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The security guards stormed the hill, Wu Yuewei guiding the way for them from behind.
More than twenty flashlights were immediately concentrated there...
Amidst the light, a gunshot resounded. A figure collapsed to the ground.
As Wu Yuewei had said that Xu Tingsheng was in possession of the gun, the security guards were all a bit puzzled at this time. Still, Wu Yuewei wasn't. She was so familiar with that figure who had just been brought down by the gun...
Not considering how the gun had returned to the possession of the thieves, Wu Yuewei looked at that figure collapsing backwards. Her mind spun and her body grew weak as she stumbled to the ground.
The three thieves leapt over another end of that hill. The security guards yelled and chased after them in hot pursuit... after a while, a gunshot resounded followed by many more gunshots. Hui Four was really a fierce criminal who dearly wished to engage in a firefight with the security guards... he fired off a shot and was soon riddled with bullets.
Wu Yuewei crawled up, standing there numbly amidst the gunshots, startled exclamations and chaos. She did not move an inch, only standing there solitarily as if she was the only person in the world.
"Student Wu... student Wu? What is it?" Professor Yan Zhengyu and a few others climbed up the slope too after a while and saw Wu Yuewei who was dazed and rooted to the spot.
"He's dead, " Wu Yuewei pointed at where Xu Tingsheng had collapsed in the distance, saying in shock, "Xu Tingsheng's dead. They shot him. He's... dead."
With her tone and expression, it was more like she was trying to tell just herself this fact.
She was not even crying. While sorrow would sometimes bring forth a storm, they were mere undercurrents sometimes... despite being undercurrents, they were powerful forces that were sufficient to completely sweep one away.
"I was the one who asked him to accompany me for a walk. Twice, he asked me to run away first."
As Wu Yuewei spoke, Yan Zhengyu was already dashing over in spite of the darkness. The remaining two supported Wu Yuewei and frantically followed.
Xu Tingsheng lay on the ground, one hand clutching his chest.
Yan Zhengyu stopped. Wu Yuewei stopped. They felt helpless... if they were a bit calmer, though, they would realise that there was actually no blood on Xu Tingsheng!
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Xu Tingsheng coughed a bit and sucked in a breath of air, reaching into his clothes and muttering, "This old man hurts... damn, it was nearly GG for me."
No one clearly heard what he said, because they were all stunned silly.
Finally, Xu Tingsheng pulled out the warring states copper mirror that Yan Zhengyu had given him... there was a bullet embedded in it.
"It's all thanks to teacher's heart-guarding mirror, or I would have died here today..."
Yelping in pain, Xu Tingsheng slowly clambered up.
Yan Zhengyu closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.
Only now did Wu Yuewei release a cry, before she immediately fainted.
......
Xu Tingsheng sat on his sickbed.
Although the copper mirror had blocked the bullet of the imitation rifle, the bullet's force itself had directly impacted the heart, causing him to feel somewhat uncomfortable. After two full-body checkups at the hospital, he was required to stay on there for observation.
While news of this incident was sealed off at the bureaucratic level, his family still inevitably found out about it. Wu Yuewei called Xu Qiuyi, Xu Qiuyi called their home and his mother called Xiang Ning...
Having gotten the employees to stop those visiting officials from entering his sick ward, Xu Tingsheng received several calls from his family and friends. Finally, he promised Xiang Ning several times that he would be back in a few days. Only with great difficulty did he manage to end the call as he set his handphone aside.
Wu Yuewei was sitting by his sickbed. She had delayed her return date.
"I'll be returning soon. You should hurry back to your school too. Look, I'm actually completely fine, " Xu Tingsheng said.
At least on the surface, physically speaking, Xu Tingsheng was indeed completely unharmed... what had changed was his mentality.
Xu Tingsheng was feeling fearful, fearful of what might have happened had he not been lucky-he was too reliant on luck.
Xu Tingsheng was habitually used to being in a passive position when it came to facing crises and dangers. When everything was okay, he virtually never thought of how to better ensure his own safety. He also virtually never took the preemptive to strike, stamping crises out before they could sprout fully.
What about Zhou Yuandai? Since he clearly knew that this mysterious woman had troubling intentions towards him, clearly knew that the other party likely posed an immense threat, was he to continue remaining in a passive position, only thinking of a way to deal with it when the crisis appeared?
On the night that the bullet struck his chest and he fortunately survived, Xu Tingsheng steeled his resolve.
The realisation of death as the gun fired, Xiang Ning, his parents, his friends, countless faces flashing through his mind in that instant, past troubles and future hopes all streaming past... his heart throbbing in pain as he blacked out momentarily and lost consciousness, not knowing if he could survive.
Collapsing at the mausoleum of the great Cao Cao, a sentence had inexplicably surfaced in Xu Tingsheng's mind: Better to let down all under the heavens than for all under the heavens to let me down. For Xu Tingsheng, that might be better changed to 'than for all under the heavens to let me and those I love down'.
He did not speak of these changes in mentality to anyone.
Hearing Xu Tingsheng ask her to return to her school, Wu Yuewei smiled very calmly, replying, "Yes, I'm returning this afternoon."
"That's good then, " Xu Tingsheng said.
"Still, there's something that I must tell you again."
"Oh. What is it?"
"Well, I'm regretting it. I'd originally decided to put you behind me after going back... now, I want to wait a bit longer."
Xu Tingsheng sat up straight, "What?"
"Is that not okay? That's none of your business. You can simply ignore it, " Wu Yuewei smiled craftily.
"It's not that. It's just... why?"
"At the moment that I thought you died, only then did I realise how unwilling I am to lose you, " Wu Yuewei said as she looked into Xu Tingsheng's eyes.
Xu Tingsheng avoided her gaze, "But in fact, that night, it wasn't like in the movies or novels. I didn't forget about everything else and forgo everything in order to protect you... they were just very normal reactions, all of them. So, there's no need, right?"
"It's what's normal that's valuable. There's no need to forgo everything, no need to give it your all. It's just like how you're afraid of snakes. While you were frightened to the point of running around wildly back then, you still remembered to pull me along. This is just like how when you encountered those people the night before last, your first reaction was to pull me behind you, just like how you so naturally decided for me to run first time and time again..." Wu Yuewei smiled and said, "You're right. Everything you did just came very naturally... this sort of natural means naturally not abandoning and forgetting about me, naturally prioritising me and putting me in a safe position. Senior, I wish to tell you that this sort of naturalness... leaves me feeling especially at ease, especially warm inside."
"I'm a very smart woman. Therefore, I know that a sense of security and one's compatibility with another aren't things that can be decided over one period, by one event. It comes naturally, with normal events in life. So, I'm sorry, but I'm regretting it."
Xu Tingsheng could not find any reason to rebut these words, because he believed the same too. It was just like how he felt that Xiang Ning was surely the one in this life and the previous.
After hesitating for a while, Xu Tingsheng said candidly, "Still, you know, I'll marry..."
"It's still early, " Wu Yuewei said relaxedly, "Xiang Ning is still little. I'm still young too. Moreover, even if you do get married, I might even be able to become like Bai Yueguang and Zhu Shazhi in Zhang Ailing's works."
"It's just that I don't know just how many white roses and red roses senior has."
The usually tame study queen was eloquent as she erupted for once... Xu Tingsheng found that he really wasn't able to rebut her.
Looking at the expression of Xu Tingsheng who appeared totally speechless for once, Wu Yuewei smiled and said, "Actually, senior... there are few smart women who don't have dark sides."
She smiled and stood up, carrying her bag as she said, "Well, I'm going back to pack up my belongings."
Xu Tingsheng could only say, "Okay."
Walking to the doorway, Wu Yuewei did not turn as she suddenly said, "In tenth grade, my good friend heard about what happened between us. She said that I was foolish, that our relationship actually wasn't that deep. She said that I was so foolish there was no hope for me... at that time, I myself actually hadn't figured it out too."
"It was only afterwards that I understood. In this world, for some men, once you've loved him... there's just no way to love another. Even if you aren't able to love this person."
| ← Ch. 646 | Ch. 648 → |