We ordered a half-and-half hot pot, since not everyone can handle spicy food.

One spicy hot pot and one tomato hot pot.

The two girls had pitifully small appetites, and most of their food ended up in Bai Ye's stomach.

Bai Ye paid the majority of the bill during the meal.

He felt embarrassed to split the cost by one-third, so he decided to pay for it himself.

But after paying, Su Luo transferred all their money to him.

Even Bai Ye's persuasion was ineffective.

I decided that we absolutely couldn't split the taxi fare.

Seeing that he insisted, the two women did not press him further.

Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Huang Mao, who was starving and almost unconscious, received a message from his sister.

Luo Qingyan: Second brother, go eat barbecue by yourself. I've already eaten, so you don't need to see me off. I'll take a taxi back with my friend.

Yellow Hair put down his phone, his eyes dull and lifeless, his whole body frozen like a statue.

At that moment, a song popped into his head.

Snowflakes are falling, and the north wind is howling!

...

The car arrived quickly. To avoid any unnecessary physical contact later, Bai Ye decisively sat in the passenger seat, leaving the two women in the back.

Since the drop-off point was at the college, Su Zhimeng was the first to leave.

Luo Qingyan's eyes lit up. Wasn't this all the time she could spend alone with her senior?

After getting off the bus, they still had to walk a distance back to school.

"Senior, I want to drink milk tea!"

"No, you don't want to drink!"

"Senior!" (???????～???????)

white night:……

What would you like to drink?

"Anything my senior buys for me is fine!"

Bai Ye chuckled and said, "Then I think it's better to drink Assam milk tea, which is cheap, delicious, economical, and affordable."

Luo Qingyan was speechless: "Senior, are you a devil?" (?_?|||)

Bai Ye said helplessly, "If you don't tell me, how am I supposed to know what you want to drink?"

He couldn't be bothered to guess what girls were thinking; his limited brain simply couldn't fathom it.

"Even if I don't say it, you should already know, senior!"? – _ – ?

Bai Ye was dumbfounded. How am I supposed to know what you want to drink? There are so many milk tea shops, am I supposed to guess them all one by one?

He had no interest in riddles and intended to finish quickly.

"I have class to attend, hurry up and tell me!"

Luo Qingyan's face showed a hint of anger: "I want the most expensive milk tea."

"OK!"

Let her be. It's just a small amount of money; we'll just buy her a milk tea.

On my way to buy milk tea.

Luo Qingyan walked ahead, her hands behind her back, and hesitated before speaking:

"Hey, senior, do you like Meng-senpai?"

She was very nervous, fearing she would receive bad news.

Bai Ye replied decisively, "I like her. Who wouldn't like someone as kind as Senior Meng?"

Luo Qingyan's face darkened, and she said through gritted teeth:

I'm talking about romantic love between a man and a woman!

Bai Ye smiled, without directly answering her:

"Senior Meng is kind to everyone, I'm not the only one!"

One of the three great illusions of life.

She likes me!

The smile gradually faded, and Bai Ye's expression instantly became calm:

"Besides... I don't think that relationships in college will last."

Luo Qingyan so obviously asked him if he liked Su Zhimeng.

He's not an idiot with no emotional intelligence.

Luo Qingyan might genuinely like him, or perhaps the dependence she felt from the past hasn't faded away.

Bai Ye didn't explicitly say no, but the meaning was already implied in her words.

Most relationships in college are just for fun, for the sake of novelty, and very few people can actually make it last.

However, if it's just for fun, Bai Ye felt there was absolutely no need for it, as it was time-consuming, laborious, and expensive.

Instead of spending money on games, why not play games and pay for them? Games can last a lifetime, but women can't.

It's a very real problem: nowadays, guys don't really pursue girls anymore. Either they've been hurt in love and don't believe in love anymore, or they're broke, or they're still broke. With so much money for living expenses each month, one or two dates are enough to make ends meet.

Eating instant noodles for a month—is that something a human being could do?

Luo Qingyan fell silent.

Both of them were speechless.

After buying the milk tea, Bai Ye escorted Luo Qingyan to her dormitory building.

As he turned to leave, a hand grabbed his sleeve.

Luo Qingyan's eyes were filled with tears, and her voice was choked with emotion:

"My feelings won't change, not even after I graduate from university. I don't care if you believe me, but... I will always wait for you!"

Bai Ye's heart trembled, and she walked away with her head down.

Her bangs hung down, and her slightly lowered head made it impossible to see her expression.

Wait for me? Time is always cruel; no one remains unchanged.

Just like the human heart, which is always difficult to fathom.

You may be true to yourself right now, but what about later?

I never believe in an unpredictable future, and I don't believe that promises made over many years will be kept.

The plots in the movie are, after all, only a minority.

When that time comes, will you still be the same person you are now, or will I still be the same person I was back then?

For Bai Ye, love is now like a tomb, something he doesn't want to get close to.

What will my future hold after I leave campus?

Go work in a factory?

With a monthly salary of a few thousand, it's barely enough to support yourself, let alone have time for dating.

Car loans and mortgages are insurmountable obstacles. Parents can help you, but they can't help you with everything.

Without a car, a house, or money, how can I marry someone as beautiful as you?

People always have to return to reality. The beautiful things we imagine are just fantasies. Reality will teach you... teach you how to be a dying puppet.

People gradually become numb to the monotony of daily life, and Bai Ye could no longer find any meaning in striving.

His future seemed to be locked in and predetermined; he couldn't escape that birdcage.

Everything seems to have returned to its starting point, back to the past.

The cage woven by my parents reappeared before my eyes at this moment.

From childhood to adulthood, he has always followed his parents' wishes.

My parents are from the previous generation, and there is a serious generation gap between them and me.

They simply believe that since it's for your own good, you should do it.

When I was in junior high school, my parents would ask about my grades for every test and exam.

Then you contacted your teacher and asked them to take extra care of you.

Bai Ye didn't like this, but he understood that his parents were doing it for his own good, so he never argued with them.

But think about it the other way around: why should a teacher give you special treatment?

Teachers who truly possess professional ethics are, after all, a minority.

In today's money-driven world, why should a teacher be obligated to take care of my child just because you say so?

Most teachers just give you a perfunctory response; they don't really care. They're content with just doing their job and getting paid, and there's no need for them to go through any more trouble.

His parents always treated the teacher's words as gospel; if he ever said anything bad about the teacher, his parents would always say that he was disobedient.

At that time, his family didn't have much money, so his parents took out a loan to tutor him.

They said, "You must study hard. Your family has spent so much money, even taking out loans to pay for your tutoring, all in the hope that you will study hard."

Bai Ye felt it was the same principle as moral blackmail.

At that time, Bai Ye really wanted to question them about whether they could stop interfering with him like this.

But as his parents grew older, he kept his thoughts to himself.

Numbly accepting their parents' so-called "for your own good".

They never even ask you before giving you extra lessons. By the time you realize what's happening, the teacher finds you and says your parents told you you wanted extra lessons.

Bai Ye fell silent and nodded without a sound.

He always felt that he wasn't studying for himself, but only for his parents.

He was like a puppet, at the mercy of others.

(I don't know if you guys have seen the latest movie about claw machines directed by Shen Teng. It really resonated with me; it felt like it was about me when I was younger. Of course, it wasn't that exaggerated, and my dad wasn't that rich either.)