Mel returned to the inn. After taking a bath, he did not even eat before heading straight upstairs and collapsing into bed. He had truly been exhausted today.
His values had probably only begun to take shape after he dropped out of school. Before that, he had not even known what values were.
Not long after his friend met him, they went out to eat with Brother Hao and drank a great deal of beer, imitating adults.
"Xiaoming, cherish your friendships," Brother Hao suddenly said. Mel did not know whether he was drunk.
"Brother Hao, that sounds a little childish."
The moment he finished speaking, Brother Hao angrily slapped the table with one hand. "What is wrong with cherishing friendship? What is wrong with saying that? What is wrong with you young people? The moment someone says something righteous, you have to make it sound so awkward!"
Mel froze in his chair. He knew Brother Hao might have been a little drunk, but he had definitely meant those words sincerely. Yet at the time, Mel had been utterly unable to understand that feeling of detachment—when something was clearly right, yet was met with scorn.
In the end, he had simply not read enough back then.
By his twenties, he had figured some things out. There was no need to become some selfish, self-serving person, because no matter how self-serving he was, he could never become superior to others.
Since he was just an ordinary person at the bottom, why not be sunny, optimistic, and positive? Why not be an upright person? Even if it meant crashing miserably and shattering into pieces, he only had so much height to fall from. How badly could it hurt?
Holding onto that belief, it was as though his life had begun anew. Over the