Chapter 24: The Lost Milk Candy

[Page 1 of 3]
【8 years old. Rain. A very noisy, little fool.】

The immature, nearly illegible handwriting struck like a thunderbolt across a decade of time, crashing into Xu Yuan’s already tumultuous mind and shattering all her thoughts into a charred ruin.

Time seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

On the third floor of the library, the sunlight remained warm and bright, and the leaves outside the window rustled in the breeze. Yet, in Xu Yuan’s world, there was nothing left but that old, yellowed candy wrapper and, behind those words, that same damp, cold, rainy night she had forgotten so long ago.

It was her.
The little girl in a princess dress who, worried about a strange little boy, had rushed into the downpour and stubbornly stuffed a candy into his hand… that noisy little fool.

It was him.
The little boy in a small suit, soaked to the bone, blood trickling from the back of his neck, yet too stubborn to cry—the one whose eyes only flickered with a faint light after she gave him that candy.

So… it was him.
It had always been him.

Boom!

Xu Yuan’s mind went blank. Her blood seemed to congeal, only to surge violently in the next second, rushing to her head. Her face turned deathly pale, then instantly flushed as if it might drip blood.

A massive, indescribable wave of emotion—a mixture of shock, shame, bitterness, and overwhelming heartache—engulfed her like a silent tsunami.

She had thought she was the superior "prophet" who saw through all his secrets.
She had thought she was the "savior" who extended a helping hand out of pity and compassion.

But in the end, she was the one kept in the dark, the true fool who knew nothing.

Their connection was never a chance "partnership" that began at the library. Their entanglement had started ten years ago, on that rainy night.

He had remembered all along.
He remembered that rainy night, remembered the noisy little fool, and even… kept that flavorless candy wrapper. He had tucked it into his most cherished notebook, filled with code, like a precious treasure.

Looking at the candy wrapper, Xu Yuan felt as if her heart were being gripped by a warm hand, gently yet with immense force. The ache was so sharp and burning that she could barely breathe.

She finally understood.
She understood why her heart had skipped a beat so strongly when she saw the scar on the back of his neck in the gym.
She understood why, in that dark alley, he had used those cold hands to clumsily wipe the dirt from her face.
She also understood why he knew her birthday, and why he had chosen such a twisted, hurtful way to deposit that thirty thousand yuan into a card with her birthday as the password.

Because he had recognized her long ago.
Perhaps it was that glance in the library when he looked up and said, "I saw you."
Or perhaps it was at some earlier moment she wasn't even aware of.

He knew everything.
He knew she was that little fool from years ago, knew all her current embarrassment and hardship, and knew all her clumsy disguises cloaked in the name of "money."

[Page 2 of 3]

Yet, he said nothing.
He was like a silent reef, letting her perform one ridiculous, self-righteous solo play after another before him.

A crushing sense of shame wound around Xu Yuan’s heart like ivy, leaving her nearly suffocated. She slammed the notebook shut and, feeling like a thief caught in the act, shoved it back into the worn-out computer bag.

She dared not look again.
She was afraid that if she looked one more time, she would lose all composure in this empty library.

...

Xu Yuan did not know how she had mindlessly packed the scanned files and sent them to Jiang Yi’s email. She did not know how she had walked out of the library, crossed the bustling campus, and returned to that small, square dormitory.

Her mind was a mess.
Like a ball of yarn tangled into countless knots by a cat.

"Back already?"
Lin Feifei was sitting cross-legged on her chair, wearing a facial mask and playing a game. Seeing Xu Yuan walk in, looking utterly devastated, she immediately took off her headphones and cried out dramatically.

"My god, Xu Yuan, why does your face look even worse than yesterday? Didn't you go to be his 'hands' and 'eyes'? What, did the library ghosts suck your soul away?"

Xu Yuan ignored her teasing.
She silently placed the heavy computer bag on her desk, then collapsed into her chair like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Hey, what is wrong with you?" Lin Feifei finally sensed something was off. She tore off her mask, leaned over, and touched her forehead. "No fever. Did that bastard Jiang Yi give you another impossible task?"

Xu Yuan shook her head.
She slowly looked up at Lin Feifei’s face, which was filled with concern. Her lips trembled for a long time before she finally asked, in a voice as faint and drifting as a dream:

"Feifei… if, I mean if…"
"You discovered that someone you thought you were helping actually… knew you all along, and had been watching you in silence, treating you like a fool… what would you do?"

Lin Feifei froze.
Her brain, which could usually process gossip at lightning speed, lagged for several seconds for the first time.

"What do you mean?" She blinked, trying to comprehend the dense and illogical statement. "Who treated you like a fool? Jiang Yi? What did he do again?"

Xu Yuan didn't answer.
She reached out, unzipped the computer bag, and pulled out the hardcover notebook. Then, in front of Lin Feifei, she slowly turned to the page where the candy wrapper was tucked.

Lin Feifei leaned in, saw the old wrapper and the immature handwriting beneath it, and her expression instantly froze.

【8 years old. Rain. A very noisy, little fool.】

"This… what is this?" Lin Feifei’s voice cracked.

Xu Yuan said nothing, but in a way that felt almost cruel, she recounted the entire memory of the rainy night and the milk candy—a memory she had suppressed for ten years.

...

[Page 3 of 3]

"So…"
After hearing it all, the first genuine, shattering shock appeared on Lin Feifei’s usually vibrant face. She looked at the candy wrapper, then at Xu Yuan’s deathly pale face. After a long time, she finally spoke, her tone a complex mix of disbelief and overflowing rage:

"So, that jerk Jiang Yi knew it was you from the very beginning?!"
"He watched you, for the sake of that hundred thousand yuan, act like a fool and deliver yourself to him to team up?"
"He watched you, just to protect him, get money thrown in your face at the KTV?"
"He watched you, because of him, lose your tutoring job and sit in an alley crying like a dog?!"
"And then, he said nothing, just stood by and watched as you, the 'little fool' who saved him ten years ago, begged for scraps in front of him just to survive?!"

Every one of Lin Feifei’s words was like the sharpest blade, stabbing blindly and viciously into Xu Yuan’s already scarred heart.

"Damn it!"
Lin Feifei slammed the table and stood up, pacing back and forth in a rage. "No! This can't just end like this! I’m going to find him right now! I have to ask him if he even has a heart!"

"Don't go!"
Xu Yuan grabbed her, her voice hoarse.

"Why not?!" Lin Feifei turned back, looking at her devastated expression, torn between heartache and anger. "Xu Yuan! Wake up! He’s playing with you! He’s taking revenge because you saw his vulnerable side!"

"It’s not that…" Xu Yuan shook her head, tears finally falling uncontrollably. "He’s not… he’s just…"

She wanted to say that he was simply too proud.
Too proud to admit that he, too, had once been saved by a small piece of candy.
Too proud to prefer hiding all his tenderness behind that old candy wrapper rather than letting anyone see the only crack in his long-frozen heart.

"What is it?!" Lin Feifei demanded.

But Xu Yuan could not say another word.
She only looked at the candy wrapper and sobbed uncontrollably. All her grievances, all her reluctance, and all her heartache turned into burning tears at that moment.

Just as she was crying in the depths of despair, the laptop of Jiang Yi’s—the one she had just been using for work—suddenly chimed with a crisp, custom notification sound.

It was a video call request.

On the screen popped up an unfamiliar avatar that Xu Yuan had never seen before.
It was a young female doctor in a white coat and mask, her eyes incredibly gentle.
And below that avatar was a note that made Xu Yuan stop breathing instantly.

【Sister.】