After the Divorce, My Wife and I Were Both Reborn

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: I Have a Friend

Watching his dad drive away, Jiang Xia took Lin Yanwan’s hand and they slowly walked onto campus.

"You were about to call him ’Dad,’ weren’t you?"

"I wasn’t. I didn’t. You heard wrong." Lin Yanwan turned her head away.

Recalling what just happened, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Uncle? You’ve really outdone yourself."

"Well, it’s better than you calling my mom ’Mom’!"

"Touché!"

Annoyed and embarrassed, she pulled her hand away and gave his thigh a vicious pinch.

"AH! Ow, ow, ow! I let it slide earlier, but you’re doing it again?!"

Pinched in the exact same spot, Jiang Xia sucked in a breath and yelled, "Do you want to see? I bet you’ve already left a bruise. It’s easy for you since it’s not your flesh, so you don’t feel the pain, huh?"

Lin Yanwan blushed. It wasn’t really her fault; she was just used to pinching him.

Just as they were bickering, the school bell for class suddenly rang.

They glanced at each other, and Jiang Xia asked, "What’s your first period?"

"I think it’s gym class?" Lin Yanwan said after a moment of thought.

"...Never mind then. We have the same class."

They both let out a sigh of relief in unison. They wouldn’t be late now.

Passing the athletic field, they saw two classes already lined up, their respective gym teachers leading them through warm-up exercises.

Jiang Xia acted as if he hadn’t seen them and headed straight for the academic building.

"Aren’t you going to gym class?" Lin Yanwan asked. "My foot doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I can get back to the classroom by myself."

"Nope." Jiang Xia shook his head. In his view, the time spent in gym class was better used drawing a few more keyframes.

"Oh."

But as the two of them strolled past the edge of the field, they were seen by many people.

Wang Ming stared blankly at the two of them. ’Stuck together like glue... they’re really inseparable, huh?’

’If this doesn’t count as dating, you two must be blood-related siblings, right?’

◇

Only a few people were in the classroom. His deskmate was, as always, grinding through social studies questions, unwilling to waste any free time.

Chen Yao was a little surprised to see Jiang Xia, but she just scooted her stool forward a bit to let him in.

"Aren’t you supposed to be in gym class?"

"Didn’t want to go."

Jiang Xia gazed at the blue sky and white clouds outside, thinking that his recent entanglement with Lin Yanwan had gotten a bit excessive, straying far from his original intentions.

He sighed softly, took out the storyboard drafts and drawing paper from his desk, and buried his head in his work.

"What’s wrong? You have the school’s number one beauty and top student as a girlfriend, and you’re still sighing?"

Chen Yao glanced at him from the corner of her eye. ’He’s drawing again? After he paid such close attention in class this morning, I thought he’d turned over a new leaf. Guess it was just a fleeting moment of brilliance.’

Jiang Xia was speechless. "You’re overthinking it."

"Then you must feel immense pressure. If I were you, I’d spend 23 out of 24 hours a day studying and grinding through practice questions. That’s the only way to keep up with her and get into the same university," she said without looking up. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"I was just thinking..." Jiang Xia changed the subject. "Never mind. Do you think a couple that was once very much in love can really be friends after breaking up?"

"I’ve never been in a relationship, how would I know?"

Chen Yao paused, then looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Don’t tell me you think you’re not good enough for her, so you’re planning to break up and just be friends with Lin Yanwan?"

"...With a train of thought like that, you should never write romance novels. You’d get flamed to death by the readers."

"I wouldn’t. If I were to write something, it would definitely be a power fantasy story with a strong female lead."

The corner of Jiang Xia’s mouth twitched. ’That really does sound like her.’

"Speaking of which, why are you always drawing this cat and this mouse? Each picture is only slightly different. If I didn’t look closely, I’d think you were making a spot-the-difference game for me. Don’t you think it’s a waste of time?"

Jiang Xia smiled but said nothing.

’Keyframes are just simple drawings before they’re set in motion. Only when they move can they be called animation.’

’And how many people know that a classic masterpiece like *Cat and Mouse* was created by a team of hundreds, drawing it frame by frame just like this?’

The class period passed quickly. Jiang Xia had finished another eight keyframes. Excluding the more complex background plates, he was now almost halfway done.

At his current pace, he could start coloring this weekend and then move on to post-production.

It was safe to say he was one small step closer to a beautiful future.

Wang Ming returned to the classroom after his game, drenched in sweat. He looked at Jiang Xia, who was engrossed in his drawing, and hesitated to speak several times.

’This guy has a detailed plan for his future and a girlfriend who’s drop-dead gorgeous. He wasn’t jealous. Really, not jealous at all. WAHHH...’

Finally, he let out a long sigh, returned to his seat, and chugged his mineral water as if it were liquor. GLUG, GLUG, GLUG, GLUG, GLUG.

◇

"Yanwan, a lot of people saw you coming back to the classroom with Jiang Xia just now. You have no idea, so many guys’ hearts shattered into a million pieces," Shen Ying said, resting her head on her desk as she looked at her.

Lin Yanwan ignored the last part of the sentence, taking a small sip of the ginger and red date tea Jiang Xia had made for her. ’It still tastes the same as before.’

"Is there a problem with coming back to the classroom with a friend?" she asked, her tone calm.

"Friend? You mean boyfriend," Shen Ying giggled. "If any other guy was that attentive, you would have already given them the cold shoulder and refused."

Lin Yanwan’s face flushed slightly. She chose to avoid the question by tickling the sensitive spot on Shen Ying’s waist.

"You have the nerve to talk! Didn’t you tell me to wait for you this morning? How come you never came back?"

"Hahaha... I saw your boyfriend arrive! Of course I didn’t want to be a third wheel. Besides, didn’t you let him lead you away? I saw everything clearly from upstairs."

"My stomach hurt back then! I was too weak from the pain!"

"Keep making excuses. Even if I believe you, the people’s eyes are sharp. Do you think anyone else believes you?"

Lin Yanwan’s bravado instantly deflated.

’Her relationship with Jiang Xia wasn’t something that could be explained in a few simple words. It was four years of dating, eight years of marriage, plus the bond of being reborn together. You could say the buffs were stacked to the max.’

’If their bodies were found later, people might even have concluded that they were a deeply devoted couple.’

—When the earthquake hit and the ceiling was about to collapse, the husband shielded his wife with his own body in the face of mortal danger. Tragically, they both perished. How deeply moving.

’Thinking about it that way, it was as if fate itself had specially arranged for them to rekindle their connection.’

"Yingying, I have a friend who broke up with her boyfriend. They promised to never see each other again, but they keep running into each other in the most bizarre ways. She’s been really troubled lately and doesn’t know what to do."

"What’s there to be troubled about? Just ignore him."

"They didn’t break up because they fell out of love."

"Incompatible values?"

"Their values are actually quite aligned. And there are no better guys around than him... she doesn’t know if she’ll ever meet someone better."

"If your ’friend’ doesn’t hate him, then she should get back together with him. Besides, what couple doesn’t fight?"

Lin Yanwan froze. ’That does sound a bit reasonable.’

’But if I ask to get back together so soon, won’t that make me seem pathetic?’

’Why can’t he be the one to take the initiative?’