Chapter 47: End of Main Story

Time flew by.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

The Gaokao had arrived.

No matter the results, the day it ended marked liberation for every high school senior.

Countless students roared, shouted, and cheered—for three years of hard work, for their reluctance to leave their youth behind, for the farewells looming on the horizon.

It was also a holiday for the other grades.

Jiang Wan was curled up in her room, scrolling through Moments.

She knew a few seniors, and their posts had completely taken over her feed.

Some complained that the questions were brutally tough; others declared they were throwing in the towel and would try again next year; still more celebrated their freedom and were already planning group dinners.

Jiang Wan left comments under each one.

—Not sure if they’re hard or not, but we can’t lose our spirit!

—Lying flat sounds great, but don’t overdo it.

—Count me in for the dinner! (Pretending to be a senior~)

Maybe it was because she’d been reborn into this vibrant young body, but her whole mindset felt younger too. She was goofing around just like the rest of them.

She was in the middle of typing a reply when she heard a knock at the door.

“Guanguan’s here. Have you eaten yet? Little Wan’s in her room.” It was her mother’s voice.

Jiang Wan jumped up and flung open the door. There stood the girl at the threshold, her makeup exquisitely done and her outfit stunning—but she carried an unmistakable air of dejection.

“You two chat. I’ll go cut some fruit.” Mother Jiang could tell Guanguan was in low spirits and tactfully left the space to the two girls.

The moment Guanguan stepped into the bedroom, she completely lost it.

She could still muster a smile in front of Mother Jiang, but in front of Jiang Wan, her composure shattered.

“Wahhh, Wanwan, I got dumped!” The girl threw her arms around Jiang Wan and burst into heartbroken sobs.

She’d dolled herself up in her prettiest makeup that day, slipped into her favorite skirt, and gone to confess to Cen Jin with high hopes.

The result was just as expected.

Cen Jin had turned her down.

Guanguan could still vividly recall the look on the girl’s face as she refused her.

So gentle, yet so utterly final.

“She… she said I’m too young right now, that I don’t understand real love. Hic… that I’m confusing dependence with liking someone. Screw that! Do… do I really not know the difference between liking and not liking?!”

Guanguan sobbed uncontrollably, clutching tightly at Jiang Wan’s clothes like a wronged child seeking shelter.

“Jerk, total jerk! Big fat jerk! Just reject me outright—don’t give me some lame excuse! Stupid excuse! Wahhh…”

Jiang Wan petted Guanguan’s head like she was a little puppy, soothing her softly. “Yeah, yeah, she’s the jerk. She doesn’t deserve our Guanguan at all. We’ll ignore her from now on.”

Guanguan’s makeup was a total mess now, and she was hiccuping through her sniffles.

It was clear the poor girl was truly heartbroken.

Ignoring the smudges on her clothes, Jiang Wan patiently and gently patted her back, comforting her like an injured child.

She didn’t offer empty words of consolation. She simply let Guanguan vent her emotions fully.

Cry it out. It’ll feel better once it’s out.

A good while later, Guanguan finally cried herself out. Her eyes were puffy, her nose red, and she stared blankly at Jiang Wan.

“Wanwan, do you think I’m just… no good?” She gave a bitter laugh. “Look at her exes—they’re all top-tier, every one of them. Even her admirers are nothing to sneeze at.”

“Then there’s me. I’m not that pretty, my figure’s nothing special, my grades aren’t the best. I’m a chatterbox, a glutton who loves to play around, and my personality’s all rough around the edges. I don’t act like a proper girl at all.”

As she spoke, her nose tingled again, and fresh tears threatened.

“No wonder she…”

“So what?”

Before the self-deprecating words could finish, Jiang Wan cut her off.

Guanguan blinked in surprise. The usually gentle and easygoing childhood friend had lost her smile, her expression unusually serious.

“Just be yourself—that’s more than enough.” Jiang Wan took hold of Guanguan’s cool hand and said earnestly, “It doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect or if you’re different from everyone else. You’re one of a kind, Guan Shaorong.”

“No matter what anyone else thinks, I’ll always have your back.”

Just as Guanguan had supported her unwaveringly in her past life, she would forever be Guanguan’s staunchest ally.

“Wanwan…” Guanguan’s lips quivered, and tears spilled once more.

But this time, it wasn’t from her unrequited crush fizzling out. It was from sheer gratitude.

She thought that the best decision she’d ever made in this life was befriending Jiang Wan.

In the end, Guanguan fell straight asleep on Jiang Wan’s bed.

She was exhausted, hadn’t even washed her face. Jiang Wan dampened a washcloth and gently cleaned her up.

Watching the girl who still let out little sniffles even in her sleep, Jiang Wan sighed inwardly.

She could tell that Guanguan hadn’t given up on Cen Jin yet.

In their previous lives, the two women had no connection at all. No one knew what kind of entanglements they would share in this one.

~~~

Jiang Wan was worried about Guanguan’s state, so she mentioned it to Bei Huai during a casual chat.

Bei Huai lost no time in finding an opportunity to question Cen Jin about her true intentions.

Bei Huai didn’t pay much attention to Cen Jin’s colorful romantic history, nor could she figure out how Cen Jin had gotten tangled up with Jiang Wan’s best friend in the first place.

But no matter the details, if it was causing Jiang Wan to worry, that was unacceptable.

Cen Jin had just finished a game of pool and was leaning back on the sofa when Bei Huai spoke up.

She took a sip of red wine and arched an eyebrow at Bei Huai. “No wonder. I was just saying, that person who’s so obsessed with studying these days—I couldn’t drag her out no matter how hard I tried—why did she agree so readily today? So this is what you were waiting for.”

Bei Huai’s face remained impassive. “Don’t dodge the question.”

“What else can I think? Naturally, I’m not willing to give up my whole forest.” Cen Jin shifted in her seat, her tone offhand.

“Seriously?” Bei Huai’s expression turned to one of distaste.

Cen Jin laughed, half in annoyance. “You have the nerve to lecture me when you haven’t even sorted out your own mess?”

“Wanwan and I have already promised each other—we’ll work hard and go to university in the same city.” Mentioning this lit Bei Huai up; she practically itched to rush home and hit the books right then.

“Oh? No more agonizing over it? Figured things out?”

Bei Huai smiled. “When someone’s going all out to love me, what reason do I have not to take a brave step forward?”

Her eyes shone as she spoke, brimming with vitality and hope.

It was a version of Bei Huai that Cen Jin had never seen before.

Cen Jin fell silent for a few seconds, then smiled as well. “That’s good. After all, everyone should throw themselves into something wholeheartedly at least once in life.”

Just not her—not yet.

~~~

Soon enough, Jiang Wan and Bei Huai officially entered their senior year of high school.

In class, Teacher Yang took Jiang Wan’s words to heart and kept a close eye on the pair for a time.

She discovered that, far from letting romance distract them, the two sat together and paid even more attention in class than anyone else.

Their grades soared, especially Bei Huai’s.

She may have squandered two years of schooling, but her mind was razor-sharp; she picked up concepts instantly, and her progress was nothing short of astonishing.

On top of that, Bei Huai threw herself into competitions of every kind, racking up certificates—most notably first place in the provincial Physics Competition, which earned her a direct recommendation to A University in the Capital City.

In the span of a single year, she had gone from a hated delinquent to an admired physics prodigy.

If someone had told her two years earlier that she would fall for a girl and strive to excel for her sake, Bei Huai would have slapped them across the face without a second thought.

But in that moment, her heart swelled with gratitude toward fate.

She thanked fate for bringing her Jiang Wan.

As Bei Huai blossomed into ever greater excellence, Jiang Wan poured her efforts into shining in her own domain.

She kept up with her studies without letting her dance training lapse.

The accident from her previous life had robbed her of dancing forever; this time, she was determined to make up for every regret.

Day after day of rigorous practice culminated in a dazzling performance at Q University’s open assessment interview.

That day, every interviewer committed the name Jiang Wan to memory.

In their own ways, the two spurred each other on, offered mutual support, and became the best versions of themselves.

The following year’s Gaokao saw them both admitted to universities in the Capital City—schools that happened to be just a short distance apart.

On the day the admission letters arrived, they finally made it official.

That same year, Guanguan chased after Cen Jin to a different city.

Stubborn and unyielding like Jiang Wan, she even defied her mother’s wishes.

Unable to dissuade her, Jiang Wan could only offer silent well-wishes.

At Q University, Jiang Wan’s beauty and charm made her incredibly popular, with suitors too numerous to count. Bei Huai seethed with jealousy more than once, requiring plenty of coaxing from Jiang Wan to settle down.

From then on, Bei Huai made a habit of visiting Q University whenever she could, proudly declaring it an act of staking her claim.

The moment anyone tried chatting up Jiang Wan, Bei Huai would scowl and snap, “What do you want? This is my girlfriend!”

Once the intruder slunk away, Jiang Wan would laugh and pinch Bei Huai’s cheek. “They hadn’t even done anything. Was that really necessary?”

“That look in their eyes was all wrong! And you’re snapping at me over some stranger!” Bei Huai pouted, deeply aggrieved.

“Where did I snap? I’m speaking perfectly nicely to you, aren’t I?”

Bei Huai was being utterly unreasonable. “You did!”

“Alright, alright, my fault. Don’t be mad anymore.” Jiang Wan coaxed her with a smile.

No helping it—the one she’d spoiled herself, she could only put up with.

That day, after class, Jiang Wan didn’t see Bei Huai waiting for her.

By this time, Bei Huai should have already arrived.

Worried that something had happened, Jiang Wan hurried over to A University. At the school gates, she spotted Bei Huai tangled up with a woman who clearly had her on edge, her impatience plain to see.

As Jiang Wan drew closer, she realized the woman was Yun Manzhu.

“Wanwan, what are you doing here?” Bei Huai caught sight of her right away and hurried over.

The woman lingered off to the side, shifting uncomfortably but not daring to step forward.

It had been ages since she’d last seen Bei Huai, and the girl had changed so much she felt like a total stranger—no longer the child she could bend to her will.

“Did she come looking for you?” Jiang Wan glanced at the woman and asked.

“She wants me to head back home this summer to see Bei Rong,” Bei Huai said with a cold scoff.

Ever since she’d been recommended for A University, Bei Rong had suddenly started playing the role of doting father, showing up at school now and then just to get under her skin. When he realized her attitude wasn’t softening, though, he’d given up—apart from wiring her living expenses, he’d washed his hands of her.

After arriving in the Capital City, she’d cut off all contact with Yun Manzhu and Bei Rong, keeping only Bei Qi in the loop.

She’d even started her own little business to make money, gradually sending back every cent Bei Rong had given her through Bei Qi.

All she wanted was to prove to them that she could thrive just fine on her own.

She had no idea what had gotten into Yun Manzhu, showing up out of the blue in the Capital City to corner her—and actually managing to do it.

Ever since Yun Manzhu’s bipolar diagnosis, Bei Huai had done her best to steer clear of any arguments, treating the woman like she was invisible.

“Let me have a word with her, okay?” Jiang Wan said softly.

Bei Huai wasn’t thrilled about it, but she could never say no to Jiang Wan, so she reluctantly agreed.

She hung back, watching as the two of them stepped aside to talk in a quiet corner. Yun Manzhu’s face twisted through a storm of emotions—flaring with irritation one moment, clouded with sorrow the next.

It made Bei Huai’s chest tighten. She’d already braced herself: the second Yun Manzhu lost it, she’d rush in to shield Jiang Wan.

But after a long wait, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, Yun Manzhu approached her with a complicated look on her face and murmured a quiet, “I’m sorry,” before turning and walking away.

Bei Huai: ???

“What did you say to her?”

“It’s a secret.” Jiang Wan flashed a playful smile.

“Tch, like I’d care that much.”

Jiang Wan pressed her lips together in a smile and took Bei Huai’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“I told her I hope she’ll come to our wedding.”

Bei Huai’s ears flushed bright red in an instant.

She hadn’t caught the beginning—just the word “wedding” at the end rang clear as day.

“This… it’s only been a little while. You’re already thinking about a wedding?” she stammered, her panic all too obvious.

After a beat, she added, “We should hold it in Ning City. All your family and friends are there…”

Jiang Wan laughed softly. She turned, rose on her tiptoes, and silenced the other woman’s rambling with a kiss.

The sky was a brilliant blue, the clouds puffy and white.

Little Bei’s lips were as sweet as ever.

【Main Story Complete】