Chapter 90: N. Soul Resonance

It was clear that the acerbic reporter had no intention of letting this story go.

Seeing Ning Yixiao supporting Su Hui as he tried to leave, the reporter stepped forward to block their path.

“May I ask who you are…”

Ning Yixiao glanced at him, expressionless, his tone cold. “Move.”

The reporter was visibly shaken by his low-pressure presence and the intensity of his gaze.

“Which publication are you with? What’s your name?” Ning Yixiao’s aura was overwhelming as he looked down at the reporter, specifically noting the press badge pinned to his chest.

“I…”

Ning Yixiao had no patience for him. His demeanor was indifferent as he shifted his gaze past him to the curator. “Kaisa, please provide this reporter’s personal information.”

“Right, I’ll send it to Eddy.”

Hearing this, the reporter became anxious. “You!”

“Weren’t you curious about who I am?” A trace of mockery flickered in Ning Yixiao’s weary eyes as he half-embraced Su Hui and led him away from the crowd. “My lawyer will be in touch.”

As they left the interview room, the air behind them was thick with hushed discussions. Kaisa, who had never expected things to devolve like this because of a few unethical reporters, was frustrated, but she patiently stayed behind to manage the aftermath.

Ning Yixiao understood Su Hui’s condition well. The most difficult stage was the transition from mania to depression—a shift that plunged him into hell at the very moment he was happiest and most vibrant. The sheer impact and contrast could almost crush him instantly.

Often, this shift was sudden and without reason. Whether it was triggered by that reporter’s question today was unknown, but the moment that man asked such a thing, Ning Yixiao had no intention of letting him go.

He supported Su Hui as they walked out. When he heard Su Hui’s phone vibrate in his pocket, he stopped, immediately forwarded the reporter’s information Kaisa had sent to his own phone, and then handed it to Charles.

After doing this, Ning Yixiao half-hugged Su Hui, slowing his pace to match Su Hui’s own as they walked to a lounge on the first floor. He closed the door and gently guided Su Hui to sit against the wall.

In this moment, his former cold, sharp demeanor faded entirely, replaced by a gentleness that made him seem like a different person.

Su Hui sat on the chair, his eyes dim, appearing as nothing more than a heavy shell. He couldn’t hear or feel anything. The passion and happiness that had coursed through his blood just minutes ago had vanished completely; every bit of confidence and joy he had once possessed was gone.

Standing in this beautiful art museum, he no longer felt proud or fulfilled. There was no sense of happiness from a dream realized; instead, he was suffocated by self-doubt.

Do I really have the right to put my work here? Those pieces that are like trash, devoid of creativity—piles of waste, paper scraps, flawed items with no aesthetic value—why should these be placed here for people to watch?

Su Hui’s mind was flooded with these malicious thoughts.

Despite spending so much time and energy on this solo exhibition—building it from nothing, piece by piece—on the most important day, he had struck a match and burned all his efforts to the ground.

Everything was destroyed. He had ruined everyone’s dedication.

He felt an urge to grip his own throat and destroy himself.

The gray emotions, like a snow-capped mountain, coldly overwhelmed Su Hui, leaving him with nothing but frigid despair.

“Su Hui.”

Ning Yixiao crouched in front of him, holding his hand, and handed him a cup of warm water. “Want to drink some?”

It took Su Hui twice as long as usual to respond.

He shook his head.

Ning Yixiao set the water aside, raised a hand to stroke his cheek, and looked at him, his tone gentle. “It’s okay. This isn’t anything important. Don’t worry about the interview; I’ll handle it. Let’s just pretend the interview ended early. We have no more work for the rest of the day, right?”

Su Hui couldn’t speak. He felt that Ning Yixiao being forced to show up and solve problems that had nothing to do with him was entirely his own fault—a consequence of his defects.

In the manic phase, Su Hui often seemed cool and lifeless, but Ning Yixiao understood clearly that this wasn’t because he didn’t want to respond; it was because his cognitive functions had decayed to the point of near-exhaustion, leaving him capable of thinking only of negative things.

Ning Yixiao sat beside him, pulled Su Hui into his embrace, and gently stroked his back, remaining silent, simply offering quiet comfort.

In his warm embrace, Su Hui felt a dense, pricking pain. Amidst the long silence, he finally couldn’t bear it anymore and struggled to voice his self-reproach.

“Ning Yixiao, I messed up again. Everything is destroyed…”

Ning Yixiao halted his self-blame. “No, that’s not true.”

He told Su Hui with absolute firmness, “You haven’t messed anything up. The interview just now was not important at all, Su Hui. What matters isn’t the media; it’s your work, and the people who came to see the exhibition.”

“But what I made is nothing… it has no value…” Su Hui’s hands gripped the clothes on Ning Yixiao’s back like a drowning man clutching a straw.

“I don’t think so.” Ning Yixiao lowered his head slightly, whispering in his ear. “Even if I weren’t your boyfriend and looked at this exhibition without any emotional bias, I would be stunned. Of course, I’m not a professional and can’t give a professional critique, but it is truly beautiful and breathtaking. It made me fully experience the impact of art. Isn’t that the greatest value for an ordinary person?”

Su Hui just shook his head in his arms, saying nothing.

“Why are you shaking your head?” Ning Yixiao’s voice held a faint, warm note. “Do you think I’m lying? But I just promised I wouldn’t lie to you.” He pulled Su Hui’s hand up and interlaced their fingers.

Su Hui’s lips moved, his throat dry and unable to produce a sound.

He knew he was like someone seeking death, stepping slowly toward a gray ocean, and Ning Yixiao was the one who had rushed forward regardless of the risk to pull him back—his only savior.

Ning Yixiao was very patient. “Do you feel that because I love you, what I say isn’t objective?”

Su Hui’s grip tightened slightly, a signal that was difficult to perceive but accurately received by Ning Yixiao.

“Is that what you really think?”

Ning Yixiao laughed. “Little Su has improved; at least even at a time like this, you know I love you very much.”

Su Hui was numb, like a block of ice full of apologies, knowing he was cold and difficult to melt, which only made him sadder. He leaned on Ning Yixiao’s shoulder, his weak breathing barely perceptible, hard to maintain.

Ning Yixiao’s fingertips brushed Su Hui’s neck. “You know? Actually, I was truly moved today. But whenever it comes to times like this, I feel my ability to express emotion is so poor. I have no way to convey how happy I am to you. But I believe you understand. After all, when we first met, you saw right through me because you are brilliant and very good at empathizing.”

“Su Hui, in the twenty-some years I’ve lived, only a very small part was happy, and it was all given to me by you. Before, I didn’t understand; I thought happiness was something you got once you succeeded. Later, I learned that success can’t offset past pain. But today, standing in front of that time capsule, I truly had a strong feeling that I am indeed loved—a deep, good love. Only this can offset the bitterness I’ve endured in the past.”

“Everything you gave me today feels like a dream.”

Ning Yixiao paused for a moment and laughed self-deprecatingly. “When I was a kid, I wouldn’t even dare to have such a wonderful dream.”

Su Hui’s shoulders trembled slightly, and he wept in Ning Yixiao’s arms.

He thought of Ning Yixiao’s shameful childhood, the suffering and hardships that had ground him down.

“You… don’t be sad…”

Su Hui’s voice was choked with sobs.

Hearing those words, Ning Yixiao’s heart felt as if it were being tightened by an invisible wire, making it hard to breathe.

He held Su Hui preciously, his voice soft, suppressing his emotions. “What are you, if not a silly little cat? Telling me not to be sad.”

It is clearly you who is the saddest right now.

Su Hui could no longer even feel sadness; he could feel nothing at all. His thoughts had shriveled into a tiny point, crushed into powder by his emotions, leaving only a thin thread—his connection to Ning Yixiao, his only link to the outside world.

Ning Yixiao held him quietly, thinking of his gift. It wasn’t actually the perfect moment; perhaps he should have chosen a time when Su Hui was happy to give it, to catch the vibrant smile on his face, to hear him say things like “I love it.”

But at this moment, none of that mattered.

This was the best time to use this gift.

Ning Yixiao freed one hand, found a small box in his pocket, opened it with one hand, and took out its contents.

“Su Hui, actually, the reason I came today was to give you a small gift.”

He said softly, “Today is your first solo exhibition; it’s very memorable. So, I also brought the first product I ever made. This is the starting point of my career. Without it, there wouldn’t have been anything that followed.”

Su Hui struggled to pull away from Ning Yixiao’s embrace, eyes lowered, seeing the gift resting in his palm.

It was a slender silver metal bracelet with a Mobius strip design—very delicate—and a pair of small, wireless earphones.

“May I put it on for you?” Ning Yixiao asked softly.

Su Hui nodded sluggishly, letting him take his hand, slide on the bracelet, and put on the earphones. In an instant, a string of flowing fluorescent blue dots flashed across the matte metal bracelet, then, as if fading from exhaustion, disappeared bit by bit, leaving only a single glowing dot that pulsed dully.

Ning Yixiao held his hand.

“The number of light dots represents the emotional value monitored by the system. The more depressed you are, the fewer there are.”

Su Hui looked at that one lonely light, as if looking at himself.

“Look, even though you are very depressed, you are still maintaining so hard. It means you are very strong.” Ning Yixiao touched his bracelet. The next second, Su Hui suddenly heard a voice.

A voice extremely similar to Ning Yixiao’s.

[Good morning, little cat. Welcome to empathyS. I’m very happy to be your emotional listener. You don’t look very happy; want to chat with me?]

Su Hui froze, frowning as he looked at Ning Yixiao.

“He…”

“He?” Ning Yixiao encouraged him to continue.

“How does he know who I am…” Su Hui felt lost, even though he had never used it before.

Ning Yixiao offered a gentle smile. “Because this was made for you.”

“I set up several types of address for the system—’Little Cat,’ ‘Little Hui,’ and ‘Su Hui’—all of them are you.” Ning Yixiao looked into his eyes. “From the moment this product was born, it has only had one user: you. No one else.”

Mist clouded Su Hui’s eyes. He didn’t blink, as if terrified that this was all a fantasy, and soon his eyes turned red.

He pointed to his ear, struggling to speak. “He… he sounds just like you.”

Ning Yixiao nodded. “It is me. I recorded so many recordings, different sentences, in both Chinese and English, all put into the training database. The speech model has been updated many generations, and trained countless times. Now, the effect is very close to my voice, isn’t it?”

Su Hui felt a lump in his throat and nodded. “Very similar…”

Ning Yixiao touched his cheek. “Actually, the first time I thought about doing this was because of a dream.”

“I dreamed of you as a child, about thirteen or fourteen years old. You told everyone you were sad, but they couldn’t understand. You were so frustrated, and in the end, you locked yourself in a dark room and cried secretly. After I woke up, I thought, I really wish I had been there then to tell you that I could understand your emotions.”

Ning Yixiao smiled. “Although at that time, we had already broken up, and I didn’t know if we would ever have the chance to see each other in this life, or if we would ever meet again—but after waking up, I still didn’t hesitate. I wrote the initial concept into a document. Starting from a single sentence in that document, I planned it bit by bit, used algorithms to realize it step by step, and finally, it became the product you see now.”

Many people hadn’t been optimistic about his idea. Ning Yixiao had held this gift for his “little cat” and hit walls in front of investors chasing efficiency countless times, but he had never lost heart.

He had never been so convinced he would succeed.

But this idea, which many regarded as a “castle in the air,” did indeed open the door to a career for Ning Yixiao and paved a beginning for his life’s value.

The early identification effects weren’t ideal, and the response mechanism wasn’t good enough. Only after countless updates did it gradually form the [Resonance] of today.

Like Ning Yixiao, from the initial lack of understanding to gradually learning to read Su Hui’s heart and empathize with him.

“I actually hoped that even if we didn’t have any intersection in the future, when you were sad and walked into a store, you would see a bracelet like this and hear a voice earnestly listening to your emotions, and it could help you.”

In a way, this was also a circuitous embrace.

For this, Ning Yixiao worked and managed things extremely hard, treating this project almost harshly. He had longed to realize this one small wish, which could also be considered the secondary priority of his life’s ideals.

When Ning Yixiao spoke of it, he did so lightly, as if he hadn’t put in much effort. He chuckled softly. “However, there is only this one in the whole world, trained with my voice. Because I’m not very professional—other commercial products are recorded by professional counselors. Only for you did I want to use my own voice, even though there was a probability that this gift would never be delivered in a lifetime.”

After he finished, he reached out to wipe the tears from Su Hui’s face. Only then did Su Hui realize he was weeping uncontrollably.

A familiar voice came into his ears.

[Are you very sad right now? Remember, I am always here to accompany you.]

Su Hui was choked with sobs. “I… I’m sorry…”

Two extremely similar voices overlapped, like an echo coming from his empty, lonely heart.

“Why are you saying sorry?”

[Why are you saying sorry?]

Ning Yixiao pulled him into his arms and kissed the top of his head. “Don’t say sorry. You are just sick; you didn’t do anything wrong. You are the best person in this world.”

Hearing his confession, Su Hui, deep in the mire, felt he didn’t deserve to be treated this way. There were clearly so many people in this world, many of whom were more worthy of love than himself, yet Ning Yixiao only saw him, trapped by him.

Those numb emotions melted bit by bit, almost bursting forth. Casting aside the gloom carved into his genes, Su Hui spoke with difficulty. “Ning Yixiao, I’m not good at all, you…”

Ning Yixiao didn’t speak, but the voice in the earphone answered for him.

A sentence he had once said, reconstructed once more by artificial intelligence through precise calculation.

[Little cat, don’t chase me away.]

Su Hui was instantly transported back six years to that moment when he was rescued by Ning Yixiao’s embrace, and thus, his final line of defense was completely crushed.

He cried, repeating his lover’s name. “Ning Yixiao…”

Ning Yixiao held Su Hui’s trembling body. Six years had passed, and having experienced separation and reunion, he was no longer the version of himself who was so awkward even when trying to beg someone to stay—he was no longer just a person with a single plea.

“Su Hui, I believe in the parallel universe theory. Perhaps there truly exists a timeline without you. The Ning Yixiao there is miserable; everything that should be lost will still be lost, his life’s starting point will not change, he has only felt poverty and pain, and the love he has received is pitifully little. You aren’t there, and everything that should have belonged to me does not exist. My career, my happiness, the direction I strive for—it would all be a void.”

“The me in this world has you, so I have everything.”

“Very lucky, aren’t I?”