Living Is Hard

Lin Xiaoxi looked herself over. She was indeed wearing clothes.

There were even dust stains on them from scrambling around Azure Dragon Mountain. Lin Xiaoxi said disdainfully, "You couldn't even clean me up properly."

She said that, but if he really had done so, she would never have been able to explain herself.

Li Yao waved a hand. "You're awake, so get going. I need to rest. You nearly wore me out."

"Oh."

Lin Xiaoxi rolled out of bed. Her legs were still a little weak from the sleeping drug, and she steadied herself against the bedframe, deeply puzzled. I really wasn't slept with? Why do I feel like I've been drained dry too? And it feels like I forgot something important! Right!

Lin Xiaoxi asked, "How did I fall asleep? What happened on Azure Dragon Mountain?"

Li Yao casually spun a lie. "You were too tired and fell asleep. As for Azure Dragon Mountain, the Masked Man won in the end. I carried you out while the fog hadn't cleared yet. It nearly exhausted me."

Lin Xiaoxi tilted her head and thought about it for a long while.

Fine then ().

It was quite a shame that she had not seen the ending.

But she was broad-minded and quickly tossed the unpleasantness aside. "Next time, we'll prepare properly before following them!"

Li Yao shot upright from the sofa in shock. "What the hell? There's going to be a next time? Do you want to get yourself killed that badly?"

Lin Xiaoxi looked at Li Yao in surprise. "Aren't you curious about something that strange?" She waved her arms, full of heroic spirit. "The door to a new world is right there. I've already squeezed open a crack for you, and you're fucking telling me you're not interested? Kid, Dad is very disappointed in you."

Li Yao said, "Get lost!"

He walked over to Lin Xiaoxi and poked her forehead as he lectured her. "You nearly died this time, you know that? A new world, my ass. I think that's a whole new level of courting death!"

Lin Xiaoxi: (○｀Д○)!!! "Why are you poking my head?"

Li Yao slapped her. "I'll hit you too!"

Lin Xiaoxi said, "I'll bite you to death!"

She suddenly tried to leap up, but Li Yao pinned her to the bed by the head. All she could do was wave both arms around and hit at him. Unfortunately, her arms were too short to reach him, so she could only flail around blindly...

She looked a little stupid.

"Quit messing around. I'm pretty tired, so hurry back to school." Li Yao released Lin Xiaoxi and lay back down on the sofa, letting out a long, comfortable sigh... Lin Xiaoxi rolled her eyes disdainfully. "Couch potato!"

With that, she stomped off in a huff.

Not long after Lin Xiaoxi left, Li Yao slowly fell asleep. He did not wake until late at night. His energy had mostly recovered, so he habitually analyzed circuits, then meditated and cultivated.

The next day, the National Day holiday ended. Li Yao returned to the school he had been away from for so long and saw his roommates, whom he had not seen in ages...

Chen Tao had recently become obsessed with romance and reeked of that sour stench of love.

Cao Rui had gotten a new car and waved his keys around in his hand all day. It seemed... he really had hooked up with a few girls. But this guy was the kind of man who could watch Story of Yanxi Palace while taking a girl to a hotel room, so there was no way he could have the sour stench of love on him.

As for Shuisheng Ge...

He had taken leave, so Li Yao did not see him.

He sat blankly in his dorm seat while Cao Rui bragged about where he had gone during the National Day holiday. Chen Tao responded halfheartedly, with most of his attention focused on being lovey-dovey with his girlfriend. Seeing this, Cao Rui said mournfully, "Tao, you've changed!"

Chen Tao turned over, his back to Cao Rui. "Oh."

Cao Rui was heartbroken!

What utter coldness!

So he sneakily sidled up to Li Yao. "Da Yao, what are you spacing out for? I'll lend you my car for a drive. Not to mention, it's about time you found yourself a girl. The tadpoles down there are about to grow into frogs."

Li Yao said, "Get lost!"

Cao Rui said, "Okay!"

He skipped out of the dorm, then came back shortly afterward holding a package. "Da Yao, you've got a delivery."

Li Yao was somewhat puzzled.

He had not bought anything recently. But when he opened the package, he found a bank card inside.

Cao Rui stared at it in amazement. "Damn, is it trendy to just give people bank cards these days? Wait, Da Yao, have you... finally started selling yourself?"

Li Yao turned and went onto the balcony, pulling out the "Dog Beating Stick" fashioned from a broom. It was specifically used in the dorm to deal with Cao Rui, that husky. At the sight of it, Cao Rui immediately turned to leave. "Why are you getting violent for no reason? Young people these days are getting more and more irritable."

You could not spoil a husky!

Li Yao tossed the Dog Beating Stick back, then picked up the card. Its password was written in pencil on the back: six sixes.

This should have been from Chen Xi.

She really was carefree. She had actually put the card in a package... Wasn't she afraid it would get lost?

He went out and checked it at an ATM on campus.

Bank balance: 30,000,000!

Li Yao's breathing grew lighter. The last time, he had made more than nine million in Macau, and he had thought that was pretty good.

He had even been somewhat worried.

But this time...

He had done practically nothing, yet she had transferred thirty million??? Chen Xi's family was seriously loaded!

He took out his phone and called Chen Xi. "Are you crazy?"

"..." Was it appropriate to open by asking whether someone was crazy? Chen Xi's thoughts were a little scrambled. After gathering herself, she said, "It seems Mr. Li received the package. Although... nothing could ultimately be changed, I will not renege on the payment we agreed on."

Li Yao said, "But I didn't do anything."

Chen Xi said, "You did a great deal."

After a pause, Chen Xi's voice softened slightly. "Consider it... my purchase of that coat of yours."

Li Yao said, "..."

That coat had been bought at H&M and cost only a little over three hundred... He had resold it for thirty million? What a killing! Li Yao's train of thought drifted off course. After a moment, he pulled it back and said sincerely, "Take care of yourself."

Chen Xi laughed. "Mm, I will."

"Thank you," she said softly, then hung up.

Life was far too bitter.

Even rich people like her had many unhappy things in their lives.

The Buddha said that all living beings suffered.

The suffering he spoke of was not the bitterness among the five flavors, but incompleteness. As long as a person desired something, that person was bound to suffer. How could a world formed from an endless sea of people not be full of suffering?

That was why even the slightest warmth seemed so precious.

So, thank you.

Far away in Tong City, Chen Xi held her phone. She was still wearing that ill-fitting coat, standing in a very, very dark little room. Her gaze stretched toward somewhere very, very distant, and a gentle smile rested on her face.

After a while,

She rose and left the room. When she opened the door, light rushed in from outside with a swish, like a massive tide, washing away all the softness around Chen Xi. Thus, the cold and unyielding Chen Xi returned.

She looked straight ahead, her gaze resolute.

Some matters...

Should be brought to an end.

At school, Li Yao held his phone. Before his eyes emerged once again the image of Chen Xi sitting in the park with her face covered. The scene had been utterly silent, without the faintest sound...

She had it hard too, didn't she?

Living was hard.

Everything that happened was meant to happen. For example, meeting you here was not fate, but destiny. So don't hold back on recommendations and tips~