Chapter 296

Shizuka Hiratsuka frowned. "Aren't you going to rest for a bit?"

"I'm in excellent health, and I sleep very well..."

Is it because of Yukino?

Dong Yunshan: "No."

"At least you're not avoiding my question anymore." Shizuka Hiratsuka nodded. "So your anxiety does indeed stem from Yukino, but you don't want anyone, including yourself, to think that way."

"... You already have your own answer, and my denial cannot change it."

"Because what you're trying to deny isn't my answer, but the facts that are happening right now." Shizuka Hiratsuka scoffed. "You're still a long way from playing word games with a Japanese literature teacher."

"I really don't think I'm anxious, and it's not because of Yukino anxious."

"You know that many people die in car accidents every year, but I still love driving, so much so that I drive even knowing the risks," Shizuka Hiratsuka said earnestly. "Acknowledging the problems a relationship brings is not a denial of the relationship. On the contrary, looking at it from another perspective will highlight how important the relationship is to you."

"I just..." Dong Yunshan took a deep breath, "I can't stop. I want to find a solution to the problem, I want to do better."

"Wasn't this Yukino's problem the first thing you wanted to correct?" Shizuka Hiratsuka lit a cigarette. "Has the doctor gone mad?"

"I still have a shred of rationality left, and I know this is wrong." Dong Yunshan tugged at the corner of her mouth, "So I try not to show it."

"Enjoy your youth, do whatever you want." Shizuka Hiratsuka said, recalling something Dong Yunshan used to say often, "Now, not only are you not enjoying your youth, you're even preventing others from enjoying theirs."

"You're talking about what I said to Yumiko today, right...?" Dong Yunshan's eyes were filled with complex emotions. "I only realized it after I said it."

Was it really necessary to say those things at that time?

Yumiko Miura is here to enjoy her travels and cherish her youth.

The effect that Dong Yunshan wanted was also for Yumiko Miura to ignore commercial considerations, go where she wanted to go, and do what she wanted to do.

This will serve as a reference for selecting locations for Cloud Snow Tea branches.

But his urgent need for talent led him to say those words unconsciously.

Then Shizuka Hiratsuka accurately discovered his problem.

"This subconscious action already reflects a lot of problems." Shizuka Hiratsuka pointed at Dong Yunshan with the hand holding the cigarette. "You feel that you didn't do well enough in the past, but you achieved quite good results. Because you like these results, you want to do even better in the future to gain more. But in reality, you have already done very well in the past, and the corresponding results are what you deserve. Constantly anticipating the future will only distract you from the present."

"I understand the logic." Dong Yunshan sighed. "Teacher, do you know about the curse of knowledge?"

"Once you know something, it's very difficult to go back to not knowing." Shizuka Hiratsuka clicked her tongue. "As a teacher, I understand this all too well."

She explained a problem hundreds of times, yet she still couldn't understand why her students were still getting it wrong.

But some people do make mistakes, and sometimes they make all sorts of bizarre ones.

How could anyone fail to understand the homesickness conveyed between the lines?

"After I realized how happy we were together, after I understood that we would face many problems in the future, and after I knew that solving these problems would bring us even greater happiness, I couldn't go back to a state of not thinking." Dong Yunshan's eyelids drooped slightly. "Although I know I can't be perfect, I still want to try my best to do better."

From the moment you begin to look forward to the future, you can never stop thinking about it.

No matter how hard the Dong Yunshan tried to suppress it, it was to no avail.

"To correct her, you try to understand her, but after correcting her, you can never go back to your original state..." Shizuka Hiratsuka paused, then casually extinguished her cigarette. "I've thought of a way."

Dong Yunshan raised one eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Bye-bye." Shizuka Hiratsuka got up and left.

Dong Yunshan: "Huh?"

"Oh, right." Shizuka Hiratsuka stopped in her tracks as she opened the door.

Dong Yunshan pretended to listen attentively.

Shizuka Hiratsuka pointed a finger. "Give me the sake."

Dong Yunshan: "..."

He handed the drink to Shizuka Hiratsuka and watched her open the door next door and return to her room.

Just as Dong Yunshan was about to go back to her room, the door to Yukino Yukinoshita's room suddenly opened.

Yukino Yukinoshita had just opened the door, was startled to see Dong Yunshan, who was about to close it, and asked, "What's going on here...?"

I chatted with the teacher for a while.

"Oh, I see. By the way," Yukino Yukinoshita walked over, "Is my shower gel in your bag?"

"It seems so." Dong Yunshan returned to her room and rummaged through her luggage. "Here it is—here."

"Then I'll go back..." Yukino Yukinoshita's icy blue eyes narrowed slightly, "Are you in a bad mood?"

"Huh?" Dong Yunshan rubbed her face. "Really?"

Yukino Yukinoshita, who was about to leave, frowned slightly, stopped, and closed the door. "Saki Kawasaki and Komachi also need to use the bathroom, so I won't wait. I'll just shower in your room."

Dong Yunshan's eyes lit up. "I'll help you."

"No, I'll wash myself." Yukino Yukinoshita glared at him. "While I'm showering, you'd better think carefully about what you want to say to me. I don't want to waste any more time asking you questions after I come out."

Yukino Yukinoshita went into the bathroom and closed the door. Dong Yunshan sat on the sofa, listening to the sound of running water in the bathroom.

He had already made preparations for the future.

But it never feels like enough.

But what level is enough?

Dong Yunshan doesn't know either.

All I can do is try my best to do better.

Even better.

It wasn't until Yukino Yukinoshita, pushed open the bathroom door that Dong Yunshan realized the sound of water had stopped sometime earlier.

The steaming water enveloped the girl's slender body, her fair cheeks flushed a natural rosy hue from the hot water, and the pure white bath towel made her fair skin appear even more supple. Her icy blue eyes held a post-bath haze, her gaze flickering slightly before settling on Dong Yunshan: "Have you thought about what to say?"

"I..." Dong Yunshan opened her mouth, "I can't stop thinking about the future."

Yukino Yukinoshita pursed her cherry lips slightly. "Then let's break up."

Chapter 550 Temporary Separation

Dong Yunshan's breath hitched. "Break up?"

Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head. "Has it stopped?"

Dong Yunshan blinked. "Even my heart stopped beating."

"Don't stop." Yukino Yukinoshita gently poked his heart twice, muttering softly, "Liar."

(Transit 7) 17291 Yijiu

"It really did stop for a moment just now."

"I wasn't talking about heartbeats." Yukino Yukinoshita's icy blue eyes glared at her. "You said before that you had no worries about the future because of me, but now you're starting to worry... Liar."

"At first I thought it was worry, but thinking about it more carefully..." Dong Yunshan wrapped his arms around Yukino Yukinoshita's slender waist, "It seems to be closer to greed?"

"Greed..." Yukino Yukinoshita twisted slightly, "So you cheated on me?"

"Wait a minute, where did you get this conclusion?" Dong Yunshan looked bewildered. "We've been together day and night, how could I have cheated on you?"

Yukino Yukinoshita said with a stern face, "You cheated on me with my future self."

"... Can it be calculated like this?"

"You're with me, but you're thinking about my future self." Yukino Yukinoshita slapped his hand away, turned and walked away. "What is this if not cheating?"

Dong Yunshan caught up and skillfully picked up Yukino Yukinoshita, pulling her onto the bed amidst her gasp. "You can't count it like that, can you? The future you is still you."

"Let's break up now and get back together in the future." Yukino Yukinoshita twisted and turned, breaking free from his embrace, skillfully supporting herself on her knees, and towering over him. "Anyway, the future me will be me too."

Dong Yunshan: "... I'm starting to believe you. How about we separate for a while?"

"Ouch!" Yukino Yukinoshita and bit his shoulder.

The force was greater than usual.

"Hiss~~~" Dong Yunshan gasped, "We're not breaking up anymore!"

"You really want to break up with me?" Yukino Yukinoshita placed her hands on Dong Yunshan's shoulders, maintaining a forward-leaning posture, her waist-length hair falling in strands, like a black cage, enveloping Dong Yunshan.

Dong Yunshan looked completely innocent. "You brought it up first."

"I'm trying to help you calm down and stop thinking about the future so pointlessly." Yukino Yukinoshita bit her lower lip lightly. "Are you calm now?"

"Much calmer."

"And then, after calming down, you want to break up with me?" Yukino Yukinoshita glared at him angrily. "... Terrible."

"I arrived at this conclusion following your line of thought—hmm!"

Before Dong Yunshan could finish speaking, he was silenced by a kiss from Yukino Yukinoshita.

The familiar temperature carried a hint of reproach and punishment.

Dong Yunshan tried to reach out and hug Yukino Yukinoshita, but she pressed her wrist down on the pillow.

"Hoo... I think..." Yukino Yukinoshita was slightly out of breath, her watery eyes reflecting Dong Yunshan's face, "Maybe we really should separate for a while."

"After the kiss?"

"It has nothing to do with kissing." Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at his lips. "Why are you always thinking about a better future?"

"Because things are good now, and if I try a little harder..."

"That's it, I've spoiled you too much." Yukino Yukinoshita snorted coldly, "Making you think you're already doing so well, so you're thinking about how to make the future even better."

If things aren't going well in the present, Dong Yunshan will naturally focus more on making the present better, and won't have as many thoughts about the future.

"That's why we're breaking up," Dong Yunshan murmured. "After breaking up, I can use the time I spent with you to think about how to make the most of the present and strive for the future."

"So..." Yukino Yukinoshita's voice was weak, "What's your answer?"

Dong Yunshan sighed softly, "I think you're right, we really should separate and cool off for a while."

"...Hmm." Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her eyelids slightly, "Then let's divide..."

"Not distinguishable."

Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes widened instantly. "What did you say?"

"I won't break up." Dong Yunshan hugged Yukino Yukinoshita tightly. "I don't want to break up with you."

Yukino Yukinoshita gently struggled. "You just said you should..."

"There are so many things we should do," Dong Yunshan insisted, refusing to give up. "It's not a big deal if we don't do one or two things."

"Let go of me..." Yukino Yukinoshita small fists, "You already said you wanted to break up with me."

"You just said it yourself, and then you forcibly kissed me right after you finished speaking."

"It wasn't a forced kiss..." Yukino Yukinoshita protested, "You were so cooperative."

How did I cooperate?

"You... you didn't dodge."

"Then you should move aside." Dong Yunshan tightened her grip on his arm slightly.

Yukino Yukinoshita angrily complained, "How am I supposed to get away from you holding me like this?"

"You love me so much, how can I let go?"

"... You're holding me like this," Yukino Yukinoshita muttered softly, "How are you going to kiss me now?"

Do you want me to kiss you?

Yukino Yukinoshita said in a soft, sweet voice, "Let go~"

Dong Yunshan relaxed her arms, Yukino Yukinoshita slightly rose, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and leaned closer to Dong Yunshan...

"No." Just as they were about to touch, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly stopped. "I can't keep indulging you like this, or you'll stop again—ugh!"

The subtle distance vanished in an instant, and the intimate touch allowed unspoken words to be conveyed to each other in a more direct way.

We can't spoil him... We can't let him get his way... We can't let him be satisfied...

He should be made to crave but not get, he should be made to be unsatisfied, he should...

There are so many things we should do; it's not a big deal to do one or two less.