Free Web NovelChapter 253: Chapter 253: Never Forgetting
Having twice driven off the bullies who were picking on the little rabbit, the young heroine Jiang Qingli had a remarkable track record.
Those people knew Jiang Qingli’s identity and kept their distance. The higher-ups at the Nian’en Welfare Institute also turned a blind eye, tacitly approving of her "superheroine makes a friend" game.
Jiang Qingli discovered that the partner she’d chosen was a very withdrawn little rabbit.
For example, he didn’t like to talk, always kept his head down, and walked without a sound...
In the afternoon, while the other children at the welfare institute were in language class, Jiang Qingli returned from a stroll outside with Old Qin. She saw the boy sitting in a corner of the empty playground, staring blankly at the sky beyond the wall.
At his age, he couldn’t yet control his beast ears, and his snow-white rabbit ears drooped beside his face.
Jiang Qingli quietly sat down next to him and followed his gaze upward.
The sky in the Lower District seemed to be perpetually overcast. It was filled with dark clouds, not a sliver of blue to be seen, and the stuffiness was suffocating.
Jiang Qingli found this boring after a moment. She pulled a piece of candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and offered it to him. "Want some? It’s green apple flavor."
The boy pressed his lips together, watching her warily.
Jiang Qingli thought he was afraid it was poisoned. She licked the candy and held it up for him to see. "Look, it’s fine. You can eat it."
As she was saying this, she pulled out another piece of candy, still wrapped. But then she saw the boy bite down on the one she was holding. He quickly snatched it away and shrank back, staring at her hands as if he was afraid she would hit him.
As the sweet taste filled his mouth, the boy furrowed his brow, unaccustomed to it.
Jiang Qingli pulled a whole pile out of her pocket. "If you don’t like it, I have other flavors."
As she took them out, Jiang Qingli couldn’t help but inwardly marvel at her own generosity.
This was her favorite brand of candy, but Zhou Yanli said she’d get cavities and wouldn’t let her have too much. Jiang Youchen had helped her hide these. If he weren’t her future world-saving partner, she would never be this generous!
But the boy didn’t take any, only stared at her face.
After a long moment, he said softly, "Thank you."
He paused, then lowered his head and added in a tiny voice, "...Sister."
Jiang Qingli’s eyes went wide.
When he received no response, the rabbit ears on his head twitched upright as he watched her uneasily.
Jiang Qingli’s eyes sparkled. "I didn’t know you had such a nice voice! It’s better than any voice in the cartoons! I love it!"
The boy froze, then hastily turned his face away.
The rabbit ears on his head drooped down to cover his face, but the tips sticking out were clearly turning red.
Jiang Qingli had no idea what a shock her words had been to him. She crunched on her lollipop, making conversation. "Why aren’t you in class? Do you know it all already?"
The boy shook his head.
Jiang Qingli said, "Oh, you don’t? You don’t know what they’re teaching today, or you don’t know a single character?"
The boy didn’t say anything, but his evasive gaze was a clear admission that it was the latter.
’How can the partner of a world-saving heroine be illiterate?’
Jiang Qingli immediately felt the weight of a long and arduous road ahead. "How about I teach you?"
Her gaze fell on the sign not far away, which read "Nian’en Welfare Institute."
Jiang Qingli picked up a twig and wrote the character for "Nian" in the dirt. She read it aloud and explained its meaning to him.
One of its meanings, she said, was "to think of, to not forget, to always remember."
She said, "On TV they always say, ’Constant remembrance will be met with a response.’ Cool, huh?"
「...」
The sea breeze caressed her hair, and the image of the serious little girl overlapped with the woman before him.
Gu Nian lowered his head and captured her lips, kissing her tenderly, as if savoring every inch of the past he hadn’t been a part of.
He was, in truth, a very slow person. It had taken him a very long time to get from the Lower District to the Upper City District, from the Beast Fighting Arena to her side.
In the years gone by, he had many so-called names.
The name he had before entering the welfare institute, a name randomly given by the institute, a name from his adoptive family, a codename from the Beast Fighting Arena, an Assassin’s codename...
His short life had been condensed into one codename after another.
Until the day he entered his genes into the database to be matched with hers, and he suddenly remembered the first character she had ever taught him.
Constant remembrance will be met with a response.
He repeated the character she had once written for him, stroke by stroke, and chose a new name for himself.
It was as if every moment he had spent thinking of her over the past twelve years had found its meaning.
「...」
Gu Nian bit open the buttons of her dress, his breath hot and trembling. His kisses fell upon her lips and cheeks, trailing down her neck.
Neither of them cared when they had ended up in a tangle on the carpet.
The bright lights and the moon outside the window blurred before their eyes, swaying back and forth as if they were floating in the sea.
The only things that were clear were the young man’s clingy whispers of "Sister" in her ear, and his candy-sweet kisses.
Gu Nian buried his face in the crook of her neck, whimpering coaxingly, "Sister, can you help me with the zipper?"
"Sister tied my hands... It’s so uncomfortable, Sister..."
Jiang Qingli couldn’t resist him.
But then, she suddenly remembered something and pushed him away. "Wait, use a—"
Before she could finish, Gu Nian’s fingertips swiped through the air, and a section of space was carved out.
With his bound hands, he pulled something out from it.
Jiang Qingli was momentarily stunned. "You... where did you get that?"
Gu Nian lifted his chin, gesturing to a box on the headboard. "The box has two layers. The top has gag props, and the bottom has these."
Not long ago, Jiang Qingli had seen a waiter placing these exact boxes in the lounge rooms.
Jiang Qingli was speechless.
’Is that how you’re supposed to use a Space Ability?’
’And besides, if you could do that, why did you ask me for help just now?’
But she soon lost the ability to complain.
The little rabbit had an innocent, harmless face, soft rabbit ears, and a sweet, obedient voice, but he was utterly insane.
-
The fireworks show had ended at ten o’clock, but the group of young people partied until midnight before gradually dispersing.
Ai Li was drunk. She stumbled around and asked Lin Xiyue, "Hey, where’s Qingli? Where’d she go? I-I still have a magic trick to show her..."
"Stop looking. She’s busy." Lin Xiyue gave a knowing look. "Save the magic tricks for tomorrow. Don’t interrupt their special moment."
Ai Li was so shocked, she sobered up instantly. "Wait, they’re—which room? I don’t know, I brought gag props!"
As she spoke, she started heading upstairs, but Lin Xiyue grabbed her. "They’ve been in there for hours. If they were going to get scared, it would have happened already. Since she hasn’t come out to find you, it means they’ve already—"
The two looked at each other and broke into lewd giggles.
Halfway through her laugh, Lin Xiyue felt a prickling on her back. She glanced behind her and saw Yuan Shiyao walking past, a rare look of gloom on his face.
Not far away, Jiang Youchen leaned on the railing with one hand, gazing at the dark surface of the sea.
The sea breeze lifted the hair from his forehead. He was expressionless, like a silent statue.
Ai Li looked a little intimidated. "Marshal Jiang seems to have been standing in the cold wind all night. Is he okay?"
He was a strange one. He didn’t join their games or watch the fireworks; he just stood there, watching the sea.
Lin Xiyue didn’t know what was wrong with him either, so she just shook her head.
It was getting late. Ai Li was ready to turn in and asked a waiter to show Jiang Youchen to a lounge.
Before the waiter could approach, a graceful figure walked toward the young man.
"Who’s that, daring to approach him? He’s rejected so many people tonight..." Ai Li muttered, squinting her eyes.
When she saw who it was, she gasped, "Holy crap, Xie Guanqi! Who invited her?!" Then another shock: "Wait, she’s interested in Jiang Youchen?! Does she want to be Qingli’s sister-in-law?"
In her line of sight, Xie Guanqi wore a rare, timid expression, carefully saying something to the young man.
Ai Li’s mind was instantly flooded with plots from trashy novels about a nemesis becoming one’s sister-in-law.
Lin Xiyue tapped her on the forehead. "How do you not know this? Xie Guanqi’s mother is Jiang Youchen’s maternal aunt."
"The Xie Family wants to acknowledge him."
