Chapter 50 Extra (Si Luo Chen San)

  Extra Edition

  I always thought that I could spend my university life without any worries or troubles.

  It was unexpected that at the end of the first semester of junior year, the Xia family faced a predicament, to be precise, they received a threatening letter.

  That was the first time I saw the panic of the entire Shi family.

  My mother was worried about me and immediately had my father send someone to pick me up from school. I was happily walking with Xiang Qian Tong after lunch when I saw my sister standing there, looking at me with a not-so-good expression on her face.

  I was curious how my sister suddenly appeared at school, but I didn't expect her to pull me aside and briefly tell me about the situation at home. I knew I had to rush back home immediately so that my family wouldn't worry.

  Turning around to see Xiang Qian Tong standing quietly in place, I walked over and hadn't spoken yet when she smiled and said: "If there's something at home, hurry back quickly, don't frown for me to see, it looks ugly. I'll help you ask for leave from the teacher."

  I knew what she meant, forcing a smile at the corner of her mouth: "Actually say I'm ugly? You wait for me, come back to find you settle accounts."

  Qian Tong took two steps back and said with a nonchalant expression: "Afraid you won't make it, settle things quickly and come back to find me to settle the score."

  "Wait for it!"

  "I'm waiting."

  She had already retreated a distance away, turned around and left with a flourish. I watched her ponytail swing back and forth, and my worries inexplicably dissipated a lot.

  "Who is she?" My sister asked from behind me.

  "To Qian Tong." My gaze has always been on her.

  Sister didn't say anything else, raised her eyes and looked at the distant figure: "Let's go home."

  I nodded "uh-huh" and turned around to leave with my sister.

  Back home, I finally found out that it was a misdiagnosis at the privately-owned hospital under the name of the Si family. This is not a small matter for the hospital, although the media has been suppressed and hasn't caused too much of an impact. However, the background of the misdiagnosed patient is extremely deep, to the point where even the Si family needs to be cautious.

  The first time I saw Dad seriously discussing with Mom to solve the problem, that dad who used to smile whenever he saw mom had already forgotten that appreciation.

  Who is it that makes us so fearful? I pulled on my sister's arm, wanting to know something from her.

  Xiaoyu naturally noticed my doubts, but only slightly hooked the corner of her mouth and shook her head at me. I knew she didn't want me to worry.

  In the following days, I stayed in my room all the time. Although this house was spacious even when Dad and Mom were around, it felt emptier than usual.

  Everyone's attitude is too serious, which makes me feel scared.

  Who did our family offend?

  I closed the book and tiptoed out of my room. It was noon, and all the servants were resting. I had originally wanted to find my sister, but unintentionally heard a noise coming from my parents' room upstairs.

  I was curious, so I walked up the stairs quietly, and I was glad I wasn't wearing shoes, or they would have definitely heard me.

  "This is something you can't agree to! Don't forget that the Si family is a medical family, and if you do this, it will ruin the Si family." It was her mother's voice.

  I wonder what could destroy our family?

  "But their existence is what makes medicine advance, isn't it, Shan Yu?" This was Father's voice.

  They?

  ……

  I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine and my heart skipped a beat.

  It's them!

  I didn't dare listen to their conversation anymore, because I was afraid... Afraid of knowing my parents' secrets, afraid that their words would cast a shadow in my heart.

  In my eyes, Dad and Mom are always smiling and kind. I don't dare to think too much, just want to leave there as soon as possible, run to my own room. Pick up the book I just finished reading, patiently flipping through it.

  But I admit that at this moment, everything in front of me is unbearable to look at. It just feels like something is pressing on my chest, making it hard for me to breathe and feeling very uncomfortable.

  I could feel my breathing getting heavier and heavier, I finally stopped my restlessness, closed the book. Propped myself up, a purpose swirling in my mind: I want to go back to school, I want to see her!

  Dinner, as always, Dad and Mom had dinner with me and my sister, but I didn't have the naturalness of the past, fortunately, I had my own plan.

  "I want to go back to school. This semester's courses are quite complicated and I don't want to fall behind too much." I said after finishing my meal and putting down my chopsticks.

  My parents' and sister's eyes all fell on me.

  "Luò chén, guò jǐ tiān hǎo ma?" Māma wēn yán dào: "Wǒ ràng nǐ bàba ān pái yī xiē rén sòng nǐ qù xuéxiào, tāmen bú huì yǐng xiǎng nǐ zhèng cháng shàng kè."

  Translation:

  "Luò chén, will you be okay for a few days?" Mom said gently: "I'll let your dad arrange some people to send you to school, they won't affect your normal classes."

  I knew this was mom's last concession, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible, so I agreed without hesitation.

  "But you have to promise me that you'll call home every day, okay?" Mom smiled at me, her eyes seeming to see right through me.

  I feel empty inside, I can only lower my eyebrows and nod in response.

  Mom kept her word, and a week later I was back in school again, and saw that figure diligently reviewing.

  "Qian Tong." I called her.

  She turned around, her face sinking as she said: "You've finally come back. If you were any later, I would have been exhausted to death."

  I didn't understand what she meant and went "huh?"

  "For these past few classes, I've been taking notes for you. Originally, I wanted to take mine to be photocopied, but as you know, the handwriting in my notes is only recognizable by me."

  I couldn't help but smile.

  "You have no conscience and yet you laugh at me. You know that your handwriting looks good." He said, handing over the notebook from behind his back: "I seriously copied it out once."

  Looking at her like this, all my worries were thrown far away.

  A few days later, my life returned to normal, and those people indeed had no impact on my life as my mother said. After lunch, I took a walk with Xiang Qian Tong in the playground to digest, but she suddenly pulled me to quickly move behind the teaching building, looked around, and whispered: "Lu Chen, have you noticed anything?"

  I stared at her in confusion, but my heart was racing wildly, she was too close to me now.

  "What?"

  "There are always some suspicious people around you lately." He said to Qian Tong and looked around.

  I secretly rejoiced, the people sent by Mom were all the most capable ones around Dad, if I didn't know they existed, it would be hard for me to detect, and she actually detected them.

  As for emotional matters, she never pays attention and wouldn't even notice who likes whom. But regarding my affairs... Qian Tong, are you sure your feelings towards me are the same as those towards others?

  But in her heart, she didn't dare to have extravagant hopes.

  "Didn't you notice?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

  I grasped her arms and said frankly: "Don't worry about them, they are the bodyguards of the Si family, something happened at home..."

  She only saw her frowning slightly, worried and said: "So your sister came to pick you up specially? Didn't handle things at home well before coming back? Stupid, what if something happens?"

  It was the first time I saw Xiang Qian Tong speaking to me in such a loud voice, really bold. But my heart was very happy. I wanted to tell her that I came back because I wanted to see you. However, this kind of words can never be said out loud, perhaps it can only be kept in my heart forever.

  I took two steps back, tilted my head and hummed: "Then it's better for you to stay away from me, so as not to get involved."

  I don't know if this joke sounded different to her ears, she just stared at me fixedly, then lowered her eyebrows and didn't say anything else.

  Is she angry?

  After that, she returned to her usual self and pulled me back to the dormitory. All along the way...she didn't say a word, nor did I ask.

  In the days that followed, Xiang Qiong's attitude towards me underwent a subtle change. No matter what I did or where I went, even when I went to the bathroom during class breaks, Xiang Qiong was always by my side.

  It wasn't until this moment that I realized, Yuan Qian Tong is actually someone who is even worse at expressing himself than me.

  For my elective course, Xiang Qian Tong and I were not in the same class. The teaching building was quite far away, so she rode her bicycle to send me to the front of the teaching building and saw me off before leaving. After my class ended, she leaned against her bicycle, standing upright under the lamp light at the entrance, as if she had never left.

  Just looking at her, I thought of the fairy tales I read when I was a kid. I really wanted to veto my sister's words. Those who understand love are not just Shakespeare.

  Fourteen-year-old Romeo and Juliet may have already understood what love is, but just expressed it in different ways.

  I walked towards the figure with a smile.

  Two figures strolled through the campus accompanied by the sound of a bicycle 'clattering'.

  "With them around me, nothing will happen. You don't have to work so hard every day. And how long has it been since you last attended the student council gathering, Qian Tong?"

  She responded with an unconvinced "Huh?"

  I stopped in my tracks and looked at her seriously: "Nothing will happen to me. If anything were to happen, I'd rather it not be you, understand?"

  She didn't respond immediately, instead parking her bicycle to the side, putting her hands in her pockets and standing with a thin shoulder, taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly. Looking up at the dark sky, she finally said softly: "Lu Chen, although I like interacting with people and often attend student union gatherings, getting drunk every time and making you come pick me up... but in my heart, the only person I truly care about is you. If you weren't around, I wouldn't let myself get drunk."

  I stood there in a daze, staring at her fixedly, knowing she hadn't finished yet.

  "I know I don't have those bodyguards' skills, nor do I have Xiaokui's good detective mind..." She paused again at this point.

  I stood quietly in place, gazing at her slender back, as my heart suppressedly throbbed.

  She turned around, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at me, and smiled reassuringly: "But I'll use everything to protect you! Because I can be sure that if something happens to you... I'll be very sad."

  She smiled so freely and warmly. Every word she said, every letter, stirred my heart.

  "So... I'll protect you in my own way. Just don't mind me being a bother..." She hadn't even finished speaking when I ran over to hug her, and at that moment, I couldn't say anything, I just wanted to hold her tightly.

  "Luò Chén?" She softly called out to me.

  I know I have to control my emotions, biting my lip and pushing her away, hooking the corner of my mouth: "You're driving me crazy!"

  "Huh?"

  I ignored her, with a hint of a smile, and turned to run away. I knew that if I didn't get out of there quickly, she would see me trembling with tension because of what she had just said.

  Not having run far, I heard the sound of a bicycle behind me. It rang its bell twice towards me and stopped beside me. The cyclist smiled at Qian Tong and said: "Miss, do you want to hitch a ride?"

  "You look like a thug, who wants to ride in this broken car!" I glanced at her and continued walking forward.

  She trailed along in her car and asked: "Aren't you going to give me a ride?"

  "How dare you!"

  She just smiled and didn't say a word. In the end, I still sat behind her, holding her waist, and followed this road back to the dormitory.

  I looked up at the crescent moon and I think I understand Li Bai's mood. I told myself that I will always remember tonight, remember every word she said.

  The bodyguard's presence had been with me for a year and a half of graduate school, until the crisis in the Si family was completely resolved, and my mother withdrew all the bodyguards.

  At this time, there was only Xiang Qian Tong by my side.

  Lu Hui stopped studying after graduating from university because she met someone she liked and was preparing to be a good wife.

  Wang Shaokuo was busy preparing for the opening of his law firm, so the four of them only occasionally had time to gather together.

  Who would have thought that in the first half of sophomore year, due to an accident, I almost lost Xiang Qian Tong.

  She saved me without hesitation and helped me block the knife, I saw the knife inserted straight into her back, at that moment I almost thought she would disappear from my world forever.

  I don't have bodyguards.

  No Sherlock-like detective mind.

  But I will protect you with all of me!

  What is being so sad you can't cry, what is being in so much pain that you don't want to live, I almost experienced them at the same time.

  Fortunately, she was all right in the end.

  And I always thought this was just an accident.

  The author has something to say: I'm not in a good mood.

  It's been said that I didn't write a serious article about lilies, using real logic to frame the authenticity of the world... Don't you think it's ridiculous? In my eyes, I've always thought it was fake, just like an abstract painting, with whatever mood you look at it, you get whatever effect.

  Just like I hold my favorite book, every time I read it with a different mood. So you can dislike me, but you have no right to say that I didn't write seriously.

  I admit that I'm a novice, my writing style is immature, and many descriptions of people, objects, and scenes are not yet in place, but I will continue to work hard. I have put my heart into writing this book, and I want to do justice not only to every reader who reads me, but also to the children under my pen.

  The purpose of what I write is to express my views on emotions. No matter what experiences or difficulties, there is always a positive energy that exists.

  But writing is something I've always wanted to try, but I've always been just a reader, and now I'm finally picking up my pen and daring to write, with the mindset of just wanting to write without thinking about winning or losing.

  So, please don't view me with your subjective values. You can say my writing is clumsy and my character portrayal is not good enough, I accept it all. Because I admit, I'm a novice, reading a lot and actually writing are two different things.

  You said that Qian Tong, written by me, is a failure. I want to ask you, do you know what failure is? Is it this novel, which I messed up and had a bad ending, that's what I think is failure.

  If you haven't finished watching it, you have no right to say she's a failure. You can only say that she doesn't meet your expectations.

  Every person under my pen, from the four main characters in the setup, I was constantly thinking about switching positions. If I were them, how would I deal with this matter?

  They are the characters under my pen, I don't like to define them with a fixed personality, binding them. In the grinding of years, the advancement of time, I and they are progressing together, constantly progressing.

  I hope that the people I write about are alive, with temper and personality, with fears, weaknesses, cowardice. Sometimes a little bad, sometimes willful, etc., etc., etc.

  As for what you said about Qian Tong, I'd like to ask. If someone who has nothing is liked by Si Lu Chen, who almost everyone likes, what kind of mood would they be in?

  I put myself in her shoes and thought about it, I was at a loss. Because I didn't know what to give her, what could I give her! If I wasn't careful, I might lose a lifelong friend.

  She then asked why Si Luo Chen liked her, because Qian Tong was genuine enough. She didn't want anything from Si Luo Chen, she just used her heart to care for her, meticulous and considerate, even willing to use her life to protect her. Such a precious thing is more valuable than anything else.

  I have written these two extra chapters.

  To be honest, I feel heartache for Qian Tong because she has to like Si Luo Chen, which is all my arrangement. My heart is also entangled, if I write her as very capable, even mysterious and skilled like Shen Lue, or having a detective's mind like Wang Shao Ke, wouldn't Yilin's family situation be easier?

  No!!! That's not the kind of Xiang Qiong I had in mind. I believe that in this world, there are many people like Xiang Qiong who are not good at expressing themselves and just want to do what they think is right with a sincere heart.

  You can say she is weak, but she has perseverance.

  The difference is written in the memories. I wanted to buy a piece of clothing from SIRLOIN, but even after saving money until my senior year, it was still not enough. How can Qian Tong handle such a huge disparity?

  She is insecure in emotions, and even timid, who among us has never been like this?

  Youth shed hot blood, didn't all become our memories? What's lost and what's gained are equal in my eyes.

  I was originally a more serious person, so when I saw these things, I grumbled.

  In my eyes, I always feel that it is lighter than reality, thinking that it will have its own ending. So I like to write, just wanting to make reality a little more beautiful and a little more real, so that those who dare to chase love do not retreat. Always believing in the existence of these two words: happiness. Maybe my words are not yet in place, but I will continue to work hard for this.

  So I hope every reader will not necessarily cherish the author's painstaking effort but respect the author's careful consideration.

  Finally, thank you all for your support over the years.

  PS: Thanks for always supporting me and throwing "king" votes at me: Chen Yiyun, cat~kill, Xianghuai Hou, Muxia Youren, SuSu, Tiaozizhe, Jiushi Guang, Jiu Yue, 15552000, Fo Yue, Feng Ya, Langzi, Fu Fen, fengmuxue. No ranking, really thank you very much, bowing.

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