Farewell Before Leaving

After returning home that evening, Su You told his parents that he would soon be heading to Hongning Base City.

To his surprise, his mother, Gong Yanrong, showed no signs of reluctance at all. She even remarked that she would finally be free from making breakfast every single day, delivering a critical hit to Su You right on the spot and letting him experience what "fake maternal love" felt like.

The person most reluctant to see Su You go was naturally Tang Yongqing, though she had long been mentally prepared for it. In fact, she was set to enroll at Kyoto University with her younger brother, Tang Yongyuan, in September, so their temporary separation was already inevitable.

Because of this, they spent almost every day of the remaining time at their dating spot in Guanglan Residential Quarter.

On the afternoon of August 23rd, after Su You found an excuse to slip away from Tang Yongqing, he went to a nearby mall to buy a Buji Beast doll.

This was the pet of the protagonist from the most popular cartoon lately. It was incredibly cute, and the Buji Beast's popularity had even far surpassed that of the show's main character, making it a favorite among children.

After buying the doll, Su You headed straight for Yourong Steamed Bun Shop on Wenjing Road. Since he was leaving Tianjin City, he naturally had to say goodbye to the "Steamed Bun Beauty."

Over the past two months, because his relationship with Tang Yongqing had developed rapidly and she kept a close watch on him, Su You had visited the bun shop much less frequently, only about ten times a month.

This truly distressed him, and he wished he could travel back in time to buy a copy of Time Management Master and study it thoroughly.

It was around four in the afternoon when he arrived at the shop. Although it was still open, business had basically died down, and there was only a cute, doll-like little girl in front of the stall.

She was currently hunched over a table, her pen scribbling away on a notebook, with a small pink backpack resting to the side.

"Yuan Yuan," Su You called out.

"Brother Xiao You!"

When the little girl looked up and saw Su You, her face instantly lit up with a smile. She ran over quickly and grabbed Su You's arm.

This little girl was He Wenyuan, the daughter of the "Steamed Bun Beauty." She was only ten years old and was about to enter the fifth grade of elementary school.

"Brother Xiao You, you haven't come to see me for nine days," the little girl pouted, looking a bit angry.

"Ahem." Su You's face flushed slightly. Ever since he returned from the assessment, he and Tang Yongqing had been dating every day due to their impending separation, so he had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't come by.

Su You apologized to Yuan Yuan while presenting the Buji Beast doll he had just bought, which finally managed to coax her into a good mood.

"You bad boy, why are you here at this hour? Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"

A familiar, teasing voice came from behind the shop, and a figure lifted the door curtain and stepped out from the back.

It was none other than He Yourong, the "Steamed Bun Beauty" Su You had been longing for, and one of the only two fish in his small pond.

As a single mother nearing thirty, she had to take care of her child while working hard to make a living, yet the passing years had left no marks on her; instead, they had added a touch of mature charm to her.

"Girlfriend? Where would I get a girlfriend? Could it be that Sister Yourong is willing to be my girlfriend?" Su You said with a grin.

"Pah!" He Yourong spat. "Wasn't that young girl who came with you last time your girlfriend?"

Su You didn't change his expression and said without hesitation, "That's just a classmate, don't overthink it."

He Yourong laughed until she shook, and the sight of her chest heaving made it hard for Su You to look away.

He Yourong rolled her eyes at Su You and scolded with a smile, "You bad boy, your mouth is full of nonsense. I wouldn't believe a single punctuation mark you say."

Su You let out a long sigh, straightened his expression, patted little Yuan Yuan on the head, and told them that he was about to leave Tianjin City.

"Where are you going? Is it very far?" He Yourong felt a pang of reluctance in her heart.

Ever since Yourong Steamed Bun Shop opened over two years ago, she had known this smooth-talking bad boy.

Although he was always taking liberties with his words, he had truly helped her a lot. Especially after he saved her daughter Yuan Yuan from in front of a truck, not only did her daughter become dependent on him, but she herself seemed to have developed a similar feeling.

However, due to the age gap, she only really viewed Su You as a younger brother.

Su You nodded and said, "Hongning Base City."

He Yourong was stunned for a moment. In this era, apart from young children, there were probably very few people who didn't know about Hongning Base City.

It was the human base established by "Hong," the world's strongest fighter, and his followers. It was also recognized as the safest base city in the world.

Located in Western Asia, it was nearly four thousand kilometers away from Kyoto Base City. There was no way to get there other than by plane, and in this era, let alone ordinary people, even the wealthy couldn't afford to fly!

Little Yuan Yuan grabbed Su You's arm tightly and looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. Her face was full of reluctance; at ten years old, she already understood a great deal.

"Brother Xiao You, will you come back to see Yuan Yuan?"

When He Yourong heard this, she felt a sudden, inexplicable panic.

Su You rubbed little Yuan Yuan's head and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, I'll be back during the New Year. Besides, I'll video call you every day from now on, okay?"

Little Yuan Yuan immediately broke into a smile through her tears and nodded vigorously.

Su You felt a surge of joy and quickly looked at He Yourong, saying with a bitter face:

"Sister Yourong, you have to take me off your blacklist. Otherwise, we won't be able to video call, and both Yuan Yuan and I will be very sad."

He Yourong breathed a sigh of relief, though she said, "Hmph, it would be best if I never saw you again!"

Su You could hear the insincerity in He Yourong's words and felt a secret thrill.

However, Yuan Yuan was still young and didn't catch her mother's hidden meaning. Thinking her mother really wouldn't allow her to video call Brother Xiao You, she started to cry and make a scene.

He Yourong's face turned red, and she glared fiercely at Su You.

Su You didn't mind at all. His main goal for this visit was to get He Yourong to remove him from her blacklist so he wouldn't lose contact with her after arriving at the training camp, which would likely cause his progress in "conquering" her to plummet.

The result was better than Su You had expected; He Yourong's insincerity proved that his efforts over the past two years had not been in vain.

Besides, with Yuan Yuan as his ultimate trump card, and having been removed from her blacklist, how could a fish like He Yourong possibly escape? Sooner or later, she would end up in his bowl; this move was what one might call a roundabout strategy!

Watching her daughter's crying and fussing, He Yourong felt both heartache and amusement, so she had no choice but to promise to allow her to have video calls with Su You, though she strictly limited the duration of the calls each day.

But for Su You, taking the first step meant he had already won; achieving final victory was merely a matter of time.

In this round, He Yourong was on the first floor, while Su You was on the second.

After witnessing He Yourong remove him from her blacklist, Su You struck while the iron was hot, helping little Yuan Yuan with her extracurricular homework and lending He Yourong a hand, staying busy until the shop closed for the night before returning home.