They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 17

Lang Jie stormed into the McDonald’s with a gang of his underlings, making a scene.

Yan Yaru’s face turned pale as she instinctively hid behind Xie Tingxue.

Yan Ze stood up reluctantly when he saw they were wearing sports school uniforms—clearly here for him.

“What do you want?” he asked, annoyed.

He once acted in a drama called The Way of the Immortal, where he played the lead, Qing Xiangzi.

Qing Xiangzi was originally a powerful demon lord. But after falling in love with a celestial maiden, he decided to abandon his evil path and join the immortal sects, hoping to become her cultivation partner.

Unfortunately, the sins he committed couldn’t be washed away so easily. Even in the immortal realm, enemies came to settle scores. Not only did he fail to ascend to immortality, but he also brought ruin to the sect

—three times, no less—and was nearly wiped out by demonic forces.

Branded a traitor to both worlds, he was hunted by both the celestial maiden and his master. In the demon realm, he was treated like a joke. With no place to go, he gave up his immortality and was reincarnated into the mortal world, condemned to suffer through nine lifetimes to repay his karmic debts.

During one of Qing Xiangzi’s lowest points in the human world, he said:

“When a sinner repents, what is gained is a name—but what is lost is the self. The righteous path binds with mercy, yet karma turns every sin into a blade. Life, death, pain, and sorrow—all are destined. Until the debt is paid, immortality is out of reach.”

Yan Ze now felt like Qing Xiangzi.

These idiotic punks stirring up trouble at his door? Just karma from the life he used to live.

He’d been a school bully since middle school. And like the saying goes, “The bird that sticks its head out gets shot.” Once you’re the ringleader, even if you stop picking fights, trouble still comes looking for you.

He knew full well that “turning over a new leaf” wasn’t as simple as just studying hard. Being a former school tyrant came with responsibilities. When trouble knocks, you can’t just hide.

All the enemies, all the messes from his past—they still needed to be faced.

But with Xie Tingxue present, Yan Ze couldn’t allow a fight to break out in front of her. So he said, politely,

“Let’s take this outside.”

Lang Jie sneered,

“What? You were all tough before. Now you’re chickening out?”

Yan Ze remained calm.

“You don’t look familiar. Why don’t you tell me what grudge we have?”

Lang Jie snorted and slammed his foot on the table. He pointed at Yan Yaru and shouted,

“Him? Seriously? What do you even see in this little punk? You picked this baby-faced kid to humiliate me? Want me to beat him until he calls me Daddy?”

Yan Yaru’s face went ghostly white.

Yan Ze blinked and glanced at her, cursing silently in his head.

So, this whole mess was caused by her?

Lang Jie reached to grab Yan Yaru.

“Come on, let’s go. Tell me right now—who do you belong to?”

Yan Ze stepped in and blocked him.

“Watch your mouth.”

Lang Jie snarled,

“Move your damn hand or I’ll break it. You’re the one who said that if you like someone, you’ll take them no matter what. Wasn’t that you?”

Yan Ze smirked.

“…While I do think that way, I’m pretty sure you aren’t the one I’m competing with.”

Lang Jie’s eyes bulged and he threw a punch. Yan Ze countered with a knee to the gut, wrapped his arm around Lang-ge’s neck, twisted him around, and pinned him to the ground.

“You want to fight, we fight outside!” he growled.

Mei Jian couldn’t hold back a laugh.

He thought things like this only happened in trashy web novels—turns out reality could be just as ridiculous.

Yan Ze glared at him.

“Don’t laugh!”

Mei Jian leaned against the wall, arms crossed, settling in to watch like it was live theater.

Yan Ze had Lang Jie in a chokehold, but couldn’t shut him up.

Lang Jie cursed,

“Damn you, pretty boy! Let me go! I’ll mess you up!”

Yan Yaru trembled. Xie Tingxue gripped her hand and frowned,

“This is a public place, not your personal fight club!”

Yan Ze panicked. The last thing he wanted was for Xie Tingxue to get dragged into this.

“I’ll handle it outside.”

He gave Feng Fei a look. Feng Fei, ever the loyal sidekick, quickly grabbed Xie Tingxue’s arm and said,

“Good students don’t get involved in this kind of stuff! Yan Ze, Yan Ze, let’s talk it out. No need to fight!”

With fire burning in his eyes, Yan Ze dragged Lang Jie out. His gang of underlings followed in a loud, messy crowd.

Mei Jian shook his head.

“Childish.”

Yan Yaru wiped away tears. A few of her eyelashes had clumped together, soaked with tears.

Xie Tingxue comforted her,

“It’s okay. Just a bunch of thugs. Ignore them. Whoever caused this should clean it up. It’s so annoying—we can’t even study in peace for one second.”

Even though Yan Ze was gone, his loyal sidekick was still there. Feng Fei, absolutely fuming, pointed at the source of the chaos.

“Yan Yaru, what the hell was that? You’re like a walking disaster. Yan Ze has to clean up your mess? What kind of BS is that?”

Yan Yaru mumbled,

“What does it have to do with me? Just because they like me… doesn’t mean you get to call me a curse.”

Feng Fei exclaimed,

“Okay, but what does it have to do with Yan Ze? He’s not your boyfriend! Why is he the one getting dragged into your mess? He only stepped in so you guys could study in peace…”

“Wait,” Xie Tingxue turned to look at her.

“Is this a misunderstanding?”

So, Yan Ze had been standing up for her?

Yan Yaru rubbed her eyes and avoided being too specific.

“They… they said stuff about Yan Ze and me… I couldn’t really explain, and Lang Jie got the wrong idea…”

Xie Tingxue slammed her hand on the table.

“That’s ridiculous!”

Feng Fei added,

“You girls stay here—we’re going out there! No way Yan Ze should be left to deal with this alone. That’d be a slap in the face to all of us!”

Chen Chang chimed in,

“Yeah! Yan Yaru, don’t cry. We’ll go out there and talk some sense into them!”

Mei Jian: “…”

________________________________________

Outside, Yan Ze dragged Lang Jie out and softened his tone a little.

“Look, I get your deal with Yan Yaru. That’s between you two. I’m not involved.”

Lang Jie spat,

“Don’t play dumb. You stole my girl—that’s public humiliation!”

Yan Ze rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what people are saying, but there’s nothing going on between me and Yan Yaru. Her mom just plays cards with my mom. At most, she’s like a little sister. That’s it. No other connection.”

Lang Jie blinked.

“…The hell?”

Yan Ze released him, standing tall like a pine tree, his voice steady and clear:

“Also, I don’t have any real beef with you guys from the sports school. Whatever fights or grudges you’ve got in the future—they’ve got nothing to do with me. Next time you want to start something, ask around first.

Make sure you heard the name right. There are plenty of people pretending to be me to stir up trouble. Anything before October, fine, I’ll take responsibility. After October? That’s not on me.”

Lang Jie couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’ve got no guts to own up now?”

Yan Ze let out a short, exasperated laugh.

“I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m going to focus on studying and being a decent student. I’m done with stuff like fighting over gym slots or turf. If you’re looking for a fight, go left out the door and find someone from No. 3 High. What I mean is—I’m not in that game anymore. We’re going our separate ways. You don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you.”

Lang Jie’s expression began to soften. Around that time, Feng Fei and Chen Chang came outside.

Feng Fei immediately switched to peacemaker mode, throwing out “bro” and “misunderstanding” every other sentence. He even offered Lang Jie a cigarette and lit it for him. Though Lang Jie still felt humiliated—being pinned to the ground in front of his own boys—Feng Fei gave him a graceful way to exit.

And since Yan Ze had laid everything out clearly, continuing the fight would’ve been pointless. So, Lang Jie swallowed his pride and led his crew off to sing karaoke instead.

Back in McDonald’s, Yan Ze walked in and said meaningfully,

“Yan Yaru, what did I tell you before? I told you to keep a low profile. If trouble comes up, don’t drag my name into it. What, my advice just went in one ear and out the other?”

Yan Yaru tossed a french fry at him.

Yan Ze turned to the group.

“So… are we actually going to study?”

Mei Jian said mockingly,

“Well, look who suddenly remembered why we’re here.”

Yan Ze rolled his eyes.

Mei Jian straightened up, his tone firm:

“If we waste any more time because of someone, we won’t be doing this study group anymore. Everyone can just go study on their own.”

Yan Yaru frantically shook her head. Chen Chang quickly objected,

“But the teacher said we should help each other.”

“Oh yeah? Then are you helping or not?”

The students all nodded.

“Yes, we are.”

Mei Jian slammed the table and raised his voice:

“Then what are you waiting for? Show me your test papers!”

In an instant, his “star tutor” aura kicked in, and the students went quiet as quail, scrambling to pull out their exam papers.

Yan Ze didn’t move.

He didn’t have his test paper. The last one he took had barely scraped double digits.

Mei Jian skimmed through the others and gave his assessments:

“Xie Tingxue: strong vocabulary and writing, but too much ‘Chinglish.’ Weak point is speaking.

Chen Chang: average across the board. Judging by your listening score, your speaking probably isn’t great either.

Yan Yaru: nothing majorly weak, listening is your strength, and your speaking should improve quickly. But your grammar is a disaster—you’re basically relying on gut feeling to get through tests.”

Yan Yaru looked at him with wide-eyed admiration.

Feng Fei was stunned.

“Holy crap, are you a genius or what?” He’d never seen a top student in “boss mode” up close and was visibly impressed.

And damn, this guy really does act like a teacher.

“As for you…” Mei Jian glanced at Yan Ze and sneered,

“Even if your spoken English is amazing, it’s useless. Academic English isn’t the same as what you’re used to. Believe it or not, you’ll get eliminated at the first stage of the exams.”

Yan Ze clapped slowly, smiling without warmth.

“Bravo, Professor Mei. What an inspiring speech.”

Mei Jian ignored the sarcasm.

“Xie Tingxue and Chen Chang: focus on listening this week. No need to rush speaking.

Yan Yaru and… you! Start drilling vocabulary and grammar. Any questions?”

Xie Tingxue raised her hand.

“…Yes.”

Mei Jian smiled encouragingly.

“Go ahead.”

He looked so much like a real teacher that Xie Tingxue lowered her voice instinctively.

“Where will we be having our study sessions from now on?”

Studying in public wasn’t going to cut it—today was proof of that.

Yan Ze spoke up:

“My place. It’s quiet, and we won’t be disturbed.”

Yan Yaru’s eyes lit up.

“I vote for that!”

Chen Chang saw Yan Yaru agree and quickly added,

“Same here. I vote yes.”

Xie Tingxue hesitated.

“…Are you sure that’s okay?”

“My dad’s hardly home,” Yan Ze replied.

“Just my mom—and she’s either at the mahjong parlor or in the recording studio. She won’t come upstairs.”

Chen Chang clapped his hands.

“Great, settled! But… since it’s our first day, and no one’s really in the mood to study, I did book a KTV. Let’s go sing, yeah? Yan Yaru, you in? Change of pace.”

Xie Tingxue sighed.

Yan Yaru peeked at Mei Jian, dying to know how he sang. She eagerly agreed,

“If it’s already booked, let’s go! We’ll call it a celebration for the launch of our study group!”

Chen Chang pulled out his wallet.

“My treat!”

Yan Ze glanced at Xie Tingxue.

“I’m going too.”

A little relaxation is good… and mostly, he was really curious—

What would 16-year-old Xie Tingxue sound like when she sang?

Xie Tingxue packed up her papers and relented.

“Okay.”

She didn’t want to seem out of sync with the group.

________________________________________

The KTV was just next door.

A decade ago, singing karaoke was the go-to weekend activity. The best KTV joints used to be packed every night.

In one of the private rooms, smoke hung heavy in the air, and the table was covered with beer bottles.

Jin Zhenyu took a long swig straight from the bottle, gulping it down in one go.

“Was it Yan Ze? And you just let him walk away like that?”

Lang Jie puffed on a cigarette.

“Yeah, it was him. What was I supposed to do? I wasn’t interested in fighting. Not worth it.”

The guys in the room wailed like ghosts around the mic.

“That punk’s just a poser! He pisses me off. Be a man—beat his ass!”

Jin Zhenyu clenched his fists, veins bulging on his temple.

“I’ve got a score to settle with that bastard. If I ever run into him, I swear I’ll crack his skull wide open.”