Chapter 7 Reunion (Part 1)

  Desperately, desperately, desperately running, Gu Huanli only desperately ran forward, completely forgetting herself on the midnight road paved with gravel. The empty surroundings, with only a few trees and electric poles quickly retreating backwards, Gu Huanli didn't even notice, and was already starting to get a little frantic, until after a long time, she couldn't even catch her breath, before realizing that she had already left the giant monster lurking in the darkness far behind.

  It's okay, there is that very bright North Star on the horizon, Gu Huanli remembers the direction of her aunt's house, so she didn't even think about it and ran straight to her destination. Even if sometimes she had to deviate from the road, or run with one foot deep in the soil, she couldn't care less.

  At dawn, the streets were very deserted, with only the traffic lights still flashing.

  Gu Huanli hugged her shoulders, staggering along, the clothes on her body had long been dirty beyond recognition. Her small face, the size of a palm, was covered in black soot, only a pair of shiny black eyes could be seen.

  So hungry...

  She rubbed her dry stomach with the palm of her hand wrapped in a cloth strip, and smiled bitterly. It's really hard to be a hero for just one cent. Okay, she wasn't a hero, she was just a primary school student with a mind over 20 years old but a body only 8 years old. However, on the way here, she was really starving to death. The problem was that those two kidnappers actually found an abandoned factory in the suburbs, and she had walked all night without seeing even a public phone booth or a farmhouse.

  What saved her life was her foot, which she didn't know if it was sprained or fractured, but it hurt a lot. At that time, fortunately, she hadn't torn off the adhesive tape on her mouth, and now it came in handy to cover the wound on her arm cut by glass, otherwise, even if she escaped, she would have died from excessive blood loss.

  Now, her only hope is that the earth is round, oh, and another one, don't be caught up by the kidnappers. She was thinking, suddenly two bicycles appeared in front of her, no matter whether she dodged to the left or right, she would definitely be knocked down by one of them, it's better to stand still and wait for them to pass...

  "Help!!!" Gu Huanli turned around and shouted loudly at those two people, "Save me!!!!!!!!!""

  "Hmph..." The sky-blue mountain bike came to a stop, and the boy wearing a sky-blue jersey with a sketchpad on his back said to his companion who had also stopped, "Did you just brush against that little girl?"

  A youth in black sportswear replied coldly, "No."

  "But... " The blue-clothed youth turned his head to look at the little girl stumbling towards them, and said in confusion, "Don't you think her school uniform looks very familiar?"

  "Yes, you and I both wore it, but it was two or three years ago."

  "What I mean is, a girl who's qualified to wear the uniform of Ci Ji Elementary School would end up in such a miserable state?" The boy in blue turned his bike around and headed back the way he came.

  "Likes to meddle in other people's affairs."

  Gu Huanli gazed at the two people riding their bikes, getting closer and closer to her, and finally let out a long sigh of relief. It was true that in such moments, encountering people, encountering hope for survival, the heart she had been suspending finally put down. Her eyes were filled with gratitude as she looked at the two people, it was an inevitable gaze like seeing an oasis after walking dehydrated in the desert for a long time.

  When she saw a certain person's face, she still couldn't help but retreat three steps, one foot stepping on a stone and then falling to the ground. However, this eerie feeling had already disturbed Gu Huanli's mind, and it was hard to shake off. Her body was sending out signals of danger, making her no longer in the mood to appreciate the boy she had never seen before, even though he was someone she had deeply regretted not meeting in her youth. She struggled to get up, but her palms were already sore from supporting herself on the ground, and her ankle, which hadn't been a problem before, was now throbbing with pain. She knew that running into him would bring no good, not one bit of good!

  Feeling the hard and cold sensation beneath her, Gu Huanli couldn't help but smile wryly to herself. Well, this is just great, both of her ankles are acting up now, even if they were a mismatched pair.

  "Little girl, are you okay?" The boy in blue clothes squeezed the brake and stopped at a distance from her, asking with concern.

  Gu Huanli struggled to get up, but she was too tired and weak, so she sat on the ground, answering in a bad mood, "It depends on how you define 'good'."

  "Hmph..." The blue-clothed youth couldn't help but burst out laughing. He propped up the cart, then walked to Gu Huan's side, stretched out his hand and softly asked, "Can you still stand?"

  "If I can stand up, why should I still be sitting?" Gu Huanli glared at the blue-clothed youth, this person either had a problem with his eyes or a problem with his brain.

  "I think she's fine, let's just leave her alone." The black-clad youth said with a shrug, sounding impatient.

  The surroundings suddenly became quiet, so quiet that the sound of the wind could be heard. After a while, Gu Huanlin could even hear his own heartbeat. That's right, he was so cold and cruel! Gu Huanlin hated herself for putting her hopes on him, was she really desperate? That's right, she was fine, very fine! This lifetime, she would never do anything stupid again, especially not for this scoundrel!

  A knife on her head, even twelve linked knives wouldn't make her flinch. Gu Huanli stood up, biting her teeth, with sweat all over her face and panting heavily. "I didn't need you to care about me anyway!" she said, her eyelashes lowered, a cold and distant expression on her face, but her whole body exuding a faintly sorrowful aura, an unusual stubbornness.

  After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked away with a tottering gait. Her face was devoid of any blood color, and her eyes, which were once bright and lively, had lost all their luster, leaving only a dull and pale complexion. It was as if the lotus flower had suddenly withered and died, leaving behind only a few scattered leaves that rustled in the wind and fell in the rain, no longer exuding its former elegance and resilience.

  "Little girl!" The boy in blue grabbed her wrist and said with a bitter smile, "Yichen was just joking with you, besides, he doesn't care, I do."

  She took a deep breath of cool air, and Gu Huan Lian only stopped in her tracks, but was unwilling to turn around. She thought to herself: Perhaps she still hadn't adjusted properly, the emptiness within her heart, and her anger. She straightened her back with effort, her mouth full of bitter taste. As an adult, she didn't want to bicker with two children; as a child, she wasn't qualified to demand that others fulfill her hopes. So, she stood there silently, gazing up at the blue sky above, and the ever-changing white clouds.

  "Alright, Yichen, there's plenty of time to write later... I think she's hurt..." The blue-clothed youth started speaking casually, but when he turned around and carefully examined the faintly visible wounds under Cui Huanli's tattered school uniform, he couldn't help but be shocked. "Little girl, did you encounter some kind of danger?"

  This guy not only has a sick brain, but also sick eyes, and his reflex arc is long too! Gu Huanli stared at him helplessly, sighed, and said in a low voice, "I was kidnapped outside the school yesterday, and I escaped when the kidnapper went out to make an extortion call. It's just that when I jumped out of the window, I didn't notice, and as a result, I ended up like this."

  "Kidnapping?"

  At this point, even the face of the black-clad youth changed.

  "Otherwise, I'm an eight-year-old girl who shouldn't be out in the wilderness at this time when the end-of-term exam results are about to come out." Gu Huanli sighed deeply, her eyes showing a hint of helplessness, frustration and evasion.

  "Your home...... no, let's send you to the hospital first!" The blue-clothed youth bent down and directly picked up Gu Huanli, saying softly, "Sorry, I was too careless earlier, otherwise, I would have discovered your injuries sooner."

  "It should be me thanking you." Gu Huanli shook her head, hiding in the blue-clothed boy's arms and not even glancing at the black-clothed boy opposite her. "However, I'd still like to ask you to call my aunt and uncle after sending me to the hospital. I... don't want them to worry about me."

  The boy in blue hugged her stiff body and said softly, "Okay."

  Just then, a loud shout came from behind, "Put her down for me!"

  They're coming after us!

  Gu Huanli gripped the blue-clad boy's collar tightly, her whole body trembling. She wanted to escape with her life, but she didn't want the blue-clad boy to encounter danger; she wanted to say magnanimously "You go first, they only want me", but she didn't have the qualifications to put on such a saintly act. Moreover, that black-clad boy was... him!

  Gu Huan had thought they would reunite, this world is indeed big yet small, but she hadn't expected it to be on the third day of her rebirth, when she was in a desperate situation bordering on suicidal.

  There was no joy, nor was there any excitement. Gu Huan Lian simply did not want to see him, purely did not want to. Because she knew that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, the deeper she hated him, the deeper she loved him. Once, she had indeed deeply loved him, but she had already given her life for this mistaken love, which was the greatest value a person could pay. From then on, she became indifferent, tired, not wanting to struggle anymore, not wanting to entangle herself again, and even being able to be strangers would be the best.

  Now, fate is drawing them together again. But this time, will he save her? And then she'll give herself to him and finally end it all with suicide? If fate is just going to repeat itself like that, why did she need to be reborn? Just to experience the heartbreak of having to kill herself once more?

  No, she didn't want to owe him anything, and she didn't want their lives to have any more involvement with each other!

  "Let me go, after all, they want to capture is me, this matter has nothing to do with you." Gu Huanli gently closed her eyes and said faintly, "I have no reason to drag you into this danger."

  The boy in blue was taken aback, he didn't expect the little girl in his arms to say something like that. She seemed very calm, trying to hide her fear. However, her slightly trembling lips and flickering eyes revealed her unease. She's only seven or eight years old, what kind of family could raise such a special child? The boy's heart couldn't help but ache, he reached out his hand and gently wiped away the tears from her eyes, as gentle as touching dew on grass leaves. "Little girl, you haven't told me your home phone number yet."