Chapter 1

On the evening of September 19, 2002.

An 18-year-old boy was staring intently at the TV in his bedroom.

At that moment, the TV was broadcasting the weekly sports program "Football Night" on Thursday.

"As long as our national team can perform well in every match in the future, I believe that in four years, we can once again qualify for the World Cup finals..."

"As long as our young players can go abroad more often to gain better experience..."

"As long as we can improve our league..." the host and guest said confidently.

Hearing this, the boy watching TV shook his head silently.

"League? Overseas experience for young players?

They're all a bunch of good-for-nothings...

For 20 years, from 2002 to 2022, we never had another chance to enter the World Cup finals.

Even the league is almost on the verge of collapse."

Fans of this era probably couldn't have imagined that.

Everyone thought this World Cup journey would be a new starting point for the national men's football team, but who could have thought it would be the peak of the national men's football team!

Although Su An had a lot of dirty words for the national team, he was incredibly excited in his heart.

He was excited because he had somehow returned to being 18 years old.

Returning to 18 was a great opportunity to change his fate.

However, just as Su An was watching the program with mixed feelings, a figure beside him suddenly put down the remote control and stood up.

"Damn, I was so focused on watching TV that I almost forgot something.

This afternoon, Chen Wenjie called our house.

She wants to know when you're going to Beijing to continue your studies," Zhang Lu said, his face filled with envy.

Although Su An's family was so poor they couldn't even afford a phone, this kid had won the game of life.

"Uh!"

"Huh?"

"Ahh..." From a numb response to a puzzled recollection, and then a surprised shout.

These three expressions took less than two seconds.

And with that shout, a flood of buried memories began to resurface.

Chen Wenjie, his classmate from junior high school.

She was the most beautiful girl in the class, even in the school, whether in junior high, high school, or even college.

Three years ago, during the high school entrance exam, this underachiever failed to get into high school.

So he decided to let himself go and started working in society.

In 1999, as a high school dropout, he worked at a brick factory in the county for more than half a year.

Ten hours of work a day, with a monthly salary of only 300 yuan.

It was during this time that Su An realized that going to school was not only not painful but also the most comfortable thing in the world.

So the next year, under his parents' arrangement, Su An entered a vocational school in the county to study computer science.

By 2002, during the college entrance exam season and graduation season,

He somehow wrote a love letter to his former classmate.

Perhaps at that time, seeing that he was about to graduate from vocational school and Chen Wenjie was about to take the college entrance exam,

The two might not have many more opportunities to see each other in the future.

So he decided to no longer hide his feelings and boldly expressed his love.

However, the love letter became a small essay read by the entire class.

But who could have thought that the most beautiful girl in the senior class, a top student,

Would announce in front of the whole class that she accepted the confession of a vocational school student.

That year, the fact that the goddess accepted his confession indeed caused quite a stir and aroused the envy and jealousy of many people.

However, behind the envious looks, no one knew the real story.

At that time, Chen Wenjie's acceptance was the result of multiple factors.

With the college entrance exam approaching, two senior students fought over her.

One of them even ended up in the hospital.

For senior students, the college entrance exam was a turning point in their lives.

But at such a critical moment, one of the students was in the hospital.

A small accident at such a critical turning point could ruin a person's life, especially for children in a small county, where this was the only way to change their fate.

It's easy to imagine how angry the parents of the hospitalized student were.

Although the whole incident had nothing to do with Chen Wenjie, it was because of her that it happened.

The parents of the hospitalized student said many harsh words in front of Chen Wenjie.

Perhaps feeling wronged, or to prevent similar incidents from happening again,

Chen Wenjie used the public exposure of Su An's love letter to announce in front of the class that she accepted Su An's confession.

When Su An heard this news, he immediately ran to the high school and invited Chen Wenjie for a meal.

However, during the meal, he realized that he was just a human shield.

Chen Wenjie begged Su An to pretend to be her boyfriend until after the college entrance exam.

At that time, Su An, facing the goddess's pitiful plea, chose to obey unconditionally.

After the college entrance exam, Chen Wenjie became the first student from the county to be admitted to Tsinghua University, and her personal interview was broadcast on the county TV station for more than a week.

After that, the two, both in Beijing, often went out together on weekends.

The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the hutongs, watching football at the Workers' Stadium...

They even stayed up all night to watch the flag-raising ceremony.

It was like this until 2007 when Chen Wenjie chose to study abroad.

After that, Su An never saw Chen Wenjie again, only chatting with her occasionally online.

However, one day in 2009.

Around 3 AM, Su An's phone received dozens of messages from Chen Wenjie.

At that time, Su An was already fast asleep, and his phone was on silent mode, so he didn't hear any notifications.

On the other side of the world, Chen Wenjie had been in a car accident and was trapped in the car, unable to escape.

During this time, as Chen Wenjie felt her life might be ending,

She sent many messages to her relatives and friends.

Even at this critical moment, she didn't forget Su An.

"Before the college entrance exam, I used you as an emotional shield.

After entering university, I continued to have you pretend to be my boyfriend to stop those persistent male classmates.

Even when I studied abroad, I would say I had a boyfriend back home.

I would even show them photos of us climbing the Great Wall and visiting the Forbidden City.

It turns out, all these years, I was wrong.

I should have realized earlier that I loved you.

I betrayed your deep feelings, perhaps this is my punishment from heaven.

Only now, as I am about to die, do I see that my heart is full of your image.

No wonder I never felt anything for other men, but I often thought of you.

I just realized it too late...

I'm sorry...

The car is on fire, I'm so scared...

Su An, I'm in so much pain...

Su An... save me...

Su An, if there is a next life, you must keep me by your side.

I, I have never been kissed... can you kiss me?

The fire is getting bigger...

Goodbye! I love you, Su An.

Please don't be sad for me, and don't look at the photos of my accident. I only want to remain the most beautiful in your heart.

I hope you start a new relationship soon, and when you get married, I will turn into a cloud to witness your happiness..."

Chen Wenjie's messages were not long, but she was frantically sending them in segments, almost sending every two words.

Perhaps at that moment, Chen Wenjie was worried that the car might explode, and if she didn't send the messages in time, it would be too late.

So, she typed quickly and sent messages quickly.

Even so, it seemed she had more to say but left this world before she could finish.

Chen Wenjie, the beautiful girl always known as the school beauty,

Never imagined that her first kiss would be through text messages.

At this moment, as Su An recalled this memory,

He saw that his best years were spent being a舔狗 (licking dog) and a备胎 (backup tire) for Chen Wenjie.

Now, Su An had been reborn.

With two lives and the advantage of being reborn, Su An had many ways to make Chen Wenjie stay and develop in the country.

However, whether to make up for the regrets of his previous life, Su An was very conflicted.

Because five years after Chen Wenjie left, Su An had his own family.

Over the years, whether it was investment failures or the loss of family members, it was his frail wife who supported him.

Even after many years of marriage, he couldn't even afford a 60-square-meter second-hand apartment and had to keep moving.

Now, with the ability to change his fate, how could he leave her behind? A person can be shameless, but not heartless...

"I'm going to report to school tomorrow.

The school has already been in session for two weeks, but everyone is in military training.

I just postponed my reporting." Su An pretended to be lazy and avoid military training, but in reality, his parents wanted to save money.

After all, the two weeks of military training required a fee of 220 yuan.

His parents thought that since it wasn't formal classes, there was no need to waste 220 yuan. They could report later when classes officially started.

A family that counted every 200 yuan was clearly struggling.

Fortunately, the school Su An was going to was a vocational technical school, not a university where military training counted towards credits.

"Damn, I wish I could go to school, but my parents don't agree!" Zhang Lu said with a look of resentment.

Zhang Lu was Su An's junior high school classmate, who had entered the county vocational school a year earlier.

Now, he was working as a network administrator in an internet cafe, earning 450 yuan a month.

"Being a network administrator isn't bad, you get to add so many beautiful girls' QQ numbers!" Su An teased.

"Not bad my ass...

Because of a fire in an internet cafe, all internet cafes in the country are closed, and my boss isn't paying me.

I don't even have money for cigarettes. My life is poorer than when I was in school." Zhang Lu said with a bitter expression.

"Actually, I sincerely suggest you learn something.

Even though internet cafes are closed and the internet is cut off,

You can still go to the CD store and look for a software CD called Photoshop.

If you can't find it, you can go to a bookstore.

Many instructional books come with software CDs and even some materials.

Learn this software, and I can help you find a job in a photo studio in Beijing, or we can open a photo studio together in the county." As someone who had been through it, Su An knew that digital cameras were becoming a trend in photo studios.

"I'll look into it! Alright, get some sleep early!

Don't let your mom take you tomorrow morning, I'll ride my motorcycle to the station with you." Zhang Lu didn't refuse to learn and even offered to send Su An off.

For the past three months, he had been playing CS and Red Alert with the two bosses in the internet cafe, and the joy of gaming was long gone.

More importantly, Zhang Lu also wanted to learn something and venture into the big city!

"Thanks, brother!" Su An said sincerely.

After Zhang Lu left, Su An lost interest in watching TV.

He decided to take a shower and rest early.

Just as he entered the simple bathroom in the courtyard, his phone suddenly rang.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

Hearing the familiar sound, Su An instinctively reached into his pocket.

"Someone is still calling me even after I've been reborn?" Su An blurted out instinctively.

But after saying that, he almost dropped his phone.