The Communicator heavily fell to the ground with a crisp "snap," breaking apart instantly into pieces. Zhao Qiankun reached out in midair and grasped a chip the size of a fingertip that flew out of the debris, landing in his hand. Then, he pulled out a new Communicator from the drawer, opened the back cover, replaced the chip, and it was as good as the original.
Tossing the fixed Communicator aside, Zhao Qiankun suddenly had a photograph in his hand. It was a graduation photo, where a man and a woman dressed in academic gowns looked towards the camera. The man looked very ordinary, of the same height as the woman beside him, yet his smile was especially bright, and on closer inspection, one could see a hint of shyness and awkwardness. The woman next to him was very beautiful, her face adorned with a light smile, exuding grace and ease.
That woman was none other than Fang Yuxin. However, compared to her current appearance, the her in the photo seemed more youthful and tender.
Zhao Qiankun gazed at the photo with a deep look, his thumb gently caressing the smile of Fang Yuxin. Then, he looked at the self he once was in the photo, detesting that ugly and inferior self!
He had wanted to destroy this photo countless times, but could never bring himself to do it. This photo captured his awkward years and also his unrequited first crush.
Even though he had completely changed his appearance by now, having a superior status, controlling the fates of countless people, and having all sorts of women around him, he could never forget the excitement of those times.
His family was from a remote mountain village with poor conditions, and he had fought fiercely to get into Beishi University. On his first day in Beishi City, he was almost blinded by the dazzling big city! Seeing the fashionably dressed classmates made him feel even more inferior, wishing he could just dig a hole to crawl into!
On the day of registration, due to the crowd, the school was extremely congested. He accidentally bumped into a girl with a ponytail. She was dressed quite stylishly, and even though he was not knowledgable about clothes, he could tell her outfit was expensive.
At that moment, he thought she must be a rich second-generation. He felt bitter, thinking that life was so unfair. Some people struggle their whole lives and get nothing, while others are born with everything others could only dream of.
But still, he apologized, afraid to provoke someone he shouldn’t.
As the girl turned around, he noticed she was especially beautiful, even more so than any celebrity he had seen on TV. Her face was unadorned with makeup, her skin was fair with a rosy tint, her hair shiny and black, and she carried a gentle smile, looking pure and amiable. He was instantly mesmerized and thought to himself—this girl is really great, not only well-born and beautiful but also pure and good-natured, truly a goddess in a man’s heart.
However, by the time he came back to his senses, the girl was already gone. He vaguely remembered she might have said "It’s okay," her voice clear and slightly sweet.
From that moment on, he kept this girl in his heart. He had regretted not asking her name in time, only later to find out that she was in the same department as him at university, and she was their department’s beauty, named Fang Yuxin.
Afterward, it was a long period of unrequited love.
Many people liked her then, yet all who confessed were rejected by her. He felt a secret joy deep inside, even dreaming that she might like him. But just as he finally mustered the courage to confess, he heard she already had a boyfriend.
Since then, he deliberately avoided Fang Yuxin, not daring to speak to her, his heart growing more bitter each time he saw her smile and talk on the phone from afar, unable to help but speculate if the person on the other end was her boyfriend, and then feeling a wild surge of jealousy.
It wasn’t until they were supposed to take graduation photos that he finally gathered the courage to approach her and ask for a photo together. This photo was the result. He originally wanted to take more, but there were too many people asking to take photos with her, so he only managed to get this one.
Looking at the photo now, the voice that came from the Communicator earlier seemed especially strange. It sounded cold, with undisguised sarcasm and contempt, nothing like the Fang Yuxin he remembered.
In his memory, Fang Yuxin was never like that!
With these thoughts, Zhao Qiankun slammed down on the desk, smashing the fine pearwood desk to pieces! He narrowed his eyes, flipped his hand, and a black granule appeared in his palm. It was only the size of a sesame seed, at first glance resembling the seed of some plant.