Chapter 14 Climbing Mountains: It's not like we've never kissed or slept together...

It rained last night, and there's still a faint earthy smell in the air. The sky is still overcast, but the wind is pleasant.

Liang Huaixu stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. "I think that at our age, we should be more open-minded about things. Excessive emotional fluctuations can easily lead to resentment, which can damage the liver and is not good for our health."

Zhuang Fuyao thought he was subtly implying that she was emotionally unstable. She was usually a bit cheerful, but she couldn't be as old-fashioned as Liang Huaixu. "What do you mean by 'at our age'? Thirty-eight is the prime of life. Don't act like you're seventy or eighty. Besides, not everything can be taken lightly."

"If you can't let it go, then go and solve it. Life is only a few decades long, and there's no hurdle you can't overcome."

Listening to his words of comfort, Zhuang Fuyao suddenly felt a lump in her throat. She lowered her eyes and kicked a small pebble at her feet. "But she's a person, and it's not something that can be solved."

Liang Huaixu remained silent.

She took a deep breath, composed herself, and looked up with a smile. "So you were trying to comfort me. I thought there was something more to your words."

"Let's go, let's keep climbing." She strode forward, while Liang Huaixu watched her retreating figure with an inscrutable expression.

When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, Zhuang Fuyao was running out of energy, but Liang Huaixu remained calm and his breathing was not even slightly heavy.

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him suspiciously for a long time.

I thought to myself, "Could this be an act?"

Even though Liang Huaixu was physically strong when he was young, he couldn't have remained completely still like that.

"Liang Huaixu, are you tired?"

Liang Huaixu slowed his pace, suppressing the heaving of his chest, and secretly exhaled a long breath, "Not tired."

Curious, she stepped forward and pinched his arm. "It feels stronger than before."

Liang Huaixu subconsciously tensed his arm muscles.

She asked again, "Is your hand better yet?"

Seeing that she was in the mood for casual conversation, Liang Huaixu felt a sense of relief. "It's all better now."

They chatted about their recent situations over the past few years. Of course, it was mainly Zhuang Fuyao inquiring about things on her own.

They hadn't been in much contact in recent years, so when she asked, Liang Huaixu didn't notice anything unusual.

On the contrary, seeing how curious she was about his daily life, a subtle feeling arose in his heart.

But this subtlety is leaning towards the positive.

Liang Huaixu's life has been very monotonous these past few years. Apart from working at the company and going to school, he spends his free time at home drinking tea and practicing calligraphy.

Occasionally, I am invited to banquets or to play golf with business partners.

He's a calm and collected person, so he doesn't find this simple, repetitive life boring. On the contrary, the last time he unusually accompanied her to an escape room, his heart rate became a little uncontrollable. He's not very sensitive to stimulation these days.

Zhuang Fuyao commented: "You live such a simple life."

Liang Huaixu is a calm and reserved person. When they were dating, if she hadn't taken him out, he probably would have stayed in the library.

Already somewhat exhausted, and having been talking all the time, Zhuang Fuyao leaned forward, supporting her back as she looked enviously at the pedestrians using trekking poles.

I should have known they would buy two too.

"I can't walk anymore." She reached out to her walking stick. "Give me a hand."

Liang Huaixu walked back, his gaze sweeping over her slender, fair wrist. It looked so delicate, as if she really wouldn't have been able to climb up without him.

He softened a bit and did as she asked, taking her wrist as he walked.

Zhuang Fuyao was half a body length behind him. She pouted, somewhat displeased with his "gentlemanly hand".

After walking for a while, she used the excuse of wrist pain to break free and then grabbed his wrist with her own.

This time, the initiative was in her hands. As they crawled, she naturally took his hand.

His palms were large and hot, while hers were soft and cool. This soft, cool touch startled Liang Huaixu, who tried to pull away.

Zhuang Fuyao noticed his actions and yelled, "What are you doing! Do you have to be so petty!"

She argued logically, "Since you brought me here to climb the mountain, you have to take responsibility and get me to the top. Now that I can't walk anymore, what's wrong with you helping me? We've kissed and slept together before, and now we can't even touch hands?"

"..."

Having not heard such blunt and crude language for many years, the usually gentle and refined Comrade Liang quickly glanced around.

Fortunately, there weren't many people around.

He calmed down and said, "That's not good."

There hasn't been much gossip at school lately, so He Zongqin has been talking about Qin Zhenglin's little affair over and over again.

"Old Qin has really changed a lot lately. He's finally stopped wearing that faded plaid shirt and has bought a lot of new clothes. He's also started paying more attention to his appearance. I feel like something good is about to happen. The last time I saw him, he even had some hair gel on. And you know what? With all that grooming, he looks quite presentable."

After listening to Liang Huaixu so many times, I got used to it.

Over the years, he has studied Buddhist principles and focused on cultivating his mind, knowing that many things cannot be forced.

Just like him and Zhuang Fuyao, even though they were each other's first love and went from school uniforms to wedding dresses without any major conflicts, things came as a surprise, like a blizzard without warning, leaving no room for regret.

Regarding the possibility that she might marry someone else.

It was certainly painful at first, but he also knew that it was all due to his own selfish desires. If he couldn't give her happiness, he shouldn't stop her from pursuing other kinds of happiness.

What's more, the happiness she's about to embark on is with his colleague.

From any perspective, he should avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Just as Zhuang Fuyao was about to lose her temper, he said gently, "What you're talking about is all in the past, but we're divorced now. If there are no boundaries, it's not good for us, and it's not good for others either."

She sensed something amiss. "Is it bad for other people?"

Liang Huaixu said calmly, "For example, Lao Qin."

Zhuang Fuyao realized who he was talking about, and her speechless breathing became heavy. Her rebellious spirit rose instantly, and she nodded, "What you said makes sense."

After saying that, she continued climbing on her own. Along the way, she spotted a stick, which she could use as a trekking pole. With the help of the pole, it became much easier. For the second half of the climb, she stubbornly continued climbing, as if determined to exhaust herself rather than ask Liang Huaixu for help.

Finally, we reached the mountaintop. The clouds dispersed, and the once gloomy sky regained its brightness.

The sun was shining directly on me, and soon I broke out in a light sweat.

The feeling of sweating after exercising was especially refreshing, and her previously depressed mood improved slightly. She couldn't help but ask, "Qin Zhenglin is your colleague, so do you think I can get along with him?"

She really wanted to smash Liang Huaixu's blockhead with a punch.

Liang Huaixu took a sip of water, staring into the distance with an inscrutable expression. After a long while, he said, "Don't let my relationship with him affect your relationship with him. You don't need to worry about this, and no one will dare to gossip about it."

"..."

Zhuang Fuyao laughed in exasperation, "Yeah, so what? Of course I won't be affected. When I get married and have another child, I can confidently let the child call you 'uncle' when I take the child to visit Jiang University."

She got more and more excited as she spoke, making it hard to tell whether she was being sarcastic or telling the truth.

These words were like hand grenades thrown into Liang Huaixu's heart, stirring up a huge wave, causing his heart to ache.

His eyes were dark and deep, and he pinched himself in self-reflection.

They took the cable car down the mountain. There were many young people climbing the mountain on the weekend, and long queues formed at the cable car station.

Zhuang Fuyao scrolled through her phone, not exchanging a single word with Liang Huaixu. With her face and figure, she was eye-catching even in casual sportswear. Perhaps because she was mistaken for being alone, several young men around her were making advances.

Liang Huaixu keenly noticed this gaze and suddenly understood the phrase "in the prime of life" that she had uttered.

He felt inexplicably displeased, but struck up a conversation with Zhuang Fuyao, saying, "The scenery on this mountain is quite beautiful."

The boys realized that the beautiful girl had a companion, so they regretfully gave up their idea of ​​approaching her.

Zhuang Fuyao glanced at him indifferently. She was hot and angry at the moment and had no mood to discuss how beautiful the scenery was. She replied with a curt "hmm".

Liang Huaixu assumed she was just too tired to talk.

After taking the cable car, you will be taken directly to the foot of the mountain.

As they walked toward the parking lot, an older woman carrying a child passed by.

The child was crying loudly, and the older woman coaxed him gently, "Let's go, don't cry, Grandma will take you to find your mother."

Zhuang Fuyao hadn't paid much attention at first, but the child was crying so loudly that she turned around and took another look, and immediately noticed something was wrong.

The woman walked briskly, glancing left and right as she went. Upon closer inspection, the child was dressed in expensive clothes, and his shoes were a children's style from a luxury brand.

In contrast, this woman's clothes are too plain and look old; she doesn't look like a child's "grandmother."

This easily brings to mind cases of child abduction.

Zhuang Fuyao asked suspiciously, "Is this your child?"

The woman's expression changed slightly, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. "Miss, what do you mean by that? This is my grandson."

The child looked only three or four years old, but he could already recognize people. His eyes were wide open, and he cried as he said, "You're not my grandma!"

"This child is throwing a tantrum." The woman still had a smile on her face until she realized the situation was getting out of hand and tried to run away with the child.

Zhuang Fuyao realized something was wrong and went to stop the woman. At that moment, the woman pulled out a knife from somewhere.

Seeing that someone was about to be hurt, Liang Huaixu reacted quickly and stepped in to protect them.

"Liang Huaixu!" Zhuang Fuyao exclaimed in horror.