Chapter 904: The Wish Slip from Back Then

In Room 402's kitchen, the aroma of food spread through the air, steam rising under the winter sun streaming through the window, creating a warm atmosphere.

Li Luo was stir-frying, while Ying Chanxi stood beside him helping out; the two worked together seamlessly, and at a glance, one might think they were a newlywed couple.

Ying Chanxi was lost in this atmosphere, her smile never fading, her lips always slightly upturned, her joy seeming to manifest as a cat's tail, twitching gently.

When Li Luo began preparing the last dish, Ying Chanxi had nothing left to do, so she washed her hands first, took off her apron, went to the bedroom to fetch the camera, and stood at the kitchen doorway, snapping several photos of Li Luo's profile.

Li Luo noticed Ying Chanxi's movements, paused mid-stir-fry, turned toward the lens, and flashed a toothy grin: "Make sure you photograph me looking handsome—don't keep any that aren't."

"You've got such high standards," Ying Chanxi shot him a look, then seized the chance to snap a few more photos before muttering softly, "What's hard about that? You look handsome no matter how you're shot."

"What did you say?" Li Luo's stir-frying was loud; he hadn't heard her words, only noticed her lips moving, and asked curiously.

"N-nothing," Ying Chanxi shook her head, slightly guilty, then smiled faintly, set the camera aside, and walked behind Li Luo with her hands behind her back, bouncing lightly as she leaned forward to ask, "Is it ready yet?"

"Done." Li Luo scooped the tomato and scrambled eggs onto a plate, picked up a chopstick, lifted a hot piece of egg, blew on it to cool it, then held it to Ying Chanxi's lips: "Careful, it's hot—try it and see if it's good."

"Ah~"

Ying Chanxi opened her cherry-red lips, took the delicious egg into her mouth, savored it slowly, then gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good enough—that's all that matters. Come on." Li Luo reached out, stroked her head, gently caressed her soft long hair, then carried the plate toward the dining table in the living room.

After placing the tomato and scrambled eggs on the table, Li Luo turned to the other dishes.

Since it was just the two of them eating, there was no need for much—Li Luo had prepared three dishes and one soup, mostly things Ying Chanxi loved.

Besides the tomato and scrambled eggs, there were naturally cola chicken wings and minced pork with eggplant—both her absolute favorites.

He'd also boiled a pot of winter melon, corn, and pork rib soup, completing the three dishes and one soup.

Compared to going out for a lavish meal on her birthday, this meal was downright humble.

But Ying Chanxi was unusually delighted, eagerly pulling Li Luo to sit at the table, then picking up her chopsticks to taste.

"Is it good?"

"It's delicious."

"Your favorite—cola chicken wings."

"Mm-hmm."

"Have some soup, don't choke."

"Oh, okay."

Watching Ying Chanxi eat across from him, Li Luo couldn't help but chuckle affectionately: "You've been eating these dishes since you were a child—how can you still love them so much without getting tired of them?"

"They're delicious," Ying Chanxi replied with a radiant smile, "and besides, you made them—so they taste even better."

"Then when I come home tonight, I'll cook for you again," Li Luo said, propping his chin on his hand, "but I won't make these same dishes."

"Sure~" Ying Chanxi said eagerly, "anything you cook, I'll love."

After finishing the food-related chat, Li Luo began eating too.

Ying Chanxi chattered away about things that had happened recently.

"That night I came back from the countryside, I even argued with Dad," Ying Chanxi said. "He was so angry he insisted on taking me to the company every day and wouldn't let me come home."

"Really?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow. "You never told me about this—so you actually argued?"

Li Luo truly couldn't imagine what Ying Chanxi looked like when she argued.

Well, not quite—he remembered when he'd secretly written a novel and she found out; she'd gotten mad and sulked at him.

But that wasn't really an argument—just an outburst of emotion, followed by an apology.

He'd never actually seen her argue.

At most, she'd bickered a little with Yan Zhusheng.

"Oh, it's not worth talking about—it's just that neither of us could convince the other," Ying Chanxi shook her head, then added, "That's why I'm confused—why after you had dinner with Dad and then boxed with him, he acted like a completely different person?"

"What exactly did you say to him over dinner?"

"Why didn't anything I said to him work?"

"You really want to know?" Li Luo chuckled. "I think Uncle Ying wouldn't want you to know—I think we should just leave it."

"Tell me, tell me," Ying Chanxi stretched her foot under the table and nudged Li Luo's shin, then rubbed against his thigh. "I told you things I never told you before—you have to tell me something I don't know."

"That's not fair," Li Luo teased. "I didn't make you tell me anything."

"Tell me," Ying Chanxi pouted. "Or I'll get mad."

"Hmph." Li Luo looked at her adorable expression, reached out, and poked her puffed-up cheek. "Show me what you've got—haven't seen you mad in a long time."

"Go away," Ying Chanxi huffed. "Fine, don't tell me—stingy jerk."

After putting on their middle school uniforms, both seemed to have grown slightly more childish.

But after some thought, Li Luo said simply: "Nothing much—I just had a full-on boxing match with Uncle Ying, to show him my determination."

"Uncle Ying must've been moved by my attitude, which is why he finally agreed to our relationship."

"Besides, Aunt Yuan is pregnant—I think he's more focused on the baby now."

"True," Ying Chanxi sighed. "Is Dad thinking his main character's been ruined, so he's starting a new one?"

"That's not how to put it," Li Luo pinched her cheek reassuringly. "Better to say he finished his main character, handed him over to me, and now he's starting a new one."

"You say that like—" Ying Chanxi burst out laughing. "What do you mean 'handed him over to you'? I'm not some—"

"Right, you're not a thing."

"Go away!"

After laughing and bickering through their warm lunch, they carried the dishes and chopsticks into the kitchen together, washed and tidied them, then Li Luo took Ying Chanxi's small hand.

"Come on, grab your camera."

"Where are we going?" Ying Chanxi obediently picked up the camera, puzzled.

"You'll find out when we get there."

Li Luo led Ying Chanxi out the door, still wearing their middle school uniforms.

Originally, the two of them already looked young; now, dressed in junior high school uniforms, they didn't seem out of place at all.

Especially in this era, children eat better than ever, growing quickly; by junior high, they're practically little adults.

Many people take off their uniforms and wear casual clothes on the street, yet their exact ages are still hard to guess.

So when Li Luo and Ying Chanxi walked down the street in their uniforms, there was absolutely no sense of mismatch.

Occasionally, someone would recognize the Jincheng Middle School uniforms and glance at them with a puzzled expression.

After all, it was still school hours; these two kids in uniforms appearing on the street looked unmistakably like lovers sneaking out for a rendezvous.

Passersby would shake their heads and sigh, thinking: nowadays' kids—

But Li Luo and Ying Chanxi were still immersed in the joy of dressing up as junior high students, completely ignoring the stares around them.

After leaving through the gate of Jincheng Community, Li Luo led her along the road toward Jincheng Middle School.

Jincheng Middle School wasn't far from their home—just two blocks away.

Yet the two of them walked for a long time.

"Back when we were in school, you always refused to walk with me," Ying Chanxi remembered, angry, and punched Li Luo twice hard, "We walked to school together in elementary school, but then in junior high you suddenly didn't want to anymore."

"Cough—back then I really was an idiot," Li Luo said helplessly; now looking back, he too wanted to punch his past self twice.

The rebellion and confusion of adolescence—

"But didn't you still sometimes walk with me?" Li Luo said. "After all, you kept coming to our breakfast shop to mooch meals."

"Was I mooching?" Ying Chanxi snorted. "It was Lin Yi feeling sorry for me, so she let me come over every morning to eat."

"Then you took the chance to sit with me, and walked to school together?"

"What else?" Ying Chanxi didn't deny it this time; she didn't back down, retorting directly, "I wanted to walk to school with you. I wanted other classmates to see us together, to hear them guess whether we were dating, what kind of relationship we had."

"I just liked it that way."

"Every time I heard people guessing about us, I felt happy, and I'd sneakily listen in."

Exposing all her junior high secrets to the person she loved, Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed bright red in the cold spring breeze, looking utterly adorable.

Li Luo turned to look at Ying Chanxi's profile, seeing her earnest, sincere emotion, the stubbornness and determination in her eyes; he reached out and pulled her into his arms, bending down to kiss her.

"It's all my fault—I almost lost you."

"You know it's true," Ying Chanxi replied softly, rising on her tiptoes; then noticing the bystanders' stares, she quickly buried her face in Li Luo's chest like a squirrel, too shy to continue in public.

After hugging for a while, the two resumed walking, holding hands.

"Actually, I can understand a little now," Ying Chanxi said, gently swinging their linked hands while stepping along the cracks between sidewalk tiles. "Back then, Lin Yi always told you to learn from me, and you were so proud—you must've been annoyed with me."

"But I didn't know then. I just thought if Lin Yi praised me, you'd like me too."

"After all, Lin Yi was your mother—if she liked me, why wouldn't you?"

"Only later did I realize where the problem lay."

""

Ying Chanxi's tone grew frustrated as she spoke.

Li Luo held her hand as they walked forward, recalling the tiny details of his past life, silently sighing inside.

Sometimes fate simply plays tricks—everything goes awry by accident—but wasn't rebirth meant precisely to make up for all this?

"Look, here," Ying Chanxi stopped at a street corner and pointed to the large supermarket across the road. "Back in junior high, this place was just a small convenience store."

"After school, you loved going there, especially in winter—the store sold guandong stew, and you especially loved the fish balls inside."

"And remember Christmas? You used your saved pocket money to buy a huge Christmas tree from the store, carried it to class, and made everyone hang paper notes to make wishes."

Prompted by Ying Chanxi, memories rose endlessly from the depths of Li Luo's memory palace.

"After Christmas ended, you took the tree home, took down every single note, and put them all in a box, burying it under a tree in the community."

As Ying Chanxi spoke, she suddenly remembered this too, turning to look at Li Luo. "By the way—is that box still there?"

"I don't know," Li Luo scratched his head; without Ying Chanxi's reminder, he'd never have recalled this at all.

After all, recalling memories from the memory palace consumes mental energy, so he rarely bothered to dredge up these things.

They were just childish little anecdotes anyway.

But after Ying Chanxi mentioned it, Li Luo briefly searched his memory and recalled: "Hmm—if no one moved it, maybe it's still there."

"Then let's dig it up when we get home?" Ying Chanxi grinned. "I've forgotten what I wrote. Do you remember?"

"Hmm—" Li Luo remembered clearly, of course; with the memory palace, a single thought brought it all back—but he stayed silent.

"What did you write?"

"Forgot."

"Then let's dig it up when we get back."

"Maybe we shouldn't—after all, there are other students' wish notes too."

"Oh come on, it's been years—no one would mind."

"Cough—let's talk about it when we get home. Let's talk about it when we get home."

Saying that, Li Luo took Ying Chanxi's small hand and kept walking.

Soon, after crossing two blocks, they arrived again at the gate of Jincheng Middle School.

But unlike years ago, now that they wore junior high uniforms again, they weren't here to attend class.

"Huh?" The guard noticed two students in uniforms holding hands, frowned, and shouted at them, "What are you doing? What class are you from?"

As he spoke, the guard stepped forward.

He wasn't sure whether these two had skipped school entirely or had sneaked out earlier.

If they'd sneaked out, he might get scolded by his superiors.

Thinking of this, his expression darkened as he pressed on: "I'm asking you—what class? Holding hands like that—do you want me to call your homeroom teacher?"

Li Luo glanced at the guard, unconcerned, and simply pulled out his phone to check it.

Then, a voice came from inside the school gate: "Sorry about that, these two are our school's graduates; I'm their homeroom teacher."

Their junior high homeroom teacher, Zhang Wei, rushed out quickly, explained to the security guard with a smile, and then led Li Luo and Ying Chanxi into the school.

"You two really—" Zhang Wei looked at their junior high uniforms and couldn't help but laugh and sigh.

"You just came to visit the school, why are you still wearing your uniforms?"

"Just reminiscing about the good old days of junior high," Li Luo grinned, raising Ying Chanxi's small hand in his, showing it to Teacher Zhang. "Thanks, Teacher Zhang."

Ying Chanxi's cheeks turned red, and she quickly pulled her hand back.

Even after graduating for years, showing affection in front of a teacher still made Ying Chanxi a little shy.