The Duck That Is About to Leave

It seemed that from that day onward, An Yao never came to see Chen Hai again.

No—more precisely, Chen Hai had returned to the company. He stopped setting up his stall and no longer contacted An Yao.

From that day on, Chen Hai seemed to become a different person as well. He began working hard instead of slacking off. He even chose to stay at the company after work and keep pushing himself. In Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen’s words, he had finally grown up.

But Ye Shuang knew very well that Chen Hai undoubtedly still had some regrets in his heart. Even compared with Ye Shuang’s hesitation and procrastination, he had handled things more decisively—better to suffer intensely for a short while than endure a lingering pain.

In that respect, he was far stronger than Ye Shuang.

The feelings between Chen Hai and An Yao had come as quietly as the rain, and disappeared just as quietly when the rain stopped.

As for what An Yao did afterward, or where she went, nobody knew. Perhaps she simply studied like any ordinary student, then found a good job after graduation.

Feng Shan, meanwhile, continued to refuse the Chen Family. She did not want to bring the child back, and had even taken the child to live in another city. She had not asked the Chen Family for a single cent.

But in this information age, where could a person really go as long as they were still living in society? Besides, Feng Shan still occasionally returned to her hometown to visit her parents.

Even so, bringing Feng Shan back did not seem easy—at least, it was difficult to accomplish for the time being. The Chen Family could only send a nanny over to help care for the child.

…

Time flew by, and Silver Mountain College soon reached the end of the semester.

An Shiyaya was also about to leave Silver Mountain College. After all, she was only here as an exchange student and could not stay indefinitely.

“Ah, Ducky’s leaving soon,” Tang Keke remarked over breakfast. “Time really flies. In another year or two, we’ll be graduating too.”

Although she and Ducky were not as close as Yuyou was with her, they were still clubmates. The thought of Ducky suddenly leaving made her feel inexplicably sad.

“Ducky is leaving,” Bai Yuyou said softly as well. She was clearly feeling a little down, her cowlick drooping. After all, Ducky was her friend, and Yuyou disliked partings.

“Communication is so convenient nowadays. You can stay in touch online,” Ye Shuang said, offering a few words of comfort. He had been one of the first to learn about it. Several months earlier, Ducky had told him in the school clinic that she would be returning to Sakura Country at the end of the semester.

As for whether Ducky planned to come back to China afterward, he had no idea. Generally speaking, it was not easy for a foreigner to live in China long-term—the various procedures were quite troublesome.

“Mmm.”

After breakfast, Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke prepared to leave for college. Ye Shuang would be heading out a little later, since he was driving there.

“Brother, we’re leaving.”

“All right. Be careful on the way.”

“Dad, we’re leaving.”

“Okay. Watch out for traffic.”

Before leaving, Bai Yuyou and Yezi even gave Ye Shuang a hug—one to recharge Ye Shuang’s energy, and the other to recharge Dad’s. They really were mother and daughter; in some ways, they were remarkably alike.

Click.

The door closed. Ye Shuang turned his head and saw a cat and a dog staring at him.

Although it was just an ordinary day, Ye Shuang inexplicably felt at ease. He even found himself hoping that life could continue like this forever.

“Do you two want to go outside for a walk?” Ye Shuang suddenly asked with a smile.

“Woof!”

“Meow.”

Yi Wan had no intention of moving and leaped straight onto the cat tree. Ye Shuang, meanwhile, took Liuqianwu out for a stroll. After returning home, he took a shower, changed his clothes, and then set off for the academy.

As he gripped the steering wheel, Ye Shuang looked at the clear skies outside the window and fell into thought.

The next second, his phone vibrated.

He glanced at it and saw that Grandpa An Shi had sent him a message. The contents were simple: he was about to set off to find Jin Sha.

Grandpa An Shi had been preparing for this matter for a long time. At first, Ye Shuang had thought that he would impulsively set off at once—but as expected, the old man had some life experience. He preferred to plan carefully before taking action.

Have a safe journey.

Ye Shuang sent those words to the old man. After all, this matter was also connected to the deaths of Little Yu’s parents, so Grandpa An Shi naturally had to investigate everything thoroughly. When Ye Shuang had confessed everything back then, his true purpose had been to gain Grandpa An Shi’s assistance.

Since Grandpa An Shi had already made his preparations, all Ye Shuang could do was send him his best wishes.

…

After arriving at the academy, Ye Shuang returned to the infirmary to begin another day of work. Since no students had come by that morning, he tidied up the infirmary before starting to clean.

【Good hygiene benefits both physical and mental health. Your physical attributes have increased.】

Seeing the notification appear before him, Ye Shuang merely wore an unsurprised expression. Ever since losing Chen Qin’s memories, the system had become exceptionally generous with his attributes. Sometimes, all he had to do was yawn, and a message like 【A perfect yawn. Your stamina has increased.】 would pop up.

Ye Shuang did not know whether this would eventually turn him into a superhero, but he probably would not be able to surpass the limits of humanity.

If, by some chance, he did…

Then all Ye Shuang could do was shout something like, 【System, I’m no longer human!】

“Um…”

Just as Ye Shuang was letting his imagination run wild, a voice came from the doorway. He turned his head and saw—

A tall young girl was leaning against the doorframe with both hands, peeking into the infirmary.

Her familiar ponytail and somewhat socially anxious demeanor brought Ye Shuang back to his senses. “Ah, Yaya. What’s wrong?”

Ye Shuang had never expected An Shiyaya to come to the infirmary, especially so early in the morning. “Are you feeling unwell?”

Judging from her expression, though, she did not seem to have a cold.

“No. Mr. Ye Shuang, you can provide psychological counseling here… right?” An Shiyaya hesitated before finally asking.

“Hm? Of course. Please, have a seat.” Ye Shuang smiled, then walked over to the water dispenser and poured her a glass of water.

“Thank you!” An Shiyaya said politely as she accepted the glass from him.

“No need to thank me.”

After sitting down, Ye Shuang noticed that An Shiyaya seemed rather restless. Seeing her anxious expression, he thought for a moment before speaking.

“Yaya, the cherry blossoms will be blooming in a few days, won’t they?”

“Yes, I’ll be going back.” Ye Shuang’s question seemed to have hit the mark. An Shiyaya’s expression visibly fell. “Actually, I don’t really want to go back. It’s so nice here—my friends, the food… everyone has been wonderful.”

“Just thinking about saying goodbye to everyone…”

“I can’t bring myself to say it.”

“Mr. Ye Shuang, wouldn’t it be better if I just slipped away quietly?” An Shiyaya asked.

“Slip away quietly… is that it?”