Chapter 84: Past

Chapter 84: The Past

Liu Hai pricked up his ears with keen interest, his gaze turning curious.

Jiang Xun hadn’t anticipated the conversation shifting to him. He paused, then succinctly replied, "My student days are all documented in my public profile."

"Aww—" Xiao Jin groaned. "But that only lists your achievements! What we really want to know are things like... teenage angst, funny school stories, stuff like that!"

"Oh, right! I used to have a bowl cut back then!"

A Yu casually added, "I kept my hair cropped short."

"Huh?" Xiao Jin whipped her head around in shock. "But your hair’s pretty long now—I can’t even imagine what you looked like with a buzz cut."

"My father insisted I join a sports club and become a starter," A Yu stated flatly. "But my physique wasn’t suited for clubs like basketball, volleyball, or football, so I chose baseball."

"Ah!" Xiao Jin exclaimed in realization. "Most ballplayers do keep their hair short, don’t they? Because of the caps? But wait, baseball doesn’t care about height?"

"Not as strictly as basketball, at least," A Yu said, propping his head on his hand. "And I never said it was about height—I just wasn’t muscular enough!"

"Ha!" Xiao Jin grinned mischievously. "Well, A Yu isn’t much taller than me, either."

She gestured to her own head. "But anyway, one summer during college, I decided to volunteer for an environmental conservation program, and that’s when I finally made a friend around my age—a girl!"

She proudly put her hands on her hips. "She took me to get a perm, and I dyed my hair pink! She even taught me how to do makeup and paint my nails..."

"Ooh—" Liu Hai clapped for her.

"Heh, I was actually a little worried afterward," Xiao Jin admitted sheepishly, poking at her rice. "I thought my mom would scold me for ‘being corrupted’ or something."

"But to my surprise, she teared up—from happiness."

"She said, ‘Now you finally have a friend your age to share important things with...’"

"Mmm." Liu Hai couldn’t help but mirror Xiao Jin’s usual fond smile, gazing at her warmly. "That’s truly wonderful."

"Right?" Xiao Jin beamed. "We still stay in touch! She had a baby a year ago and even asked me to be the first one to hold her child."

"Apparently, it’s a tradition in her family—they believe the baby will grow up to be like the first person who holds them."

"Hehe." Xiao Jin scratched her head bashfully. "Even though I’ve always been the ‘golden child’ people compare others to, that moment was the happiest I’ve ever been."

"My best friend wanted a baby just like me—doesn’t that prove she thinks I’m really, really special?"

"I don’t have a partner yet, but if I ever have a kid, I’d want her to be the first to hold them too."

"I told her that, but she thought she was too ordinary..."

"Aw." Xiao Jin sighed. "But I just want a sweet, gentle kid like her!"

"Hehe." Liu Hai chuckled, propping his head on his hand before suddenly turning to Jiang Xun. "Alright, your turn now, Jiang Xun."

Jiang Xun: "..."

Under their expectant gazes, he cleared his throat. "I... didn’t really have friends in school."

"No, actually—it wasn’t just school. I’ve never had many friends."

"At first, because my mother was close with the boss’s father, they tried to make me and the boss friends."

"But after a few meetings, we only reached the level of polite conversation."

"The boss as a kid?" Xiao Jin’s eyes widened. "I’m curious about that too!"

"...Nothing special," Jiang Xun said, propping his head up. "Just a polite, smiling ‘model child’—nothing like the shrewd adult he is now."

"As for why I didn’t like making friends, it wasn’t for any complicated reason. I just had a lot of things I wanted to do." Jiang Xun lowered his gaze. "I had many questions I wanted answers to, and I’d found the books I needed to solve them. All I needed was time to read."

"To satisfy my curiosity as quickly as possible, I needed long stretches of time for reading. In my mind, that took priority over socializing. That’s all."

"Eventually, I realized the existing literature couldn’t answer my questions anymore. I started delving into cutting-edge research. Later, I understood that I couldn’t rely on existing research—I had to find the answers myself."

"So I began researching."

"During that time, I probably encountered quite a few people who showed me kindness... some of it well-intentioned but misguided."

Jiang Xun propped his head on his hand. "Because I loved reading, a few classmates once insisted I was being forced to study by strict parents. They snatched my book during break, dragged me out to the playground, and asked how I felt."

"...I knew they meant well, but being forced to run laps under the blazing afternoon sun didn’t exactly put me in a good mood."

"That’s when I realized kids that age struggle to grasp that not everyone shares their feelings. Even if they found reading painful, I genuinely enjoyed it."

"After that, I was probably labeled an unappreciative oddball."

"Wow..." Xiao Jin wore a complicated expression. "I thought your life would’ve been smoother, boss."

"It worked out just fine," Jiang Xun said dismissively. "Being a weirdo worked out fine."

"They finally understood I was different—the only cost was a strange reputation."

"At an age where blending in is expected, most lack the courage to be seen as ‘weird.’ They instinctively blend in. But I could accept and embrace being an odd one out."

"Seems like more than just IQ," Xiao Jin pondered, scratching her chin. "Even as a kid, boss, your way of thinking was really mature."

"Almost like you never had a childhood."

Jiang Xun pondered for a moment. "...I did, actually."

"Once, my dad brought over some relatives’ kids and told me to keep them occupied. They were so noisy that to quiet them down, I gave them worksheets. Ended up making everyone cry."

"My mom was laughing at first, but after glancing at their half-finished answers, I told her, ‘I don’t want to play with people this stupid...’"

"Got scolded for that."

"Pfft." Liu Hai chuckled gleefully.

"Not that funny," Jiang Xun grumbled, pinching Liu Hai’s cheek. "Speaking of which, you—who still lack basic social awareness—do you even get why that’s supposed to be amusing?"

"I do," Liu Hai said playfully, leaning in. "So, Jiang Xun, do you play with idiots now?"

"What should I do? I’m not very smart."

Jiang Xun averted his gaze. "...You’re plenty sly."

"What to do—" Liu Hai pressed closer. "If I were an idiot, would you still play with me?"

Jiang Xun closed his eyes and pushed his head away, deadpanning, "Absolutely not."

"But since you’re kind of cute, I might make an exception."

"I'll only play with you if you solve it."

"Wow—" Liu Hai drew a sharp breath. "That's terrifying!"

"Stop scaring him, boss!" Xiao Jin raised a finger. "Little Liu might actually believe you!"

"Wahhh." Liu Hai played along, fake-crying and wiping tears.

"Too fake." Jiang Xun called him out bluntly, though he couldn’t help but smile, poking Liu Hai’s cheek. "Well... isn’t it Liu Hai’s turn now?"

"Me?" Liu Hai looked surprised. "I never went to school, though..."

"But you must have childhood stories, right?" Xiao Jin asked excitedly. "We’d love to hear about the fun stories from an underwater kingdom too!"

"There’s no underwater kingdom." Liu Hai wrinkled his brow uncomfortably. "Life in the wild just wasn’t as exciting as humans'."

"When I was very young, I didn’t know humans existed."

He looked thoughtful. "I thought the world only had seals. After seeing a polar bear, I thought the world only had seals and polar bears."

"When I met my first human, I was too stunned to run, and then..."

His expression turned complicated. "I got petted from head to toe."

"That person was so rude!"

"Ahem, yeah, right." Xiao Jin stifled a laugh and nodded, muttering under her breath, "But if it were me, I might not have resisted either."

"But like I said before," Liu Hai tilted his head, "after meeting them, I realized humans are much more complex and interesting than animals."

"But they only stayed for a day."

"From that day on, I started hoping to see other humans on the Arctic ice fields."

"A few years passed, and I looked forward to those distant travelers bringing me stories of the human world I’d never heard before."

"Sometimes, their stories even connected, giving me the illusion that I was part of them too."

Liu Hai sighed regretfully. "But humans appeared on the ice fields even less often than the auroras."

"At some point, I saw a human off on a ship and said sadly that I didn’t know when the next human would come to the ice fields..."

"They told me, 'If you want to see humans so badly, why not come aboard and see the human world for yourself?'"

"I was really tempted then." Liu Hai raised a finger. "But in the end, I didn’t have the courage to board that ship."

He sighed deeply. "Sometimes when I think back, I still wonder—if I had gone with them, would things have turned out completely different?"

"But no matter what, I’m very satisfied now."

"Not boarding that ship back then must have meant the timing wasn't right yet."

He gave a small nod. "This journey now is the best."