Chapter 19: The Strong Are Respected

  "I want more." Next to him, after finishing eating, looking at Su Mo who had already started reading a book, he stared at Su Mo with a pair of pitiful, watery eyes, his voice as pitiful as possible, his tongue licking the outside of his lips uncontrollably, with an expression that said he hadn't eaten enough.

  Listening to this, Su Mo's mouth twitched slightly. It was indeed a rare treat for the young lady to eat such coarse food, and it had unexpectedly caught her eye. A hint of a smile flashed across her face, but quickly disappeared as she put on a serious expression, her voice also filled with solemnity, "That's all."

  This remark left Song Xue Li, who was still hungry, extremely disappointed. She pitifully tugged at Su Mo's sleeve and asked, "I'm still hungry, is there really nothing left? Where does your family live? Can I ask our driver to go buy some?"

  This remark entered Su Mo's ears and directly made her laugh. Indeed, she was a young lady from a wealthy family. This kind of thing was almost every household's coarse food, just enough to fill the stomach, rough grain. Generally, eating one large corn cake could get through a meal. People from their side, whose families were not very good, would eat these things. In their place, this thing was just rough grain, the lowest-grade food that city people looked down on. But how did it become a treasure in this young lady's eyes?

  "Alright, there's still food in the dorm, let's eat when we get back tonight. Can you even eat now? Be careful not to choke." As she said this, Su Mo also accepted Song Xue as a friend. This rich young lady had been spoiled since childhood, so it was understandable that her temper was a bit bad. After today's encounter, Su Mo discovered that this little girl actually wasn't bad at heart and was kind, so she decided to befriend her too.

  Song Xue Li, who was originally disappointed because Su Mo Ruo didn't give her an answer, suddenly smiled when she heard Su Mo Ruo's words. Her face expanded infinitely in front of Su Mo Ruo and then swiftly, "吧唧" (the sound of a kiss), left a fragrant kiss on Su Mo Ruo's cheek.

  Then came her loud and boisterous laughter.

  Wiped away the saliva on his face, his face was full of awkwardness, but in his heart, he had a subtle sense of relief.

  In the evening, she declined Song Xue Li's enthusiastic invitation to dinner and went directly to the library entrance to meet Lin Hanxiang. Neither of them was a talkative person, so after meeting, Lin Hanxiang took her to see the person in charge of the library here.

  Working part-time in the library, this was the job that Lin Han Xiang had found for her, which was to help sort out books, categorize and put away books that others had messed up, and in her free time, she could also read books for free inside.

  There are not only her, but also two males and one female who are doing part-time jobs. They are all students from poor families who need to supplement their income. The four of them got to know each other a little, so that they can help each other if there's any problem in the future work.

  A month has thirty days, four people on shift work, each person works for 15 days, two people in a group. Su Mo and a senior from the fourth year are in a group together. The man looks very neat, wearing a light gray casual windbreaker that's been washed until it's white, and a pair of jeans that have also been washed until they're white. His short hair is sleek and black, adding a hint of darkness to his whole person. They've worked together for a week now, but the chances of them having normal conversations are basically zero.

  And from the gossip heard in the library these days, it's also known that this man has a story.

  Born into a wealthy family, but an illegitimate child, not recognized by the family, drifting outside, his mother passed away early, leaving him alone, excellent academic performance, like Lin Huaxiang, is the leader of the grassroots class at Jinghua University, and many girls' object of admiration.

  Lin Hanxiang is the gentle prince, so he is also the dark prince. Because he never smiles at people, never talks to anyone, and in four years of university, he doesn't have a single friend. Even his dorm-mates can't exchange two sentences with him. His most common response is "uh-huh".

  Fortunately, Su Mo Ruo is a person who can be both calm and dynamic. Her past life as a special agent made her introverted, but this life's Su Mo Ruo makes her passionate like fire. So, facing such a big iceberg, she also appears to be in her element, fully devoting herself to work.

  "Tan Yunning, someone is looking for you." At around 6:30, when the library was busiest with people borrowing books, a voice echoed at the entrance, causing the busy but eerily calm man to lift his head. His eyes were like misty water, making it impossible to discern his true emotions.

  After being stunned for several seconds, he stopped working with his hands, looked up at Su Mo Ruo and pointed outside, then after getting a response from Su Mo Ruo, he stepped out of the library.

  Watching the solitary figure leave with a golden glow against the backdrop of dusk, Su Mo couldn't help but feel an inexplicable pang in her heart.

  Until nine thirty in the evening, Su Mo Ruo started cleaning up the gallery, but still didn't see Tan Yun Ning return. She furrowed her brow, thinking about when he left earlier today, although he didn't say anything, his eyes were well-hidden, but that faint light was still visible to her.

  Who came over today to see him? It's worth his excitement, and he went out for so long without coming back.

  It wasn't until all the work was done, around 9:50, when Su Mo took out the key to lock the door that he suddenly felt footsteps behind him. He turned his head abruptly and came face to face with a listless and dispirited face.

  Such a Tan Yunning, it was the first time they saw each other since working together for over a week. A pair of eyes that used to be deep and gloomy now looked hazy and sorrowful, thin lips pursed tightly, and his entire body exuded a strong sense of stubbornness. But it was this very stubbornness that made his vulnerable side even more pronounced in her eyes.

  "What...what's wrong with you?" Looking at Tan Yunning who sat down on the stairs outside the library, Su Mo asked in a slightly slow and tentative tone.

  “……”

  She didn't get an answer, and she wasn't willing to fawn over someone who was clearly uninterested, but for some reason, Tan Yunning was able to touch the softest spot in her heart. Looking at the man sitting on the ground, motionless, all she could do was sit down beside him, watching as he gazed up at the sky, his eyes fixed on something only he could see. The sky was pitch black, not a single star in sight, but he looked like he was beholding some beautiful scenery, unwilling to tear his gaze away for even a moment.

  "What are you looking at?" Su Mo had been staring at the pitch-black sky for a long time, puzzled in her heart, unable to understand how this man could be so determined to keep gazing up at the sky.

  "I'm watching people's hearts." This was their first conversation in over a week and Tan Yuning's first response to her question.

  Everyone is a sinner, Su Mo thought to herself. Before, this man didn't say a word to her, and she seemed calm, but now, suddenly hearing his response, she couldn't help but feel some excitement in her heart.

  But to his answer, she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Human nature? Tonight's sky is dark and boundless, without a single ray of light. In fact, this sentence makes a lot of sense. People's hearts are often like the dark sky, without a glimmer of light, black all the way through.

  What on earth had he gone through, why did he have such thoughts, today when he went out, who did he meet, and why after coming back, his whole person underwent a heaven-reversing and earth-overturning change, those eyes made people unable to bear looking at them, as if the despair before destruction, so incomprehensible, that it made people feel like their neck was being strangled, even breathing became difficult.

  "Yes, often the hearts of many people in this world are just like this sky." Along with Tan Yunning's words, Su Mo didn't know if he wanted to comfort her or not, and said so.

  The man who was gazing up at the dark sky with his head tilted back and his heart focused, slightly stiffened his body, in the darkness, one could see the outline of his face faintly trembling, and then met those black stone-like eyes, the profound and sea-like pupils contained a shocking loneliness, this seemed to be the gaze of an old man who had experienced thousands of years of vicissitudes, rather than that of a young man barely over twenty.