"Twenty-nine! Twenty-nine! I was only twenty-nine in my last life, okay?"
"No wait! I'm a bona fide twenty-year-old now! A youthful, beautiful, and unbeatable young girl!"
"So don't call me Auntie! We're the same age!"
Jian Sichun grabbed Shi Hai by the collar, shaking him back and forth, emphasizing her age rapidly.
Shi Hai realized he had hit a nerve and immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"Got it, got it, I was just joking..."
"This joke isn't funny at all!"
In fact, Jian Sichun never used to care about her age and could even casually mention it.
Sometimes, she even felt a bit happy when people complimented her for looking much younger than her age.
But now, being treated as a woman nine years older by Shi Hai was completely unacceptable to her.
"Alright, my bad..."
Indeed, girls are sensitive about their age.
Shi Hai made a mental note of this and quickly tried to divert Jian Sichun's attention.
"Anyway, I've asked all the questions I wanted to ask."
Jian Sichun, being simple-minded, immediately released Shi Hai's collar and asked.
"Really? You're done asking?"
She had thought Shi Hai would ask her a lot of questions.
But he only asked a few things, and she hadn't even answered properly.
"Aren't you curious about what happens in the future?"
"Don't you have things you don't want to tell me? So I decided not to ask anything at all."
"Aren't you curious?"
"Curious, yes, but I hate spoilers even more."
"Ah..."
This was indeed very much like Shi Hai.
Jian Sichun remembered that when they used to go to movies together, he would never watch any trailers or read reviews in advance.
No matter how difficult the game was, he wouldn't look up guides and preferred to explore everything himself.
"As expected... you are you."
Shi Hai shrugged and continued.
"That's why I said there's no need for you to tell me what happens in the future. If anything, I'm more interested in whether the future will change because of your reincarnation."
"Because of me?"
"Yes, have you seen the movie The Butterfly Effect... or maybe it's better to use an anime example? Steins;Gate, you must have seen it, right?"
"—!"
Jian Sichun's eyes slowly widened.
Of course, she had seen Steins;Gate. She had even played the original game and was familiar with the plot.
And the most heart-wrenching part of the story was the unavoidable 'death of the heroine.'
Would the same thing happen to Shi Hai?
"If the future changes, to what extent will it change? If it doesn't change, will certain events be forcibly reenacted..."
Shi Hai raised two index fingers, touching the tips together.
"Or, is it somewhere in between?"
These were all unsolved mysteries.
"Actually, if you think about it, the future should have already changed."
Jian Sichun tilted her head in question.
"The future... has already changed?"
"Yeah, in your memory, our first meeting wasn't like this, right?"
"Ah... yes, it wasn't..."
"Isn't this already a change? Although examples like this are not enough to draw complete conclusions."
"What conclusion do you want to reach?"
"I want to know if 'fate' as a 'rule' truly exists."
"Fate..."
Besides that, Shi Hai had other concerns.
The most crucial one was that letter.
It was clearly sent by someone who 'knew something.'
That person might have even anticipated Shi Hai's actions, which is why both Jian Sichun and Tian Shui saw the contents of the letter.
And Tian Shui was another source of curiosity for Shi Hai.
Was she also a reincarnator like Jian Sichun?
After all, she seemed to know quite a bit about him as well...
With more mysteries and few clues, Shi Hai temporarily set aside his questions.
He woke up the daydreaming Jian Sichun and said,
"But these are not things you need to worry about."
"Huh? Why?"
"As I said earlier, these aren't the main points for you. You're the protagonist of a reincarnation novel now, so just enjoy this rare second chance at life."
As a reincarnator, not only did she quickly expose her secret, but she also created a new embarrassing incident of wetting herself and then ran to the bathroom to hand-wash the carpet.
How should he put it... she was a bit pitiful.
Shi Hai felt it was necessary to remind this naive girl.
"Although it's only been nine years, a lot should have changed in these nine years."
"Even if you don't remember the lottery numbers or stock rises, as long as you remember some important events, you should be able to ride the wave of the times and achieve financial freedom quickly."
"With money, you can do many things, whether it's making up for regrets, enjoying your youth, or achieving great things..."
Starting a reverse harem, becoming a powerful female protagonist...
Living a carefree life is what makes a reincarnator's story 'enjoyable.'
Jian Sichun seemed to take Shi Hai's advice to heart.
After some deep thought, she looked up and asked,
"Then... can I stay here?"
Cough, cough, cough!
Why!
Is this what you want to do?! What's so good about my place? Why are you so persistent! Shi Hai rolled his eyes and mentally ranted.
He scratched his head in confusion and decided to ask the question.
"Alright... although I said I wouldn't ask you about the future, there's still one thing I want to confirm..."
Shi Hai pointed at Jian Sichun, then at himself, and asked,
"What is our relationship?"
"Um..."
Jian Sichun hesitated.
She couldn't reveal that she was his girlfriend.
Besides, she didn't know how Shi Hai would react if she admitted it.
As Shi Hai mentioned, their encounter had already undergone a significant change.
The trajectory after reincarnation was different from before.
Shi Hai pressed further.
"Are we in a romantic relationship?"
"Uh, are we...?"
Seeing her ambiguous attitude, Shi Hai understood.
"It seems this is a difficult thing for you to say."
"No..."
Jian Sichun felt she couldn't stay silent here.
This question would determine whether she would be 'ordinary friends' or 'close friends' with Shi Hai in the future.
Given her overly intimate behavior, there weren't many plausible identity options.
This time, Jian Sichun didn't panic.
After calmly considering all the reasonable options, she chose the most suitable one.
"Actually... you are my best guy friend."
<+>
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