Chapter: Chapter 296, Why is everyone looking at me?
Chapter 296: Why is everyone looking at me?
A beautiful woman, a gentleman admires.
Qin Shou had always considered himself a true scoundrel.
So, when he was at school and faced with a beautiful girl, he would choose to spend money directly rather than uttering any high-sounding sweet talk to deceive her.
However, this move, which had always been effective, had clearly failed now.
He wasn’t discouraged, but merely felt a bit nostalgic.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t mean it like that. I know I can’t compare to your Brother Chen An. I’m just passing by this time and wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have said those things when we were kids and mocked you…”
Qin Shou’s words made the young girl pause slightly.
Her memory seemed to travel back to that afternoon.
The world of children wasn’t just filled with laughter and joy; it had its share of unpleasant aspects as well.
Perhaps to them, it was just an irrelevant prank, an action taken subconsciously to follow the crowd.
But to the girl, it could very well have been a psychological shadow that would be difficult to heal for a lifetime.
…
…
The evening sky was painted with a rosy red hue as the open space of the orphanage was filled with people.
They were children, laughing boisterously and pointing in a certain direction.
There were about seven or eight of them, both boys and girls.
The direction they were pointing at was a small, rectangular pool of water.
The pool had been abandoned for some time, but a heavy rain for the past two days had refilled it.
A pale little hand gripped the edge of the pool, slowly pulling itself up.
The pool was shallow, so falling in wouldn’t be a major incident, but it was certain to result in a rather pathetic appearance.
This was a very thin little girl.
Her hair was wet, clinging to her forehead, and water droplets kept dripping down, making a pattering sound.
A gust of evening wind blew, causing her to release her grip on the edge of the pool. She then hugged herself tightly, shivering slightly in an attempt to ward off the cold.
Before her, undisguised laughter echoed, laced with ill-intentioned teasing.
“See, I told you, she can’t see, she can’t see!”
“She’s blind, stupid to death!”
Someone started the taunting, which was immediately echoed by a chorus of their companions.
The children’s laughter swept across the open space. One might have thought the orphanage director had come to hand out candy again.
The girl bit her pale lips, standing silently in the pool, silently bearing everything.
Her clothes were soaked, sticking to her skin, feeling clammy. It reminded her of the towel a woman had draped over her during that fire, making her feel nauseous, wanting to vomit.
Until, the cheerful laughter suddenly stopped.
She couldn’t see what was happening, only hearing a splash, the sound of clothes being torn, and a few cries of pain.
Then, she heard the voice that had started the commotion shout angrily, “Chen An, are you crazy? Do you really think I’m afraid of you!”
The only response was a few more fierce punches.
The orphanage wasn’t always a place of peace; fights were common occurrences.
However, everyone usually had a tacit understanding not to gang up on someone; it was always one-on-one duels.
Just like now, even though there were seven or eight people in a group, none of them stepped forward to help. They merely clenched their little fists, watching the fight with excitement.
The girl couldn’t see to know who the victor of the fight was in the end.
But she could feel someone come and take her hand.
Their palms met, and she was led out of the pool.
“Ouch… Let’s go, I’ll take you to change clothes.”
The voice was not gentle; on the contrary, it sounded a bit strained due to pain.
It wasn’t until a few days later that the girl slowly pieced together the truth of the entire incident from others.
And from that day on, no one dared to tease her in private again.
…
Her drifting thoughts returned, and the girl’s thin lips parted slightly, slowly uttering a few words.
“You really aren’t as good.”
Qin Shou was stunned for a moment. It took him a while to realize she was talking about him not being as good as Chen An.
However, it was one thing for him to mock himself, but quite another for the person involved to state it so directly.
His face twitched fiercely. His face flushed red as he wanted to retort, but in the end, he chose to turn around and leave in silence.
The open space returned to silence, with only the faint sound of reading drifting from the background. The children of the orphanage were attending classes.
A moment later, Chen Xi continued to stare at the photo on her phone.
Until a suddenly popped-up news headline made her unfocused pupils gradually focus.
“Shocking! High-definition recording of the celestial phenomena at Mount Longhu in the capital!”
The young girl frowned slightly and clicked on it.
Although it was called a recording, it was actually just a series of pictures.
The clarity of the pictures was somewhat blurry, suggesting they were taken directly with a phone.
But even so, that sense of apocalyptic pressure was subtly transmitted through the screen.
Chen Xi’s heart clenched slightly, as she remembered that a certain young man had gone to study at Mount Longhu in the capital.
Though she had no idea what kind of university was located on Mount Longhu.
Her fair fingertips slid down, quickly reaching the very bottom, the comment section.
Some netizens’ comments came into view.
“Legendary 50-cent special effects?”
“You know, it actually looks quite convincing.”
“Another Daoist friend crossing the Tribulation?”
Most of the comments expressed doubt and were playful memes.
However, there were also a minority of people who firmly believed in cultivation, forming distinct factions in the comment section.
The young girl exited the news and switched to her messages page.
She thought for a moment, then composed a message to that one lonely friend.
Her fingertips touched the send button, then suddenly stopped.
Looking at the long string of concerned words, the girl’s expression showed a hint of hesitation.
She deleted and revised for a long time, finally seeming satisfied before clicking send.
A long message ultimately became just three simple words.
“Miss you.”
…
…
The capital, Mount Longhu.
Chen An, who was being thought of by a certain young girl, was currently eating hot pot.
In fact, he had been eating earlier, but his meal was interrupted by Mu Sanniang’s sudden appearance.
There’s an old saying in Xia Country.
Since they’ve come, it’s just adding another pair of chopsticks.
The small pot in front of him was emitting steam, with various prepared ingredients bobbing in it.
Cultivators could abstain from grains, but Chen An had never liked such ascetic practices.
So, he would occasionally indulge himself and do things that were completely useless, or even detrimental, to cultivators.
He picked up a thin slice of potato, covered in red oil, a few peppercorns, and chili spices.
It was fragrant and very tempting.
Without thinking too much, the young man reached to put it into his mouth.
However, the simultaneous gaze of three pairs of eyes made him instinctively stop his hand.
The potato slice hung in mid-air, perfectly steady, not trembling at all.
It could be inferred that the hand holding it was also very steady.
Chen An coughed lightly.
“Why is everyone looking at me?”
