Severing the Past

After returning to the house, Zhao Wanyu had already woken up, probably roused by the phone call earlier.

"How do you feel?" Chen Mengchuan asked.

Zhao Wanyu nodded. "Better."

Chen Mengchuan nodded and called her outside to bask in the sun.

It was early autumn. Though Qinghai Province was somewhat cold, it was still very warm beneath the bright sunlight.

After they had been out for a while, Chen Mengchuan saw that her cheeks had turned bright red and sweat had formed on her forehead, so he suggested they go back inside.

"I want to stay in the sun a little longer," Zhao Wanyu said stubbornly.

Chen Mengchuan smiled. "As long as you're happy. That is, if you're not afraid of getting tanned."

Zhao Wanyu broke into a radiant smile. "Miss Sonoko is much darker than I am, but I've never seen you appreciate her any less."

Under the sunlight, Zhao Wanyu's gentle features, fair skin, and flushed cheeks left Chen Mengchuan staring absentmindedly.

"Am I pretty?" Zhao Wanyu asked shyly when she saw the look in his eyes.

Chen Mengchuan came back to himself, smiled faintly, and nodded seriously.

At lunch, Zhao Wanyu had a great appetite and drank two large bowls of fish soup.

When Zhao Wanyu went to rest and take an afternoon nap, Chen Mengchuan went to the school to find Ayase Sonoko. He had a lot on his mind.

"Mengchuan-kun." Ayase Sonoko greeted him with a smile.

Seeing that there were no students in the room, Chen Mengchuan asked, "Don't the students have class today?"

"Today is the weekend. The students get one day off every week, and it's also my day off. Please have some water." Ayase Sonoko poured Chen Mengchuan a cup of hot water.

Taking the cup, Chen Mengchuan looked at Ayase Sonoko in a daze.

"Mengchuan-kun!" Ayase Sonoko called out to him.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

"Mengchuan-kun, do you have something on your mind? Can you share it with me? I can be your bamboo tube—I'll listen, then bury it in the ground." Ayase Sonoko smiled.

"Would you give up your dream for the person you love?" Chen Mengchuan asked.

"Give up your dream for your lover? Mengchuan-kun, that really is a difficult question. If two people love each other, why would either of them have to give up their dream? A dream only counts as a dream if you can be with the one you love." Ayase Sonoko answered earnestly.

"Are these children your dream, Sonoko?"

"Giving these disadvantaged children a good education is my dream, and it's a dream I will never give up on!"

After returning to the house, Chen Mengchuan sat blankly before his computer as memories flooded into his mind one after another...

Ayase Sonoko wanted to prove herself through her dream of dedicating herself to these children's education.

She had given up so, so much...

In that dream, he had been selfish, and so resolute.

Ayase Sonoko's simple, unpretentious dream.

Her declaration that she would never give up...

He did not know how much time had passed before a gentle hand brushed across his face, bringing a trace of dampness with it.

Chen Mengchuan came back to himself, only to realize that tears had already streamed down his face. Zhao Wanyu sat quietly beside him, wiping away the tears on his face.

Chen Mengchuan took a tissue and wiped his eyes dry. His old face reddened; he did not want to embarrass himself in front of Zhao Wanyu.

"I remembered some things from the past. Sorry you had to see that."

Zhao Wanyu said nothing, merely sitting quietly beside him and watching him. The silence of that moment felt strangely familiar, and Chen Mengchuan was briefly dazed.

"I plan to return to Shanghai tomorrow," Chen Mengchuan said. The past was the past. Severing it was good for him, and good for Ayase Sonoko too. She had her own dream.

Zhao Wanyu nodded and looked at him. The sight of Chen Mengchuan crying had somehow struck a tender place deep within her heart.

"If you're pressed for time, I can arrange a meeting with Manager Xu and Manager Toni for you right now," Zhao Wanyu said.

Chen Mengchuan looked at her in surprise, then said firmly, "Thank you, Wanyu. The sooner, the better!"

"Then I'll arrange it for three days from now." Zhao Wanyu stated it with certainty.

Chen Mengchuan nodded and looked at her again. He could hear the certainty in her tone. Though he did not know why she was so sure, the sooner he could meet Xu Shuwei and Toni Chen Miantang, the sooner he could persuade them to join, and the sooner Chisako could be completed.

"Oh, right. I'll move the computer back into my room. When you sleep, my keyboard probably fills your ears," Chen Mengchuan said as he closed his computer and packed it away.

"Brother Chuan, give me your ID card. I'll book your flight home," Zhao Wanyu said.

"Okay." Chen Mengchuan did not refuse.

After returning to the room, Chen Mengchuan sank into thought and focused on Chisako's module design. For dinner, Zhao Wanyu brought him a large bowl of vegetable beef noodles, topped with two fried eggs she had made.

He worked until the early hours of the morning before he finally felt sleepy. After taking a shower and returning to his room, he fell straight asleep.

In his groggy state, a warm, voluptuous body slipped into his blanket.

When he woke up the next morning, he tried hard to remember for quite a while. It seemed that, in his haze last night, he had felt something crawl into his blanket?

After getting up, Chen Mengchuan and Zhao Wanyu went to the school together to say goodbye to Ayase Sonoko. Though they had only spent a few days together, Zhao Wanyu still hugged Ayase Sonoko tightly when it was time to part.

Sitting on the tractor back to Wutumeiren Township, Zhao Wanyu watched Balagetu Village gradually recede into the distance and said to Chen Mengchuan, "Brother Chuan, if you come again next time, you have to bring me."

"Okay."

On the swaying tractor, Chen Mengchuan looked at Balagetu Village fading farther and farther away. Ayase Sonoko's dream was there. Everyone should have the right to make their own choices.

If Sun Weijie, the drowning child, had not been enough to make him believe in that dream, then the very real Ayase Sonoko had confirmed the truth of that twenty-year dream.

Having severed all that, he would have to face everything in the future alone, armed with the futuristic black technology in his mind!

After arriving in Wutumeiren Township, Zhao Wanyu had Chen Mengchuan wait by the roadside. She ran to the courtyard where Chen Mengchuan had borrowed the tractor earlier, left five hundred yuan on the tractor seat, and only then returned.

After boarding the bus, Chen Mengchuan received a call from Sun Zhongyong.

"Mengchuan, did you cast some kind of magic on Guo Siming?" Sun Zhongyong asked dramatically.

"What is it, Brother Sun?"

"That Guo Siming came to Su City to see me. He has two contracts in hand, and I've stared at them for ages without being able to make heads or tails of them."

Chen Mengchuan smiled. "What don't you understand? Is there a problem with the contract terms?"

"It's not the terms. It's the contract amount and Guo Siming's attitude. Sixteen million one hundred thousand! Not only did he not bargain, he even added another ten million. What kind of love potion did you feed Guo Siming? He's in the café right now. I stepped outside to call you," Sun Zhongyong said.

"Brother Sun, review the contracts carefully. If there's no issue with the terms, sign them. The amount is correct. I reached an agreement with Guo Zhidong," Chen Mengchuan replied.

"Alright, then I'll sign the contracts with him."

"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Sun. Once the contracts are signed and the first payment comes through, let me know. I'm on the road, so it's inconvenient to talk too much. I'm flying to Xi'an City, then to Shanghai City tomorrow. If nothing goes wrong, I'll be back in a few days."

"Have you taken care of your business?" Sun Zhongyong asked.

Chen Mengchuan turned his head, his gaze passing through the bus window toward the desolate northwest.

"It's taken care of."

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