193 Chapter Qing Yu Case, Yuan Xi_3

Luo Xingyu choked and said, "Isn't that you?"

Lou Guodong nodded, "Yes, that's me, and my desk-mate was your mom."

When her mom was mentioned, Luo Xingyu was stunned for a moment, then she said softly, "You've never mentioned that before."

Luo Xingyu took off her slippers, placed her feet on the couch, hugged her legs, nestled there, and continued to listen to her dad's story.

What Lou Guodong spoke of were clearly his most precious and profound memories.

"Later, we attended the same middle school. Back then, her grades were very good, whereas mine were not that great because I had to help my mom with handiwork to earn extra money for the family after school, so my grades couldn't match hers. She was always first, and I hovered around tenth place."

"That's quite good, though."

"Not good enough. It had to be better. Later, she treated me to ice cream. It was the first time I had ice cream, creamy ice cream. Before that, I had only had ice lollies that cost five cents because my family was too poor to afford an ice cream. She told me, 'You have to study hard, or else we won't be able to attend the same school.'

Luo Xingyu sniffled and said, "Dad, you must have been really handsome when you were young."

"I don't know. Even if I was, it didn't do much good, I guess, because we were too poor. I only had my school uniform to wear, and even getting a haircut felt expensive, so even if I were handsome, it probably wouldn't have shown. But I liked her a lot... I really liked her."

Latter, she got into the best high school, and I didn't. But we kept writing letters, always writing, even though we were in the same city, letters were all we had. Her family had a telephone, but I never dared to call her.

I thought, even though I didn't get into the same high school, I had to get into the same university as her, so I studied desperately, studying as if my life depended on it. Although I really wanted to visit her at her school, I never went. I swore that I had to get into the same university as her, or I'd never go to see her."

"Later, she got into Tsinghua University, and so did I, although in different departments, but I truly made it."

Lou Guodong placed his hand on Luo Xingyu's head and stroked it twice, smiling as he said, "In college, I officially started pursuing her, and she accepted. Then, two years later, close to graduation, she took me to her house for the first time, and that's when I knew that her family hailed from a long line of scholars, her father being a famous painter."

"Did my grandpa oppose you guys?"

Lou Guodong was stunned for a moment, then he sighed and said softly, "Not at all. Your grandpa wasn't that snobbish, but I felt inferior. I thought I wasn't good enough for her. She was so outstanding, and I was always the pursuer. Back then, getting married didn't involve buying cars or houses, but when we graduated, I didn't even have the money to rent an apartment."

"Dad, you were so silly."

"Yeah, it was pretty silly, but I'd rather call it dignity."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, you graduated from Tsinghua, were you really worried about not having money? Top university graduate, why wouldn't my grandpa approve of you?"

Luo Guodong smiled and patted his daughter's hair as he spoke softly, "The thing to fear is inferiority, but excessive pride can lead to self-sufficiency. I'm okay; I never thought about breaking up with your mother because I felt unworthy of her. I wasn't that foolish. But back then, job assignments were centralized. After she graduated, she was assigned a very good job, while I was sent to a design institute that was nearly unable to pay its wages. Because I studied civil engineering, we weren't separated emotionally but were distanced physically. And materially, the gap between us grew even larger."

"So you see, you were silly. Mom definitely wouldn't care about those things."

"She might not have cared, but I did, so I chose to resign. Your grandparents were strongly against it, but I resigned anyway. I started doing business, and then... then I succeeded. I made money."

Luo Guodong was deeply moved as he sighed and continued, "She really liked Xin Qiji, especially the poem Eternal Regret of the Jade Hall. The east wind fills the night with blowing flowers, a thousand trees shower more, they fall like rain... So your name is Luo Xingyu, she said that my surname was so fitting for the name Luo Xingyu..."

Luo Guodong's voice choked up as he lifted his head and tremblingly said, "A poor boy incapable of pride, back in high school, she wrote in her letter... I searched for him in the crowd thousands of times, but when I turned my head, there he was in the dim light. Just this one sentence in her letter, but I knew she liked me. I swore to give her the best life, the very best! A life where no one could look down on the man she loved! No one dared to look down upon him! Couldn't! Dared not!"

Luo Xingyu cried out once more, and Luo Guodong, continuing with his head raised, said haltingly, "Later, I resigned. Her father strongly opposed our relationship, because he thought I was finished, so I asked her to wait for me, just wait, and then I started to desperately make money. Until I founded my first company, drove a Mercedes to pick her up from her home, that moment, all the doubts disappeared, all the mockery was gone, all gone!"

Luo Xingyu continued to cry, Luo Guodong lowered his head, finally letting the tears fall, and then he whispered, "But now I've realized that I've lost my way, I never neglected her, but I should have spent more time with her. I deeply regret leaving you all at home. In her last moments, she probably wished I was with her, not the driver..."

Luo Xingyu unfurled her legs and hugged Luo Guodong, sobbing, "No, she definitely wanted you to be well, Dad!"

Luo Guodong sighed deeply, then whispered softly, "Daughter, I'm telling you all this to help you understand a principle: when you feel like you're getting further away from someone, that you can't keep up with their pace, don't hold their hand and ask them to stop and not leave. Instead, you should speed up to catch up with them. Just like when I was pursuing your mother, I had no other way except to catch up with her myself because I believe that love obtained by pleading is an illusion."

"Uh-huh."

"I used to think, with the conditions I've given you, you only had the option to choose the person you wanted in this world. But, who can clearly define love? Now wealth has lost its meaning, and Gao Yuan... has become a superhero. Daughter, he's heading to Africa. He can go because of his skills, but you can't because you're not skilled enough. Even if you did train, do you think Gao Yuan would lack someone proficient in shooting by his side?"

Luo Xingyu sighed softly, speaking in a low voice, "I understand, even though you've taken a long way around, I get it."

"You can't force Gao Yuan to stay by your side. If you truly like him, you must at least prove that you're not just a little girl who always needs his protection. Also, matching social status is crucial; you can't be seen as a drag on others, so you have to work hard. Even if you can't be the best, at least you must have tried to be. When you've done your best, that's when you might have the chance of that sudden turn, finding that someone is there in the dim light."

Luo Guodong was filled with emotion, Luo Xingyu wiped her tears away, blew her nose, and after wiping away the emerging tears once again, she whispered, "Dad, I understand now. I know what to do."

Luo Guodong patted Luo Xingyu on the back and whispered, "Go wash your face, don't be upset. Longing is a good source of motivation. Don't worry about Gao Yuan, he'll definitely come back. He said you could get into the preparatory class for the science academy, and I'm sure you can too. Let him see how much you've changed when he returns."

Luo Xingyu nodded and then said softly, "But I don't want to be a scientist; I still want to be by his side, to protect him! And to protect you too!"

Luo Guodong smiled and answered, "Okay then, search for the right opportunity. If there's currently no way to counter the aliens, then strive to find one. That's how you'll protect me and Gao Yuan."

"I will!"

After a pause, Luo Xingyu wiped her tears away one last time and said softly, "We're definitely going to beat the virus, we'll definitely defeat the aliens. We've endured so much and held on until now. Since we've seen hope, we're bound to emerge victorious!"