Her words fell, resonating with conviction.
But Li Wu froze in place, sitting in his chair, unable to think of a response for a long time.
Should it be "Thank you"? Or "Sorry"?
Li Wu's pupils were filled with confusion, like a dandelion drifting through the world, not knowing where it would land and forgetting its point of origin.
"I... what should I do?"
"Do what you used to do. For example, secretly putting on headphones to listen to songs in class."
"But I didn't bring headphones."
"I have some."
Kiana fished out a pair of white wired earphones from her bag and handed them to Li Wu.
Li Wu lowered his head, staring somewhat dully at the small wired earphones in his palm.
They didn't look special at all, incredibly ordinary even. It was hard to imagine these were earphones used by the young miss of Schicksal.
"Don't people use Bluetooth earphones nowadays?" Li Wu remembered clearly that wired earphones were long outdated.
Kiana remained silent, her gaze suddenly darting away. After holding it in for a long time, she finally whispered back, "These are... cheap."
Cheap?
Whether in the game plot or the comic plot.
The Kaslana family never mistreated their own. Being protective was practically a family tradition. Especially in this world where the family's power was unprecedentedly strong, as the young miss of the family, how could she possibly lack money? The monthly allowance Far East nobles gave their children was enough for an ordinary person to live on for a year working part-time, let alone the most powerful family in the world. Being short of money had nothing to do with her.
Did the family not give her an allowance?
Li Wu was utterly confused and couldn't figure it out. He simply pushed those thoughts aside and plugged the earphones into his phone.
Before playing a song, Li Wu looked up. His gaze traveled from Kiana's neat school uniform to her slightly embarrassed, exquisitely beautiful face.
For some reason, a bunch of content suddenly popped into his head. Before he could filter it, his mouth instinctively blurted out: "Wait, you're not fishing for me, are you? Wait for me to start listening to music and then severely criticize me, then drag in some random famous quotes and big principles I don't understand..."
After speaking, Li Wu was stunned. A familiar feeling welled up in his heart, but this tone and mood were fleeting, leaving him scratching his head.
"Give me your phone," Kiana said coldly, seeming a little angry, yet a little happy.
"A phone is a personal item. Our relationship isn't close enough for me to give my phone to..." Li Wu reverted to his polite and upright appearance.
"Phone. Give it to me."
Kiana's tone didn't change, and even the content was exactly the same, only she paused while speaking.
Reason told Li Wu that personal items shouldn't be handed over casually, but his body didn't listen to his brain. Reflexively, he took his phone out of his bag.
"Password."
"114514..."
Wait, what's wrong with me?
Giving the phone is one thing, but why did I even blurt out the password?
So spineless?
No, this isn't me. I must regain my social dignity with valid reasons.
Li Wu took a deep breath, calming the chaotic feelings in his heart. Just as he was about to speak up to fight for himself, the prelude of music suddenly came through the earphones.
Ethereal, clear, gentle.
Amidst this relaxed prelude, Kiana's voice remained clear and bright, "Only for today's morning study. No listening during class. Also, you aren't allowed to say the earphones are mine. If you have time, you can search online for information about 'depersonalization'."
With that, Kiana walked back to her seat and immersed herself in the ocean of books again, completely ignoring external disturbances.
Li Wu had to give up the idea of fighting back and sat quietly in his seat listening to the music.
In the large classroom, there were only the two of them.
The soft glow of the morning sun sneaked in like an elf, mischievously shuttling through the empty classroom. One moment it ran onto Li Wu's face, gently stroking the scabbed wound; the next moment it ran into Kiana's eyes, reflecting not only text but also Li Wu, who had closed his eyes to focus on listening to the song.
She suddenly smiled, a very light smile that no one saw.
"Wish I could tell you that's where you belong;"
"Wish I could make you smile when you feel alone;"
"There's one last thing to pray—"
"I'll be your light..."
Li Wu was completely immersed in the music. He thought Kiana had chosen a soothing lullaby, given that Kiana herself was very quiet.
He didn't expect the music to become more and more uplifting later on. Every tune was full of vitality and hope, unknowingly captivating him completely. He closed his eyes and enjoyed it with all his heart.
What was the old Li Wu like?
What do I need to do to find my old self back?
Who am I?
Numerous questions were suddenly thrown to the back of his mind. The whole world was both noisy and quiet.
Noisy enough that everything he saw and heard was the music personally selected by Young Miss Kiana.
Quiet enough that apart from the singing, no other thoughts appeared.
When the song ended, Li Wu opened his eyes again and looked at Kiana. She was engrossed in reading the book in her hand.
Actually, Li Wu wanted to say that the singer's voice sounded very much like hers. But seeing Kiana's focused appearance, Li Wu decided not to disturb her.
As the melodious morning bell rang from the campus broadcast, classmates arrived in the classroom one after another, including Raiden Mei.
The moment she walked into the classroom, Raiden Mei's gaze instantly fell on Li Wu, who was listening to music. Joy, excitement, self-blame, guilt... complex emotions intertwined in her heart.
"Li Wu, do you... still remember me?"
After Raiden Mei asked this very strange question, the surrounding classmates cast baffled glances.
"Aren't they together? Why ask such a thing suddenly?"
"Who knows? Maybe they broke up, just like that boy last semester. But that boy couldn't take it and transferred schools. It's really funny; he couldn't even pick a side properly and thought he could have a secret affair with Raiden Mei."
Whispers came from the crowd again.
But fearing Kiana's authority, they were obviously much more restrained this time. There was no malicious slander; the comments were all conservatively stated facts.
Raiden Mei bit her lip tightly, her teeth leaving several marks on it. Her gaze remained focused on Li Wu; she didn't care about other people's gossip.
Li Wu took off his earphones, afraid that the other party would think he was putting on airs, so he took the initiative to explain: "Um, excuse me, what did you just ask me? I was listening to music and didn't hear."
(PS: Music: "My Color". The relationship between Li Wu and Kiana later on is very similar to this song.)