"I...I just..." Her voice was nasal, her fingers unconsciously twisting the pillow, "I had a nightmare..."
Han Feng looked at the girl who had been so spirited during the day, now standing at the door like a lost child, and a strange, aching feeling welled up in his chest. He didn't ask any questions, but simply pulled Su Wanwan to his room.
Su Wanwan walked into the room with her head down, jumped onto Han Feng's bed as if she knew the way well, wrapped herself in the blanket, and only her red eyes were showing. She did this so naturally, it was obviously not the first time.
"They...they did the same thing...they said they were going to work for a while...and then they never came back..."
Han Feng stood frozen in place. He had seen Su Wanwan get angry, seen her laugh arrogantly, and even seen her threaten people with a stun gun, but he had never seen her like this—vulnerable as a fledgling bird in a storm.
"That year..." Su Wanwan's voice was broken, "My parents received a mission...to investigate something..."
“I asked what happened that caused them not to come back... but Old Man Lin wouldn’t tell me... so I desperately learned hacking techniques... just to investigate their situation.”
Han Feng sat silently on the edge of the bed. He wasn't good at comforting people, so he could only awkwardly pat her shoulder. This action seemed to flip a switch, and Su Wanwan suddenly threw herself into his arms, her tears soaking his shirt.
"Later, Old Man Lin... wanted to take me to live in Longyuan... but I refused..." she sobbed, "I don't want pity... I don't want sympathy... I can live just fine on my own..."
Han Feng then understood why Lin Zhengguo took such good care of a seemingly rebellious hacker girl.
"Later...later Old Man Lin bought this villa..." Su Wanwan's sobs gradually subsided, turning into intermittent murmurs, "Until I met you...I didn't feel...this place felt like home..."
Han Feng felt as if something had struck his chest heavily. He looked down at the girl in his arms, who was crying and hiccuping, and gently patted her back: "It's okay, I won't leave. This will be your home from now on."
He paused for a moment the moment he said those words. From the day he was reborn and obtained the system, he had lived his life like a precisely functioning machine.
Su Wanwan looked up at her tear-streaked face: "Really...you won't leave?"
"No." Han Feng gently wiped away her tears with his thumb, the movement unusually tender for him. "Go to sleep."
Perhaps exhausted from crying, or perhaps finally relieved of the burden she had carried for so many years, Su Wanwan quickly fell into a deep sleep in his arms. Han Feng carefully placed her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. In her sleep, Su Wanwan unconsciously clutched the hem of his clothes, like a child afraid of being abandoned again.
A moment later, Su Wanwan murmured intermittently in her sleep: "No... Mom and Dad... don't go..." Su Wanwan curled up in the blankets, her brows furrowed, clearly trapped in a nightmare. He walked to the bedside, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to smooth her furrowed brows.
"I'm here," he whispered, unsure if the sleeping person could hear him.
Surprisingly, Su Wanwan's breathing gradually calmed down. Unconsciously, she leaned closer to Han Feng's hand, a slight smile playing on her lips, as if she had grasped a glimmer of light in the darkness.
Han Feng looked at her quietly for a while, then gently pried her fingers apart, got up, turned off the light, and left.
This girl, who always seemed so fierce and aggressive, harbored such deep sorrow within.
Han Feng wasn't sure if Lin Zhengguo was asleep, so he typed a message and sent it: Can you tell me why Su Wanwan's parents died?
A moment later, the phone vibrated. Lin Zhengguo replied: That matter is very strange. It is currently top secret, and I cannot tell you for the time being.
Han Feng didn't reply, and just lay down on the sofa and slowly closed his eyes.
Han Feng slept soundly until he was woken up by noises from the kitchen in the morning. As soon as he opened his eyes, he glanced at his phone: 7:15 a.m., half an hour later than usual.
The kitchen was filled with the aroma of fried eggs. Su Wanwan, wearing an apron that was obviously too big, was frantically flipping the frying pan, her short red hair bouncing with each movement.
"Awake?" She didn't turn around. "I didn't wake you because you were sleeping so soundly. Here's a fried egg sandwich, just make do with this!"
Han Feng raised an eyebrow. After last night's incident, he thought Su Wanwan would at least be awkward for a while, but he didn't expect the girl to recover faster than a system reboot.
"That yesterday..." he began.
"Stop!" Su Wanwan whirled around, the spatula pointing directly at his nose. "Don't mention last night!"
The slight blush on her ears made Han Feng swallow his words. The two tacitly skipped the topic, as if stepping over a minefield.
On the way to school, Su Wanwan, as usual, monopolized the car stereo, blasting deafening rock music. While waiting at a red light, she suddenly leaned over and asked, "Hey, isn't your Business Administration department having a group presentation today?"
Han Feng slapped his forehead, realizing that this really was something that had happened today. His phone vibrated at just the right moment. Liu Mengran's message was concise and clear: 8:30, classroom 305, don't be late.
"Tsk tsk, even the ice queen is personally urging you." Su Wanwan poked his arm with a mischievous grin, "Are you two hiding something...?"
"We're here." Han Feng interrupted her, the car stopping precisely in front of the Computer Science building.
Su Wanwan made a face, then suddenly turned back before jumping out of the car: "By the way, I want to eat hot pot tonight! To celebrate officially becoming a billionaire... uh... friend?" She seemed unsure of what word to use to define herself, and finally just waved randomly and ran away.
Han Feng watched her figure disappear behind the glass door, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips. He only started his car again when the impatient horn of the car behind him rang out.
Classroom 305 of the School of Economics and Management was already full. When Han Feng slipped in through the back door, Liu Mengran was standing at the podium adjusting her PowerPoint presentation. Today, she was wearing a light gray turtleneck sweater, and her black hair cascaded down to her waist, gleaming softly in the morning light.
"You're two minutes late," Liu Mengran said without turning her head as soon as Han Feng sat down.
"Red light." Han Feng answered briefly, taking a USB drive out of his bag. "The model data is here."
As Liu Mengran took the USB drive, her fingertips inadvertently brushed against the back of his hand. The touch was cool and soft, like a snowflake. She seemed to notice the accidental contact, quickly withdrew her hand, and turned to walk towards the computer.
The group presentation went smoothly. Their financial forecasting model received high praise from the professor and was even recommended to participate in the National Undergraduate Business Analytics Competition. When the applause rang out, Liu Mengran rarely smiled; it was faint, but it was genuine.
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