Gu Niannian's heart was beating wildly, and her palms were sweating. She replied in a low, hoarse voice, "No need."
This was Gu Niannian's habitual refusal.
It was the same this time; the words of refusal had barely left her mouth before she regretted them.
Zhou Yi didn't mind her cold tone, however, and still said with a smile,
"You'll get sick if you walk in the rain. You look a bit pale, so you'd better come with me."
Gu Niannian wondered to herself if this person was this gentle to everyone. Even after she acted like this, Zhou Yi wasn't angry.
Should she agree?
In the moment Gu Niannian hesitated, Zhou Yi had already made the decision for her.
"Let me hold your books for you."
Zhou Yi took her books and walked ahead. Gu Niannian panicked completely, yet she still quickly followed him.
As they went downstairs, Zhou Yi didn't deliberately try to strike up a conversation. Gu Niannian followed silently behind him like a shadow.
When they reached the bottom of the teaching building, Zhou Yi opened his umbrella by the edge of the eaves. The rain battered against the umbrella, making a loud pattering sound.
"Come here, classmate."
Zhou Yi stood in the rain and reached out his hand to her. Gu Niannian stood under the eaves, looking at him.
It felt as if stepping under Zhou Yi's umbrella meant stepping into the abyss.
To Gu Niannian, that was an entirely foreign place.
She was a highly guarded person, yet this time, she could not help but walk toward Zhou Yi.
She stepped under Zhou Yi's umbrella, and into her own salvation.
Not long after, she would discover that Zhou Yi was not an abyss, but a salvation sent to her by heaven.
"Classmate, where is your dorm? Let me walk you back."
"I... don't live in a dorm."
"Then I can walk you home. The rain is quite heavy, and it probably won't stop anytime soon."
"There's no need. Just walking me to the bus stop is fine, thank you."
"Alright."
There was a bus stop right at the school gate, just a few minutes' walk away.
Walking along the tree-lined path of the school, Zhou Yi turned his face to ask her, "Classmate, I forgot to ask your name."
Gu Niannian hid her nervousness and tried her best to steady her voice as she said, "Gu Niannian."
Zhou Yi asked again, "Which Nian? The Nian from 'never forget, and there will surely be an echo'?"
Gu Niannian felt as if she had been struck by something, freezing completely in place.
A few blurry fragments flashed through her mind, then vanished.
"Yes, that's right."
Usually, when people heard her name, they would ask if it was the Nian from 'missing someone', but Zhou Yi had blurted out this particular phrase.
Never forget, and there will surely be an echo.
Gu Niannian memorized this phrase.
Zhou Yi looked at her from the side, his tone gentle:
"It really is a good name. It probably means they hope you get what you wish for. It has a beautiful meaning."
Gu Niannian realized that Zhou Yi was truly good at making people like him; a casual sentence from him could touch a person's heart.
It was just a pity that her name did not mean that at all.
She did not explain this to Zhou Yi, but merely nodded.
Soon, the two arrived at the bus stop.
Before leaving, Zhou Yi handed the umbrella to her. "I have a strong immune system, so a little rain won't hurt me. But as a girl, you shouldn't get caught in the rain. Take this umbrella, and just return it to me tomorrow."
Zhou Yi did this, firstly, to let Gu Niannian feel his thoughtfulness, and secondly, to create an opportunity for her to seek him out tomorrow.
Lending an umbrella was also an excellent method for flirting.
Whether you borrow an umbrella from a girl or a girl borrows one from you, it inherently involves a back-and-forth exchange.
If a guy borrows an umbrella from a girl, he even gains an excuse to treat her to a meal as a token of gratitude.
Zhou Yi's tactic worked perfectly on Gu Niannian because she didn't interact with others and disliked owing people anything.
Having borrowed Zhou Yi's umbrella, she would definitely go and return it.
"I'm leaving now, classmate Gu Niannian. See you tomorrow."
Zhou Yi was already used to her spacing out, and simply said this with a smile.
Being looked at by Zhou Yi like that left Gu Niannian feeling completely flustered.
Combined with how he addressed her, even her breathing became shallow.
—Classmate Gu Niannian.
It was the first time someone had called her name so gently. Like a tender spring breeze, like poison coated in honey, her heart was fiercely struck in that moment.
She felt her face burning; it must have turned red.
Zhou Yi didn't wait for her reaction. He simply shoved the umbrella into her hands, turned around, and walked into the rain.
The girl stared blankly at Zhou Yi's retreating back, murmuring softly, "See you tomorrow..."
To her, this was yet another unfamiliar yet beautiful phrase.
Between 'goodbye' and 'see you tomorrow', it was obvious which one was more beautiful.
'See you tomorrow' carried a sense of anticipation, and for the first time, Gu Niannian also looked forward to tomorrow.
She noticed another detail about Zhou Yi's back.
His left shoulder was wet.
At the time, she had been standing on his right side, and she hadn't gotten wet at all.
This meant that Zhou Yi must have tilted the umbrella entirely toward her side. That was why his left shoulder was wet, while she had not been touched by a single drop of rain.
[Gu Niannian's affection level +5]
Zhou Yi's figure had long disappeared, yet she still stared blankly in that direction.
The sound of the bus arriving at the station pulled Gu Niannian back to her senses.
Holding the umbrella, she boarded the bus.
As the rain battered against the bus windows, Gu Niannian's mind was completely filled with thoughts of Zhou Yi.
In just one short day, Gu Niannian felt that her world had undergone an earth-shattering change.
She had developed anticipation and affection for someone she shouldn't get close to.
.
After getting off the bus, Gu Niannian walked into an alley.
The streets here were dirty and chaotic, filled with garbage and homeless people.
Walking a bit further, she arrived at her home.
It was a dilapidated residential building. The people living inside were a mixed bag, mostly financially strapped out-of-towners.
She and her mother were the same.
A light was on the fourth floor, and through the warm glow, she could see a woman's busy silhouette.
That was her mother cooking for her.
Gu Niannian lowered her eyes and walked into the residential complex with a lifeless expression.
A moment after she knocked, the door opened.
The woman wiped her hands and revealed a gentle smile. "Niannian is back. The food will be ready soon. Go read a book for a while, and I'll call you when it's done."
Gu Niannian nodded obediently. "Okay, Mom."
She walked into a cramped room. There were drawings on the walls left by the previous tenant's child, which couldn't be scrubbed clean.
The room contained only a small 1.2-meter bed and a desk.
She turned on the light and raised a hand to block the glare, only lowering it after her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
This room had no windows, so she had to turn on the light.
Under the dim yellow light, she began to study hard.
Her mother looked at her back with a gratified smile, then turned and went back into the kitchen.
Only after the woman's footsteps faded away did Gu Niannian dare to pull out her diary.
This was the only world where she had freedom.
The world inside the diary was the true world.
Gu Niannian had no one to confide in, so her diary became her only friend.
She thought for a moment, then wrote that sentence on the first line of the diary.
"Never forget, and there will surely be an echo. This is his explanation of my name."
After pondering for a moment, Gu Niannian continued to write:
"For the first time, I like my name this much. It seems that coming from his mouth, this name sounds a bit more beautiful."
"I forgot to mention, his name is Zhou Yi."
"This is also the first time I've felt that another person's name sounds so beautiful."
"It is because Zhou Yi is him, and also because he is Zhou Yi."
"On this day, I began to look forward to tomorrow."
"—All because of that boy named Zhou Yi."
This was where the story of Gu Niannian and Zhou Yi officially began.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
