"Since you heard that, you should know that I truly do not want any of you to disappear."
"Just like a book can't only have sweet chapters, it also needs ups and downs to be complete. People are the same. They can't always be smiling. There will be times when they cry, just like you are now."
She spoke each word clearly and softly, yet with unwavering conviction.
Xue Xunzhi's pupils trembled slightly as he saw Zi Xi's eyes sparkling in the morning light.
Zi Xi gently touched his heart with her fingertips, and could feel his strong heartbeat through the hospital gown.
"The Xue Xunzhi I love... is every one of you who lives here."
She spoke each word slowly and deliberately, as if she were making a vow.
The ward was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting dappled shadows on the floor.
Xue Xunzhi suddenly smiled, a smile that seemed to have lifted a heavy burden, making him come alive.
"Knowing full well that the road ahead was a den of dragons and tigers... they still charged forward with torches in hand."
He reached out and brushed her loose hair from her temples, his fingertips lingering on the small mole on her earlobe.
"How could I bear to let go of Xixi like this?"
His voice was as soft as a sigh.
"What, you still want to let go? Let me tell you, if you ignore me and let go today, you'll regret it tomorrow..."
Zi Xi snorted and deliberately put on a stern face.
Before she could finish speaking, Xue Xunzhi gently pulled her into his arms.
His heartbeat came through his hospital gown, steady and strong.
"No need for tomorrow, Xixi will always be someone I can't reach. It's just that Xixi is kind and willing to step down and accept my incompleteness."
"Thank you... Xixi..."
He placed a light kiss on the top of her head.
Who says you are incomplete?
"He is clearly one of a kind in the world, Xue Xunzhi."
Zi Xi murmured in his arms, lifting her head so that her nose brushed against his chin.
"He probably doesn't know... After those people from junior high were expelled, the way my classmates looked at me changed."
"It's like watching a monster that might go crazy at any moment."
Xue Xunzhi's fingers unconsciously rubbed the bed sheet. He shook his head with a wry smile, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
If he were an ordinary person, he would probably be afraid of such a madman who would destroy everything.
The sunlight outside the window was suddenly blocked by clouds, making the ward a little darker.
Zi Xi listened quietly and held his hand tightly.
"Later, without my knowledge... my alternate personality started causing trouble, and every time the teacher finished speaking, he would look at me with a disappointed expression."
“He got into a fight with some thugs from the neighboring school. Because his classmates were gossiping, he smashed the glass next to the classmate who was gossiping… Every time I came to my senses, I could see the people around me avoiding my gaze.”
His Adam's apple bobbed as he continued speaking.
“I…I might really be a coward, I’m starting to be afraid of him.”
"Although everyone was afraid of him, he was so flamboyant and fearless... And what about me?"
"He only wears the mask of a good student, but lives more like a shadow than he does."
"Perhaps I am the shadow, and the body should belong to him."
Xue Xunzhi's voice trembled, and he gave a self-deprecating twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Zi Xi felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She recalled the first time she met Xue Xun: he was wearing a crisp white shirt, walking anxiously towards her with a furrowed brow, questioning her about whether she was using the orange tab as a prop to increase video views.
"But……"
"It is because of you that you care so much about stray cats on campus, and it is because of you that you stayed up all night to help me organize my study materials, which made me fall in love with you at first sight."
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