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

Telling ghost stories wasn’t a new skill Mei Fang had recently picked up. In fact, when he, Lin Youxi, and Xia Yuan used to play together in elementary school, he would often tell them ghost stories.

Making the girls cry from fear always gave Mei Fang a sense of accomplishment-after all, back then, whether it was Xia Yuan or Lin Youxi, they would both jump into his arms whenever they got scared.

But times have changed. Xia Yuan might still be as timid as she used to be, but Lin Youxi was no longer the same. It wouldn't be so easy to frighten her now.

The ability to tell a story well relies heavily on the storyteller's performance. Without the right control over intonation and atmosphere, even the scariest story can end up feeling flat. A simple ghost story, when told by a master of storytelling, can send listeners into a panic.

Mei Fang had always been good at setting the mood. Before telling a story, he would close the curtains, turn off all the lights, and pull the blanket over. Tonight, as the blankets were piled up, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi were whispering to each other, probably planning how they would laugh at his ghost story later.

Mei Fang turned on his phone-’s flashlight. "So... I'm... going to... start... now."

Xia Yuan, seeing Mei Fang’s face lit up from below by the flashlight, began to feel a bit scared and had to cover her mouth to stop herself from shouting. Lin Youxi, however, was leaning her cheek on her hand, watching with interest as Mei Fang performed.

"The ghost story I'm going to tell is called The Window."

"Is there a ghost in the window?" Xia Yuan asked.

"Don’t interrupt." Mei Fang couldn’t let Xia Yuan cut him off, so he coughed and continued: "It is said that once upon a time, there was a female reporter who went to the countryside to do some field research. Since there weren’t many places to stay, she checked into a run-down hotel for the night-"

Xia Yuan bit her nails as she listened, instinctively cuddling closer to Lin Youxi.

"After entering the room, it was very dark inside... She could barely see anything... However, there was a painting opposite the bed, and in the painting was a man."

"This man had sharp, lifelike features-especially his eyes."

"There must be something wrong with this painting... Do the eyes move?" Xia Yuan asked again.

"When she went to bed that night, because of the painting, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her in the dark. So, she decided not to look at it..."

"But the next morning, when the female reporter looked at the painting, she gasped in shock."

Mei Fang deliberately leaned closer to Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi.

"It turned out... that it wasn’t a painting at all... it was... a window!"

"Ahh!"

Mei Fang's sudden reveal startled Xia Yuan so much that she almost slapped him, but Mei Fang, being used to this, dodged effortlessly.

"So, was it a ghost?"

Xia Yuan had a vivid imagination, and when she pictured the scene Mei Fang described, she didn't dare open her eyes anymore.

Lin Youxi, however, found the story a bit boring. "Got any other ghost stories? This one was kind of dull."

Feeling a bit challenged, Mei Fang continued telling various short ghost stories he had found on Zhihu. By the end, Xia Yuan was mostly covering her ears and clinging to Mei Fang, while Lin Youxi listened attentively, but without getting scared. ṙ𝙖ℕÓ𝐁È𝘚

Once Mei Fang finished telling the stories, Xia Yuan finally raised her head and asked, "Are the ghost stories over?"

"Yeah... but did you even listen to the last part?"

"I-I did listen! Something about a person staring at you through the window, right?"

"That was the first story..."

"So, was the person in the window a ghost or not? Standing there staring at you like that is super creepy."

Lin Youxi pointed to the nearby curtain. "Look, there's a shadow that looks like a head behind the curtain. Doesn't that remind you of that ghost story?"

"Ahh! Stop it, Youxi! I'm not looking!"

Mei Fang and Lin Youxi enjoyed teasing Xia Yuan. After playing around for a while, the three of them finally decided to settle down and get some rest.

Xia Yuan, who was both naive and playful, was terrified by Mei Fang's ghost stories. She didn't even dare to sleep near the window, insisting on squeezing between Mei Fang and Lin Youxi. She also didn't dare to peek her head out from under the blanket, her dependence on Mei Fang now maxed out.

At this point, Xia Yuan was so scared that she wasn’t in the mood for anything intimate anymore. With her clinging to Mei Fang, Lin Youxi’s wandering hands were also kept at bay, allowing Mei Fang to hold Xia Yuan and sleep peacefully.

The softness all over her body was just right, both plush and warm. Her trembling reminded Mei Fang of a small bunny, filling him with an infinite feeling of affection and desire to pamper her.

As he gently stroked Xia Yuan’s back and hummed softly to soothe her, Mei Fang thought the night would pass quietly. But just then, in the darkness, someone suddenly grabbed Mei Fang’s hand and began to lightly suck on it.

"Oh..."

Mei Fang, caught off guard, had the sudden urge to discuss various topics like astronomy, geography, various schools of thought, and all sorts of life philosophies with his LittLe brother. But unfortunately, his LittLe brother only wanted to raise his hand and speak up at this moment.

As his LittLe brother raised his hand, it accidentally bumped into Xia Yuan's stomach. Xia Yuan was startled for a moment. After a brief hesitation, she retracted her hand and poked her head out of the blanket to look at Mei Fang: "Um..."

"Guh..."

Mei Fang quickly withdrew his hand from Lin Youxi's side and turned his back to Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi.

"Ah Fang... are you okay?" Xia Yuan asked, concerned.

"Yeah... I'm fine," Mei Fang sighed with slight relief. He couldn't keep up with both of them. Xia Yuan was the safest for now, while Lin Youxi was just too dangerous.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "Yuan Yuan, are you still scared of ghosts? Did I tell too many ghost stories today?"

"I'm a high schooler now. How could | really be afraid of ghosts? I was just playing along with you guys for fun."

Xia Yuan poked Mei Fang's back hard. "If there's any ghost here, it's just a little pervy ghost."

"Alright... stop teasing me," Mei Fang muttered in frustration. "It was Youxi who started it. If she hadn't-"

"Youxi?" Xia Yuan interrupted, surprised. "Youxi hasn't been sleeping near me for a while now. How could she be doing anything to you?"

p..

Mei Fang was confused and reached out to check Lin Youxi's side of the bed, only to find it empty, lust then, Xia Yuan grabbed Mei Fang’s arm with a scared expression and whispered, "Ah Fang... Ah Fang, look behind you... what's that?"

Ohj come on. Trying to pLay a ghost prank on me, huh? Nice try...

Mei Fang, amused, played along, thinking Lin Youxi was about to pop out from behind him, making some cute, spooky noises.

But when he turned around, what he saw instead was a shadowy silhouette of a head outlined by the moonlight behind the curtains!

"Ahhh! Mama, Mama!" Mei Fang screamed, terrified, and threw himself into Xia Yuan's arms.

Xia Yuan hugged Mei Fang tightly to calm him, while Lin Youxi, having returned to bed, said with a grin, "Looks like the prank went a little too far... seems like Ah Fang got really scared this time."

Lin Youxi lay seductively on the edge of the bed, poking Mei Fang’s side while smiling at Xia Yuan.

“He’s just pretending. He’s taking advantage of you right now.”

“Re-really, Ah Fang?” Xia Yuan pinched Mei Fang’s cheeks and mumbled, “You... weren’t really scared?”

“Huh? Mhm... of course not,” Mei Fang nodded. “How could something so childish scare me? I just wanted to take advantage of you while also letting you enjoy the idea of scaring me.”

“Haha... looks like it’s getting really hard to scare each other these days.” Xia Yuan scratched her head. “But my acting when I pretended to be scared by your ghost stories was pretty good, right?”

“Definitely, I couldn’t tell it was an act at all... By the way, what was that thing on the curtain?”

“Oh, it was a mask. We bought it when we went to Happy Valley for Halloween this year, remember?”

“Ohhh... makes sense. So you guys still kept that mask, huh?”

“Yeah...” Xia Yuan scratched her head again and thought for a moment, “By the way... your fmama’ scream just now was really convincing, totally felt real.”

“Yuan Yuan’s acting has improved a lot too.”

As Xia Yuan and Mei Fang complimented each other, Lin Youxi suddenly couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Youxi, what are you laughing at?”

The ever-petty Mei Fang immediately called her out, “She’s definitely thinking we’re both just putting on a brave face.”

Lin Youxi smiled faintly, “You two better not be.”

Mei Fang and Xia Yuan were immediately flustered by Lin Youxi’s comment.

“Youxi is too arrogant!”

“Exactly!

Mei Fang suggested, “Let’s get back at Youxi tonight!”

“OK!”

lust as Xia Yuan and Mei Fang teamed up and pushed Lin Youxi onto the bed, ready to tease her, the mask hanging from the curtain suddenly clattered to the floor, and a fierce wind outside started banging against the window. Xia Yuan and Mei Fang were instantly terrified, clinging to each other in a panicked embrace, trembling.

“You know, sometimes I really feel like an outsider among the three of us.”

Lin Youxi felt a bit sad because she appeared too mature and calm during this ghost game.