# 1548
Chapter 1544: Neglect
"Oh?"
Cao Yuan raised an eyebrow as a group of jazz dancers walked onto the stage.
"What's wrong?" Lu Menglei wore a light purple long dress, her arm linked through his.
"Strange, this program should have been my friend's solo performance... How did they skip directly to a jazz dance?"
"Could the program schedule be wrong?"
"Not sure... maybe they rotated the order." Cao Yuan shrugged and withdrew his gaze from the stage.
Lu Menglei blinked and began主动ly finding a topic:
"By the way, Cao Yuan, do you like jazz dance?"
"Me? It's okay."
"I'm not too fond of it either... This dance is too refined, too delicate. It's nowhere near as sharp and satisfying as kendo." Lu Menglei glanced at Cao Yuan and couldn't help but say, "If they replaced this program with a real sword fight with a group battle, that would be worth watching."
"...That kind of program probably wouldn't pass the review board."
"That said, Cao Yuan, why do you refuse to use a bamboo sword?" Lu Menglei asked curiously. "Even when sparring with me, you only use a tree branch..."
"I don't like using swords, or blades."
"But when you fight for real, you can't possibly use a tree branch, right?"
Cao Yuan was speechless.
"I know you might be worried I'd feel inferior seeing your real strength... But it doesn't matter, really! I promise I won't tell anyone. Next time, let's find a place where it's just the two of us, and you show me your real swordsmanship with a bamboo sword, okay?"
"This..." Cao Yuan looked troubled.
"As long as you show me your real strength, I'll... I'll agree to one request of yours." Lu Menglei lightly bit her lip, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Request? What kind of request?"
"Any request." Lu Menglei added, "But it can't be too过分..."
"How do we judge 'too much'?"
"Just... just... ugh, anyway, I get to decide!"
Cao Yuan looked at Lu Menglei's expectant eyes and laughed lightly. "Fine, I agree."
Upon hearing this, Lu Menglei cheered. Just then, several girls waved at her from afar.
"My friends came to watch the gala too... Junior, wait here for me. I'll go say hi to them."
"Sure."
Lu Menglei trotted over to those girls in small steps. They huddled together and said something, and several subtle gazes fell on Cao Yuan from a distance, seemingly very curious.
Cao Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. He sighed and silently walked toward the front of the crowd.
He caught a glimpse of a figure sitting in a wheelchair and patted him on the shoulder.
"Qingyu, have you seen Li Yifei?"
"Yes, he went to the backstage and then ran out." An Qingyu said helplessly, "I estimate we won't get to see his wonderful performance tonight..."
An Qingyu glanced at Cao Yuan, the corners of her lips slightly rising. "You and that girl, your progress is really fast."
"You saw all that?"
"You stood so close to me, how could I not see it?"
Cao Yuan grinned but didn't deny it. Instead, he directly said, "She's my type, and her personality is great too. I'm not far from圆满."
"...Have you really thought this through?"
Cao Yuan looked at An Qingyu, seemingly confused. "Thought through what?"
"We can't stay here long-term. Once we return to the world we belong to, you won't be able to see her again."
"Can't see her again? It won't be that bad." Cao Yuan shook his head. "Even when we go on missions in the mist, we can be back in a month or two. Whenever I have free time, I can come see her. Even if the missions are密集, we can definitely meet once a year, right?"
"Meeting once a year, isn't that too little?"
"Many border soldiers and anti-drug police can't go home to see their families for several years. As long as it's true love, once a year is enough."
"What if you die out there?"
...Can you wish me well for once?"
"I'm just saying, just in case."
"If I die, I'll have someone notify her. I won't make her wait for me." After answering, Cao Yuan looked复杂ly at An Qingyu. "I say, Qingyu, aren't you being too pessimistic?"
"It's not pessimism. It's just that we can't give them a圆满 future yet, right?"
"Love isn't like fighting a battle. It doesn't need such elaborate planning. You're just overthinking things, and it's bothering you deeply." Cao Yuan patted An Qingyu on the shoulder. Lin Qiye had said almost the same thing to him a few days ago.
"Look at Jiang Er—she likes you, and that's that. When she does things for you, has she ever considered that much?
Now look at you... She's done so much for you, and what about you? Have you ever given her anything in return? Aren't you always dissecting or doing research? When have you ever focused on her? Have you ever let her feel, even once, how much you love her?
Love is mutual. Even Seven Nights, that blockhead, understands this. Why can't you figure it out?"
A series of rhetorical questions from Cao Yuan left An Qingyu speechless. He sat in the wheelchair, staring blankly at the front, motionless.
Cao Yuan saw this and sighed helplessly. He heavily slapped An Qingyu's shoulder. "I'll go now. You should think about this carefully."
Cao Yuan pushed through the crowd back to his original spot. Lu Menglei had parted from her friends and stood with him again.
"Qingyu, look! I secretly bought you ice cream!" While An Qingyu was lost in thought, a white figure emerged silently from underground with a triple-flavor ice cream bar, their light laughter echoing in his earphone,
"I went to the small shop and manipulated it to take one, then left ten yuan on the shelf for the boss. I carried it floating all the way and nobody spotted me. Impressive, right?!"
An Qingyu took the ice cream呆呆地. He couldn't see Jiang Er hidden underground, but from the earphone, he could hear Jiang Er's pure, joyful voice.
"Impressive..." He nodded with复杂 expressions.
"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
An Qingyu didn't speak. At this moment, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan's consecutive revelations made him finally realize his own problems. He and Jiang Er had been together for a long time, but throughout that lengthy period, it was almost always Jiang Er taking care of him.
Whether it was during dissections, research, injuries, unconsciousness, or his lowest moments... Jiang Er was always by his side. In her world, it seemed there was only An Qingyu.
And he himself had almost never done anything for Jiang Er... Perhaps it was because he was too accustomed to Jiang Er's presence.
Habit leads to neglect.
An Qingyu gazed at the stage where countless gazes were focused. His eyes flickered slightly.
"Jiang Er, could you do me a favor?"