This was not a punishment.
It was a one-sided abuse, a cold-blooded torture.
Physical, mental, and even spiritual.
None were spared.
He should have resented her, even hated her... yet he did not.
Qi Zhimu attributed all faults to himself, stripping away his memories in the most cruel manner and sealing them at the bottom of an unreachable deep sea.
That way, he could once again become the teacher's favorite and most satisfactory student.
Ruan Mei couldn't help but wonder: Did Qi Zhimu live his entire life this way, only remembering everything at the very last moment... or... did he die without ever recalling this past...?
Emotions she had never felt before surged up from the depths of her heart, violently striking the heart within her chest.
It hurt.
Yet, perhaps it was not even a ten-thousandth of what AMu had endured.
There was another emotion she didn't recognize, driving the same impulse to repeatedly surface in her mind.
—She wanted to go back to the past, back to several amber eras ago.
To stop the youth from stripping away his memories.
To stop herself from inflicting punishment upon the youth.
But she couldn't do it.
She could not reverse time, could not return to the past, and could not change any of the causes and effects that were already set in stone.
"AMu... do you hate me..."
Ruan Mei whispered to herself, her eyes flashing with an indescribable emotion.
She wanted to know, wanted to know so badly she almost lost her reason.
She hoped that Qi Zhimu had remembered everything before he left, that even a sliver of hatred for her had formed in his heart.
That way, she would feel much better.
Clinging to this obsession, Ruan Mei delved deeper, following the trails of past memories.
"In the future, you shall use this Ruan."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
The youth held the a type of chinese lute she had given him, his face beaming with joy.
"And this White Coat; the size was made a bit too large and doesn't fit me, so you take it."
She didn't say that it was specially made for her student... "Teacher, watch out!"
An accident occurred during an experiment; contact with high-risk substances triggered a chain reaction of energy, which exploded with a roar.
At the critical moment, the student, who was already taller than her, threw himself in front, taking the massive impact of the explosion head-on.
The young man's upper body was mangled beyond recognition, his chest bloody and organs visible, half his face ruined down to the bone... "AMu, why don't I see you making that soybean cake anymore?"
"That soybean cake?"
The young man scratched his head, furrowing his brows as he thought carefully, suppressing the confusion in his heart.
"I'm not sure which one Teacher is referring to. Is it Sujian, Taoyin, or Lingyue?"
"...If you can't remember, then forget it." Ruan Mei said indifferently.
It was merely a craving.
Although the taste of that pastry had left a deep impression on her, it wasn't indispensable... "Drink it, AMu."
"Okay."
Qi Zhimu didn't know what the potion in his teacher's hand was for, but he drank it without a second thought.
He firmly believed his teacher would not harm him.
Ruan Mei didn't explain that the potion could suppress his sensory loss sequelae.
As long as his body didn't enter a state of senile decay, it wouldn't fail... "Teacher, the genetically mutated species you required, I have successfully cultivated it."
"Well done. Just place it in the designated petri dish; you'll move on to another project next."
"Okay."
..."You haven't closed your eyes to rest for a week, Teacher. Go to sleep; I'll take care of the observation period."
"Very well, the points of attention are written on the sticky note."
"I guarantee there won't be any mistakes."
..."Happy birthday, Teacher. I have prepared a dinner; please stop your research for now and continue after eating."
"There's no need."
"There is plum blossom brew."
"Oh? Where did the plum blossoms come from? The ecological environment has been harsh in recent years; plum trees shouldn't be able to survive."
"I took some time to go to another world to cultivate and harvest them. Although this jar of plum blossom brew is only two years old and not at its peak flavor, it's still quite good."
"You are thoughtful. Then I shall do as you say."
...Countless memory fragments replayed before her eyes, and Ruan Mei gradually became dazed.
In the decades that passed like a single day, there were accidents, there was mundanity, and there were small surprises.
In her life, Qi Zhimu's shadow was everywhere.
Reviewing the past from a third-person perspective, she suddenly realized that she had long since grown accustomed to a life with him in it.
Until that day began... "That data seems to be related to Teacher's parents...?"
"What about it?"
"...Nothing."
..."Why did you take it upon yourself to delete that data?"
That was her most important possession, the obsession that drove her forward.
Although the data was imprinted in her mind and deleting it made no difference, she hadn't been angry.
But—this had ultimately broken the rules.
She wanted to know for what reason her student had dared to overstep his bounds again after several decades.
The young man frowned deeply, his tone solemn:
"Teacher, this is a forbidden research that desecrates life and, moreover, desecrates your parents!"
"Even if you eventually succeed, it's easy to lose your original heart and lose many things because of it!"
"Some Pandora's boxes... must never be opened."
"Is that your reason?" she asked.
"Teacher, I..."
Qi Zhimu didn't finish his sentence; he hesitated for a moment and finally gave a secret sigh.
"Yes."
"Starting tomorrow, you have completed your apprenticeship." She spoke without any warning.
Even though Qi Zhimu had long been prepared to be punished, hearing these words, his face was instantly stained with shock.
"You're driving me away? Teacher... you can punish me however you like, just don't drive me away, okay? This is the only punishment I don't want..."
"This is not a punishment."
Ruan Mei turned around calmly, leaving behind two final sentences.
"I have already taught you everything you can learn. Staying here is just wasting your time; it's meaningless."
"Teacher—!"
The young man grabbed her sleeve, his eyes pleading bitterly.
"I'll say it one more time: you have completed your apprenticeship. Leave. I will not see you again until the research is finished."
Ruan Mei pulled back her sleeve and added one last sentence:
"If I haven't contacted you in a hundred years, then forget about me. I don't owe you, and you no longer owe me."
Qi Zhimu's expression was dull; he stood frozen in place for a long time, finally lowering his head and bowing deeply.
"Yes... Teacher..."
In the student's memory, her image was forever frozen at this scene.
When Qi Zhimu left back then, she had remained indifferent.
Now, however, she watched him until he disappeared.
From that departing back, Ruan Mei read a deep sense of loss and desolation.
Qi Zhimu left alone, returning to the planet where he had stayed while being treated, returning to those mountains and fields, and built a Bamboo House not far from her home.
"In those last 111 years, did you live well..."
The tone of Qi Zhimu's life didn't have many ups and downs.
He planted plum trees all over the mountains, had an endless supply of winter plums to harvest, and could brew plum blossom brew of perfect quality; nothing was more important than this each year.
He would regularly clean that home which had long been covered in dust yet remained brand new, and regularly trim the mountain path that led straight to the front door.
He sent out plum blossom brew without a single letter of disturbance, until he silently left this world, leaving behind an automaton, still the same as ever.
The rest of the time, he would stay in the Bamboo House, going nowhere.
His good friend Yu Qintu would occasionally visit to enjoy his warm hospitality.
Aside from that, his life only consisted of patients who sought him out from time to time.
A hundred years passed like this.
Until—
A purple-haired girl named Clarice appeared.