God's Gift

Chapter 541 Return

The blinding light woke Lu Keming, and as the ship gently rocked, he slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils gradually narrowed, finally focusing on the girl who was dozing lightly on the table by the window.

A warm sea breeze blew in through the window, causing the white gauze curtains to rise and fall like the skirts of dancing fairies in the sunlight. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a slanted glow on her, turning her hair golden.

Lu Keming remained silent, lying on his side on the bed, quietly watching her.

Time moved slowly forward. When the curtain was lifted for the hundredth time, Lu Keming finally got out of bed. He walked barefoot to Yu Youyou's side with very light steps.

He lowered his eyes and looked at her intently.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in his eyelashes, casting fragmented patches of light onto his iris, like a beautiful kaleidoscope.

After a long while, Lu Keming raised his somewhat stiff arm and used his hand to shield Yu Youyou from the sun.

Sunlight streamed through his fingertips, turning his fingers a bright red.

The shadow of the finger fell on Yu Youyou's eyes, and she finally opened them, looking up at Lu Keming standing in front of her.

Neither of them spoke. After a long silence, Lu Keming brushed a strand of hair that had fallen beside Yu Youyou's ear and gently placed his fingertip on her cheek.

The warmth emanating from his fingertips finally gave Lu Keming a sense of reality.

His chest rose and fell slowly, and oxygen returned to his lungs, giving his oxygen-deprived body a new lease on life.

He knelt down beside Yu Youyou, rested his head on her lap, and slowly closed his eyes.

The sun-dried cotton fabric exuded a warm fragrance, which, mixed with the sea breeze, flowed into Lu Keming's nostrils, calming his mind.

At that moment, his mind went blank, as if he had entered a pure white world, where nothing could disturb him anymore.

A hand gently rested on his head, stroking his hair softly, and a familiar voice sounded above him:

"Ke Ming".

Lu Keming didn't look up, but responded in a soft voice, "Mm."

After calling his name, Yu Youyou didn't say anything else.

The sunlight was still warm, and the cells in Lu Keming's body seemed to relax under its rays. He opened his eyes and whispered:

"Youyou, I've gone back to the past."

“I know.” Yu Youyou’s fingers ran through Lu Keming’s hair, her voice showing no surprise.

A calm, undisturbed voice reached his ears, and Lu Keming's eyes blinked slowly: "This is what you saw through the prophecy before I fell into the sea."

Yu Youyou did not deny it: "Yes."

Lu Keming paused for a second, his cheek pressed against Yu Youyou's cotton dress, his gaze vaguely falling on the blue fish pattern on her arm.

After a long pause, he looked away, neither pressing the matter of the contract nor asking how much she had seen in the prophecy. His voice was calm:

“We met when you were a child.”

"Hmm." Yu Youyou continued to play with Lu Keming's hair and replied, "I've remembered."

"Is that so?" Lu Keming chuckled softly, burying his face even deeper, his voice muffled.

"It turns out that Youyou liked to eat those strange things when she was little."

Hearing this, Yu Youyou's eyes curved into a smile. "When I was still a little fish, I didn't think the things I ate were strange."

Her clear voice blended with the gentle sea breeze, like soft feathers brushing against Lu Keming's ears.

"I only see new things."

The gentle sea breeze continued to blow as Lu Keming listened quietly to Yu Youyou's words.

“After I ate them, I recognized them.” As she said this, a tiny glint of light appeared in Yu Youyou's eyes, and she mentioned her mother again:

"But my mother doesn't allow me to eat those things. She always looks frightened, as if I'm doing something terrible."

"I only realized how fragile human life is after I became human."

Yu Youyou's voice was somewhat wistful: "If all humans were like me, using their mouths to learn about new things, you would all die very quickly."

“Hmm…” She pondered for a moment, recalling the courses at the Songbird Academy: “So humans learn about them through study.”

"This is a kind of wisdom about life."

Lu Keming smiled slightly: "That's why humanity has been able to exist on this planet for thousands of years."

Yu Youyou's gaze fell on Lu Keming's messy hair, a hint of a smile in her eyes, and she nodded lightly: "Yes."

They chatted aimlessly like an ordinary couple on a sunny afternoon.

Lu Keming placed his hand on Youyou's knee, blinked, his thoughts wandering aimlessly, and continued to ask incoherently:

"Youyou, is it cold in Antarctica during the polar night?"

“It’s very cold.” Yu Youyou followed Lu Keming’s jumping thoughts and answered his question seriously:

"However, what is even more unbearable than the cold is the darkness."

"That feeling of knowing that the sun can appear anywhere in the world, but it just won't appear here."

"I feel a little lonely."

Lu Keming grabbed Yu Youyou's hand that was playing with his hair and squeezed it in his hand: "But you stayed there for the entire polar night."

“Because I’m not the only one who’s lonely.” Yu Youyou scratched Lu Keming’s palm. “There are many other creatures there, all enduring days without sunlight.”

"But as long as we're together, the dark times pass quickly."

A faint smile appeared in Lu Keming's eyes, but as the smile faded, his brows furrowed slightly, and his voice revealed a hint of worry:

"But those creatures have very short lifespans. Won't Youyou be even more lonely after they're gone?"

"Well..." Yu Youyou tilted her head, her eyes narrowed seriously as she pondered the question. Then she shook her head and denied it, saying, "No."

"Although the life of an individual is short, the life of a community is eternal."

"When my friends die, their children and their children's children will become my new friends."

"So that's how it is." Lu Keming looked up at Yu Youyou, his eyes as beautiful as glass beads, reflecting Yu Youyou's face.

He lifted Yu Youyou's hand and interlocked his fingers with hers. The sea breeze blew through their fingers, and the two rings on their ring fingers shimmered brightly in the sunlight.

"That's good."