Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 36

Wu Jiu strode up to Zhu Xiao with a determined air, pushing through the crowd of miscellaneous people and sitting down with the demeanor of a rightful sovereign. Zhu Xiao gave him a puzzled look, unsure why he seemed different after going out for a while, even his gaze had become sharper, as if there were enemies lurking nearby.

“Huh, Wu Jiu, why are you sitting here?” someone nearby, unaware of the situation, thought he was looking for trouble and helpfully pointed out, “There are seats over there.”

“No,” Wu Jiu said firmly, “I’m sitting right here.”

Zhu Xiao explained, “We’re together.”

“Ah, okay, okay,” the person replied, realizing the situation had changed. It seemed even Zhu Xiao and Wu Jiu could sit together harmoniously now.

Feeling victorious, Wu Jiu cast a triumphant glance at the bespectacled guy who had just spoken out of turn, as if to say, “I told you so.” The bespectacled guy paused for a moment, then shook his head—Wu Jiu sitting on Zhu Xiao’s left didn’t mean much, since Zhu Xiao’s right side wasn’t empty either; there was someone sitting there too.

This shake of the head only fueled Wu Jiu’s determination. He was determined to let everyone know that Zhu Xiao was his boyfriend today. So he gradually inched closer to Zhu Xiao, narrowing the distance between them bit by bit. There was originally a gap between the chairs, but Wu Jiu kept moving closer until he was almost sitting in the space between them.

Wu Jiu was already the closest person to Zhu Xiao in the room, but he still felt it wasn’t close enough, as these people still hadn’t realized anything. Some even kindly asked, “Is this chair broken? Do you need me to get you another one?”

“……No, thanks.”

It was bad enough that these people were oblivious, but what made Wu Jiu even angrier was that despite being so close, Zhu Xiao showed no intention of touching him at all! Wu Jiu glanced at his own hand in frustration—why couldn’t he attract Zhu Xiao’s attention?

Like a scheming绿茶who had exhausted all tricks to get noticed, Wu Jiu tried another ploy. He coughed loudly, then began to act dizzy, hoping to appear weak and inadvertently rest his hand on Zhu Xiao’s.

However, Zhu Xiao’s simple question undid all his efforts: “Wu Jiu, what’s wrong with you?”

……Wu Jiu felt as if he could hear the bespectacled guy’s merciless laughter.

In a fit of anger, Wu Jiu said to Zhu Xiao, “Come with me.” Then, like a bully cornering someone, he sternly added, “You’re not allowed to call me Wu Jiu anymore.”

Not being able to call him by name, Zhu Xiao frowned and asked, “Then what should I call you?”

Wu Jiu replied, “Just like before.”

Zhu Xiao sized him up, watching as the other person gradually lost their composure under his gaze, and suddenly understood. So that’s why Wu Jiu had been making all those small moves just now; he finally figured out the reason.

Zhu Xiao’s furrowed brows relaxed as he deliberately asked, “What do you mean by ‘just like before’?”

“You know, that… ‘husband,'” Wu Jiu said, his voice trailing off at the last word. He still found the term too sappy, but in this urgent situation, he didn’t care.

Zhu Xiao seemed not to hear clearly and asked, “Which one?”

Wu Jiu paused, then reluctantly raised his voice a bit, “Husband.”

Zhu Xiao curled his lips into a smile and agreed, “Alright.”

Wu Jiu realized he had fallen into a trap and blushed, saying, “Zhu Xiao, you did that on purpose.”

Zhu Xiao nodded, openly admitting it. He had indeed done it on purpose.

“So what?” Zhu Xiao challenged.

“……” Wu Jiu couldn’t really do anything about it and chose to swallow his pride.

“Anyway, I want to go back to how it was before!” Wu Jiu said urgently, “Just like how it was between me from ten years later and you.”

Zhu Xiao feigned confusion, “But you’re the Wu Jiu from ten years ago, aren’t you?”

Wu Jiu was always good at explaining his theories: “That’s still me! I don’t care. Since I’m in the body of the Wu Jiu from ten years later, we should act like we used to.”

He emphasized, “We’re already married!”

This time, he said “we” instead of “me from ten years later and you,” which was truly a cause for celebration.

Zhu Xiao smiled gently, “Alright, husband.”

……It had to be admitted that although the term was sappy, it did sound much better than “Wu Jiu.”

Wu Jiu decided to overturn all the other rules as well: “And everything else, just treat me like you used to.”

“Everything else?” Zhu Xiao seemed confused again, asking, “What do you mean by ‘everything else’?”

“Why do you have to make me spell everything out…!” Wu Jiu exclaimed in frustration, “All the things I said before, they’re all null and void.”

“What you mean is——”

Wu Jiu found it hard to say, but to defend his marital status, he resolutely spoke up: “……You can do whatever you want to me.”

Zhu Xiao raised an eyebrow, surprised that his little boyfriend, who had been so firm just a few days ago, had now torn down all his barriers.

“What exactly happened when you went out just now?” Zhu Xiao asked.

Did he run into a ghost? But Wu Jiu himself was a ghost.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wu Jiu wouldn’t reveal that he was protecting his identity, “Just do as I say.”

Zhu Xiao repeated his words, “You mean I can do whatever I want to you?”

Wu Jiu was completely committed: “That’s right.”

“Okay,” Zhu Xiao said.

One word was enough to make Wu Jiu nervous. What did “okay” mean?

“Right now?” Wu Jiu asked out of context.

What he meant was that Zhu Xiao could casually touch him, preferably holding hands in front of those classmates—but if Zhu Xiao wanted to do something else… that might be okay too.

Wu Jiu looked around; although he had deliberately chosen a corner when he pulled Zhu Xiao out, there were still a few passersby not far away.

To be honest, this wasn’t a good place for anything scandalous.

Wu Jiu said seriously, “We’re outside right now.”

But he was also afraid that Zhu Xiao wouldn’t do anything, so he added, “But it doesn’t matter. Those people over there aren’t looking at us. The cameras are far away and can’t capture anything clearly.”

“Go ahead,” he urged, meaning that Zhu Xiao should do whatever he wanted, as no one would notice.

However, Zhu Xiao didn’t do anything scandalous or indecent.

Zhu Xiao simply reached out, pinched Wu Jiu’s ear to pull him closer, and whispered directly into his ear, “Stop making up all these random rules.”

“Ah,” Wu Jiu felt his ear getting warm from Zhu Xiao’s touch.

Good, Zhu Xiao had indeed touched him, but it was nothing like what he had imagined.

“You said I could do whatever I want,” Wu Jiu protested.

That was true, but…

Wu Jiu couldn’t think of anything to say and finally just complained, “……Hey, Zhu Xiao!”

When they returned to the original spot, the people around were wondering why the two of them had slipped away for so long without coming back.

Someone teased, “Zhu Xiao, what were you two whispering about just now?”

“Nothing much,” Zhu Xiao replied.

“Cough, cough!” Wu Jiu coughed loudly and gave Zhu Xiao a meaningful look.

Wu Jiu had been thinking about how to subtly show that he and Zhu Xiao had an extraordinary relationship, and then he heard Zhu Xiao calmly say, “There was something I forgot to mention earlier. Wu Jiu and I are together.”

Zhu Xiao glanced at Wu Jiu, who this time was very cooperative. After a brief second of surprise, he quickly linked his arm with Zhu Xiao’s. Though he was taller than Zhu Xiao, he leaned into him as if he had no bones.

His demeanor as the rightful partner was even stronger this time: “Yes, we’re together.”

The people around were taken aback, not quite understanding at first. They tried to clarify: “You mean together… as in working together or coming here together?”

“We’re married together,” Zhu Xiao said, his voice just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

“Mar-mar-married!” One classmate was so shocked that he stammered, looking back and forth between Zhu Xiao and Wu Jiu, “You two! You and Wu Jiu, you and Zhu Xiao?”

Wu Jiu was very satisfied with his reaction. This was the proper attitude people should have towards him, Zhu Xiao’s genuine boyfriend! Besides, their relationship was indeed worth such astonishment—because he himself had been shocked when he found out.

After overturning all the rules he had set for himself, Wu Jiu suddenly felt the world was much brighter. Sitting next to Zhu Xiao, he felt the air had become fresher and sweeter.

Letting go of his old mindset, Wu Jiu fully embraced the role of Zhu Xiao’s boyfriend from ten years later and found it felt great.

Every time Zhu Xiao met someone new and introduced him as his boyfriend, Wu Jiu didn’t have to worry about those miscellaneous people anymore, because Zhu Xiao constantly conveyed one message: he was taken, and his boyfriend was Wu Jiu.

Later, Wu Jiu went from finding everyone annoying to finding everyone likable. He even happily sent a big red envelope to the grade group chat for everyone to grab, collecting auspicious words from everyone.

On the way back, Wu Jiu let Zhu Xiao rest on his shoulder again—he was much more natural this time, without overthinking anything, because he was Zhu Xiao’s boyfriend, and it was perfectly normal to do so.

However, after getting home, Wu Jiu, like a child seeking a gold star from a teacher, asked very deliberately, “Zhu Xiao, why didn’t you thank me for being considerate this time?”

Zhu Xiao understood and took out a pen, intending to draw another little red flower for him.

But Wu Jiu pulled his hand back, saying, “I don’t want that, and I already have one.”

“What do you want then?” Zhu Xiao asked, “There’s nothing else.”

“Zhu Xiao, you weren’t like this before,” Wu Jiu had a very good memory and remembered clearly what Zhu Xiao had said earlier, “You said you used to kiss me.”

So that’s what he was after, quite subtly indeed.

Zhu Xiao pretended to think for a moment and said, “But you’re not the Wu Jiu from ten years later.”

“But… I’m still Wu Jiu!”

Wu Jiu started to envy his future self—he was annoyed that he was the Wu Jiu from ten years ago, without any memory of dating Zhu Xiao, and he hadn’t even started dating Zhu Xiao yet.

Wu Jiu complained, “What the future me has, the present me should have too.”

Zhu Xiao said, “Oh, then come here.”

Wu Jiu slightly bent down and happily brought his face closer to Zhu Xiao.

Zhu Xiao looked down at Wu Jiu’s approaching face—what a fool, why bring your side face over.

He reached out, grabbed Wu Jiu’s chin, and slowly turned it the right way.

“What’s wrong?” Wu Jiu asked.

Without answering, Zhu Xiao directly kissed him on the lips.

With a “bang,” a puff of blue smoke rose from Wu Jiu’s head.

Zhu Xiao frowned and asked, “Why are you smoking?”

Wu Jiu hadn’t smoked in a long time.

“……”

Wu Jiu didn’t want to admit that he had almost suffocated just now and nearly died back to the underworld.

Seeing him silent, Zhu Xiao thought something was really wrong and asked again, “What’s wrong with you?”

Then he saw Wu Jiu with an expression as if he had won the lottery, saying, “You just kissed me on the lips?”

This time it was Zhu Xiao’s turn to be speechless: “……”

“You just kissed me on the lips!” Wu Jiu exclaimed loudly.

It was late at night, and Zhu Xiao quickly covered his mouth, “……Shut up.”

By the time they finished washing up, it was already midnight. Zhu Xiao turned off the living room light and went to bed. As soon as he lay down, he saw a ghostly figure hovering at the door.

Wu Jiu was pacing back and forth at the entrance of Zhu Xiao’s room, peeking inside every thirty seconds, like an exaggerated version of a waiting spouse, making sure everyone noticed him.

The intensity of that gaze was so strong that even without a word from Wu Jiu, his intentions were crystal clear.

So Zhu Xiao asked him, “Where do you want to sleep?”

Wu Jiu had been waiting for this question. He immediately dashed out like a gust of wind, grabbed his pillow from the next room, and then rushed back into Zhu Xiao’s room like a whirlwind.

He placed the pillow on the other side of the double bed, lay down without a word, covered himself with the quilt, and took on the demeanor of a determined squatter, refusing to leave.

He poked his head out from under the tightly wrapped quilt and said seriously, “I’m sleeping here.”

Even though he was in bed, Wu Jiu remained a proper and conservative gentleman. Once under the quilt, he was purely there for conversation, with no other intentions.

Seeing Wu Jiu’s familiar upright sleeping posture, Zhu Xiao thought to himself: Well, it seems the more we date, the more we’re going back to the basics.

But what could he do? After all, the “Wu Jiu” now was the little boyfriend from ten years ago.

Zhu Xiao was also very patient, accompanying him under the quilt for a pure chat.

Fortunately, although the “filling” was from ten years ago, they had always been closely connected over the years and seemed to have changed little, still having plenty to talk about.

Wu Jiu asked many questions about the next ten years, mainly about how he and Zhu Xiao developed into a romantic relationship and how they usually dated, and so on and so forth.

Listening to it all, Wu Jiu began to feel envious and a bit resentful—why did these things have to happen in the future?

After an unknown amount of time, Wu Jiu suddenly called his name: “Zhu Xiao.”

Zhu Xiao responded with a “Hmm?”

“Do we really have to wait until ten years later to be together?”

Wu Jiu started thinking about what would happen when he went back—would he have to wait another ten years to be with Zhu Xiao after returning to his own timeline?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh and say, “Why does it have to take so long…?”

Zhu Xiao couldn’t help but chuckle and replied, “Then as soon as you go back, confess to me right away.”

“It’s not that simple,” Wu Jiu said wistfully, “If it were that easy, why would I only be with you ten years later?”

“……” That was a question he should really ask himself.

“It’s that simple, you fool,” Zhu Xiao said.

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 36

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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