Chapter 8

Su Yuan comes from a single-parent family; her father died in a car accident when she was very young. For over a decade, she has been living with her mother, Su Caiwei. To raise her, Su Caiwei has endured a lot of hardships over the years, which has made their relationship very close.

If it were a normal day, Su Yuan would chat with her mother for over half an hour when she called. But now, faced with this sudden change, Su Yuan found herself at a loss on how to face her mother, who is so close to her.

If her mother found out about what happened to her, she would surely be devastated. As she pondered how to handle the call, the phone suddenly stopped ringing, and Su Yuan felt a strange sense of relief. But she quickly realized she was just avoiding the issue. As the saying goes, you can avoid the first day, but not the fifteenth. Should she be more honest?

After all, the person on the other end is her closest mother. Is there anything she can't tell her? "Hmm, my little shoulders can't bear such a heavy burden; I should confide in Mom." Just as she made up her mind, the phone rang again. Su Yuan hesitated, then pressed the answer button, but found herself hesitating again.

Unlike usual, she didn't speak first. The familiar voice of her mother came through the phone, and at that moment, Su Yuan almost shed tears.

The phone call was filled with a mother's concern for her child, with Su Caiwei repeatedly urging Su Yuan to eat well. Although they come from a single-parent family, Su Caiwei is quite capable, so the Su family has never been poor, and Su Caiwei has never been stingy with Su Yuan's pocket money.

"Mom, stop nagging. I'll take care of myself."

"Xiao Yuan, what's wrong with your voice?" Su Caiwei's voice came through the phone.

Su Yuan was startled and quickly covered her mouth. This was too strange; had her voice changed? No, it hadn't! She cleared her throat, "Ahem, I might have a cold. It's nothing, just a sore throat."

Su Caiwei then began to nag, "If you have a cold, you must take medicine immediately. Don't let it turn into a serious illness. And remember to turn off the air conditioner when you sleep, or at least cover yourself with a blanket if you must use it..."

Su Yuan could only listen silently. In the end, Su Caiwei asked about her health several times and only hung up after Su Yuan assured her everything was fine.

"Mom, don't worry. I've only been away for a few days, and I'm almost twenty. I know how to take care of myself."

"Eighteen!" she corrected.

"Right, right, eighteen, but eighteen is still an adult!"

Su Caiwei laughed and finally hung up.

Su Yuan felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders, but a sense of loss lingered. She stared at her phone, lost in thought. She should have told her mother about her changes, but the words got stuck in her throat. This feeling made her feel choked, and her throat really felt like it was hurting. She coughed violently.

Back in the dorm, she heard the sound of water from the bathroom; someone was showering. Gao Jun was sitting at his computer, focused on writing code.

Su Yuan felt dazed, her throat tight as if something was stuck in it. She silently climbed into bed, preparing to take a nap.

...

Night fell like a girl with mysterious eyes, and the window began to be veiled by fine rain.

Su Yuan moved her chair to the aluminum glass door between the dorm and the balcony, straddling it, her hands resting on the back of the chair, chin propped up, lost in thought.

Due to the sudden rain, the freshmen participating in the night training seemed to have a chance to end it early. But the instructors clearly didn't want to compromise the quality of the training, so the "new recruits" in camouflage uniforms stood like logs on the concrete ground between the green trees.

Watching them suffer, Su Yuan suddenly felt a strong sense of satisfaction, as if she saw her former self.

At that moment, Ji Yehao turned his head and saw Su Yuan sitting behind him, shaking his head in confusion.

He had noticed something was off with her in the afternoon. She had taken a short nap around four or five and only ate half of her dinner. Could she be heartbroken? Or was it because of the prank in the afternoon? Thinking about it, hitting Su Yuan's butt must have been the most unacceptable thing for a man. Ji Yehao suddenly felt he had hurt Su Yuan's dignity.

Should he apologize?

He dragged his chair over, leaned in, and asked with concern, "Su Yuan, are you okay?"

Su Yuan glanced at him, looking puzzled. Ji Yehao scratched his head, unsure how to proceed.

"Yehao, I'm depressed," Su Yuan blurted out.

Ji Yehao was startled. Depression is no small matter; if not treated properly, it can lead to serious consequences! He became serious, "Is it mild or severe?"

Seeing his serious expression, Su Yuan couldn't help but laugh, "I'm not talking about clinical depression, just feeling down!"

"Ah, that's a relief. Don't joke like that in the future!"

Pouting, she said, "You misunderstood. I wouldn't joke about something like that."

"You said you're feeling down. I'm curious, what could have made you feel this way? Tell me, and I'll cheer up a bit."

Ji Yehao laughed, joking. In his memory, Su Yuan had always been very good at self-regulation. To put it bluntly, she was carefree. No matter how bad things got, she would eat and sleep as usual, seemingly unaffected. Now, something had actually made her feel down.

The small sense of empathy that had just arisen quickly disappeared. Su Yuan glared at him, as if she had swallowed a fly. "You're so heartless!"

"What are you talking about? Let me join in," Gao Jun put down his work and dragged his chair over.

Sighing, Su Yuan said, "The morning before yesterday, I came out of the internet cafe and met a Taoist. I could tell he was a fraud right away."

"Did he scam you for money?"

"Not exactly. But he said I looked haggard, walked unsteadily, and had a black line between my eyebrows, which was a sign of the five signs of decline..."

"Didn't you just come back from an all-nighter?"

"Exactly, I wouldn't be in good spirits after an all-nighter!" Su Yuan continued, "Then he said I had a major calamity and a blood disaster."

"Did it come true?"

"Not really. The young Taoist tried to sell me a jade pendant. I bought it because it was real. Then guess what happened? The young Taoist got hit by a car and was bleeding."

"That's a real blood disaster!" Ji Yehao said dramatically, then asked, "But what does this have to do with your depression?"

"The young Taoist also said I had a major calamity..."

Gao Jun glared, "You believe the lies of a fraud?"

Su Yuan smiled bitterly. Fraud? Not entirely. Now she really feared the "major calamity." But she couldn't tell them that.

Ji Yehao waved his hand and said earnestly, "Su Yuan, as a young person in the 21st century, we are educated and should have our own judgment. We must not fall into the trap of superstition."

Su Yuan snorted, "I understand that better than you. Do you really think I would be troubled by superstition? I'm thinking about my future! I'm really lost now. After leaving school, how will I face the rest of my life?"

"Su Yuan, you're only in your second year. You have nearly three years to think about it. There's no need to find the answer in one night," Ji Yehao patted Su Yuan's head.

"I can't afford to wait. It will be too late if I don't think about it now," she said, brushing his hand away, feeling a bit melancholic.

"Alright, Gao Jun, I think Su Yuan is just being deep. Let's leave him alone for a while," Ji Yehao said.

Gao Jun agreed and dragged his chair back to continue coding.

Ji Yehao started analyzing the stock market changes on his phone.

Su Yuan turned her head 45 degrees outward, slightly upward, and watched the rain falling from the sky. After a while, she suddenly said, "Life is as lonely as snow..." Even she thought it sounded pretentious. Maybe, subconsciously, she was trying to be deep.

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