Chapter 27

“Here, thanks for the guitar.”

Lin Zhe stood up and handed the guitar back to the senior sister, adding a compliment:

“Nice instrument.”

She took it, smiling warmly at him. “Your song was lovely too. Lin Zhe... right?”

He nodded once.

“After military training we’ll have the club fair. If you’re free, drop by—no pressure.”

It sounded like an early invitation.

Lin Zhe gave a non-committal answer: “If I’ve got time, I’ll come take a look.”

While speaking he pushed the stray hair off his forehead, then slipped his tinted glasses back on.

“By the way, what’s that song called? It’s beautiful—did you write it?”

“‘Goodbye, Goodbye.’ That’s the title. And no, I didn’t write it.”

The senior sister’s brow creased. If the junior in front of her hadn’t composed it, why hadn’t she ever heard it before?

She pressed on: “What about ‘Mercury Records’?”

Again Lin Zhe shook his head. “Not mine either.”

Neither “Mercury Records” nor “Goodbye, Goodbye” were his creations.

In this world there was no Escape Plan, no Mayday, no Xu Wei or Pu Shu that he knew.

Some singers still existed; others had left no trace on the internet.

In his previous life Lin Zhe had lived in a parallel world.

Bedridden most of the time, he’d drowned himself in games, films, and music.

Not taking the college-entrance exam had been his greatest regret.

A frail body had robbed him of a normal high-school life.

So when he woke up reborn, he cherished everything twice as hard.

It was why he used his strange new ability to rescue—to win over—those “problem girls.”

Having lost everything once, he knew how it felt.

He wouldn’t watch them be swallowed by the same void.

Before the reset he’d been frozen at eighteen.

This time he would leave no regrets: live fully, do what he wanted, finish what he’d left undone.

That was him.

The memories washed over him now, leaving him dazed and sentimental.

If she hadn’t asked, he might have forgotten.

The senior sister, watching him fall silent, worried she’d said something wrong.

The boy who’d answered her questions so politely now looked lost, the gloom around him thickening into something almost lonely, as though he stood in a world that wasn’t his.

Her mind raced through every melodramatic novel she’d ever read: so talented, yet refusing credit.

Realising this, she apologised softly:

“Um... sorry, did I touch a nerve?”

The words pulled Lin Zhe back. Sorry? What for?

He turned to her apologetic face, puzzled, but still offered an easy smile.

And when he smiled—

Seeing the junior force that smile, the senior sister’s guilt deepened.

She’d hurt him, yet he was the one comforting her.

Ah, it stung—her conscience hurt.

She’d probably lie awake all night.

“Anyway, please come watch our band, no matter what.”

With that she hoisted the guitar, clutched her guilty heart, and fled.

Lin Zhe was left standing blankly. The tinted lenses hid her expression from him; he had no idea what had happened.

Everything had been fine a second ago.

Weird senior.

And although she’d invited him, she’d never actually told him the band’s name...

He adjusted his glasses and turned toward the freshmen saying goodbye to the instructors.

A few metres away, several girls ducked out of sight the moment he looked their way.

They’d overheard the conversation, and female intuition painted the same dramatic picture the senior sister had seen.

Who would’ve thought dull, moody Lin Zhe had a hidden past?

Maybe a tragic romance had birthed those haunting songs and that melancholy, soulful air.

Lin Zhe himself had no clue he was now rumoured to be a tortured poet nursing a broken heart.

By the next day the gossip had rippled outward from Third Company.

Add in his performance of “Mercury Records” and his new title—“Hai University’s Most Deeply Affectionate Man”—and the stories grew wilder by the hour.

On the last morning of military training, right before the closing ceremony, Liu Xuefei finished scrolling through the girls’ latest gossip about Lin Zhe in the class group chat and flipped his phone face-down.

He exhaled a long, slow breath, then lifted a hand and slapped himself across the face.

Poor Xiao Lin... I really am a piece of work.

Lin Zhe, who had just crawled out of bed, watched Liu Xuefei suddenly smack himself and could only blink in bewilderment. What kind of fit was this guy throwing now?

Liu Xuefei walked straight up to him, eyes more serious and complicated than Lin Zhe had ever seen. It made the hairs on his neck stand on end.

“Xiao Lin,” Liu Xuefei declared, “from now on, I’m going to treat you right.”

Lin Zhe felt an icy shiver race down his spine. Had he heard that correctly? That sounded like a confession. Don’t tell me this blockhead has just discovered a brand-new hobby...

Instinctively he clapped a hand over his backside and blurted in panic, “I don’t swing that way, okay!”

Before the words had even settled, Han Xinglong stepped up behind him, draped an arm over his other shoulder, and gazed at him with equally sappy devotion.

“Relax, pal. As long as Han Xinglong has a mouth to eat with, you’ll never go hungry.”

Yang Zhe, watching the whole spectacle from the sidelines, thought: These two morons didn’t actually swallow that silly story the girls cooked up in the chat... did they?

Sandwiched between them, Lin Zhe felt a chill seep straight into his bones. At this rate, he wouldn’t last another day in this dorm.

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