Dazzling

When Qing Ye rushed to the mouth of the alley, she witnessed a scene that would remain etched in her memory for a long time. Shu Han, wearing knee-high boots with her long hair flying wildly, was enveloped in a swirling cloud of Yellow Sand along with Xing Wu. It was as if an unstoppable vortex had formed between them. Even from a distance, Qing Ye could clearly see the despair in Shu Han’s eyes. Lifting her head to gaze at Xing Wu, her heavily made-up face wore a look of utter desolation. "Do you think I fucking enjoy maneuvering among a bunch of men every day?" she said. "Jiang Hai Tao talks a good game, telling me to be with him, but the number of women he has is beyond counting. I’ve had enough—I don’t want to live this kind of life anymore."

Qing Ye gradually slowed to a stop. The fierce wind tangled her slightly curly hair, and her feet felt as heavy as lead, unable to take another step. She stood frozen, staring at the tears streaming down Shu Han’s cheeks. She had never seen Shu Han like this before. Shu Han was still smiling—a bewitching, almost defiant smile—but she lifted her head, grabbed Xing Wu’s leather jacket, and mustered the last of her strength, her eyes cold and sharp. "Wu Zi, I always thought I could wait for that day."

The wind continued to howl past Qing Ye’s ears, but it felt as though it had pierced straight through her body and into her heart. Suddenly, she understood the sorrow and struggle of the woman before her, laid bare so brutally. This was Shu Han’s deepest, most genuine fear, hidden within her for who knows how many years, now erupting completely amidst the swirling Yellow Sand.

Quan Ya had also run out and came to a halt beside Qing Ye, watching them. Xing Wu lowered his gaze slightly and finally pulled Shu Han’s hand away, his voice dangerously low. "Stop waiting."

Shu Han’s expression froze, then she suddenly laughed—a loud, almost hysterical laugh. She immediately thrust an arm out, pointing accusingly at Qing Ye. "Because of her? Wu Zi, are you fucking insane? No one in their right mind would take the County East Job—I’ve told you so many times, it’s radioactive! Do you care so little about your life just for money?

Are you even planning to pay for her study abroad, huh?"

Xing Wu abruptly lifted his head and looked at Qing Ye. She stood rooted to the spot in shock, her dark eyes flickering wildly. As the wind grew stronger, her body trembled even more violently, as if she could hear the chattering of her own teeth.

Shu Han couldn’t comprehend Xing Wu’s impulsiveness, nor could she understand how, in such a short time since meeting this girl, he was willing to sacrifice so much for her. It wasn’t just about her personal feelings for Xing Wu—even from the perspective of their years of friendship, she couldn’t bear to see him act so recklessly.

Furious, Shu Han raised her fist and slammed it hard into Xing Wu’s shoulder. Unaware that he was injured, she didn’t hold back. Xing Wu let out a low grunt, the veins on his forehead bulging. Shu Han, losing control of her emotions, screamed at him, "You’re such an idiot! Do you need money that badly? If it weren’t for her, would you be pushing yourself like this? Do you really think she’ll come back to this shithole to find you after studying abroad? She’s too young to understand love—once she steps out of the country, she won’t even remember your name! Wake the fuck up!"

Xing Wu clenched his jaw, his eyes turning distant. "This is my business," he said coldly.

With that, he turned and strode over to Qing Ye, grabbing her ice-cold hand. He patted Quan Ya on the shoulder. "Take your sister home."

Then he immediately hailed a taxi and left with Qing Ye.The sandstorm grew increasingly fierce, and Qing Ye didn't know if this meant a full-blown dust storm was approaching. She had experienced dust storms in Beijing too—the worst one happened when she seemed to still be in elementary school. Her mother had picked her up from tutoring class to go home. The afternoon sky had darkened terrifyingly, as if the world were ending. Nestled in her mother's arms, she clung tightly to her, saying she was scared. Her mother buried her face in her clothes.

So many years had passed in the blink of an eye. Her mother was no longer by her side. When the dust storm swept in again, the only person she could count on, the only one she could rely on, was the boy beside her—this boy she had known for only a few months.

But dust storms eventually pass. When she no longer needed to lean on this boy, what would become of them? She had never really thought that far ahead.

Truth be told, when she first came to Xing Wu's home, she hadn't intended to burden them. Sun Shu had given Li Lanfang a sum of money. Though she initially felt ashamed of this arrangement, viewing it as relatives bought with money, she later realized it did ease her conscience somewhat. Without excessive guilt, it felt like an agreed-upon transaction—once the deal ended, she would leave, and they would continue with their lives, owing nothing to each other.

But only now did she realize things weren't as simple as she had imagined. Unconsciously, she had become a burden to Xing Wu. He was even planning her life abroad. She never wanted to be a burden to anyone, especially when he already carried such heavy responsibilities.

When she heard Shu Han say he had taken on such dangerous work, Qing Ye's heart clenched. She recalled what Quan Ya had once told her: Xing Wu could have lived an easy life, like most people here. Even if muddling through day by day, his life wouldn't have been so turbulent and arduous.

She even felt that if not for her appearance, Shu Han wouldn't be suffering so much now. To be honest, although Qing Ye understood Shu Han's feelings for Xing Wu, she didn't dislike her. Instead, she found certain situations quite helpless, especially Shu Han's circumstances. Perhaps she also wished to marry like any normal girl, but once you've waded through muddy waters, many things aren't so easy to escape.

Maybe Xing Wu was her only hope, but everything had been thrown into chaos with Qing Ye's arrival. She had disrupted everyone's lives and trajectories. In the future, she might even leave with a casual wave, leaving behind a mess. The more Qing Ye thought about it, the more her head throbbed, wishing she could just explode on the spot.

So on the way back, she remained silent, strange thoughts swirling in her mind, making her restless. Xing Wu was silent too, staring out the window without a word.

The only constant was that he never let go of her hand, holding it tightly all the while.

After getting out of the car, they found Dazzle Island had closed early today. Due to the sandstorm, Du Qiyan and Liu Nian had gone home early, and Li Lanfang had gone to the neighbor Zhao Mazi's house to play mahjong.

Upon returning home, Qing Ye went straight to the second floor, took out a test paper, and started solving problems. Often, when she couldn't find a way out, she relieved her anxiety by grinding through exercises. Though others might find her method of easing frustration peculiar, it worked remarkably well for her.When she finished solving a test paper and went downstairs, Xing Wu was changing his bandage. She saw that the gauze Old Zhuang Doctor had wrapped for him at noon had been torn off and discarded to the side, with fresh bloodstains already seeping through. He was awkwardly trying to wrap it with one hand.

Qing Ye walked over, took the gauze from him, and lowered her head to rebandage his wound. Her voice was muffled as she said, "Couldn't you have dodged?"

Xing Wu glanced up at her and replied flatly, "She was drunk. Letting her vent means she won't come looking for me again."

Qing Ye didn't respond, silently finishing the bandaging before heading back upstairs.

That night, Xing Wu stayed downstairs alone, not going up to disturb Qing Ye's studying. It was rare for them to go to bed without their usual nonsense or hand-holding. With the lights off, they each drifted to sleep with their own thoughts.

On Sunday, Qing Ye left early in the morning, saying she was going to Shi Min's place. Pang Hu went too, and Xing Wu didn't see her all day. When he returned in the evening, Qing Ye had already gone to bed early.

It wasn't until Monday morning at school that Qing Ye learned the vocational school student who had wielded the knife had been taken to the police station. The others were basically fine, and no parents had shown up complaining about their kids getting into fights at school.

At the very least, this was quite remarkable. At Qing Ye's previous international school, conflicts between students were inevitable, but fights there usually revolved around money—everything ultimately came down to money.

Here, however, as long as things didn't get too out of hand, no one would call the police over a single punch or demand compensation for emotional distress. Such things didn't exist. Going to the police to cry about it was seen as utterly shameful in the eyes of these hot-blooded youths. If you got hit, you got hit—if you weren't strong enough, you accepted your bad luck, like Da Cao.

But Qing Ye knew that Da Cao wouldn't let this humiliation slide so easily.

During the morning assembly, Hao Chenggong was invited onto the podium—the only time in his three years of high school that he wasn't there to read a self-criticism.

This time, Huang Mao was on the podium to receive school-wide recognition. After all, he had broken Anzhong's long-standing record of coming in last in the marathon, unexpectedly taking first place. Principal Zhong felt immensely proud and had even asked the homeroom teacher of Class 4 to notify Huang Mao yesterday to bring the trophy to school today and show it off in front of everyone.

However, because of what Huang Mao had witnessed in the alley that day, which had been so shocking, the trophy had fallen to the ground and gotten badly dented. Huang Mao had tried using a hammer to reshape it, but the trophy's quality was so poor that not only did it not revert to its original shape, it ended up with a hole smashed through it.

So when he held up the damaged trophy on stage, Pang Hu, standing at the back of Class 2, scratched his head in confusion and said to Xing Wu beside him, "Th-this year's trophy design is... is pretty unique, huh."

"..."

Xing Wu glanced at Qing Ye standing at the front. Because of her neat appearance and excellent academic record, ever since she arrived, the Old Witch always placed her at the front of any class formation. Now, with her hair in a ponytail, only the back of her head was visible. Xing Wu recalled how Huang Mao had shown up at Dazzle Island at six in the morning, holding his broken trophy and saying he hadn't slept well for two nights.

Xing Wu had thought he was just excited about winning first place, but it turned out he had spent those two nights trying to figure out the relationship between Qing Ye and Xing Wu—and still hadn't managed to make sense of it.So when Qing Ye left home that morning, she saw two guys squatting at the entrance of Dazzle Island in the freezing cold, chain-smoking one cigarette after another. They didn't speak, just squatted there smoking—quite a novel sight for such an early hour.

She adjusted her backpack strap and glanced at Xing Wu. He got the feeling Qing Ye wanted to say something to him, but then she looked at Huang Mao and left without a word.

Huang Mao asked him in confusion, "Huh? Weren't you two all lovey-dovey yesterday? Did you fight? It's not because of me, is it?"

"..." Where did he get that idea?

At noon, when Xing Wu, Huang Mao, and their group came out of the convenience store heading toward the playground, Qing Ye was sitting alone by the basketball court, lost in thought. Huang Mao muttered curiously, "Isn't that Qing Ye?"

Pang Hu immediately called out to her, "Qing, Qing Ye, why aren't you doing problems today?"

When Qing Ye turned her head, Xing Wu, who was at the back of the group, happened to look up at the sound of his voice. Their eyes met briefly in the air before Qing Ye averted her gaze. She continued leaning back in her chair by the basketball court, wearing earphones and staring blankly at the boys playing basketball on the court.

Huang Mao hung back and said to Xing Wu, "Brother Wu, what's up with Qing Ye today? She seems off."

Xing Wu didn't respond but turned and walked toward her. Soon, a shadow fell over Qing Ye. When she looked up, Xing Wu stood before her backlit by the sun, handing her a drink he was holding. She took it, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and placed it by her feet.

Xing Wu sat down beside her. His sharp features and striking sideburns drew glances from some girls nearby.

The two sat together in silence, quietly watching the sophomore boys running wildly across the court.

After a long while, Qing Ye suddenly spoke: "Don't take that job."

Xing Wu straightened up and leaned back against the chair, studying her. Qing Ye turned her head and suddenly gave a faint smile, revealing subtle dimples that seemed almost unreal in the sunlight. "Really, it's not worth it."

Xing Wu's gaze remained indifferent, his tone casual. "What's not worth it?"

A seemingly carefree smile still lingered at the corners of Qing Ye's mouth as her eyes returned to the sunlit playground. With a tinge of melancholy, she said, "No one can predict the future. Don't invest too much in me—it's not worth it."

After a moment, Xing Wu stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and turned away with a scoff. "Heh."

"???"

Watching his retreating figure, Qing Ye suddenly felt like she was the heartless one in this situation.

From the moment she decided to be with Xing Wu, she didn't want any regrets in life. Otherwise, looking back twenty years later, she'd have to admit she liked a guy in high school but never told him in her entire life—that kind of thing was just too damn pathetic in Qing Ye's view. It wasn't her style, so she had bravely taken that step.

But that didn't mean she could see their future. Many things she was just taking one step at a time now, just like she'd told Xing Wu before—she was gambling with her future. And with gambling, there are always wins and losses. What would happen in the future, she truly didn't know.But one thing was certain: no matter what happened, she didn't want to hurt Xing Wu. If sending her abroad meant he would bear the pressure alone, Qing Ye couldn't bear it. She couldn't even promise that after finishing her studies she would return to this place to repay his favor. Moreover, she had always disliked owing favors, especially one this significant. She felt it was unfair to Xing Wu.

Xing Wu possessed an irresistible allure for Qing Ye. She loved his roguish smile, his fierce dominance, and the mischievous charm when he teased. She enjoyed being with Xing Wu—he gave her a sense of having someone to rely on. Qing Ye felt their current way of getting along was just fine; there was no need to burden one person with both their futures. Live in the moment, right?

Ever since hearing that Xing Wu was taking on such dangerous work, her mood had been quite heavy.

But when she actually laid things out clearly with Xing Wu, it ended up sounding as if she planned to abandon him after going abroad—it felt somewhat cruel and heartless. Especially with that mocking "heh" he threw at her, it was downright haunting.

Qing Ye kept feeling as if she had truly wronged him, and for the entire afternoon, she didn't dare look back at him.