Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

On October 11th, he made chicken soup.

I'm sick, I have a high fever and I'm delirious.

My mother stayed to take care of me, which was unusual for her, but I had a terrible nightmare.

I dreamt that in that rainy back alley, he was stabbed by the man with the knife while protecting me.

There was blood everywhere, and he fell into the mud and told me to run.

When I woke up, I was trembling with fear. I couldn't imagine what I would do if he weren't in this world.

Then, I heard his voice outside the door.

He said, "Don't be afraid, Auntie is inside with you, and I'll guard the door outside."

That one sentence pulled me back from the brink of disaster.

Later, he brought over chicken soup, and cleverly saved face for my mother.

Watching his busy figure in the kitchen, and that mischievous little rice ball.

Suddenly, I realized that this is the future I want.

One house, two people, three meals a day, four seasons.

If only things could stay like this forever.

The coded message on the draft paper, dated November 5th.

"I was furious today when I was grading Xie Wang's English test. The grammar was a complete mess, like a dog had chewed it."

To punish him, I wrote "You are such an idiot" on the draft paper.

This scoundrel then added, "But I love this idiot's teacher."

I pretended to be calm on the surface and even covered the paper with my workbook.

Actually... after I went back to my room, I cut out that note and put it in my physics book.

He always has this magic; he can say things that make my heart race in the most casual tone.

Xie Wang, do you even realize that your self-righteous favoritism is truly unfair?

When Xie Wang saw this, his mouth practically stretched to his ears in a wide grin.

"Oh, Ms. Su, so you secretly kept my love letter."

He felt like a fool who had fallen into a honey pot.

The diary is almost finished.

Xie Wang turned to the last page.

The ink on this page is still fresh, clearly written just tonight.

There were no records of daily trivialities on it, only a passage written specifically for him and left for him to read.

To Xie Wang:

As I write this, you're right outside the door, pretending not to know about our surprise in the classroom.

Your acting is really bad, but I'm still happy because you're willing to become a fool for us.

Xie Wang is eighteen years old.

I know your past is filled with darkness, loneliness, and hatred.

I know you are burdened by the death of Aunt Xie Wan, I know you are secretly scheming against Tianlong Group, and I know you are walking on thin ice with every step you take.

You always feel that you are not good enough.

But Xie Wang, look up.

You won the national competition, you beat Shadow, you broke the high jump record in front of the whole school, and you saved a child who had fallen into the water.

You are already the most dazzling presence at Jiangcheng No.1 High School.

I'm giving you this diary because I want to tell you—

My world was originally a precisely designed straight line, but you rammed it into a magnificent parabola.

Don't be afraid of implicating me, and don't feel like you'll become a burden to me.

They often say that true love is about fighting side by side.

From now on, whether it's the college entrance exam in your senior year or fighting against Gu Nan, I will walk with you.

Happy 18th birthday, my big boy.

May your future be filled with smooth sailing and triumphs.

And I will always be on your course.

—Forever yours, Su Qinghe.

"Clatter".

A scalding tear fell unexpectedly onto the edge of the diary.

Xie Wang was stunned.

How long has it been since he last cried?

He closed his diary.

He took a deep breath and wiped his face haphazardly.

Xie Wang stood up from the sofa.

He couldn't wait even a second longer.

He wants to see her right now, immediately, right away!

Xie Wang grabbed the diary, strode towards the entrance, and without even changing his shoes, opened the security door and rushed to the door of apartment 1601 across the hall.

There was no knocking.

He pulled the spare key straight from his pocket, his hands trembling, and turned the lock with a "click".

The room was quiet, with only a sliver of warm yellow light shining through the crack in the bedroom door.

Xie Wang walked quietly to the bedroom door and gently pushed it open.

Su Qinghe was not asleep in the room.

She was clearly very nervous about giving away that diary.

At this moment, she was wearing that light blue silk nightgown, wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, and even covered her head, with only a little bit of the edge of her hair showing at the edge of the bed.

Hearing the door open, the bundle under the covers visibly stiffened.

"Thank you, thank you for your presumption?"

A muffled, slightly flustered voice came from under the covers, "You've finished reading? Why did you come over..."

Xie Wang remained silent.

He walked to the bedside, looking at the blanket that wrapped him up tightly, his eyes overflowing with tenderness.

He reached out and gently, yet irresistibly, grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it down.

Su Qinghe clung tightly to the blanket, refusing to let go: "Don't pull... I haven't washed my face..."

"Let go, Teacher Su, don't get bored."

Xie Wang's voice was a little hoarse, with a heavy nasal tone from just crying.

Hearing that his voice sounded off, Su Qinghe loosened his grip.

The blanket was pulled down.

Her face, flushed from being buried under the covers, was revealed.

She looked up and met Xie Wang's captivating eyes.

"You..." Su Qinghe saw his reddened eyes and her heart skipped a beat. She was about to ask him if he had been crying.

Xie Wang didn't give her a chance to speak at all.

He suddenly knelt on one knee on the edge of the bed, leaned down, cupped her cheeks in his hands, and kissed her fiercely.

"Ugh—"

Su Qinghe gasped in surprise, her unfinished words swallowed up by the burning kiss.

This usually arrogant young man shed all his pretenses in front of her, revealing his most vulnerable soul.

It's unclear how much time passed, but Xie Wang reluctantly released Su Qinghe when she was almost out of breath.

Their foreheads touched, their breaths mingling heavily.

Xie Wang's eyes were fixed on her, his chest heaving violently.

"Teacher Su, are you stupid?"

"You're the idiot." Su Qinghe gasped for breath, her eyes glistening with tears.

"I gave you a gift and you still cursed at me."

A while later.

Xie Wang suddenly opened his eyes, stepped back a little from her embrace, and looked at Xiao Ba, Usachi, and Ji Yi, who were placed side by side on the bedside table.

He raised an eyebrow, and that familiar roguish air returned to his face:

"By the way, Teacher Su."

"Hmm?" Su Qinghe hadn't fully recovered from the tenderness just now.

Xie Wang pointed to the diary, then to himself, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"The diary says I'm the best person you've ever met in the world?"

Su Qinghe was stunned, her face instantly turning bright red. She had just written in her diary to express her feelings, and for him to read it aloud to her face was incredibly embarrassing.

"...I just wrote it randomly." She stubbornly turned her face away.

"Really? It's all in black and white, the evidence is irrefutable."

Xie Wang leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching:

"Since I'm the best person, isn't just a diary a bit lacking as my eighteenth birthday present?"

"What else do you want?" Su Qinghe looked at him warily.

Xie Wang's gaze traveled down her face and landed on the section of her snow-white collarbone that was exposed at the neckline of her pajamas.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was extremely low, carrying a seductive undertone:

"I want to hear you call me by that name, in person..."

"What's your name?"

"It was... that night when the computer's power cord was chewed through by the rice ball, and you called out to me at the door when you took me back to my room," Xie Wang shamelessly reminded him.

Su Qinghe's mind exploded.

The child's father?!

She was just joking about rice balls that day, how could she still remember it?!

"I won't yell!" Su Qinghe was so ashamed and furious that she grabbed the nearby Jiyi plush toy and threw it at his face.

"Xie Wang, you pervert! Go back to sleep!"

"I won't leave unless you call me."

"Teacher Su, could you please grant me this small wish?"

"you……"

Su Qinghe was so bothered by him that she felt both ashamed and annoyed as she felt his body heat through her pajamas.

But under the onslaught of that rascal's hopeful gaze, she finally succumbed.

She took a deep breath, her face flushed, and muttered something very quietly and quickly:

"Goodnight, honey."

After saying that, she immediately pulled the blanket over her head and began to play dead.

"Hey! I can't hear you! Say it again!"

Xie Wang reached through the blanket to pull her closer, "Speak louder, didn't you hear me, Rice Ball?"

"roll!"

A muffled roar came from under the covers, followed by a precise flying kick.

Xie Wang laughed as he took the kick, and didn't bother her anymore.

He gently patted her through the blanket, his tone softening again:

"Alright, stop fooling around, go to sleep, Teacher Su."

That night, Xie Wang carefully placed the dark blue diary on his bedside table.

It chronicles a journey from mud to starlight, and also captures an unwavering devotion until death.