A White Cloud (GL ABO) - Chapter 32 (1)

The seed that Xu Yiyi secretly planted at the medical university sprouted.

Tomb Cheng, feeling lazy, bought a large seedling.

The shopkeeper said it would start budding and branching in about two months.

For this, she called Tomb Hua every few days to ask for advice, using the excuse that the school required them to cultivate and plant on their own.

Tomb Hua, half-believing, asked, “Why are you doing farm work?”

Huazhong, being a top-tier school, had countless elite students.

Tomb Hua found it hard to believe teachers would ask those noble children to do such dirty, tiring work.

She worried Tomb Cheng was being bullied there.

As an older person, she couldn’t stop fretting about her children.

Though she lacked education, she knew her child was strong-willed but still worried.

Tomb Cheng stammered for a while, then blushed and blurted out, “I just want to plant.”

Tomb Hua asked, “Why plant that thing? Are you being bullied and starving? I’ll send you money next week.”

She dropped her dirty bowl and stood up to ask the dean for leave.

Tomb Cheng, on the phone, quickly stopped her, saying, “No, no, no, Mom!”

Tomb Cheng feared her mother would faint from anger if she saw the drawer full of secretly taken photos.

Guiltily, she closed the drawer.

Under her roommate’s puzzled gaze, she turned and reassured, “Mom, don’t send money. I don’t spend money at school.”

As a special admission student, Huazhong, for reputation’s sake, didn’t charge her high fees.

They arranged dorms together for easy management.

Tomb Cheng’s roommate was an Omega.

Since they hadn’t reached differentiation age, they lived together based on their primary gender.

Tomb Cheng spent much effort calming Tomb Hua.

After hanging up, she sighed in relief.

Her petite Omega roommate, lying on the bed, asked, “Aren’t you scared of being found out?”

Though the photos in her drawer were all landscapes and buildings, each had the same person’s back.

Tomb Cheng climbed the wooden ladder to her bed, flopped down, and moved so wildly her school uniform skirt flipped up.

She stubbornly replied, “What am I scared of?”

Her roommate said, “Of Shen Zhiqing finding out.”

Shen Zhiqing, two years her senior, had moved to the senior building when Tomb Cheng enrolled.

Still, Tomb Cheng used tutoring as an excuse to visit Shen Zhiqing for help with studies.

Shen Zhiqing, responsible, never noticed Tomb Cheng’s crush.

Or perhaps she noticed but didn’t say.

Tomb Cheng confidently said, “She won’t know.”

Before confessing to Shen Zhiqing, she believed Shen Zhiqing wouldn’t think of it.

Shen Zhiqing never showed care for anyone.

Tomb Cheng saw her reject confessors. No one won her favor.

Shen Zhiqing seemed like an aloof, unworldly person.

Tomb Cheng knew her actions were shameful but couldn’t stop her curiosity and admiration for Shen Zhiqing.

She desperately wanted to be near this star that fell onto her tiny planet, even if just as an admirer by her side.

Shen Zhiqing’s heavy workload at the medical university left little time to tutor her.

Tomb Cheng could only quietly follow her, like a creep.

Before the peach tree sprouted, Tomb Cheng visited the orphanage.

Tomb Hua then learned her daughter’s heart had blossomed with a crush.

But the gap between Tomb Cheng and Shen Zhiqing was vast.

Tomb Hua didn’t discourage her but subtly showed disapproval.

Tomb Cheng often watered the peach tree, built a small wooden fence around it, and sat nearby watching people pass by at the medical university.

Sometimes she saw Shen Zhiqing alone; sometimes she didn’t.

Over time, she could spot Shen Zhiqing in a crowd.

Shen Zhiqing’s steps were always steady and orderly.

Her gaze fixed on her destination, ignoring surrounding jeers.

Some called her cold, others arrogant, some a loner freak.

People judged her with their biases, but no one criticized her grades or excellence.

Whenever this happened, Tomb Cheng cursed those gossipers behind their backs.

She told the peach tree, “They’re just jealous of her.”

Later, the peach tree grew two thin branches.

This thrilled Tomb Cheng.

That day, she excitedly messaged Shen Zhiqing about her improved grades and received Shen Zhiqing’s formal congratulations.

Shen Zhiqing wrote, “Teacher Lin will be happy.”

Teacher Lin, who brought Tomb Cheng to the school, introduced her to Shen Zhiqing.

Tomb Cheng happily accepted Shen Zhiqing’s “praise.”

That night, under her blanket, she planned to confess to Shen Zhiqing when the peach tree grew bigger, fearless of the outcome, just wanting Shen Zhiqing to know how much her care meant.

Half a year passed unnoticed.

In the new year, Tomb Cheng visited the orphanage again.

Tomb Hua sighed about her daughter’s marriage.

Tomb Hua said, “Girls grow up and leave, sigh.”

Tomb Hua, a Beta, was abandoned by her ex-husband and ended up at the orphanage by chance.

The last time she saw her daughter was the day she met Tomb Cheng, a doll-like girl curled up on a park bench.

Tomb Hua searched but couldn’t find her family.

Tomb Cheng had a high fever.

Tomb Hua couldn’t leave her alone and took her to the orphanage.

When the orphanage relocated, no family was found, so Tomb Hua took her along.

Tomb Hua called it fate.

The day she lost her daughter, she found one.

Tomb Cheng, then young, couldn’t recall family details, only her nickname, Mu Mu.

After two days at the orphanage, Tomb Cheng took a bus back to school for final exams.

Before winter break, she checked the peach tree.

Its branches had grown lush, sprouting green leaves and more twigs.

Recalling Tomb Hua’s sigh, the gap between her and Shen Zhiqing, and her orphanage days, Tomb Cheng suddenly felt her feelings were a burden—to Shen Zhiqing and herself.

Why would a star like Shen Zhiqing be liked by dust like her?

A girl’s heart is hard to fathom.

Tomb Cheng’s gathered courage turned to recklessness.

She wondered if she should wait until she was older to confess, or after differentiation to pursue her.

In her youthful hesitation, she forgot Shen Zhiqing wouldn’t pause to wait for her.

A girl said, “Heard? Cheng Yi confessed to Shen Zhiqing.”

Another asked, “Cheng Yi?”

The first replied, “Yeah, Mingcheng’s heir. Right after differentiating into an Alpha, he rushed to confess to Shen Zhiqing.”

A third said, “Shen Zhiqing’s grandfather runs Yunding, right? Wow, a perfect match.”

Another added, “Exactly. Shen Zhiqing should differentiate this year, no? Maybe their families already arranged a betrothal.”