Chapter 15: The Lone Fledgling

The brief nap time ended, and Yin Xuelian woke Su Cheng to gather at the sports field.

“Haaah~ So tired.”

Su Cheng stretched her arms, her eyes half-closed, maintaining enough clarity to see the path ahead, in case another accident occurred.

Yin Xuelian handed her a newly uncapped bottle of water, saying softly, “Military training, you know, it’s always tiring at first, but it gets better later.”

Su Cheng took the water and drank two gulps, savoring the taste in her mouth, then frowned and took another sip. The taste still wasn’t right.

The pure, tasteless water should be bland, so why did it taste subtly sweet?

It wasn’t like Nongfu Spring, and it wasn’t sweet.

“Why does it taste sweet?” Su Cheng stared at the water bottle in her hand, pondering whose problem it was.

Yin Xuelian’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Could it be the taste left from the sneaky kiss?’

It was certainly possible.

Yin Xuelian still said with a calm expression: “Could it be that you drank bubble tea earlier and didn’t wipe your mouth clean, so the water tastes a bit sweet when you drink it?”

After hearing Yin Xuelian’s explanation, Su Cheng let out a long sigh of realization.

“So that’s it, that makes sense. I thought there was something wrong with this bottle of water.”

Su Cheng finished speaking and confidently took two more sips.

Yin Xuelian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that this life’s Su Cheng was a bit too easy to trick.

Walking through the greenery to the sports field, it was time for them to part ways.

Yin Xuelian stopped at the entrance of the sports field, turning to look at Su Cheng, her brown eyes carrying a hint of imperceptible reluctance and regret: “I have things to do this afternoon, so I can’t have dinner with you tonight.”

Upon hearing this, Su Cheng’s heart secretly rejoiced, and her tone relaxed considerably: “It’s fine, there will be other opportunities next time.”

Yin Xuelian seemed to detect a hint of happiness in her words and frowned slightly.

“Hmm? Why does your tone sound a little happy about not having dinner with me?”

Su Cheng quickly waved her hands, denying Yin Xuelian’s conjecture.

“No, no, I absolutely didn’t mean that.”

She said so, but Su Cheng had already been secretly laughing for three seconds in her heart.

Yin Xuelian eyed Su Cheng suspiciously: “It better be. Good luck with military training.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the instructor’s loud assembly whistle pierced the sky.

“Okay, goodbye, Sister Lian.”

Su Cheng left her words and immediately ran towards her square formation, without waiting for Yin Xuelian to reply.

Yin Xuelian could only stand there, watching Su Cheng’s figure gradually fade into the distance, her reluctance naturally showing, but Su Cheng couldn’t see it.

Although she knew this was only a brief separation, every extra second she could spend with her was precious.

There were still many things they hadn’t talked about.

Her phone rang, and Yin Xuelian knew she couldn’t stay here any longer.

“My little darling, wait for me.”

After one last glance at Su Cheng’s small figure, Yin Xuelian quietly turned and left.

The afternoon sun wasn’t as scorching as in the morning, but the instructor increased the training intensity, allowing no relaxation.

Su Cheng, who had undergone the baptism of military training in her previous life, didn’t think this intensity of training could stump her, but her current body was much weaker.

When practicing marching and lifting her legs, the instructor required them to hold a fixed pose for ten minutes, but Su Cheng could only last two or three minutes at most.

She remembered that in her previous life, she could stand for ten minutes without moving; now it was greatly diminished.

The instructor penalized those who severely slacked off with squats, but Su Cheng only occasionally touched her heels to the ground, quickly resuming the standard posture, not yet reaching the level requiring punishment.

After an hour, everyone was exhausted.

The instructor then organized a small activity, inviting people to come up and perform talents, which could be singing or street dancing.

On one hand, it was to give everyone a stage to perform, and on the other, it was a disguised way to extend the rest time.

Su Cheng had no particular talent, so she naturally remained an audience member.

First on stage was a tall, short-haired boy, estimated to be around 1.8 meters tall, with an average to above-average appearance. He performed a beatbox routine.

Su Cheng didn’t understand what he was singing, but many people seemed to enjoy it, and the cheers from the girls were louder, indicating he might gain some fangirls.

Next on stage was a mushroom-haired girl who practiced dance. She immediately performed a backbend and a split.

“Oh wow, that’s impressive, quite something.”

Su Cheng clapped and praised, she genuinely admired this girl.

After all, practicing the splits was a very painful thing. She occasionally saw videos on Douyin of people screaming while practicing splits; it looked painful just watching.

When the mushroom-haired girl finished her performance, she received a round of applause from the audience.

“There’s one last spot for a performance. Who’s next?”

“Instructor, I’ll go!”

The voice came from behind, it was Lin Shiyue. Su Cheng turned her head to watch Lin Shiyue go on stage, and Lin Shiyue just happened to meet her gaze as she stepped onto the stage.

At this moment, Su Cheng saw a certain determination in Lin Shiyue’s eyes.

Lin Shiyue stood in front of the formation, took a breath, and regulated her breathing.

“My name is Lin Shiyue. Next, I’d like to sing a song for everyone. It’s a Cantonese song, and it’s my first time singing it. I hope those who know it can sing along with me.”

Su Cheng’s eyes were filled with curiosity. The Lin Shiyue of her previous life rarely listened to Cantonese songs, let alone sang them.

Su Cheng was different; she listened to all kinds of songs—Mandarin, Cantonese, or Japanese—she dabbled in all.

Lin Shiyue daring to sing a Cantonese song on stage suggested she had made special preparations.

Everyone’s expectant gazes fell on Lin Shiyue, and Lin Shiyue’s eyes suddenly reflected Su Cheng’s curious face, as beautiful and melodious singing then began.

“My sadness, contrasting with your sadness…”

As the first two lines were sung, Su Cheng immediately recognized that the song Lin Shiyue was singing was in her playlist.

The Lone Fledgling.

Su Cheng gazed at Lin Shiyue with a dazed expression, memories of her previous life playing like a slideshow in her mind.

Lin Shiyue’s gaze always seemed to fall on her, as if this song was sung just for her.

“Your happiness, I’ll pretend to be happy, at least our innermost feelings are closer…”

Lin Shiyue’s singing was clear and melodious, with a faint vibrato, combined with the mood of the lyrics, it was moving.

At this moment, Su Cheng, too, was reminded of their days filled with laughter and tears because of Lin Shiyue’s singing.

“Heartless people become lone fledglings, temporarily overcoming hardships, not alone in the bitter sea, at least we relied on each other…”

As she sang this line, Lin Shiyue’s voice gradually stabilized, her gaze settling completely on Su Cheng.

The overly direct gaze made Su Cheng understand that this song was indeed sung for her.

Thus, Su Cheng finally understood that Lin Shiyue was trying to use this song to test her.

To test if she was truly that Su Cheng.

If so, she would definitely react upon hearing this song.

‘Useless, useless.’

‘I, Su Cheng, am not some easily tricked little fool.’

Although Su Cheng in her previous life had indeed done hurtful things to her, she also felt guilty towards her.

But now, for Su Cheng to survive, to avoid a tragic end, she had to disguise herself.

In this life, they could only be “lone fledglings passing by” as in the lyrics.

Su Cheng responded to Lin Shiyue with an expressionless face. Lin Shiyue merely froze for a moment, but her singing never stopped.

“Unable to linger in your heart, returning to being a lone fledgling passing by, though I know in this life it might not be me who makes you happy…”

Lin Shiyue’s eyes were misty, past memories appearing before her.

At that time, Su Cheng had broken up with her and chosen Yin Xuelian, perhaps just as the lyrics said.

The one who made her happy was not her, but someone else.

“Can talk to myself, can pity myself, can love myself, you smiled, no need for me…”

The song, like a confession, ended. Most of the people present were moved by Lin Shiyue’s deeply emotional singing, immersed in it, with no one making a sound.

‘What a sad story…’

Lin Shiyue lowered her head, her right hand clutching her choked chest, her left hand quickly wiping away the mist from her eyes.

“Thank you, everyone…”

After Lin Shiyue bowed, she walked back to her seat amidst enthusiastic applause.

Her burning gaze hadn’t left Su Cheng from the moment she came down, carrying a hint of unwillingness.

Looking back at Su Cheng, she wore a carefree expression, showing not a trace of emotion, as if she hadn’t understood the song she sang at all, nor could she grasp the emotions it contained.

Lin Shiyue was first surprised, then stunned, and finally calm, returning to her state before going on stage.

Back behind Su Cheng, Lin Shiyue stared at Su Cheng’s back, lost in thought.

‘Is she really not that Su Cheng?’