Chapter 17: World One [17]

Shang Siyu held no feelings for He Minmin beyond ordinary classmate camaraderie. Encountering her now just prompted a moment of reflection.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Shang Siyu inquired about her current situation. “I remember you got into a sports university outside the province, right? Why did you choose to come back home to develop your career?”

Hearing this question, He Minmin gave a bitter smile. “My talent was considered pretty good in Mu’an County, but it couldn’t compare at all to those with real natural gifts. I felt there was no future in it, so I came back to develop here.”

Shang Siyu frowned, inwardly a little skeptical of this explanation, but she didn’t probe further. “I see.”

“Yeah, developing at home is also pretty good. No need to worry about rent and utilities, and I can rest whenever I want.” He Minmin smiled, then couldn’t help but glance again at their clasped hands.

“Oh, right, Shang Siyu, you wanted one kilogram of large prawns, right? Let me scoop them out for you.” He Minmin’s movements were quick. She scooped a basketful of lively, jumping prawns with a net.

“I’ll give you a discount. Just give me one hundred yuan, at cost,” He Minmin said with a smile, very deftly beginning to bag and pack them.

Seeing this, Jing Ke released Shang Siyu’s hand and pulled out her phone to scan the QR code.

“Alipay received 132 yuan.” The payment notification sounded immediately.

He Minmin was taken aback and looked at Jing Ke. “One hundred yuan is fine, no need to give me that much.”

“Shang Siyu is your old classmate, so you can give her a discount. But I’m not, so I’m paying the original price,” Jing Ke said with a serious face. She took the bag from He Minmin’s hand, held it together with the other bag in one hand, and re-clasped Shang Siyu’s hand.

“This is my good friend, Jing Ke,” Shang Siyu added the belated introduction. “We’re also business partners, so we came back together for the holiday.”

“This friend of yours is really quite particular,” He Minmin’s smile became a little strained.

So many years had passed, and the fleeting crush of her youth had been mostly eroded by time.

Seeing Shang Siyu, still beautiful and outstanding, and the equally remarkable Jing Ke, what He Minmin felt, more than a tiny remnant of that crush, was shame at her own mediocrity and ordinariness.

How could someone as ordinary as you ever dare to covet someone who has always been so dazzling?

“Are you going to the class reunion on the 3rd?” Shang Siyu suddenly asked.

He Minmin was a beat slow in answering. “Yeah, I’m here in Mu’an County, so of course I’ll go.”

“Alright, then I’ll see you at the reunion.” Shang Siyu smiled, raised the hand holding the ginger bag, and waved it towards He Minmin.

“Yeah, see you then.” He Minmin waved back, then watched the two of them walk away, hand in hand, until their figures disappeared.

If she hadn’t chosen to give up back then, would she have had the chance to appear on the national stage and achieve dazzling results?

If she had really won honors, would she be able to confess again, as bravely as she had in her youth, when meeting Shang Siyu once more?

“He Minmin… she seems a little special to you,” Jing Ke said after placing the purchased ingredients into the trunk.

“A little. I thought I’d see her on the track and field circuit in the future, not at a farmer’s market.” Shang Siyu sighed lightly. “I remember her. He Minmin really loved sports in high school, and she was praised by the Teacher for having talent. She shouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“Are you feeling regret for her?” Jing Ke tilted her head slightly.

“Not exactly regret. Just a bit of wistfulness, I guess.” A look of reminiscence appeared in Shang Siyu’s eyes. “She has her own life. There’s no need for me to feel it’s not worth it or to feel regret for her. This was also her own choice, the path she walked herself.”

“If she ever needs anything from me, I’ll do my best to help her. That’s all.” Shang Siyu quickly adjusted her mindset.

Although He Minmin had switched to a different lifestyle, she was still earning her own living. She had no need to sympathize with or pity her, nor was she worthy of doing so.

Jing Ke nodded in half-understanding and voiced a detail she had observed. “The way she looked at you was a bit special. And she glanced more than once at our clasped hands.”

“Oh? You even noticed that?” Shang Siyu’s eyes widened slightly, and she couldn’t help but think a little deeper.

“Yeah. The way she looked at you was different from ordinary people, more complicated.” Jing Ke showed a thoughtful expression. “Probably, you’re also a special existence in her eyes.”

Shang Siyu licked her lower lip. After hesitating for a moment, she felt like she didn’t necessarily need to explain things to Jing Ke.

That was a matter from seven or eight years ago. If she suddenly brought it up now, it might make her seem guilty or strange.

Fortunately, Jing Ke only stated her discovery and didn’t seem inclined to probe further. After loading the items, she got back into the driver’s seat, waiting for Shang Siyu to direct them to their destination.

“Go straight back, or somewhere else?” Jing Ke asked.

“Let’s go home. The university will be letting out soon, the traffic will be jammed,” Shang Siyu suppressed her small, personal thoughts and said with a normal expression.

Jing Ke nodded. With her excellent memory, she no longer needed navigation for the return trip and could skillfully retrace the route.

Mother Shang already viewed Jing Ke favorably. When she saw Jing Ke enter the kitchen wanting to help, she directly shooed her out, keeping only Shang Siyu to assist.

With nothing to do, Jing Ke was led by Shang Siyu to her room and told to sit down and browse some of her old book collection to pass the time.

Acquiring knowledge was a relatively pleasant process for Jing Ke. She read very quickly, about five times the speed of an average person, and finished the first short story collection in less than an hour.

After putting the collection back in its place, Jing Ke pulled out another book, an eight-tenths-new English-language classic, intending to read a more challenging foreign language book.

But as Jing Ke pulled the book out, the bookmark tucked inside also fell out.

Jing Ke crouched down to pick it up. It was less a bookmark and more an ordinary piece of white paper cut to the size of a standard bookmark.

Written on the paper in ballpoint pen was a famous saying, eight simple characters: ‘Where there is a will, there is a way.’

Hmm, this must have been Shang Siyu’s motto back in high school. It seemed she had been living by this motto all along.

Holding this thin bookmark, Jing Ke’s mind slowly drifted to Shang Siyu.

The research Shang Siyu participated in was a tremendous boon for many people with limb disabilities, giving them hope akin to limb regeneration.

If she hadn’t developed self-awareness in time and left Xue Fan, not only would Shang Siyu have been bullied by him, but that important research achievement would also have fallen into his hands.

A person like Xue Fan, who only sought profit, would certainly have used every means to trade that technology for money, ultimately leaving ordinary people sighing in despair at the exorbitant prices.

Such a person lacked personal virtue and had even lower social morality. The fortune on him was almost entirely cultivated artificially through acquired means. How could the will of the System not see this clearly?

Jing Ke didn’t understand why she had been assigned by the System, by default, to bind with someone like Xue Fan. She hadn’t understood it before, and she still had no answer now.

But Jing Ke faintly sensed that the System, her creator, seemed to have ulterior motives. It wasn’t simply about having her create and harvest fortune.

Knock, knock—

Just as Jing Ke was lost in thought, Shang Siyu knocked on the ajar door and looked in with a smiling face. “Jing Ke, your favorite braised spare ribs and prawns are out of the pot. Come taste the flavor?”

“Alright.” Jing Ke very quickly pulled herself out of her previous train of thought and even slipped the bookmark back into the book.

It was true that the System was her creator, but the System could only affect the version of her that lacked self-awareness.

In any case, the System couldn’t interfere with the internal workings of the Small World. For these questions she couldn’t figure out, she would set them aside for now.

Later, when she had gathered enough clues and data, she might be able to find the answers.