☆, Part Four: A Fate Deviating from its Course (1854 words)
Li Yaxi picked up a dog. On her way home from her calligraphy teacher's place that day, she passed an alleyway and heard a rustling sound next to a trash can. Li Yaxi glanced over curiously and saw a small tail.
Li Yaxi went around to take a look and found a puppy with its eyes still closed, whimpering and rubbing its nose against the trash bag in front of it. Li Yaxi stood there for a while, then squatted down and tossed the puppy into her spatial storage. A few days later, the puppy opened its eyes and could even take a few unsteady steps.
Li Yaxi, who had never owned a pet before, couldn't help but like this little cutie. She even went to a bookstore to look up the dog's breed and how to care for it. She also bought a lot of dog food and toys. Li Yaxi especially loved touching the little guy's fluffy little ears, so she named the puppy "Little Ears".
Li Yaxi had just come out of the store, intending to go to the bookstore to buy some textbooks. The summer sun was too strong, so Li Yaxi had to take a longer route to avoid the sun.
From afar, Li Yaxi could see a group of delinquents with dyed yellow hair extorting money from a slightly younger-looking boy in a corner of the alley. Perhaps due to the spiritual spring water, Li Yaxi's eyesight was exceptionally good; even from a distance, he could still make out the boy being extorted.
In that instant, Li Yaxi felt as if his blood had frozen, his head buzzed, and the world went silent. When he came to his senses, his feet were already walking towards them involuntarily.
Just a few steps away, Li Yaxi turned around and went to the side of the alley, shouting loudly, "Police! There are bad guys here!"
The blond-haired boy, feeling guilty, glanced back, cursed at the beaten boy, and ran away with the other two. After they left, Li Yaxi hesitated for a moment but couldn't help but go forward, take out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the boy's mouth, and then bandage his injured hand.
Li Yaxi appeared unusually calm on the surface, but who knew the turbulent emotions raging within him!
At this moment, Feng Zihao was also unusually calm. When he saw the boy walking from the side of the alley, he thought he had seen an angel. The boy knelt down to bandage his wounds, and Feng Zihao could clearly see the heartache in the boy's eyes. Scattered sunlight fell on the boy's hair on his forehead and on his thick, long eyelashes, making them look like glowing elves dancing.
The boy looked up, and Feng Zihao, without warning, met the boy's deep, unfathomable eyes. Feng Zihao forgot to breathe, forgot his heartbeat, forgot to think, and forgot the needle piercing his heart. He forgot to ask the boy's name until the boy's figure disappeared from his sight. Only then did he scramble to his feet and chase after him, but the boy vanished as suddenly as if he had fallen from the sky.
The boy's sweet and gentle voice still echoed in my ears.
"Next time, if you can't win, run away. Don't get hurt again."
Li Yaxi went straight home and hid in his spatial dimension. He was a little confused. In his previous life, he was a freshman in high school and Feng Zihao was a senior in high school. They met in City B. How could they meet now?
Would that change their future fate? But having left that home, isn't everything he has now also a change? Li Yaxi threw herself onto the soft bed, not caring anymore. If Feng Zihao still loved him the same way he loved him in the last life, then he would never let go no matter what.
Li Yaxi's life remained ordinary yet fulfilling. Aside from being quiet and reserved in class, it didn't diminish his popularity as the "Ice Prince." Despite being ranked first in his grade, he rarely participated in competitions anymore; he was busy managing his shop, taking care of Xiao Erduo, and earning money.
When Little Ears grew into an adult dog, he realized he had unintentionally picked up a purebred Alaskan Malamute. During the summer vacation after his second year of junior high school, Li Yaxi went to City B and bought a detached villa in Changping District and a duplex apartment in Haiding District. It wasn't that he was extravagant; rather, both properties were from the same developer, making him a major client. He only hoped that the developer would use their resources in City B to help him transfer his household registration.
After all, having a local household registration is much better than having one from another city, whether for living or studying. Li Yaxi spent the entire two months of summer vacation in City B, renovating her house and pulling strings to get her household registration sorted out. She made sure everything was done before the start of the semester. She even bought a pager so the property management could contact her easily if needed; she absolutely refused to use a mobile phone, finding it too embarrassing, even though it was a symbol of fashion in this day and age.
Looking at the less than one million yuan in savings, he felt that all his hard work over the years, buying and selling three properties, had been worthwhile. As the high school entrance exam drew closer, Li Yaxi's emotions noticeably fluctuated. Yes, just a little. Li Yaxi didn't know whether Feng Zihao's legacy—the deep affection of his silent devotion in their past life or the selfless act of saving him with his life—would resonate more deeply. In any case, he had been silently reciting this for almost nine years, from the moment of his rebirth.
As expected, Li Yaxi remained the top student in the entire school and the provincial high school entrance exam champion. When he received his college application form, he filled in the No. 4 High School in City B without hesitation. In this life, he was two years too early. Rather than missing each other by two years, he would rather be closer to Feng Zihao in this life. Since fate had already deviated from its course, he didn't mind deviating a little further, as long as the destination remained the same.
Li Yaxi gave Aunt Song a key to his house, closed the fruit and vegetable shop, and with only a few belongings, resolutely boarded the plane to City B amidst their reluctant farewells. Unlike his last visit to City B, this time, he felt a sense of peace and belonging. Yes, this time, he had finally settled down.
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