"Are you stalling on purpose? How long does it take to tie a shoelace?"

The morning light was faint, and the entrance of Lanzhou No.1 High School was nearly deserted.

Rong Wanqing stood on the steps, her slender legs planted firmly, her expression haughty and impatient. She looked down at Chu Chen, who was kneeling on the ground, her eyes brimming with undisguised disdain.

Beads of sweat dotted Chu Chen’s forehead, his fingers trembling slightly. His backpack lay carelessly tossed aside, while slung over his shoulder was Rong Wanqing’s pale blue schoolbag.

"Almost done... just a second..."

His voice carried a placating tone as he fumbled nervously with the stubborn lace.

A group of boys walked past, nudging each other and snickering at the scene.

"Look, Chu Chen’s at it again—playing the lapdog."

"Three whole years chasing the school beauty. Talk about persistence."

"Pathetic. Ditching his own bag just to tie her shoelace."

"Tsk tsk. How humiliating."

They laughed as they walked away, their eyes mocking but their hearts secretly envious.

After all, who wouldn’t want a chance to get that close to the most popular girl in school?

Rong Wanqing's breathtaking beauty made her stand out like a solitary rose in full bloom across the entire school.

Her striking looks could put even the most glamorous celebrities to shame.

Yet, there was always an air of icy detachment about her, as if she'd built an invisible fortress around herself that kept most people at arm's length.

Had Chu Chen not grown up alongside her since childhood, he probably wouldn't have stood a chance of getting close to her either.

As Chu Chen listened to the murmurs of admiration from the boys around him, a flood of strange yet familiar memories suddenly crashed into his mind, catching him completely off guard.

"Wait—I actually became a simp?"

"Is this high school?"

"Did I really get a second chance at life?"

As memories from two different lifetimes intertwined and merged in his mind, Chu Chen snapped back to reality with a jolt.

Had he actually transmigrated?

Into a high school student who shared his exact name and identity.

Scanning his surroundings, taking in the youthful faces of his classmates, he quickly pieced together his current situation.

At eighteen years old, Chu Chen was a senior with decent grades and above-average looks—tall at six feet, with clean-cut, handsome features. The only thing lacking, perhaps, was his modest family background.

Yet none of this dampened his bright hopes for the future.

He recalled his previous life—five grueling years in the corporate world. While he hadn’t exactly achieved nothing, there was hardly anything remarkable either.

Now, fate had granted him a second chance by sending him back to the age of eighteen.

"What are you spacing out for? You’re so slow—what a waste of time."

Rong Wanqing stood over him, her tone dripping with impatience. Her delicate face was twisted in disdain, as if the boy kneeling to tie her shoelaces, Chu Chen, was beneath her notice.

Beside her, Yi Yingying, with her thick-framed glasses, chimed in shrilly, "Countless guys would kill for the chance to tie Wanqing’s shoes, and here you are, daydreaming?"

Her piercing voice grated against Chu Chen’s eardrums.

When he still didn’t react, Yi Yingying kicked him lightly with her foot. "Hey, Wanqing wants bubble tea. Hurry up and get it for her."

Chu Chen slowly lifted his gaze, studying their faces as fragmented memories pieced themselves together in his mind.

For three whole years, he had chased after this aloof childhood friend without a single day’s respite, trailing after her like a lost puppy.

He had scrimped and saved every day, squeezing sixteen yuan out of his twenty-yuan lunch budget just to buy bubble tea for Rong Wanqing and her best friend, Yi Yingying.

And what did he get in return?

A measly four yuan left for himself—just enough for two plain steamed buns and pickles to barely call it a meal.