I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

...No, it's not so legitimate, nor so just, but rather a purer, simpler... "revenge".

Chapter Fourteen: Dawn/Hope...What a wonderful word (5545)

"Hmm... the hospital ceiling..."

Xi Wang opened her eyes somewhat groggily, looking at the pure white ceiling. The smell of disinfectant, typical of hospitals, filled her nostrils. Xi Wang quickly realized where she was.

"Looks like your brain hasn't been fried, not bad, [Journal]."

"Ah, Brother Li."

Hearing the voice of someone she knew, Xi Wang tried to prop herself up with her hands, but the pain in her hands stopped her.

"it hurts!"

"You know it hurts, why are you still forcing yourself to endure it?"

Li said somewhat angrily, then stepped forward and lifted Xi Wang up with a movement that wouldn't hurt him but was still a bit rough, and then let him sit on the bed.

"Thanks, Brother Li!"

"Laughing, laughing at you (swearing)! Look at yourself! How can you still laugh?!"

Li pointed to the scars still on Xi Wang's body, especially the gauze on her face and the bandages wrapped around her hands, and gave Xi Wang a verbal lecture.

"Look at your face! What have you done to it?! And your hands, look at your hands! Don't you feel pain? Huh? And you're still laughing... If you've been bullied, tell us! If someone doesn't like you, tell us! Don't act like you're the only one hiding in a corner, looking all wronged and not saying a word. What are you doing, playing the ostrich?!"

"If someone insults you, you insult them back? If someone targets you, you fight back? If you can't beat them, you call for help? I'm just bored anyway, what's the big deal if you come back and say a few words to me? You think you're so tough just because you're taking it all by yourself?!"

"Look at the mess you've made of yourself! What about the piano? Aren't you practicing? What about the singing? Aren't you singing? You still have a competition, what? You're not going?!"

"Do you know that if you keep doing this, you'll ruin your health and your hands will definitely be ruined? You can forget about playing the piano or singing anymore, you'll be starving!"

"...Laughing, still laughing? Laughing at you (swearing)?!"

Seeing that Xi Wang was still smiling after he finished speaking, and even seemed to be smiling more and more happily, Li was a little worried that the kid might have a fever and damaged his brain.

"...Your fever has gone down, so why are you still so confused? You're still grinning like an idiot."

Li, not believing in such things, reached out and touched Xi Wang's forehead, only to find that the silly boy had foolishly pressed himself against her, which made Li a little scared.

"No, Brother Li... I'm just very happy."

Xi Wang was still smiling, smiling more happily than ever before.

"Because right now... I can truly feel that I am being cared for and loved by you... so I am really... happy."

"Don't talk about those lovey-dovey things, they're disgusting, you know?"

"I'm so sorry about that~"

Xi Wang tilted her head and said in a light and slightly mischievous tone.

"However, I... am really happy. At least this proves that what I insisted on and what I chose were not wrong."

"........."

"Brother Li, I'm so sorry to have made you worry again... I could smell it, Brother Li still smells of cigarettes on you, and it's really strong... Is it because you were so worried about smoking? And... Brother Li probably didn't sleep all night, his eyes are quite bloodshot."

"Who do you think caused all this, you stinky [record player]?"

"I'm so sorry... How about I sing you a song, Brother Li? You can choose any song, okay? Consider it my apology~"

"...I need you to play the piano. Can you do it now?"

"Sure, but we'll have to wait a little while... I specifically learned a technique called 'a cappella,' which allows me to simulate the parts of an instrument with my voice, but I'm not very proficient yet, so we'll have to wait a bit longer..."

"I'm telling you to flick it with your hand!"

Hearing Xi Wang's unchanging, almost always cheerful tone, Li finally couldn't help but shout loudly, then realized that they were in a hospital and quickly lowered his voice.

"What's wrong with you? Huh? What's wrong with you, you jukebox? Aren't you angry? Why are you still laughing like that? Why are you still chatting happily with me here? And joking around like this? Huh? Do you even know what you've done to deserve this?"

"Look at your injuries! Look at your hands! Didn't you love music the most? Didn't you love playing the piano the most? Look at yourself! How can you play now?! Tell me!"

"It'll be alright..."

"Don't interrupt me!"

Hearing Xi Wang's aggrieved rebuttal, Li felt a surge of irritation.

"What's wrong with you?! You're resisting?! You're punching me! The school's not going to expel you or what, it's just a school-wide reprimand, it's just writing a self-criticism, can't you handle that?!"

"I see you running around all day, going up and down, and you're in good shape. You're not a skinny stick. I envy your strong physique. You're good-looking and not as big as us. You also have a delicate face like a girl. How did you end up like this?"

"You were so enthusiastic when you were helping people, working all day without ever complaining. But what happened? Look at you! They attacked you, they came to cause you trouble, and what did you do? You just collapsed to the ground and got beaten up. What are you doing?!"

"You're still laughing?!"

Li felt like his head was about to explode, and at one point even wanted to give this silly roe deer in front of him a standard combo.

"Because... I'm really happy to be cared for... Brother Li."

Xi Wang smiled, a smile full of happiness.

"........."

One sentence left Li speechless. The rebuke that was about to come out seemed so powerless in the face of this sentence that Li forgot to refute it.

"Brother Li, I'll sing you a song, okay? As an apology~"

Xi Wang smiled and spoke again. Without waiting for Li's response, she raised her hands, ignoring the bandages still wrapped around them and the constant stinging pain. She simply tightened her fingertips slightly, holding a non-existent zither and bow, her eyelids slightly lowered, with a hint of pride and confidence. Then... she slowly pulled the non-existent bow and softly hummed a beautiful melody.

????~

His voice was very soft, with occasional tremolos that didn't quite fit the tune. Clearly, he was still in pain, but... he persevered, humming a light and cheerful tune to himself, as if to share the joy he felt from being cared for with Li.

Li remained silent and did not interrupt him, because Li knew that this was something Xi Wang insisted on, and he had to repay Li's concern with this song. If he was not allowed to continue, he would continue to make trouble, and in the end he might even get angry with him... So let him be.

"That's fine, we can talk about the rest when you're better."

Once the music had finished a section, Li quickly spoke up, pulling him out of the world of music.

"Okay~ It's a deal~"

Xi Wang didn't insist anymore and just smiled and agreed.

"Brother Li, you shouldn't smoke so much in the future, Yin won't like you... I still have lollipops in my pocket... Ah, the nurse should have put them in the drawer, look for them, if you're craving something, you can put them in your mouth."

"Alright, alright, I know you're thoughtful, stop thinking about me and think about yourself."

Li said with a mix of helplessness and irritation, pulling out a drawer from the bedside table. Sure enough, there were a few lollipops inside. He grabbed one, tore off the wrapper, and popped it into his mouth to relieve his craving for cigarettes, which was flaring up again due to his irritability.

"I've already covered your medical and hospital fees... Wait a minute, don't say anything yet, I didn't say I was going to waive them for you."

Li Gang had barely started speaking when he raised his hand to interrupt Xi Wang, who was about to say something, and continued.

"Use the money you've saved up to buy your cello. Once you're better, go earn money for me. The job I introduced you to doesn't count. Take your cello and busk on the street. We'll split the money 90/10, I'll take 90/10 and you take 10/10. Consider this your way of paying me back, okay?"

"...Okay, thanks, Brother Li~"

"Tch...you jukebox are really hard to deal with..."

Li pursed his lips and prepared to get up and leave... He had other things to do.

"Alright, get some rest and recover properly. We'll see later..."

"Xi Wang?!"

Before Li could finish speaking, a slightly panicked shout rang out from the doorway. The voice was unique and highly recognizable—it was Eden.

"Eden? Good afternoon~"

Xi Wang peeked out and greeted the person who came, but then asked with some concern.

"Is it still during class? Eden, are you okay?"

"You're still talking about your class at a time like this?"

Li pouted, looking somewhat disappointed.

"I...I heard from the teacher that you were in the hospital, so I took leave...Wait, your hand?!"

Eden quickly noticed Xi Wang's bandaged hands, his pupils contracted slightly, and he rushed forward to Xi Wang's bedside, his panic barely concealed.

She knew very well how important a pair of healthy and dexterous hands were to someone studying art, almost as important as a doctor's hands.

but now……

"It's okay~ It's just a minor injury, it'll be fine after some rest~"

While comforting the somewhat flustered and anxious Eden, Xi Wang gently waved goodbye to Li.

"........."

Originally intending to leave quietly to give the two some space, Li was speechless. He could only purse his lips, leave with the words "I won't disturb you, I'm leaving now," and then quickly left.

"But who were those people in the matches after that...?"

"Brother Li is my friend~ He's a language expert, he can speak many regional dialects, and I've learned a lot from him. Although he looks a bit scary, he's a very nice person... Ah, as for the competition, I might have to ask you and the teacher to help me withdraw from it~ I'm afraid I won't be able to make it now."

"But……"

"Okay, Eden, I'm fine~"

Xi Wang smiled and deliberately moved his hands in front of Eden... But Eden clearly saw the occasional flash of forbearance in his eyes, and his brows would furrow slightly from time to time, indicating that his hands were still in pain.

"Don't move, you should...don't move, rest well."

Eden disregarded everything else and quickly reached out to press his hand down. The slender and smooth hand gently pressed against the bandaged hand, and Eden couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Because she suddenly remembered what Xi Wang had told her before—"Our experiences and encounters mean that it is difficult for us to understand each other's current situation."

Yes... she really didn't expect, much less understand, that Xi Wang would be in such a... terrible situation.

Although she vaguely sensed that the other students were ostracizing Xi Wang, and guessed that Xi Wang might be being targeted and bullied by other students, she never expected it to be so serious.

Because she had never experienced anything like this before! She could never have imagined that a classmate who acted so friendly in front of her would do such a thing to another person "like her," to Xi Wang...!

She understood why Xi Wang said she was too dazzling, so dazzling that Xi Wang even felt envious... because they were doing the same things, and they were similar in many ways, but the feedback they received was completely different.

"I'm sorry... Xiwang... I'm sorry, I... I didn't expect you to be... in this situation."

Eden didn't know what to say, let alone how to comfort Xiwang... because she could vaguely guess that Xiwang's current state might be related to her.

Any apology, any verbal apology, seems so pale and powerless in the face of facts filled with pain and scars.