Rebirth Begins with Rejecting My Childhood Friend

Xiao Youran snorted coldly, "Troublemaker, leave now. I don't want to see you."

Shen Minyao didn't dare talk back, completely losing her usual composure.

Su Yanyan, however, couldn't stand it and decided to defend Shen Minyao. "It's not like Sister Minyao intentionally caused Big Bro to get hurt. What gives you the right to call her a troublemaker? Even Sister Weiwei hasn't blamed her, so who are you to blame her?"

Su Yanyan's underlying message was clear:

Xu Xiuwen hadn't blamed Shen Minyao, and Tang Weiwei, his girlfriend, hadn't either. So how could Xiao Youran, of all people, have the right to criticize Shen Minyao and call her names?

Xu Xiuwen immediately sensed trouble and groaned inwardly. But it seemed like Xiao Youran didn't pick up on Su Yanyan's insinuation.

She coldly glanced at Su Yanyan and Shen Minyao and said, "Oh, you won't leave? Fine. I'll call Aunt Ning right now and see if you leave then."

"Aunt Ning?"

Who was that?

No one knew who this person was.

Cheng Lu and An Shishi, however, instantly understood.

Before the New Year, Xu Xiuwen had mentioned wanting to introduce Cheng Lu to his mother. At the time, they had just started dating, and Cheng Lu, being shy, felt too embarrassed to visit his family. She missed the chance to meet Xu Xiuwen's mother, Ning Wanqiu, and had regretted it ever since. Xu Xiuwen had reassured her that there would be more opportunities in the future.

An Shishi also knew about Xiao Youran and Xu Xiuwen's childhood friendship. Their parents were not only acquainted but very close. She had always envied Xiao Youran for growing up alongside Xu Xiuwen.

After all, what girl doesn't dream of being acknowledged by her boyfriend's parents?

Unfortunately, An Shishi knew she was the third wheel and had no right to show her face. This had always been a sore spot for her, making her envy Xiao Youran even more.

Now, hearing Xiao Youran casually say she'd call Xu Xiuwen's mother, a pang of jealousy hit her.

Being able to call at any time—even to tattle—was clear proof of how close Xiao Youran and Xu Xiuwen were.

Xu Xiuwen sighed, "Youran, don't. My mom absolutely cannot know about my injury. I don't want her to worry about me."

Hearing this, Tang Weiwei and the other two girls, along with Xu Xiuwen's roommates, immediately realized that the "Aunt Ning" Xiao Youran mentioned was actually Xu Xiuwen's mother.

Shen Minyao froze in panic.

If Xu Xiuwen's mother found out that she was the reason her son got injured, wouldn't she hate her?

The thought of being disliked by Xu Xiuwen's mother before even meeting her made Shen Minyao feel incredibly dejected.

Su Yanyan was stunned, while Tang Weiwei felt a surge of envy.

Like Cheng Lu and An Shishi, she envied how Xiao Youran could casually interact with Xu Xiuwen's mother.

Xu Xiuwen's roommates, meanwhile, could barely contain their laughter.

Xiao Youran was widely admired as the campus queen, known for her goddess-like demeanor. Who would've thought she'd resort to tattling like a child?

It was almost too funny for the five of them to handle.

Xiao Youran, however, ignored what others thought.

Pouting, she turned to Xu Xiuwen and said, "But she's the reason you got hurt, and yet she still has the audacity to show up in front of you."

Xu Xiuwen noticed the mix of shame, regret, and guilt on Shen Minyao's face after Xiao Youran's words.

"Alright, Youran, it was an accident. No one intentionally hurt me. If you keep talking like this, I'm going to get mad."

Xu Xiuwen's tone grew stern.

Seeing his expression, Xiao Youran hesitated, a flicker of regret crossing her face.

But she couldn't hold back and retorted, "You're always so generous with others, but you're so harsh with me. Always scolding me at the slightest thing. I hate you!"

Xiao Youran let out a cold snort and turned her head to look elsewhere.

In her heart, she hoped Xu Xiuwen would coax her. If there weren't other people around, Xu Xiuwen would surely have done so right away.

But under the current circumstances, he could only pretend not to notice.

After sulking for a while, Xiao Youran realized that Xu Xiuwen wasn't going to comfort her. She felt a little awkward, mixed with some regret.

Seeing this, the corners of Cheng Lu's mouth subtly curved upward, while An Shishi couldn't help but laugh outright.

Xu Xiuwen couldn't really ignore Xiao Youran completely. After all, she was genuinely concerned about him.

"Youran…" Xu Xiuwen called softly.

"What?" Xiao Youran's heart leapt with joy, but she pretended to be calm as she responded.

"Don't be mad, okay?"

"Oh." Xiao Youran replied with a curt oh, but her expression still carried a hint of annoyance.

Left with no choice, Xu Xiuwen said, "I feel like eating an orange. Could you peel one for me? My hands are hurt."

As soon as Xiao Youran heard that Xu Xiuwen wanted to eat an orange, her anger disappeared. She hurried to his bedside, picked up an orange from the nightstand, and began peeling it.

Watching her actions, Xu Xiuwen breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't mad anymore.

When he turned his head, his gaze met Cheng Lu's, who was looking at him with a knowing smile. Feeling awkward, he gave her a sheepish grin. Cheng Lu rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Xiao Xu, have an orange…"

Xiao Youran quickly peeled the orange, broke off a segment, and held it up to Xu Xiuwen's lips.

At that moment, Xu Xiuwen noticed that everyone in the room was now staring at him. His heart tightened.

"Xiao Xu, open your mouth. Why are you acting like a little kid? So silly," Xiao Youran teased.

Left with no choice, Xu Xiuwen awkwardly opened his mouth and ate the orange.

An Shishi grinned and asked, "Master, is the orange sweet?"

"Sweet!" Xu Xiuwen quickly replied. He knew that if he said it wasn't sweet, Xiao Youran would probably be upset.

Even though the sweetness of the orange had nothing to do with her peeling it, Xiao Youran firmly believed that any orange she peeled would be sweet.

An Shishi chuckled mischievously. "Really? I thought it would be sour. So sour, but it's not the orange—what's that sourness? Lulu, did you catch it?"

Her words were clearly a veiled jab.

Xu Xiuwen turned to look at Cheng Lu, whose expression had turned cold.

He instantly understood—Cheng Lu might be jealous.

Xu Xiuwen felt his headache intensify.

But just when things couldn't seem to get worse, someone decided to stir the pot even more.

Knock knock knock!

The sound of someone knocking on the door echoed through the room.

"Excuse me, is Xu Xiuwen here?"

It was a woman's voice.

In an instant, all eyes turned to Xu Xiuwen.

His roommates couldn't hold back their thoughts: Just how many beautiful girls does Xu Xiuwen know?

Setting everything else aside, just looking at the girls currently in the room, apart from Su Yanyan, who was slightly less striking, the rest were all campus-goddess-level beauties.

Among them, Tang Weiwei, Cheng Lu, and Xiao Youran were the cream of the crop—stunningly beautiful, practically flawless.

If it weren't for riding on Xu Xiuwen's coattails, they would never have had the chance to see so many beauties gathered in one place in their lifetime.

Especially Yang Baishan—his eyes were practically glowing with envy.

Xu Xiuwen didn't pay attention to whose voice it was just now.

But even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to tell.

The voice had sounded muffled, like the speaker was wearing a mask.

He didn't care, though. After all, when you've got too many lice, you stop feeling the itch.

He simply shouted, "Here!"

The next moment, the door to the hospital room opened.

Song Siyu walked in from outside.

She was indeed wearing a mask, which explained why her voice had sounded muffled and unrecognizable earlier.

Wang Juncai hadn't seen Song Siyu for a while and was very surprised. "Siyu, what are you doing here?"

As she entered, Song Siyu was startled by the number of people in the room.

Before she could even make out who was there, she heard a familiar voice.

Turning her head, she saw Wang Juncai.

The moment she saw him, her heart skipped a beat.

Trying her best to appear calm, Song Siyu softly explained, "I heard Xu Xiuwen was hospitalized and came to check on him."

It was the simplest and most logical explanation.

Wang Juncai didn't think much of it and nodded.

It was then that Song Siyu noticed her three roommates were all present as well.

A wave of resignation swept over her.

She had guessed they might all come, but seeing it confirmed still left her a bit speechless.

Cheng Lu and Xiao Youran were understandable, but An Shishi?

She really was baffling. Wherever Xu Xiuwen was, An Shishi seemed to follow, without any concern for appearances.

Xu Xiuwen was also somewhat surprised to see Song Siyu visiting him.

He chuckled. "Heh… Siyu, I didn't expect you to come to the hospital to see me. I thought you wouldn't bother. Thanks for your concern."

Song Siyu scoffed coldly. "Concern? Who's concerned about you? I just came to see if a scumbag like you was dead yet."

"Heh… Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not dead just yet."

"Well, if you're fine, then I'll leave now," Song Siyu said, clearly uncomfortable staying any longer.

Especially with Wang Juncai there.

Even though she'd brushed it off with a simple explanation earlier, the thought of coming to see another guy behind her boyfriend's back left her feeling a pang of guilt toward Wang Juncai.

Xiao Youran quickly stopped Song Siyu. "Siyu, don't go! Stay and keep me company, please?"

Song Siyu hesitated, not entirely set on leaving.

Now that Xiao Youran was urging her to stay, it gave her an easy out.

She stayed without pressing further about leaving.

With that, the small hospital room was now filled with six campus beauties from the dormitories of the two universities, Jiaotong and Jiangling.

The only one missing was Bai Yue'er, who couldn't come because she was attending an event.

Had she been on campus, she would've surely shown up as well.

After all, Xu Xiuwen had good relationships with the girls from both dorms.

Previously, some malicious students had spread rumors that he was trying to maintain a harem, aiming to win over all the girls from the two dormitories.

Xu Xiuwen could only roll his eyes at that.

Who could possibly pull off something like that? Certainly not him.

With just three girlfriends now, he was already struggling to keep things under control, terrified someone might slip up and expose everything.

If all eight of them were his girlfriends, peace would be utterly impossible.

He'd crash and burn in seconds, leaving nothing but a wreck behind.

Even now...

Xiao Youran and the three girls from Room 601 had already started to clash.

Cheng Lu had just argued with Shen Minyao earlier.

While Room 601 had decent internal harmony, Room 301 was clearly split into two factions.

Cheng Lu led the "Destined Encounter" faction, while Xiao Youran headed the "Childhood Friend" faction.

In the "Destined Encounter" faction, there was also An Shishi, a crafty little green tea girl.

So the idea of the two dorms' girls peacefully coexisting? Utter nonsense.

Xu Xiuwen wasn't so greedy as to aim for a clean sweep anyway.

If he really tried, the boys from both schools would probably band together and take him down.

Of course, there was also the matter of principle. Xu Xiuwen still considered himself to be a relatively decent person.

At least, he wouldn't go after his brothers' girlfriends.

Unless…

No, there were no exceptions.

Back to the matter at hand.

With Song Siyu's arrival, the tense atmosphere in the room eased a little.

Things had almost spiraled out of control earlier, but now, with the presence of another "outsider," everyone kept quiet.

The room fell into silence.

Taking advantage of the lull, Xu Xiuwen decided it was best to send the girls away before things got worse.

He figured Tang Weiwei was the most obedient, so he tried persuading her first. "Weiwei, there are too many people here. Why don't you and your roommates head back for now?"

True to her nature, Tang Weiwei didn't disappoint.

She nodded and prepared to leave as he suggested.

But Shen Minyao grabbed her arm.

"Weiwei, don't you want to know how many other girls Xu Xiuwen knows? Why are you in such a hurry to leave? It's the weekend tomorrow—no classes," Shen Minyao said, throwing a glare at Xu Xiuwen.

Her look seemed to say: You scumbag! Dirty scumbag! Why aren't you a scumbag to me instead?

Wait, no—that's not right. What she meant was, Why act like such a scumbag? Shen Minyao chastised herself for glaring at him with such thoughts.

Xu Xiuwen could understand her reaction.

After all, she already knew about his cheating.

What surprised him, though, was why she hadn't told Tang Weiwei about it yet.

There wasn't time to dwell on that now.

Seeing that Tang Weiwei's path was blocked by Shen Minyao, Xu Xiuwen immediately turned to Xiao Youran.

"Youran, how about you head back first?"

Xiao Youran immediately asked, "Cheng Lu, are you leaving?"

Cheng Lu lightly shook her head. "I'm staying to take care of him."

"Then I'm staying too! I'm not leaving," Xiao Youran declared.

"Don't be ridiculous. Be good—I don't need so many people taking care of me."

"I don't care, I'm not listening," Xiao Youran said, shaking her head.

"Unless Cheng Lu goes back too, why should I be the only one to leave? I'm worried about you too! I can take care of you! If you try to kick me out, I'll call Aunt Ning right now and see if she lets me leave."

Xiao Youran pulled out Ning Wanqiu as her trump card.

Xu Xiuwen had no choice but to give up.

He then turned his attention to An Shishi.

Even though her presence didn't necessarily increase the risk of exposure, fewer people meant fewer problems.

"Shishi, how about you head back?" he asked.

An Shishi also shook her head. "I don't want to."

"And why don't you want to leave?"

An Shishi chuckled. "I want to see just how many other girls you know. Who knows? Maybe another beauty will show up soon."

No sooner had she said that than the knock on the room's private door sounded again.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

"Excuse me, is Xu Xiuwen in this room?"

It was a woman's voice.

Everyone immediately turned to look at Xu Xiuwen, curious about his reaction.

Xu Xiuwen froze.

He genuinely hadn't expected anyone else to show up.

His bitter smile deepened.

Had he somehow stirred up a hornet's nest of women?

Why were so many of them suddenly popping out of the woodwork?

Normally, he didn't even feel like he knew that many girls!

As for who it might be, he couldn't tell.

The voice was familiar but muffled, like the speaker was wearing a mask, just like Song Siyu earlier.

"I'm in here!" Xu Xiuwen called out toward the door.