Yeah.
A girl who had never said she liked anyone had dropped out of middle school, worked for years, and treated him like both an older sister and a mother.
The feelings involved couldn't be explained by a simple word like romance.
This was love—real, genuine love, without a trace of impurity.
Perhaps many people nowadays thought love was cheap.
But back then, love had always been supreme.
Maybe... it was still just as supreme now.
Luo Ye had seen plenty of jokes online about people breaking up and demanding so-called "Youth Fees" from their partners.
They talked about dating for so many years, having only one youth, sacrificing their youth, and so on.
It wasn't until he heard Professor Qi's story that Luo Ye realized there really should be such a thing as a Youth Fee—but not the kind in those jokes.
Professor Qi's wife had given up her youth to support Professor Qi through college. That was what it truly meant to sacrifice one's youth.
Professor Qi continued, "When I proposed to her, she was utterly incredulous. She said she had never thought of marrying me, that she paid my tuition only because she wanted me to make something of myself—not because she wanted me to marry her after I became successful. She absolutely refused to marry me."
At that point, Professor Qi smiled for the first time in a long while. "The more she said that, the more my heart was moved, classmates. I really liked her back then. A good girl like that—if I had missed my chance, I would've been the one at a loss."
Everyone burst into laughter.
They hadn't expected Professor Qi to be like this when talking about his family.
"Later, I pursued her for a long time. I told her I