Chapter 1

I was reborn one week before the college entrance examination. I immediately checked out of the dormitory and headed for a tourist destination thousands of miles away.

In my previous life, I had already secured direct admission to a prestigious university, so I should have been resting at home.

Then my roommate, Lin Miaomiao, called. She said she had left her exam admission ticket in the dorm and begged me to bring it to her.

I kindly went to retrieve it for her. But I got caught in a terrible traffic jam and arrived half an hour late, causing her to miss the Chinese exam.

Lin Miaomiao had a breakdown and blamed everything on me.

I was about to argue back when her mother pointed at me and yelled:

“Chen Yue, you’d already been admitted directly! Why would you even come back to school?”

“You must have been afraid my daughter would get into a better university than you, so you deliberately hid her admission ticket!”

“If you didn’t hide it, why else would you have gone to bring it to her?”

“I’m going to expose you online!”

After that, I was not only cyberbullied, but also run over and killed by a deranged netizen.

When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn one week before the college entrance examination.

1

I returned to the dorm and began packing all my belongings.

The dorm supervisor followed behind me with the school-leaving form in her hand.

“Chen Yue, are you sure you don’t want to stay a few more days? The college entrance exam is almost here.”

I shook my head. “No, thank you, Auntie. I’ve already been admitted directly, so there’s nothing for me to do here.”

I opened my wardrobe and stuffed my clothes into my suitcase one piece at a time.

Lin Miaomiao and her mother were both in the room.

Lin Miaomiao’s mother looked at me and said, “Well, if it isn’t our great genius Chen Yue! You were admitted directly and now you’re in such a hurry to go home?”

I said nothing and continued clearing off my desk.

She went on, “Of course. Someone as lucky as you is different from my Miaomiao. My Miaomiao will get into Tsinghua or Peking University through her own ability, naturally she has to make every minute count.”

Lin Miaomiao was studying at her desk. Without even looking up, she said, “Mom, stop talking. You’re distracting me.”

Her mother immediately changed her tone. “All right, all right, I won’t disturb you. Just focus on your revision, dear. These last few days are the most important.”

I placed the last book in my suitcase and zipped it shut with a click.

Lin Miaomiao jerked her head up. “Chen Yue, could you be a little quieter? Can’t you see I’m studying? The dorm’s feng shui was excellent, and now you’ve made such a racket that you’ve disrupted all my good fortune.”

I looked at her without replying.

Her mother jumped to her feet and pointed at me. “You heard her, didn’t you? My daughter is about to take the college entrance exam. This is a major event that will determine her whole life. You already have a university waiting for you, so stop getting in her way and ruining Miaomiao’s good fortune.”

I stood my suitcase upright and said to the dorm supervisor, “Auntie, I’ve finished packing. Could you check the room? I’m ready to complete the checkout procedures.”

The dorm supervisor nodded. “All right. No problem.”

Lin Miaomiao’s mother gave a cold snort. “Who are you putting on an act for? Hurry up and get out. Stop hogging my daughter’s good fortune.”

2

Lin Miaomiao’s mother blocked my way.

“Wait.”

I stopped and looked at her.

“I need to check your suitcase.”

The dorm supervisor beside us spoke up. “Mrs. Lin, what are you doing? Chen Yue’s things all belong to her.”

Lin Miaomiao’s mother ignored the supervisor and stared at my suitcase. “Who knows whether your hands are clean? My Miaomiao is about to take the college entrance exam. Is there anything on that desk or those study materials by her bed that isn’t important? If you took something and affected her state of mind before the exam, could you take responsibility?”

I was not angry. Instead, I laughed.

I took out my phone and turned to the dorm supervisor. “Auntie, you heard her. This parent is accusing me of stealing.”

Then I called my homeroom teacher.

“Teacher Wang? This is Chen Yue. I’m completing the checkout process in Dorm Room 302. Lin Miaomiao’s mother suspects I took her belongings and is demanding to search my luggage. To prove I’m innocent, I’d like you to come here right away and witness it.”

After hanging up, I looked at Lin Miaomiao’s mother. Her expression had changed slightly.

“Why are you calling a teacher? Feeling guilty? So what if I check?”

I turned on my phone’s video camera. The red recording dot began to blink.

“Mrs. Lin, I’m recording now. This isn’t meant to target you; it’s to clarify what happened and protect myself.”

Lin Miaomiao finally looked up from her books. “Mom, what are you doing? Could you stop making a scene?”

“What scene? I’m doing this for your own good! You can never be too careful!” Lin Miaomiao’s mother raised her voice.

Before long, our homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, hurried to the dorm.

“What’s going on? Chen Yue, Mrs. Lin, the college entrance exam is almost here. Why are you arguing?”

I pointed my phone at everyone and said, “Mr. Wang, you arrived just in time. Lin Miaomiao’s mother suspects I stole from her and is demanding to search my luggage. I agree to the search, but I want you and the dorm supervisor to witness it, and I’ll record the whole process.”

Mr. Wang frowned and looked at Lin Miaomiao’s mother. “Is that true?”

She stiffened her neck. “I just want to take a look, to be safe. She’s already been admitted directly—who knows what she’s thinking?”

Mr. Wang sighed. “All right, Chen Yue. Since you’ve agreed, open them up. Let’s get this over with quickly, so it doesn’t interfere with Lin Miaomiao’s studying.”

I nodded, set my two large suitcases flat on the floor, and unzipped them.

“Mr. Wang, Auntie, Mrs. Lin, you can check them now. These are my clothes, these are my books, and these are my personal belongings.”

I took out each item and laid them on the floor.

Lin Miaomiao’s mother actually rushed in to search everything herself. She picked up a pen. “This pen…”

The dorm supervisor immediately said, “That’s the exam pen issued by the school. Every senior has a box of them.”

She picked up a notebook next. “And this notebook…”

“That’s my error log. I bought it myself, and my name is on it.”

She flipped it open. Sure enough, the cover bore the name Chen Yue.

Unwilling to give up, she rummaged through everything I owned, even checking the small pocket in my makeup bag.

In the end, she found nothing.

I turned the empty suitcase upside down and shook it.

“Have you finished checking? My bed and wardrobe are empty, too, and I already took the trash downstairs. Is there anywhere else you’d like to search?”

Mr. Wang’s face had turned very grim.

“Enough. The facts prove Chen Yue didn’t take anything that wasn’t hers. Mrs. Lin, you accused a student without cause. Please apologize to her.”

Lin Miaomiao’s mother curled her lip. “What should I apologize for? I checked because I care about my daughter. She didn’t take anything, so why make such a big deal out of it?”

I didn’t bother responding. I stopped recording, then, right in front of all of them, opened our class group chat and posted the complete video.

I added a message:

“Dear classmates, I officially completed the school-leaving process today. Before I left, at the request of Lin Miaomiao’s mother and under the supervision of Mr. Wang and the dorm supervisor, all of my personal belongings were unpacked and searched. The video proves that I did not take anything from the dormitory that did not belong to me. I wish everyone a smooth college entrance examination.”

After sending it, I pulled my suitcases along, nodded to Mr. Wang and the dorm supervisor, and said, “Thank you both for your trouble.”

Then I left the dorm without looking back.

3

I pulled my suitcase straight to the high-speed rail station.

I bought a ticket to a coastal city in the south.

As the train sped along, the scenery slipping past the window, I felt more at peace than I ever had before.

The oppressive atmosphere at school and the faces of Lin Miaomiao and her mother were all falling away from me.

A few hours later, I reached my destination.

I had booked a hotel overlooking the sea and checked into a suite on the top floor.

When I opened the door, the vast blue ocean stretched beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows.

I set my suitcase aside and walked to the window.

Once I had settled in, I took out my phone and snapped a photo of the sea.

Then I opened my Moments and wrote a post:

“School’s behind me. An early graduation trip for a student admitted directly to university.”

I attached the picture of the deep blue ocean.

After posting it, I tossed my phone onto the bed and took a long, hot shower.

By the time I came out in my bathrobe, there were dozens of notifications on my phone.

I opened them. My classmates had filled the post with likes and comments.

“Top student gets an early vacation. I’m so jealous!”

“Chen Yue, have fun!”

“Wow, that sea view is gorgeous. Where is it?”

I smiled and replied to them one by one.

As I scrolled down, I spotted a comment from Lin Miaomiao.

“Once I get the highest score, I’ll go to the Maldives.”

I looked at it and smiled without a care.

Where she wanted to go had nothing to do with me.

I put down my phone and was about to head to the hotel restaurant for something to eat when it rang.

“Hello. Is this Chen Yue?”

“Yes, this is she. May I ask who’s calling?”

“I’m Li Zhenhua from the Department of Physics at XX University.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Academician Li Zhenhua.

He was a leading figure in the country’s quantum physics field and the head of the program I had been admitted to directly.

“Hello, Academician Li! May I ask why you’re calling?” My voice was a little excited.

Academician Li chuckled. “Chen Yue, don’t be nervous. I’ve reviewed your direct-admission application, as well as your previous Physics Olympiad essay.”

He paused, then continued, “It was excellent. You have some very original ideas.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“I’m calling to ask you something. What do you plan to do in the future?”

I was momentarily stunned, thinking about how to answer.

“For now, I plan to build a strong foundation during my undergraduate years, then continue my studies.”

“Very good.” Professor Li sounded pleased. “I’m leading a key national research group. We’re currently tackling a technical challenge.”

My breathing quickened.

“We need young people with fresh ways of thinking. I’ve read your essay, and some of your ideas could give us useful leads.”