Dazzling

After Qing Ye took the jacket, the two men standing opposite Xing Wu finally realized that Xing Wu knew this beautiful woman. They smiled at Qing Ye, who glanced sideways and nodded at them before entering Dazzle Island.

One of them said playfully, "Hey, Wu, when did you get to know such a stunning girl?"

The other chimed in, "Is she your girlfriend?" Xing Wu remained silent.

A short while later, Qing Ye heard the loud exhaust sound of a sports car outside Dazzle Island as it drove away. After Xing Wu came in, Li Lanfang called out for him to chop the ribs, and he headed straight to the backyard.

Qing Ye glanced over and followed him. Xing Wu had just washed his hands and rolled up his sleeves. He glanced sideways at Qing Ye leaning against the doorframe, picked up the kitchen knife, and Qing Ye, sipping milk from a bottle while watching him, tentatively asked, "Are those two friends of yours from Shanghai?"

"Mm," Xing Wu replied with a single syllable.

"Doing pretty well for themselves, huh?"

Xing Wu didn't respond. The kitchen knife came down with a loud "thud" on the cutting board.

Qing Ye got straight to the point: "Did they come specifically to see you?"

Xing Wu chopped another piece with another "thud," then turned to look at Qing Ye. She bit her straw and said, "Did they come to ask you to join esports?"

Xing Wu stared at her for a few seconds. "They asked me to go pro."

Qing Ye pursed her lips and looked at him. "What did you say?"

"Turned them down."

Qing Ye immediately frowned. "Why?"

"No reason."

Xing Wu picked up the kitchen knife again. Qing Ye bit her lip, walked over to him, and said, "I heard from Huang Mao that they came to see you before. You even had a falling out with your family over this. Why not stick with it?"

Xing Wu continued chopping the ribs without a word. Qing Ye grew anxious, put down her milk, and said, "Xing Wu, are you really content with this? Content to stay in this small place your whole life? I don't believe you are. Everyone here knows you as the 'Sniper King.' You could beat pro players when you were just ten. You were born for this—you shouldn't be buried here, bowing to life. Why should you doubt yourself just because everyone around you doubts you? I don't believe you don't want to leave. I don't believe you don't love that world. If you could really let it go, why do you follow all the news so closely? You haven't missed a single live match. Tell me!"

With a loud "thud," Xing Wu slammed the kitchen knife onto the cutting board. When he turned his head, his eyes held a terrifying glare as he coldly stared at Qing Ye and said, "My business is none of your concern."

Qing Ye suddenly lifted her chin and declared, word by word, "Well, I'm making it my business!"

Xing Wu's sharp eyes darkened. Suddenly, his voice low, he retorted, "If I leave, what about my grandma? If she doesn't see me for a week, she won't even eat. What about my mom? She's forty years old, always making a fuss, and at the slightest problem, she's ready to die. She can't even take care of herself—how can I expect her to look after my grandma?

You think my dad is reliable? If our family depended on him, we'd have starved long ago!

I could just pack up and leave, but I ask you—what about them?"

Qing Ye's eyes instantly reddened as she gazed deeply at him, her voice trembling. "Then what about me?"At that moment, Xing Wu stared at her blankly, swallowing all his words. His eyes were filled with her sorrowful expression. Qing Ye turned and left the kitchen, went straight up to the second floor, returned to her room, and closed the door. She sat quietly at the desk, took out a test paper, and held a pen but did not start writing.

She remained in a daze, as if suddenly understanding the certainty in Quan Ya's gaze.

"If he had chosen success, he would have already reached the pinnacle of professional competitions two years ago. Not everyone can choose success as carefreely as you. You don't know how much others have to sacrifice when choosing success. No one wants to expose their vulnerabilities to the world."

"We can bet—you won't be able to pull him away."

These words suddenly echoed in Qing Ye's heart again. She finally understood Xing Wu's sacrifice: his family, the grandmother who raised him, his mother who had no one else to rely on but him, and perhaps even his own unspeakable origins. All of this would become the price of his success. He had no way out.

Qing Ye suddenly burst into tears. She felt as if she were trapped in a cage, surrounded by walls with no exit. In that moment, she seemed to understand Xing Wu's perpetually casual attitude and indifferent gaze—it wasn't that he didn't care, but life had given him no choice. So, he willingly retracted all his sharp edges and blended into the place where he had taken root.

This feeling made Qing Ye deeply uncomfortable. The image reappeared in her mind: him standing in a swamp, sinking deeper and deeper, countless hands pulling him into a pitch-black abyss. And then... he chose to close his eyes and let his body sink further.

Qing Ye's hands gradually clenched into fists. She suddenly wanted to break through this cage, to rush over and pull him out. But in her current situation, struggling to even protect herself, what could she possibly do?

About ten minutes later, there were two knocks on the door behind her. She lowered her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Xing Wu pushed the door open, glanced at her back, and called her name softly, "Qing Ye."

Qing Ye didn't move or turn around, merely responding with a muffled "Hmm," her voice hoarse and choked with emotion, making Xing Wu's heart ache.

He said to her, "Let's go for a walk. I'll wait for you downstairs."

Qing Ye sat for another two minutes, calming herself before going downstairs. Xing Wu's motorcycle was parked at the entrance. As she stepped out, he handed her a white women's helmet, which looked quite stylish. Qing Ye took it, surprised, "You just bought this?"

Xing Wu got off the motorcycle, took the helmet back from her, and helped fasten it onto her head. Adjusting its position, he lowered his gaze to secure the strap and replied, "I was afraid you'd be cold."

Throughout the entire process, Xing Wu avoided meeting her eyes. He couldn't bear to see her red, tear-streaked face.

After getting on the motorcycle, Xing Wu took her around Zhazha Pavilion and continued further back. Qing Ye had never been on this road before and didn't know where he was taking her. Anywhere was fine—even to the ends of the earth.

They rode for a long, long time until the motorcycle turned onto a narrow path. Xing Wu said to her, "Hold on tight."Qing Ye had just wrapped her arms around his waist when Xing Wu skillfully swerved the motorcycle onto a dirt road. The ground was pitted and uneven, making the ride exceptionally bumpy. Dust flew up in clouds, and the dry air grew increasingly palpable, thick with floating particles. Clutching Xing Wu’s waist tightly, Qing Ye asked, “Where are we going?”

Xing Wu replied, “Look to your right.”

The moment Qing Ye turned her head, she beheld a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life—the vast, boundless Gobi Desert in the distance, majestic and magnificent, now ignited by the setting sun like a raging fire scorching the earth.

Xing Wu stopped the motorcycle, and Qing Ye dismounted, running forward a few steps. Her eyes lit up. “No wonder it’s so dry here—you’re right next to the Gobi Desert! It’s breathtaking!”

Leaning against the motorcycle, Xing Wu watched Qing Ye’s back and said, “I found this place when I was thirteen. Sometimes I come here alone to stay for a while, but I usually only come just before sunset. What do you see?”

“Blaze.”

Xing Wu’s pupils dilated abruptly. For so many years, he had struggled to find the right words to describe this feeling, hindered by his poor language skills. Yet now, Qing Ye had struck directly at his heart with such a precise term. He stared at her, stunned, as if his entire being were set ablaze.

Qing Ye turned to meet his gaze. Behind her, the sky was ablaze with radiant sunset hues, and she stood between heaven and earth, her eyes intense. “This desolate, lifeless wilderness only seems to come alive at this time of day, roaring at the world. Is that why you come here at this hour?”

Xing Wu simply smiled at her. His smile, illuminated by the sunset, was dazzling, yet the light in his eyes held a rugged strength. He had never met anyone who could stand so close to his heart, understanding his feelings, his thoughts, his yearnings.

Gradually lowering his gaze to the shadows at his feet, he fell into a memory. “When I was five, I was playing with other kids near my home. It started pouring rain—I remember mud everywhere. Frogs were hopping out from the roadside, startling a big dog. That dog was fierce. Some kids threw stones at it. We were all young; who’d have thought the dog would break free from its leash and charge at the kid who threw the stones? I was bold even back then. Seeing something was wrong, I pushed the kid aside, but as I turned, the dog bit my leg. It dragged me through the mud, its jaws clamped tight and refusing to let go.

That day, my grandmother carried me and ran over twenty li through the heavy rain to the county town to get me the rabies vaccine.”

Xing Wu lowered his head, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke toward the distant horizon. “During that period, every time we went for the vaccine, my grandmother had to walk a long way with me. When I couldn’t walk anymore, she’d carry me. When she couldn’t carry me anymore, she’d sit by the roadside and tell me stories, resting until she had the strength to carry me again. Once, after we left the hospital, we passed a bakery. It smelled so good—I couldn’t stop staring inside. She bought me a loaf of toast. It might have been the first time I ever ate toast. I sat by the roadside eating it, and she just watched me. I tried to share it with her, but she said she wasn’t hungry.”Xing Wu took another deep drag of his cigarette, his brows tightly furrowed: "Looking back now, I realize—how could she not have been hungry? She carried me to the county town early in the morning and didn't return home until afternoon, without even a sip of water. She just couldn't bear to spend money on food.

Not long after, she developed rheumatism. Her joints always ached, sometimes so badly she couldn't move, and then later..."

Xing Wu stamped out his cigarette and lifted his head, gazing intently at Qing Ye. She met his gaze quietly, standing far away on the vast Gobi Desert. His words reminded her of her own mother. She even wondered—if her mother were still alive and in poor health, could she have peacefully gone abroad?

The answer was no. Those "colorful flags" her father kept outside would constantly cause trouble for her mother. She could never abandon the person she cared about most, not when her mother had no one else to rely on.

She seemed to see the weight of responsibility and pressure Xing Wu carried—this was his price, paid with his family. Yet the Xing Wu she knew was loyal and righteous; how could he selfishly abandon everything at Zhazha Pavilion? Though he argued with Li Lanfang daily, Qing Ye understood that even his unreliable mother was someone he couldn't let go of.

So at this moment, she suddenly deeply regretted what she had said to him earlier at home. She shouldn't have made him feel conflicted, torn, or distressed. She shouldn't have measured Xing Wu against her own choices—she had nothing, but he still had family. He was unfortunate, yet also blessed.

Qing Ye suddenly smiled with relief. She raised her hand, five fingers spread, then placed it at her temple in a salute. Next, she tapped her chest several times with her pinky—a universal gesture of apology. She didn't know if Xing Wu would understand it, but the next second, seeing the fiery light in his eyes and the slight curve of his lips, she knew he had deciphered it.

She stretched her arms overhead, clasping her hands together as she gazed toward the horizon, her voice ethereal: "They say the person you like in high school is someone you'll remember for a lifetime. Do you believe that?"

She turned to look at him. He smiled back, so casually, yet his eyes held complex emotions. His voice carried faintly through the wind: "You're too outstanding to be ruined by emotions."

In that instant, Qing Ye seemed to radiate dazzling confidence. She turned against the light, lifting her chin: "A lifetime is long—enough to do many things. But I won't spend it remembering one person. I, Qing Ye, could never be ruined by anything. Xing Wu, I'm no coward. If I dare to bet on the future, would you let me lose?"

Qing Ye picked up the choice and solemnly placed it back in Xing Wu's hands. She knew his worries and evasions, understood his hesitations and doubts—whether due to his family, his origins, or his background, he didn't dare consider the future. So Qing Ye laid her resolve bare across this Gobi Desert, letting him feel it clearly.

Xing Wu watched her with a grave expression, his silhouette elongated by the setting sun. In that moment, he only felt a powerful force crashing into his heart, as if containing overwhelming beams of light charging toward him—so intense, so resolute.

Never in his life had he encountered someone like this—a girl who feared neither heaven nor earth, unbound by worldly conventions; a girl radiant with light who made him see a future; a brave and wise girl who firmly grasped her own destiny in her hands.He suddenly felt a deep fear—that if he let this girl before him slip away, he would never meet anyone like her again in his entire life.

If she dared to take the gamble, what reason did he have to hold back?

Just as Qing Ye thought she wouldn't get an answer, he said, "Let's be together."

She smiled, under the quiet expanse of the sky, witnessed by the last lingering glow of the sunset.

Xing Wu strode toward her, lifted her clear off the ground, and pulled her tightly into his embrace. Without a word, they held each other until the earth was swallowed by darkness.

Qing Ye buried her face in the crook of his neck and whispered, "People say first love is bitter. I don't like bitter things, so no matter what happens, you're not allowed to break up with me."

Xing Wu tightened his arms and stroked her hair. "Okay."