Fu Hua: Don't Be Sad

Satou Yunona turned off the hairdryer. After Fu Hua left, the dormitory became empty. Even the lights in the room seemed to deliberately lengthen the girl's shadow, highlighting her loneliness.

She lay silently on her desk for a while, occasionally looking up to sip her milk tea through the straw, only to find that even the caramel pudding didn't seem so sweet anymore.

Although she was stood up without hesitation, Satou Yunona wasn't angry, since Fu Hua's expression at the time was indeed a bit off.

No matter how you look at it, the only person who could make that little girl look so anxious is Teacher Su.

Is this what girls in love are like? They're so energetic and passionate!

I don't know why...

After meeting him twice and seeing the painting again, Satou Yunona felt somewhat envious of them.

Perhaps this is how it often is: some people, even if you've never met them before, can still make your heart flutter the moment you meet them face to face.

This only allows for a fleeting and superficial sense of unease.

However, for her, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Satou Yunona opened the drawer, and fell silent as she looked at the scroll inside.

If there really is another me in this world, what kind of person would I be?

This unanswerable thought was completely extinguished by the hunger in his stomach.

She then began to think about what to do for dinner.

This important question lingered in her mind for a moment, but she quickly abandoned her plan to have Fu Hua bring her food back.

After all... what if Hua doesn't come back tonight? Wouldn't that put him in a difficult position if he saw this request?

As she considered the various possibilities of the other person running away at this time, Satou Yunona's face gradually flushed crimson.

She murmured softly:

"I think I'll just order takeout..."

"Hua is probably much more mature than I imagined, in every sense of the word."

Just as Su Qing'an finished cooking a dish, his phone suddenly beeped, interrupting him from continuing to prepare dinner.

It can only be news from China.

Is there something you need to say by sending a message at this time?

The boy took his phone out of his pocket and unlocked the screen.

A statement, though its meaning was ambiguous, conveyed a clear message.

Come to the garden next to my dorm.

This tone leans towards a command, without explicitly stating the precise reason for going there.

But Su Qing'an did not press for details and chose to give an affirmative answer:

[Good.]

As he untied his apron, he walked out of the kitchen and said to Seele on the sofa:

"Seele, I have to go out for a bit."

"I've already cooked a dish, and the rice is in the rice cooker. If I'm not back in an hour, you can eat by yourself."

As the little girl watched Su Qing'an put on her coat and prepare to step out the door, she suddenly understood the principle of being trapped by one's own actions.

The only possible reason my brother would go out is because of the message he sent to Sister Hua.

The disastrous consequence was that my dinner time was delayed.

And depending on the circumstances, it might even turn into a situation where someone is eating dinner alone.

Most importantly...

What a rip-off! There was only one dish!

So the little girl glanced at Su Qing'an and said quietly, a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice:

"Go ahead, you don't need to come back tonight."

"After all, even though Seele is a child, she understands the desires of adults."

The boy paused slightly as he put on his shoes.

So now you're admitting you're still a child? You just refuted that not long ago.

And this knowledge base—which is either strange or normal—where did it come from?

Is it the laboratory? Or is it during my time in Canghai City?

In short, it's best not to get involved, otherwise things will inevitably turn into a strange situation no matter what you say.

So, ignoring Seele's strange remarks, Su Qing'an smiled and said goodbye softly:

"Then I'll be going now."

A long time.

Seele didn't look at the door that had been closed again; she simply turned up the TV volume silently, as if trying to drown out the loneliness welling up inside her.

This was perhaps an unbelievable feeling; during her days wandering alone in the Sea of Quantum and the Canghai City, she had long since become numb to feelings of loneliness.

The little girl's patience in this area has long since been completely transformed.

The original Seele Fulei have been just a weak, useless crybaby, but when she wandered around Canghai City before meeting Su Qing'an, she was no longer swayed by that situation.

As mentioned before, if Seele is allowed to adapt on her own for a while longer, she may become completely different.

But now that she's been pulled back to the real world, she seems to be gradually turning back into the crybaby Seele.

Perhaps while gaining warmth, one will inevitably become more susceptible to feeling cold.

Therefore, fleeting and cheap tenderness can become a drowning poison, and reckless and weak love can forge a cold, sharp blade that pierces the heart.

Even now, the little girl refuses to completely open her heart to anyone.

This is because it is an extremely dangerous signal.

The reason is simple: if Seele truly considers Su Qing'an as family...

How could she bear to let him possibly get hurt?

Seele Fulei is the only special experimental subject in the Sea of Quantum Project to successfully utilize Herrscher Authority to achieve its experimental objectives.

She knew all too well what this meant.

Before Seele, this experiment had never succeeded, and she was the only one who survived.

Nearly a year ago, more than a hundred children from different orphanages were gradually gathered in that laboratory, where their lives and futures were constantly being harvested.

Now, there are no more children like Seele in that laboratory.

She was the last one to be put on the experimental table; all the other children evaporated in the Honkai Energy Inhibitor, leaving not even a skeleton behind.

Sometimes Seele wondered if, had she been the first to participate in the experiment, the other children wouldn't have died.

But this is ultimately a naive hope that will never come to fruition.

The television program "Man and Nature" tells the story of all kinds of animals in the forest outside, and those animals that are fitted with tracking devices for the program recordings, in a sense, share the same fate as us.

The adults in the lab will not let you off the hook; that's an undeniable fact.

The little girl gently pressed her fingertips along the veins and tendons in her slender arms, and finally, with her neatly trimmed fingernails, she touched the blue veins on her neck, applying a slight pressure that brought a noticeable stinging pain.

Seele knew that there must be something subtle about her that could be used to pinpoint her location.

She spent her entire life in that orphanage that was destined to provide materials for the laboratory. As the last one to be brought to the experimental table, her value was precious from the very beginning.

In other words, the human named Seele Fulei possesses exceptional Honkai Energy proficiency that delights the experimenters.

The so-called success rate of experiments is related to Honkai Energy literacy.

It is said that only children who meet this standard are qualified to become subjects of the experiment, so the children in the orphanage are special people who are taken in only because they have the corresponding qualifications.

The reason why the success rate of the experiment is related to Honkai Energy literacy is that humans without this quality cannot make any meaningful contact with the core of the Second Herrscher; in fact, they would die immediately if they got even a little close.

The Honkai is a calamity that has only occurred in recent decades. Perhaps for this reason, very few adults possess Honkai Energy literacy, and the proportion is far lower than that among the new generation of children.

This makes it natural to use children who are easy to control, convenient to cover up, and who possess the relevant qualities as experimental subjects.

Seele only fully understood these things much later, so she deeply understood one thing.

He couldn't escape the clutches of the laboratory.

The reason it went undetected for several months is that the Sea of Quantum is something that humans currently find difficult to observe accurately, making it even more impossible to find people within it.

During her time wandering in Canghai City, Seele remained in Quantum State.

In this situation, she should be in an unobservable mode; even if her body has been tampered with, the laboratory still wouldn't be able to receive the corresponding signals.

But now there are no obstacles left.

As long as there are still people in the lab who care about Seele Fulei, this significant experimental subject, her whereabouts will eventually be reported, and as a result, someone will come to Canghai City and forcibly bring her back to the lab.

The extent of Su Qing'an's combat power was something Seele was unsure about.

Even though the boy demonstrated power that could influence the Sea of Quantum, she still didn't know his true nature.

The power of the laboratory is terrifying. The more the little girl learned about common sense and the law from the outside world, the more profoundly she understood this fact.

It's perfectly normal for the enemy to send an army to seal off the entire school on some fabricated pretext. And no matter how abnormal a human being is, how can they possibly face guns and ammunition?

Su Qing'an may have special abilities, but he is still made of flesh and blood.

"I can't think about it anymore," she whispered.

If Seele will soon have to face a difficult choice.

She hoped to postpone that choice.

The sky was already shrouded in darkness, and a few stars and the moon scattered silver light like ribbons, adorning the deserted garden and making the clamor of mosquitoes and birdsong seem exceptionally quiet.

Under the streetlights, the warm, orange glow illuminated her picturesque profile.

Fu Hua sat alone on a clean marble bench, her long boots making her slender, shapely legs appear exceptionally straight.

The girl shifted her toes nervously, the night breeze gradually calming her feverish mind.

Although she meant to comfort Master Su, she hadn't thought about how to do it or how to get him to come out before running outside. When she came to her senses, she sat blankly on the garden bench.

She had no idea where Master Su lived, and even if she wanted to go to his current residence, she couldn't. So, the only option was to send him a message asking him to come out.

So Fu Hua sat on the bench, ready to send a message. Her fingertips trembled slightly with shyness, causing her to type for a long time before finally sending the message with a heavy heart.

The initial certainty and confidence had long since vanished with the night wind; the young girl was simply unable to extricate herself from this intense sense of shame.

That's just like being an idiot.

Fortunately, Master Su was very accommodating to him in every way.

Even with ambiguous words, he readily agreed to come forward.

However, the message had only been sent out for a minute. If Su Qing'an lived far away, he might have to wait a while.

Fu Hua clenched her fists and silently encouraged herself, determined to use this time to quickly devise a plan and regain her composure.

You must act like a mature adult and give the other person meticulous care. If you blush, feel shy and at a loss for what to do all the time, it's as if you're the one being pampered by the other person!

It's not really that bad...

No! That won't do! These kinds of thoughts are just escapism!

The little girl shook her head vigorously, encouraging herself in her heart.

Go for it and hit a straight shot!

It would be too embarrassing to even speak comforting words hesitantly.

And so, the long three minutes passed.

The girl suddenly realized something: this kind of behavior—calling out a member of the opposite sex in the middle of the night to meet in a secluded place—is generally referred to as an impure beginning or an ongoing process.

Fu Hua could already imagine how subtle Yuno's gaze would be when they returned. She touched her cheek with her icy fingers, which had become somewhat hot.

It's okay, it's okay.

Master Su hasn't arrived yet; he doesn't live in the academy, so it'll be at least another ten minutes.

As long as the anomaly is eliminated beforehand, it will be fine.

However, the next second, the girl's delicate face was poked by a fingertip that was both strange and familiar.

"... Hua, what are you daydreaming about?"

The soft flesh sank slightly with the force, and the little girl looked in the direction of the sound with a blank expression, only to find that the boy was already squatting in front of her.

His face was so close that even his long lower eyelashes were clearly visible, causing Fu Hua's brain to momentarily freeze.

Could it be that reaching the third level of the Void Sword Qi grants instantaneous teleportation?

That's completely cheating!

Su Qing'an's unexpected approach—in fact, he simply walked over—caused the girl's entire plan to fall apart.

But at this point, Fu Hua no longer felt at a loss.

She didn't respond to Su Qing'an's question, but simply and firmly embraced the boy who was almost within reach.

A few strands of the girl's slightly damp hair playfully fell onto the back of his neck, and the numbing itch spread directly from his skin to his entire body.

The boy's head was forced to be buried in Fu Hua's chest. The texture of the sweater clung perfectly to his face, and the tension caused by his excessive tension allowed him to feel the softness beneath the fabric rising and falling with his breath.

Fu Hua stroked Su Qing'an's head. She lowered her blushing face, her lips close to his ear, and she whispered awkwardly and adorably:

"Don't be sad."

Thus, an overwhelming tide of emotions engulfed everything.

It was as if the magic called Word Power had played a symphony that silenced the world, so Su Qing'an naturally wouldn't feel sad anymore.