TIMO - Chapter 58
Chapter 58
By the time the trial ended and Shi Nan had escorted Fu Zhao to the starship port, it was already sunset.
There was still half an hour until the starship’s departure, and only fifteen minutes before Fu Zhao had to board. Shi Nan suddenly tugged on her sleeve, a flicker of unease in her eyes. Biting her lower lip, she spoke with some hesitation, “Maybe I should just take you back to Nanke Island myself…”
Fu Zhao paused, her gaze gently falling upon Shi Nan’s eyes. Her wrist was held in a tight grip. She knew Shi Nan was still unsettled by the incident with Lu Jingmo. A faint sense of wrongness lingered in her own heart as well, but she also knew they couldn’t both panic. One of them had to appear calm.
“If you’re like this, and you take me back to Nanke Island, then I’ll be worried about you and have to bring you back here again.” After some thought, this was her reply. Seeing that Shi Nan still looked worried, she curved her lips into a smile. “Besides, didn’t Shen Caiwei say she’s transferring on Nanke Island? I’ll be with her. It’ll be fine.”
Following Fu Zhao’s words, Shi Nan glanced toward a tree in the distance. Shen Caiwei stood there, wearing a baseball cap. When she saw Shi Nan looking, she gave a slight nod before averting her gaze.
Just now, Shen Caiwei had declared she was going to seal her heart and lock away her love, and had not spoken to Shi Nan since. Anything she wanted to say had to be relayed through Fu Zhao, and she would immediately look away after even a brief glance, as if they were mortal enemies.
Although Shi Nan was satisfied with Shen Caiwei’s tactful decision to keep her distance, she still felt that it wasn’t a good thing for Fu Zhao and Shen Caiwei to get too close.
At this thought, she pursed her lips. “Don’t get too close to Shen Caiwei. She may not be very bright, but she is, after all…”
“Okay, I know.” Fu Zhao smiled. “I’m not a magnanimous person. Even with a former love rival, I can’t maintain a harmonious relationship. This is just a coincidence.”
“At least you’ll have someone familiar with you, so I won’t have to worry.”
“And I think my symptoms of not being acclimatized have gotten better. I don’t feel so bad today. Does that mean I can come here to see you next time?” she added tentatively.
Shi Nan’s gaze fell upon Fu Zhao. To attend court, the person before her had worn a formal suit, looking sharp and clean. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, with fine, fluffy strands falling along her neck and framing her forehead, accentuating her smooth facial contours and slender neck. The warm, yellow glow of the setting sun spilled across her delicate, three-dimensional features, adding a hazy quality to her already fair skin. A brilliant, dazzling light haloed the edges of her amber pupils.
The sight made her daze for a moment.
She was used to seeing Fu Zhao wandering around Nanke Island in a white shirt. Now, dressed in a formal suit, Fu Zhao possessed an additional clean-cut, proper charm.
She couldn’t help but recall the Fu Zhao from junior high, who had also worn such a formal school uniform. Fu Zhao had been very thin back then, and not tall, only reaching about her chin. Her skin was also very pale, so much so that a single glance would make one worry if she was eating enough every day.
That was why Fu Zhao’s uniform jacket had always been ill-fitting, with empty cuffs and a collar so large it nearly covered her entire neck.
She was small and frail. Though it was the smallest size available, the uniform on Fu Zhao still looked like a child secretly wearing adult clothes.
But now…
The golden halo of light on Fu Zhao’s fluffy hair suddenly expanded before returning to its original size, flickering.
The frail figure from her memory was gradually replaced by the clear, bright eyes before her. Her features were gentle, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she was just looking at her quietly.
The memory of looking down had also become looking at her on the same level, or even looking up.
Her beautiful eyes were full of life, shining brightly.
The sight left her in a bit of a trance. It took a moment for her to come back to her senses before she spoke softly, “We’ll see…”
“We’ll talk about it after I’ve eliminated all potential dangers here.”
She could not endure the pain of losing Fu Zhao again.
She wouldn’t allow it, not even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
“In that case…”
Fu Zhao’s eyes flickered. After some thought, she decided not to say anything more. Instead, she handed over the bag she had been carrying. “A gift. I wanted to give it to you a long time ago, but you left without a word, and I didn’t have the chance. After I woke up, I forgot about it, so it’s been delayed.”
“I’m giving it to you now…” She lowered her lashes. “The timing is just right.”
“What is it?”
Shi Nan took the gift bag. Inside the pure white bag was an exquisitely wrapped gift box. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, her gaze darting up and down. “Can I open it and see it now?”
“You can.”
Fu Zhao replied. Thinking of the reprogrammed Number Ten inside, her face couldn’t help but feel hot. She curled her fingers into a loose fist, brought it to her lips, and coughed lightly. “This is Number Ten. It’s an artificial intelligence. It was originally the smart home hub for your house on the island, but I later replaced it with Xiao An.”
She didn’t say why she had replaced it, only adding softly, “It’s not very useful outside the island, except for being able to sync with your watch to locate you in an emergency. But don’t worry, Number Ten will only be notified of your location if the watch is damaged. Your privacy is guaranteed at all other times. Of course, you can also turn this function off at any time.”
“I’ve already transferred the watch’s protective functions to another device. You can turn it on if you need it, so I can confirm your safety at any time.”
“Of course, you can also just turn it off.”
She paused, then added, her eyes shimmering slightly, “Because no matter what, I will be able to find you.”
Shi Nan’s fingertips trembled abruptly. Her lashes lowered. After a moment, once she had taken out the square box, she lifted her eyes to meet Fu Zhao’s and asked softly, “So its name is Number Ten?”
“Yes.” Fu Zhao nodded, a faint curve appearing on her lips. “After you get back, you can just call Number Ten’s name. I’ve already recorded your voiceprint and set you as its owner.”
“Its greatest purpose now is to keep you company.”
“You can talk to it if you have anything on your mind. Of course, you can also video call me anytime.” She curved her eyes, her gaze softening. “It’s not a substitute for me-”
Before she could finish her sentence, before the words “it’s just a little trinket for amusement” could come out, she was pulled into a full embrace.
The person in her arms was warm and soft, holding her shoulders tightly. It wasn’t like their previous hugs, which had a bit of distance, but an exceptionally close embrace. So close it felt as if her own heart was beating in Shi Nan’s chest, slowly accelerating.
Shi Nan buried her head in the crook of her shoulder and subconsciously nuzzled against her. Strands of fine, soft hair brushed against her, bringing a ticklish sensation.
Her arms clung tightly to her shoulders.
It was as if she wanted to knead her entire being into the embrace.
The rich, sweet fragrance lingering at the tip of her nose also seemed to swirl around them, carrying the little butterflies fluttering out from her chest, rustling and releasing their sweet scent.
Everything before her eyes slowed down. The light pouring down from above, the halos filtering through the gaps in the leaves, expanded circle by circle.
The chirping of the cicadas in her ears also seemed to have softened considerably.
All that remained was the sound of their two soft breaths.
Fu Zhao’s eyes flickered, and she caught sight of Shen Caiwei squatting under the tree, a resentful look on her face before she huffily turned her head away.
Only then did Fu Zhao come back to her senses. Her gaze fell on Shi Nan’s narrow shoulders. She slowly raised her hands, wrapped them around Shi Nan’s shoulders, and gently placed her palms on them. “If you miss me, you can come back anytime.”
“If you’re not free, I can also find some time…”
“Fu Zhao…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Shi Nan interrupted her, even tightening her hold. She nuzzled her head against her shoulder and neck, making her neck feel hot. Her voice, muffled in the embrace, was very soft, so soft it seemed to dissolve into the hug.
“Last time, you said you’d give me an answer when I returned to Nanke Island.”
“You can’t go back on your word anymore…” The person in her arms paused. “I won’t give you the chance to go back on it.”
Fu Zhao was also infected by the emotion of parting, her breathing a little ragged. But in the next second, she calmly composed herself and said softly, “Okay, I won’t go back on my word.”
“I heard that for a late-differentiating Alpha, the first susceptibility period will arrive within three months to three years…”
Shi Nan released her. The corners of her eyes were faintly red, and her gaze seemed to be covered by a layer of mist, shimmering slightly in her tea-brown pupils. It shimmered right into Fu Zhao’s heart, tugging at the last taut string within her.
“I will be back before your first susceptibility period.”
Fu Zhao hadn’t even thought about the susceptibility period yet.
But of course, she knew what Shi Nan meant by saying she would be back before her susceptibility period.
She knew Shi Nan was probably just joking, but she couldn’t help it. Her thoughts flew far away, as if they had drifted to the white clouds floating in the sky above.
Shi Nan was just worried that something might go wrong during her first susceptibility period. That was all.
There was no other meaning. She repeatedly warned herself, but when she met Shi Nan’s tender, tea-brown eyes, she couldn’t help but feel flustered. At that moment, she could almost feel the heat spreading rapidly across her face. The shade trees overhead seemed to have no effect, as if she were about to emit smoke.
So much so that when she was sitting on the starship, facing Shen Caiwei’s strange gaze, she felt as if the other woman had overheard what Shi Nan had said to her.
So much so that she was in no mood to feel sick on the starship. The sentence, “I will be back before your first susceptibility period,” kept replaying in her mind, complete with subtitles and sound.
Its presence overshadowed any other words anyone said to her afterward.
The heat on her face didn’t dissipate until she arrived on Nanke Island and saw its bustling crowds, some busy, some leisurely.
Nanke Island was still the same lively Nanke Island as before, with no changes.
But she just felt that her heart was empty.
It was as if without that one person, Shi Nan, Nanke Island was no longer the same Nanke Island.
Clearly, she was the one who had spent over a decade on Nanke Island.
Clearly, Shi Nan had only stayed on Nanke Island for two months.
Yet a new thought had taken root in her, as if those two months not only equaled her previous ten-plus years but had far surpassed all their previous meaning.
They had only been apart for two hours, but her longing for Shi Nan had already exceeded two hours. She realized this, but had no intention of suppressing it.
Longing could not be suppressed. The more one tried, the more it would well up from the bottom of the heart, like a torrential river that could not be contained.
And this longing reached its peak when Fu Zhao returned home and saw the glass sculpture placed squarely on the coffee table.
As dusk fell, the hazy, yellow light of the setting sun slanted in, casting a diagonal shadow of the glass sculpture on the coffee table.
It was the same glass sculpture that had been taken apart before, but the missing part had been restored.
Next to the figure of her in a white shirt, there was now another figure in a white shirt, with shoulder-length black hair and delicate features, standing quietly beside her.
The familiar, exquisite features were lifelike, and the tea-brown eyes belonged to Shi Nan.
One person had become two.
The farewell gift had once again become an engagement gift.
But this time, there was no letter beside it.
Because this time, they had said a proper goodbye, not an unspoken one.
Letters and words were for things left unsaid.
And between them, there was no longer a need for things left unsaid.
Fu Zhao gazed at the neatly arranged glass sculpture and the pottery pieces Shi Nan had made around the room. In that instant, the question in her heart found its answer.
Rather than smoothing out the wrinkles in her heart.
Perhaps what she needed more was to understand the importance of not wasting time.
It would be nice if Shi Nan came back to Nanke Island tomorrow.
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