Next Door

Next door in the villa district.

After being sent home, Cornelia looked up information about the upcoming mounted archery competition before stepping onto her balcony to gaze into the distance. Her eyes pierced through layers of obstacles, landing on a particular building—the apartment complex where Su Cheng lived.

She smiled softly in the direction of Su Cheng’s home, her lips curling into a faint, flower-like grin.

"How wonderful, I’ll get to see him on TV again," she murmured gently, her heart torn between anticipation and melancholy. She was eager for him to win the championship, yet disheartened that she wouldn’t see him for a while.

Upon returning, she had researched the competition online. This was an international event, with participants being the elite archers from various nations.

However, it was worth noting that while Flame Country had frequently claimed victory in past tournaments, no male contestant had ever won the championship.

This fact had even become fodder for gender debates on certain red-book forums, where misandrist users often mocked Flame Country’s men as inferior to women.

Many considered this a curse—one that had remained unbroken for decades. But now, Su Cheng seemed poised to shatter it.

As a result, discussions about the competition were ablaze online, particularly regarding whether Su Cheng would participate. Countless fans flooded forums with posts, rallying for him to compete and restore the dignity of Flame Country’s male archers.

The hype was unprecedented.

In a nation that revered martial prowess, sports were the heart of national life. Now, the entire country held its breath, hoping the young prodigy would work another miracle.

"Wait… did I forget something?"

Cornelia suddenly paused, smacking her forehead. But no matter how hard she tried, the memory eluded her. "What was it…? Why can’t I remember?" she grumbled in frustration.

She scratched her head, racking her brain, but to no avail. Deciding she needed to calm her chaotic thoughts, she cheerfully headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of "Eight Nuclear Bombs"—a drink she had swiped from Su Cheng’s place earlier. There were three bottles in total.

Click.

Back on the balcony, she popped open the cap and took a deep swig. The icy, sweet liquid rushed down her throat, instantly sharpening her mind and scattering the tangled thoughts.

This was her second bottle of the day—she’d had one at Su Cheng’s, and now two remained in her fridge. She planned to take one to Xuan Ying’s birthday party tomorrow and save the last for when Su Cheng appeared on TV during the competition.

Satisfied, Cornelia narrowed her eyes, and when she reopened them, they gleamed with newfound clarity and wisdom. Her entire demeanor shifted—calm, collected, free of the earlier confusion and anxiety.

And then, it hit her.

She stiffened as the forgotten task suddenly resurfaced: she needed to prepare a birthday gift for Xuan Ying.

"Wait… but is that really important?"

"Today, I was the first to leave Su Cheng’s place. They probably didn’t stay overnight, right?"

"They wouldn’t have thrown a sleepover after I left… with a pajama party and pillow fights, would they?"

"That’s unlikely…"

With that thought, she downed the rest of the drink in one go. But instead of easing her mind, the beverage dredged up a memory she had tried to suppress—one that made her frown deeply, her expression growing tense.

"Gu Ruoxue…"

The image of Gu Ruoxue in the kitchen flashed before her eyes—the way she had bent down and smiled at her. No matter how hard Cornelia tried, the memory clung stubbornly to her mind.

The scene replayed vividly: Gu Ruoxue, with her flawless beauty and ethereal wings, bathed in a holy radiance that had nearly blinded Cornelia, shattering her defenses all over again.

"Why is this happening? Why did she suddenly pop into my head? Is she really… an angel?"

Cornelia bit her lip, lost in thought. The sudden resurgence of this unwanted memory felt unnatural. She had only been trying to recall a trivial matter—why had Gu Ruoxue intruded?

This was a memory she despised, one she had actively tried to forget. It reminded her of another time her mind had betrayed her, even sending out a distress signal.

She remembered inexplicably reliving a moment from her own memories—watching, as a third-party observer, the scene after the opening ceremony.

Specifically, the moment Su Cheng had confessed to her for the first time… and she had rejected him. In the end, those memories had fragmented into a cry for help.

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

She bolted from her room, rushed to the fridge, and grabbed the remaining two bottles of "Eight Nuclear Bombs." Without hesitation, she chugged them both down in one go.

Then, she sprawled onto her bed, closed her eyes, and felt her body grow weightless—as if she were floating, drifting into a dream. When she opened her eyes again—

"Senpai, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

She found herself back at the opening ceremony, Su Cheng’s earnest voice ringing in her ears. She whipped her head toward the sound—

Another confession.

Even though this was the second time, seeing the younger, more awkward Su Cheng made her heart race all over again. She wanted to punch her past self.

But she quickly steadied herself. This wasn’t about reliving regrets—she had a mission.

Her gaze locked onto Gu Ruoxue, who stood in a corner of the crowd, scribbling something in a notebook. That notebook was Cornelia’s target.

She wanted to know why, at this point in time when they barely knew each other, Gu Ruoxue was documenting the event. It was too suspicious—where there was smoke, there was fire.

"Being confessed to by you is embarrassing! Just go away!"

Ignoring the voice of her past self, Cornelia marched straight toward Gu Ruoxue, eyes fixed on the notebook.

One step.

Two steps.

The distance between them shrank.

Finally, she halted. A gut feeling told her she was about to uncover something monumental.

Swallowing hard, she leaned in, straining to read the notebook’s contents—

CRACK!

A deafening noise erupted as the notebook shattered before her eyes. The world around her dissolved into fragments of memory, plunging her into darkness.

BANG BANG BANG!

"What’s all that noise?! What’s happening?!"

Her mother’s frantic knocking and worried voice jolted her back to reality.

She opened her eyes and froze in shock, staring blankly around her as she realized she had returned to the real world.

"Was that loud noise just now from inside the house?"

Cornelia was still reeling from the shock, but she quickly snapped out of it and called toward the door, "Mom, I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm going to sleep now."

"Got it. I'll go outside to see what happened."

Her mother's relieved voice came from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of footsteps fading away.

"Damn it, I was so close!"

Cornelia stood up and punched the bed in frustration. After grumbling, she sat up. Though she hadn't clearly seen everything, she vaguely caught words like "confession" and "reward." But those few words alone weren't enough to figure out what had been written.

She lowered her head, lost in thought—until—

"What is this?"

Cornelia widened her sapphire-blue eyes in disbelief at the rod-shaped object that had suddenly appeared on the balcony floor. She stepped closer and examined it carefully before confirming that it was an arrow lying quietly on the ground.

Unlike a normal arrow, this one was thicker, and its tip was embedded with a tattered, transparent balloon-like fragment. She reached out and touched the arrow's tail—it was still warm!

"This is—!"

She crouched down and picked up the fragment on the arrowhead, tugging and stretching it to confirm the material. Then, with a sudden burst of joy, she exclaimed, "This is an arrow Su Cheng deliberately shot over!"

Without wasting a second, she hurried outside to check, but Su Cheng was already gone. Carefully cradling the arrow in her arms, her face lit up with happiness, and a radiant smile curled at the corners of her lips.

Because it made perfect sense.

Among the people she knew, only Su Cheng practiced archery, and the balloon material on the arrowhead was something only the two of them would recognize.

Su Cheng had clearly sent this arrow as a message before leaving the country—proof that he hadn't forgotten the wish they had made together under the Kongming lantern.