FIMA Ch1: Rebirth [Arc1]

Early November, just after the start of winter.

In the Jiangnan region, the changes in the solar terms are most acutely felt. The cool breeze of early winter brushed past the golden treetops, bringing a slight chill to the air.

Inside the classroom of Class 3, Grade 12 at Beichuan High School, the students were slumped over their desks, napping during the lunch break.

Suddenly, the quiet was shattered by the sound of something cutting through the air, accompanied by the swift flash of a ball.

“Bang!”

A fierce collision came from the neighboring desk, causing Gu Siyuan, who was half-lying on his desk, to shake violently. He immediately squinted his eyes in displeasure.

At the same time, a clear and startled cry sounded beside him. The person at the next desk had obviously been hit harder, and their body was uncontrollably falling towards him.

Gu Siyuan didn’t have time to think and reflexively raised his hand to block.

If it weren’t for his stable footing, the sudden weight and momentum might have knocked him over.

But because his legs were so stable, his dear deskmate ended up landing right on his lap.

The series of movements, especially this peculiar scene, attracted everyone’s attention.

Then, one after another, the classroom burst into laughter.

All the drowsiness and fatigue seemed to be instantly driven away.

Gu Siyuan, however, wasn’t paying attention to any of this. He silently looked at the small mirror on his deskmate’s tall stack of books. The face reflected in it was both familiar and strange.

It was his eighteen-year-old self.

He was born in a remote, winding mountain valley. Orphaned at an early age, he had relied on part-time work and various scholarships to make it to university.

Although the first twenty years were tough, he had a good brain compared to others. He was always ahead of his peers, continuing on to a master’s degree without a hitch.

After graduation, he first stayed on to teach at the university, then founded a tech company and established a private laboratory.

From having nothing to becoming successful and then dying young in the prime of his life, his colorful journey could have been written into a book.

And now, as the system had said, he was reborn into his past life, and everything from his previous life was just a story in a book?

Gu Siyuan’s lips curled into a slight smile, revealing no emotions.

According to the system, the protagonists of the story were his classmates Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang. The two were childhood friends, both Alphas, who had known each other since they were four and always attended the same schools and classes.

However, as they grew older, Shen Ting once had a wet dream and vaguely saw the face under him was his good friend Lu Jiayang, which startled him awake.

Since then, what he thought was solid brotherhood began to change. He started to have an unusual possessiveness towards Lu Jiayang.

But in reality, the feelings were not one-sided. Lu Jiayang had long realized his special feelings for Shen Ting.

However, as both were Alphas and from prominent families, an Alpha-Alpha relationship wasn’t simple.

So, Lu Jiayang suppressed his feelings, and his pride and self-respect wouldn’t allow him to confess.

Upon entering high school, Lu Jiayang, with his good looks, excellent grades, and gentle personality, attracted many Beta and Omega classmates who wanted to study with him.

But Shen Ting, being the dominant Alpha, was extremely jealous and angry about this.

Thus, with similar feelings of awkwardness, he also began to deliberately get close to the Omegas in the class.

At that time, the cannon fodder male character Xie Qingxiao, who was currently sitting in Gu Siyuan’s lap, unexpectedly entered the lives of the two protagonists and ultimately became the catalyst for them to recognize their feelings.

Xie Qingxiao was an Omega. In this private high school full of rich second-generation students, his family background was only average, but his looks were exquisite and his academic performance was outstanding.

Not only that, since his first year, he had been pursued by many Alphas at the school but had always remained indifferent, claiming he only wanted to study well in high school. Therefore, he was also humorously referred to by some as the “flower on the high ridge” and was quite famous at Beichuan Private High School.

However, despite his seemingly aloof demeanor, Xie Qingxiao actually had a good impression of the protagonist Shen Ting because of a past incident.

Although Shen Ting was confused when dealing with Lu Jiayang, he was a smart person otherwise and naturally noticed Xie Qingxiao’s feelings for him.

The two of them were both good-looking and matched well in temperament, making them seem like a perfect pair, often drawing teasing remarks from those around them, to which Shen Ting never denied.

Of course, Shen Ting’s intention was just to slightly provoke Lu Jiayang, hoping to reconcile with him.

But Lu Jiayang, being sensitive and stubborn, was not someone who would easily admit defeat. Their relationship became increasingly strained, eventually leading to a huge argument and a cold war.

When he calmed down, Shen Ting became more aware of his feelings and realized he couldn’t lose Lu Jiayang.

He decided to apologize.

So, on this year’s Qixi Festival, Shen Ting carefully prepared a gift, intending to give it to Lu Jiayang and express his feelings.

However, on that day, he accidentally walked in on an Omega confessing to Lu Jiayang. Shen Ting’s eyes immediately turned red with anger, and he rushed over, demanding an explanation from Lu Jiayang in a harsh tone.

At that moment, Xie Qingxiao happened to come looking for Shen Ting on a teacher’s errand.

Lu Jiayang was already upset with Shen Ting for not respecting him in front of others. Now, seeing Xie Qingxiao, his anger was further fueled. How could Shen Ting, who was ambiguous with Xie Qingxiao, have the right to question him?

Immediately, he started speaking recklessly, saying things like, “Shen Ting, you’re not being fair. You already have a beauty by your side. How can you come and ruin your brother’s relationship?”

Shen Ting’s anger at these remarks was, of course, unimaginable.

The next moment, he publicly took Xie Qingxiao’s hand and then gave the carefully prepared gift to Xie Qingxiao.

Thus, because of this behavior on Qixi festival (Chinese Valentine’s Day), everyone, including Xie Qingxiao himself, assumed they were now dating.

From then on, every time Shen Ting was angered by Lu Jiayang, he would deliberately become more affectionate with Xie Qingxiao, making Xie Qingxiao fall deeper for him.

Meanwhile, Lu Jiayang, amidst his heartache, would jokingly call Xie Qingxiao “sister-in-law” and tease them about their good relationship.

Eventually, when Xie Qingxiao discovered the true nature of Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang’s relationship and realized he was just a tool for Shen Ting to provoke Lu Jiayang, his personality changed drastically. He became hostile towards Lu Jiayang and unscrupulous.

In the end, under Shen Ting’s disdain and targeting, he lost everything.

Not only was he expelled from school, but shortly after turning 18, his greedy father and stepmother sold him off to a wealthy Alpha in his fifties with a severe tendency for domestic violence.

“Mission: Change Xie Qingxiao’s tragic fate and bring him happiness.

Success Reward: One lottery draw.

Failure Penalty: No reward.”

The familiar cold mechanical voice spoke word by word.

According to the system’s timeline, it was now early November, roughly two months after Xie Qingxiao and Shen Ting had established their relationship on Qixi Festival.

Although Gu Siyuan’s mind had processed all this, only a moment had passed in reality.

He squinted at the slender figure on his lap and then glanced at the basketball lightly bouncing on the floor, expressionless as he asked, “Who did this…”