Three years after our breakup, you came back to China, and I'm just giving up. Why are you cryi

Lu Hao sobered up considerably. He subconsciously lowered his head and quickened his pace, wanting to slip past her as quickly as possible and pretend he hadn't seen her.

Just as the two crossed paths, a slightly cool hand grabbed his arm.

"you……"

Su Yu had just uttered a single word when Lu Hao suddenly jerked his arm away from her.

He turned his head and looked at her expressionlessly. "Go back. I've found my own life."

Su Yu's hand froze in mid-air before slowly retracting it.

She looked at him, as if trying to find some familiar trace on his face.

"Xiao Xiyue?"

"Um."

Su Yu laughed, the laughter jarring in the quiet alley. She shook her head slightly as she laughed, "Didn't you say you just wanted a simple, ordinary life? Then what are you now...?"

"I..." Lu Hao opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't refute a single word.

He did want a peaceful life, but now he's fighting for Xiao Xiyue.

Lu Hao sighed, "People change."

"Heh..." Su Yu's laughter turned desolate, tinged with a sob, "When you broke up with me, I told you to wait for me for three years, why didn't you wait..."

Lu Hao's gaze towards Su Yu was frighteningly calm. "Don't you find it ridiculous to say that yourself?"

"Yeah...it's pretty ridiculous."

She muttered to herself, taking a step back with each word. The streetlights made her face appear even paler. "You can fight for other women now, but back then you chose to lie down for me..."

Moisture condensed in her bright almond-shaped eyes and slid down her cheeks.

Lu Hao remained silent for a long time, so long that the wind blew up the fallen leaves on the ground, swirling them past their feet.

He spoke again, his voice hoarse: "If you had gone to any other city, anywhere in the world, I would have gone with you. But you chose to go abroad."

Su Yu's throat tightened, and she desperately tilted her head back, trying to force back her tears.

"Is there really no... absolutely no chance?"

Lu Hao didn't answer. He glanced to the side, looked up at the moon which was half-hidden by dark clouds, and said calmly, "It's too late, let's go home."

A faint flame instantly flickered in Su Yu's eyes: "Your home or mine?"

Lu Hao turned back to look at her, and said, slowly and deliberately, "What I mean is, it's too late."

The night wind blew by, lifting the hem of her white skirt like a butterfly with broken wings.

Su Yu said, her voice choked with emotion, "Let me take you home."

"No."

I want to walk with you a little longer.

Lu Hao didn't answer. He took out a cigarette case from his pocket and shook out a cigarette. Su Yu reached into her bag to take out her lighter, only to find that Lu Hao had already lit it.

Her hand paused. She looked at the back of the figure that had already turned and walked away, put the lighter back into her bag, and silently followed.

Lu Hao walked very slowly, taking a puff of smoke and a step at a time.

The smoke gathered and dispersed in front of him, just like his and her past.

The dilapidated building where the rented house was located was getting closer and closer. The entrance to the building was dark and gaping, like a mouth that could devour everything.

Lu Hao stopped in front of the stairwell and flicked the cigarette butt in his hand into a small puddle next to him.

With a "buzz" sound, it was as if something had been extinguished.

He was about to say "We've arrived" when Su Yu spoke first.

"Look at that butterfly, it's so silly."

Lu Hao followed her gaze and saw a butterfly under the glass eaves of a closed shop not far away, persistently trying to fly up to it, illuminated by the streetlights.

"It's trapped," Lu Hao said.

"Why doesn't it just go to the side when there's so much space around it? How stupid."

Lu Hao paused, then looked away from Su Yu beside him: "You saw so many exits because you were outside. It wants to fly upwards, but it can't see the glass above."

"Then why can't it come back out and fly higher?" Su Yu also turned her gaze away and stared straight into Lu Hao's eyes.

"Because it can't see."

Su Yu smiled again.

She didn't look at Lu Hao again, but ran to the shop, picked up a dry twig from the ground, stood on tiptoe, and used the twig to guide the fluttering butterfly.

Guided by the branches, the butterfly finally bypassed the invisible glass and stumbled into the night.

Su Yu turned her head and looked at Lu Hao, who was still standing there. She sniffed, tears streaming down her face, but she tried to smile.

"Look, it still came out."

Lu Hao didn't answer, but just gave her a deep look before turning and walking into the dark stairwell.

"Lu Hao!"

Behind them came Su Yu's heart-wrenching screams.

"I don't want to be the one who has to kneel down and tell the doctor that I love my loved one so much when my loved one urgently needs money in the hospital."

Su Yu's voice was carried away by the night wind, and her footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Lu Hao walked step by step to the sixth floor. Just as he was about to open the door, it was pushed open from the inside.

Ning Shu poked her head out, her bright eyes scrutinizing Lu Hao.

Lu Hao touched his nose; his throat felt a little dry.

"You saw it?"

"Sister Su Yu shouted so loudly, everyone in the building heard it." Ning Shu leaned against the door frame and pouted.

Lu Hao shrugged, didn't reply, squeezed into the room, and sat down on the sofa.

Ning Shu didn't ask any more questions. She turned around and went into the kitchen, poured him a cup of calming tea that she had prepared beforehand, and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Lu Hao, what are you thinking?" Ning Shu sat down next to him and asked tentatively.

Lu Haoming took a sip of tea, put the cup down, turned to look at Ning Shu, and smiled, "Now I'm wondering, where are you going to take me to relax tomorrow?"

Ning Shu was stunned for a moment, then understood.

She pursed her lips, took out her phone, and continued, following Lu Hao's lead, "How about we go camping at Linggui Mountain tomorrow?"

"This is good." Lu Hao nodded in satisfaction, leaned back on the sofa, and relaxed. "Let's check it out first. If it's good, I'll bring Xiyue with me next time."

"That's good." Ning Shu breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.

Lu Hao glanced at her sideways and suddenly teased, "You little rascal, aren't you planning to tattle on me again?"

"No, no, absolutely not!"

Ning Shu shook her head vigorously.

Lu Hao chuckled softly, said nothing more, and looked up at the ceiling.

The choice was made the moment I turned and walked into that dark stairwell.

Su Yu is a thing of the past.

Xiao Xiyue is his future.

As for how far he can go in the future, it is unknown, but Lu Hao knows that he has no right to give up this time.

……

The next day, the sun was not particularly bright.

Lu Hao frowned slightly as he looked at Ning Shu, who was carrying many bags in the living room. "You brought so much stuff?"

"Of course, I prepared all day yesterday." Ning Shu zipped up the suitcase and then put her backpack on.

Lu Hao smiled, reached out and pulled the handle of the suitcase, and then slung another backpack over his shoulder.

"Let's go, let's set off!"