Chapter 3: Reward

Chapter 3: Reward

"Long time… no see," Bai Heng's voice was slightly hoarse.

[You thought you were all alone, but she came back.]

[Later, you learned from Ah Ruan that when she found you on the battlefield, your vitality was almost depleted, but the power of "Guardian" gave you a sliver of life. Through treatment, you were out of danger and she brought you to this place to recuperate. After sleeping for half a month, you finally woke up.]

[Accompanied by Ah Ruan, you returned to your hometown with your parents' belongings and kept vigil for seven days. During this time, Ah Ruan stayed by your side.]

[In these seven days, you noticed that Ah Ruan had changed a lot. Although her appearance had become even more graceful and ethereal, you felt that her personality had become colder and more distant.]

[During those seven days, you opened a jar of wine on the grave of your father, who used to forbid you from drinking. You drank with him. Previously, you had also sneaked sips of alcohol, but at that time, you found it spicy and bitter. Now, you seemed to have developed a taste for it.]

[In the bitter cold of the twelfth month, the once lively city streets had turned into graveyards. Only the plum blossoms on the wall still bloomed defiantly in the frost and snow. Even though your parents, who were often away on business, always returned home for the New Year's Eve, this year, they did not come back.]

...

In the half-collapsed courtyard, Bai Heng sat on the wall, holding a wine jug. The sharp liquor burned his throat, and he tried to suppress his emotions.

"Tonight there's no moonlight. What are you thinking about?" Ah Ruan walked to the edge of the broken wall, her almond eyes lifted, looking at Bai Heng.

"Nothing... just feeling a bit bored drinking alone." Bai Heng forced a smile as he looked at the approaching girl.

"Then come down."

"Why?"

"I can have a drink with you."

Bai Heng paused and then laughed:

"This wine is very strong."

"Just giving it a try, everything has a beginning."

Her expression remained calm, not seeming to be joking.

Bai Heng looked at her clear and inscrutable eyes and said:

"Alright. Let's go to the pavilion. It's quite cold here."

Jumping down from the broken wall, Bai Heng and Ah Ruan walked side by side in silence until they reached the stone pavilion facing the plum tree. 

At this moment, the incense burner in the pavilion was still lit, and the table was set with pastries and tea utensils.

Bai Heng poured wine from the jug into a tea cup, and when the cup was one-third full, he pushed it in front of Ah Ruan.

"Please."

Ah Ruan extended her delicate fingers, holding the edge of the cup, and took a small sip as if tasting tea.

But the next moment, she coughed softly.

Seeing her reaction, Bai Heng laughed:

"See, I told you, this wine is very strong."

But Ah Ruan only steadied herself and then picked up the cup again, drinking the rest in one go.

As the cold wine went down, Ah Ruan's body trembled slightly, and a faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks.

Bai Heng looked at her without speaking.

Ah Ruan gently put down the cup and looked at Bai Heng.

"The lips and teeth are the most sensitive. The pastries are only worth a small taste. I think the same should apply to this strong wine. If you drink it alone, you might really have something on your mind..."

"I don't know what you need, but if it's a 'reward,' I can fulfill anything you want."

Bai Heng noticed the seriousness in her words. His hand, reaching for the wine jug, hesitated in the air and then slowly fell.

He looked at Ah Ruan with a touched expression and forced a faint smile:

"Could you... give me a hug?"

Ah Ruan was momentarily stunned and then slowly assumed a serious expression. She stood up, came to Bai Heng, and gently embraced him with her delicate hands.

The courtyard was exceptionally quiet, with only the falling snow shaking on the branches. Ah Ruan gently patted Bai Heng's back, comforting him:

"I know these three years have been very hard for you. After losing all your loved ones, you had no one to confide in, so you buried your pain along with the bitter wine in your heart. That must be very tiring... I hope my 'reward' can help you relax. If possible, let yourself cry properly, okay?"

Since the day she brought Bai Heng back from the battlefield, Ah Ruan had not seen him shed a single tear, not even at his parents' graves. His expression had been so filled with despair that he had lost the courage to cry...

Just like when he was a child, if his mother had been there when he fell, he would have cried loudly. But if surrounded only by strangers, he would merely dust himself off and leave.

Now, he finally found someone to lean on and confide in.

Bai Heng felt his nose start to tingle. Feeling the warmth so close, he seemed to become that boy who fell in front of his mother, crying out without restraint...

...

[With Ah Ruan's company, you spent the last Spring Festival.]

[At eighteen, you left your homeland with Ah Ruan and traveled to the planet where Uncle Ruan and Aunt Mei were conducting research.]

[There, Uncle Ruan and Aunt Mei organized an elaborate coming-of-age ceremony for your eighteenth birthday. Just like before, they treated you as their own and hoped you would soon move past the shadows of the past.]

[In the following days, you fulfilled your childhood dream and successfully embarked on the path of life science research. Although you had not undergone systematic education, the researchers at the institute regarded your aptitude as very high. However, after a period of work, you realized that Ah Ruan's research in life science had reached a level unattainable by others. She was a true genius. While others were still studying the external forms of life, Ah Ruan had already achieved "cultivation," "recombination," and "recreation" of life. She had already reached the point where she could create life.]

[Understanding the gap between you and her, you began to work harder to catch up with her. In just a few months, you sorted through all known materials at the research institute and progressed at an incredible speed.]

[At nineteen, your hard work paid off, and you became the only one at the institute who could potentially keep up with Ah Ruan, thus becoming her assistant. Perhaps because of your outstanding performance or your increasingly handsome appearance and ethereal demeanor, many girls of your age at the institute confessed to you. Sometimes, when you and Ah Ruan visited other planets for research, you also received local girls' affections. However, you politely declined them all.]

[Receiving these confessions made your understanding of love gradually clearer. After much contemplation, you clarified your feelings and decided to confess to Ah Ruan on her nineteenth birthday.]