Lin Ran's mind was reeling from the overload of information.

Just a moment ago, he had celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday and had bravely saved someone on the road, only to be hit and thrown by a truck.

In the next instant, he found himself reborn back in a high school classroom from sixteen years ago.

Before he could process this incredible twist of fate, his beautiful classmate, Su Qingyan, was crying and had thrown herself into his arms, murmuring something he couldn’t quite catch. What kind of plot twist was this?

In that moment, Lin Ran's head buzzed, and a suspicious thought popped up: "Is this a scam?"

He still hadn’t grasped the situation when the nearly fifty-year-old homeroom teacher, Liu Chun, was already on the verge of exploding with rage. “Lin Ran! Sleeping in class is one thing!” he shouted. “But to be flirting with your classmate?!”

The students in the class, already favorably inclined towards attractive female students, were now furious. Especially with Su Qingyan, the school's top student and recognized goddess, who was also Liu Chun’s pride and joy.

The students’ glares shot toward him like arrows! “How dare you, Lin Ran! You look like such a nice guy, yet you’re bold enough to hug our Su goddess? Do you have a death wish?”

“Huh?” Lin Ran blinked in confusion, finally snapping back to reality. He hurriedly pushed the weeping school flower away. “Teacher, it’s a misunderstanding!”

Liu Chun’s anger only escalated. “What misunderstanding? Explain to me why you hugged Su Qingyan!”

What the hell? Lin Ran felt like he was losing it. “Teacher, you need to look carefully! I’m the victim here! She’s the one who hugged me first!” He gestured toward Su Qingyan, who now had a triumphant expression mixed with tears in her eyes.

Hmm? The more he spoke, the more something felt off… It was then he noticed her tear-streaked face, looking pitifully beautiful.

Liu Chun was so furious that his voice shook. “You—you made Su Qingyan cry?!”

Lin Ran felt like he might cry himself. “I really didn’t…”

The classroom erupted in outrage. Liu Chun’s gaze turned deadly serious, like he was staring at a capital offender. He raised his arm, ready to deliver the final verdict, as if declaring Lin Ran’s sentence to quell the rising fury among the students.

In the midst of this chaos, Su Qingyan began to collect herself. She recalled the moment she had woken up to find Lin Ran beside her. As memories flooded back, she finally understood the situation—she had been reborn.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Back to that summer at eighteen, in her senior year classroom. The boy who had sacrificed himself sixteen years later to save her was now sitting next to her as her desk mate in the summer of 2007.

However, it seemed she had just created quite a mess for him.

“Enough! Lin Ran, you go stand in the hallway for half an hour!” Liu Chun shouted, at his breaking point.

“Wait.” Su Qingyan stood up, having sorted through her emotions. Standing tall in the last row, her eyes slightly red, she returned to her usual calm demeanor.

“Teacher, you misunderstood,” she said coolly. “What just happened has nothing to do with Lin Ran. I was the one who hugged him first.”

The classroom fell silent. Then, uproar ensued!

Students’ eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Su Qingyan hugged Lin Ran first? No way!”

Liu Chun couldn’t believe it. “You hugged him? Qingyan, you don’t have to cover for Lin Ran! Just tell the truth, and I’ll make things right for you!”

Su Qingyan remained composed. “I’m not covering for him. I just had a nightmare and got scared. I didn’t mean to blame Lin Ran.”

A nightmare?

Understanding washed over the students. They thought, “So that’s it! I knew Lin Ran wouldn’t have the guts to do something like that. It was just Su Qingyan waking up from a nightmare and instinctively grabbing something to hold onto.”

Suddenly, their attitude toward Lin Ran shifted from anger to envy and jealousy. “Damn, this guy has all the luck! Why couldn’t I be sitting next to Su Qingyan? If she hugged someone, it should have been me!”

“Now I get it—” Liu Chun’s expression softened slightly. “Alright, you can sit down.”

“And Lin Ran, this time we’ll let it go. Pay attention in class and don’t let me see you bullying Qingyan again!”

He started off calm but ended with a fierce tone directed at Lin Ran, as if treating him like a class enemy.

Lin Ran could only reply, “…Okay.”

The disparity in treatment was staggering.

...

The storm passed, and calm returned to the classroom. Liu Chun’s monotonous lecture resumed, lulling students to sleep.

In the back row, Lin Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he had avoided disaster...

Little did he know that beside him, Su Qingyan was leaning slightly towards him, resting her chin on her hand, watching him intently.

In his past life, he had only glimpsed her before the accident. Now, reborn, this was the first time he was being studied so closely by his future savior and former desk mate.

Compared to what he would look like years later, the boy in front of her hadn’t changed much. He was still handsome but now bore the youthful innocence and naivety of his age. His slightly messy black hair fell into his eyes.

In just a few years, he would be the kind of cute boy that countless older girls would swoon over, not knowing how they would tease him.

Even back in 2007, if he weren’t so shy and withdrawn, always keeping his head down, he would definitely be the kind of boy many girls would secretly crush on.

Su Qingyan felt a twinge of regret for not noticing her desk mate in her previous life. But it didn’t matter.

Since she had been reborn, she had all the time in the world to get to know him better.

With that thought, a smile crept onto her lips.

Lin Ran suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being watched by a cunning fox spirit.

He turned to see the beautiful school flower resting her chin on her hand, her eyes fixed on him.

Lin Ran couldn’t help but ask, “What are you staring at?”

He didn’t mean to speak loudly, but Liu Chun’s keen ears immediately caught it. In an instant, he shot Lin Ran a fierce look. “Lin Ran, what are you doing now?!”

The next moment, the envious classmates who had been closely watching the situation raised their hands to eagerly report, “Teacher, I know!”

“Lin Ran has been staring at Su Qingyan with a lustful look!”

What?! Lin Ran was about to lose it again.

What kind of twisted fate was this?!