Chapter 118: Resolute and Decisive

If one can safely weather the current catastrophe, it is unlikely that any future circumstances will be more humiliating than this. Yet, who can truly predict the twists and turns of life?

"You are so young, yet you speak with such disrespect!" Father Cheng, recovering from his brief state of paralysis, stared with bulging eyes. "Who are you? You are not welcome here. Leave at once!"

"Speaking does not depend on age." Tang Chao twitched the corner of his mouth in a silent, icy sneer. "Who decreed that one must speak in a certain way based on their age?" He took a step forward. "Since you want us to leave, we won't waste any more time here." With that, he grabbed Yishu’s sleeve, signaling her to follow.

"Wait!" Father Cheng called out. "I told you to leave, not them. Until this matter is resolved, no one is allowed to leave!"

"Since no one is allowed to leave, why did you tell me to go?" Tang Chao deflected, picking at the flaw in his logic.

"Young man, do not be so flippant." Mother Cheng could no longer stand their verbal sparring.

"Since everyone is here, let’s resolve the issue once and for all," Mother Li joined the argument after a long silence. "We are old and cannot keep up with you young people." As she finished, a disobedient tear rolled down her cheek.

Yishu bypassed Tang Chao and walked up to Su Yihui. "I only want one answer from you: how do you intend to end this?"

"I don’t know... I..." Su Yihui’s throat tightened; he couldn't voice his true feelings. Even if he could, he couldn't articulate them clearly. If he affirmed his resolve in front of so many people, he feared he could not bear the public outrage. If he spoke insincerely, the person he had hurt the most was standing right in front of him. It would undoubtedly push him into an abyss.

If they could truly die together, perhaps that would be a form of release.

Su Yihui looked up, his gaze traveling from Cheng Shuguang’s shoes to his face. Helplessness, sorrow, hesitation, frustration... they merged into a dark river, rising one centimeter, then another...

He had once promised to carry him across this vast, endless river. Perhaps they would be buried at the bottom, or perhaps... it would be salvation.

Had that "once" turned into "now," and did he still remember his original vow?

It was like a distress signal, a desperate plea for salvation. What he said next would be an extension of his stance. In other words, if he could not be bold and reckless today, there would be no need for him to endure the gossip alone.

Cheng Shuguang straightened his expression, a golden light flashing in his eyes, lighting up his gray existence.

He walked over and pulled him into an embrace. "Say no more!" He held him tightly, terrified he might slip away. "I love Xiaohui. Whether you accept it or not, this is between him and me; it has nothing to do with anyone else." He gestured toward the four parents. "If you do not agree, then I can only apologize to you."

Love has never wronged anyone. Is it not a tragedy that those who insist on obstructing it force their own "correct" beliefs onto others? Yet, in the end, who is the true beneficiary?

"You shameless, wretched thing." Father Cheng’s words became increasingly vicious, completely abandoning the composure he had cultivated over the years. In his heart, if he could trade his dignity for his son’s conscience, he would rather be an ignorant brute. "If you insist on being with him, come to the courthouse with me right now; I am disowning you."

Mother Cheng’s eyes widened like copper bells. In her heart, her son was the source of her will to live. If the relationship were severed, it would be like cutting off her lifeblood. For a woman in her sixties, this would be a premature end to her life. "Let's talk this through; don't be so absolute," she pleaded earnestly.

"Is he in a position to talk reasonably?" Father Cheng’s eyes bulged again. "If the neighbors find out, where will you and I hide our faces?"

Mother Cheng could not answer, emitting intermittent sobs.

"You can apologize to us," Mother Li said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She had watched Cheng Shuguang grow up; it was no exaggeration to say she thought of him as half a son. "But what about Nanzhi? Can you apologize to her? She only has you as a boyfriend." Mother Li sank into sorrow. "She once had another suitor. Perhaps you don't know, but he pursued Nanzhi relentlessly. I thought I wanted you two to be together, so I said those cruel things to make him give up."

After graduating from university, Li Nanzhi had worked as a clerk at a foreign trade company for six months. During that time, a purchaser two years her senior had pursued her briefly.

In truth, Li Nanzhi had little contact with him in her role. Sometimes, they only brushed past each other in the cafeteria or the hallways.

However, fate loves to tease the world.

Because she was a newcomer, she inevitably faced the occasional intentional or unintentional harassment from senior staff, as per the unwritten rules of many companies. She always had endless files to complete and even had to share the secretary's workload.

Li Nanzhi was pure and kind by nature and did not easily refuse others. In her memory, such things had rarely happened before.

One day after work, a thunderstorm suddenly broke out—a storm not predicted by the forecast.

"Nanzhi, can I borrow your umbrella? You’ll be here for a while longer, and maybe it will stop raining by then?"

And what if it didn't stop?

She didn't ask, and she didn't say.

"Then take it," she said, pulling the purple folding umbrella from her bag.

However, when she finished her extra work and stepped out of the company doors, the rain was still pouring.

It was a four or five-hundred-meter walk to the bus station, and no matter how fast she walked, she would still get soaked.

"Use my umbrella." He walked up silently from behind and held the umbrella over her head.

Li Nanzhi turned around, looking at him, unable to speak for a moment. She had some vague impression of him, but it went no further.

"My name is Tao Zhuohua, I’m in purchasing," he smiled. "You might not have seen me." He added weakly, "But I can't help but see you every day."

"Huh?" Li Nanzhi didn't hear his last sentence clearly.

"Nothing," Tao Zhuohua shook his head frantically. "It’s very late, you should go home." He pressed the handle of the umbrella into her hand.

"Then how will you get home?" Li Nanzhi refused to take it. "You’ll get soaked."

"I don't mind." Seeing she was unwilling to take it, he simply placed the umbrella on the ground and ran into the rain without looking back.

In the days that followed, he would always intentionally or unintentionally create opportunities to see her. It seemed that once the first encounter had occurred, all subsequent meetings became logical.

Li Nanzhi couldn't describe her feelings for him, only that she deliberately kept her distance. Her heart was too small—small enough to hold only Cheng Shuguang.

Just as Tao Zhuohua was about to give up, Mother Li dealt him the final blow.

He said that as long as she was happy, he was fine. Everything else was unimportant.

As Cheng Shuguang listened to Mother Li, a sourness surged into his nose. If there was truly one person in this world he had wronged, it had to be Li Nanzhi.

Although he had hinted to her countless times, he had never spoken clearly. Those trapped in obsession cannot be saved from impending or inevitable misfortune by their own efforts or a few vague words.

"Say something," Mother Li said, looking at Li Nanzhi with pity. "Mom needs to know your thoughts."

"Don't worry, Nanzhi, I will definitely discipline Shuguang," Father Cheng comforted her.

"I don't think that's necessary," Father Li sighed heavily. "If he had fallen for another woman, perhaps there would be room for reconciliation. But he doesn't like women now. Do you expect Nanzhi to change her gender?"

"You're being too extreme," Mother Cheng frowned.

"Stop it, all of you." Li Nanzhi felt listless; everything she saw appeared blurred. She walked up to Cheng Shuguang and looked him in the eye. "Perhaps women are more easily made into fools when it comes to love. It's like being poisoned; there is no cure. Actually, back in high school, I already knew your sexual orientation. To me at the time, it was truly a thunderbolt, because since elementary school, or perhaps even earlier, I had fallen in love with you." She took a deep breath and raised her hand to wipe away the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Nanzhi, since you..." Mother Li couldn't believe it and was about to ask.

"Mom, don't speak yet, let me finish." She sniffled and continued. "But after that, I slowly convinced myself to let go of my obsession with you. My attachment to you now is not as deep as it once was. I think that today, you have severed my last thread of obsession. It won't take long before I am completely free."