Chapter 0120 Arrival in Beijing

Zhao Fusheng did not think his own shoulders were strong enough to shoulder a mountain; being able to take care of the small patch of land around him was already the clearest positioning he had for himself.

After comforting Wang Zhen, who was somewhat lacking in confidence, Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and finally gave Wang Zhen a suggestion: lose weight.

"All disasters in the world arise from self-attachment."

As for literary cultivation, although everyone has their own judgment, in Zhao Fusheng's eyes, reading more books was never a bad thing.

Seeing Wang Zhen's confused look, Zhao Fusheng patiently explained to him that this sentence meant letting go of self-attachment, or simply letting go of obsession. Breaking down these four characters, the first two require great wisdom, while the latter two are the shackles of many people's lives.

Wang Zhen couldn't help but sigh with emotion; these two sentences were extremely profound, and the reasoning was quite thought-provoking. The only drawback was that they were too obscure.

Actually, Zhao Fusheng had another thing he didn't say: these words were only good for fooling young people. For someone of his own psychological age and experience, he simply scoffed at such talk.

The reason was simple: everyone's life trajectory is different. For some, letting go of obsession is liberation, but for others, letting go of obsession would cause them to lose their motivation to move forward.

Letting go.

A bitter smile appeared on Zhao Fusheng's lips. He walked out of the dormitory, looked up at the sky, and finally shook his head. Even a Buddha like Kṣitigarbha could not let go of the beings in hell, let alone a mortal?

With too many desires in his heart, it was naturally impossible to let go of that obsession.

But Zhao Fusheng still felt that he should give Wang Zhen some hope now, because tomorrow's sun will always rise. Without hope, how could we interpret our own lives?

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng had heard a saying: a man must have boldness at the dinner table, courage in life, and endurance in bed.

Perhaps it was just a joke, but Zhao Fusheng understood that sometimes people live by a certain spirit. With that spirit, they can endure; without it, they sink.

Once, he had sunk into the shackles of life, but now he really wanted to succeed.

…

…

Time passed not slowly, and before he knew it, Zhao Fusheng suddenly realized that National Day was approaching.

On September 29th, Mu Qingqing arrived as scheduled, carrying her suitcase, standing at the school gate.

"Let's go," Mu Qingqing said, glancing at Zhao Fusheng.

Before coming, she had called Zhao Fusheng and told him to get ready to depart. Zhao Fusheng had declined her suggestion to meet at the dormitory, and the two agreed to meet at the school gate.

The reason was simple: there weren't many people here, and even if there were students, they didn't know them.

Zhao Fusheng didn't want to become the center of attention. If Mu Qingqing really waited for him downstairs at the dormitory, whether it was the male or female dormitory, it would probably become another piece of news.

Carrying his suitcase, Zhao Fusheng followed behind Mu Qingqing, with many surprised gazes behind him. After all, there weren't many girls as pretty as Mu Qingqing, and Zhao Fusheng was really too ordinary. With slightly dark skin and although tall, the two of them simply didn't match.

"Many people are looking at you," Mu Qingqing suddenly said while sitting in the taxi.

Zhao Fusheng was startled for a moment, then said to the driver, "Driver, to the airport."

Only then did he turn his head and look at Mu Qingqing, saying, "They're not looking at me, they're looking at you."

He had enough self-awareness for that; since childhood, he had never been the one attracting attention.

Originally, Zhao Fusheng had wanted to take the train, but it was clear Mu Qingqing didn't care about the cost of the plane tickets. In her words, the sooner they finished the business, the sooner it would be over.

Since the one paying didn't mind, Zhao Fusheng cared even less.

On the plane, Zhao Fusheng had no intention of chatting with Mu Qingqing and fell asleep as soon as he leaned back.

Mu Qingqing looked at the sleeping Zhao Fusheng and couldn't help feeling helpless. When others were alone with her, they'd be eager to get close, but he not only ignored her completely but treated her as if she were invisible.

"This guy, he's really hard to figure out," Mu Qingqing thought to herself, puzzled.

……

……

Mu Qingqing hadn't lied; asking Zhao Fusheng to come this time was indeed her personal decision. At the very least, when Mu Qingqing and Zhao Fusheng left the airport, no one came to pick them up.

They got on the airport bus and headed toward the city center.

A long wind swept down from the pitch-black sky, bending the weeds beyond the Fourth Ring Road. In a few new residential developments with average prices under three thousand yuan per square meter, lights were sparse and scattered.

The bus wheezed heavily; there weren't many passengers, just six or seven people.

The weather had been bad lately; it was said that even for the military parade, they had to fire shells to disperse the rain clouds.

This ancient city, with a stern face, was bidding farewell to its past.

Sitting in front of Zhao Fusheng and Mu Qingqing was a girl with a Walkman hanging around her neck. The song flowing from her earphones was "Love Is Just a Word," and she hummed along, clearly this was the most popular tune nowadays.

Zhao Fusheng wasn't surprised; the biggest shock this world gave him was its resemblance yet difference.

Some things had changed, some hadn't; some people had disappeared, while others were still here.

"Do you like this song?"

The girl's Walkman was quite loud, and Mu Qingqing could hear it clearly. She glanced strangely at Zhao Fusheng, who had a smile on his face, and asked in confusion.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then shook his head: "No, I just think the night view is nice."

Mu Qingqing's gaze shifted between the girl and Zhao Fusheng, and finally she nodded, accepting his explanation. After all, she was quite confident in herself. Though she wasn't some stunningly beautiful enchantress, she at least had a good face and figure. In terms of temperament and image, she was ten times better than the girl ahead, yet Zhao Fusheng was indifferent to her, so it was even less likely he'd be interested in that girl.

It's not hard for a girl to know music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; it's not hard to know astronomy and geography; it's not even hard to know poetry and songs. But what's rare is a girl who knows everything.

Mu Qingqing was quite confident in her charm.

But unfortunately, everything about her seemed to be ignored in Zhao Fusheng's eyes.

As the airport bus entered downtown Beijing, Zhao Fusheng seemed to perk up a bit, occasionally looking out the window with a strange expression. Mu Qingqing thought he was marveling at the vastness of the capital, but little did she know, he was just reminiscing. After all, having been a drifter in Beijing for so many years, his complex feelings for this city were something others couldn't understand.