I Can't Fall for My Own Wife Again After Reincarnation, Right? (GL) - Chapter 25

By the time Zhou Wan and Fu Qiao entered the cafeteria, most people had already finished eating.

The cafeteria aunties were sitting together having their meal. Fu Qiao immediately spotted Xu Yingran and Yao Jin sitting together and said to Zhou Wan, “I’m going over to join my classmates. What about you?”

Zhou Wan smiled. “I’ll just look around and see what’s available. You go ahead, Senior.”

Fu Qiao nodded. “Alright, I’ll head over first then.”

“Sure, feel free to drop by the broadcasting station whenever you have time.”

“Will do.”

After bidding Zhou Wan farewell, Fu Qiao hurried over to sit beside Xu Yingran.

“You’re here?”

Xu Yingran propped her chin lazily on her hand, watching Zhou Wan’s retreating figure. “Who’s that? Why did you come with her?”

Fu Qiao picked up her chopsticks and glanced at the meal in front of her. “She’s a junior from the broadcasting station, Zhou Wan. We were doing the broadcast together today.”

Xu Yingran let out a noncommittal hum and shot Fu Qiao a sidelong glance. “You two hit it off that well on your first meeting?”

Yao Jin, who had been scrolling on her phone, looked up at the two sitting across from her and shook her head helplessly.

Fu Qiao was starving and spoke between bites. “We just chatted a bit on the way to the cafeteria. She’s a second-year, one grade below us, and she’s studying broadcasting. She said if I’m interested, I could visit the broadcasting station sometime.”

At this, both Xu Yingran and Yao Jin immediately tensed up, staring at her. “You’re going to the broadcasting station?”

Fu Qiao gave them a puzzled look, swallowing her food before replying, “No, she was just asking. I… haven’t decided yet.”

The two exchanged a glance.

People from the broadcasting station might casually invite others to drop by, but if Fu Qiao truly had no interest, she would have refused outright.

Yet she said she “hadn’t decided yet”, did that mean she was actually considering it?

Broadcasting?

That wasn’t part of the standard college entrance exam track. It fell under the arts program.

Yao Jin frowned slightly, putting her phone away. “Your grades are excellent. If you keep this up, you might not make it to Tsinghua or Peking University, but you’ll easily clear the first-tier cutoff. If you switch to broadcasting, you’d be wasting your academic potential.”

In most people’s eyes, only those who struggled academically would choose the arts route, a detour to university through hard work in a specialized field.

But Fu Qiao was different. With her top-three ranking in the school, she could effortlessly get into a good university. Why would she take another path?

Fu Qiao seemed to share this sentiment. She stayed silent at Yao Jin’s words, focusing on her meal.

Meanwhile, Xu Yingran studied Fu Qiao’s profile, recalling a small memory.

She remembered a few years into their relationship, when they had just entered society and were still figuring out its complexities. Back then, they hadn’t taken over Fu Qiao’s family’s barbecue stall yet, determined to make it on their own.

Fu Qiao had once curled up in their tiny rented apartment, watching the news broadcast on TV, and said, “I kind of envy them.”

“Envy what?” Xu Yingran had hugged her, lazily munching on an apple. “It’s all just surface glamour.”

But who didn’t love a job that looked glamorous on the surface?

At that time, Fu Qiao had merely mentioned it in passing and never brought it up again afterward. Xu Yingran had almost forgotten about it entirely, but now, hearing Fu Qiao mention it again, the memory came flooding back.

She still remembered how, during her early struggles, Fu Qiao had stayed by her side without fail. After Xu Yingran was laid off from her company, Fu Qiao had taken her back to her parents’ barbecue stall, and the two of them had started their street-vending life together.

Later, of course, the business flourished, they opened a chain of stores and then the city’s first barbecue plaza.

But as they say, a hero doesn’t boast about past glories.

Now, as Xu Yingran looked at Fu Qiao, memories of those days suddenly resurfaced. She realized that aside from Fu Qiao constantly cutting back on her allowance, there were other, warmer recollections too.

“If you’re interested, there’s no harm in giving it a try,” Xu Yingran said, resting her chin on her hand, her expression calm. “Maybe you won’t know whether it suits you until you actually try it.”

Fu Qiao turned to look at her in surprise, then thought carefully before replying, “Thank you. I’ll think about it seriously.”

Yao Jin, as usual, disapproved. She believed Fu Qiao’s grades were too good to waste on anything else, she should focus on getting into a top university.

________________________________________

After school that afternoon, Yao Jin went home for her tutoring session, while Fu Qiao took her time packing up. By the time most of their classmates had left, she finally glanced up at Xu Yingran, who had been waiting for her, and whispered, “I was thinking…”

“Should I go with you?” Xu Yingran lowered her gaze to meet hers.

“Mm.” Fu Qiao gripped her backpack and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Neither of them spoke as they walked in silent understanding. On the way to the broadcasting station, the campus was filled with the low hum of the afternoon announcements. Today seemed to be English Corner, and the voice on the broadcast was reciting a poem in flawless English, its cadence smooth and pronunciation crisp, as if transporting the listener to a foreign riverside.

The warm glow of the setting sun spilled into the corridor, illuminating empty classrooms and quiet hallways.

The scene was like an autumn oil painting, serene and romantic.

Fu Qiao glanced at Xu Yingran beside her. She was genuinely surprised that Xu Yingran had agreed to such an outlandish idea. Even she had startled herself when the thought first crossed her mind.

Growing up, her parents had been too busy with their business to pay her much attention. She had managed her studies entirely on her own, and even her parents were baffled that, despite their hands-off approach, their daughter had turned out to be a top student.

After entering high school, Fu Qiao had never once considered any path other than the college entrance exam.

But now, she was tentatively pushing open a door she had never approached before, and Xu Yingran, who had grown up with her, was right by her side.

That alone made her feel immeasurably at ease.

The administrative building was as quiet as ever, its stillness a stark contrast to the liveliness of the other school buildings. The two of them walked to the very end of the hallway, where a door labeled [Broadcasting Station] hung a sign that read, [On Air. Do Not Disturb.]

Just as Fu Qiao and Xu Yingran were wondering whether to knock, they heard movement inside, and then the door swung open.

Zhou Wan, who had just opened the door, jumped in surprise at the sight of the two standing outside.

“Senior?” Zhou Wan was surprised to see Fu Qiao, then immediately turned her gaze to Xu Yingran, sizing her up as she asked, “Is this your friend?”

Fu Qiao also felt a bit awkward about showing up uninvited and replied sheepishly, “Yes, this is Xu Yingran, my classmate. She came with me to check out the broadcasting station.”

Just then, someone inside noticed the commotion and walked over to ask, “Zhou Wan, what’s going on? Who are these two…?”

“They’re both seniors from twelfth grade. This is Fu Qiao, who ranked third in the whole school in last month’s exams. She was on air with me at noon today,” Zhou Wan enthusiastically introduced them to everyone. “The other one is Fu Qiao’s classmate. They wanted to visit our broadcasting station.”

The after-school broadcasting station was much livelier than Fu Qiao had imagined. Students in uniforms sat around a table in the outer room reviewing scripts, while two more worked inside the recording booth, about five or six people in total.

Quite a crowd.

Hearing they were here to visit, the students all stood up one after another.

“Oh, it’s the seniors! Come in, come in!” The broadcasting club members warmly invited Fu Qiao and Xu Yingran inside, even pouring them water.

The two students recording in the inner booth noticed the activity outside and waved in greeting.

Xu Yingran was also taken aback by the enthusiastic reception from the younger students. Both she and Fu Qiao were ushered into chairs, soon surrounded by a group of eager underclassmen.

“What would you like to see, senior?” asked a particularly tall junior boy. “We’re all part of the broadcasting club. We heard your speech on air today, it was really well done!”

Fu Qiao’s face flushed involuntarily, she wasn’t used to receiving such direct praise.

The others also chimed in with comments, making Fu Qiao increasingly uncomfortable.

“Alright, alright, everyone get back to work,” Zhou Wan said, hands on her hips. “No discipline at all when the teacher’s away. Are your scripts even ready yet?”

The younger students scattered like startled birds, notebooks in hand.

Once everyone had returned to their tasks, Zhou Wan dropped her authoritative demeanor and said to the two seniors, “Let me show you around our broadcasting station.”

Fu Qiao glanced at Xu Yingran for confirmation, and Zhou Wan found herself looking over as well.

“Sure,” Xu Yingran said. “Give us the full tour.”

Zhou Wan was one of the more experienced members of the broadcasting club. Since twelfth graders were usually discouraged from continuing extracurricular activities due to academic pressure, Zhou Wan, an arts student specializing in this field, was the most likely exception who might stay on.

“Our school’s broadcasting setup is all here,” Zhou Wan explained to Fu Qiao, gesturing toward the equipment. “Speakers, digital console, automatic bell system, we’ve got everything. Our main job is playing music during lunch breaks and preparing scripts while broadcasting after school like now. Sometimes we also collaborate with the school on special English or Chinese language programs.”

Standing before the soundproof glass of the inner booth, she added, “It’s all soundproofed in there, but since it’s just school broadcasting, everything’s pretty small-scale.”

Fu Qiao looked at the two classmates still working inside. They wore headphones and read from scripts into microphones, their voices reciting English poetry faintly audible from outside.

Zhou Wan turned to see the sparkle in Fu Qiao’s eyes and immediately knew she was captivated.

“How about it?” Zhou Wan asked with a smile, hands clasped behind her back. “I happen to have two broadcasting classes this Saturday. Would you like to come with me to observe?”

Fu Qiao turned to her, eyes shining brightly.

“Really? Wouldn’t that disrupt your regular class?”

“It’s fine. You can audit from the side. Our teacher is very kind…”

Just as Zhou Wan was about to formally invite Fu Qiao to attend the Saturday class with her, Xu Yingran, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke sharply: “No.”

How bold of this junior named Zhou Wan to try stealing her wife right in front of her!