Ryan took the lead, and as he strode forward, Ji You leaped from the pile of garbage, hauling her big hemp bag back onto her shoulder and hurried to catch up with him.
The broken robot shell in the hemp bag was an old model, large and cumbersome. Simply carrying it was a struggle for Ji You, so naturally, her pace slowed down...
Ryan came to a stop, and Ji You nearly bumped into his back.
Ryan said, "Give it to me."
Ji You, face flushed red, replied, "Ah? How could I impose like that?" As she spoke, her hands involuntarily handed over the open mouth of the large hemp bag.
Ryan took it, shoved it into the Space Button, and said, "Keep up."
"Okay!" Ji You responded.
With Ryan’s protection, Ji You found the journey much smoother; not even a mosquito—let alone Carrion Rats—bothered them...
Once they entered the protective net, Ryan handed Ji You’s bag of garbage back to her. As they were about to part ways, Ryan suddenly said, "I’m leaving planet 101 in three days."
Ji You exclaimed in surprise, "Ah? Why so suddenly?"
Ryan’s dark eyes gazed into the distance, the depths of his pupils seemingly concealing something.
The atmosphere grew quiet for a moment. Ryan came back to himself and said, "It’s time to go."
As for anything else, he didn’t explain.
Ji You’s post-disaster joy gradually faded; she wasn’t even sure how to feel:
With words on the tip of her tongue, Ji You opened her mouth to ask softly, "So—Brother Ryan, where will you go after leaving planet 101?"
In reality, Ji You didn’t have much private communication with Ryan. After she traversed to this world, under the care of Grandma Jenny and Uncle Xie Yi, they followed Ryan to scavenge for waste. Ryan, with his formidable strength, had always protected them unconditionally.
Ji You’s every encounter with Ryan was when she joined everyone to scavenge waste. Ryan was reserved and spoke little, but Ji You knew he was genuinely kind-hearted. Otherwise, he could’ve simply ignored the weaker ones like herself and Grandma Jenny, but instead, he chose to protect them.
Where did he come from?
What was he doing here?
And where would he go?
All these questions weren’t that people didn’t want to know; they just tactfully kept them buried in their minds.
When Ji You suddenly asked this question, she felt a bit presumptuous and quickly added, "Brother Ryan, if it’s inconvenient for you to say, then don’t worry about it, but—will we be able to see you again?"
Ryan looked down at Ji You with a faint smile and said, "I will be staying on Main Star for a while, but as for afterwards..." He paused, looked into the distance, and said softly, "I don’t know."
Ji You opened her mouth as if to speak...
Ryan suddenly smiled and said, "You, I hope to see you again." Of course—He knew that after parting ways with the girl before him, they would most likely never have the chance to meet again.
Ji You pursed her lips, smiling: "Mhm, Brother Ryan, we have each other’s contact information, we should keep in touch. When I make big money in the future, I’ll come visit you on the Main Star."
Ji You lifted her head and said: "Ryan, I’m also planning to leave home to study at Lanyue Star Military Academy. I’ve passed the self-funded entrance exam and will be leaving in a few days."
Ryan was clearly taken aback.
Ji You narrowed her eyes: "After all, my friends have all gone their separate ways, I can’t just stand still."
Ryan wanted to ask something else, obviously not this. Ji You seemed to know what he was about to say and hurriedly explained: "About the money, I’ve already got it sorted out. I went to the interstellar bank and took out a student loan."
Ji You was extremely cheerful, saying: "I’ve got it all figured out!"
She wasn’t lying to Ryan; she had indeed taken out a student loan at the interstellar bank the day before yesterday. She borrowed a total of 500,000 credit points, and as long as she repaid it within a year, there was no extra interest. If not repaid within a year, the daily interest rate would be 0.03%. This was the Alliance’s preferential policy for impoverished students—if you had good credit and no past delinquencies, anyone over the age of eighteen could enjoy such policy benefits.
The Alliance had very strict credit control for its citizens. If you thought about taking the money and fleeing—then you could forget about enjoying the rights and benefits of being an Alliance citizen ever again.
But let’s not dwell on these details.
In short, Ji You wouldn’t need to worry about school expenses for a while.
After hearing this, Ryan fell silent for a moment, then nodded: "Going to study on Lanyue Star is a good choice." Since the girl had her own plans and had acted on them, he decided not to interfere or offer additional support because—everyone has their own path to walk alone.
Ji You: "Mhm, I will study hard."
After saying goodbye to Ryan, Ji You walked home, not knowing why, but she still felt listless even though she was carrying a big bag of junk.
Brother Qiong, Sister Liya, Sister Lingzhi...
Now, Ryan was leaving too.
Life seems to always involve various departures—whether you’re willing or not.
Despite feeling extremely upset, Ji You still put these emotions aside and carefully reviewed her actions of the day. The reason she had boldly gone to the wilderness to scavenge during the day was mainly because her recent Body Building efforts had paid off and she thought of the Level 2 energy machete she had, only operating around the perimeter of the protective net, so she felt fairly secure about her safety.
The storm and the appearance of Carrion Rats were a harsh lesson for Ji You’s arrogance and wishful thinking. If it hadn’t been for Ryan’s sudden appearance, she might have ended up as garbage, swarmed and devoured by Carrion Rats—
Even now, her heart was still filled with waves of fear.
Ji You understood that if she wanted to take risks in the future, she must do all sorts of research and have more life-saving means at her disposal. She could no longer be so rash.
Several days later, under the gaze of Ji You, Grandma Jenny, and Xie Yi, Ryan boarded the flight to the Main Star.
At the same time, Ji You also brought up her forthcoming enrollment to Uncle Xie Yi and Grandma Jenny.
Grandma Jenny wasn’t too regretful about this; she was actually quite happy: "You, I’ll email Lea to come pick you up when it’s time."
Xie Yi also smiled: "This is good news. Actually, Aunt Zhen Ni and I had guessed that you would find a way to go to Lanyue Star Military Academy, but we didn’t expect you to move the date forward this much. Ah! It makes me feel old—all the children have grown up and are leaving..."
Ji You hurriedly said: "Where is Uncle Xie Yi old? He’s still a handsome uncle."
This made both elders laugh, instantly lifting much of the sadness.
Since she had decided to leave, Ji You didn’t delay. She quickly packed her bags and sent the bulky and inconvenient items to Lanyue Star Military Academy through Light Speed Express. Afterwards, she only needed to carry some simple luggage with her.
The training room Ji You spent 200,000 on was certainly not forgotten; she packed it all up and sent it to Lanyue Star Military Academy. The school would help store it temporarily until she had completed the enrollment procedures, at which point she could retrieve them.
Everything was ready for the move.