Reborn Episode 16 Recap
> Reborn Recap
Qiao Qingyu's homeroom teacher noticed from her essay that she was experiencing psychological struggles, so he encouraged her to visit the school counselor. At the counseling room, Qiao Qingyu ran into Wang Mumu—turns out, Mumu was dealing with similar issues. The two had always gotten along well, so Qiao Qingyu pulled Mumu over to the playground. There, they talked about their inner thoughts.
Mumu admitted that there were many things she couldn’t let go of, that she wasn’t someone who could walk freely under the sun, and that she had a lot of secrets she couldn’t tell anyone. Qiao Qingyu also expressed that she felt confined in her daily life, always escorted to and from school by her mother. She no longer felt the desire to rebel, but her heart still carried a quiet defiance.
With the support and comfort of a friend, they both found some strength. Mumu took Qiao Qingyu to the dance room. Mumu had always loved dancing—no matter how hard things got, she said, dancing allowed her to return to her true self, completely free. Influenced by Mumu, Qiao Qingyu also began learning to dance. She had loved dancing as a child but stopped because of her sister.
Taking her first steps again, she felt as if her sister were right there with her—her heart warmed. High school life was always busy and full. Qiao Qingyu gradually regained her focus and began studying in earnest. At the same time, Ming Sheng enrolled in a French language training program. He had always been fond of studying French, and now he was away from school for a long stretch.
Seeing his empty seat in class, Qiao Qingyu felt a faint sense of loss. During breaks in his studies, Ming Sheng would quietly go and see Qiao Qingyu. On the road she and her mother took home after school, he would simply watch her from a distance before returning to his intense routine. Ming Sheng quietly approached Mumu. He had learned that his father had a colleague who was an expert in psychological counseling.
Knowing that both Mumu and Qiao Qingyu were struggling, he gave Mumu the expert’s contact information and asked her to pass it on to Qiao Qingyu. Mumu had grown up as Ming Sheng’s neighbor and knew him well—her feelings for him were deep. Hearing about another girl from someone she cared about made her feel a little sad. Still, she found an opportunity to share the counselor’s contact information with Qiao Qingyu.
Together, the two of them released the little bird Qiao Qingyu had rescued in the winter. But when they opened the cage, the bird didn’t fly away. Maybe it wasn’t the right time yet, so Qiao Qingyu took the bird back home again. Time flew by. One afternoon in 2008, Qiao Qingyu experienced an earthquake at school. Her homeroom teacher was the first to notice it and immediately called for the students to evacuate.
Under his direction, all the students exited the building in an orderly manner. The teacher was the last to leave the building. After the earthquake, a few students suggested going out to raise funds for the disaster area, but the teacher firmly rejected the idea. He told the students to focus all their energy on studying. Society, he explained, was like a large factory, and each person played the role of a small part.
As students, their job was to study well—that was how society could function more smoothly. The teacher’s disapproval of fundraising led some students to think he was coldhearted and began to feel resentment toward him. However, one student quietly revealed that the teacher’s hometown was in Wenchuan, and he hadn’t been able to reach his family—he must be feeling even more distressed than they were.
After learning the truth, everyone finally understood the teacher’s intentions and no longer disrupted class with idle chatter. Ming Sheng’s father, upon hearing that his son hadn’t been to school for several days, couldn’t help but go there to find him. At the gym, Ming Sheng asked his father why he had never told him the truth about his parents’ separation, letting him resent the wrong person for so many years. Ming Sheng’s father said he had only wanted to wait until his son was older—old enough to understand.
