Chapter 175

Yang Yi remained silent for a long time.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"You liked him quite a bit during university," Chen Chen Huanyue said in a low voice, his tone revealing a hint of sarcasm, though it was unclear whether it was directed at himself or Yang Yi. "We watched his movies on two of our dates. I remember clearly: one was a romance film called 'Midnight Tango.' The other was an action film called 'Lost in the Deep Sea.'"

Yang Yi wanted to explain, for instance, that at that time she had merely regarded Chris as a distant star, a pastime in her life, and that her relationship with him had not been half-hearted, yet she opened her mouth and felt there was simply no need.

Wasn't her purpose to cut ties completely? What was the point of saying these things?

"How did you know?" she asked again.

"Before, he posted a photo of the two of you on his blog, you met at a United Nations banquet, and gossip columns even fabricated a scandal between the two of you... and based on how infatuated you once were with him..." Chen Chen Huanyue looked at her. "A month ago, Chris Norton announced he had a new girlfriend. Although it wasn't your face, do you think if you changed your features, I wouldn't recognize you?"

Yang Yi licked her lips; at this moment, she began to worry about one question: just how many people now knew she and Chris Norton were in a relationship?

The crowd around them gradually grew larger. Yang Yi, who had always disliked crowded places, walked out of the night market and headed toward a park not far away. Chen Chen Huanyue followed her footsteps in silence.

"You were truly together with him for only three months, right?" Chen Chen Huanyue asked calmly. He seemed to want to discuss the matter with the casual tone of friends chatting, yet the slight tremor in his voice and the rhythm of his breathing betrayed that his heart was not as calm as he appeared.

"Mm." Yang Yi's thoughts seemed to be elsewhere; she merely responded instinctively.

"In Wuming City, when it had only been two weeks since you met, you confessed to me that you had a boyfriend, and by then I had already waited for you for a full two years." Chen Chen Huanyue suddenly sneered: "Yang Yi, we had been together for two months before we held hands for the first time. Wasn't that too unfair to me?"

"So what? What do you want?" Yang Yi suddenly stopped walking. She crossed her arms, turned sideways to Chen Chen Huanyue, and sneered, "The moment we met, I was utterly captivated by him. That is the fact."

If Chen Chen Huanyue possessed Chris's keen emotional perception, he would have noticed that Yang Yi's movements at this moment were defensive body language; her cold words were more of a stress response under self-protection. Like a hedgehog, when sensing danger from the outside world, she instinctively raised her spines as defense.

Chen Chen Huanyue's breathing suddenly quickened. His face was pale, his arms trembled slightly, and his eyes behind the glasses stared unblinkingly at Yang Yi. The whites of his eyes appeared red from bloodshot vessels, and the moisture filling them rapidly coalesced in his eye sockets as he struggled to prevent those overly soft tears from falling.

Yang Yi's heart suddenly softened, and she felt regret for her words just now.

Suddenly, Chen Chen Huanyue turned and left.

Yang Yi wanted to say something, but looking at his departing back, she fell silent again.

Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Isn't this your goal? she mocked herself inwardly. Good, now he should completely forget the past and live his own life.

She sat on a flowerbed by the roadside. A huge plane tree blocked out the sky, its broad leaves swaying gently in the summer night breeze, making a rustling sound.

At that time, because she feared the strange looks and rumors of her classmates, as well as some feelings of inferiority and sensitivity, she dared not make their relationship public.

Whenever evening came, she was like a mouse that only dared to move in the darkness, secretly going out of school to meet him for their dates. He would wait for her at the large tree by the side of the school's east gate, as she had instructed—that was also a huge plane tree, its branches and leaves spread out, blocking out the sky.

Wearing a hat and a mask, he leaned against the tree in utter boredom, occasionally glancing at the intersection, occasionally checking his messages.

When he finally saw her figure rushing toward him, he pulled down his mask and said grievously: "When can we be together openly? Why does our relationship feel like underground party agents meeting up?"

At that time, her heart was full of guilt, and she stammered, unable to speak.

Finally, she summoned the courage to say: "I'm sorry. How about..."

"No!" Chen Chen Huanyue covered her mouth with his hand. "Alright, alright, if it's underground party agents, then so be it. One day I will become the ruling party in the open!" He grabbed her hand and walked forward, not looking back.

She knew he was angry that she had so easily said that "How about..."

She tightened her grip on his hand, secretly grateful for his refusal, grateful for his tolerance, and even more grateful that he had descended like a dream into her barren life, allowing even this blade of grass in the desert to feel the beauty of spring.

How did it become like this now?

Sitting on the stone railing, she thought: If I didn't have superpowers, if I hadn't met Chris, could I still be so cold toward him? Wouldn't I secretly appreciate his long-lasting affection? Would I still reject him again because of that sensitive and inferior heart? Wouldn't I joyfully hold his hand and walk forward with him again?

Suddenly, Chen Chen Huanyue turned around and strode back. Yang Yi thought he was going to say something else, but she saw that as he passed her, he didn't even turn his face toward her side; he walked straight past her, stirring up a gust of wind, and left just like that.

Only then did Yang Yi realize, oh, his car was still parked in the parking lot; he had walked ahead, suddenly remembered it, and turned back.

For some reason, she couldn't help but want to laugh.

She turned her head to look at his departing back. He was wearing a white shirt and suit trousers; as he strode forward, the shirt billowed in the summer evening breeze, and one could almost see that youthful spirit of the past.

And yet, the most beautiful period of this man's life belonged entirely to her. It was truly incredible... To live as a human being, to experience so much happiness and beauty, even if there were regrets—but weren't these worth cherishing?

And in this world, how many such moments are worth cherishing? There are so many people in the world; they all feel these universal loves and happinesses. Isn't that worth her protecting? Even if she can feel very little of it, these things do indeed exist in the world...

Suddenly, a tenderness and compassion arose in her chest. A warm current surged from the depths of her soul. She felt her whole body swelling with fullness, and her eyes were on the verge of overflowing with tears...

This urge to cry came inexplicably and was extremely emotional, yet she clearly felt it was not tears for herself, but tears for something greater, something of a broader significance...

She suddenly felt the summer night breeze again, like the gentle hand of a mother soothing her skin; she felt the plane tree overhead again, its rustling sound so pleasant to the ear; she also felt the night market not far away again, where people came and went, and the stalls emitted the scents of various snacks—that was the most ordinary, most domestic human smoke and fire...

She knew the changing of the four seasons was merely caused by the Earth's rotation and revolution; she also knew the summer breeze was merely a natural phenomenon caused by air flow; she knew trees were merely a type of lower organism formed 400 million years ago; and she knew that, in a sense, humans were merely the natural evolution of a group of monkeys, such a short evolution occurring countless times in the universe, and could hardly be called precious...

Yet no rational cognition could withstand this momentary emotion. Apart from these tangible physical things, were there no more universal, more worth-protecting things in this world?

Wasn't this brief moment of emotion enough for her to go all out to face that "Dead Star" that would destroy everything?