The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 405: Huang Qi

When rescuing the girl like a hero, Huang Qi got bruises on his face and nosebleed dripping down to his mouth. Unfazed, he wiped the blood with the back of his hand and turned to leave.

“I didn’t really get it then.” Su Xi lowered her head slightly, gliding her fingers along the smooth surface of the black lid of the piano. “At the time, I’m quite selfish despite my good grades. If I see a stranger in danger, I would surely stay far away, hoping that the trouble wouldn’t get to me.”

She looked up with soft eyes, continuing with her story.

The eighteen-year-old Su Xi watched Huang Qi turn to leave. After a few seconds of shock, she chased after him.

“Thank you, thank you... May I ask why you saved me?”

Huang Qi turned around. He had spiky, thick hair, tall and slim frame, and a stubborn, youthful face that made people think twice before provoking him.

Blood streamed down his nose again. He wiped it away. “No reason.”

Su Xi was even more confused.

It would make sense to her if Huang Qi had beef with the three delinquents, if Huang Qi wanted to win her over by saving her, or if there was any other reason.

But no, Huang Qi’s answer was that there wasn’t any reason.

“I don’t understand. Why did you help me then?”

It was Huang Qi’s turn to frown in confusion. In his world, it was only natural for one to help those in need. Why should there be a reason?

“I told you, there’s no why.” Huang Qi was getting irritated. With his hands in his pockets, he turned on his heels, his back hunched.

“Wait, don’t just go!” Su Xi caught up with him. “You...you’re hurt. I’ll buy medicine for you.”

Su Xi didn’t understand what she was thinking back then.

Perhaps she simply didn’t want to owe him a favor. Or perhaps she had become interested in the boy who was polar opposite to her without noticing.

That day, Su Xi bought Huang Qi medicine, and Huang Qi, without saying thanks, left with the medicine, as aloof as ever.

Since then, Su Xi had been secretly paying attention to Huang Qi.

Truthfully, she was a little disappointed to find out that Huang Qi was a problem student who had been giving all their teachers headaches. He never did homework and was always late to school. He was so hot-tempered that he got into conflicts with other students for the smallest things and would end up given the punishment of running on the track by teachers.

Then Su Xi found out that Huang Qi was orphaned.

In his fourth year in elementary school, he lost his parents to a car accident. Since then, he had been staying with his uncle.

His uncle was a gambling addict. After accumulating too much debt to pay off, the man ran away, leaving an empty, rundown house to Huang Qi. The boy only got to pay his tuition with the help of his neighbors.

The debt collectors came to harass him once every few days. That was how Huang Qi turned himself into a hedgehog with his spikes aimed at the outside world. To survive, he had to learn to fight, and he had to appear aggressive.

He had grown up in such a terrible environment, yet maintained a heart of gold that prompted him to help people thanks to his hobby: reading manga.

He spent much of his time reading manga for free at rental shops. He found a kindred spirit in the protagonists from shonen manga. Many shared his past of losing their parents young, and thus Huang Qi related to them much better than others.

At the time, protagonists from shonen manga always had a strong sense of justice. No matter how much difficulty they had gone through, no matter how lonely, desperate, and misunderstood they were, they maintained their moral codes, upholding justice and helping the weak against the oppressors.

That was how Huang Qi grew up.

“I get it now! Then you fell for him!” Gao Yang came to a conclusion. So this is the story of a lady from a rich family and a delinquent boy. The romance novels haven’t lied.

Su Xi shook her head with a chuckle. “That’s not the case. Although I kept an eye on him, it was more out of curiosity for someone living in a completely different world. Up until we graduated from high school, we only ever had one brief conversation.”

It was another day’s afternoon. Su Xi was bringing test papers to the teachers’ office.

There was no one there save for Huang Qi, all beaten up and sitting at a teacher’s desk, busy with writing a letter of self-reflection.

Su Xi didn’t even have to think to figure out that Huang Qi must have gotten into a fight again and gotten scolded and punished by his homeroom teacher.

When Su Xi placed the test papers on her teacher’s desk, walking past Huang Qi, she tilted her head to glance at him.

Noticing another’s gaze, Huang Qi reflexively covered the sheet of paper and shot her a glare. “What are you looking at?”

Su Xi said nonchalantly, “Why did you like fighting so much?”

“Who said that I liked fighting?” Huang Qi retorted stiffly.

Su Xi cocked her head. “The facts speak for themselves.”

“I just can’t sit by when someone’s doing bad things, but the teacher said I was being nosy.” Huang Qi huffed.

Su Xi paused. Before, she would’ve thought he was stepping in where he wasn’t needed, but last time, if he hadn’t intervened, the three delinquents would likely get their way with her.

Perhaps Huang Qi had gotten into every fight for justice, only his method was wrong.

“If you’ve got such a strong sense of justice, why don’t you become a police officer?” Su Xi blurted out. “Then being nosy will be your job.”

When Su Xi said that, she saw Huang Qi looking up at him.

She would never forget the way his eyes looked at that moment. It was as if he had been walking in a dark tunnel for a long long time before finally spotting a ray of light.

Su Xi, at present time, sighed softly. “After that, I hadn’t said another word to Huang Qi. A month later, an accident hit my family. My parents died in a fire at a hotel, leaving me behind.”

“I became orphaned overnight and stopped pursuing music. Instead, I got into a regular college and got a degree with a scholarship.”

“It was my third year in college when Huang Qi came to me.” Su Xi smiled. “It was the evening gathering on New Year’s Day. I performed a piano piece. When I got off the stage, I saw a young man smiling at me.”

“I almost didn’t recognize him. He was so different, almost a changed man. That night, we walked along the running track of the university and talked about everything, about the tragedy that hit my family, about the path he had gone through.”

Su Xi dove back into her memory.

In that office many years ago, her casual words had hit Huang Qi like a ray of light, a divine decree, waking him up from his aimless wander.

After that, Huang Qi started studying hard with the goal of becoming a police officer.

He was bright, and he quickly caught up with his studies. Performing surprisingly well at the entrance exams, he got into a good police academy.

Three years in the academy stripped him of his bad temper and made him into a successful young man who was just, mature, and well-mannered.

And he had woken up to his feelings. He realized that he couldn’t forget the girl who had changed his life.

He asked around about her.

Su Xi, who should’ve walked smoothly on the path to a music major and then a remarkable pianist, became an orphan and got into a regular college, selecting a regular major for greater job opportunities in the future with the highest scholarship, all the while working part-time to support herself.

Her only chance to play the piano was at the New Year gathering.

She was still beautiful and still had legions of admirers, but Huang Qi felt bad for her. She should’ve flown farther and higher.

Finally, Huang Qi mustered the courage to seek out Su Xi, at the New Year gathering in their junior year.

Looking up at the beautiful girl in white dress sitting in the spotlight on stage, playing the Moon Sonata gracefully like a princess from fairy tales, Huang Qi had many thoughts in his mind.

It all came down to one conclusion in the end: I love her.

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