Chapter 1: Breaking Up at the Start, with a Little Help from the Divine

Page (1/3), December 4th, 2024.

“Chu Nan, let’s break up!”

At a riverside barbecue stall, Xi Shuang’s gaze was icy cold.

Chu Nan, who had been sitting next to her with a cheerful smile, suddenly looked stunned. “Shuangshuang, what’s wrong? Why do you want to break up?”

Their relationship had been decent, so this sudden breakup made no sense.

“You’re asking what’s wrong? I said I wanted to have Japanese cuisine, and you complained it was too expensive and brought me to a roadside stall?” Xi Shuang’s expression was grim.

Chu Nan, noticing the curious eyes around them, felt awkward. “Shuangshuang, that Japanese meal costs 999 yuan—it’s a tax on stupidity. Besides, I just lost my job.”

“I think you just can’t bear to spend money. Losing your job is your own fault. That’s not even the point. The real issue is you still have two hundred thousand in savings and you’re not willing to spend even a little of it on me? How can you say that with a straight face?”

“That two hundred thousand is the dowry I saved to marry you. That’s what we agreed on, wasn’t it…”

“So you think I’m only worth two hundred thousand? My girlfriends all say if there’s not at least three hundred thousand and an apartment, there’s no way to marry. And I’m even waiving the apartment for you! Besides, what does this have to do with the dowry? This is about your attitude. If you’re not willing to buy me Japanese cuisine now, how much more will I have to put up with if I marry you! Do you think that’s okay? I must have been blind to fall for you. You’re thirty and you don’t have a car or a house—aren’t you ashamed?”

Chu Nan suddenly felt exhausted. “Well, do you have those things?”

“Why should I?”

Chu Nan unexpectedly laughed, feeling a sudden sense of relief. He turned to the man beside him. “Boss, you haven’t started our barbecue yet, have you?”

The owner looked at him sympathetically. “Not yet, brother…”

“No need to make it then.” Chu Nan said, then turned and left with a flourish.

He didn’t feel the slightest sadness. On the contrary, he felt lucky. If he had really married this woman, who knew how much suffering his future would hold.

He silently thanked this meal for showing him someone’s true colors.

He didn’t think it was wrong for a woman to care about money, but a woman whose eyes saw nothing but money and who only wanted to take—well, that was a problem.

In over a year of dating, he’d spent nearly thirty thousand on Ms. Xi: designer bags, brand-name phones, and timely holiday red envelopes every time. It was always 999 or 1314, while she’d only ever bought him a tie worth a few dozen yuan, claiming it was a token of her love, while she called what he did “romantic gestures…”

Yet Chu Nan didn’t blame her. After all, wasn’t this his own doing, too? You learn from your mistakes. A woman like this was all too common—painfully realistic.

But… he suddenly regretted that they’d never slept together, and wondered if all the money he’d spent was for nothing.

“She said she wanted to save her first time for the wedding night, so she wouldn’t let me touch her. Was that a lie?” Chu Nan’s face darkened. If so, he’d really lost out.

“Forget it, it’s not a loss. At least I’m still clean.” Chu Nan quickly comforted himself. Years of corporate life had taught him how to adjust his mindset.

“Chu Nan, you bastard! Get back here now! If you leave, I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!” Xi Shuang’s voice rang out in humiliation and anger behind him, but Chu Nan ignored her completely.

Go back? Only a fool would go back!

Riding his little electric scooter on his way home, Chu Nan suddenly saw a little girl standing in the middle of the road, crying her heart out, while cars sped past.

“Whose child is this? Isn’t there an adult looking after her?”

Chu Nan frowned, inclined to mind his own business, when suddenly a roaring sound filled the air.

A massive truck was barreling toward the girl at breakneck speed. Through the windshield, he could see a middle-aged man at the wheel, dozing off.

“Damn it…” Chu Nan didn’t have time to think. He dropped his scooter and sprinted toward the little girl.

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“Bang!!”

He was struck, his whole body arcing through the air in a beautiful parabola. As his consciousness began to fade, Chu Nan heard shouts, screams, and the crisp sound of shattering glass.

Fortunately, he could also hear the bright, unmistakable sound of the little girl crying in his arms…

“A lifetime of mediocrity, and at last I’ve done something meaningful. Mom, Dad, I’ll be your son again in the next life…” This was Chu Nan’s final thought before his awareness slipped into darkness.

“Chu Nan, Chu Nan…”

In a daze, Chu Nan heard someone calling his name.

He opened his eyes, and vaguely saw, in the dusk-lit corridor, a long shadow cast by the setting sun.

It was a man, indistinct in form but glowing with golden light, with a pair of wings on his back.

“Who are you? Are you the one calling me?”

“I am God.”

“God?” Chu Nan laughed. “If you’re God, then I’m your father.”

“You’ve achieved nothing in your life, and you’re still a virgin at thirty—how pitiful…”

Chu Nan bristled. “Nonsense! I’ve given myself to the five-fingered maiden!”

“Fortunately, you haven’t committed any major sins in this life, and you did save a little girl. That speaks to your kindness. Do you have any wishes?”

“I’m already dead and you’re asking me this? My wish is for you to drop dead. And if I’m dead, why do I still have consciousness?”

“Never mind. I’ll give you a chance to live again, with three special skills. That should make you extraordinary. But remember, this means you’ll have to pay a price. Your fate is in your own hands…”

“Hey, you lunatic, what are you talking about? Are you even listening to me?”

…

“Chu Nan, wake up! Stop sleeping—wake up!”

“Wake up? Do you really think you’re God?”

Chu Nan raised his head in a daze. The glowing man was gone, replaced by a sea of students’ heads, and the person speaking was a plump-faced boy.

Chu Nan was startled. “Holy crap, Yang Jingtian, why is it you? Didn’t you jump into the river for love?”

“I…” Yang Jingtian wanted to curse, but it seemed unnecessary.

“Chu Nan, get out!” The middle-aged woman at the lectern pointed at Chu Nan and shouted, her face darker than the bottom of a pot.

“The Iron Nun?”

“What did you say?” The woman’s face twisted in rage. “Get out—right now!”

This kid dared to act up in her class, and to call her the Iron Nun in front of everyone? If she let this go, she’d hardly be worthy of the nickname!

The students around them were struggling not to laugh, some clearly delighted by the spectacle, most just eager onlookers hoping for more drama.

Chu Nan instinctively ran a hand through his hair, but to his surprise, not a single strand came out!

Hadn’t he been losing hair by the handful from stress lately?

He looked up. On the blackboard were the words: “33 days until the college entrance exam.”

High school? Had he returned to 2006?

Was what the god in his dream said true?

“Chu Nan, did you hear me? Get out!” the teacher snapped.

“Sorry, teacher, I was wrong. I’ll never do it again. Sorry, sorry, I was just too drowsy and lost myself.” Chu Nan pinched his thigh—the pain was all too real. He quickly stood and bowed to the homeroom teacher, Zhang Liangying.

He really had been reborn!

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Realizing this, he naturally wasn’t about to cause any more trouble.

This left everyone else stunned—when had the usually silent Chu Nan ever admitted a mistake, let alone bowed?

Chu Nan didn’t care what they thought. Years in the workforce had taught him that, to survive, the weak must bow to the strong. Besides, she was the homeroom teacher—what was wrong with a little bow?

Back in high school, the Iron Nun had scolded him often. At the time, he’d resented her, but after joining society, he realized she’d been hard on him because she cared. If she’d really been a bad person, why would she have tutored him in the office after class?

You only truly understand, once you’re independent, that apart from family, almost no one will help you without expecting something in return. Maybe only teachers can count as a partial exception.

Zhang Liangying’s expression eased. “So you know you were wrong? Are you going to keep talking in class? Are you going to keep sleeping in my class?”

“No, never! From now on, not just your class, but every teacher’s class, I’ll be all ears!” Chu Nan said earnestly.

“Is that so?” Zhang Liangying clearly didn’t believe him, but since he’d admitted his mistake, there was no need to scold further.

“I’ll let it go this time. Next time you’ll never attend my class again!”

“Understood, thank you, Teacher!”

This scene left the class dumbfounded. Chu Nan had defused a classroom storm with ease—something he’d never done before. In the past, he’d simply accept punishment silently; today, it was as if he’d become a new person.

“Is Old Chu sick or something?” That was Yang Jingtian’s most honest thought.

When Chu Nan calmed down, he looked at the words on the blackboard again.

33 days until the college entrance exam.

“Only a month left… I’m done for…” Chu Nan felt a wave of despair.

Reborn, he’d hoped to study hard and get into a top university, but now that seemed like a pipe dream. After more than ten years, how could he possibly catch up? Even a genius would struggle to relearn all that in a month. The protagonists in those rebirth novels were all full of it.

Unless he had a cheat!

“System? Cheat? God? Come out, I need you!” Chu Nan called over and over, but nothing happened. He finally accepted reality—he was just an ordinary reborn person, with no cheats or golden fingers.

As for those “skills” the god mentioned—there was nothing. Otherwise, there’d be a panel by now: sign in to get a sports car, spend money to get ten thousand times cashback, strategy guides for winning over school beauties—all that clichéd nonsense.

But! He! Had! None! Of! It!

The only thing he had was his knowledge of the next decade.

But that information was useless for the college entrance exam. In fact, his memories of it were so blurry, he only vaguely remembered the essay topic from his year—everything else was gone.

“God? More like a conman. Damn it, am I not even going to make it into a second-rate college this time?”

That thought made Chu Nan even more despondent. In his past life, he’d at least gotten into a bottom-tier university. Now, he had no confidence at all…

Why couldn’t this second chance have started after graduation, or at least in college? Then he wouldn’t have to worry about getting in at all…

…