Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“I…” Lin Chuyin shook her head and paused for a while. Then, she softly said, “Mm, I’d better go take a look at the Mechanical Holy Garment that I’d made. Currently, there are only a few more technical problems. It’ll be fine after solving them.”
But at this point of time, would Hong Dali give up on his previous efforts?
The answer is very simple—Impossible!
If they really gave up today, then in the future, Lin Chuyin would never have the chance to smile.
Many a time, when people had worked hard till there was a small tinge of hope, then gave up in the end, they wouldn’t have the courage to try even the least bit for the rest of their lives.
Thus, Hong Dali pulled Lin Chuyin and gently said, “Chuyin, let’s not make these things for now, alright? Why don’t we go out and have a walk? You’ve probably never gone out shopping before usually, right? Let’s go outside and walk around?”
“Mm…” Lin Chuyin was stunned for a while, then after calculating the time, she nodded and said, “OK, then… At most, it can only take 30 minutes of time.”
30 minutes… 30 minutes then!
“En, then let’s go right away and have a walk.” Hong Dali held Lin Chuyin’s hand, and the two of them slowly exited from the main door of the laboratory.
Ling Xiaoyi and the rest wanted to follow, but they were stopped by Tang Muxin. The reason was very simple. “Let the two of them go. At times like these, perhaps only Dali can make miracles happen…”
…
The streets of West Fourth Loop were filled with people and cars. The afternoon sun was very brilliant and bright, warming the body.
Hong Dali held Lin Chuyin’s hand and walked on the road. Chuyin’s slender figure seemed like an outcast with the surroundings. After the two of them walked for a while more, Lin Chuyin suddenly slowly came to a stop, lifting her head up to look at the clear blue sky, as she softly said, “Dali, I want to… go back…”
Upon hearing Lin Chuyin’s words, Hong Dali’s heart trembled. He couldn’t help but use his left hand to fiercely grasp his chest.
His heart ached bad, really bad.
His heart was broken!
All of a sudden, a moving scene flashed past Hong Dali’s mind.
He recalled the first time he met Lin Chuyin. Back then, he didn’t have any feelings and only treated Lin Chuyin as a very good playmate and a very interesting young girl.
Afterward, after a few more interactions, he realized that actually, Lin Chuyin was very unfortunate.
She could be said to possess everything, but it could also be said that she didn’t have anything.
No family love, no romantic love. Now, perhaps it could be said that she at the very most had a little bit of friendship.
All of a sudden, Hong Dali faintly recalled a sentence.
“When a person doesn’t have a goal and doesn’t have feelings, then it can be said that he is already a dead person.”
The current Lin Chuyin was like that, a living dead.
She didn’t have a purpose of living, nor a goal to work towards to. She didn’t know what she wanted to do and only lived on like a robot. No worries, no troubles, and as a result, she didn’t have happiness as well.
Tears rolled silently down his face.
Fool! Hong Dali wished so badly that he was a fool, and he could manage to not have a care in the world and not think about anything. But he couldn’t do that.
He was someone that cared quite a lot about his friends around him. He never believed that the word “friend” was only something that he randomly talked about.
Thus, upon seeing Lin Chuyin’s state, Hong Dali’s heart ached very badly as if it was being pricked by needles.
Hong Dali knew that if he let go of Lin Chuyin now, then her heart would completely close up, and nobody would be able to do anything more about it. In that case, perhaps it would be like what her father Lin Yingyi had said. By then, everything would be too late.
“No, you can’t go back!” Hong Dali firmly held Lin Chuyin’s hand and said very firmly, “At least, during this 30-minute walk, you have to listen to me! If I don’t ask you to leave, then you can’t leave!”
“Then… OK,” Lin Chuyin thought for a while and eventually agreed. “Then later on, what are we going to do?”
“En…” Hong Dali found this question very difficult to answer. “Why don’t we go to the amusement park? There are many fun things to play with there, and you can do facial and skin care treatments… Aye? Wait a moment!” Speaking up to this point, Hong Dali’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he pulled Lin Chuyin and started running. “Quick, come with me. I’ve got a good idea!”
Hong Dali finally thought of a good idea!
Lin Chuyin’s facial muscles had already remained stiff without much changes for 18 years. Thus, she naturally couldn’t smile.
His idea was very simple. Help Lin Chuyin massage her facial muscles well. At the start, maybe there won’t be many effects, but in the long run, that will definitely be effective!
“Dali, I… Will it work…” Lin Chuyin had extremely low confidence regarding whether she could still manage to smile.
This was not something that could be done as long as she tried hard. Because the main thing about smiling was that it came from the happy and joyful emotions from the heart. Hatsune Miku could rely solely on her control to stimulate a smile, but it would be extremely difficult for herself to smile normally.
“Don’t worry, I’ve heard of a saying before, and I feel that it’s very right.” Hong Dali pulled Lin Chuyin and sprinted towards an alley with no people around. As he ran, he said, “With confidence, you might not win. But without confidence, you’ll definitely lose.”
As he said this, Hong Dali’s expression was very determined, as vibrant as the sunlight in the sky. “As long as you want to do it, you’ll definitely be able to!”
“Mm…” After Lin Chuyin ran for a while with Hong Dali, she slowly said, “Then… perhaps… I’ll try…”
Very soon, the two of them arrived at a quiet small alley.
This type of quiet small alley was very common, situated between buildings. There were boxes of trash and so on at the entrance of the alley, and it normally frequently appeared in movies and dramas. As a result, gangsters normally appeared here…
Of course, it wasn’t within Hong Dali’s consideration about whether there were gangsters. He only thought that it was good as long as there was nobody there.
After they entered the alley, they finally came to a stop. Hong Dali gently said, “Chuyin, close your eyes first and don’t move!”
“Mm… OK.” Lin Chuyin slowly closed her eyes and silently stood there.
Very soon, she felt a pair of warm hands gently placed on her face. The palms of the hands were very warm and dry and felt very comfortable when they touched her face. At least, she didn’t feel the slightest repulsion against it.
It’s Dali’s hands… Lin Chuyin thought. Perhaps, it’s not very difficult to interact with him…
Hong Dali’s hands gently rubbed her face at the start, and after he massaged it for a while, he started to increase his strength slightly.
That’s right, that was Hong Dali’s idea.
Those who had laid on the bed for a long period of time needed this type of muscle recovery exercise on their legs, continuously massaging the muscles to allow the muscle tissues to become active again. This would ensure that they could walk normally on the ground without falling.
Hong Dali thought exactly of this. After all, Lin Chuyin’s facial muscles had remained stiff for too long, almost totally without any movement for 18 years. If he didn’t try to activate her facial muscles, then it would be impossible to let her smile.
It wasn’t an overstatement to say that even if Lin Chuyin wanted to smile now, she wouldn’t have the energy to do so.
Hong Dali massaged for over 10 minutes.
He tried to make his movements as gentle as possible, so Lin Chuyin didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
“How’s it? Is it better now?” After massaging for a while more, Hong Dali took his hands off her face and grinned. “Alright, you can open your eyes now. See if your face feels more comfortable.”
“En…” Lin Chuyin opened her eyes and gently rubbed her face again with her hands, and then she slowly nodded and said, “Looks like… it’s somewhat better now…”
This was the most crucial time—she definitely couldn’t be allowed to try smiling again, because that would easily undermine her confidence. Thus, he had to divert her attention to something else. After her facial muscles really became more active, by then, it’d be more effective to ask her to try to smile again.
Hong Dali grinned and said, “Alright, come, let’s find a place to chat for a while. You’ve never told me what are your dreams, hehe.”
“Dreams…” Lin Chuyin shook her head. “I don’t have dreams…”
“Silly.” Hong Dali pulled her hand and started walking. “How can you not have dreams. As long as it’s a person, they’ll have a dream or two.”
“But… I don’t…” Lin Chuyin slowly said, “I don’t know what I want, and I don’t know what’s the goal I’m working towards. The only thing I like to do is to research about those… setups…”
“That’s fine too.” After finding the nearest coffee house, Hong Dali led the way inside. “Come, let’s go in and take a seat for a while.”
After entering the coffee house and finding a table leaning against the window, they took a seat and Hong Dali smiled, saying, “Chuyin, why don’t you think about what dream you want to fulfill now?”
“Mm…” Lin Chuyin carefully thought for a while, then shook her head and said, “No… I don’t know what I want…”
After all, Lin Chuyin seemed like she didn’t lack anything…
“En, then let’s change the way of thinking.” Hong Dali softly asked, “What do you know to do?”
Lin Chuyin said, “I know how to study into military weapons, science and technology, reforming some machines and so on… I’m fine with computers too…”
“Your coffees.” Speaking up to this point, the waiter lifted a plate and walked over. “Please enjoy.”
“Alright.” After the waiter had left, Hong Dali touched his chin. “Then, don’t you want to be the number one scientist in the world? This dream is very exciting!”
“No.” Unexpectedly, Lin Chuyin directly shook her head. “This doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“Uh…” Hong Dali was obviously at a loss for words for a moment. He asked again, “Then, do you have any wishes?”
“Wishes?” Lin Chuyin tilted her head and asked, “Is there a difference between wishes and dreams?”
Hong Dali nodded with a serious look. “Of course! Dreams serve as a direction where you channel your hard work and effort towards. On the other hand, wishes are things that you wish you can get without making any effort. To put it simply, wishes are like things that fall into your lap, desires that can be fulfilled without you needing to work hard. For example, my wish is to become the number one prodigal in the universe, and that means that I don’t need to work hard. I only hope that suddenly, one day, I’ll become the number one prodigal in the universe. That’s what it means…”
Dreams and wishes, these two words were normally frequently used. But when it came to really explain them, Hong Dali suddenly realized that he didn’t know how to do that…
“Mm… Is that so…” This time, Lin Chuyin carefully thought for a while and finally said her wish, “I… want to… smile… This wish… can it be fulfilled?”
