Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

The bus stop was crowded with people, and two fourth-grade elementary students stood in line waiting for the bus.

Not far away, a middle-aged man with glasses also stood to the side.

A bus approached the crowded platform, and the two students boarded the bus. The man with glasses followed the crowd and also got on the bus.

Just a second before the bus was about to close its doors, the two children ran out from the middle door of the bus. The man with glasses immediately shouted to stop the bus that was about to start and got off.

But after getting off the bus, the man with glasses looked around, but he couldn’t see the two children anywhere.

Mei Fang and Xia Yuan got off the bus and ran desperately. They turned several blocks and found a bus stop. Then they immediately got on the approaching bus and found a seat.

During this time, Xia Yuan held Mei Fang’s hand tightly, refusing to let go, even sweating in her palm. She only let go a little when they sat down.

Phew…

It was quite a shocking unexpected event for Mei Fang to encounter a bad person, but fortunately, he had made a plan and was more vigilant, which prevented any potential crisis.

Mei Fang handed a tissue to Xia Yuan, but she kept trembling and clearly hadn’t recovered from the situation just now.

Seeing this, Mei Fang could only gently pat Xia Yuan’s head to comfort her.

Under Mei Fang’s comfort, Xia Yuan gradually calmed down.

But when she looked up at Mei Fang again, her eyes were red and swollen like peaches, and tears kept flowing from the corners of her eyes.

She started apologizing to Mei Fang non-stop.

“Mei Fang… It’s all my fault… I’m sorry…”

“What did you do wrong? It’s okay… Don’t worry, don’t worry!”

It was really difficult to calm her down. It seemed that she was really scared.

Mei Fang wiped Xia Yuan’s tears again, gave her water, and kept patting her head along the way, finally making Xia Yuan stop sobbing and speak.

Although this incident scared the child quite a bit, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the innocent Xia Yuan to realize that the world could be dangerous.

After all, he couldn’t always be by her side, right?

“I… I… I didn’t expect that there are really so many bad people outside. Mom and Dad must be worried sick about us now.”

Xia Yuan rubbed her eyes, “Mei Fang, I think we can’t let Mom and Dad worry anymore… Your parents must be worried about you too.”

Mei Fang nodded. He hadn’t considered his own parents at all, “There’s a police station at the next stop. Let’s go find uncle JC^[1] for help and also tell him about that strange uncle.”

Mei Fang didn’t plan to let this incident continue for too long. The sudden situation just now showed that with his current physical condition and strength, he couldn’t fully guarantee his and Xia Yuan’s safety.

After the bus arrived at the station, Mei Fang and Xia Yuan went to the police station together. Mei Fang explained to uncle JC about Xia Yuan and herself, saying that Xia Yuan’s parents were arguing and she wanted to find her grandmother to discuss what to do, so she took the bus to Jiangcheng.

As a close classmate, Mei Fang was worried about Xia Yuan’s safety, so she came along.

In addition, they explained the situation about the strange uncle they met at the KFC restaurant.

While gently criticizing and educating Xia Yuan and Mei Fang, the JC uncles contacted Xia Yuan’s mother.

After explaining the situation to the anxious mother on the phone, the uncle JC handed the phone over.

It should have been Xia Yuan who answered the phone, but she kept shaking Mei Fang’s arm.

There was no other choice…

Mei Fang cleared his throat and took the phone call.

“Hello… Is this Teacher Yu? This is Mei Fang.”

“Yes, Xia Yuan is with me.”

“She said she wanted to go to her grandmother, and I’m very worried about her…”

The voice on the other end of the phone became unusually loud, and Mei Fang closed his eyes as if he was being scolded.

“Why… Why I didn’t contact you… At that time, the situation was urgent, Xia Yuan was about to get on the bus, and I couldn’t stop her, so…”

“I’m sorry… Teacher Yu… I’m really sorry.”

Mei Fang seemed to be crying from being scolded by his homeroom teacher, whom he had never been scolded by before. There was a hint of grievance in his voice.

But his emotional preparation was quite in place, probably because of the crying tone, the voice of Teacher Yu on the other end of the phone also became softer.

“Should I let Xia Yuan answer the phone?”

Mei Fang glanced at Xia Yuan, who looked helpless and submissive.

“Um.. excuse me, is Uncle Xia with you now?”

“He’s still looking for us outside, and hasn’t had a chance to contact us yet?”

“Teacher Yu, although we made a mistake, there are some things that Xia Yuan may still want to say to you face to face.”

Mei Fang paused and explained in a calm tone, “She can’t talk to you directly right now, so we plan to contact Xia Yuan’s grandmother first and wait for you and Uncle Xia to come to her house.”

So Mei Fang handed the phone to the uncle JC again, and after confirming some information again, the uncle JC hung up the phone.

“You… are you really an elementary student? You’re young but you speak like an adult.”

“I have no choice.” Mei Fang sighed, “I have been silently enduring the pressure of a life that is beyond my age.”

“Kids these days are really something.”

“Little Miss, where is your grandmother’s house? We’ll drive you there.”

“Then I’ll trouble uncle JC!”

It was supposed to be a very strange experience to take the police bus for the first time, but Xia Yuan didn’t have a happy mood. She kept holding Mei Fang’s arm and speaking softly during the ride.

“I… after seeing my Mom and Dad again, what should I say?”

“… Do you want to know my thoughts?”

Mei Fang shook his head, “The fact that you agreed to this plan, shouldn’t it come from your own thoughts?”

“But the words I want to say are all written in the letter…”

Xia Yuan said, “I hope Dad can spend more time with me. I don’t want Mom and Dad to get divorced… I also told Mom in the letter that if I’m not here anymore, maybe Mom and Dad will get along better… This way, if they argue, they will think of me and won’t argue anymore.”

“Have you said such things before?”

“Um…”

Xia Yuan stared angrily at Mei Fang, “I know it’s funny.”

“Little Miss, this is not funny at all.”

One of the JC uncles said, “No matter how difficult things get, don’t hold a disregard for life. It will only make the people around you feel heartbroken.”

“I, I understand… Uncle JC! I won’t do this anymore in the future!”

Xia Yuan quickly apologized to uncle JC in fear.

“Oh… Uncle JC… I want to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead!”

“After we did this kind of thing…”

Xia Yuan lowered her head and hesitated, then gathered the courage to ask, “Do we still have to stay in there for a few more days? Or go to a correctional facility or something…”

“Um…”

Seeing both uncle JC’s silence, Xia Yuan thought it really had an impact, so she tried to help Mei Fang clear his name.

“This whole thing was my idea, it has nothing to do with Mei Fang! He just… um… he just wanted to stop me! If you want to arrest someone, just arrest me!”

Mei Fang lightly tapped Xia Yuan’s head, forcing her to quiet down. “It’s okay, Uncle JC won’t arrest you.”

“That’s good…”

The police car was now waiting at a traffic light at the intersection. Xia Yuan looked boredly out the window, and a figure on the street caught her attention, causing her to tightly grab Mei Fang’s arm.

“What’s wrong with you…”

Following the direction Xia Yuan was looking, Mei Fang saw the figure reading a newspaper. Who else could it be but the strange uncle who had been following them today?

Mei Fang noticed that they had passed a bus stop earlier, it seemed that this strange uncle specifically targeted children who were alone near bus stops, he was already a repeat offender.

He signaled the car to stop, and Xia Yuan immediately called out to the JC uncles:

“Uncle JC! That’s the person! He has been following us!”

The two uncles immediately made a decision and pulled over. The strange uncle, seeing the two uncle JC approaching, quickly turned and walked away as if he was guilty.

So Xia Yuan and Mei Fang sat in the car, watching through the window as the uncle JC captured the strange man on the street. Xia Yuan’s heart finally felt relieved.

Translator’s Notes:

1. JC is the abbreviation for Jingcha (警察) or Police/Policeman in English. ↩︎

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