I Am Not Your Shackles

After the rain, the sun shone brightly on the earth, as if countless little fairies were dancing in the wind, and the emerald-green leaves dripped with rainwater.

Su Ze held Xiao Hanhan's hand as they walked back to the dormitory.

His phone rang, and when he glanced at the screen, his eyes met Uesugi Akizuki's innocent gaze. "Holy crap! Your mom!" he exclaimed in panic.

Uesugi Akizuki tilted her head, her wine-red hair swaying slightly, and asked in confusion, "Nani?" (What?)

Seeing the caller ID displaying "Uesugi Akizuki," Su Ze, in his nervous state, didn't realize the problem with his words.

His current mood was akin to waking up in bed with his girlfriend, only to have her mother call him instead of her daughter after discovering her absence. The first call wasn't to her daughter but to the guy who often sneaked her out for dates!

At this moment, the guy was undoubtedly panicking, but the outcome was usually the same: the girlfriend would answer the call, and he would hold his breath, perhaps fidgeting nervously.

"Is the holiday coming soon?" Uesugi Akizuki's cold voice came through the phone.

Su Ze's heart tightened. He suddenly remembered that Uesugi Akizuki had said she would leave her daughter in his care but warned him not to do anything inappropriate with her!

Su Ze felt a pang of guilt, but he quickly justified himself. They only cuddled and kissed every day—that wasn't inappropriate, right?

I mean, what's so inappropriate about kissing? Even his mom used to kiss his cheeks when he was a kid!

Su Ze shamelessly affirmed his thoughts. Even if he felt guilty, he convinced himself there was nothing to feel guilty about! He firmly believed he had done nothing wrong!

"Yes," Su Ze replied calmly. "Tomorrow is National Day, and there's a seven-day holiday nationwide."

"Hmm... Come see me tomorrow," Uesugi Akizuki said.

"Tomorrow?" Su Ze was taken aback. "Isn't that a bit soon?"

"What's too soon?"

"...Never mind," Su Ze quickly shut his mouth.

"Alright."

The phone line went dead with a series of beeps.

Su Ze turned to look at the clueless Xiao Hanhan, pinched her cheek, and said seriously, "If your mom tries to kill me, remember to stay far away, okay?"

Xiao Hanhan looked at him blankly, not understanding a word.

...

CSGO trivia:

(Decoy grenade: A throwable item that simulates gunfire to distract enemies. It explodes after about seven or eight seconds, but the damage is negligible and rarely harms anyone.)

(Flashbang: A grenade that blinds enemies upon explosion.)

On the CSGO map Dust II.

Su Ze made a beautiful flick shot to take out an enemy rushing B site, then called out, "One at B."

Two teammates smoked off A site, while a girl-controlled terrorist lingered outside A doors. "Got a flash? I want to push A," she asked.

"Yeah," Shen Qingsheng replied, positioning himself at A doors, ready to throw the flashbang as soon as the girl entered.

Bang bang bang!

As the girl rushed into A site, she was met with a sniper's scope and froze. Suddenly, a deep, gruff voice roared, "Where's the flash?! Why the hell did you throw a decoy?!"

With a loud bang, the girl—no, the burly man—was taken out, and his screen went dark.

Everyone was caught off guard by the sudden outburst.

Just as the sniper who had taken out the man was about to leave, another sniper shot rang out. Su Ze, who had followed up from A long, ended the sniper's life with a single shot.

"Bro, that's not cool. Using a voice changer to pretend to be a girl and mess with my feelings," Shen Qingsheng complained, playing the victim.

"You f***ing b****! You f***ing—how dare you say I'm not cool after pulling that crap!" The man on the other end of the voice chat started spewing profanities.

The teammates were all confused. It was just a flashbang for pushing A site. Even if it was a bad throw and blinded a teammate, was it really worth getting so angry over? Dude, you need to chill.

"Bro, you're way too aggressive. What's your zodiac sign?"

Shen Qingsheng casually switched to his butterfly knife and hopped around, following Su Ze to A long. "I saw you hesitating, and since I didn't have a flash, I threw a decoy to boost your confidence," he said nonchalantly.

"Damn it! Hahaha... you're such a jerk... hahaha... that's evil..."

"OMG, I can't breathe... I thought something serious happened to make him so mad. You threw a decoy instead of a flash to boost his confidence? That's genius!"

Both teammates were laughing hysterically, and Su Ze was struggling to hold back his laughter.

In the next round, as Shen Qingsheng was about to push A site, the man took him out with a single Deagle shot and then quit the game...

"Why's he so mad?" Shen Qingsheng muttered as he opened a bottle of Nutri-Express.

"Hahaha—serves you right," the teammates continued laughing.

Su Ze, with his exceptional skills, dominated the match and secured the win.

Afterward, the two switched to playing League of Legends.

"So, what are your plans for National Day?" Shen Qingsheng's Yasuo danced through the minion waves. "Partying, clubbing, or surfing?"

"I'm thinking of checking if there are any factories hiring for the holiday, offering food and lodging. Just to get by for these seven days," Su Ze replied, playing Yone in the top lane, teasing the enemy Riven.

"I know a place that offers food and lodging," Shen Qingsheng said.

"Where?"

"The police station."

Su Ze was speechless and silently went to mid lane to steal all of Shen Qingsheng's minions.

"I admit, when it comes to being a jerk, I'll never match up to you!" Shen Qingsheng fumed.

"Actually, I do have plans for National Day," Su Ze said as Yone headed back to the top lane, ignoring Shen Qingsheng's Yasuo, who kept Qing him.

"What?!" Shen Qingsheng was shocked. "Are you going on a honeymoon with your girl and leaving me all alone to pull all-nighters at the internet café?!"

"We're in college now. Why don't you just get a girlfriend?" Su Ze lit a cigarette.

"Hahaha, get a girlfriend?" Shen Qingsheng scoffed. "Am I stupid? Why would I spend my money on someone else's future wife?"

"You've got it all figured out," Su Ze replied indifferently.

Suddenly, Shen Qingsheng's voice came through the headset, feigning sadness. "Wahhh... you heartless jerk! You've found someone new and forgotten about your old buddy. Men are all the same—no good!"

Su Ze exhaled a puff of smoke. The internet café was bathed in colorful lights, and Xiao Hanhan was curled up on the chair beside him, asleep. When she caught a whiff of the smoke, her nose twitched, and she turned her head away. Su Ze paused, stubbed out the cigarette, and waved the smoke away.

He had unconsciously ignored the little one who had been quietly by his side all this time.

Su Ze hadn't wanted to bring her along, but Xiao Hanhan was clingy and refused to leave him. In the end, he had no choice but to bring her.

Love wasn't a transaction. If Su Ze gave up going to the internet café for Xiao Hanhan, she would become a shackle binding him.

Xiao Hanhan didn't want to confine Su Ze either. Her only request was to stay by his side.

She curled up on the chair, feeling a little tired but not at all wronged. As long as she was with Su Ze, she was content.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to Rakshasa to meet my... I mean, Rakshasa's leader, Uesugi Akizuki," Su Ze said.

"Wait, wait, wait..." Shen Qingsheng was stunned. "Are you saying you're going to die?"

"Full marks for comprehension," Su Ze praised. "If your Chinese teacher were here, she'd give you full marks. But since I'm here, I'll smack you with a slipper."

"She can't kill me, and she wouldn't dare," Su Ze said calmly.

"You're that confident? Don't forget, she's at the Rolling Flame Realm, mid-stage!"

Su Ze remained expressionless. "Doesn't she know? This is Huaxia."

Su Ze was a prodigy of Huaxia. No matter how powerful Uesugi Akizuki was, killing Su Ze would be tantamount to declaring war on Huaxia. That was Su Ze's confidence in attending the meeting—he had the backing of his nation!

It wasn't just because of his country that he dared to go to Rakshasa. He had faced life-and-death situations and broken through realms before. What was one trip to Rakshasa?