Chapter 31: If one day I become different from the person in your memories.

During the recess, Su Yi shook the small cup of soy milk in his hand and let out a lazy yawn, his chin resting in his palm.

Because of a minor disturbance, the classroom was in a state of chaos. However, the instigator, Mu Xiaowei, had returned to her studies with total focus the moment she finished delivering breakfast. She turned a deaf ear to the world outside, intent only on solving equations—a truly irresponsible "scumbag" girl.

Fortunately, the lingering intimidation from Su Yi’s previous confrontation kept others at bay. Although there had been a moment that sparked jealousy, the students only dared to whisper amongst themselves, with no one brave enough to come up and tease him.

He held the still-warm soy milk, inserted the straw, and pretended to take a sip. He managed to let a few drops of the thick, white liquid land on Lolixi’s finger.

"Use your chip to scan for poison," Su Yi wrote on a piece of paper.

Although his own physiology could immunize him against most toxins, he was genuinely wary of those unscrupulous, shadow-dwelling types. Human imagination and creativity were limitless; nothing they cooked up would be a surprise. Unusual events always signaled something sinister. While he appreciated her help from yesterday and the gift seemed like a natural gesture of gratitude, in the Wasteland, many organizations specialized in brainwashing or hypnotizing those close to their targets to act as unwitting poisoners.

People often dropped their guard around those they knew well, and too many powerful figures had fallen because of it. Su Yi knew more such people than he could count on both hands—strong, dominant individuals who had met their ends simply because they weren't cautious enough.

Having lived a decade longer than the high schoolers around him and having weathered countless storms, he wasn't about to get swept away by a trivial act like receiving breakfast, losing his basic vigilance to the delusion that "she likes me."

The chip was perfect for poison detection. A green light flickered incessantly in Lolixi’s eyes as she analyzed the droplets on her finger over and over, finally nodding once she was certain.

"All harmful substances are within safe parameters. It is fit for consumption."

Hearing this, Su Yi felt a wave of relief. The Wasteland’s criteria for toxicity were complex; almost anything could contain traces of something harmful, but as long as it remained within a certain range, it was safe.

"Ugh—" he sighed. "It's sweet..."

Su Yi fell silent after a single sip. Soy milk without salt lacked soul. In the Wasteland, the concept of "salty" was almost nonexistent, which was why he and Lolixi found anything salty so incredibly delicious upon returning to Earth.

Still, it served well as an energy supplement. He took a few more sips, set the cup on the corner of his desk, and returned to teaching Lolixi how to write. In terms of pure mimicry, the girl was top-tier, even without the chip’s assistance.

However, her imitation of printed text was so mechanical that it lacked any sense of life.

"Relax your wrist. You're learning to write, not carving stone; there's no need to grip the pen like a chisel."

"Officer, why shouldn't I write as perfectly as possible?" Lolixi asked, puzzled.

"Because normal people rarely write that neatly. You're writing like a printer—it's good enough for a civil service exam, not for daily life."

While there were people on Blue Star who could write in a perfect, printer-like font, it was rare to do so in daily life. Furthermore, writing without connecting the strokes was pointless; connected, flowing script was the true essence of handwriting.

"Wait, I see what feels off. Use your right hand, not your left."

Su Yi reached out to correct her posture. The girl was left-handed and preferred using her left for everything from wielding blades to writing. But given Blue Star’s layout, writing from left to right with her left hand would inevitably smear the ink across her palm. This had to be corrected early, or the habit would become impossible to break. Although he had long ago trained himself to write fluently with both hands for the sake of intelligence gathering, a beginner needed to start on the right track.

Lolixi adjusted her posture as instructed. Using her right hand was clearly unnatural, and she struggled, yet she tried her best to write well.

"Sigh," Su Yi muttered. Teaching was truly difficult; he was beginning to understand the pain of being a teacher, and that was with Lolixi’s superior learning ability.

Hearing the sigh, Mu Xiaowei, who had been hunched over her desk, twitched her ears. Her high ponytail swayed as she turned around. "Su Yi, are you still not feeling well...?"

Before she could finish, her elbow caught the soy milk cup—which had been placed too close to the edge—as she turned. The plastic bottle wobbled, lost its balance, and tipped off the edge of the desk, falling toward Lolixi.

Watching the cup fall, Lolixi acted on pure instinct. Her hand darted out to intercept the "attack," a reflexive movement born of years of combat. She caught the cup just before it hit the ground, and as if accustomed to avoiding waste, she adjusted the angle to ensure not a drop was spilled.

*Oh, no...*

Su Yi’s gaze froze. Realizing the gravity of the mistake, he quickly nudged Lolixi’s leg with his knee under the table. The girl finally realized her blunder and dropped the cup. But it was too late; the pause had been too obvious—a full second of hesitation.

Because she was in stealth mode, to the eyes of a normal person, the cup had simply hung in mid-air for a moment before dropping to the floor.

Su Yi glanced at Mu Xiaowei. The girl’s eyes were fixed on the cup on the floor; she had clearly seen everything.

"Sorry... I accidentally knocked it off," Mu Xiaowei said slowly.

She leaned down, her high ponytail brushing against Lolixi’s shoulder, and picked up the cup. The white plastic lid, designed for a tight seal, hadn't popped off upon impact. Only a few white droplets remained on the desk corner and the floor.

"It's fine, it's fine. It was probably my fault for putting it too close to the edge. Don't worry about it," Su Yi said, offering a rare word of comfort. To avoid further attention, he quickly pulled Lolixi along as he moved toward the hallway to hide for a moment.

Just as he was about to offer an explanation, Mu Xiaowei picked up the cup, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and leaned in to whisper:

"Could you please pretend you didn't see what just happened?"

"See what?" Su Yi asked, bewildered.

"The bottle floating in mid-air. You must have seen it, right?"

"????"

Su Yi felt his neck stiffen. He nodded, but his mind was a storm of confusion. He felt like his own lines had been stolen—it was Lolixi who had caught the cup while invisible, so why was Mu Xiaowei asking him to pretend he hadn't seen it?

This was incredibly strange. Could it be... could it be that he had underestimated her all along? Was she, like him, a powerhouse returning from another world, who had known all along that Lolixi was hiding there in stealth?

If that were the case, he had been exposed from the very beginning.

Su Yi ground his teeth, the thought chilling him. Being overly suspicious might be a joke, but failing to treat everyone as a potential rival was a guaranteed path to disaster.

Just as he was frantically planning how to explain or resolve the situation, Mu Xiaowei poked his shoulder with her ballpoint pen—though Su Yi dodged before she could make contact.

"What is it?" Su Yi asked, leaning back slightly.

Mu Xiaowei stared at him for a moment before looking down, her small, soft hands twisting together in clear nervousness.

"It's just... it's just..." she repeated, swallowing hard before whispering:

"I just wanted to ask, if one day I become someone different from the person you remember, what would you think?"