Inside the tin-roofed house.
It's raining again in the big city. A cool breeze blows in, making the dim light bulbs sway and the light inside the room flicker.
Ji Wei sat on the sofa, her hands resting neatly on her knees, her pale face devoid of any expression.
He couldn't see, but the light remained on, as if waiting for someone to return.
Jiang Fei has been gone for five days.
There has been no news from her for the past five days.
He hasn't spoken for five days.
Going to the black market alone is tantamount to suicide.
She had no reason to go for him.
She only possessed Ranran's memories; memories are not emotions. She didn't need to go to places Ranran dared not set foot in.
Moreover, he clearly remembered that the person she used to like was Gu Xi.
Why should we risk our lives for him now?
Ji Wei couldn't understand, and didn't even know where her courage came from, that it was worth risking her life on an uncertain thing about him.
Her intense emotions were unfamiliar to him.
Yet it was so novel.
He wanted to restore the light and yearned for revenge, yet he was also afraid.
He didn't even know what he was afraid of.
Fearing that his only hope of revenge would vanish, that he would never regain his sight, and that he would be confined to the slums for the rest of his life as a blind and useless person, he was afraid.
He was still afraid... that the woman who would order him to prepare three meals a day, yet would carefully apply medicine to her, and who was now risking her life on the black market for him, would get into trouble?
Just then, a few very soft knocks suddenly sounded, barely noticeable amidst the sound of rain outside.
Ji Wei snapped back to reality, her hands unconsciously clenching tightly, but the next second she gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Jiang Fei's fingerprints were on the door, so she didn't need to knock.
Ji Wei's eyes darkened, and she slowly stood up and opened the door.
Outside the door, apart from the sound of rain, there was utter silence.
Ji Wei listened carefully for a moment and could faintly hear the sound of panting, which sounded very familiar.
He paused, startled. "Who?"
"..." No one spoke.
Ji Wei's grip on the door frame tightened involuntarily: "Jiang Fei?"
The person outside the door chuckled softly, their voice low and husky, but Ji Wei found it exceptionally pleasant to hear.
She said, "Ji Wei, I'm back."
Jiang Fei's voice.
Ji Wei stood frozen at the door, gripping the iron gate without moving, as if she had been immobilized.
"What? You don't even recognize my voice?" Jiang Fei's voice came through with a hint of joking.
Ji Wei's fingers tightened, and she asked again, "Jiang Fei?"
Jiang Fei smiled: "It's me."
"You're back?"
"Um."
"fine?"
"Um."
"Mmm." Ji Wei responded softly, then stepped aside to make way for the doorway.
He could feel Jiang Fei walking past him, carrying the damp chill of the rainy night outside, and a faint, almost imperceptible, smell of blood.
Ji Wei frowned. The next second, Jiang Fei suddenly staggered and almost fell, making a soft sound.
Ji Wei subconsciously followed the sound and helped her up, just in time to hold her arm, but heard a faint gasp, which quickly subsided.
"How are you?" Ji Wei asked softly.
"Me?" Jiang Fei smiled as usual. "I'm fine."
Ji Wei paused.
Jiang Fei then said, "Haven't seen you for a few days, and you're so eager to get close to me?"
Ji Wei almost immediately released her arm, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Your body is very cold."
"Hmm," Jiang Fei replied casually.
Ji Wei pursed her lips, turned around and went into the kitchen to boil water.
Whether from excitement or panic, on his way to the kitchen, his knee bumped into the corner of the coffee table, and when he picked up the boiling water, he accidentally touched the scorching hot iron kettle.
Ji Wei suddenly released her grip, and the iron kettle made a sound.
Ji Wei frowned, only then realizing that her fingertips were trembling.
He quickly restrained himself, wanting to pick up the iron kettle again, but his hand was grabbed by a cold yet soft hand: "No need to rush, Ji Wei, I have something to tell you."
Ji Wei's fingertips twitched.
His hands were icy cold, and it seemed to make his heart tremble.
Ji Wei remained silent.
Jiang Fei took his hand and slowly walked back to the sofa. She skillfully picked up the ointment and applied it to his burned fingertips.
Ji Wei sat on the sofa in a daze, feeling the woman's fingers gently brushing around his fingertips, just like a while ago when she had gently applied medicine to him.
It's as if she never left.
Ji Wei's breathing also became more careful.
Only then did I truly realize that she had really come back.
It seems that the prosthetic eye is no longer important.
After some time, Jiang Fei placed the ointment aside and sat quietly beside him: "Ji Wei, I have a gift for you..."
Ji Wei looked at her following the sound, her gaze still unfocused.
The next second, Jiang Fei took his hand and placed an exquisite metal box in his palm.
Ji Wei felt a weight in her palm, and after a long while, she uttered in a hoarse voice, "What..."
"Prosthetic eye".
Ji Wei's hand trembled slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief. After a long silence, she asked again, "What?"
"A prosthetic eye." Jiang Fei smiled. She slowly pressed the button, and the box, emitting a faint blue light, slowly opened, revealing an extremely thin, curved piece of "paper" inside.
Jiang Fei slowly took out the "paper" and looked at Ji Wei: "Do you trust me?"
Ji Wei was stunned. This wasn't the first time Jiang Fei had said "believe her," and her tone carried a strange seductive quality.
Yet, for some reason, it made him believe that she would never harm him.
But Ji Wei then said, "How could you..."
How did they manage to obtain a prosthetic eye and even escape unscathed from the black market?
“I just happened to run into someone I knew,” Jiang Fei smiled. “I’m lucky.”
Ji Wei pursed her lips, unsure whether to believe or not, and remained silent.
Jiang Fei stood up and walked up to him: "Ji Wei, you will be able to see tomorrow..." she whispered, carefully placing the prosthetic eye into Ji Wei's eyeball.
Ji Wei let her do as she pleased, and could smell the faint fragrance on her body. Her hands unconsciously clenched tightly.
Suddenly, he really wanted to see what she looked like right now.
"Alright!" Jiang Fei chuckled. "Tonight, the prosthetic eye will... cough..." At this point, she suddenly coughed uncontrollably, but quickly recovered. "...Being connected to the optic nerve, there might be some discomfort at first."
Ji Wei looked in the direction of her voice.
Jiang Fei was still smiling when she said, "It's getting late, and I'm tired. I'll go back and rest first..."
She finished speaking quickly and turned to turn around.
But Ji Wei grabbed his wrist precisely: "Jiang Fei..."
Before he could finish speaking, he noticed that his subordinate, Jiang Fei, trembled, as if he were enduring pain.
"Jiang Fei?" Ji Wei suddenly looked up, staring blankly at her, her voice slightly tense, "What's wrong with you?"
What is she hiding from herself?
Jiang Fei paused for a moment, then laughed, her voice light: "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."
Ji Wei was still looking in her direction.
Jiang Fei changed the subject: "What were you trying to say just now?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Wei's expression subtly changed, and after a long silence, she softly asked, "Why..."
Why are you so good to him?
Jiang Fei paused for a moment, then laughed after a long while: "Do you want to hear it?"
Ji Wei froze, and slowly loosened her grip on her wrist.
Jiang Fei slowly returned to the cubicle, her steps unsteady and limping.
That night, Ji Wei remained seated on the sofa, her left eye, which was fitted with a prosthetic eye, faintly burning and slightly painful. Later, it felt as if countless electric currents were constantly colliding in her left eye, until she finally fell into a deep sleep in the latter half of the night.
He had a dream.
It wasn't that he dreamed he regained his sight, but rather that he dreamed of... that day, when Jiang Fei tiptoed and kissed his lips like a dragonfly skimming the water.
He clearly saw Jiang Fei's expression at that moment.
Shy, bold, passionate, and reserved.
Then, Ji Wei woke up, her forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat, and there was a faint light in front of her.
bright?
Ji Wei snapped back to reality and turned to look at the narrow tin shack.
My right eye was still completely dark, but the discomfort in my left eye had subsided, and I could feel a faint sense of light, which was even becoming stronger. The simple space in front of me gradually became clearer.
Ji Wei stretched his hand out in front of his eyes, and even though his hand was still surrounded by a blurry haze of light, he could see it.
This dimly lit yet colorful room features a simple television set, a minimalist kitchen, and the faint morning light streaming through the window…
Ji Wei's breathing trembled slightly, and her eyes gradually reddened.
He can see now.
Although blurry, it was still visible.
Ji Wei suddenly stood up. Her eyes, which had not seen the light for a long time, felt uncomfortable for a moment, and she staggered violently, almost falling.
He simply pushed the door open quickly.
The sky overhead was gloomy; nearby, the streets of the slums were flooded after the rain; in the distance, a stray cat howled; and a rat scurried away from a corner...
What used to be such an unbearable environment now seems lovely.
besides……
Ji Wei slowly turned around and returned to the tin shack. She looked at the door of the cubicle and walked forward after a long while.
The door to the cubicle was half-open, and his increasingly clear vision allowed him to see the woman lying asleep on the bed.
Her body was curled up in the thin blanket, revealing only her porcelain-white face. Her eyes were closed, and her brows were slightly furrowed. She was very beautiful.
But he was also very thin.
Ji Wei stared blankly.
He remembered seeing Jiang Fei at a banquet last time. Although it was just a fleeting glance, he always remembered her slender figure, unlike her frail appearance.
"Because... I like..." came the woman's soft, dreamy murmur.
Ji Wei was stunned, her eyes filled with confusion.
Jiang Fei whispered again, "Ji Wei...likes..."
"I like you..."
Ji Wei was greatly shaken.
He seemed to understand what she meant.
Last night, he asked her "why".
Today, this is her answer.
"Because I like it."
Ji Wei's breathing suddenly became much more rapid. Her hands gripped the door frame tightly, and her heart seemed to be beating gently. What came out of her heart was... joy?
Ji Wei put one hand to her heart, then realized what was happening and abruptly turned and walked towards the door.
That's impossible.
Perhaps it's just gratitude.
He also seeks revenge, and there's his fiancée...
Thinking of this, Ji Wei's heart suddenly sank.
Perhaps, after avenging their great wrongs and regaining Jiang Fei and Ranran's memories, Jiang Fei will be given a large sum of money so she will never have to suffer again; or perhaps, even after regaining her memories, she will still love Gu Xi...
Thinking of this, Ji Wei's heart sank and her face darkened.
He looked up at the tall buildings in the distance, restraining himself from losing his thoughts.
Go and see the world you've lived in since you were a child.
That will be his battlefield.
...
Jiang Fei opened her eyes after hearing the door close.
Ji Wei's favorability fluctuated wildly, reaching a high of 70 and a low of 40.
It is still fluctuating.
It seems he's still undecided.
Jiang Fei smiled and slowly sat up, but frowned slightly when he saw the wounds on his wrists and body, regretting that he hadn't beaten that fighting AI to a pulp last night!
The system's voice suddenly came from his mind: "Host, didn't you say... it was a ruse?"
Jiang Fei raised an eyebrow: "Hmm?"
[System: It seems the host doesn't want Ji Wei to notice your injuries?]
Jiang Fei lowered her eyes: "A blind man, even if he knows I'm injured, can't see it."
[System: Host, you mean...]
"Naturally, we need to choose a good time."
For example, in the original storyline, today was the day Lin Jiu would appear.
Things turned out exactly as Jiang Fei had predicted.
In the afternoon, Jiang Fei was resting when she heard a series of noisy footsteps outside the door, accompanied by the sound of sheet metal being crushed.
When Jiang Fei went out to see what was going on, she didn't see a single person.
But on her way back, beside a mountain of electronic waste, a boy was sitting quietly under the ruins.
Jiang Fei slowed his pace and narrowed his eyes to examine the young man.
His white casual clothes and black pants made him look a bit cold. He had delicate features but no expression. His slightly curly hair was messy and soft, and his eyes were clear but also a little confused.
Hearing footsteps, the boy looked up at her.
Only then did Jiang Fei notice that the boy's left arm had been ripped off, exposing the wires and metal.
A discarded AI.
Unfortunately, they came to monitor her.
Jiang Fei chuckled inwardly; Gu Xi's performance was truly convincing.
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