Life Is Just This Messed Up

The world spun around him!

Dizzy and disoriented, Liu Shang staggered before dropping straight down onto the roadside.

Just moments ago, he had been trapped in a certain-death situation filled with gunfire, thick smoke, and raging flames. How had everything suddenly changed into such a peaceful, tranquil scene?

It was not until several minutes later, when he checked the information displayed on the Motorola L7 in his jeans pocket, that he confirmed one thing.

He had been reborn, returning from that hopeless death trap to 2006, the year he entered university.

At this very moment, he was sitting on the grass outside the school's side gate at Fengcheng Oil University. Beside him stood his sturdy, oversized black suitcase, filled with his enrollment paperwork.

Th... This couldn't be real, could it?

Unable to tell whether what lay before him was reality or a dream, the exhausted Liu Shang simply lay down on the grass and stared numbly at the drifting clouds beneath the deep blue sky.

Whenever he thought of 2006, his freshman year, a beautiful, graceful figure always surfaced in his mind—a figure that had haunted his dreams countless times throughout the rest of his life.

During his freshman year, he had experienced a sweet, sorrowful, and incredibly brief first love.

She had been a kind, outstanding girl with immense popularity throughout the school.

Yet perhaps because the gap between them had truly been too great, and because of his own inferiority complex, he had chosen to give up on that relationship.

For all the years afterward, it had remained a beautiful piece of youth that left him endlessly frustrated, regretful, and nostalgic.

Just as Liu Shang's mind became a tangled mess and he could no longer control his chaotic thoughts, the figure of a girl with crystal-clear eyes, pure innocence, and breathtaking beauty slowly entered his vision from above.

"Classmate, are you lying here because you're feeling unwell somewhere?"

Perhaps because she had bent down to speak, the girl in white sneakers, cropped jeans, and a stylish yet tasteful casual top unconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind her delicate ear.

Meanwhile, Liu Shang had already been struck as if by lightning.

The unreasonable, sudden appearance of this beautiful girl hit Liu Shang even harder than discovering that he had been reborn.

Jiang Ruolin! Was it really you?

Could fate really toy with people like this? Could life really be this messed up?!

The next moment, overwhelmed by immense sorrow, Liu Shang tightly closed his eyes.

His feelings at that moment were exactly like the lyric: if this was a dream, he would rather remain drunk forever than wake up.

"Classmate, classmate, are you all right?"

"Do you need me to call a doctor for you?"

Finally, under the girl's somewhat nervous calls, Liu Shang, still with his eyes closed, took two deep breaths. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and gave the girl who had haunted his dreams countless times a heartfelt smile.

That sudden change caught Jiang Ruolin slightly off guard.

Just a moment ago, this boy lying on the grass had looked hesitant. Especially when he closed his eyes, the immense sorrow he revealed had made her feel sympathetic toward him.

But in the next instant, the boy had suddenly become handsome, youthful, sunny, and brimming with energy and vitality.

The stark contrast left Jiang Ruolin astonished.

"Classmate, are you all right? Do you need help?"

Facing Jiang Ruolin's concerned question once more, Liu Shang suppressed the heartbeat that could explode at any moment, scratched his head, and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry, classmate. I made you worry."

"I'm completely fine. I just took a hard-seat train all night and got a little sleepy just now."

"Come to think of it, I need to go register too. But this school seems pretty big, so I should probably find a map first."

Without question, this was a lie meant to fool the kind, enthusiastic girl before him.

Having lived at this school for four years in his previous life, Liu Shang knew exactly which roads led more quickly to the teaching buildings, which cafeteria windows had the best food, and even which little roadside bushes hid rat nests. How could he possibly fail to find the registration route?

Sure enough, when Jiang Ruolin heard this, she smiled warmly. "Ah, perfect. I can take you there on my way."

"Though I'm also a freshman, I registered a few days ago. Several upperclassmen even made an exception and invited me to join the Student Union early."

"And you can be the first classmate I help after joining the Student Union."

Naturally, Liu Shang smiled and nodded. As they walked into the school together, he got to know his first-love girl all over again.

"By the way, Jiang, before coming to register, I saw some students discussing something on the forum."

"They said the famous hot-and-sour glass noodles from that window on the second floor of our cafeteria aren't actually as good as people claim. I wonder if that's true?"

The hot-and-sour glass noodles on the second floor of the Oil University cafeteria were famous among several nearby universities.

In Liu Shang's memory, they had also been Jiang Ruolin's favorite.

Hearing Liu Shang say that, Jiang Ruolin could not help frowning and immediately defended them.

"How could that be? The hot-and-sour glass noodles from that window are really delicious."

"I came to eat them several times before I even started university!"

"Um, Liu Shang, you took a train all night. You probably haven't eaten yet, right?"

"Then it's perfect since we're passing by. I'll treat you to a bowl so you can try them, as my personal welcome to Oil University."

As she spoke, Jiang Ruolin took out a cafeteria card and smiled as she waved it before Liu Shang's eyes.

To Jiang Ruolin's great surprise, this guy showed not the slightest gratitude for being treated and cared for by a beautiful girl. Instead, he nodded as if it were only natural.

"Mm, come to think of it, you really should treat me to a meal."

"Just think about it. Even if you picked up a stray cat or dog at the school gate, you'd still have to give it some food and water, right?"

Hearing that, Jiang Ruolin was speechless, yet she did not know how to refute him.

Just then, Jiang Ruolin saw Liu Shang's expression suddenly turn anxious and tense. He began searching himself and his pockets over and over, as though he had lost something important.

Seeing him like this, Jiang Ruolin instinctively became nervous as well. "Liu Shang, did you lose something?"

"Your phone? Or something else?"

"Could you have left it on the grass earlier?"

At last, Liu Shang stopped searching. Then, with a deeply furrowed brow and an incomparably solemn, serious expression, he said:

"Jiang, my heart, which traveled through time and space and is filled with loneliness and sorrow, was accidentally lost just now."

"Did you happen to see it?"

At this sudden turn, even Jiang Ruolin, who had seen countless little tricks since childhood, could not help smiling. Covering her mouth, she turned her head away from Liu Shang and laughed.

In that instant, it seemed to Liu Shang as though every flower on campus had bloomed.

Then, still smiling and with a trace of mock annoyance, Jiang Ruolin slowly said, "I'm starting to regret it now. Maybe I shouldn't have picked you up just now."

This book had been weighing on my heart for a long time, and today I was finally able to write it. Readers who enjoy it, please give it your support. This author would be endlessly grateful!