Putting aside all the compliments or praise that two parents or a sister might say to their son, big brother; Bai Zemin was never a person who stood out too much.
In fact, the brightest spot in his life was probably when he was still in high school during his senior years just before he entered college. During that time, Bai Zemin could focus on his studies since there was no need for him to work, so not only were his grades the highest but he was even the top scorer in the CET after finishing the Beijing University admission exam, achieving a score very close to perfection.
Unfortunately, being the top scorer in the CET meant nothing if one could not keep their grades up to par.
When Bai Zemin began working to support his own life and give his younger sister the opportunity to live at least a little better, his grades plummeted seemingly unstoppably. While his grades were enough to graduate in the future, he was barely average just above the minimum.
As for him being the CET's top scorer? Bai Zemin believed that only the teachers and management were aware of it but probably they forgot about it as time went by. After all, every year there was a new batch of incoming freshmen so this meant that every year there was a "new star".
What was the point of paying attention to all of them?
Leaving aside that "golden" period of time for him, it could be said that the most praise Bai Zemin received came from Lilith.
Genius, never-before-seen talent, future second to none, etc... They were all high praise, there was no doubt about it.
However, the praise Shangguan Bing Xue had just given him was by far the most meaningful until now.
This was so not because he was really a good man or anything similar... The truly great meaning of those two words was in the fact that the person who said them admitted by herself to have an aversion towards the male gender.
How hard was it to praise something or someone you hate, dislike, or simply don't approve of? To do such a thing one had to have a very clear and sober mind, mature enough to know how to separate personal matters; and this was not something that many were capable of doing nowadays.
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue for a few seconds before a faint smile automatically formed on his face.
"Apparently, I still have a lot to know about you." He shook his head and raised both hands, causing the iron plates embedded in his leather armor to make a slight clinking sound in the middle of the silent night before saying, "To be honest, I never thought to hear such words from the person I had so many clashes with not too long ago."
Shangguan Bing Xue's little mouth opened slightly, seemingly stunned by Bai Zemin's words. Memories of the first few weeks of the apocalypse when they were still stuck inside the university campus flashed in her memory, rekindling all the emotions she felt back then, all her past thoughts, and many other things.
In the end, a big smile appeared on her face for a moment before she started to laugh out loud. She laughed and laughed to the point where small crystalline teardrops appeared at the edge of her sky-colored eyes, threatening to fall on her beautiful face at any moment, barely contained by her long, perfectly lined eyelashes.
Her laughter was not uncomfortable to hear, unlike many loud laughs that practically felt like two sandpaper rubbing together and sending shivers down the spine... On the contrary, Shangguan Bing Xue's laughter was extremely pleasant to listen to.
If Bai Zemin had to compare her laughter to something, then it would probably be to the small wind bells that were used as decorations near the windows of many traditional Chinese houses; these small wind bells generated a soft melody during the summer days when the breeze blew that felt extremely good to listen to.
Her laughter was like the feeling students felt in their hearts during summer vacation when they were at home enjoying their well-deserved rest or when workers came home after a hot day to enjoy sitting on the couch with an ice cream bar while enjoying the calm and silence.
After laughing as if she could not control herself for a couple of seconds, Shangguan Bing Xue's laughter gradually softened until she finally managed to speak while gently wiping away the tears in her eyes.
She said still unable to wipe the smile off her face, "Now that you mention it, back then I really didn't like you at all... Oh my... How long has it been since I laughed heartily? I can't even remember it anymore!"
Bai Zemin forced a smile and said somewhat wordlessly, "Well, welcome to my club."
"Excuse me?" She looked at him in confusion, still smiling.
Bai Zemin coughed and then said in a somewhat awkward voice, "While you didn't like me, back then I thought that... Well, I thought of you as an arrogant little bitch who thought she was the best in the world."
"..." Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him dumbfounded.
Just as Bai Zemin wondered if he had been too honest with his thoughts and feelings, she laughed again for the second time in less than a minute.
"You really are different from the other men I've met before." Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head and sighed. She leaned down once more to rest the weight of her body on the surface of the large tree behind her and said in a calm manner, "When I was little, I was praised in every way you can imagine and probably even more. When my beauty began to blossom at the age of ten, boys up to five years older than me began to look me over with eyes that usually someone wouldn't use to look at a small girl. By the age of 14, my body was almost fully formed and at school or at parties I was being called words that no one in their right mind would say to someone of that age..."
After a slight pause, she sighed again and continued, "When I reached 18, the number of marriage proposals I received were so many that to be honest with you I can't even remember... But I do know that there were definitely enough to fill a small room with pieces of paper and the candidate's name written on them... Even Chen He, one of my best friends and only male friend, started looking at me with love eyes when I was 9, which made our relationship a little awkward."
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at Bai Zemin and said without knowing whether to laugh or cry, "I can confidently say that you are the first one in my whole life who instead of thinking of me as beautiful, charming, lovely, gorgeous, pretty, etc, you thought of me as a person disagreeable to look at... You can be proud of that."
"Proud..." Bai Zemin looked at her weirdly and noted, "I don't think you should say that to the person who looked down on you without even knowing you well and without even knowing anything about your life..."
"Didn't I do the same thing?" Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly and pointed out, "I also judged you without knowing anything about you or your life, therefore, we are square... Besides, the reason why I think you should be proud is because you, unlike all the men I met so far, don't look at me in a daze or in love, and also don't pretend to appreciate me to get something from me... On the contrary, you say your true thoughts and feelings without hesitation, which for someone like me is very valuable."
Bai Zemin looked at her and thought about her words, he tried to understand her by putting himself in her place.
If all he received from a very young age were pure praise based solely on his physical appearance or false appreciation based on his family's social status... He would probably also find it very difficult to trust people; more so than it already was for him.
Therefore, for a person to appear who fearlessly and without a care in the world spoke about his true feelings without being swayed by emotions such as love and only basing it on the rational side of what they knew, would probably be very much appreciated after all.
"I see..." He sighed and then pointed out, "But... I think you also have people who care a lot about you, don't you think that's a good thing too?"
Shangguan Bing Xue chuckled and nodded, "Indeed. I've also managed to make some friendships... But I'd say the friendship I cherish most is Yijun's. That girl is the only person in this world that I can say with complete confidence that regardless of what happens in the future, she will definitely be honest with me not because of her friendship with me, but because she is that kind of person."
Hearing this, Bai Zemin hesitated for a second on whether to ask anything. However, in the end, he decided not to ask anything as it might not be polite to ask such a question, and it was also not his business to meddle in such matters.
But Shangguan Bing Xue was a person with very sharp eyes, and since she had been looking him in the face at all times, she did not miss that slight hesitation.
She seemed to have some kind of unique special ability as she calmly remarked, "You want to ask about Chen He, don't you?"
Bai Zemin looked at her with a hint of surprise, and seeing his eyes that seemed to ask how she knew, Shangguan Bing Xue smiled bitterly and pointed, "When you meet so many people of all kinds, and after living for so many years watching your back from those with false smiles, you naturally learn to read the expressions of others."
"That... Sounds pretty harsh." Bai Zemin forced a smile and shook his head.
Such a life... It was definitely not one he wanted.
Regardless of whether Shangguan Bing Xue had all sorts of luxuries and facilities due to her birth, only now did Bai Zemin understand that not everything for her was all colors and roses. Perhaps, as with everything in this life, when we get something we are also losing something without realizing it.
"You get used to it, just like everything in this life." Shangguan Bing Xue shrugged and said as if it were nothing, "Just as you managed to overcome your own problems, I managed to overcome mine in my own way."
"I see... That's good to hear." He nodded with a slight smile and then looked at his surroundings.
Although he didn't have a watch with him, just based on the approximate amount of time he had spent here with Shangguan Bing Xue added to the time they spent hunting earlier, it was definitely past 4 in the morning; if they didn't start moving soon they probably wouldn't be able to hunt anything.
Seeing that he was silent and seemed to be preparing to leave, Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly felt a little anxious in her heart.
How long had it been since she had been able to have a heart-to-heart conversation like this with a person? Moreover, that person was actually a man. Even she could not believe what was happening tonight although she somehow felt that it was only a matter of time before it happened.
Therefore, she did not want the conversation with Bai Zemin to end so soon. So her quick mind quickly came up with something that could keep him standing in his place.
"About your doubt regarding him."
"Em?" Bai Zemin looked at her again, slightly confused at first. However, he soon realized that she was talking about Chen He.
"It's okay, you don't need to tell me anything about that." He waved his hand casually. "Besides, apparently you guys had already talked about this crush in the past. As a third party in the matter, I don't think it's my place to give opinions."
"But you can at least listen, can't you?" She smiled and practically sealed any possible way out.
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Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3