Chapter 22: The Weight I'll Carry
An hour later, Liu Shang took the bus back to his dormitory.
Seeing him return, Fu Liang greeted him excitedly.
"Second Brother! You're finally back."
"Have you eaten yet?"
Liu Shang put down his bag and smiled. "I got back a bit late today, so I ate downstairs."
"Have you guys eaten?"
Fu Liang clapped his hands. "Nope, we were waiting for you!"
"Let's go, let's go! Let's hit the internet cafe, maybe pull an all-nighter? It's only Saturday."
Liu Shang smiled and rolled his eyes at the boisterous big guy. "An all-nighter? Do you have a death wish?"
"You guys go ahead, I'm not going."
"Hey, don't be like that. Houai had to go home. It'll just be me and Eldest Brother. Playing a Warcraft RPG isn't any fun with just two people, is it?"
Zheng Shiwei, who was standing to the side, also chimed in, "It's definitely too boring with just the two of us, and we're no match for other teams when Fu Liang has to carry us in Frozen Throne."
By this time, Liu Shang had already changed into a tracksuit and had his earphones ready.
"I'm going for a run. Do you two want to come?"
Seeing him like this, Fu Liang slapped his forehead. "A run?"
"It's the weekend. Why would you go for a run for no reason?"
Liu Shang smiled. "You know what they say: the debts you run up always come due."
"If we wreck our bodies now, we'll pay the price after we turn thirty-five. It's the law of the universe; fate doesn't let anyone off the hook."
Zheng Shiwei laughed. "Haha, you even made that rhyme."
"Then I guess it's just Fu Liang and me going tonight."
"Sigh, people in love are just different! So mentally and physically healthy!"
Afterward, Liu Shang walked out of the dormitory building and started jogging along the road that wound through the sprawling campus.
He had never noticed before just how beautiful this school was.
When a person's heart is gloomy, the world they see lacks color.
It turned out that his former self had been unworthy of the peace and beauty of this campus.
After a while, Liu Shang, with his earphones in, called Jiang Ruolin.
He had been busy all day, so he hadn't messaged her much.
After returning home, Jiang Ruolin also seemed to be very busy, and there had been long gaps between their replies to each other's messages.
"Hello?"
Soon, the call connected, and Jiang Ruolin's crisp, sweet voice came through.
Upon hearing her voice, Liu Shang felt the emptiness in his day, and in his soul, fill in an instant.
"Hey, have you eaten yet? What were you busy with today?"
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Ruolin, who had been exhausted and upset all day, collapsed onto her large, comfortable bed while holding her phone.
She had been in a hurry to get home for the weekend, just so she could be ready to put out fires at any moment and prevent her parents from finding out about her boyfriend from other sources.
So far, things seemed to be going well; no one had deliberately leaked the secret to her parents.
However, quite a few people had still come from all directions, making insinuating inquiries and showing their "concern."
Faced with these meddlers' persuasive words and tactful hints, Jiang Ruolin felt dizzy and deeply upset.
"Phew, I'm a little tired. I haven't eaten yet. I don't have any appetite at all."
"Oh? Our Princess Ruolin isn't in a good mood. What's wrong? Do you want me to come eat with you?"
After hearing Liu Shang's voice, Jiang Ruolin's mood on the other end of the phone obviously brightened. "Heh, where did you get such courage?"
"I'm at home. How dare you joke with me like this? Aren't you afraid my parents will hear?"
Liu Shang smiled. "Judging from your tone, volume, and the natural way you're speaking, I know you're alone right now."
"And even if your parents were home, is there a rule against classmates showing concern for each other?"
Jiang Ruolin smiled, her voice soft. "But my dear classmate Liu Shang, you aren't just an ordinary classmate."
"Aren't you afraid my parents will find out and tear us apart?"
Liu Shang smiled. "I'll say this in advance: no matter what, I will always have the utmost respect for your parents."
"However, even if they are your elders, they can't take you away from me."
"I told you before, in this world, no one but God can take you from me!"
At this, Jiang Ruolin couldn't help but sigh. "Goebbels said that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth."
"But a lie is still a lie, and you eventually have to wake up from self-hypnosis."
"Liu Shang, you have to know that even without my parents, there are still many people who want to separate us."
"They're so annoying."
Liu Shang, who was jogging, hesitated for a moment, then frowned and said gently but seriously, "Ruolin, try to relax and don't pay any attention to them."
"I don't want these trivial matters, these people, to disrupt your orderly and happy life or make you unhappy."
Perhaps because of her extremely bad mood and fragile state that day, Jiang Ruolin felt a wave of grievance wash over her when she heard Liu Shang's words.
She was not one of Lu Xun's warriors, able to face a bleak reality with a cold heart.
With her high emotional intelligence, she couldn't just turn a blind eye to the pressure coming from all directions, nor could she simply drop all pretenses and angrily retaliate.
The other parties persuaded her indirectly and tactfully, so she could only express her determination indirectly and tactfully in return.
In her heart, she cherished and wanted to protect this relationship so much.
She was afraid that those people would disturb Liu Shang's life, and at the same time, she had to try to carry everything on her own, to face those doubts and objections alone.
"Heh, so you mean we should just try to relax and bury our heads in the sand like ostriches?"
"If we do that, we might be able to be ostriches for two or three years, but what about after that?"
"The problems we have to face will still be there sooner or later! Unless—"
Having said that, Jiang Ruolin suddenly realized her words had been too harsh.
She shouldn't be putting pressure on Liu Shang that he shouldn't have to bear, pressure that was far beyond his capacity to handle.
But at that moment, Jiang Ruolin heard Liu Shang's magnetic, relaxed, and serious voice from the other end of the phone.
"Ruolin, don't worry about any of these things."
"You just need to live a peaceful and happy life. I'll carry the weight of everything else."
At that moment, after hearing Liu Shang's heartfelt and forceful words, Jiang Ruolin's tears streamed down her face.
She had misjudged him. He *was* thinking about their future. He just wanted to be like her—to face it alone, to carry a burden on his thin shoulders that he couldn't possibly bear, an immense pressure that no one his age should have to face.
All he wanted was for her years to be peaceful, while he carried the burden alone.
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