Chapter 1
The school bell rang, and the noisy corridor immediately fell silent.
In the restroom at the end of the hallway, Qiao Zhenzhen blankly stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink.
Her skin looked pale and translucent. Not only did she not feel lethargic from working overtime, but rather appeared to be in such a good condition that she looked so much more youthful. Most of all, that ghastly scar marred on the right side of her face had completely disappeared!
That scar was left when she was kidnapped after graduating from high school. It had been on her face for the last decade, but now there was no sign of it, as if it was never there to begin with.
Did she not get into a car accident at the gate of the company? Why did she suddenly appear in the restroom? Why was she wearing a high school uniform? And how did the scar turn in to smooth skin…? One after another, questions entered her mind, and she was suddenly struck with an unimaginable idea-
Could it be… that she was reborn?
As soon as the thought came to mind, there was an onslaught of memories. She was actually the heroine of a novel.
In the original plotline, she was supposed to live a happy and smooth sailing life, but Zhao Lianqiao, a transmigrator, step by step, took everything from her.
That year, Zhao Lianqiao had orchestrated the kidnapping incident. Originally she had wanted Qiao Zhenzhen to disappear entirely from this novel-world, but had not expected Chi Shen to make a sudden appearance. Seeing her life in danger, Chi Shen heroically tried to protect her, leaving the kidnappers no choice but to abduct them both. In the end, Chi Shen died during the kidnapping, but she still survived.
Chi Shen.
Thinking of his name, a pale and beautiful face appeared in Qiao Zhenzhen’s mind, making her heart throb.
Chi Shen would have been alive if it hadn’t been for her. She could remember the day when he was lying on her lap taking his last breaths, his translucent face woven with threads of deep red blood, his inky eyes reflecting her own pained expression. His eyes focused and stubborn, only holding her in them.
She had been looked at by these eyes for the past three years, but such a pity, that at that time she was a star holding the moon, disregarding the one who had cared for her, afraid of his rigid and mysterious personality. It wasn’t until that he had passed away that she realized truly how wrong she was.
Now that she had regressed back to the senior year of her high school, was Chi Shen… still alive?
Qiao Zhenzhen’s eyes sparkled, just as she was about to impatiently run out, a girls’ weak voice came from one of the stalls, “Is anyone out there?”
Qiao Zhenzhen paused, and realized that she wasn’t the only one in the school restroom.
“I am,” she replied.
The girl immediately replied with excitement, “That… do you have any extra tissue?”
Upon hearing the words, Qiao Zhenzhen quickly looked around and after finding the tissue she passed it to the girl from the bottom opening of the stall, “Here you go.”
“Thank you!” the girl gratefully replied.
“No problem.”
After Qiao Zhenzhen finished talking, she left the toilet area, and an unexpected sound shook her.
Ding—
[Favorability value +0.01, Balance: 0.01]
‘What?’
Qiao Zhen Zhen looked around blankly, but she was alone in the huge hallway?
“These are the favorability points. A certain amount of favorability points can be collected, which can conveniently pause time! For example, upon the first use, 10 favorability points can be exchanged to stop time in the novel-world for 30 seconds, and 20 favorability points can pause for up to one whole minute! During the halt in time, only the host is permissible to move around, and can do anything as long as it is not against the law. Such as changing the fate of the host of being messed around by the transmigrated second female lead.”
Qiao Zhen Zhen was stunned after hearing the robotic voice.
“After pausing the time,” the electronic voice continued, “The host can avoid being splashed with dirty waters, blocked, and being slapped…”
“…Why would I need this ability?” Qiao Zhen Zhen was still pretty shocked, but was left speechless after what the voice said.
“Why wouldn’t you?” the robotic voice hummed, but introduced other benefits, “Of course if the host does not wish to use the time suspension ability, you may also utilize the favorability points to win lottery prizes, or prolong life. However, they do have more restrictions, and some functions can only be used once in a lifetime-”
“Extend life?” Qiao Zhenzhen suddenly interrupted it.
Seeing her interest pique, the robotic voice immediately became livelier, “Yes, like Chi Shen, even if you were to avoid the kidnapping, his life expectancy is still only up till the age of twenty, as in the original text. However, if you gather enough points and trade them, you could make Chi Shen live much longer!”
“I have to collect favorability points?” Qiao Zhenzhen frowned.
“Yes! Favourability points as the name suggests, is the favour of others. There are no restrictions on the methods of collection, as long as you make people favour you. For example, just now you handed someone tissue, and hence earned 0.01 favourability points from that girl.”
“How can I use them to increase lifetime?” This was definitely a question she was most concerned about.
“Every ten points can be exchanged for a months’ time extension of ones’ living years.”
“…So I have to pass tissue to someone over a thousand times for an extra month?” Qiao Zhenzhen could not help but laugh at the idea of doing all that. She probably would forget to take tissue a thousand times with her to the toilet!
The robotic voice also spoke with hesitation, “Uhm… gratitude is lesser and weaker in modern times, 0.01 is not all that bad to have.”
Qiao Zhenzhen: “…”
Apparently, 0.01 favourability points was considered a lot…
“Is there anything the host does not understand?” the robotic voice asked.
Qiao Zhenzhen shook her head. “That’s good, my name Xiaoba. In order to prevent the host from looking like a psycho, you may call me in your mind without having to verbally speak.” The robotic voice, Xiaoba, said.
“Okay”
As soon as she gave the affirmative reply, her mind fell silent once again. She sorted out her thought, took a depth, and calmly stepped towards the classroom.
It was still class time, and the corridor was empty. She ran to the corridor to not waste any more time. Looking at the shut doors, she nervously swallowed and reached out to push it with her trembling hands.
Time thickened as the door was pushed open, she forgot to breathe, her racy heart felt like it had stopped, and it was only until the thud from the collision of the door with the wall that the world seemed to get back to its original pace.
The classroom was strangely empty.
She was stunned for a moment, looked up at the digital clock hanging on the rear wall of the classroom, and determined the current time.
September 11, in her senior year of high school. She had one month left until the celebration of her eighteenth birthday.
In another nine months, the kidnapping incident that had changed Chi Shens’ life would happen. After the abduction, Chi Shen had died, her parents divorced, and she had followed her mother to leave her home. The Zhao mother and daughter duo had moved into her old home and had started a family with her father, Qiao Jian, as wife and daughter.
But now, Chi Shen is still alive, Qiao Jian and her mother have not been separated, Zhao Lian Qiaos’ mother is only Qiao Jians’ mistress, and Zhao Lianqiao is still only the daughter of a mistress who cannot be presented publically. She can only secretly throw dirty water on Qiao Zhenzhen, alienate her from everyone to make her isolated.
This time however, she will not let that tragedy happen again. She will protect her mother and Chi Shen no matter what.
Qiao Zhenzhens’ heartbeat became rapid, the corners of her eyes warmed, after a long time of trying to control her emotions, she turned her head and went to the blackboard to check the class schedule.
Today was Friday, according to the timetable, this was the second last class in the afternoon. Qiao Zhenzhens’ eyes followed the timetable, when she saw that it was a Physical Education class, she frowned.
Chi Shen had always been withdrawn and eccentric, and had always followed her like a ghost. She used to be afraid of him, so she purposely hid everywhere and worked hard to not even hear his name, which is why she didn’t know much about his current situation. Several years after his passing, she heard from her classmates that Chi Shen had been incessantly bullied and isolated by Zhao Lianqiao, especially during the weekly PE classes.
‘…So where are you now? Are you in any trouble?’