I Was Just Trying to Cheer You Up

Night blanketed the quiet residence.

The cold moon hung alone in the sky, its clear radiance spilling across the ground.

The surroundings were clearly visible. A faint mist spread across the distant horizon, its edges dotted with a few lonely stars that flickered and dazzled the eyes.

Qiqi was playing alone in the courtyard, while Yang Zhi and Sister Lin sat before the stone table, watching her with gentle expressions.

As Sister Lin watched, she let out a bitter laugh and said helplessly, "It's really nice. Children are carefree."

Yang Zhi sat with elegant poise. Hearing that, she smiled, her brows and eyes curving with exceptional gentleness.

"Why are you suddenly saying that?"

"I was thinking about my childhood. I was all alone, without a single relative. Sometimes I went hungry, sometimes I had enough to eat. I had no pretty clothes, no house to live in. I had nothing..."

Though she spoke heavily, there was no excess emotion on her face. Her features remained icy.

Yang Zhi tilted her head and glanced at her, seeming to have long since grown used to her pessimistic, gloomy manner.

Sister Lin said, "My world was completely black and white."

Nothing could truly make her happy.

Her childhood trauma had been too great... She would probably need her entire life to heal from it.

She used to constantly say that she had a miserable fate. Recently, after reading some books, she had merely changed the way she expressed it.

"Sister Lin." Yang Zhi suddenly called her name.

Sister Lin lazily turned her head toward her. "What's up?"

Yang Zhi's face was still fresh and pure. Just looking at her made people feel at ease.

"I don't think so."

"What the heck?"

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"You're still young. You haven't experienced much. You don't understand people like us."

Sister Lin turned her head back and looked at Qiqi in the distance.

Yang Zhi sighed and said slowly, "Sister Lin, I really do think that way."

Sister Lin: "..."

Yang Zhi said, "A black-and-white world... Hmm, I remember that all colored light gathered together becomes white, while all pigments mixed together become black."

Hearing that, Sister Lin took a little interest and watched Yang Zhi from the corner of her eye.

Yang Zhi smiled sweetly and said to her, "Look, doesn't that mean there are actually lots of colors? Your world is clearly colorful."

Sister Lin widened her eyes and stared at Yang Zhi in surprise. "Colorful?"

Yang Zhi pursed her lips into a straight line, then curved her eyes into a smile.

"It might not have been before, but now, perhaps it's because Qiqi came along."

"..."

"Right?"

Those last two words were spoken in a cute, slightly playful tone that differed from her mature personality.

She was simply trying to cheer Sister Lin up.

"Yang Zhi."

"Hmm? What is it, Sister Lin?"

"How are you so good with words? So good at comforting people?"

"I don't think I'm comforting you. I was clearly just pampering you~"

After saying that, Yang Zhi playfully blinked.

Sister Lin was helpless. "And you call that not being good with words?!"

Although her face showed disdain, she was actually overjoyed inside.

People who had suffered as she had truly loved gentle people—those who knew how to express love and tenderness, who radiated a benevolent glow from head to toe.

She wondered why Nuwa hadn't created more people like that when she made humanity. They had grown up surrounded by love, nourished by love, and then emerged from the light to walk into the darkness and save people like herself.

Yang Zhi: "..."

Sister Lin said, "You're even like this when rejecting confessions."

Yang Zhi asked, "Rejecting confessions?"

Why had they suddenly started talking about that?

"Yeah, exactly. I've always found the way you reject people especially interesting. I've seen plenty of people around me reject confessions. They just say, 'You're too ugly. I don't like you. We're not compatible. You're useless. I don't want to date you.'"

"..."

"They always use barbed words to criticize the other person, tearing them down as much as possible. But you're different. You said something like... uh... Oh, right. 'I am grateful for your thousand pieces of gold, but ashamed that I lack a beauty capable of toppling cities.'"

Sister Lin paused, then continued, "A cultured person, a cultured person."

Yang Zhi laughed awkwardly. "That was a long time ago. I didn't expect you to remember it more clearly than I do."

"Because it was too memorable." Sister Lin stretched and propped her chin up with one hand.

Yang Zhi straightened her body and placed her hands on her legs, speaking demurely. "Sister Lin, I think it's very sad when the person you like doesn't like you back. So, while respecting them, you should reject them firmly."

Sister Lin: "..."

A gentle yet firm rejection. It really suited her personality.

Yang Zhi took a deep breath, turned around, and looked up at the stars in the sky. "If I ever date, I'll only be with someone I really, really like."

"I know." Sister Lin took a sip of plain water and patted Yang Zhi's arm. "Otherwise, you wouldn't still be single from birth. What should I call you? A golden single dog? Pfft..."

Yang Zhi gazed at the starry sky and revealed a pure smile as bright as moonlight. "Why rush?" As she spoke, her gaze grew slightly calmer, and she blurted out in English, "Always believe that something good is about to happen."

Sister Lin was completely baffled by the English.

"What the heck was that? Say it in Chinese!"

"Always believe that something good is about to happen."

"Is that... true?"

"Of course. I believe that Heaven has kept the best person for me, waiting somewhere in the future. You have to believe it too."

Yang Zhi looked back and smiled. Her gentle smile was unforgettable. The mirth at the corners of her eyes and brows lingered for a long time, revealing an otherworldly beauty as pure as a secluded orchid blooming in a valley—fragrant, wistful, and soothing to the heart.

Sister Lin stared blankly.

Absolutely stunning.

This young girl was truly extraordinary. Looking at her, Sister Lin really wanted to blurt out, "It must have been hard for a fairy to descend to the mortal world."

With Qiqi following her, Sister Lin felt reassured too.

"All right, all right, enough chatting. I'm going to be late."

"Hey, Yang Zhi!"

As Sister Lin watched her, she reached out and grabbed Yang Zhi's slender, frail arm.

"Hmm?" Yang Zhi lowered her head and looked at her in confusion.

"You're in such a hurry. Are you going to see that little brat?"

"What little brat?"

"That boy from the Ding family."

"Oh, you mean little Ding Yebai."

Sister Lin narrowed her eyes and patted her hand. "I heard he has a strange and cold temper. Can the two of you actually get along?"

Hearing that, Yang Zhi slightly furrowed her brows and looked at Sister Lin with a serious expression. "Who told you that? He's clearly a very nice person."

Her sudden seriousness left Sister Lin stunned, and she unconsciously released her hand.

"Oh... Ha, that's a pretty high evaluation. All right, hurry up and go."

"Okay. I'm off."

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