Chapter 70: Don’t Blame Him
Huai Yu looked at him but said nothing.
Zhou Qian didn’t get angry.
After losing something so important, it was only natural for the girl to feel upset.
He gave a comforting smile, then glanced at the time.
“We can’t help you move. It’s almost time—we need to head back.”
Huai Yu nodded. Her emotions were all tangled up, and she didn’t know what to say.
She watched Zhou Qian turn to leave, but then he suddenly turned back around and sighed hesitantly—
“Huai Yu, don’t blame General Wu.”
Seeing Huai Yu frown, Zhou Qian sighed again and said, “According to wartime regulations, General Wu had the authority to enter your home and conduct a search.”
“General Lin’s whereabouts are far too important, and the matter must remain secret. So checking the ice sculpture was simply part of his duty.”
“To make it up to you, he even spent nearly 5,000 contribution points—Xiao Yu, all his earnings come from the front lines, from risking his life on the most dangerous battlefields.”
“I don’t know how he got hurt, but with his abilities, he could’ve flipped your treehouse in an instant to ensure his own safety.”
Huai Yu listened silently, then suddenly said:
“But I’m unreasonable.”
Zhou Qian was stunned.
The girl in front of him sighed:
“Captain Gege, everything you said makes sense. Heroes have responsibilities, and I should understand and cooperate. What he did was for everyone’s safety, and I should respect and accept that.”
“But I just don’t want to.”
“Those 5,000 points, hard-earned on the frontlines—do I care? Was building my house easy for me?”
“He could’ve flipped my treehouse effortlessly but didn’t, preserving my shabby little frame… am I supposed to feel honored and grateful?”
“Well, I don’t!”
She lifted her chin, her expression laced with unshakable stubbornness:
“I hate him so much. I don’t even want to hear his name. Even if he’s a hero, he’s not my hero.”
“I’m this capable, and everything I have now is through my own effort.”
Then she suddenly hesitated.
Strictly speaking, the peace in Flower City was largely thanks to him.
And her being able to live here in this stable environment and make such declarations—wasn’t that a bit shameless?
Still, Huai Yu lowered her head in frustration—
She was clearly weak, yet so confident. She really did think she was awesome!
But… even self-love has its limits.
So she reluctantly compromised:
“Alright.”
“Since you’re putting it that way, I won’t get mad anymore if you mention his name.”
Zhou Qian: …
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It was rare.
This was the most Huai Yu had spoken at once since he’d met her.
And the content? Stuff like “I achieved this all myself”…
He’d just encouraged her to be more confident—and now she’d gone full-on overconfident.
—Fine.
He sighed in relief too.
Seeing the look on this little girl’s face, it was clear that even though she only met Lin Xuefeng once, he’d left a strong impression.
And come to think of it, just one meeting was enough for him to go to great lengths to leave behind a secret protective charm for her…
Especially since she only discovered what that charm was after it had been destroyed—anyone would be deeply affected by that.
Now that even the last trace of him was gone, and since Xiao Yu was still just a kid, it was only natural for her to be mad. Being willing to hear General Wu’s name was already… pretty generous of her.
He sighed again, a little worried, a little amused, and finally ruffled her fluffy hair with a strong but gentle hand: “Alright, alright! I get it—you’re already being super understanding.”
Then he jogged ahead and began shouting orders.
The defense troops who had worked all night were soon laughing and chatting as they packed up and boarded the vehicles.
Their laughter floated on the wind—
“Too bad we don’t have phones anymore. Getting this close to the Rose Corridor? I could brag about that for years!”
“Totally! I’ve been stationed here three years and this is the first time I’ve felt like it was genuinely in a good mood.”
“Looks like General Wu, the one who helped it bloom, really does have a calming effect on the Rose Corridor.”
“Wood-type abilities are seriously amazing! Back when he risked his life to help it grow, and now all these years later it still remembers him—it even pretends not to notice us building stuff nearby just ‘cause he’s around…”
“Hiss—”
“That sounds way too romantic, man. Have you been sneaking romance novels again?! Hand ‘em over—!”
…
Once everyone had gone, Huai Yu slowly returned to her treehouse. Then she flopped onto her increasingly shredded silk quilt, huffing:
“What’s so great about 5,000 points, huh? One day, I’ll earn even more!”
“And not flipping my treehouse makes him a good guy? Hmph! I bet it’s just that my wisteria vines were too well-behaved and too deeply rooted for him to budge!”
“Fighting on the frontlines… okay, yeah, that is kinda impressive. But one day, when I get strong too, I’ll head to the wilds myself!”
She flailed around for a while, almost tearing another chunk out of the quilt stuffing. Then she suddenly froze—
“Crap, I forgot to buy a sewing kit! This quilt still has life in it if I patch it up…”
…
There wasn’t much left to move, and the new house wasn’t far. After just a few trips, Huai Yu managed to transfer everything.
Only the now-empty treehouse remained.
She sighed and looked at the neat stack of dry wood in the corner, sliced clean by the water blade.
And the mess of scattered branches, twigs, and hay.
She began dragging everything out again in silence.
Once it was completely cleared out, she raised her hand and tore off the waterproof tarp, already full of slashes and holes. Then she gently placed her palm on the wisteria vines.
“Sorry… even the flowers got sliced off. You’ve suffered too… You don’t need to build me a house anymore—just grow freely now.”
Wood-type energy surged through her, filled with intense vitality, flowing into each trunk and branch before her.
From root to tip, in an instant, new twigs sprouted.
Bright green leaves unfurled, and before the energy had even settled, clusters of flower buds were already drooping gently from the branches.
Huai Yu collapsed, body weak and panting hard, totally drained.
After a long while, she opened her eyes wide and looked at the wildly thriving wisteria before her. Then she opened her palm:
“Huh?”
It seemed that after all this time training, her wood-based power really had gotten a lot stronger!
But didn’t the Academy say there were no enhancement methods yet other than purification?
She thought hard but came up blank, then happily declared:
“I knew I was awesome!”
