It was summer, but evening was already falling. With the rain pouring so heavily, Qin Jiao shivered instinctively.

She wouldn’t catch a cold, though. After all, her body had been nourished by the Spiritual Spring Water. For over a year now, none of them—not her parents, not Xiao Shi—had ever gotten sick.

Along with them, Grandpa Du’s health had also improved considerably. Qin Jiao even thought that Shen Yi’s growth spurt, getting taller and stronger, was surely thanks to the Spiritual Spring Water as well.

In her past life, Shen Yi hadn’t even been as tall as Chen Feng. But in this life, Shen Yi was now a good half-head taller than him.

But there’s a special kind of chill you feel only when someone who cares about you insists you must be cold.

Shen Yi immediately took off his summer school uniform shirt and draped it over Qin Jiao’s shoulders, leaving himself in just a white undershirt.

Qin Jiao struggled. "Hey, I’m not cold. You should wear it."

"Don’t worry, I didn’t wear it when I was playing ball. It doesn’t smell like sweat."

It didn’t smell like sweat, but an unfamiliar scent, impossible to describe, washed over her. Qin Jiao suddenly remembered what Jiang Xiaoyue had said during the day, and she gently bit her lip.

The heavy rain scattered the students leaving school. Some figured they didn’t live far and plunged into the downpour, while others simply ran back to their classrooms.

Quite a few people were taking shelter in the bike shed. But the shed wasn’t perfect; with the rain coming down so fast, some areas were already starting to flood.

The two of them stood very close, so close they could hear the THUMP-THUMP of a heartbeat.

The light in the bike shed was already dim, and the gale-force winds and heavy rain made it sway back and forth.

The swaying light swept across the boy’s fair, handsome face. Qin Jiao clutched her schoolbag tighter... ’Actually,’ she thought, ’if Shen Yi wasn’t Shen Yi... if he really, truly liked me... it wouldn’t be so bad.’

’A boy who gets good grades, is handsome, and is so considerate, gentle, and devoted to you... it’s hard not to like someone like that, right?’

’But unfortunately, he was Shen Yi.’

’And that was the one pit she had sworn never to fall into again since she was reborn!’

The romantic notion was fleeting, vanishing in an instant. She quickly regained her composure, as if nothing had happened at all.

Just then, the rain began to let up. Shen Yi spoke up, "The rain’s lighter. Let’s hurry home."

Qin Jiao also heard that the sound of the rain had lessened. And she suddenly remembered—in her past life, around this time, a huge flood had really hit Ping’an Town.

She nodded. "Okay, let’s go quickly!"

It was a ride of less than twenty minutes, anyway. Fortunately, the main road wasn’t too flooded yet, and their house was on relatively high ground.

Besides, with the rain this heavy, their parents didn’t know they’d been let out of school early. If they didn’t leave soon, their parents would probably try to figure out a way to come pick them up. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Qin Jiao didn’t want to put them through all that trouble.

But the more you rush, the more likely something will go wrong. As Qin Jiao went to push her bike, there was a loud CLANG. Great. The chain had fallen off!

She was exasperated. "Of all the times for the chain to fall off!"

Then again, who knew how many secondhand owners this bike had before she got it. Now that the family was doing better financially, Qin Zhonghui had actually mentioned several times that he wanted to buy his daughter a new bike, but Qin Jiao didn’t think it was necessary.

The college entrance exams would be over soon, and their family would be moving away. There was no need to spend money on a big-ticket item like a bicycle at this point.

Mailing things wasn’t very convenient in this era. If they had too many heavy items, the shipping fees would probably be exorbitant, which just wasn’t worth it.

But Qin Jiao had thought her little bike, though battered, would have the spirit to hold on until after her exams. Who would have thought it would not only go on strike early but also choose such a critical moment to do it? How frustrating is that?

At that, Shen Yi spoke decisively. "Push your bike over to that high spot and leave it there. You can ride with me; I’ll take you home."