After closing the door, Su Li sighed.
He only felt that everything had changed, nothing could return to the way it was before, not even the relationship between them.
The atmosphere where they used to say everything without reserve was gone, leaving only deep estrangement and silence.
Su Li really wanted to say more to her, wanted to ask if she was in pain, if she was suffering, wanted to tell her not to be stubborn.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want You Xue to become strong—he just didn’t want her to suffer.
Su Li still remembered that in the rain, her dazed expression, the mix of emotions layered in her eyes.
He couldn’t distinguish many things, but he knew You Xue was in pain.
In the end, Su Li could only utter a few dry words of concern.
When looking into those evasive eyes, even though he had too many words he wanted to say, in the end he couldn’t utter a single one.
You Xue had really become a stranger.
Why was she so timid and cautious around him, as if she was weighing every word?
It really wasn’t the same.
Maybe it was the influence of the Dragon’s Eye that had changed her personality so much, and he could only find traces of her former self in some subtle actions.
Thinking as he walked, he returned to the classroom.
“Su Li.”
When the louder voice reached his ears, Su Li realized that Alice was already by his side.
“What’s wrong?”
He asked.
At this point, it was the other party who started to hesitate.
Those blue-green eyes seemed to retreat.
“Your childhood sweetheart… is she okay?”
Alice finally asked.
She really couldn’t ignore the harm she had caused that girl that day.
“Much better. She’s been discharged from the hospital. If you want, you can go see her anytime.”
Alice was really a good girl—so straightforward, sincere, and very strong, so Su Li trusted her quite a bit.
Hearing this, the usually proud Alice became cautious.
“Will she forgive me?”
Seeing Alice’s contrast, Su Li smiled.
“It’s okay. If you really want to apologize, just go find her. She’s not the unreasonable type.”
Su Li thought, ‘If You Xue could make more friends, her condition might improve a lot. Her world shouldn’t only have Su Li—it should have more things, a life she yearns for. She needs to realize that there are many things in this world worth cherishing. If that happens, maybe she’ll give up doing those dangerous things.’
So Su Li spoke up.
“I’ll bring lunch to You Xue at noon. Do you want to come along?”
“You Xue.”
Alice murmured.
“Her name is You Xue?”
Su Li nodded.
“That’s a pretty name.”
Alice said softly.
“Okay, I want to see her at noon and apologize to her.”
When she said this, she was actually a little nervous.
Su Li couldn’t help but think, ‘This noble-like girl doesn’t seem very good at making friends either.’
The bell for class rang, and the students returned to their seats.
“Bro Su, you’re finally back in class.”
Cheng Yehai greeted.
“Your childhood sweetheart doing better?”
Su Li nodded.
“She’s much better. She’s been discharged.”
Ever since he found out Su Li had a childhood sweetheart, Cheng Yehai had been very interested.
“Before, when you talked about her, I thought she was a bad woman.”
Cheng Yehai scratched his head.
“Now I see it’s totally not the case. After all, childhood sweethearts are never bad…”
Su Li looked at him with interest and asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cheng Yehai chuckled, his expression as if recalling something.
“Actually, when I was little, I also had a childhood sweetheart I spent time with. We had a good relationship back then, often playing together. In those past times, I might have thought things would just go on like that forever. But later that girl moved away, and there was no way to contact her, so it just ended.”
Cheng Yehai said with a somewhat nostalgic tone.
“If you ask me, it’s really not easy for two people who grew up together to actually make it through to adulthood. It’s worth cherishing.”
His words seemed to carry a bit of persuasion.
Su Li listened, but felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
To be honest, he and You Xue were already quite distant from each other.
She wasn’t willing to open her heart, and he didn’t have the courage to step forward further.
After all, they were just childhood sweethearts, not lovers bound together by scorching passion.
In other words, when they grew up, they should each have their own lives, each go in their own direction.
There was no need to continue living face-to-face.
But…
He just couldn’t stop worrying about You Xue.
That barren village had been destroyed, but the days of hardship wouldn’t disappear just because of that, and the memories that filled the past wouldn’t fade either.
Su Li still remembered stepping on the damp soil to go up the mountain, bypassing a few groves of trees, and arriving at a green hillside.
Sitting on the short weeds, he could see the silver tracks that seemed to glimmer.
Back then, he thought the city was a better place—more prosperous, brighter, more temperate, with more food.
Once they went there, they wouldn’t go hungry.
So he wanted to go to the city, to take You Xue to a good place where they wouldn’t go hungry or suffer from the cold.
So he said he wanted to be like a locomotive and take You Xue to the city, to the beautiful place of his fantasies.
Only later did he gradually understand that the world doesn’t give gifts unconditionally.
If you want something, you have to offer something in exchange.
Before, in the yard, they watched the sun slowly rise from the mountain peak, the morning light spreading and gradually illuminating the entire village.
Su Li looked at the slowly warming sunlight and said to You Xue that he wanted to become the sun.
This wasn’t actually a grand or magnificent ideal.
Back then, he just didn’t want to be hated, didn’t want to always be driven away, didn’t want to not even have the chance to work for food.
Even so, reality didn’t change at all.
Life was still as meager as ever.
But just hearing You Xue say, “You can definitely do it,” made him feel much better.
Thinking and thinking, when he came back to his senses, he suddenly noticed the classroom had become much noisier.
“What’s going on?”
At this point, Su Li was completely confused.
He asked Cheng Yehai.
“Bro Su, didn’t you hear the teacher? The academy is planning to give us a few days off to go home and report our safety.”
As he said this, Cheng Yehai lowered his voice.
“After all, such a big incident happened in this training exercise. Dozens or even hundreds were injured, and even several students died.”
Su Li’s expression darkened.
If it weren’t for You Xue saving him, he would have been one of the students who died.
“Ah, speaking of this, I remember that big snake that chased me that day. I almost lost my life there…”
Cheng Yehai looked scared.
“And the teacher also said that the rankings for this training will be announced after the break. Probably waiting until everyone’s emotions are more stable.”
Su Li nodded.
“That’s good.”
Taking advantage of this break, he could take care of You Xue and maybe clear up some of the estrangement.
After all, they had no home to return to.