Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 34

“Zhu Xiao, I’m from ten years ago, and I don’t have any memory of dating you right now.”

After much deliberation, Wu Jiu decided to set three rules with Zhu Xiao.

“First, you are not allowed to call me ‘husband.'”

The term was too sappy, and every time Zhu Xiao called him that, his heart raced as if he were about to have a heart attack.

“Second, you are not allowed to touch me casually.”

For some reason, it felt as if Zhu Xiao’s hands were poisoned. A mere touch, no matter where, would make him feel a bit itchy.

“Third, you are not allowed to sleep with me!”

Recalling the scene from this morning, Wu Jiu couldn’t help but feel his face grow hot.

There were quite a few demands, with so many things forbidden. Zhu Xiao just hummed in a perfunctory manner.

Hearing him keep humming, Wu Jiu couldn’t help but get angry: “Don’t brush me off. Repeat what I just said.”

Zhu Xiao patiently repeated, “I can’t call you husband, I can’t touch you casually, and I can’t sleep with you.”

Rule after rule was set, and Wu Jiu hoped he would truly follow them.

Wu Jiu was very satisfied with his compliance. After making the agreement, he quickly separated the double items in the house, clearly drawing a line between them.

To show his determination, Wu Jiu even tidied up the room next door and neatly made the bed.

Seeing him busily cleaning, Zhu Xiao felt a sense of familiarity and couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?” Wu Jiu asked.

Suppressing the smile on his lips, Zhu Xiao leisurely said, “I think you look particularly handsome like this.”

“……”

This was too much. In his memory, Zhu Xiao had never complimented him—after all, they weren’t the type to praise each other!

“Don’t try to tempt me with sweet words,” Wu Jiu said warily, “Zhu Xiao, I won’t fall for your tricks.”

“Alright,” Zhu Xiao shrugged, feigning innocence, “But I really do think you look handsome.”

Wu Jiu felt a bit elated, but he still scoffed, “Just because I look handsome? I did the laundry and took out the trash this morning. Why don’t you mention that?”

Zhu Xiao glanced down at the trash can, which already had a new trash bag, and then looked at the balcony where the clothes were neatly hung out to dry—

“How can you be so handsome, old…,” Zhu Xiao remembered their rules and changed his words, “Wu Jiu.”

Zhu Xiao was complimenting him again, even addressing him by his full name.

It felt like Earth’s gravity had failed. A mere breath from Zhu Xiao could make him float away.

Wu Jiu, as if possessed, grabbed a cloth and began to wipe the table.

But he didn’t want Zhu Xiao to misunderstand, so he said, “There’s dust on the table. It bothers me.”

Zhu Xiao, of course, didn’t “misunderstand.” He just suddenly let out a soft sigh.

“What are you sighing for?” Wu Jiu asked.

“I was just thinking that the you from ten years ago is not bad either,” Zhu Xiao’s tone seemed regretful, “It would have been nice if we had been together earlier.”

“O-of course I’m not bad!” Wu Jiu wiped even harder, but his words were still firm, “Zhu Xiao, I’ve always been great. Are you just realizing it now?”

He had indeed fallen for Zhu Xiao’s trick. Wu Jiu felt his heart racing, as if he were about to become a ghost!

Bombed by Zhu Xiao’s sweet words, Wu Jiu was completely dazed.

By the time he came to his senses, the house had been completely cleaned up.

This couldn’t go on, Wu Jiu thought and thought, and seriously added a fourth rule: “Fourth, you are not allowed to compliment me casually!”

Zhu Xiao feigned reluctance and said, “Alright then.”

Since speaking was out of the question, Zhu Xiao went to the kitchen, cut some cantaloupe, and served it on a fruit plate.

He picked up a piece with a fork and held it to Wu Jiu’s lips: “Take a break and have some fruit.”

Wu Jiu glanced over and was pleased to see that Zhu Xiao was strictly following the rules he had set. The hand holding the cantaloupe was a few centimeters away from him, not touching at all.

It just seemed like fishing, and he would have to actively lean forward to eat.

Suppressing the urge to stretch his neck like a turtle, Wu Jiu took the fork from his hand, “……I’ll do it myself.”

He fiercely put the piece of cantaloupe into his mouth and chewed it ferociously.

It was the sweetest part of the melon, right in the center. The sweet taste spread from the tip of his tongue, and Wu Jiu almost defected.

Was this level of sweetness normal? It couldn’t be poisoned, could it?

Wu Jiu reluctantly swallowed the cantaloupe and awkwardly said: “……Fifth, don’t feed me fruit.”

“……”

“Alright.”

After all, he was the younger boyfriend from ten years ago. Even with these one, two, three, four, five rules, Zhu Xiao still had some patience with him and was very considerate in complying.

Zhu Xiao kept his distance from Wu Jiu and stopped teasing him, bringing up something important: “In a couple of days, it’s the school’s anniversary, and there’s an alumni gathering. Are you still going?”

He had originally planned to go with Wu Jiu, but now, due to the lantern slide show, it had become Wu Jiu from ten years ago. He didn’t know if this Wu Jiu would still want to go.

“Are you talking about our university?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Wu Jiu, thinking of something, suddenly asked, “Who’s going to be there?”

Zhu Xiao replied, “I’m not sure, probably whoever is available.”

The confrontation from yesterday was still fresh in his mind, and Wu Jiu was skeptical of those so-called “alumni.”

An alarm went off in Wu Jiu’s mind, and he immediately said, “I’m going too.”

Zhu Xiao raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He had thought Wu Jiu wouldn’t accompany him to such an event.

Wu Jiu had his own rationale: “Although I’m not the me from ten years later, I’m still me. I should go with you.”

It sounded convoluted and high-sounding, but in reality, Wu Jiu had only one main idea:

Since his future self was married to Zhu Xiao, he needed to keep an eye on the people around Zhu Xiao to prevent any trouble for his future self when he returned.

To put it more bluntly:

No way was he going to leave Zhu Xiao alone with those suspicious “alumni”!!

On the day of the anniversary.

Zhu Xiao couldn’t drive, and Wu Jiu could, but unfortunately, as a college student from ten years ago, even with a driver’s license, Zhu Xiao wouldn’t let him drive.

So they ended up taking a taxi.

When getting in the car, Wu Jiu briefly hesitated about where to sit—whether to sit in the front passenger seat to keep an eye on the driver for Zhu Xiao or to sit in the back with Zhu Xiao.

Before he could think further, Zhu Xiao grabbed his hand and pushed him into the back seat.

Wu Jiu felt like a criminal being escorted into a police car and couldn’t help but protest against Zhu Xiao’s not-so-gentle, even slightly rough, behavior: “Hey.”

“Sorry,” Zhu Xiao realized he had forgotten about Wu Jiu’s rule of not being touched and raised his hand, indicating it was unintentional.

Wu Jiu quickly forgave him: “……It’s okay.”

Their atmosphere was a bit awkward, and the driver couldn’t help but comment: “Oh, you two brothers are acting like a couple.”

His casual joke was met with simultaneous denials from both.

The rules Wu Jiu had set just a few days ago were still fresh in their minds, so Zhu Xiao said, “We’re not a couple.”

At the same time, Wu Jiu retorted with another word from the driver’s sentence: “We’re not brothers!”

“Then what haha,” the driver sensed the awkwardness and let out a dry laugh.

The two in the back seat glanced at each other and spoke at the same time.

Zhu Xiao: “We’re not brothers.”

Wu Jiu: “We’re not a couple.”

“……”

“All right, all right,” the driver coughed, no longer wanting to dwell on what their relationship was. He looked straight ahead and changed the subject, “Buckle up, let’s go.”

After getting in the car, Zhu Xiao hadn’t touched Wu Jiu again. Wu Jiu sat on the left, Zhu Xiao on the right, with a neutral seat between them.

Wu Jiu glanced at the distance between them and felt inexplicably annoyed.

Was there really a need to sit so far apart?

Unaware of his thoughts, Zhu Xiao looked out the window at the passing scenery.

After a while, as the car got on the highway, Zhu Xiao, watching the monotonous landscape retreat outside the window, quickly began to feel sleepy. He hadn’t been sleeping well the past few days, sleeping alone and not getting much rest. Now, in the car, the slight bumps and the white noise of the journey made him even more drowsy. He leaned against the window and closed his eyes.

Wu Jiu had been looking at the scenery as well, but under the guise of sightseeing, he occasionally glanced at Zhu Xiao, so he immediately noticed his drowsiness. Zhu Xiao was really sticking to the rules; even this sleepy, his head only leaned against the window, as if he hadn’t considered the living person next to him at all. Wu Jiu observed for a bit and realized that this position couldn’t be very comfortable for Zhu Xiao. His head, leaning against the window, would droop down after a while, only to struggle back to its original place. Watching his somewhat laborious sleeping posture, Wu Jiu felt more and more that it wasn’t right. Sleeping like this, doesn’t he care about his cervical spine?

Wu Jiu slowly moved to the middle position, glancing at Zhu Xiao every time he shifted an inch. However, Zhu Xiao was completely oblivious to his movements, and Wu Jiu’s hints all fell on deaf ears.

“……I give up,” Wu Jiu muttered in frustration, “How can he sleep so soundly like this?”

It seemed Zhu Xiao wouldn’t lean on him, so he had to come up with his own solution. Thankfully, he was quick-witted and soon found a way.

——His rules were for the awake Zhu Xiao, not the sleeping one.

After rationalizing his own rules, Wu Jiu calmly extended two fingers, gently nudged Zhu Xiao’s head, and let it rest on his shoulder. Then he took off his jacket and quietly covered Zhu Xiao with it. After that, he remained still.

He reluctantly let Zhu Xiao lean on him, thinking that as soon as Zhu Xiao woke up, he would immediately ask him to keep his distance.

It started raining during the journey. Fine raindrops fell on the car window, blurring the side view into a sheet. The sound of rain outside was a gentle patter, while inside the car, it was quiet except for their breathing.

Unable to look at the scenery anymore, Wu Jiu openly looked at Zhu Xiao. After all, Zhu Xiao was asleep and couldn’t see what he was doing. He traced Zhu Xiao’s sleeping face with his gaze, not missing a single detail. He had never observed Zhu Xiao this closely for such a long time. He suddenly noticed that Zhu Xiao had long and curly eyelashes, like a doll’s.

As he looked, his thoughts wandered. He would actually end up marrying Zhu Xiao in the future…

While keeping one shoulder still, Wu Jiu slowly raised his other hand. The hand hovered in front of Zhu Xiao for a moment before quietly extending an index finger to gently poke his face. His fingertip touched Zhu Xiao’s soft cheek, and Wu Jiu guiltily and hastily withdrew his hand. He rubbed the index finger that had touched Zhu Xiao’s cheek, as if the sensation was still lingering there, not dissipating.

——Heaven, he would actually end up marrying Zhu Xiao!

The driver in front glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing the person in the back seat intimately leaning against the other and inexplicably grinning foolishly, and couldn’t help but mutter, “Says they’re not a couple.”

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 34

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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