Almost the Same

"You guys are so slow. Do you have any concept of time?" At the sports center, a guy with dyed orange spiky hair couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and say. He was skinny and wore a T-shirt with a giant skull on it.

"We aren't late, alright? It's obviously you who arrived too early," Chen Qin said with dissatisfaction, crossing her arms.

Ye Shuang's gaze also fell on Blondie. In the next second, he recognized that this was Fugui when he had just started middle school. Back then, he had been beaten by his parents for dyeing his hair like this.

Although he spoke like a delinquent, in reality, he just watched too many TV dramas and felt that acting this way would keep him from being bullied.

"Where's Fuyao?"

"Oh, her. She went to buy water for everyone," Fugui said. After a while, a girl wearing a long dress walked over from not far away.

She had shoulder-length brown short hair and was about the same height as Fugui. She was so slender that it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away, and her slightly pale face featured squinting eyes that radiated gentleness.

"Xiaoye, I bought water for you guys." Li Fuyao's voice was soft and delicate. Upon seeing Ye Shuang and the others, she handed over the drinks in her hands.

"Here, the cola you like to drink."

However, Ye Shuang just stared at the living, breathing Li Fuyao in front of him. Unconsciously, he watched her for several seconds until the young girl's cheeks flushed red, and she spoke softly,

"What's wrong? Do I look weird today?"

"Ye, why are you staring at Fuyao?" Chen Qin, standing to the side, started to sound a bit sour as she reached out and tugged at Ye Shuang.

Ye Shuang snapped back to reality and smiled faintly. "Nothing, I just feel like I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Didn't we just meet yesterday?" Li Fuyao said, seeming a bit puzzled.

But she still smiled gently. "Did you miss me?"

"..." Ye Shuang didn't say anything more and instead asked,

"Let's go, let's find a place to play badminton."

"What about Chen Hai?"

"Chen Hai will come over later."

The group walked into the gymnasium. Renting a court required a fee, about 5 yuan per person. Since it was the weekend, the place was crowded. While waiting in line, Ye Shuang accidentally locked eyes with a child in another queue nearby.

It was a toddler being held by a woman in her twenties. The child looked to be only a few years old and was currently looking over with big, round eyes.

The moment their eyes met, Ye Shuang couldn't help but feel that the child looked somewhat familiar.

"Oh my, what are you doing?" the child said in a milky voice. "Haven't you ever seen a great beauty before?"

Ye Shuang instantly found it amusing.

"Don't be like that, it's impolite," the woman holding the child said softly, petting her short hair.

"Oh."

Ye Shuang smiled as well, then turned his head away and stopped paying attention to them.

At this time, Yuyou was probably about the same age as this child. That little girl was likely still living the life of a little princess right now.

If... he could stay in this timeline all the way until high school, would he have the chance to immediately prevent all those tragedies from happening?

Although Ye Shuang thought this, he felt it was unlikely he would remain in this world forever.

This broken system, couldn't it at least give a hint?

Just as Ye Shuang was sighing with emotion, it was their turn to buy tickets and enter.

With exactly four people, they could play doubles. Ye Shuang paired up with Chen Qin, while Fugui and his sister formed a team. After a few rounds, everyone took a short break.

"Ye, you can't keep going?" Seeing Ye Shuang wanting to rest, Chen Qin asked.

"Doesn't Fuyao need to rest? It's the perfect time for me to sit with her," Ye Shuang said, not realizing there was anything wrong with what he just said.

Hearing this, Chen Qin pouted her lips.

"Sit with her... fine then."

At this moment, Fugui hit the birdie over. In the next second, accompanied by the crisp sound of a racket striking, the birdie whizzed past his ear!

"Huh?" Fugui was stunned for a moment. Seeing Chen Qin who had just performed a smash, he exclaimed in surprise,

"Whoa, when did you learn to smash?"

"Eh? Without even realizing it..." Chen Qin looked at the racket in her hand and scratched her head.

Ye Shuang, however, wasn't paying attention to Chen Qin's side. Instead, he sat down next to Fuyao.

Fuyao then took a towel out of the bag beside her and handed it over.

"Here, wipe your sweat. The towel is new, no one has used it."

Ye Shuang took the towel but didn't say anything.

It was actually Fuyao's first time seeing Ye Shuang approach her so proactively. A slight blush crept up her ears, and her voice was a bit hesitant. "Xiaoye, what's wrong? You're a bit weird today. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Ye Shuang couldn't help but look at her for a few more seconds. She still had this gentle and soft temperament, not changing one bit.

He hesitated for a few seconds. Thinking about how Fuyao would get into an accident after school on a certain day in the future, he spoke up, "Be with me."

Fuyao's face instantly turned red. She gently covered her mouth, looking at Ye Shuang in disbelief.

"From now on, when we go home after school, go back together with us." Ye Shuang felt he had conveyed the wrong meaning and quickly clarified.

As the saying goes about the butterfly effect, Ye Shuang believed that even a tiny change could alter the course of the future.

"Go home together?" Fuyao finally realized what he meant. She seemed a bit surprised that Ye Shuang would invite her like this. After all, in Fuyao's impression, he actually didn't really like getting too close to girls.

It was basically boys playing with boys, and girls playing with girls.

"Sure," Fuyao said with a smile, not refusing.

"Mm, then it's settled." Ye Shuang nodded and smiled.

"Mm..."

After returning to Chen Qin's side, just as Ye Shuang was wondering if his actions would help Fuyao, a faint, gloomy voice came from beside him.

"Ye—"

"Hm?" Ye Shuang turned his head, only to find Chen Qin standing beside him, staring at him.

"What were you chatting about with Fuyao? Why were you being so sneaky?" Chen Qin's tone sounded like she had knocked over a bottle of vinegar, though she still made sure to emphasize,

"Of course, I don't particularly care about this at all. I'm just curious, just curious."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Seeing Chen Qin acting like this, Ye Shuang actually found it a bit funny. She really had an exceptional amount of possessiveness, though it seemed she wouldn't be like this after growing up.

Sure enough, people change when they grow up.

"I just asked Fuyao if she could walk home from school with us."

"W-Why?" Chen Qin immediately became nervous, but then she put on a teasing look and nudged Ye Shuang with her elbow.

"Hey, hey, hey, do you like Fuyao? As your good friend, I will help you out."

Ye Shuang had a playful look on his face. This girl, clearly she liked him to death, yet she still pretended to not care at all.

But everyone is pretty much the same when they are young, not daring to reveal their true thoughts.

"Well, I do have someone I like." As soon as Ye Shuang spoke, he noticed Chen Qin's beautiful eyes widen significantly.