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

Looking at Lin Ran in front of him, Lu Hao gave a wry smile, "You heard everything?"

"Yes, I heard everything."

Lu Hao sighed softly, walked out of Zhou Mengmeng's room, and took Lin Ran's hand as they entered her room.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Lu Hao looked up at her and asked earnestly, "And what about you?"

Lin Ran smiled slightly and said with utmost seriousness, "I no longer have a home. Wherever you are, that is home."

A simple sentence, like a warm current flowing into Lu Hao's heart, made him instantly understand Lin Ran's determination.

The girl in front of him had long regarded him as her only destination in life.

Lu Hao's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he continued with some concern, "Lin Ran, are you really sure? If you come back to the orphanage with me, you'll probably be even busier than here, and it'll be a monotonous, repetitive life day and night..."

"Lu Hao." Lin Ran pressed her index finger to his lips, interrupting him, then cupped his cheeks in her hands, her gentle almond-shaped eyes filled with deep affection and determination.

"My goal used to be to make lots and lots of money to shut up the endless nagging of my elders. But now, all I want is to be by your side, watching the sunrise and sunset with you. No matter if you live a life of wealth and honor or one of poverty and hardship, as long as you don't abandon me, I will stay by your side forever."

Lu Hao stared blankly at Lin Ran, who was looking extremely serious, and a deep sense of guilt welled up in his heart.

That woman, who was once independent and resilient, gritting her teeth and bearing all the hardships, eventually willingly put away her sharp edges and became a little girl who wanted to rely on her.

Lu Hao suddenly realized that he and Lin Ran were the same kind of people.

Both were wanderers with no home, and in this vast world, they leaned on each other, finding a glimmer of love that belonged only to each other amidst the storms and hardships of the endless night.

"Sigh..." Lu Hao sighed, grabbed Lin Ran's soft little hand, his eyes solemn and firm, "Lin Ran, don't worry, no matter what happens in the future, I will never abandon you, and I will take you with me wherever I go."

Lin Ran leaned forward slightly, snuggling into his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest, and uttered a muffled sound:

"Yes, I will always be here, always by your side. No matter what you become, or how many people are around you, I don't care. I only hope to stay peacefully by your side and grow old together."

Lu Hao pulled his arms closer, holding her slender and delicate body tightly, feeling the intense dependence and unreserved love of the person in his arms.

……

After finishing their meal, Lu Hao and Lin Ran went to the company together.

After the two parted ways, Lu Hao found Fang Ruoyun.

At this moment, she was sitting in an office, patiently looking through some documents and files.

Lu Hao sat down next to her, and just as he was about to speak, Fang Ruoyun's calm voice rang out first.

"Lu Hao, you think you're all grown up now? You made such a big decision without even consulting us."

"You knew all along?"

Fang Ruoyun closed the document in her hand and casually placed it on the table. Her brows furrowed slightly, and her cool eyes looked at him with a hint of reproach.

"You've been hiding all day and getting soaked in the rain all night, have you figured it out now?"

Lu Hao touched his nose sheepishly, an unnatural embarrassment appearing on his face.

Every time he faced Fang Ruoyun, he felt like a child without any secrets.

Just like when I faced Xiao Xiyue before.

He composed himself, composed his casual expression, and asked seriously, "Um... I wanted to ask you, if I really leave Yongcheng and settle down at the Sunshine Welfare Home, would you be willing to come with me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Fang Ruoyun grabbed the documents beside her and threw them at Lu Hao.

Lu Hao raised his hand to shield himself, giving an awkward smile.

Fang Ruoyun raised an eyebrow and said disdainfully, "Don't you think it's idiotic of you to ask that question?"

Lu Hao placed the documents that had fallen on his lap onto the table, forced a smile, and said ingratiatingly, "How could you be brain-dead? I'm just asking for your opinion; I'm respecting your decision."

"Respect my decision?" Fang Ruoyun scoffed, leaning back in her office chair, arms crossed, her gaze sharp as she stared at him. "If I say I'm not going, are you going to abandon me and go our separate ways from now on?"

"That's not true. I never thought of abandoning anyone," Lu Hao quickly waved his hand in defense.

"Oh? So you're planning to start a long-distance relationship?" Fang Ruoyun pressed on.

Lu Hao was speechless when asked the question. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and confessed in a low voice, "I just asked Zhou Mengmeng at home this morning. She doesn't want to come back with me. She said she can live a long-distance relationship with me and will visit me when she has time."

"That's why I said your problem is that you're brain-dead."

Fang Ruoyun's face was full of disdain as she said, enunciating each word clearly, "You've already made your decision. If we don't go with you, then we'll have to separate. We can't live without you anymore. Wherever you go, even if we don't want to, we'll follow. Understand?"

"But Zhou Mengmeng didn't plan to settle down there..." Lu Hao argued softly.

"Tch, don't you know her personality? She says she doesn't want to die, but the moment you step out of Yongcheng, she packs her bags and chases after you." Fang Ruoyun said knowingly, seeing through Zhou Mengmeng's hypocritical nature at a glance.

Lu Hao gave an awkward dry laugh twice, then followed up with, "So, you're willing to come with me, right?"

"Of course!" Fang Ruoyun readily agreed, but her next words froze Lu Hao's smile, and he fell silent.

"But Lu Hao, calm down and ask yourself honestly, do you really think you can stay in the orphanage for the rest of your life? Can you really endure the decades of mundane, repetitive days, and withstand the boredom of seeing the end of the tunnel before you even realize it?"

Lu Hao had no answer to this question.

He believed that he had no problems for a year or two.

But what if, as Fang Ruoyun said, five years, ten years, or even decades?

He couldn't give an answer.

If one day he no longer wants to live like this, what will become of their lives?

"Lu Hao, dreams are perfect reality, and reality is shattered dreams. I hope you can think about this sentence carefully."

After Fang Ruoyun finished speaking, she picked up the documents on the table and continued to flip through them, as if Lu Hao did not exist.

Lu Hao got up and left the office, walking straight out of the company. Standing on the busy street, he smoked one cigarette after another.

The swirling smoke quickly blurred this clear world.

He felt like he was still a child who hadn't grown up, always thinking that everything he believed in was the most wonderful thing.

But for many things, the outcome is already predetermined the moment they begin.

After finishing a pack of cigarettes, Lu Hao exhaled the last wisp of smoke from his lungs, took out his phone, and called Zhen Youqu.

"Old Zhen, we're not returning the company to you."