Chapter 599 - 598: Time Flies

Lin Huanzhu watched as Tang Yuanxiao remained silent, the light in her eyes dimming little by little.

She looked down, kicking lightly at the ground. "I understand what you mean."

She raised her head, her expression as bright as ever. "Okay, it looks like today isn’t a good time. I’m heading off to work now."

She waved at Tang Yuanxiao, turned, and strode away.

Tang Yuanxiao took two steps after her, his hand outstretched as if to pull Lin Huanzhu back, but he ultimately stopped in his tracks.

He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. Words caught in his throat several times, but just like his feet, they remained frozen, and he said nothing.

There was so much he wanted to say. He desperately wanted to apologize, but in the end, he couldn’t get the words out.

’What would be the point of stopping Lin Huanzhu to say all that, anyway?’

’She’s such a wonderful girl, and I...’

A look of pained struggle flashed across Tang Yuanxiao’s face. His fists clenched and unclenched.

Finally, his expression settled into one of tormented regret.

Tang Yuanxiao stood rooted to the spot, unmoving for a long time.

He had just learned about Su Li and Wu Sheng’s engagement and had even drunk himself into a stupor out of misery. And then, the very next day, Lin Huanzhu confessed to him.

’I... what could I possibly say?’

’How could I have the nerve to say anything?’

’Whether I accepted or rejected Lin Huanzhu, it would be shameless and unjustifiable.’

’If I accepted her on impulse, or just because she seemed "suitable," what would be the difference between me and an animal? And how incredibly unfair would that be to Lin Huanzhu?’

Tang Yuanxiao remained standing there for a long time, motionless, until someone bumped into him and snapped him out of his daze.

Tang Yuanxiao rushed back to class, but despite always being the most diligent student, he was absent-minded all day.

Su Li, for her part, knew nothing about what had happened between Lin Huanzhu and Tang Yuanxiao, nor about the confession.

When Tang Mo returned from seeing Tang Yuanxiao, he showed Su Li the money his father had given him.

Just as she had planned, Su Li told Tang Mo to keep the money for himself.

"In the future, when your father gives you money, you should take it. Whether you save it or buy things, you can decide for yourself."

Su Li felt a wave of emotion as she said this.

It was a statement that showed immense trust in a boy his age, but then again, Tang Mo was exceptionally sensible.

’He’s just too sensible.’

Most of the time, Su Li felt gratified, but there were moments when she thought more deeply about it and felt a pang of sadness.

’Children who are doted on by their parents are always a little mischievous. His maturity is ultimately a result of his past experiences.’

’Sadly, the past couldn’t be changed. All she could do now was to be twice as good to him from now on.’

But emotions aside, life had to go on.

The brief winter break came to an end, and Su Li’s classes began.

The start of the semester was a flurry of catching up with friends, and she was still interning at Imperial City TV Station.

You could say she had really found her footing there. The editor-in-chief thought highly of her, so she naturally just continued with the internship.

There would be some scheduling adjustments because of her classes, but the overall arrangement remained unaffected.

When her classmates returned for the new semester, the news that Su Li had been on camera filled them with envy.

Some of them had also gotten on camera during their internships at their hometown TV stations and had planned to come back and brag a little. But then they found out Su Li had been featured on the Imperial City TV Station itself.

In short, it felt like they could never quite catch up to Su Li; they were always one step behind or just shy of the mark.

After a while, they just got used to it.

Once they got used to it, no one brought it up after the first day of the semester. Everyone just focused on their own improvement.

The same was true for Su Li. She had no time to worry about her classmates’ opinions. The moment the semester began, her life became a whirlwind of activity.

She was truly as busy as a spinning top.

She had classes to attend and an internship to work. At home, there was Tang Mo to look after. On top of that, Pinjun Clothing needed her, as did the Love Reading Bookstore...

As soon as the semester started, Su Li inevitably started working late into the night, often not getting to sleep until eleven or twelve.

Fortunately, she had a capable assistant in Wu Xia over at Love Reading.

Yes, Wu Xia. No one had expected her to adapt so well to working at the bookstore, going from knowing nothing to mastering everything.

Soon after, she even began thinking strategically, and it wasn’t long before she became the branch manager.

In a short amount of time, she grew at an astonishing rate. Surprisingly, she had a real knack for business and kept the bookstore running in perfect order.

With Wu Xia there, Su Li decided to gradually hand over the bookstore’s operations to her. From then on, unless a major issue arose, she would entrust everything to her.

Seeing how much Su Li trusted her, Wu Xia became all the more competent and capable.

Between the start of the semester in March and the beginning of summer vacation, Wu Xia had successfully taken over the entire Love Reading operation.

Compared to before, Wu Xia’s growth was simply astonishing.

To put it one way, the once-gentle and delicate woman now carried herself like a high-powered career woman.

Of course, this was just on the surface, an attitude she adopted for business matters. When she was with Wu Sheng and the others, she was still her old, harmlessly kind self—virtuous, quiet, and fond of doing needlework.

She was still sewing the cloth shoes for Wu Qihua, Wu Sheng, Su Li, and Little Tang Mo, but she had truly grown.

She had stepped out from the shadow of her "husband-jinx" reputation, becoming strong and self-confident.

Good women attract people wherever they go, and soon, excellent men began to pursue Wu Xia. Unfortunately... no matter who they were, Wu Xia remained unmoved.

She had grown, but she still wasn’t ready for a relationship or marriage.

Her "husband-jinx" reputation, coupled with that twisted marriage, made her shy away from the prospect of matrimony and any man who pursued her.

Su Li and the others didn’t pressure her about it, leaving her to handle it on her own terms.

Time flew by, and just like that, the busy second semester of her junior year came to an end.

When summer vacation began, Su Li’s position at the TV station was an internship in name only; in practice, she was already working like a full-fledged reporter.

Her outstanding performance allowed her to shine brightly, even in a place like the TV station, which was filled with exceptional talent.

Su Li appeared on camera several times, and frequent viewers of Imperial City TV Station had begun to recognize and form an impression of the beautiful and kind-hearted host.

The station had already formally extended an olive branch, offering Su Li a position upon her graduation.

And Su Li herself was inclined to accept.

All in all, Imperial City TV Station was an excellent place to work.

While Su Li was thriving and everything was going smoothly for her, things were also going very well for Tang Mo.

His academics, needless to say, were superb. He not only kept up but excelled. Unsurprisingly, after finishing his first year of middle school, he was set to skip another grade.

He wouldn’t be attending eighth grade; he was going straight to ninth.

For Tang Mo, the placement exam was a mere formality. Come the new school year, he would be starting ninth grade.

During summer vacation, Tang Mo wasn’t concerned with anything else—only his experimental invention.

From the moment he started until now, Tang Mo had been working tirelessly on his dream. Through constant study, research, and experimentation, he had slowly, piece by piece, turned the impossible into the possible, creating something from nothing. This summer, he finally made a tangible breakthrough.

Su Li knew Tang Mo was brilliant, but she was still utterly stunned when she heard the news.

His teachers, Mu Feng and Mu Haoye, were equally stunned. Tang Mo’s talent was astounding, and his progress was incredibly fast. As his teacher, Mu Feng now felt that he himself could learn things and draw inspiration from the boy.

His fondness for Tang Mo grew and grew, their relationship evolving from a purely teacher-student dynamic to one of both mentor and friend.

Mu Feng and Mu Haoye gave Tang Mo’s research their full and unconditional support.

Tang Mo was busy with his project all summer, sometimes sleeping over at the Mu family’s home for two or three nights in a row. Seeing their intense focus, Su Li didn’t dare to disturb them.

Later on, that year and that specific summer would be written about and reported on countless times.