the headphones and explained some key points. Then she said, “Once this instrumental music finishes, we’ll start broadcasting. Don’t be nervous, just read from your prepared script. Follow my lead.”

Fu Qiao nodded and took a deep breath.

As the music ended, Fu Qiao watched Zhou Wan skillfully operate the complex equipment and speak naturally into the microphone, smoothly transitioning to cue Fu Qiao to begin her one-minute speech.

At first, Fu Qiao stumbled over her words, feeling a bit nervous. But seeing Zhou Wan’s encouraging expression, she gradually relaxed.

The two interacted seamlessly on air, discussing academic topics, with Fu Qiao answering fluently.

Fifteen minutes later, Fu Qiao’s brief broadcasting experience came to an end.

Zhou Wan turned off the microphone and played instrumental music again before removing her headphones and smiling at Fu Qiao. “All done, senior. You can take off your headphones now.”

Fu Qiao exhaled in relief and removed them. “Can we talk now?”

“Of course,” Zhou Wan replied. “You did really well just now, senior. Your voice is lovely, have you studied broadcasting before?”

Fu Qiao shook her head. “No, this is my first time here.”

“Really?” Zhou Wan said. “I thought you might have trained in broadcasting like me.”

“You study broadcasting?”

“Yes, I want to be a host in the future, so I’ve been learning since Grade 10.”

Noticing it wasn’t ideal to chat at the console, Zhou Wan suggested, “Let’s step away from here first.”

With the teacher overseeing the station, Zhou Wan packed up, and the two headed to the school cafeteria. Along the way, they chatted casually, and Fu Qiao learned that Zhou Wan, despite being only in Grade 11, had already been studying broadcasting for over a year.

“I joined the broadcasting station in Grade 10 and loved it from the start,” Zhou Wan said, turning to Fu Qiao. “Your voice is really pleasant, senior. I think you’d be great at broadcasting too.”

Fu Qiao was a little tempted by her words. She actually envied those news anchors appearing on the evening news broadcast.

But no one in her family had ever taken this path, and Fu Qiao wasn’t sure if it suited her.

Seeing her interest, Zhou Wan thought for a moment and said, “If you’re interested, Senior, you can come to the broadcasting station often. I stay for half an hour after school every day to broadcast before heading home. You can come find me then.”

After seriously considering it, Fu Qiao finally replied, “Alright, let me think about it.”