Chapter 107, Episode 107: Love is Profound Because of Differences
Shen Mi rushed out of the old house, the night wind brushing against her face, bringing a chill. She anxiously looked around, carefully scanning every alley and path, but still couldn't find Dan Heng. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if it would shake her very soul out of her body.
"Where could he have gone...?" Shen Mi murmured to himself, his voice carried away by the wind on the empty street.
Under the streetlights, her shadow stretched long, intertwining with the night. Shen Mi took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her heart, and quickened her pace along the familiar street, calling out Dan Heng's name.
"Danheng—"
Suddenly, her arm was pulled. Shen Mi turned around in a daze and saw Jing Yuan frowning, anxiously saying something to her, his mouth opening and closing, and holding an unopened umbrella in his hand.
Only after Jing Yuan called out repeatedly did Shen Mi come back to his senses.
"Chen Mi, stop looking. It's about to rain. Come back with me, okay?"
Jingyuan grabbed her, his eyes earnest, his tone full of worry and anxiety.
Shen Mi bit her lip, steeled her heart, and gently pulled her hand away from his: "I'm sorry, Jing Yuan. I... I have to go and find Dan Heng..."
Jing Yuan remained silent for a moment, his eyelashes trembling slightly, a flash of heartbreak crossing his eyes. He lowered his head, his long, snow-white hair falling down, like a thin mist concealing his turbulent emotions. His heart was filled with anxiety, as well as unspeakable jealousy and resentment. Just seeing Shen Mi running around for Dan Heng felt like his heart was being clenched tightly, pulled by an invisible force.
At this moment, he didn't want to reveal his vulnerability, yet he couldn't suppress the longing and unease in his heart. His voice was extremely soft, with a slight tremor: "Chen Mi, can I ask you a question? If I were the one you bumped into today, would you have chased after me like this?"
Behind these words lies his self-testing and a silent questioning of his feelings for Shen Mi. He longs to be needed, to have a place in her heart, yet he fears the answer will shatter his heart completely.
Shen Mi froze, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tightly, her breathing slightly rapid. The night breeze blew, and she felt a surge of emotion in her chest, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
She looked up at Jingyuan, her eyes filled with a complex and chaotic mix of guilt, helplessness, affection, and a touch of apology, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. "...Jingyuan, I..." The words caught in her throat, but she swallowed them back. She lowered her head, gently biting her lip, as if trying to sort out her tangled thoughts, only to find that the more she tried to organize them, the more chaotic they became.
Jing Yuan gazed at her lowered profile, the pain in his heart growing ever deeper. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, yet he feared that a single touch would shatter this fragile and delicate balance. He could sense her hesitation and struggle, and even perceive the love she held for him in her heart, but... this love did not belong solely to him.
Seeing her difficulty in answering, Jingyuan lowered his expectations: "Just answer me whether you know it or not."
"Yes." Shen Mi slightly raised the corner of her eye, the night reflected in her pupils, as thick as ink that could never be diluted. She broke free from Jing Yuan's grasp on her hand, "But now, the more important thing is to find Dan Heng."
Upon hearing the word "will," Jingyuan felt a slight sense of relief, as if she had received a brief moment of comfort. But then she said, "The more important person right now is Danheng," a sentence that felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over her.
So... am I in a lower position in the queue?
Jingyuan tried to steady his breathing, suppressing the bitterness and disappointment surging in his heart.
His hand, which had been suspended in mid-air, finally fell slowly. His brows furrowed slightly, as if suppressing the turbulent emotions within him. The night wind ruffled his snow-white hair and gently brushed against Chen Mi's cheek, bringing a chill that made him feel a bone-chilling cold.
"Go." His voice was low and calm, carrying a barely perceptible sadness and helplessness. "Be careful."
Shen Mi cast a grateful yet apologetic glance at Jing Yuan, then gently hugged him to comfort him: "Thank you, Jing Yuan. I'll explain when I get back."
She didn't take the umbrella from Jingyuan's hand, but turned and ran towards the other end of the street. Her shadow stretched and contracted under the streetlights, her steps quick and determined. Jingyuan stood quietly in place, his gaze following her disappearing figure, feeling as if something was tightly gripping his heart, yet also as if something was gently brushing past it, but he couldn't grasp anything.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the distant sky, and the falling raindrops struck life in the vast darkness of the night.
Jing Yuan looked up at the dark night sky, raindrops sliding down his forehead, but they couldn't hide the bitterness in his eyes.
Danheng, are you as heartbroken as I am?
When your heart is sunny, even rain is sunny; when your heart is rainy, even sunshine is rain.
The empty streets appeared particularly desolate in the sudden rain, and the light from the streetlights was shattered by the rain, blurring into hazy halos.
Dan Heng walked alone among them, his hair already soaked by the rain. His dark clothes clung to his body, and raindrops slid down his eyebrows and eyes. On his pale face, it was hard to tell whether they were rain or silent tears.
Shen Mi finally saw that familiar figure. His heart tightened, his breathing became erratic, and his footsteps sped up uncontrollably in the puddles, splashing water everywhere.
"Danheng—!"
"Wait! Danheng, don't go!"
Her voice was almost swallowed up by the roaring rain. Shen Mi plunged into the torrential rain, the raindrops hitting her hair and shoulders like sharp arrows, but she didn't care, she just stared intently at the receding figure.
The rain grew heavier, obscuring Danheng's figure layer by layer, as if separated by an impenetrable wall of water, blurring him until he was almost invisible.
"Danheng!" She gritted her teeth and quickened her pace, her steps heavy with water.
Finally, just before he turned around, Shen Mi rushed forward and grabbed his arms tightly with both hands.
"Don't go!"
The rain pounded down, as if the world had been washed away, leaving only the two of them. Danheng paused slightly, his lowered eyelashes glistening with raindrops, his shoulders stiffening beneath her hand.
Chen Mi's breathing was rapid, and his eyes were filled with moisture, whether from rain or tears, it was hard to tell: "Where are you going?"
She gripped him tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white from the force. Dan Heng remained motionless, letting the rain pour down from his hair and chin, the chill seeping into his chest along his neck.
His breathing was extremely light, as if he were enveloped by the sound of rain, but his heart felt as heavy as if a huge rock was pressing down on it.
“Chen Mi…”
Danheng called her softly, his voice muffled by the rain, yet still carrying a hint of barely suppressed trembling.
He didn't turn around, his eyelashes drooping wetly, as if he were suppressing pain to the extreme. Her cry made his heart tremble violently, but the pain felt like it was tearing him apart.
He didn't dare look at her.
I dared not look into those eyes, filled with both unwavering determination and heartache, for fear that if I turned around, the already crumbling dam in my heart would collapse completely in an instant.
"Don't treat me like this..." Dan Heng's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his voice so low and hoarse that it was almost inaudible, "Let me go... I can't see into your heart, it seems like there's more than just me in your eyes."
The rain relentlessly pounded on his shoulders and back, dripping down his temples, chin, and fingertips, as if trying to drown him completely.
The rain suddenly intensified, and the earth and sky roared as if weeping for his unspeakable pain.
Shen Mi froze, his heart felt like it was being squeezed, and his breathing became erratic for a moment.
"No!" She took a step forward abruptly, raindrops streaming down her face, blurring her vision. Her voice trembled with panic. "Danheng, you've misunderstood. It's not like that. I didn't know Ren would suddenly do this! I was already trying to get rid of him—"
The words caught in her throat as if something was stuck there. She desperately wanted to explain, but she couldn't quite articulate the tangled emotions in her heart.
Raindrops pelted her shoulders, wetting her sleeves, but she didn't notice; she simply reached out, wanting to grab him.
Dan Heng took a deep breath and faced his true inner question head-on. He threw the question out without mercy, like a torrent of water, with rocks rolling down relentlessly and crashing into Chen Mi's heart.
"What about Jing Yuan?"
His gaze was like a sharp blade piercing her heart, as if trying to see through all her struggles and concealments. The sound of the rain couldn't mask the tremor and restraint in his voice, "You... really have no feelings for him at all?"
Shen Mi's heart skipped a beat, as if someone had seized her breath. In that moment, she suddenly felt like she was being driven to the brink of despair, surrounded by a silent oppression. She wanted to deny it immediately, but under Dan Heng's gaze, she couldn't utter a word.
The surging emotions in her chest almost suffocated her—panic, guilt, and fear intertwined, overwhelming her reason like waves. She wanted to speak, but her voice trembled, and she could only bite her lip tightly, her fingertips shaking slightly in the rain.
Shen Mi remained silent, her lips bitten until they turned white. Rainwater slid down her hair, blurring her expression.
Danheng, however, saw it clearly.
It's crystal clear.
She didn't deny it immediately. Even that momentary hesitation felt like a sharp blade, cutting straight into his heart.
Dan Heng's Adam's apple bobbed, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed. As if all his expectations and hopes had collapsed at this moment, his voice was low and hoarse, revealing an unbearable pain: "...As expected."
"No, no, no... Danheng, don't misunderstand, I have my reasons." Shen Mi grasped something in her blurry vision, but she didn't care. As long as she could keep Danheng, even if it was just a piece of clothing.
Shen Mi ran ahead of him, trying to stop him from leaving. Her eyes were urgent and firm: "I can't deny that I have feelings for you all. It's a long story, but this is the only thing I've been hiding from you... There's something even more important for me to do. Please don't go. Please believe me. My feelings for you are absolutely genuine."
As she watched the light in Danheng's eyes dim little by little, her heart felt as if it were being crushed by a heavy object, and even breathing became heavy and difficult.
All words seemed to become useless.
In an instant, she almost lost her mind, wanting to tell him everything—where she came from, what he meant to her, and the most important "ending".
But as the words reached her lips, the scarlet warning flashed before her eyes like a searchlight, blinding her. It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat, forcing all the words that welled up to her lips back down.
In that instant, the system's voice suddenly exploded in his mind: "Host, are you crazy?! Do you know how much impact this will have?!"
Shen Mi seemed to be under a silencing spell, all her words stuck in her throat. But only one thought was churning in her mind—she didn't want Dan Heng to be sad, nor did she want Jing Yuan to be sad; she had to, absolutely had to, tell everyone.
The system heard her thoughts and its voice suddenly rose, tinged with urgency and suppression: "Host, I've seen this scene countless times. Previous volunteers, like you, couldn't bear to speak. But do you know how many opportunities have been wasted because of this? Do you think I want to see them suffer? No, it's because their fate is more important than their suffering. Happiness is fleeting, but the ending is irreversible. Can you bear to see their story end like this? You have enough strategy points; you just need to save the most crucial turning point, returning everything to its original course—then they won't remember the harm you caused."
Every word exploded into Chen Mi's ears like thunder, making her eardrums buzz and her heart tingle, almost making her steps falter. The voice was not only a warning, but also like a heavy hammer, striking her nerves again and again, forcibly suppressing her courage to speak back deep in her chest.
Shen Mi suddenly understood why the system had been keeping it from her all along... it was probably to prevent this from happening. She smiled bitterly, a sense of helplessness rising in her heart.
After a few seconds of silence, she listened to the system's words and took back what she wanted to say, but she couldn't let go of Danheng either.
Now that things have come to this, this is the only way she can try to keep him.
Shen Mi took a deep breath and said to the system in a low voice: "Knock me out."
The system did as instructed. Before losing consciousness, Shen Mi vaguely saw Dan Heng's panicked and frightened expression and heard him calling her name again and again.
In that instant, the scene of their first encounter flashed through her mind, just like now. Shen Mi thought with relief, she had won her gamble again.
Shen Mi's consciousness drifted into a deep sleep, her voice growing softer and softer as she repeated to him over and over, "Don't go... Dan Heng... Believe me... Dan Heng... Please believe me..."
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Author's Note: Sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh… even I, the author, can't bear to write this anymore. The female protagonist used a self-inflicted injury to successfully keep Dan Heng. [Please][Please][Please][Please]
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