The girl's long, curled eyelashes fluttered, and a pair of bright eyes slowly opened.
Her gaze was hollow and desperate, devoid of any words, as two trails of clear tears slowly slipped down her fair cheeks.
Last night should have been just the most ordinary trip home, but she never expected that as she passed a stretch of roadside, someone had slipped her a knockout drug.
When her consciousness cleared, she realized everything was already too late.
She wanted to end it all with suicide, but at the same time, she still wanted to take one last look at her mom and dad...
Seeing that desperate look in her eyes, Li Chen panicked.
"Hey, don't do anything foolish!"
"My name is Li Chen, and I live at Building No. 7, Jiefang Street. I'll take responsibility."
A slight tremor rippled through the girl's hollow gaze, a glimmer of light flashing within. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she turned her head to look at Li Chen.
She noticed his neck was covered in hickeys and scratch marks.
"Li Chen?"
"Right! It's me!"
Li Chen nodded very earnestly.
The girl's emotions unexpectedly grew calm. After a moment of silence, she slowly began to put her clothes back on.
Throughout the process, Li Chen watched quietly, not saying another single word.
Her complexion was pale and unsightly, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
You could tell she was bitterly enduring the physical discomfort and pain.
Before long, she had finished dressing.
Li Chen inadvertently caught a glimpse of a splash of bright red on the white bedsheet, and his mind drifted off in a daze.
He had just been reborn, and he had already shed his virgin status!
Was this an exclusive perk for people who get reborn?
"Let me walk you back first?"
Li Chen looked at the dressed girl and asked tentatively.
The girl gave a light nod without speaking.
Just as the two of them opened the door and stepped out of the room, three officers in uniform walked over.
"You guys live in this room?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
Hearing the inquiry, Li Chen answered truthfully.
The lead officer's brow furrowed tightly—why did this situation look a little different than expected?
"We need you to assist with an investigation. Come with us."
"Sure, no problem."
Li Chen remained calm on the surface, but his heart grew heavy. His earlier guess had just been confirmed.
However, the bright, sparkling eyes of the girl beside him looked somewhat panicked and flustered.
...
"Name!"
"Li Chen."
"Age!"
"Just turned eighteen."
"Where do you work?"
"I don't work, I'm a student at Shucheng No. 7 High School, Class 2, Grade 12."
In the interrogation room, the young officer paused for a moment. Hearing that he was a high school senior, the expression on his face softened a bit.
"Tell us, what is your relationship with that girl?"
"We're boyfriend and girlfriend! And we're both adults." Li Chen spouted nonsense with a straight face.
"Whether you're boyfriend and girlfriend isn't something you just get to decide," another female officer spoke up, looking at Li Chen suspiciously. "Besides, if it really is like you say, why would someone make a report?"
"......"
Li Chen opened his mouth, feeling the helpless frustration of someone biting into a bitter herb, unable to voice his grievances.
He knew 100 percent that he had been framed, but who would believe such an absurd story if he told it?
"Confess honestly. Refusing to admit your mistake like this is completely pointless. If the girl says you aren't boyfriend and girlfriend, the consequences you'll face will be even more severe."
The young officer shook his head slightly at Li Chen's reaction, sighing a little.
It was common enough for teenagers to cross the line, but ending up at the station because someone reported them was truly rare.
"???"
Hearing this, Li Chen immediately panicked. Given the circumstances, that actually might happen.
The male protagonists in the web novels he read before either started out as powerful second-generation heirs or led incredible lives with all sorts of golden finger cheats.
How come when it came to him, he was getting a fast track to silver bracelets right at the start?
Just as he was about to open his mouth to keep arguing, a loud crash echoed as the door to the interrogation room was pushed open. A fifty-something officer walked in with a very stern expression.
"Captain Guo."
The young officer and the female officer immediately stood up and called out respectfully.
Li Chen's heart skipped a beat. Was her interrogation over already?
"No need to question him further," the officer said abruptly, looking at Li Chen.
"There's a result from over there?" The female officer looked puzzled.
Captain Guo nodded slightly and, looking at Li Chen, said, "The other party confirmed they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Moreover, the name, age, school, home address, and even Li Chen's parents' names provided by the girl had no errors."
The female officer was stunned. "So you're saying this report was malicious?"
"Get the paperwork done and let him out." Captain Guo didn't linger and turned to leave the interrogation room.
Li Chen didn't dare say another word the whole time, terrified that something else might change.
It wasn't until he walked out the front gates of the public security bureau that he let out a long breath of relief. The crisis of being locked up had finally been averted.
However, he was also deeply puzzled and depressed. It seemed he had only stated his name and home address, so how on earth did that girl know so much about his background?
Did she know him?
Li Chen shook his muddled head; since things had already happened, thinking about it more was useless.
The glaring sunlight made him squint slightly. He pulled his phone out of his pants pocket, but no matter how hard he pressed, the screen wouldn't respond.
"Damn it, this piece-of-crap phone goes on strike after just one night without charging..."
Li Chen sighed, looked up at the traffic light ahead, and watched a small truck draped with appliance promotion ads drive past. A harsh horn blared in his ears.
"Selis Appliance Mall Summer New Arrival Super Sale, all appliances at least 50% off, event runs from May 1 to May 30, 2012."
Li Chen smiled.
The current home appliance industry was fiercely contested among various factions, with established giants and rising stars fighting intensely.
The internet heavyweights—the two Mas, Lao Lei, and Byte's Lao Zhang—hadn't blown up yet.
He used to always hear that if you stood in the path of the winds of the era, even a pig could fly.
And right now, he was that pig about to take flight.
"Hahaha, they haven't blown up yet, but I'm going to!"
"Are you insane? What are you howling for in the middle of the street?"
"Stay away from him, this guy looks mentally unstable."
The excited smile on Li Chen's face froze instantly. He hadn't been able to help letting out a shout, and now the surrounding people were looking at him like he was a lunatic.
"Mom, the light is green already, why isn't that big brother moving?"
A pretty, doll-like little girl looked at Li Chen with curiosity in her eyes.
"Maybe he doesn't like this color." The woman picked up the little girl and walked quickly toward the other side of the crosswalk.
The slightly scorching weather made Li Chen's face flush a little. Crossing the crosswalk, he headed straight for the bus stop and boarded the bus home.
Jiefang Street.
This was an old neighborhood where the houses were all built in the eighties and nineties. Because of their age, a single glance made them look rather old and dilapidated.
After getting off the bus, Li Chen headed straight for the old building in his memories. The familiar sights stirred a sudden sense of nervous timidity and homesickness deep in his heart.
In his memory, his parents were already old and frail, having worn themselves out worrying about his future.
Now that heaven had given him a second chance, how was this not a form of redemption?