They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 28

Although he knew Xie Tingxue wouldn’t accept an invitation to come over for lunch, when Yan Ze got home, he still called softly, “Tingxue…?”

No response. As expected, she wasn’t there. What was he even hoping for? Yan Ze sighed.

He headed to the kitchen. The water in the pot had just started to boil. His mother tossed in a block of hot pot base and dumped in a bowl of chopped potatoes.

“…This again,” Yan Ze muttered.

His mom was great in many ways—except when it came to cooking. She always cooked whatever was easiest, relying heavily on hot pot base. If she wasn’t making noodle soup with it and tossing in a few leaves of greens before serving, she’d be using it to stew everything and eat it with rice.

His mom hummed as she worked, replying in a singsong voice, “If you don’t like it, cook it yourself.”

But Yan Ze couldn’t cook. He could confidently say he was capable in every area—except the kitchen. Even with a knife at his throat, he probably couldn’t turn out anything edible. In over twenty years, his most reliable dish was instant noodles—and not cooked, just soaked. His attempts at boiling them always turned out disastrous.

Maybe it was in the genes.

His dad didn’t care much about food—anything edible was good enough. His mom cooked by intuition, tossing together ingredients and seasoning whatever felt right at the time.

“Mom, thank you for what you did today.”

“No need to thank me.”

“…So how did it end up getting resolved?”

His mom replied, “People are so status-conscious nowadays. The moment I realized that other parent worked in construction materials, I said I was from the Development and Reform Commission. He immediately changed his tone—said he’d pay us a visit to apologize.

I refused on the spot and told him: girls need proper upbringing. Academic performance isn’t the most important thing—character is.”

Yan Ze burst out laughing. “Mom, you’re ruthless!”

“I looked at that man and thought—no wonder the daughter turned out like that. The family lacks proper guidance. A crooked beam produces a crooked house. The father was like that, so naturally the daughter followed suit—dividing people into ranks and bullying others. Such a shame. She could’ve been a good kid, but now she’s ignorant and mean.”

“Anyway, Mom, thank you.” Yan Ze smiled. “Thanks, Comrade Yang from the Development and Reform Commission.”

“Homemaker Yang, if you please.”

Yan Ze gave his mother a big bear hug. “The most amazing profession in the world.”

Her heart had just warmed when she heard him add with a grin, “Except for the cooking. Can’t give you top marks on that performance.”

His mom raised a ladle. “Disappear from my sight within three seconds!”

________________________________________

After lunch, Yan Ze texted Mei Jian:

“Get ready, I’m picking her up.”

Ten minutes later, just as he was heading out the door, Mei Jian’s reply arrived:

“Planning to argue with me now?”

Yan Ze’s fingers flew across the screen:

“Preparing to escort the princess to tutoring!”

Mei Jian and Xie Tingxue waited at the entrance of the residential compound, each holding a roasted sweet potato. They were reviewing English phrases and sentence structures while they ate. Occasionally, Mei

Jian would quiz her on math formulas.

A sweet potato, meant for Yan Ze, dangled from Xie Tingxue’s wrist, swaying as she moved.

Yan Ze pulled up, braked hard, locked his car, and led the way.

Three students—two boys and a girl—headed to an unfamiliar place for tutoring. Xie Tingxue felt a bit uneasy and asked, “Should we invite Yan Yaru to come along?”

“What about Xiao Ge?”

“Maybe Lulù too?”

She named nearly every academically good girl in their class.

Yan Ze replied, “I already asked Feng Fei.”

That made her even more anxious. She looked at Mei Jian, who appeared calm as ever.

Yan Ze asked, “Are you scared?”

Whenever she was unsure about something, she instinctively looked at Mei Jian.

Watching this made Yan Ze feel a pang. He glanced at Mei Jian, who arched a brow and gave a small smile.

“I’ll let you boys study. I’m not going,” Xie Tingxue said.

Yan Ze coaxed, “Come on, you’ll be perfectly safe with us. If anything happens, we’ll protect you.”

Mei Jian suddenly stopped and held out his hand. “Here.”

Xie Tingxue froze.

Was he… asking her to hold hands?

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” Mei Jian said with a smile. “Just hold my sleeve. That should help a bit.”

Yan Ze looked horrified. “Hey, that’s cheating!”

With a sweet potato still in his mouth, he freed a hand and offered his sleeve too. “Here, mine’s longer. Hold it if you like.”

Xie Tingxue walked straight past them, head held high, leaving them with the defiant swish of her ponytail.

She muttered, “You guys are nuts.”

Both boys retracted their hands and exchanged glances.

Yan Ze: “You hear that? She meant you.”

Mei Jian chuckled, hands in his pockets. “Childish.”

Whatever fear Xie Tingxue had vanished once they arrived.

The tutoring location was inside a military family compound. A uniformed officer stood guard at the gate, and many people inside were in uniform, looking sharp and disciplined—it gave off an immediate sense of security.

Feng Fei was already waiting. When he saw them, he waved excitedly. “I brought drinks! Xie Tingxue, I got you juice!”

Yan Ze led them through the compound and pointed to a small white building. “That one—first floor. It’s got everything except a computer.”

Mei Jian asked, “So your family’s military?”

Yan Ze replied, “Not really. My mom was in the military performing arts troupe. She retired.”

“Oh… so your mom was in the arts troupe.” Mei Jian paused, then added, “What about your grandfather?”

Yan Ze smiled. “No idea.”

Mei Jian eyed him. “Then why are you studying at Haishi High?”

Yan Ze didn’t understand the question. “Why not?”

“You transferred in during the second semester of first year. Where did you go to school before?”

Yan Ze grinned. “Why? Been researching me?”

“Don’t tell me you got expelled for fighting? I saw there’s a kindergarten and elementary school across the way. You must’ve studied here when you were a kid.”

“Yeah, for elementary. For high school, I followed my grandpa out of town. But I left on my own later. My grandpa’s a straight shooter—very upright. He couldn’t stand my personality, and I was under a lot of pressure living with him.

I wasn’t happy, so my mom brought me back. Her philosophy is simple: be happy, do what you want. She says I’m not a bad kid, just stubborn like her. If pushed too hard, I might grow twisted.”

Xie Tingxue listened, wide-eyed. “Where did you study before?”

“A place called 827. Most of the students there had aerospace backgrounds—their parents were all in the field. Super smart. But not me. I always ranked at the bottom… super embarrassing.”

“You probably just didn’t apply yourself,” Mei Jian said.

“I couldn’t. I was too busy rebelling. Whatever my grandpa wanted, I’d do the opposite. He’d give me a target score, and I’d make sure not to hit it. He valued reputation, so I’d purposely cause trouble and get called into school.”

Xie Tingxue frowned hard.

Mei Jian echoed her feelings: “You wasted such a good opportunity.”

Xie Tingxue nodded furiously.

Yan Ze said, “I didn’t think about it then, but looking back now—I really regret it…”

He pulled out a key and opened the door. After letting everyone in, he glanced across at the neighbor’s home.

Mei Jian asked, “What’s up?”

“Just remembered something… never mind. Let’s go in.”

The house was old, with a very high ceiling and excellent lighting. Outside, there was a semi-enclosed glass conservatory filled with plants. It felt warm and peaceful.

Xie Tingxue finally relaxed.

Yan Ze unfolded a table in the conservatory and brought over chairs. “Let’s start at 2:30. For now, Professor Mei, please assign us today’s study plan.”

Mei Jian handed out printed schedules.

“Feng Fei, start with first-year math practice. Show me when you’re done. At 4 PM, it’s vocabulary and classic Chinese passages.”

“Yan Ze, history and geography from first-year second semester. I’ve noted the key points—review them yourself. At 4 PM, do the math exercises.”

“Xie Tingxue, we’ll stick to last week’s plan and stay on track. At 4 PM, do English shadow reading.”

“Okay,” Xie Tingxue nodded.

Feng Fei sighed, “Seriously, hanging out with you top students—I feel like I might actually become someone!”

Someone returned to the apartment across the hall. Yan Ze heard it and rushed out.

He opened the door and froze.

It was a dark-skinned, muscular man with a buzzcut. When the man turned, his eyes were sharp and piercing. But upon recognizing Yan Ze, his expression softened into a warm smile.

“Yan Ze? You’ve grown so tall!”

“…Uncle Tong.” Yan Ze forced a smile. “Um, I forgot… were you a police officer?”

Tong Xing laughed. “What’s the matter? Got something to hide?”

“No, nothing…”

Tong Xing found Yan Ze’s expression odd but couldn’t put a finger on why.

Mei Jian came over after assigning everyone their tasks.

Tong Xing noticed and said, “Brought friends over? Enjoy yourselves. If you need anything, knock.”

After he left, Mei Jian asked, “Did that guy die in a past life?”

Yan Ze gasped. “How’d you know?”

“I could tell—from his eyes.”

“…I barely remember. I think my mom mentioned it once—said Grandpa’s neighbor died in the line of duty. Might be in the next year or two. His wife’s in the military. I think he used to be armed police. I remember seeing him in uniform—maybe criminal police?”

“Do you remember how he died?”

Yan Ze thought hard, then whispered, “Drug bust…?”

Mei Jian asked, “So what can we do?”

Yan Ze shook his head. “Do you know?”

Mei Jian sighed. “No idea. But our history teacher—Hao Feng—same thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like your neighbor. He passed away a few years later—illness. The workload at Haishi High is intense. He taught graduating seniors for years. Probably wore himself out…”

Yan Ze cursed softly. “He’s such a good teacher. I admire him so much!”

“So what do we do?” Mei Jian said quietly. “Knowing doesn’t mean we can change anything…”

“Feng Fei too,” Yan Ze whispered. “He died after a fight during senior year…”

Mei Jian looked up, his expression complicated.

“I don’t know what we can do,” Yan Ze admitted. “But I want to try. Maybe a small nudge can change something. Ever heard of the butterfly effect? If we just help a little, maybe the outcome will be different. Look at Feng Fei—if we get him hooked on studying, maybe he won’t get into fights.”

That was all Yan Ze hoped for.

Mei Jian suddenly smiled. “Forget it. I was hoping for something more profound, but I guess knowing about the butterfly effect deserves praise.”

“…Really now?”

After a pause, Mei Jian added, “Yan Ze, maybe… helping them is a way to help her.”

“You mean…”

“Do good, without asking for reward,” Mei Jian said. “It’s something Little Snow wrote in her bio.”

“I get it now,” Yan Ze said. “Then let’s do it. Saving them is saving ourselves.”