After My Rebirth Chapter 42: Extra (END)

Chapter 42: Extra

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Li Sinian said he wanted to “try” things out with Jiang Rongxuan, but truthfully, they hadn’t skipped a single step couples normally take.

That morning, Li Sinian rubbed his still-sore lower back, about to get up and use the bathroom, but Jiang Rongxuan grabbed him, stopping him.

The younger brother’s voice was sticky, but his grip was firm. “Why are you trying to run off, brother? Come back.”

Li Sinian’s face flushed. He recalled last night. They’d unlocked a new position, and it had been a bit much for him—he tried to get away, but Jiang Rongxuan caught his ankle and wouldn’t let him go, even blowing in his ear.

“Don’t run away, brother. Come back.”

Thinking of that, Li Sinian swung his leg hard against Jiang Rongxuan’s calf. “I’m going to the bathroom! Let go!”

Jiang Rongxuan laughed and slowly opened his eyes. They sparkled, wide awake without a trace of sleepiness. Li Sinian knew right then he was faking it again.

That sly little green tea boy!

Li Sinian went to the bathroom and came out having quickly taken a shower. After sleeping tangled together the night before, both of them sticky and sweaty, the shower was much needed.

When he stepped out, Jiang Rongxuan was no longer in bed. Sounds came from the kitchen, and sure enough, his brother was cooking.

Jiang Rongxuan’s cooking skills were pretty decent. Whenever they got carried away late at night, it was usually Jiang Rongxuan who got up to make breakfast.

Hearing Li Sinian’s footsteps, he glanced back and said, “Breakfast is almost ready, just a little longer.”

Li Sinian nodded and pulled out a chair to sit down.

As the breakfast was set on the table, Jiang Rongxuan’s first words were, “Brother, why don’t you come stay at my place?”

Li Sinian choked on his food, coughing so hard tears sprang to his eyes.

Jiang Rongxuan hurried over and patted his back gently. “Careful, brother, how do you even choke eating breakfast?”

Li Sinian looked up at him, eyes still watery and red from coughing. “Your place? We’ve only been together… three months. Isn’t that a little soon to stay at your place?”

Jiang Rongxuan looked at him, said nothing at first, then leaned down to kiss his eyes before smiling. “What are you thinking? I don’t mean the Jiang family house. I mean my place—the apartment where I live.”

“Or are you just itching to meet my family already?”

Li Sinian hurried to explain, “No, it’s not that. It’s just your wording was ambiguous—I can’t be blamed for misunderstanding.”

Jiang Rongxuan chuckled, “Alright, alright, I’ll take the blame for letting you misunderstand.”

“Hm… but it’s not the place in Suzhou. It’s my place in Haicheng. I want to show you something. You have to come back to Haicheng with me.”

“Oh, no problem. The flight’s only two hours. I’ve got time,” Li Sinian said, scooting over a bit and joking, “Stay away from me!”

“Let’s go eat there!” Jiang Rongxuan commanded.

They bought same-day tickets to Haicheng, and after finishing breakfast, headed straight to the airport.

Jiang Rongxuan’s place in Haicheng was a modest apartment—just about a hundred square meters, not in the best location, definitely not the best of his properties.

But he said, “This was my mom’s place. I lived here for many years. All the things I think are important are kept here.”

He led Li Sinian into a small room—not exactly a storage room, but definitely just a place for stuff.

The wall directly facing the door was covered with countless photos, the left wall held a desk, and the right side had a wardrobe.

Li Sinian stepped in and noticed the photos—all of him.

There were pictures of him in school uniform, casual clothes, even suits.

Jiang Rongxuan wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Brother, I’m a weirdo—I love stalking you and secretly taking your pictures.”

Before Li Sinian could say anything, Jiang Rongxuan pointed to a recent photo. “This one’s my favorite.”

In the photo, Li Sinian wore a white school uniform, clutching a book, glasses perched on his nose.

It was a 45-degree side profile—he looked down at the ground with a serious expression, probably pretty upset at the time.

Li Sinian asked, “Why’s that your favorite? Because it looks good?”

“No,” Jiang Rongxuan explained, “You look bad in this one, and that’s because you’d just gotten into a fight with Lin Yuan over me.”

At that, Li Sinian’s memories stirred.

It was probably close to midterms.

With the stress of senior year and Li Cheng’s constant pressure, he’d been especially irritated during that time.

He went to find Lin Yuan to eat, only to see Lin Yuan bullying Jiang Rongxuan again, surrounded by his friends.

He didn’t know if it was empathy or just his own anger, but he was furious.

So he stepped forward and shoved Lin Yuan away. “What’s your problem? Why are you picking on him?”

Lin Yuan snapped back, clearly annoyed. “I told you before—he’s my dad’s illegitimate kid. A mistress’s son messing up my family. I’m just teaching him a lesson, it’s only fair.”

“Even if his mom is the mistress, it’s her fault, not his. No one chooses where they’re born. If he could, do you think he’d want to be the son of a mistress?” Li Sinian shot back. “He comes home with bruises every day, and your family never asks about it. You all just pretend nothing’s wrong and send him off to school like usual. You’re already spoiling yourself, aren’t you?”

“His mom’s a mistress, his dad ignores him—he’s had it bad enough. That’s the punishment for being a mistress’s son. What more do you want?” Lin Yuan retorted.

“Do you want to beat him to death? Then go ahead, kill him now. Do you dare?”

Li Sinian thought of himself at that moment—always bullied at home, parents pretending not to see.

Lin Yuan saw Li Sinian was genuinely angry and stopped pushing. He pouted, “Why are you sticking up for him?”

Li Sinian sighed deeply. “I just think it’s unnecessary. Why do you all have to bully him? He doesn’t want it either.”

His emotions overwhelmed him, and without another word, he turned and walked away.

That day, he didn’t eat with anyone. Instead, he found a quiet corner and cried.

He was just so tired. Why couldn’t his dad understand how hard things were for him?

After crying past lunchtime, Li Sinian felt better. He stayed a while longer until the traces of tears faded from his face, then came out.

So back then, he wasn’t rushing or serious for no reason—it was because he was in a bad mood.

Jiang Rongxuan said, “You fought Lin Yuan because of me. You don’t know how happy that made me. I finally felt like I mattered to you.”

At that, Li Sinian remembered how he never actually recognized Jiang Rongxuan at first.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he quickly changed the subject, pointing at something. “What’s this?”

He was gesturing to a stack of bound A4 papers on the desk.

Jiang Rongxuan picked them up. They were papers he’d written in college.

He said, “When you finished your sophomore year, I just graduated high school. You came back with your high school friends to visit teachers and had dinner with them. Our class reunion was at the same restaurant.”

Li Sinian recalled that reunion from years ago.

Why did it stick in his mind? Because he was so busy that he’d only ever been to that one reunion.

It was the last day of their second semester sophomore year, and the professor’s only assignment was that paper.

He planned to submit the paper and go straight to the reunion, but the professor was lazy and only graded it without collecting papers.

So he took the paper with him to dinner.

He was a good drinker, trained at various banquets thanks to Li Cheng, so while most classmates were drunk, he stayed sober.

He remembered going to the restroom and bumping into someone, thinking it was a drunk stumbling around. He’d just said sorry and left.

Now he realized the person who bumped him was probably Jiang Rongxuan.

But Li Sinian had a question.

“What do you want with my paper?”

Jiang Rongxuan leaned close and whispered something in his ear.

Li Sinian got so mad he spun around and kicked his brother.

He realized no matter how old he was, Jiang Rongxuan’s shamelessness was impossible to beat.

Jiang Rongxuan laughed for a moment, then pointed at the wardrobe. “Brother, want to see inside?”

Li Sinian ignored him and opened it himself.

The wardrobe was divided into upper and lower sections, but it wasn’t filled with clothes.

Instead, it held other things.

Li Sinian’s eyes caught on something familiar—a huge jar soaking a snake in liquor.

He pointed, surprised. “That… isn’t that the jar of wine we brought out when we ate with the ChuanHe Construction people?”

“ChuanHe Construction belongs to the Jiang Family,” Jiang Rongxuan said. “That whole time you were negotiating with them was exactly when I was managing things over there. I really didn’t expect that while they were negotiating a deal, they’d run into you. So I made sure they agreed to cooperate with you.”

“I was already planning to use work as an excuse to get closer to you back then. But since you weren’t handling things at the Li family anymore, I had to wait until I finished my own stuff before coming to find you.”

As he spoke, Jiang Rongxuan moved closer and wrapped his arms around Li Sinian. “You don’t know how much I missed you. When the deal fell through, I told them to bring back whatever things you left behind.”

“Turns out, they almost threw this away,” he said, pointing to a jar. “The people negotiating said they had to snatch it from the restaurant staff.”

Li Sinian’s lips twitched. “You really do have a collector’s obsession.”

“I only have that problem with you. I only want to collect things of yours.”

Li Sinian snorted lightly. “I thought your wardrobe would be full of clothes. Didn’t expect it to be stuffed with all this random stuff.”

“I’d love to have your clothes in there… if only I could get them.”

Li Sinian thought for a moment, then asked, “What do you think I look best in?”

Without hesitation, Jiang Rongxuan answered, “Your school uniform.”

“Why?”

“Because when you came down from nowhere to save me, that’s what you were wearing.” Jiang Rongxuan’s voice softened. “You look good in anything, but your school uniform is the one I’ll never forget.”

They really had just come to visit Jiang Rongxuan’s old place, and that night they returned to Suzhou.

Life went back to normal.

Until the third day after the HaiCheng trip, Li Sinian quietly dropped a big surprise.

Usually, Li Sinian was the first to shower, but this time he insisted Jiang Rongxuan go first. Jiang Rongxuan didn’t think much of it and went ahead. When he came out, he froze at the scene before him.

Li Sinian had changed into a white school uniform, his high-bridged nose framed by a pair of glasses, his expression calm. Without a word, he tossed a plastic bag into Jiang Rongxuan’s arms—just like the very first time they met in the school bathroom.

Jiang Rongxuan stared hard at him, then finally looked down. That’s when he froze again. Before, Li Sinian had thrown some ointment for his wounds. Now, in his arms was a box of condoms.

Jiang Rongxuan couldn’t hold back anymore and lunged at Li Sinian. Poorly fitting school uniform, worn for the first time, was instantly torn to shreds.

 

 

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