Haiyingsen (1)
"Crystal clear ice from the heavens, an eternal miracle of the universe;"
Our dwelling has no age, no order;
The protection of the gods, the childhood of mankind.
I looked up, and looked up.
People come and go on earth, but I remain here, beneath the stars.
—Epigraph
Volume 1 - Hai Yingsen
Chapter Summary: First to appear are the younger generation, Prince Theodosius and Ye Wanzhou. Their fathers, Emperor Gratian and the allied scientist Caesar (this is the main couple), are on their way; the male-mother romance is about the two of them :)
The "present" in which the younger generation lives is a continuation of the era of their parents. And a true love is hidden in the vanished history.
The chirping of cicadas, mingled with the steam and heat, splashed across the gently ascending slope. The gray concrete road reflected a golden halo, and the greenery on either side encroached upon the cracks in the concrete, menacingly watching the passing vehicles. A boy rode a bicycle, another holding onto the back seat, walking slowly.
"Ride faster! I'm holding you, what are you afraid of? How can you learn to ride a bike like this?"
"I don't want to. It's so sunny. I'm so hot." The cyclist's face scrunched up like a wilted daffodil. "And look, there's a group of people coming from the front. What if I crash into them..."
"Why are you crashing into me? You're going about the same speed as pushing a bicycle, how could you possibly crash into me? Did you even hold the brakes?"
A steep slope leads to the city center, with only a few scattered pedestrians along the way; self-driving private cars and city buses soar through the air, and a massive, deep blue building stands in the center of the field of vision not far away. Atop the building is a giant eye—a branch of the artificial intelligence "Tree of Zeus," the electronic eye used by the Galactic Empire to monitor the entire star system. Simultaneously, signals entering and leaving the empire's major cities are also transmitted through this electronic eye. The blue and white sky is evenly distributed overhead; although hot, it's far from causing sunburn. The electronic eye is the brain of "Haiyingsen" city; it calculates precisely which types of solar radiation are harmful to humans and which are beneficial for vitamin D synthesis in the skin and retinal development.
Theodosius said, "You need to learn to ride a bike by yourself, otherwise it'll be very tiring for me to take you around on my bike every day." "Uh... don't make that face. Or, how about we get a bus pass?"
"But we're out of money, Xiaoxi."
"Are you tired? Why don't you get off?" Theodosius, afraid he would fall, pressed down on the back of the bicycle, stopping it. Ye Wanzhou didn't move. He seemed to be stunned by the heat. "I'll go to the bus stop to register later, for the money. It's okay, I'll have the money. I'll always have it."
This is Earth, one of the provinces of the "First Galactic Empire." It was originally the core ruling area of the "Earth Republican Alliance," the political, economic, and cultural center, the cradle of human civilization. The Earth Alliance was the most prestigious and oldest nation in the interstellar era, referred to as the "Motherland" by countless interstellar pioneers. The Earth Republican Alliance was not originally a unified nation; it was a loose alliance of hundreds of large and small nations, jointly negotiating interstellar development. However, as the interstellar era progressed, new colonies farther from Earth gradually broke away from the rule of their mother countries, fighting countless wars with the Earth Republican Alliance for freedom and independence. While some peaceful agreements were reached without bloodshed and became legendary, most conflicts between colonies and their overlords were resolved through the most primitive and satisfying method for both sides—war. Thus, the elites of the time wrote satirically, "No matter how many years have passed, the DNA of humanity still carries the legacy of the primate beasts that roamed the East African savanna."
This marked the beginning of later political events such as the "Inferior Gene Exclusion Act" and the "Homo sapiens Genetic Modification Act." Unlike major social events in human history that were primarily driven by political forces, the main force behind this movement was biologists.
They first selected strong, vigorous sperm from a public sperm bank, combined them with chosen egg cells, and implanted them into an artificial womb. Before these fertilized eggs developed, their genomes were programmed onto their chromosomes. This programmed super-baby possessed the following basic traits: male; blond hair, blue eyes; tall; extroverted; with leadership qualities; extremely high intelligence; and robust physique. It had no underlying diseases, and its probability of developing any disease in the future was less than one in ten million. Its expected lifespan was five hundred years; it developed rapidly, with a short infancy, a long youth and middle age, and no old age; aging in it would only manifest as a certain degree of metabolic decline, etc. Approximately one hundred embryos possessed these traits, but ultimately, only one survived in the artificial womb. The researchers removed the child from the warm amniotic fluid in a glass tank and disconnected a black rubber tube connected to the computer; that was the umbilical cord, which allowed the baby to draw nutrients from the nutrient pool and also helped it directly access external information from the computer's database.
“We call him ‘Gratian,’” the research director said proudly. It’s the name of a medieval Roman pope.
The Gratians, created by humankind, ultimately betrayed humanity—this is a saying that still circulates in some shady underground organizations.
After being raised, Gratian immediately attempted to seize supreme power from the Earth Republican Alliance. His first attempt failed, and he was exiled to an outer space. There, he gained the support of other human tribes in the colonies, formed an army, and led them to establish a new regime and a new nation. The previously scattered colonies rallied around him. This was the initial "Galactic Empire." At the time, the Alliance's official propaganda contemptuously referred to them as "barbarians," "rebels," and "bandit leaders," saying they were nothing more than a bunch of rabble. "A nation composed of robbers—should we, with our long civilization, representing the glory of our ancestors, fear them?"
Of Emperor Gratian's fourteen-year-long expansionist endeavors, the "Earth Republic Alliance" was indeed the toughest nut to crack. Its vast star system, large population, complex organizational structure, developed economy, and powerful military were formidable. If it weren't for the mafia, compradors, and foolish politicians solely focused on their own re-election during the Alliance's later years, Emperor Gratian's stellar conquest would likely have dragged on for several more years.
Theodosius and Ye Wanzhou lived seventeen years after the Emperor had unified human civilization; the two boys had just been admitted to Haiyingsen Central University, located in the former capital of the Alliance. Objectively speaking, the aforementioned exciting and grand historical narrative had little to do with these two ordinary students. Theodosius's family lived on the Italian peninsula, while Ye Wanzhou was born in China. Of course, both Italy and China now only held geographical significance. Since the establishment of the Earth Republic Alliance, nation-states had truly disappeared; those who went out to cultivate the land generally only said, "I am an Earthling"; it would be extremely difficult for a galactic person from outer space to figure out where China and Italy were, as many of them lived on planets without land, some simply being clouds of gas, such as "Methane Planet," which could extract atmosphere for fuel at any time.
"Haiyingsen" is a fortified city built over the Pacific Ocean, making full use of high-altitude sunlight as energy, while also facilitating direct access for merchant ships and warships, and monitoring ground signals. It is a completely high-tech city, patrolling global airspace. Central University is located in the outer city of Haiyingsen, which is generally the deepest part of the city that ordinary people like Theodosius and Ye Wanzhou can enter.
At this moment, the aerial fortress cruised over the Pacific Ocean. The seawater was a deep blue, adorned with snow-white lace.
“I’ve heard that every time the sea nymph floats over the ocean, people jump off. Suicide victims especially like to fall into the sea,” Ye Wanzhou said. “I can understand. Is it because it’s so beautiful? The vast ocean, whether in sunny weather or stormy weather, has an allure that tempts people to commit suicide.”
Theodosius blinked. "I knew it, I figured it out on the very first day we started dating. You're really something else. All sorts of crazy behavior becomes normal when you're around, right?"
Theodosius grew up in an orphanage, though it was unclear which one, and he remained silent about his childhood. Ye Wanzhou met him during her senior year of high school, just before the college entrance exam. She was engrossed in a sea of practice questions projected onto an electronic screen when she looked up and noticed a handsome guy in the classroom.
"Um... are you from the class next door? Or are you a new transfer student in our class?"
"No." The boy, whose good looks rivaled those of classical beauties sculpted by Renaissance sculptors, smiled slightly. "I'm a new teacher."
He put down the large box he was carrying, and a yellowed old photograph fell out. It was a group photo with the Great Wall in the background.
As a liberal arts student and a native of China, Ye Wanzhou quickly glanced at the old photo. The group photo showed three people—one man and two women—wearing dark green uniforms. The uniforms looked familiar, adorned with silver trim, but he couldn't immediately recall which country's uniforms they were from. He reminded Theodosius, "Friend, you're here to see the Great Wall? The last half of the Great Wall was destroyed thirty years ago during the Battle of Haiyingsen by the Imperial Army's main cannon, 'Thor's Hammer.' Gratian probably didn't do it intentionally; it's just that cannons like 'Thor's Hammer,' which use antimatter 'annihilation' as their energy source, have very difficult-to-control destructive range. There's still a huge crater in the suburbs of Badaling. The current Allied government has been filling it with garbage, hoping to quickly fill this unsightly gaping hole..."
"What did you call him?" Theodosius's eyes curved into crescent shapes. Very handsome.
"Huh? Who are you talking about?"
"The Emperor. What did you call him?"
“Gratean, huh?” Ye Wanzhou asked blankly, scratching his head.
"You should call him 'Your Majesty,' or at least 'First Citizen' or 'Our Common Head of State.' With your liberal arts background, how did you study politics? Do you think your teachers would pass your exams?"
"No. I'm terrible at politics," Ye Wanzhou said awkwardly. He got full marks in geography, but he'd almost never passed politics.
Senior year of high school. He spent some time with Theodosius. "You're just a 'trainee teacher'... I'm being lenient by calling you 'teacher'! You're just working for the homeroom teacher to earn some extra money supervising us during evening self-study—so why are you checking so carefully what I did today?"
“I’m so glad. Ye, this is the first time you’ve spoken to me in this tone.” Theodosius rested his chin on his hand. “You’ve never spoken to anyone this urgently.”
"Yes. I'm in a real hurry. If you don't let me use my phone, I'll strangle you."
“You only use your phone to read casual books… Aren’t textbooks and review materials good? You and I made a promise to take the entrance exam for National Central University together.”
"I've never made any promises to you!"
“You have one. I also have a recording.” With that, Theodosius actually clicked on a recording. The sound flowed out.
"...This is obviously a forgery by you."
“I didn’t!” Theodosius looked at him with his large, clear, light brown eyes, like those of an ancient Greek boy. A faint tear clung to the corner of his eye. “I didn’t lie to you. It was you, you betrayed me first…”
"Okay, okay, okay!" Ye Wanzhou quickly surrendered. "I told you. I told you, I made a promise with you, alright? I'll go study right now!"
They got together the year they graduated high school. They went to National Central University together. Ye Wanzhou got in point by point, choosing his favorite subject, history; as for Theodosius, Ye Wanzhou saw that he had actually gotten into the high-scoring, popular, and lucrative law department. "Do you know that professor?" On his first day, after putting down his luggage, Ye Wanzhou saw a woman in the National Central University office chatting alone with Theodosius at the freshman registration area. The woman glanced up at Ye Wanzhou, then her gaze remained fixed on Theodosius.
"I guess so." There was a pause in the voice. "I saw her when I was little. A few times."
"She is not a teacher."
"Not a teacher?"
"No. Her surname is Ye, and she is an official from the Imperial Ministry of Education. She is temporarily on an inspection tour of Haiyingsen Central University."
"Uh... a high-ranking official." Ye Wanzhou turned around. They had already left, and only the white-gold bricks of the university administration building could be seen. The offices had been concealed behind a series of light barriers by the adjustment system.
"This is the first time I've seen a real, high-ranking official outside of news reports and file photos. And she's a woman."
"She seems to care about you a lot."
Theodosius gave a barely perceptible, cold laugh. "Yes, I've always been grateful for her care."
When he was a child. Ye Wanzhou lay on the lower bunk, looking at Theodosius, who was hanging up the curtains and dusting them for him by the window. Was "when he was a child" referring to his time in the orphanage?
In her junior year, Ye Wanzhou took the initiative to break up with Theodosius. They were in different departments and didn't live in the same dormitory. When she pushed open the door, the top students from the law department of Central University were gathered in front of a virtual screen. Ye Wanzhou assumed Theodosius and his roommates were discussing a case or an assignment due the next day, so she didn't disturb them and sat down in the chair closest to the door. When Theodosius took off his headphones and turned around, "Ye...you, what are you doing here?" Ye Wanzhou then realized that they were playing a game, a space war game that had been banned by the Empire due to "historical nihilism"; the two sides were the newly rising Galactic Empire and the Earth Republic Alliance, which had been destroyed by the Empire in the "Seven Years' War" thirty-two years ago.
"Xiaoxi, I don't think we're a good match. Let's just leave it at that."
“What does ‘that’ mean?” Theodosius asked incredulously.
"It means we're not going to be together anymore. It ends here." Ye Wanzhou gritted her teeth. She got up and closed the door.
Theodosius rushed up from behind and grabbed his hand.
"I need an explanation. No, no, you don't have to explain. Let's not break up, please, okay?"
Ye Wanzhou went back.
Back in his dorm, he developed a fever. He felt himself floating in a dark, warm dream, surrounded by a vast starry sky that sometimes churned like mud, sometimes clear as a spring; the Milky Way enveloped his body. A sharp chisel struck his skull from within, causing intense pain. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on snow-white sheets, the smell of disinfectant and blood filling the air. A flash of sharp light from a syringe stung. Theodosius's face appeared on his retina. "You've fainted."
"Do I have a cold?" Ye Wanzhou asked embarrassedly. "Sorry, it's probably because the bath water was too cold yesterday."
“No. It’s not entirely because of that. Logically speaking, people these days rarely get sick.” Theodosius pressed him back down and covered him with the blanket. “The doctor said there’s something wrong with your genome.”
He showed the report to Ye Wanzhou. "Your genes are similar to those of humans who reproduced naturally under the original conditions... How could this be? Didn't your parents adjust them? Before you were born, those defective, disease-causing genes were not removed at all."
"……I have no idea."
Is this why you want to break up with me?
"No!" Ye Wanzhou hugged her knees and remained silent for a while. "Okay, yes."
"I suddenly fainted during PE class last Friday. I explained to the teacher that I hadn't eaten breakfast and had low blood sugar. The teacher didn't believe me at all and sent me to the school clinic. My vital signs were mostly normal, just as I had suspected. But on Saturday, the next day, I started feeling dizzy again. The school doctor transferred me to the city hospital, where an AI doctor analyzed my physical data, as well as my usual medical reports and lifestyle habits, and finally diagnosed me with a disease that only people in ancient times would get: epilepsy."
What is that?
“I’m not entirely sure. It’s some kind of neurological disorder. Abnormal electrical activity in the brain, spinal cord, and neurons causes the body to convulse and then self-destruct.” “The doctor did a genome test on me. He said this might just be the beginning; my genes are full of flaws, and I could easily get sick in the future.”
What did your parents say?
“I have no parents…” Ye Wanzhou lowered her head.
"Where is the guardian?"
"No, not at all." The voice became even softer.
"How is that possible? Where did you come from? You didn't just spring out of a rock, did you? Even I have an orphanage... well, to be precise, it's called a 'Social Child Care and Training Center.' I even have a population file number from there. Can't your birth record be found? You can demand compensation from the institution that kept your embryo and the unit responsible for your upbringing."
“It’s no use.” Ye Wanzhou shook her head. “I was born after the war between the Alliance and the Empire. A lot of the data from that period was destroyed for various reasons, including the war and the sabotage activities of some underground armed groups in the early days of the Empire’s unification of the Alliance. I applied to both the Alliance and the Empire’s agencies, but neither of them recognized me as a citizen under their jurisdiction. In the end, I lived in the Alliance as an alien nomad. It’s ridiculous. I’ve never left Earth, yet they call me an alien nomad. I’ve never even taken a spaceship. The farthest I’ve ever been is the city bus terminal.”
"What did the doctor say about treating your illness?"
The AI doctor extended a titanium alloy arm, its palm flipping over to reveal a silver plate shape. A mechanical voice announced, "Take two small bottles daily. Once in the morning and once in the evening. Take it on a semi-empty stomach after your first bite of food." The plate contained a large bundle of small pink medicine bottles.
"Okay. How long should I take it?"
The doctor replied, "It depends on how well the condition is controlled. Generally speaking, epilepsy patients need to take medication for life."
"Lifelong." Theodosius choked. "Can't it be cured? How could it not be cured?"
"The only feasible cure is genome rearrangement. However, the patient is currently 17 years old and nearing adulthood. Please carefully consider the risks before undergoing gene surgery. Traits altered through gene surgery are irreversible and carry a certain risk of death."
Theodosius immediately said, "Then we need to reconsider this illness. Let's start with the medication. Twice a day isn't unacceptable..."
"Okay. Please pay 20,000 yuan for medical expenses. This is a month's supply of medicine. The payment window will open in 60 seconds, 60, 59, 58..."
"Twenty thousand yuan?"
"Yes," the AI doctor confirmed, counting down the seconds.
Theodosius paid for next year's tuition himself. Ye Wanzhou said he would pay for it himself, but Theodosius smiled and said, "Don't worry. If I run out of money next year, you'll have to lend me some."
"These are two different things! My affairs are none of your business!"
On the way back, Theodosius hailed a taxi. The car flew through the misty clouds. Ye Wanzhou leaned her head against his chest, unable to maintain her previous upright posture; he had a fever again.
Theodosius submitted an application to the school and moved into the same dormitory as Ye Wanzhou; Ye Wanzhou's previous roommates, knowing he was sick, found various reasons to request a change of dormitory. The dormitory that was originally a four-person room suddenly became a two-person room.
Moonlight streamed in through the cracks in the windowpanes, and the brilliant Milky Way hung like a veil from the heavens. In the fortress city of Haiyingsen, a strong wind swept through after nightfall, its cool air currents washing over the heavy, white-glowing surface of the steel earth. In the old Alliance's military base, the navigation lights for space carriers and battleships still flickered in the night; the site was now ruins.
It is said that Emperor Gratian himself disliked the Allied idea of turning the capital into a fortress, calling it "petty." His first act after conquering the Allies was to massively dismantle the walls built by the Earth Allies on their homeland and throughout interstellar space. He stated that a true nation and a true civilization need no boundaries, walls, or even national borders. The Galactic Empire's capital, Zeus, is the famous "City Without Walls," hailed as the "Queen of Cities."
At midnight, the Parliament building in downtown Haiyingsen radiates a dazzling, deep, and silent blue-white light. The fortress descends, and dark blue-black seawater is pumped up from the ocean through a pipe; the fortress is filling a reservoir, awaiting delivery to the desalination system the next day.
Blue and white light flashed, displaying the words, "Welcome home, Allied warriors. The motherland welcomes you! Free people, the banner of the Republic, tens of thousands of years of civilization, the cradle of mankind..." The old Allied national anthem played hoarsely for a while, then abruptly stopped.
Clearly, the engineers in charge of municipal management hadn't removed this piece of music that played every time the fortress needed refueling, for various reasons. Ye Wanzhou was very curious about how they explained it to the imperial officials who came to inspect the province each time.
“They might have the emperor’s tacit approval,” Theodosius said. He was at his computer, staring at the progress bar as he typed a spreadsheet. He had recently found a job at an international law firm, specializing in handling civil and economic disputes between different star systems.
"No way." The window was open, and the night breeze carried a faint light in. There was a refreshing scent of aquatic plants. Ye Wanzhou lay on the bed reading, a thick-covered book held high above his head; he loved these old-fashioned paper books.
Ye Wanzhou said, "After annihilating the old alliance, Gratian showed no intention of preserving the Earth Alliance's culture and political system, not even a symbolic gesture. Instead, he demanded that all private collectors in the alliance input all their paper books into the Empire's information collection system. These paper books, especially those on the history of the alliance, were later destroyed by the Empire. The rest were all classified as illegal publications. Ordinary people who wanted to learn about their homeland's history could only download it from the database—of course, from the Empire's database. I have seen the Alliance history provided by the Empire, whether it's the database itself or the paper books. Much of the past history was directly destroyed, and a small portion was intentionally altered. Missing pages, missing pages, and blacked-out keywords were extremely common."
"How do you know that's a revised history? I mean the part you can read in its entirety, not the parts that are blacked out or missing pages," Theodosius asked curiously, turning his head away from the computer.
"During the seven years of war between the Alliance and the Empire, a total of 301 battles, large and small, were fought; this is corroborated by all historical records. Of these, 20 were commanded by generals from both sides, officially recorded by both the Alliance and the Empire. However, the Alliance's accounts are strange. For the remaining 281 battles, according to the Empire, they were commanded by an outstanding Alliance general; the Alliance, on the other hand, either vaguely states that it was decided by 'collective strength' or that 'the Council elected a suitable commander'—never mentioning the commander's name. More recent Alliance histories, compiled by the Empire, directly state that those 281 battles were commanded by Estravan, the Chairman of the Alliance's Supreme Council; Estravan graduated from the School of International Relations at Haiyingsen Central University..." He served in the military during his university years due to the outbreak of war, and officially joined the Alliance army after graduation. Although he was a civilian official, he had extensive battlefield experience, making it not impossible for him to command the Alliance's 281 battles in the later stages. However, during the Battle of the Iliad Starfield, a document bearing his name appeared at a high-level meeting held in Haiyingsen. Various documents corroborate each other, confirming that he was indeed in Haiyingsen, the capital of the Earth Republican Alliance, at that time, and not anywhere else. Moreover, this situation lasted for ten years. He never left Haiyingsen. So, how did he remotely command and win 281 battles? Estravan seems to only have the rank of captain; he is a civilian official involved in politics, and his focus is not on the military," Ye Wanzhou frowned and continued:
"A captain's rank. Is it possible for him to command over 200,000 allied troops?"
"These are just some of the details that raise questions. The Empire's downplaying, belittling, and defamatory portrayal of the Alliance's history stands in stark contrast to the Alliance's proud narrative of their own civilization. Relatively speaking, I prefer reading the Alliance's account of history. Although they often criticize the Empire's internal repression, external expansion, totalitarianism, and dictatorship, the Alliance maintains an open mind towards any human civilization, even one that is about to destroy them. They believe it's just a miscalculation by the gods."
"The Allies understand the universe as chaotic, disordered, and filled with power struggles and battles. The Empire, on the other hand, tends to simplify the universe into a kind of 'harmony.' This harmony may sound beautiful and elegant, but in reality, it is accompanied by the murder of dissenting thoughts and the deliberate censorship of narratives—which is why Imperial history is particularly boring. Because they only have one discourse system, the official one."
The sound of keyboard typing echoed in the dormitory. "I'm right that I don't usually have many intellectual exchanges with you," Theodosius's voice drifted over, sighing. "No wonder you're always spacing out. What are you thinking about?"
"Take it or leave it. I'm done, I've had my fun." The paper scraped loudly between his middle and index fingers. After the scraping, a scream rang out, "Are you crazy?! This is a school dormitory!"
The computer screen emitted an innocent, faint glow.
"You enjoyed it, didn't you? Let me kiss you, just once." There was a "thump, thump, thump" sound coming from the bed. The blankets rustled and slid across the smooth skin.
Ye Wanzhou was only wearing pajamas. "Have you taken a shower?" He suddenly pushed Theodosius away. "Wait, if I were the dorm supervisor, I would call the police... Ugh!" His lip was bitten.
"If you don't shout so loudly, no one will call the police." He kissed Ye Wanzhou.
"Not here! Let's go outside!" Ye Wanzhou snapped. She pinched his bare chest hard. A muffled groan escaped his lips. Theodosius shakily got off the bed, and the dimly lit room echoed with the sounds of rummaging through drawers, countless drawers being pulled open and then slammed shut.
Scattered debris bounced and rattled across the tiled floor. A soft clatter. Then, Theodosius's head appeared pitifully beside Ye Wanzhou's bed. "Really going outside?"
"Don't mess up the dorm room." Ye Wanzhou paused. "Let's go."
Before leaving, they pulled out a dozen beers hidden behind a large mirror and emptied two bottles. Stumbling and supporting each other, they tumbled to a hotel near the school. "The light," Ye Wanzhou chuckled, slightly covering her eyes with her hand, "is too bright."
The pink light by the bedside dimmed. Theodosius was very close to him, the boy's sweaty black hair buried in his neck, his panting accompanied by a slight pain. Ye Wanzhou hugged Theodosius tightly, letting that strange feeling gradually overwhelm him.
He became a boat without oars, drifting aimlessly on the dark sea, in the Milky Way dotted with dazzling stars; the boat was full of people, and he could not see their faces; perhaps they had no faces to begin with, no features to be recognized.
At five o'clock, just as dawn was breaking, he woke up early and turned to see Theodosius still asleep. His serene face in the soft light resembled a marble statue shrouded in a pale white mist. His brow bone, eye sockets, nose, thin lips, and black hair curled and lay beside his ears. His prominent Adam's apple rose and fell shallowly with each breath.
He recalled the time he'd just been discharged from the hospital. At a school club gathering, Theodosius had played guitar, his melancholic love songs captivating the audience. Girls screamed, turning around to ask for his autograph. Some girls, finding out Ye Wanzhou was his roommate, came over to ask for Theodosius's contact information, his favorite foods, and his hobbies. Ye Wanzhou avoided such occasions like the plague, and halfway through the gathering, he slipped away to the lawn outside the auditorium to gaze at the stars. Feeling sleepy in the middle of the night, he sat on the grass and dozed off. When he woke up, it was almost dawn. He quickly stood up and saw a tired Theodosius with red eyes. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye last night? I've been looking for you for ages."
"I... I'm sorry, the auditorium was a bit crowded. I just came out for some fresh air."
"And then you just didn't go back?"
"sorry."
“I don’t want your apology. I didn’t know you were here. I thought you weren’t feeling well and went back first, but you weren’t in the dorm. I even went to the library and the classroom. I even called the administrative staff. The dorm supervisor helped me look for you last night.”
Ye Wanzhou opened his mouth. He truly had no idea he had gotten himself into such big trouble.
“I’m very worried about you.” Theodosius sniffed.
"Let's go. It's chilly outside. Go take a shower, change your clothes, and be careful not to catch a cold," he said, reaching out to pull Ye Wanzhou along. It started to rain then, a misty drizzle reflecting the soft red glow of the morning sun. The grass and leaves were wet.
Ye Wanzhou broke free from him.
"What's wrong?"
"If you feel I'm a burden to you, we can break up anytime. I'm fine. I'm used to being alone."
Theodosius's eyes widened. "Why are you here again?"
“Theodosius,” Ye Wanzhou called him by his full name for the first time since they started dating, “have you thought about what will happen to us in the future? If I get sick, can you take care of me for the rest of my life? Besides, I don’t need you to take care of me. You don’t need to feel like you owe me anything by dumping me. You saw it today, many people like you, and most of them are healthier and more outstanding than me. My treatment will cost a lot of money, and it’s an incurable disease. The future expenses are unknown, a bottomless pit. I want to be someone who can give to others, not someone who is protected and given to. While you still like me now, let’s break up. I like you too, Theodosius, but I’m afraid that one day your love for me will turn into disgust.”
"Why do you always talk about the future? We'll talk about the future later. Right now, in this moment, you like me, and I like you. I don't see any need for us to separate. To put it bluntly, what you're afraid of is just the idea that one day I won't love you anymore, and that's what you're afraid of. You're not even afraid of the event itself; it hasn't even happened yet, so what's there to be afraid of? What you're afraid of is the fear, sorrow, and despair you feel if 'Theodosius doesn't love me anymore.' You're afraid of your own emotions. Not me, and not the fact that I no longer love you."
He grabbed Ye Wanzhou's hand again, "Moreover, 'Theodosius likes Ye Wanzhou'—this is a mathematical axiom that needs no proof. Unless our universe is destroyed, this proposition will always hold true."
Ye Wanzhou was pulled to sit on the stone railing by the flowerbed, her toes swinging gently. He stared at her toes. "You really are a law student. You like to talk about theoretical arguments, don't you?"
"You—!" He looked up abruptly, "Theodosius!"
“Yes.” Theodosius sat up straight instantly.
"Play me a guitar. You played for those girls all night! The whole night!"
Theodosius opened his mouth to retort, "I didn't, I just played for them in the first half of the night and then they all came out to look for you all over the world in the second half," but he swallowed his words and said, "Yes, sir."
So, that day, students at Haiyingsen National Central University gradually cancelled their early classes. As they passed the flowerbed behind the school auditorium, they saw a boy in the bright light, drenched in a light rain, holding a guitar. The slightly cool strings were strummed with graceful curves by his fingertips. The flowerbed was surrounded by shimmering, fine pebbles. Shards of glass left by construction workers and specks of off-white paint dripping from the brick walls were scattered not far from the flowerbed. Bright red police tape was trampled into the soil, stained with dark brown, damp mud. The wind ruffled the boy's short, black hair that hung down his forehead.
"A beautiful woman singing amidst ruins," "His eyes hold the stars and the sea"—these were the themes of the National Central University's school newspaper for the following month.
To be honest, after watching this, Ye Wanzhou felt even more uncomfortable. He admitted he was a little jealous. What to do when your boyfriend is too outstanding? Waiting for answers online, it's urgent.
——tbc——
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