Chapter 85 From the Male Protagonist's Perspective: Some are rotting amidst the splendor, while others...

Meng Huai often said that Meng Yanxi was precocious.

Meng Yanxi didn't know what precocity looked like, but he was indeed good at judging people from a very young age. People are naturally good at disguising themselves, but he could always see through their true nature beneath their pretense at a glance.

He didn't see it as a talent, but simply as someone of the same kind.

Humans, humans, all of us are of the same kind.

Whether one acts out of self-interest, whether one is kind or malicious, sunny or gloomy, whether one harms others or not, it is all just a means to an end; the essence is the pursuit of profit.

He doesn't see any right or wrong in this; as long as the goal is achieved, that's all that matters.

When the Wu family from the east of the city visited, Mrs. Wu was still married at the time, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage. The family of three was harmonious and loving. However, Meng Yanxi, who was still in elementary school at the time, only glanced at Wu Liang's body language as he answered the phone in the garden with his back to everyone, and knew that Wu had finished reading.

He was born with keen intuition, and sure enough, not long after, Mrs. Wu passed away, and his new wife entered the house with their son.

Meng Yanxi has a very good memory. He wouldn't say he has a photographic memory, but he can recognize people he's met many years ago at a glance. He's just too lazy to show that he still remembers them.

I saw Wu Nian again in the north of the city. He was riding a skateboard past an alley. The underage Wu Nian was wearing tank tops and hot pants, with faded smoky makeup, and was smoking with a group of blond-haired guys.

The blond-haired man's greasy hands shoved against her full breasts. Wu Nian's eyes showed timidity and embarrassment, but her face wore a playful, ingratiating expression as she giggled incessantly.

The skateboard quickly passed through the alley, the wind ruffling the boy's clothes. Meng Yanxi thought expressionlessly that he would not allow Meng Shixu to remarry before his sister turned eighteen.

Meng Shixu has recently been considering remarrying.

A man's inherent flaws are like a spark in dry weather; a gust of wind can burn a house down.

When his mother passed away, he was twelve years old and his methods were still immature. In order to prevent Meng Shixu from remarrying, he used Meng Zhuxi and accidentally killed his sister.

Vicarious psychological trauma takes three to four years to heal on and off.

Meng Shixu whipped him on the back with a rattan cane, but he gritted his teeth indifferently and didn't admit his mistake. Meng Shixu thought he was unruly and incorrigible, and almost broke the rattan cane.

But he felt that it was pointless to delve into whether it was right or wrong at this point.

He supported his sister for the rest of his life.

Meng Shixu took him to his mother's grave and made him kneel in front of her portrait to reflect on his actions. A spider crawled over.

He had never been afraid of anything since he was a child, except for insects, especially spiders. But at that moment, his dark eyes were fixed on the purplish-red spider, and he was thinking that he had to take care of his sister. Meng Zhuxi was also afraid of spiders, and one of them had to be fearless.

The spider crawled up his knee to his fingertips, but he just stared at it without moving.

He wanted to see what his greatest fear could do to him.

The spider crawled to the inside of his wrist bone and bit him.

The good news is that it didn't hurt much; it was just a series of tiny pricks.

The bad news is, the spider is poisonous.

When Meng Shixu returned, he had already collapsed.

Later, a scar remained on the inside of my wrist bone. It wasn't big, just a tiny, dark red spot that looked like a mole or birthmark from a distance.

Even the poisonous spider couldn't kill him, and from then on, Meng Yanxi was completely fearless.

After being bitten by a poisonous spider, Meng Shixu's eyes would flicker with emotion whenever he saw the scar on the inside of Meng Yanxi's wrist. Meng Yanxi was skilled at winning hearts and minds, and from then on, Meng Shixu was completely unable to control him.

Even when he hit someone, Meng Shixu couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh, and even compromised and backed down, taking the initiative to cut off contact with the woman.

That was the first time Meng Yanxi discovered Meng Shixu's ambiguous relationship.

Although he felt bad for causing his sister emotional distress, he was fortunate that those three or four years allowed Meng Shixu to settle down during the golden period of his remarriage, and he also matured a lot. However, as Meng Zhuxi recovered from her illness, Meng Shixu became restless again.

Meng Yanxi took turns tidying up several of his peach blossoms.

Others might see his methods as despicable, but he considered himself noble.

There is nothing more noble in this world than wholeheartedly protecting yourself and your loved ones.

As for the methods, those were not within his consideration; he only ever looked at the results. So much so that in those years, when he recalled the outrageous things he had done when he was twelve, he didn't think they were so outrageous anymore.

If he had to do it again, he would do the same thing.

As for whether it's right to protect someone who has hurt them, that's a philosophical question that requires a conscience to consider. Unfortunately, Meng Yanxi doesn't think he has a conscience, so he doesn't consider it.

Whether Meng Shixu noticed his growing boldness or not, his grandfather Meng Huai certainly did. One day, he said to him earnestly, "Yanxi, it's good that you're showing promise as a young man, but you're going further and further astray on this path."

Meng Yanxi pretended not to understand.

Meng Huai subtly intervened to stop him, while also subtly pressuring Meng Shixu. Meng Yanxi appreciated his gesture and subsequently toned down his actions considerably.

Meng Shixu's most difficult love interest blossomed when he was sixteen. The other party was a minor celebrity, young and beautiful, in the prime of her life, who pursued Meng Shixu passionately for two years.

The minor celebrity seems to be sincere, and sincerity is the first opponent Meng Yanxi has encountered.

But she was only truly sincere towards Meng Shixu, not towards him or his sister. —Regarding this question, Meng Zhuxi innocently asked him why, and Meng Yanxi, looking at his own sister, couldn't bring himself to call her stupid.

If two people with inherently conflicting interests have genuine feelings for each other, they will only genuinely scheme and antagonize each other.

No matter what Meng Shixu said, he never wavered on this point.

But Meng Yanxi didn't do anything this time. At most, she gave Meng Shixu five boxes of condoms on his birthday to show her stance. She even seemed somewhat submissive towards this relationship, along with her sister.

This time, he used flattery to kill.

The effect was excellent; after all, people can easily become foolish when they're excessively praised. The young starlet even wanted to further test who held more importance in Meng Shixu's heart, so she deliberately chose his birthday to call him to a neighboring city and even asked for a diamond ring.

He didn't know if Meng Shixu really intended to propose, but he was patient enough.

Using obvious yet subtle methods, he landed himself in the hospital and then pinned the blame on the minor celebrity's brother, causing them to quarrel. Meng Yanxi didn't find it despicable, and neither did Meng Shixu. The difference was that he genuinely believed it, while Meng Shixu didn't believe he could be so despicable.

He probably overdoes it in his daily life.

Furthermore, he stirred things up, and the two got into an argument, saying they were breaking up right there in the hospital room.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Meng Yanxi also embezzled the money meant for the diamond ring and made an investment, leaving herself a way out.

But since it's the most troublesome peach blossom, how could it be so easy to separate?

That escape route wasn't meant to avoid being scolded by Meng Shixu after he realized what was happening, but rather to completely break them up.

He made 5 million yuan buying futures and used that money to carefully select an excellent actor.

She's not as wealthy as Meng Shixu, but she's also from a wealthy family and is a second-generation rich kid. Most importantly, she's about the same age as the female celebrity, but without the troublesome son.

Meng Yanxi always believed that the claim that he was indispensable was nothing but a veiled lie, and that the real reason was that she had not met someone with better conditions.

Now he's spent money to find her.

Even so, the female celebrity and Meng Shixu continued to be entangled, which annoyed Meng Yanxi.

In those years, to constantly remind Meng Shixu, he would make Meng Shixu go to Jinjue Temple every Spring Festival to perform Buddhist rituals for his mother for three days. That year, while Meng Shixu knelt before the Buddha to participate in the rituals, he watched coldly from the side, thinking about how to break him up with the woman he couldn't forget.

Standing before the Buddha, he went through all sorts of underhanded methods in his mind, yet he remained fearless.

So much so that he didn't even realize the lamp tower in the main hall had suddenly collapsed towards him. The lamp tower had nine stories in total, in the shape of a pyramid, and each story was lit with lamps, the scalding flames and lamp oil splashing onto his face.

He stared at Meng Shixu, who suddenly turned around.

He didn't know how Meng Shixu could be so fast. He had only ever heard that mothers would unleash their full potential to protect their children, so it was rare for him to see it in Meng Shixu, who was so eager to remarry. — In that instant, Meng Shixu was as fast as a blurry shadow, throwing herself on him and using her back to shield him from the Burning Lantern Pagoda.

The sharp lighthouse fell against Meng Shixu's back, the flames and lamp oil brushing against the skin on the back of his neck.

Fortunately, those around him acted quickly, and Meng Shixu only suffered a torn coat, some minor abrasions on his back, and a burn mark on his neck; nothing serious happened.

"What were you thinking about just now? What were you standing there for? The fire almost burned your face and you didn't even dodge!" Meng Shixu rubbed his burning neck and scolded him angrily.

At that moment, Meng Yanxi felt a hallucinatory heat in the corners of her eyes.

He was thinking about how to deal with the man in front of him who was willing to protect him with his own flesh and blood.

*

Meng Yanxi had always believed that he lacked a conscience. In fact, Meng Shixu had been very caring towards him over the years, even spoiling him despite his stubbornness, but because of his inescapable romantic entanglements, Meng Yanxi regarded him as an enemy in his heart.

But at the very moment Meng Shixu protected him, his conscience seemed to appear for a fleeting moment.

This feeling was not pleasant; it even tore at him, causing him a dull, aching pain.

He had never met a truly kind person, and Meng Shixu was clearly not one either; perhaps his sister could be considered one by a narrow margin.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that his sister was very lucky to be able to be a clean and good person.

After the ceremony ended, the presiding monk led them out of the inner hall. As they passed the main hall, he suddenly heard the sound of a handbell.

Meng Yanxi couldn't help but stop and turn her head.

It was the first day of the lunar month, and many worshippers came to Jinjue Temple to offer incense, their crowds jostling each other. His gaze swept through the crowd and landed on Jin Zhao at a glance.

A sixteen-year-old girl knelt devoutly on a prayer mat, her hands clasped together, her eyes closed, her fair face gazing up at the Buddha. The sun rose, and a ray of light reflected from the Buddha's golden statue, illuminating her clean and pure face.

*

They met again soon after, only an afternoon later. Meng Zhuxi had gone into the mountains to pick mushrooms because he wanted to eat them.

He obviously didn't recognize any mushrooms and tried to give money to the local villagers to take him into the mountains to pick them, but strangely, no one accepted his money and even told him that there were no mushrooms available.

He'd always been a very thoughtful person, and he insisted on asking for directions. In the end, he didn't find the mushrooms, but he did encounter a dancing girl in the mountains.

The land beneath her feet was barren and desolate, with only a few bare tree branches in winter. Behind her was a river with murky water, making it look no different from a ruin.

The girl on the ruins wore a pale yellow off-the-shoulder hooded sweater, a snow-white long skirt, and her long hair was tied up in a bun.

The sunset glow was bright and brilliant, and the golden light fell on her spotless face.

He thought of the compassionate deities in the Buddhist temple.

"Bang--"

The straw behind him suddenly burst open, and at the same time, a sentence flashed through his mind—

Some decay amidst blooming flowers, while others dance on desolate ruins.

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Author's Note: Thank you all for your support. This novel recently made it into the top 5 of the bestseller list on the bookstore's homepage. I don't know why my comment section, which was harmonious for the past three months, suddenly has so many negative reviews, and some are even directly insulting me (?). Of course, these comments are mainly focused on the campus scenes, probably because it will cost money to insult me ​​later on (?). But there's one criticism that bothers me: some readers say the male lead is unsophisticated, falling for the female lead after just one dance. I thought about it all afternoon, reflecting on whether I didn't write their relationship logic well, so I'm inserting a chapter from the male lead's perspective to delve deeper into his inner world. The next chapter will return to the main story. I'm also posting half of this chapter first, and will finish it later when I get back at night, so those who are following the story only need to spend half of their Jinjiang coins.

The male lead didn't fall in love with the female lead just because she danced; the key is the ruins. This refers not only to the environment in which she danced but also to her life—a desolate wasteland. Yet, she was easily healed by beautiful things and consistently strived to improve herself, not dwelling on the present but focusing solely on herself. She wouldn't hurt anyone or let anyone dirty her hands; this wasn't just kindness but also her pride and confidence. She knew her future would be better than theirs, so she only cared about herself, not others, her clear-headedness never wavering. The male and female leads fell in love because of their different personalities and mutual longing, but their inherent natures were similar. The male lead saved Wu Nian, whom he considered a bad person, and was attracted to Jin Zhao's purity and kindness—this revealed the warm and tender side beneath his cold exterior.

Finally, thanks to my relentless efforts, after 6 years, I finally got perfect attendance for the first time last month! Stop saying I haven't been updating well! [crying emoji]