Chapter 0492: Edison

In Beijing at the turn of the millennium, housing prices were so low that Zhao Fusheng sometimes even thought about whether he should just throw all his money into buying houses.

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng often chatted with friends. They were all middle-aged, so naturally they had many reflections on life. What troubled people nearing middle age was not so-called self-debasement or greasiness, but the sight of once-strong elders declining one after another before their eyes.

At such times, he often felt trapped in a Poincaré conjecture-like dilemma, more like a battle within himself, where a slip could make him paranoid.

Now, Zhao Fusheng was much more composed. Although he knew that his elders would eventually grow old, at present, whether it was his parents or Li Yuan, they were all diligently managing their own careers and lives. Seeing them shine like this was enough for Zhao Fusheng in this lifetime.

As for throwing money into buying houses, that was just idle thought. After all, wealth had no end, and coasting through life was not Zhao Fusheng's style.

Just like when he ended his drifting life in Beijing and returned to Ninghai, he once sought traces of his past life. But the small town, silent in time, had let vines devour the mottled old walls, and the voices of the past had turned into the bitter wind whistling through broken doors.

New buildings crept along the paths of memory, swallowing up the city's idle land and Zhao Fusheng's childhood memories. Occasionally, he met an elementary school classmate who could still call out his name decades later. They talked about details he himself had blurred, mentioned playmates whose memories had mixed, and in their hearts, there was a sense of unease that had no place to settle.

At that time, Zhao Fusheng knew that time never returned, and everything lost would come back in another form.

But he never expected that the way he came back would be so special.

"Where did you go?"

After making a phone call that took a while, Fan Baobao looked at her boyfriend curiously and asked.

She wasn't worried about Zhao Fusheng cheating, because the probability of that was even lower than her becoming a movie女主角 right now.

Growing up together, Fan Baobao thought she knew Zhao Fusheng too well. That guy, though full of schemes, was an emotional idiot.

You couldn't expect a fool who handed love letters to the teacher in middle school to be proactive with girls. Fan Baobao even felt that if she hadn't spent over a decade with him day and night, Zhao Fusheng might never have taken the initiative to kiss her.

"Slow to warm up, and slow to the extreme." That was Fan Baobao's private assessment of Zhao Fusheng when she talked about him with Zhou Yun.

At first, Zhou Yun didn't understand what she meant. Only after Fan Baobao explained did she realize that the seemingly shrewd Zhao Fusheng could be so wooden at times.

People always have some flaws that others wouldn't expect. Perfect people only exist in literary works; in real life, they certainly don't.

"Nothing much, just handling something." Zhao Fusheng brushed it off lightly and winked at Fan Baobao.

Fan Baobao immediately understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning and didn't dwell on the issue. She knew he would explain it to her later.

This was the tacit understanding they had developed since childhood, something others naturally wouldn't understand.

After dinner, they returned to their lodgings together. Zhou Yun and Wang Qiang walked ahead. Wang Qiang turned back curiously and said to Fan Baobao, "Sis, why are you walking so slowly?"

Fan Baobao gave an awkward smile. Before she could speak, Zhou Yun slapped her forehead and quickly dragged away the third wheel.

Watching their backs, Fan Baobao shook her head helplessly and said to Zhao Fusheng beside her, "Xiao Qiang's personality and social awareness are just too..."

"This guy is destined to be alone forever." Zhao Fusheng said, also at a loss for words.

"Destined to be alone forever? What does that mean?" Fan Baobao asked curiously.

Clearly, she had never heard this term before.

After all, this wasn't the later era of the internet, when many fresh words were unfamiliar to most people.

After explaining to Fan Baobao what 'destined to be alone forever' meant, Zhao Fusheng finally said with a smile, "Now you get it, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Fan Baobao laughed, looking at Zhao Fusheng. "I think if I hadn't kindly taken you in, you'd probably be destined to be alone forever too."

Huh?

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then looked at Fan Baobao helplessly. "Is it really okay for you to talk about your boyfriend like that?"

"Heh, I think it's quite fitting." Unfazed by Zhao Fusheng's expression, Fan Baobao wrinkled her nose. "After all, you're the tough guy who handed love letters to the teacher. I bow to your superiority."

Whenever this came up, Zhao Fusheng felt extremely awkward. God knows what he was thinking back then to do something so stupid. Now it seemed like such a chuunibyou act.

"Can we not talk about this?" Zhao Fusheng looked at Fan Baobao helplessly and gritted his teeth. "Or do you want me to start roasting you too?"

The biggest tragedy of being in a relationship with a childhood sweetheart was that both knew each other's dark histories. When they started roasting each other, there was really no end to it.

Thinking of this, Fan Baobao decisively backed down and shut her mouth.

No way, she had plenty of dark histories that Zhao Fusheng knew about. If he brought them up, it would be really embarrassing.

"Don't I have a face to save?" Fan Baobao muttered silently to herself.

If Zhao Fusheng knew what she was thinking, he'd probably be furious. So she was the only one who cared about face, and he was just thick-skinned?

"By the way, what did you call about during dinner?" Fan Baobao asked Zhao Fusheng curiously.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "Nothing much, just asked the landlord if we could rent the house for a few more months."

"A few more months?" Fan Baobao was startled, then realized. "You want Xiao Qiang to stay?"

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "He has nowhere else to go. I heard from Zhou Yun that his place isn't great, with a bad environment and messy surroundings. It might be better for him to move in with us."

He then explained, "Now that you and Zhou Yun are starting to take on roles, you might occasionally stay out. With Xiao Qiang around, I can feel a bit more at ease."

Fan Baobao was a bit surprised, but then understood Zhao Fusheng's point. As he said, this might actually be a good idea.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't tell her that he had already bought the house, so they could stay as long as they liked.