Chapter 89: If Song Jiaru and I Fall Into the River at the Same Time, Who Do You Save First?

Song Jiaru, who was handing a bowl of matcha ice cream to the previous customer, inexplicably felt a palpitation in her heart.

The smile on her exquisitely beautiful face stiffened slightly.

She subconsciously raised her head, her gaze exactly catching the final glimpse of the back of that young girl hurriedly fleeing and disappearing into the alley entrance.

As well as, in that fleeting glance, the breathtaking... cold side profile, and those eyes that, when looking back, seemed to be brimming with hatred!

The emotion in those eyes was so strong it made her hold her breath instantly.

Her action of handing over the ice cream paused.

That girl...

The way she looked at me... why did it seem like... she wished she could kill me?

Do I know her?

She furrowed her beautiful brows and shook her head, trying to dispel this weird feeling, thinking that probably the recently back-to-back schedules were too tiring, causing hallucinations.

However, in the next second—

Just as she was preparing to put on her professional smile again, her whole person suddenly froze in place!

An incomparably familiar palpitation originating from the depths of her soul surged up without warning.

She abruptly raised her head again, no longer looking toward the alley entrance, but toward the void where that young girl had stood just now.

It's him!

Song Jiaru felt it.

He was silently watching her just now.

Song Jiaru murmured to herself using a voice only she could hear, carrying an unsuppressible tremble and choke:

"Big Brother... is... is it you?"

"Are you watching me? Have you... finally come back to see me?"

In the air, only the bitter-sweet lingering fragrance of matcha floated, and the sound of the gurgling water of the Kamo River in the distance.

No one answered.

...

Xu Yunzhou was also completely stunned.

Just now he was looking through the screen with a smile at that brightly smiling figure in the sunlight, and even subconsciously raised his hand:

"Jiaru, Big Brother came to see you."

He had even imagined the shock, ecstasy, and even tears that Song Jiaru might show in his head, just waiting for Xu Nuo to step forward and say "Teacher asked me to come find you" to detonate the entire venue.

And the result?

This little guy Xu Nuo turned around and ran as if she had seen a ghost!

His perspective was forced to switch instantly along with her. The footage shook for a while, finally freezing at the dim alley entrance, leaving only a head full of fog.

What the hell is going on?

Xu Yunzhou's brain was full of question marks.

Wasn't she just listening to Song Jiaru's "Lonely Warrior" like getting injected with chicken blood yesterday?

(TL: "Chicken blood" is slang for being hyped up or overly excited.)

Why does seeing the actual person look like seeing the enemy who killed her father? This contrast is too magical, isn't it!

He truly couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Xu Nuo didn't know how long she ran.

It wasn't until the entrance of a secluded, deserted small temple with moss climbing all over the stone steps, her physical strength completely overdrawn, that she slumped down like a marionette with cut strings.

Then, without any warning—

"Waaah—!"

She actually buried her face in her knees and burst into loud crying like a child who had suffered extreme grievances.

Xu Yunzhou's figure slowly manifested beside her.

Looking at the usually stubborn little girl crying until she was out of breath, that bit of inexplicable annoyance at being disrupted in his heart also dissipated, leaving only helplessness.

It turns out this little girl also cries...

Xu Yunzhou sighed, his voice very light:

"Ah Nuo, what exactly is wrong?"

Xu Nuo cried for a long time before forcefully wiping away tears with the back of her hand, choking, her voice intermittent:

"Teacher... I'm scared."

"Scared? Scared of Song Jiaru? She's a very good person, she won't hurt you."

"I'm scared... I'm scared you'll leave with her, and not want me anymore."

Xu Nuo sobbed, speaking the deepest fear in her heart.

Xu Yunzhou laughed dumbly, feeling this worry was simply baffling:

"Fool, how is that possible? How could I not want you? Don't let your imagination run wild."

"You just will!"

Xu Nuo, however, abruptly raised her voice, carrying a crying tone and thick jealousy, as well as a trace of giving up on herself,

"Just now... the way you looked at her lecherously, did you think I didn't know! If I were you, I would also like her more... She is so tall, so white, so pretty, like she can glow.

She lives so nobly, so cleanly... She is a big star living under the sun, held and loved by everyone!"

She looked down at her own old clothes and dust-stained shoes,

"And what about me? What do I count as... dirty, gray and dusty, only knowing how to hide in dark corners scheming against people, a brain full of hatred... a rat. How am I worthy of comparing to her?"

Xu Yunzhou was momentarily speechless, only now realizing the root of the problem in hindsight.

He almost forgot, when women get jealous, it disregards age and logic!

He could only soften his voice, bringing out 120% patience to coax her:

"That's not true, Nuo-nuo, don't overthink it. You are also very pretty, it's just that life was too bitter before and nutrition didn't keep up. With proper conditioning in the future, you will definitely look much better."

"Teacher!"

Xu Nuo, however, suddenly interrupted his words. Raising her tear-blurred face, she asked a question that almost made Xu Yunzhou crash on the spot,

"If one day, Song Jiaru and I fall into the river at the same time, who do you save first?"

Xu Yunzhou:

"..."

Holy fucking shit?

The legendary fatal question of "choosing between girlfriend and mom," how could it be asked by a sixteen-year-old girl in this absurd way?

What are you, my girlfriend?

Seeing him not answering, the tears Xu Nuo had just stopped a bit filled her eye rims again. Whimpering, her tone was full of grievance and an accusation of "as expected":

"You see! You hesitated! You would definitely save her first! I understand! Did you accompany her and teach her things in the past just like you are accompanying me now, right?

It was you who elevated her from a... an ordinary person into the radiantly shining big star she is now! You wrote songs for her? Helped plan her route? Or..."

Her words abruptly stopped, as if suddenly biting her tongue.

A more terrifying thought was like ice water poured over her head, instantly sobering her up, yet she didn't dare to face it, her eyes abruptly turning empty.

The Song Jiaru back then... was clearly just a fledgling little artist with a shallow foundation.

That terrifying power behind her that could easily topple her own father, make a massive family business collapse overnight, and plunge her whole family into an abyss of eternal damnation... where exactly did it come from?

And at that time... was Teacher right by her side? Guiding her, just like guiding me now?

Then Teacher... in this tragedy of my family's ruin and perishing, what role did you exactly play? What kind of function... did you serve?

She didn't dare to think deeply; she didn't dare to face all this.

Because she was afraid that if she kept thinking, the answer she got would completely destroy her only remaining, sole warmth and reliance right now.

That was something more unbearable to her than death.

Xu Yunzhou was a bit dazed by her headless and tailless accusation and sudden silence, subconsciously scratching his head:

"Uh uh..."

He didn't know how to pick up this conversation for a moment. If he admitted it, wouldn't he make this little vinegar jar before his eyes completely explode?

(TL: "Vinegar jar" is slang for a very jealous person.)

But it seems he couldn't deny it either.

Xu Nuo took a deep breath, and then said with an exceptionally calm, even somewhat exhausted tone:

"Teacher, let's go back to Edo."

She raised her eyes, looking at the gray, seemingly solidified winter sky of the ancient capital,

"Kyoto... I don't want to stay anymore. Not for a single moment."

Xu Yunzhou sighed. The practical problem couldn't be avoided:

"Then what about your identity problem? Not going to find that... old friend of mine?"

"I have a way."

Xu Nuo stood up, using the back of her hand to fiercely wipe away the last tear marks on her face. Her eyes re-condensed an almost paranoid cold light,

"No need to beg people, much less... beg her."

She bit the word "her" extremely heavily, carrying a clear meaning of drawing a line.

After saying that, she walked straight toward the Shinkansen station they came from.

Her back was thin, yet carried a decisiveness like a lone wolf.