Chapter 59 Love, like the moon, yearns to be close, yet fears to burn even a fraction of it…

Late at night, after finishing dinner, Chen Mi took a shower and lay in bed, listening to music playing on her phone and looking out at the courtyard illuminated by lights. Comfort and happiness were the only words that came to mind at that moment.

After lying down for a while, Chen Mi opened her phone, found her contacts, and sent a message to Dan Heng.

Shen Mi: Is Dan Heng here?

The other party replied quickly: "Yes, what's up?"

Shen Mi raised her phone, stopping it at eyebrow level: No, I just wanted to chat with you. Are you free now?

Dan Heng looked around. Tanhu Forest was so quiet it was almost deserted. Only one or two faint lanterns swayed gently on the branches. The wind rustled through the bamboo forest, and green fireflies darted among them. It was hard to tell whether they were the whispers of nature or the flickering of untold secrets.

No one arrived, and even the sound of footsteps seemed to be swallowed up by the silence. The tranquility and darkness blended together, with only the casserole in front of them bubbling and gurgling under the scorching fire.

He leaned against the wall and said to Shen Mi: "It's convenient."

Chen Mi: Did you eat dinner tonight? What did you eat?

As Dan Heng gazed at the bolded text on the screen, a warm feeling welled up inside him. Even the rustling noise of the nearby bamboo grove seemed to have become harmonious. He raised his hand, his slender fingers tapping and clicking on the palm-sized screen.

Danheng: Let me think, hot goat milk, stomach soup, and Linyuan ice spring.

Lying on the bed, Shen Mi asked with great interest: "Lin Yuan Ice Spring? It sounds like something to drink."

In fact, Shen Mi knew what Lin Yuan Ice Spring was. It was a natural drinking water source from Lin Yuan Realm, colorless and odorless, but extremely high in calories like milk tea. The game described it as being able to restore one's energy. Shen Mi thought about it and realized it was probably similar to compressed biscuits in the real world.

Generally speaking, knowing that drinking water and milk tea are both high in sugar and fat, people would choose the sweet milk tea. Moreover, given the nature of Lin Yuan Ice Spring, Shen Mi guessed that the dinner Dan Heng had just told her about was probably made up to keep her from worrying. Of the three foods, only Lin Yuan Ice Spring was real.

Danheng: It's drinking water.

Shen Mi: Oh, is Lin Yuan Ice Spring related to Lin Yuan Realm? I think the two names are very similar.

Danheng: I really like the icy spring water.

Shen Mi: You like cold things, huh? Do you ever eat cold lotus root salad? I found a shop that makes really delicious cold lotus root salad.

As Danheng stared at the text about the cold lotus root salad, he seemed lost in thought, as if a piece of an old memory puzzle had suddenly fallen out and was gradually overlapping with someone else's preferences.

Thinking about this, he felt a strange sense of desolation. He didn't mean to blame anyone, nor would he let this cause any misunderstandings; he was simply regretful... why wasn't he the one whose fragments overlapped?

Thinking too much is pointless; we can only look to the future.

Danheng: What about you? What did you eat?

Shen Mi replied happily: I ate the Xia Mu Unknown Roast Duck at Chang Le Tian. I don't know what kind of wood it was roasted with, but the whole roast duck had a woody fragrance and tasted absolutely delicious.

Danheng: I know that shop. Is the same lady still running it now?

Chen Mi: Madam? When I went to buy it, a little girl served me.

Danheng: That's definitely her. She's an immortal being, her lifespan is even longer than mine.

Chen Mi: I see. Then let's go eat together next time!

Danheng: It's not impossible.

As Shen Mi lay on his side, looking out the window at the round, bright moon framed in the courtyard, he suddenly felt an urge to pull Dan Heng along to look at it too.

Shen Mi: Danheng! Danheng! Can you see the moon hanging in the sky?

Danheng put down his phone and walked out into the bamboo grove. The lush bamboo grew densely together, yet it consciously left space for the stone-paved path under the moonlight.

The night was cool and still, with a thin, white mist drifting gently through the air, some condensing into beads that paired with the slender bamboo leaves. The air was moist, and Dan Heng felt refreshed and comfortable in it; he loved this damp feeling.

Looking up at the bright moon overhead, so round, it felt as if I had returned to a night filled with howling winds and endless yellow sand. Everything had settled down, and everything was so harmonious and peaceful.

The phone rang a few times abruptly in the quiet night.

Shen Mi sent another message, as if travelers who had parted ways had come together again on their final journey.

She said: It's really round and bright, a bit like what we see on a desolate planet.

Dan Heng replied with a smile: It's not just a little bit similar.

At this moment, his thoughts soared, a light, ethereal, and delicately intertwined affection, all choked within him, unable to be expressed. That fleeting understanding, like a shooting star, slowly approached along its predetermined trajectory. These lingering thoughts seared his heart; love was a desire to be close yet a fear of burning it even slightly. He could only stay by her side, using his remaining warmth to melt it, to make it boil, until it was forged into eternity, and fate was sealed. ①

*

The next day, Shen Mi went out with Jing Yuan as usual. Before going to bed last night, she asked Dan Heng for his address and decided to visit him after class this afternoon.

Of course, she couldn't go empty-handed. Shen Mi took out a few snacks she had made before from home. Not many, because she had been cooking at night recently and didn't have much time to develop other snacks.

She should have time once she gets her Star Cha driving license.

Following Jing Yuan, she entered through the main gate of the Shence Mansion, passing through a series of gates; her pass was her name tag.

Qingzu was always the first one to arrive; Shen Mi saw her as soon as he entered.

She sat behind her desk, crouching down, seemingly doing something. Shen Mi walked over curiously, and halfway there, she smelled the aroma of meat. She went closer to look and saw Qing Zu eating a meat bun with her head down.

"It smells so good!" Shen Mi exclaimed.

She touched her slightly protruding belly. Although she had already eaten breakfast, she didn't mind eating a little more.

Qingzu knew it was Chen Mi when she heard footsteps. Seeing Chen Mi's hungry look, she shared one of the extra eggs she had bought with her: "Here, have some."

Shen Mi asked in surprise, "Are you full?"

Qingzu shook his head: "I don't really like the taste of meat buns, but they said they were delicious, so I bought some to try... Now it seems I still prefer vegetable buns."

Shen Mi nodded, took the buns from Qing Zu, and took out a few snowflake crisps that he had made last time and packaged into small pieces, placing them on the table in front of Qing Zu.

After finishing her last bite, Qingzu turned around and saw a square object covered in white powder. She frowned, picked it up, and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Chen Mi: "Snowflake crisps."

"What is snowflake crisp? I've never heard of it."

Shen Mi patiently explained, "I made it with granulated candy, biscuits, and some dried fruit. It's a small snack with a milky flavor. You can try it."

Qingzu tore open the packaging bag with some skepticism, put two finger-thick snowflake crisps into her mouth, chewed for a moment but hadn't swallowed yet, and asked Chen Mi if there were any more.

Shen Mi had anticipated Qingzu's question, so he took out a few more from his bag to share with her.

"I've been a bit busy lately and haven't done much. I'll do something else when I have more free time."

Qingzhu grabbed it and praised, "I thought you were only good at cooking, but I didn't expect you could make such snacks too."

"It's sweet, not hard to chew, and has a fruity aroma. If you weren't working for Shence Prefecture, I think you could open a shop."

After saying that, Qingzhu tore open the snowflake crisp he had just received and fed himself another one.

Shen Mi smiled and said, "You flatter me."

After finishing their meal, the two began a new round of filing and sorting. However, this time the division of labor was slightly different. Aozu was responsible for filing the documents, and Chenmi had to wait for Aozu to file them before sorting them by time and finally putting them all into the original bag.

The documents were very complex, spanning a long period of time, and much of the information was disorganized. Since Shen Mi wasn't as familiar with them as Qing Zu, she naturally assisted her with tasks within her capabilities.

After Qingcu sorted each batch, she had Chenmi organize them, label them, and wait for them to be sorted.

After finally finishing, Qingzhu brought over new ones from another room, stacking them layer upon layer, each stack as thick as half a person.

Looking at the mountain of paper in front of her, Shen Mi suddenly felt that she hadn't been wronged in taking those eight thousand patrol coins.

Aozu patted her shoulder and comforted her, "Hang in there a little longer. I bought two cups of Taro Boba. Drink them and keep going."

After saying that, he pointed to the stack of papers closest to him and said, "Let's do this first, it's more urgent. It looks like we can only put it in a box. Go get a marker and write 7379 on the box. We'll spread these documents out later, so they'll be clearer."

Shen Mi followed the instructions one by one, and coincidentally, she saw a familiar signature among the many documents. It was a document marked with a red header, and the side was covered with the word "Confidential" stamped on it. Shen Mi noticed it simply because the document had been bound for too long, the clasps had rusted and fallen off, and a piece of paper had fallen out.

As if by fate, the upper half of the paper was covered, and the exposed part was exactly the handwriting that Shen Mi was familiar with.

Curiosity reached its peak instantly. After hesitating for a moment, Shen Mi decided to put the paper back and hand it to Qing Zu.

Actually, when she put it back, she glanced at it by accident and the handwriting on the paper was still faintly discernible—it seemed to be a death notice, and the signatory was Bai Xuan.

"Killed in action..." The accident that Yu Tie had mentioned that year flashed through her mind, which had claimed many lives. If that was the case, then this notification seemed to make sense.

As she was deep in thought, Qingzu suddenly called her over again, asking her to help get a new scanner, as the one she was using had just broken.

This little incident was quickly forgotten by Shen Mi after it was interrupted.

After lunch, Shen Mi arrived at the training ground on time. Bai Xuan was busy today, so Bai Qi took her place. Unlike her master Bai Xuan's gentle teaching, Bai Qi was straightforward and would point out any mistakes quickly. Her strict requirements made Shen Mi remember what she learned today even more. After driving around for a few laps, the results were surprisingly good.

Bai Qi was the one who was surprised.

She had heard her uncle mention that Shen Mi was talented, but at the time she thought it was just polite talk or casual remarks. Now it seemed that it was not an exaggeration, but that he really had the ability.

Bai Qi crossed out the original learning content with a pen and re-planned a practice plan that was more suitable for Shen Mi: "Today's training is over. Tomorrow I will teach you something new. According to this plan, you will definitely pass the exam at the end of the month."

Shen Mi thought that today's practice would last for an hour or two like yesterday, but he didn't expect it to end so quickly.

But it's good, at least she can go see Danheng sooner.

"good."

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Author's note: Danheng: Raising a cup to invite the moon, I find myself alone with my shadow.

Shen Mi: I'll treat you to Five Grains Jade Liquid next time.

[doge][doge][doge][doge] Enjoy watching!!

Note ①: Adapted from Gorky.