She lowered her eyes, unable to see Su Li’s expression.
“And I hope you won’t bother me anymore either!”
He dropped those angry words, turned around, and walked away with such determination.
You Xue didn’t lift her head.
She just listened to the footsteps growing distant.
Farther and farther, until they disappeared completely.
‘I’m not really You Xue.’
In the end, she murmured softly, as if in a daze.
You Xue hadn’t actually meant to say those words out loud.
They were meant to stay hidden in her heart, said only to herself.
But for some reason, under the wave of some nameless emotion inside her, she unconsciously let them slip.
Su Li was already far away.
He probably couldn’t hear her.
So everything had gone smoothly.
She had completely pushed Su Li away.
This was something she had long resolved to do, and she absolutely could not back out now.
But why?
The main reason was still her family—her mother, her brother.
In her previous life, she had been a burden to them.
After dying, her strongest wish was for them to be happy.
And after that?
When she had read that book, she had grieved for that boy.
She had tossed and turned late into the night, thinking that if she could enter that story, she would definitely do something.
She would make sure that boy was no longer so lonely, no longer so miserable.
That at the end of the story, he wouldn’t be standing alone in the sunset, with no one to talk to.
‘Let this story reach a happy ending.’
That was also a wish she wanted to fulfill.
Just like in her previous life, where she had been seriously ill, now she suffered from Magic Rejection Syndrome—this her, the current her.
She was still living in pain, still with no cure.
So she had no time to search for the meaning of life, no chance to find her own happiness.
The present and the past were basically no different to her.
So the only thing she could do now, the only meaningful thing, was… to change this story’s ending.
It had nothing to do with the quiet, beautiful memories stored in her mind.
It had nothing to do with the name You Xue.
She simply wanted to do this.
That was all.
Wind rose in the alley, blowing straight into You Xue’s face, stirring her soft hair.
You Xue felt her eyes grow moist.
She raised a hand and rubbed them.
There must be some dust and sand stirred up by the wind.
Her left hand had been clenched tightly just now, still stained with blood.
She couldn’t let Su Li see.
Now, she needed to find a place to clean up.
Otherwise, even the bus driver might not let her board.
***
After getting off the bus, she still had to walk a bit to get home.
You Xue looked at herself—shabby and torn.
After a moment’s thought, she decided not to go home directly.
She headed toward a small clinic nearby.
The doctor who ran it was a young man.
Although he was young, he seemed unusually experienced.
She had been here a few times before, when she had a cold.
After You Xue showed the doctor her wounds, he said, “These are just surface abrasions. Some medicine applied should be fine.”
You Xue nodded.
The doctor didn’t immediately get the medicine.
Instead, he asked, “Is there anything else that’s uncomfortable?”
You Xue could feel the pain in her chest.
Just by intuition, she could tell the internal injuries were severe.
But she still shook her head and replied, “Other than these wounds, nothing.”
Then she added, “Could you give me some painkillers? I’m afraid of pain.”
Actually, You Xue wasn’t afraid of pain.
It was just that pain would affect her sleep, and she needed to keep her spirits up for many things ahead.
The doctor nodded and went to get the medicine.
Finally, You Xue paid and walked out of the clinic with the medicine.
Her ribs were broken—she was sure of that—but she didn’t intend to get treatment.
Magic Rejection Syndrome prevented her from using supernatural abilities, causing her body to weaken under magic power’s erosion and eventually collapse.
This illness had countless disadvantages, but it also had one unique benefit.
Though the rejected magic power constantly corroded her body, during that process, the same power also healed her flesh.
Before the magic power completely destroyed her body, this faint healing ability would always persist.
While destroying, it also repaired.
People with this disease suffered endlessly until the destruction far exceeded the body’s repair limit, leading to irreversible death.
The original writer of this story, with their twisted taste, loved writing such painful, inescapable predicaments.
Fortunately, You Xue was not lost.
She knew the end of this life, so she would not give up on herself—at least not until her wish was fulfilled.
A little pain like this—she could just take some medicine and endure it.
You Xue comforted herself in her heart.
Afterward, You Xue went to a clothing store.
After all, her clothes were already tattered.
Though she liked to save money, this outfit had clearly crossed her bottom line.
Besides, her boss probably wanted her to wear something more fitting for work.
Honestly, she had no sense of fashion.
For her, as long as it was comfortable to wear, that was fine.
So she casually picked out a few cheap items—nothing flashy, no patterns.
She chose one and changed out of her dirty clothes, then looked at herself in the store mirror.
It wasn’t any different from her usual self.
You Xue sighed.
The girl in the mirror made the same movement, frowning slightly, gray hair hanging by her ear, her eyes still indifferent.
When had she started accepting her identity?
She had inexplicably become the male lead’s childhood sweetheart, and one who was fated to die.
Maybe it was a connection from her previous life.
After all, when she was reading the novel, she always complained in the comments section, saying the childhood sweetheart character was too useless.
She had dragged the male lead down, and after all that treatment, she still died so easily.
She had said the childhood sweetheart was a meaningless character, just a tool the author used to torture the male lead, and it would have been better if she had just killed herself from the start.
Of course, she didn’t mean to disparage the character.
In the end, she had cursed the damn author, but it seemed her comment was deleted.
She never expected to actually become that childhood sweetheart.
Now, she could understand her feelings.
In the memories, they were both orphans, so in that village, they were each other’s family.
Growing up relying on each other, going through so much together—sadness, pain, happiness, warmth.
All kinds of emotions intertwined, stirred, mixed, fermented, finally turning into deep trust and dependence.
Until they left the village.
Su Li, because he had talent in supernatural abilities, was sent to the Preparatory Academy, while she could only struggle to survive in the slums.
Those days were hard, but Su Li would send her some money.
No matter how busy his studies were, he would take a day every month to visit her.
So familiar, so warm, so much that she wanted to rely on him, to be by his side.
The childhood sweetheart in the story must have felt the same way.
Because she was already in enough pain, she clung even more stubbornly to Su Li.
But that very feeling had neither saved herself nor led Su Li to a tragic end.
So now, You Xue understood very well: the worst ending of this story was that everyone suffered, no one was saved, and the best ending was only that one person could move toward a better future.
The one who died was You Xue.
The one who moved forward was Su Li.
To keep the story from repeating the same mistakes, cutting ties and never seeing each other was the best method.
You Xue paid and walked home.
She tidied up the room a little, applied the ointment to her wounds, and finally took a painkiller.
Only then did she feel a bit better.
Today, both mentally and physically, she felt unwell.
You Xue lay down on the bed.
She just wanted to rest.