TIMO - Chapter 54
Chapter 54
The evening breeze by the sea was pleasant. The night was hazy, the moonlight was clear, and the stars were vibrant, reflecting each other in the sky where it met the sea’s horizon.
Shi Nan had never been to the seaside with a group of people before. Or rather, she had never been surrounded by such a lovely and straightforward group. In every moment she spent with them, aside from a few necessary considerations, it was as if the distinctions between their secondary genders had vanished. This was completely different from the people she had met on RT Planet.
Among them, the Alphas weren’t like Alphas, and the Omegas weren’t like Omegas.
Each person was simply themselves, and that was all.
Dazzling fireworks bloomed across the sky in a variety of splendid patterns. The colorful light reflected on everyone’s faces, as brilliant as brocade. In that instant, the light in everyone’s eyes shone with youthful energy and high spirits.
After all the frolicking and playing, a sense of ease settled in.
The five of them sat side-by-side on the silver sand, watching the ceaseless fireworks in the sky and chatting about what the two high school students wanted to do in the future.
“Hey, we have to fill out our college applications in a few days. Ye Er, which university do you want to go to, and what do you want to study…” Jiang Wenqing propped up her face with her hand and pushed back her hair, which had gotten wet while she was playing in the water. “Since the fireworks are so beautiful tonight, let’s make a wish. Maybe it’ll come true.”
“Me?” Ye Er took out a tissue to dry his hair, then passed some to everyone else. He pursed his lips and said, “I want to go to RT Planet. I heard RT University’s Pheromone Research program is very famous.”
“Huh?” Jiang Wenqing’s eyes widened in disbelief. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “But that means you’ll have to leave Nanke Island. RT Planet is so far away…”
Ye Er frowned. “It is a bit. But I thought… you’d be more likely to ask why an Omega like me wants to major in a field that only Alphas study.”
“Huh? Only Alphas study that major? Why?” Jiang Wenqing asked back, then waved her hand dismissively. “I refuse to believe there’s any major in this world that only Alphas can study.”
The moment she finished speaking, her head was tapped. She looked at the culprit, Kong Weiyan, in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Kong Weiyan smiled at her, her arms crossed. “What Xiao Er means is that the current leaders in this field are all Alphas. If an Omega were to study it, they might face discrimination…”
Ye Er nodded in agreement, but he felt that the word “might” wasn’t quite right. For an Omega to try and make a name for themselves in a field dominated by Alphas, the hardships they would face were bound to be more severe than he imagined.
“But it’s okay,” Jiang Wenqing said decisively, propping herself up with her hands behind her. “I believe Ye Er can do it. He’s so amazing, designing these products at such a young age. He’ll definitely learn other things quickly too.”
Ye Er hadn’t expected to be described with the word “young” at only eighteen. His mouth opened and closed as if to say something, but seeing Jiang Wenqing’s confident expression, he kept quiet.
“What about you, Xiao Qing?” Shi Nan, who had been listening quietly, chimed in at the right moment.
Hearing Shi Nan’s voice, Fu Zhao also looked over. She hugged her knees and said in a relaxed tone, “Don’t tell me you want to be some gossip reporter…”
“Of course not!”
Jiang Wenqing quickly retorted, huffing through her nose. “Don’t you underestimate me, Fu Zhao. Although my dream used to be to become a reporter for the Nanke Daily, I’ve changed my ambition now!!”
“So what’s your ambition now?” Fu Zhao asked, playing along.
Jiang Wenqing chuckled, puffed out her chest, and spoke with great emotion, “I saw a report on TV from a reporter at the Omega Rescue Center on a remote planet, and it just so happens that the Nanke Daily posted a recruitment notice for the Omega Rescue Center…”
“So you’re planning to go?” Kong Weiyan asked curiously.
“Of course I’m going!” Jiang Wenqing nodded, but then sighed with a dejected look. “But I have to wait until I graduate from university…”
“University students can go too.”
Shi Nan’s gaze fell on Jiang Wenqing’s dispirited expression, and her eyes curved into a gentle smile. “Second-year students at RT University can do internships at the Omega Rescue Center. If Xiao Qing wants to go, just work hard and get into RT University. Then, in another year or two, you can do what you want to do.”
“Hey!” Jiang Wenqing slapped her thigh, her tone excited. She then patted Ye Er’s shoulder. “That’s great! Ye Er and I can go to RT University together. If anyone bullies him, I can help him bully them back.”
Ye Er pushed Jiang Wenqing’s hand away with a look of disdain, his lips pressed into a tight line. “You should take care of yourself first. Don’t start crying for your mom every day once you leave Nanke Island.”
“Pah! I would never,” Jiang Wenqing’s eyes went wide, practically spitting fire.
“What about you, Shi Nan.”
Fu Zhao’s voice suddenly sounded beside her. Shi Nan looked over and met a pair of eyes staring straight at her. The edges of the amber irises glowed with a soft light, perfectly reflecting her image.
“I mean…” Fu Zhao’s gaze softened even more. “I know you just got back from the Omega Rescue Center not long ago, so I wanted to ask about your future plans.”
Shi Nan’s eyes remained fixed on Fu Zhao’s face. She didn’t answer her question. After a moment of silence, she asked Fu Zhao instead,
“What about you?”
Fu Zhao probably hadn’t expected her to turn the question back. She was stunned for a few seconds, then smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “Me? Of course, I’ll be a good Little Island Master of Nanke Island, work with Kong Weiyan at the Literature and Art Propaganda Department, and manage some other miscellaneous things on the side.”
Fu Zhao didn’t say it out loud, but Shi Nan knew. What Fu Zhao wanted to do was the same as her, the same as Ye Er who wanted to research pheromones, and the same as Jiang Wenqing who wanted to be a reporter for the Omega Rescue Center.
They all wanted to change the current situation. They had all chosen to do this within their own fields.
Even though they knew their strength was small in the face of the reality they confronted.
But at the very least, it was better than feeling completely powerless.
Thinking of this, Shi Nan’s gaze softened. “Then I’m the same as you. I’ll be a good heir to the Shi Corporation and manage some ‘miscellaneous things’…”
“Hey, I say,” Kong Weiyan interjected, her hand resting on Fu Zhao’s shoulder again as her eyes darted around. “How come no one asked what I want to do?”
“So I’m the only one who can’t fit into this topic.”
Fu Zhao and Shi Nan exchanged a glance and smiled. Fu Zhao asked in a pleasant tone, “Then what do you want to do?”
Kong Weiyan smiled, a corner of her lip tilting up. She raised her wrist and looked at her watch. “Just wait and see. It should be about five more seconds.”
Five seconds wasn’t long. Almost as soon as Kong Weiyan’s words fell, and just as Shi Nan saw a look of surprise in Fu Zhao’s eyes that matched her own, a series of “bangs” echoed from the sky, as if something had exploded.
Then, fantastically colored fireworks burst across the sky, dazzling and brilliant, forming several large characters.
“Wel… come… to… Nan… ke… Is… land…” Jiang Wenqing carefully identified and read out the first few words.
Then those words faded, and Ye Er continued where Jiang Wenqing left off, “Our… most… hon… ored… guest…”
As those words faded, Kong Weiyan nudged Fu Zhao’s arm, signaling for her to read the next part.
Fu Zhao had already guessed what was coming. Her eyelashes trembled. She took a deep breath and looked frankly at Shi Nan. Before the character for “Shi” appeared in the sky, her soft call had already traveled to Shi Nan’s ears, carried by her gentle breath and the soft evening sea breeze.
“Shi Nan.”
Shi Nan froze for a few seconds, realizing that this time it was “Shi Nan,” not “Miss Shi Nan.” The form of address had changed, and the person before her seemed to have changed too, looking at her with such warmth and gentleness.
It was different from the cautious gaze of her past life.
This Fu Zhao was frank and direct.
Shi Nan felt a sense of relief, but also a pang of sorrow. Ripples were about to form in her eyes, but their shared gaze didn’t last long. Kong Weiyan’s voice came from the side, interrupting the words she had been holding back in her heart.
“Wait, there’s one more line.”
Shi Nan looked over. The fireworks were still blooming in the sky, slowly forming several large characters. She read them aloud,
“Happy Engagement, Fu Zhao and Shi Nan.”
Then, a casual remark from Kong Weiyan reached her ears, scattered by the wind and a little hard to hear clearly.
“What I want to do is rather shallow. I just really like beautiful fireworks, so I hope that everyone who sees them will have no regrets. I don’t like for there to be any regrets behind the fireworks, nor do I want them to be just a fleeting moment in people’s hearts. That’s all.”
Fireworks are fleeting, but Shi Nan knew that tonight’s display would occupy a significant place in her heart, just like the words the five of them had spoken tonight.
At least this fireworks display would not be fleeting in her heart.
After the fireworks festival ended, the other three each found an excuse to leave, leaving only her and Fu Zhao still sitting on the beach, as if they were deliberately waiting for something.
They both knew what it was, yet they shared a tacit understanding, waiting for the other to speak first.
After the crowd dispersed, the atmosphere grew quiet again, but it was peaceful, not awkward.
She didn’t know when it started, but they could now sit shoulder-to-shoulder together. Fu Zhao no longer sat rigidly but was quite relaxed beside her, even having the leisure to pick up shells washed ashore by the waves.
The sea breeze was gentle, and the waves lapped onto the shore one after another, their sound a constant murmur.
“It was here that night, too,” Fu Zhao said suddenly, her voice soft and smooth.
Shi Nan looked over and saw Fu Zhao’s hair being tousled by the wind. She reached out to tidy it for her, her fingertips accidentally brushing against a slightly warm earlobe before she quickly pulled her hand back.
She realized Fu Zhao was talking about the night she jumped into the sea and couldn’t help but smile. “Yes. When I opened my eyes back then, the first person I saw was you. I was quite lucky.”
“Are you still not going to tell me why you jumped into the sea?” Fu Zhao tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, hiding the cheek that was still faintly warm from the alcohol. She pursed her lips, seemingly still hung up on this question.
Shi Nan lowered her lashes. “It was nothing, really. My mind was just very confused at the time, and I wanted to see if I was dreaming, if any of this was real.”
“You don’t need to worry about it too much.”
“Then can you tell me why you didn’t recognize me back then?” Shi Nan remembered this and couldn’t help but ask.
“Alright, I won’t worry about it.” Fu Zhao agreed. She looked out at the sea for a moment in silence before answering Shi Nan’s question. “I was just like you back then, a little dazed.”
“The reason I didn’t recognize you was because…” Her expression was calm, and when she spoke, it sounded like a joke. “I think I had amnesia at the time.”
Shi Nan froze, not comprehending.
Fu Zhao looked at her again, the ripples in her eyes reflecting the clear moonlight. “You might not believe this, but I think I had a very, very long dream. When I woke up one day, I had forgotten what all of you looked like, and my memories were just a blur. It was as if someone else was narrating my story in my head, and I was just a bystander. So at that time, I didn’t actually remember what any of you looked like; I could only identify people based on certain characteristics from my memories.”
“But now, my memories have all returned, from my own perspective. I’ve been dreaming every day lately, and these are the things I’ve been dreaming about,” Fu Zhao added, before the surprise in Shi Nan’s eyes could grow any deeper.
So that was it… No wonder Fu Zhao didn’t recognize her before. No wonder Fu Zhao had acted so completely different from the person in her memories. It was because she had amnesia.
Shi Nan frowned. Although she found it a bit incredible, when she thought about her own rebirth, it didn’t seem so unbelievable anymore. She came back to her senses, her lips moved, and her voice was a little dry.
“It’s good that they’ve returned…”
“Mm…” Fu Zhao hummed in agreement, a faint smile on her lips, her lowered lashes trembling slightly. “So I’ve remembered a lot of things.”
She lowered her voice, which was tinged with the gentleness of the sea breeze. Her eyes were bright, and her expression was a little shy, combining two completely contradictory qualities—brightness and reservation—yet it appeared exceptionally vivid, a vitality that was uniquely Fu Zhao’s.
“I don’t know if you still remember the first time we met.”
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