My Youth Began With Him

“You won’t have a chance to steal her… Mian is mine, no matter in this life, the next life, or the life after that,” Qin Chu said arrogantly…

Su Yu stood there without replying; he knew how much Qin Chu loved Huo Mian. He loved her so much that he was willing to sacrifice everything for her. That wasn’t something an ordinary person could do.

Su Yu used to say that he hated childhood sweethearts; he hated that he didn’t even get a chance to fairly compete for Huo Mian because he met her after Qin Chu did. If he could, he wanted to travel back to his high school years. If he could, he wouldn’t have enlisted. Instead, he would’ve attended 2nd High school, so he could meet that arrogant young woman…

South Hill Manor’s lights were lit the entire night, and everyone partied into Christmas Day. When the clock struck midnight, Uncle Li, dressed as Santa, pushed a cart into the living room that was filled with a dozen delicately-wrapped peace apples.

Huo Mian picked up an apple and handed it to Su Yu. “Here, this year’s almost over, and I hope that you can stay safe and healthy in the next year.”

Huo Mian gave her best wishes to Su Yu and smiled as she looked at him. Su Yu slowly took the apple from her hands without saying anything. If he remembered correctly, this was the first present that Huo Mian ever gave him, so he was trying to control himself from shaking with excitement. He looked down at the apple; it felt extremely heavy in his hand.

“What’s wrong? Is it too cheap for your taste?” Huo Mian laughed.

“No,” Su Yu immediately explained.

“Haha… eat it, legend has it that if you eat an apple on Christmas (TL note: Chinese tradition, sorta), you will live safely and peacefully. You’re Young Master Su, one of the richest people in the city. You have all the money in the world, and I didn’t know what to give you as a Christmas present, so I figured that I should buy you guys apples.”

“Thank you,” Su Yu held the apple tightly in his hand and thanked Huo Mian, all while suppressing the complicated wave of emotions that came rushing to his mind.

Huo Mian handed the apples to all the guests until there was only one left. She took that last one, cut it into two with a fruit knife, and gave Qin Chu the other half.

“Honey… from now on, I’m safe, as long as you’re safe…” Huo Mian said.

Upon hearing what Huo Mian said, Qin Chu’s expression wavered slightly as he took the apple and took a small bite.

Huo Mian ate her half of the apple as she looked lovingly at Qin Chu with a sweet smile on her face.

Su Yu saw their brief exchange and felt tears well up in his eyes. Wei Liao walked up to him and patted his shoulder. “See? I told you not to go where Qin Chu and Huo Mian went, you’re basically asking to be tortured…”

“It’s fine, I’ve cultivated for a long time to become the man of steel, and my heart’s no longer made of glass.”

“What is it made of?” Curious, Wei Liao asked, to which Su Yu laughed and answered, “Tempered glass.”

“Isn’t tempered glass also glass? It’s the same sh*t,” Wei Liao laughed and exclaimed.

After Song Yishi left South Hill Manor, she didn’t go directly go home. Instead, she drove to the Qin Manor in a fury.

Mrs. Qin was applying a face mask when she arrived; Qin Yumin wasn’t feeling well, so he was already asleep in their bedroom upstairs.

“Mrs. Qin…” She walked over prissily.

“Yishi, it’s so late, why are you here?” Mrs. Qin was surprised to see Song Yishi.

“Mrs. Qin, I’m useless… I embarrassed you,” Song Yishi said as she suddenly burst out in tears, leaving Mrs. Qin flabbergasted…