Trading Cosmic Battleship From The Start-Chapter 56: Those Years and Emotions

"You probably have a lot of questions you want to ask me."

Shen Shi leaned closer to her ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Yes." Ai Xin’Er nodded and then shook her head, "You don’t need to tell me now."

"Hmm?" Shen Shi was taken aback.

"Um..." Ai Xin’Er seemed a little embarrassed but murmured softly, "This feeling of occasional surprise isn’t bad, let me discover things little by little, okay?"

"..."

Shen Shi’s gaze turned a bit peculiar.

What kind of quirk is this?

He indeed planned to tell Ai Xin’Er some things, but didn’t say anything earlier because he hadn’t decided on how to express them, and also wasn’t sure if Ai Xin’Er could handle the pressure of knowing everything, especially since even he was stressed about the upcoming Interstellar War.

But now, not only has he gained some confidence about the war, he also has a unified identity explanation, so he didn’t intend to keep anything from Ai Xin’Er anymore.

After all, quite a few people already knew.

It’s just a Cosmic Battleship.

However, he really didn’t expect Ai Xin’Er to say such a thing.

This feeling of occasional surprise?

"Alright, if you insist." Shen Shi moved aside somewhat disheartened, as he had been quite looking forward to seeing Ai Xin’Er’s reaction after knowing everything.

However, as he moved aside, Ai Xin’Er unexpectedly leaned in, her slender fingers wrapping around his arm with quite some force, as if she wanted to hold tightly.

"What’s wrong?" Shen Shi keenly noticed her mood suddenly became somewhat gloomy.

"Shen Shi..." Ai Xin’Er didn’t lift her head, seemingly not wanting Shen Shi to see her expression, she just said in a low voice, "Do you think I’m too much into strong people."

"Why say this?" Shen Shi raised an eyebrow, "Didn’t we talk about it last time? If you like rich people, there are plenty of guys for you to date."

"It’s not about money!" Ai Xin’Er shook her head, still not looking up at Shen Shi, just subconsciously increasing the grip of her hand, "It’s just... during those four years of university... we drifted apart, didn’t see each other even after going home, and then... you’ve become impressive, and I leaned in..."

"Is this what you want to say?" Shen Shi’s eyebrows smoothed out, he lightly patted her hand with the other hand, chuckling softly, "Have you forgotten, during those four years, it was me who was distancing myself from you. If you check my chat logs, you’ll see you asked me out several times during vacations and I rejected them; moreover now, isn’t it me, considering myself developed, who took the initiative to pursue you?"

Actually, Shen Shi could feel that Ai Xin’Er was quite concerned about their friendship in the past.

If she hadn’t tried hard to maintain contact, given his previous personality, it wouldn’t have been impossible for them to become strangers.

"Then what if I say, back then, I always knew you liked me."

Ai Xin’Er suddenly raised her head, her once bright and charming eyes now evidently nervous.

Shen Shi was caught off guard.

After a moment of silence, he again laughed and said, "You’re so smart, it’d be strange if you couldn’t notice."

"It’s more than that... I also know that after the entrance exam, you decided not to like me anymore, and I also know... it was because my mom privately approached you." Ai Xin’Er bit her lip lightly, but her expression was very serious, as if she had made some important decision, she spoke one word at a time, "The letter you wrote, I secretly took it."

"..."

"I... at that time didn’t dare to oppose my mom, nor did I want to be distant from you, and after finding that letter, I took it secretly..." Ai Xin’Er’s face was slightly pale, but she didn’t look away, staring into Shen Shi’s eyes and murmuring, "But it seemed like it didn’t help."

"..."

Shen Shi still said nothing.

This, he truly didn’t know.

The letter wasn’t really a love letter; calling it a "farewell letter" would be more appropriate.

Because back then, he truly started to realize the gap between them.

That gap wasn’t about family background; although Ai Xin’Er’s family was quite wealthy, enough to raise a daughter like her, that gap wasn’t enough to make him feel hopeless.

The real gap came from Ai Xin’Er herself.

She was really too eye-catching.

With her looks alone, she could marry any man in this world without it feeling odd. freeweɓnovel.cøm

This society not only has the stereotype "men get bad when they have money" but also a similar one, "pretty wives can’t be kept."

After all, beautiful girls face many temptations.

Even though he vaguely felt Ai Xin’Er had some affection for him, he wasn’t sure if it was just his illusion, and more importantly, he lacked the confidence to maintain that affection.

Yes, that was him back then.

Realistic but sensitive.

So when he finally decided to give up and distance himself, Shen Shi wanted to end his secret crush with a letter.

But when the time came, he couldn’t find it, and he lost the courage to write another one.

For a long time, he thought it was some other student secretly in love with Ai Xin’Er who had taken it.

He also considered that Ai Xin’Er might have already known about the letter.

But never expected...

She took it?

Shen Shi’s emotions suddenly became complicated.

Considering everything that has happened now, the tremendous changes he has gone through, and that the whole world has become different, looking back at those years and feelings is truly... indescribable.

Shen Shi’s heart wasn’t entirely calm, yet Ai Xin’Er couldn’t see any change from his eyes, feeling somewhat disappointed, she lowered her head but leaned in closer.

"Recently, I had a dream." She seemed to be talking to herself, "I dreamt that I confessed to you and you harshly rejected me, saying that, after becoming powerful, what you most wanted was to make me know what I missed."

Shen Shi’s mouth twitched slightly.

He wanted to say she was overthinking it.

But Ai Xin’Er’s voice continued without pause.

"In the dream, I was very sad, very upset, but when I woke up, I felt that even if it were true, it would still be fine." Her mouth actually curved into a smile, as she leaned her head on Shen Shi’s shoulder, "That would definitely be a deeply memorable love, you would become more impressive, more powerful, while I’d become more regretful, more pained... Perhaps, through that experience, I could become a true piano master. Isn’t there a saying, an artist’s misfortune is an art’s blessing?"

"..."

Shen Shi wanted to say something, but held back.

He could sense Ai Xin’Er had been keeping these words inside for a while, perhaps today she faced enough emotional impact that she couldn’t hold back.

So let her finish first.