56 Recognition

◎You love Cinderella, why do you make me a princess◎

She completely let go of her inhibitions, unreservedly revealing everything about herself to him. Kong Wei invaded her mind, slowly engulfing her like quicksand.

"Don't use your mental power to control me." She resisted.

Not knowing where her ability was actually effective, Yan Xunzhi could only subconsciously disperse his mental energy upwards.

The quicksand solidified and stopped flowing. Kong Wei pulled away slightly, losing physical contact with her and disconnecting from her. "I didn't. That's how deep connections work. Don't be nervous."

Yan Xunzhi was stunned for a moment and was about to retort when Kong Wei continued, "We've never had a deep connection."

It turned out that Kong Wei was on guard against her, and she had never completely opened her heart to Kong Wei.

Initially, she was in awe. She felt that Kong Wei was such a noble officer, and that she was only matched with him by sheer luck. Everything she did was just a request. After this, she would meet someone more suitable. After all, these were not meant for her.

Later, when she realized that she had someone else and that her words were not what she meant, she inevitably became suspicious of her. Kong Wei was hiding things from her, so why did she rush to expose them to her?

Of course it is impossible to devote yourself to it fully.

The connection had long been stable, but something always separated them. Yan Xunzhi thought, if someone had to retreat, she didn't care if it was her. If Kong Wei was just vague, then she was willing to accept that kind of love, as long as there was even a shred of sincerity in it.

There must be some truth to it. After all, she had loved him for so long without making any mistakes.

If love is just a momentary emotion, then there should be a moment when she sees her and loves her.

Yan Xunzhi hesitated to let go of his grip, sinking deeply into the softness, and was almost intoxicated by the storm.

Do you love me? The other side of the question was vague, so she would rather not ask. Kong Wei's actions were more real and fierce than any words.

When the love was at its peak, she heard Kong Wei whisper, "An Ran..."

Like cold water pouring down on his head, Yan Xunzhi felt a chill running from his outer shell to his bones and blood, and the chaotic lust in his mind instantly vanished.

——She never told me, how did Kong Wei know her nickname was Anran?

She looked up suddenly.

Under the light, Kong Wei's eyes were watery and slightly red, and his skin was coated with a layer of pink from the intense exercise. The blood color spread from the inside out, like the clearest porcelain figurine.

Yet the emotion in her eyes quickly washed away like the tide, vanishing in the blink of an eye even the foam left by the waves. His eyes were as cold as ice, and the moment her expression changed, he pulled himself away, climbed up, sat on the edge of the bed, and calmly buttoned up his loosened clothes.

The underwear was thrown a little far away and she couldn't reach to get it, so she pulled the quilt over to cover herself, straightened her body and sat up straight.

When he looked up again and his eyes met Yan Xunzhi's, he had returned to his aloof expressionless look.

Her features were deep and thin, with no extra soft tissue to cushion them. Her edges and corners were naturally aggressive. If her eyes were cold, she would appear sharp.

At this moment, he didn't seem to be the one who did something wrong, but rather seemed to be ready to come over and question her whether she was wrong.

Yan Xunzhi couldn't help but laugh at himself inwardly. An officer is an officer. Having lived two lives, he always takes the initiative and never loses the upper hand in any situation.

"It's me, right? It was me in my previous life."

The name is a coincidence. The white towers are named randomly, there is no need for so many random names.

But two years after she was born, an experimental reform was carried out and the marginal Baita pilot program of adoption was implemented. Yan Xunzhi happened to be selected and sent to a family.

They were all retired sentries, not of high rank. He would occasionally hold her and lament how many powerful warriors had died on the surface, while he himself had managed to survive with his mediocre skills, and even returned to the dungeon without dying from the aftereffects of various illnesses.

It was not until many years after I retired that I realized that in this underground era, being alive was a matter of luck.

They never thought they would be able to adopt a child one day, and the new policy caught them off guard.

After retirement, one loses value. In a barren place like the dungeon, the life of ordinary people is just waiting for the sunset to fade away, and new life will always bring some vitality.

The two were thinking about a new name and a new life. Shaoxiang names were drawn by lottery and had no meaning, so she could give the child a name.

Because of her low level of education, she was only given a nickname, Anran, which meant that she would return safely from the surface of the earth in the future and live a stable and worry-free life.

The pilot project was not ideal. The quality of the retired sentries at the edge of the White Tower was uneven, and it was eventually cancelled. She was sent back for centralized care.

Shu Chi called her "Miss" for this reason. She was one of the lucky few in the group, at least she had one or two happy moments.

But she never told anyone that she had such a name.

This name means something different to her. Even if she never thinks about it again, as long as the name exists, it means that she has had a warm life and not a complete tool.

She desires more than other sentinels because she knows she is a flesh-and-blood person.

She was willing to serve as a gear because she pursued the ideal of returning humanity to the surface, rather than believing that she was meant to be a tool to be used, worn out, and scrapped by the Federation.

Although this period of life was short, it brought her irreplaceable importance.

The intervention of any person or thing will blur this past. Yan Xunzhi is not a person with a strong mind or a good memory. Time has been constantly dulling this past. All she can do is try her best to maintain it.

But Kong Wei knew.

Yan Xunzhi couldn't possibly lie to herself. She had slipped her tongue, but in that intense moment, she had called out the name with such sincerity and heartfelt emotion, like a dream.

If it really was just a coincidence, it would be fine. She would rather Kong Wei had a sentinel named An Ran in her previous life, and the one she saw was the real An Ran...

——Instead of her.

Yan Xunzhi thought of those inexplicable good things.

He inexplicably appeared in the free training room, inexplicably wanted to teach her how to improve her mental strength, inexplicably gave her a ground activity suit to urge her to train, inexplicably injected her with medicine alone, inexplicably showed his love and care, inexplicably connected with her...

There is a kind of misplaced familiarity in her strangeness. She is sure of her preferences and her temper.

Even if these are wrong, habit makes her reach out first.

She remembered Ning Yue's vague hint to her that she was very beautiful, Kong Wei liked beautiful sentinels, and in his previous life he had raised a canary in the logistics and armaments department that looked very similar to her.

Yan Xunzhi had never thought that she would be physically unable to go to the surface. She felt that if one day she could not go to the surface, it must be because she could no longer support herself. There was no way she could go to a place like the Logistics and Armaments Department where she had no other choice but to live...

But now, unless the person she loved in her previous life, the canary she raised in the Armament Department before her rebirth—

It's her.

Everything seems to have cleared up and the dusty, vague and tangled places are now clear and understandable.

That's why Kong Wei matched her with such a high degree of compatibility because she already knew what her mental picture was like. Yan Xunzhi didn't know how she did it, but she was 100% sure that as long as Kong Wei wanted to, she could do it.

She forced her to improve her mental strength and level up because she died on the ground in her previous life.

She said, "It's this leg again..." Had she been injured in her previous life? That's why Kong Wei initially reserved the lower bunk for her. Perhaps she was a cripple in her previous life, making it difficult for her to get in and out of bed.

Yan Xunzhi blinked hard, Kong Wei kept changing in her sight.

"Ask." She was calm.

It seemed like he had rehearsed this countless times... Yan Xunzhi suddenly laughed, and this time it was very natural. He didn't have to force his muscles. He felt it was funny from the bottom of his heart.

She also knew that he was lying to her, and she also knew that she would find out one day.

But she didn't say it, didn't confess, and kept telling lies, waiting until the very last moment, when there was no way out.

His eyes were almost overflowing. Yan Xunzhi stared at him with all his might, his eyelashes trembling slightly, "You..."

So many questions.

The moment I said it, I suddenly didn't want to ask anymore.

Forget it, it’s all fake anyway.

Yan Xunzhi's tears fell.

So she and Kong Wei...had such an intimate and happy moment that she told her all of it and she could call her name at will.

So who is she? She is just Yan Xunzhi, not An Ran.

Kong Wei doesn't love her, she just loves her appearance, her identity, and her past.

Yan Xunzhi covered his face, breathing harshly, and forced a suppressed laugh from his throat.

They knew each other so well that she could guess what Kong Wei was thinking without even having to think.

"Why don't you just not know me? Wait until I'm broken and give up, then find me at the Armaments Department. That's the me you want. You don't love me, so why did you come to me so early? You can't bear to see her suffer, but you're willing to let me suffer?"

Kong Wei is the butterfly flapping its wings. Because of her interference, she will never become the Yan Xunzhi of her previous life.

Even if it was herself.

A slight mistake can lead to a huge error. From the moment Kong Wei emerged from the manual cabin, from the moment she gave her guidance to improve her mental strength... she could never become that person again.

If you love Cinderella, you can just stand by and watch, waiting for me to step into the crystal shoes.

You raised me to be a princess, but you said you only like Cinderella.

If that's the case, why bother? She's already been a princess, she can never be Cinderella again.

Kong Wei stood up and took the beating without making any excuses. He admitted his mistake with a good attitude and just said, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect it."

Bullshit. Yan Xunzhi hated her even more.

"I just want to ask you one question..." After a moment of stalemate, Yan Xunzhi wiped his face and calmed down.

Things have come to this, no matter how much she says, it will be like begging for mercy. It's just that the person she loves doesn't love her, it's not that tragic.

My heart was beating, but it was just numb and bitter, not painful.

Yan Xunzhi seemed to be somewhat aware of what Jing Ting had said to her, but she didn't have time to think about it. She just thought that she had been spiritually connected with Kong Wei for too long and had been influenced by her.

A limp doesn't prevent her from going to the surface nowadays, but in the foreseeable future where there will be even more scarcity, how serious an injury would it take for her to not be able to go to the surface?

still……

She swallowed hard. The thorn was at the bottom of her throat, and no matter what she did, it was extremely painful.

"Shu Chi, when and how did you die in your previous life?"

What did Shu Chi's death really mean to Kong Weiyi? Was she going to have to confirm again and again that she would still go to the surface after hearing the news? She knew she wasn't someone who would be affected by such things.

If you don't go to the ground and haven't reached retirement age, you can only go to the Logistics and Armaments Department.

Kong Wei hesitated, "I don't know."

Yan Xunzhi looked at her expression, and suddenly a great panic arose in his heart. His pupils suddenly shrank and he trembled so hard that it was difficult to detect.

She showed weakness and reached out to grab the corner of her clothes, holding it tightly in her palm. "I beg you... Just this one thing. You've lied to me so much, just this one thing, tell me the truth, I can accept anything..."

"I just want to know... did Shu Chi die because of me?"

【Author’s words】

Ning Yue: You're useless! You even call names wrong! I really can't help you!