It was a little after 4 a.m.
There was no one at the foot of Qingyun Mountain. The cable car was not in operation, so the only way to get up the mountain was to climb.
Looking at the nearly 2,000 steps in front of him, Chen Zhe felt a little overwhelmed.
Hu Ling initially insisted that she had no problem climbing the mountain, but she was already panting heavily before she even reached the halfway point.
"If you really can't take it, you should rest for a while."
Seeing Hu Ling's defiant attitude, Chen Zhe kindly said...
"No need to rest anymore, it'll be dawn soon. Didn't you say those people would be coming at dawn?"
"But how are you going to climb like this? We're not even halfway there yet."
"What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Hu Ling asked.
"I'm tired? I'm not tired! I'm a man, I'm just worried about you being tired."
"I'm glad you're not tired. Then squat down."
"Huh? What?"
"Carry me on your back."
Hu Ling said it very naturally, and Chen Zhe refused without even thinking.
"Are you kidding me? I'll carry you on my back. Do you want to exhaust me to death?"
"Didn't you say you were a man?"
Hu Ling asked dismissively.
She had already prepared to say that when she asked Chen Zhe if he was tired.
"I……"
“If you admit you’re not a man, then I’ll climb up myself. If you think you’re still a man, then squat down.”
"Sister Hu, this is moral blackmail!!"
"I'm going to kidnap you, so are you going to take it or not?"
Hu Ling knew Chen Zhe well; he was a total simp, and most simps would put women first, so Chen Zhe was no exception.
Although he was reluctant, he still squatted down.
Hu Ling chuckled smugly, then climbed onto it.
“You’re not at a disadvantage either. You’re the first man to carry me on his back, and I’m not heavy either. I only weigh 95 pounds.”
Chen Zhe lifted Hu Ling's buttocks up a bit, and it was indeed as she said, not very heavy, but the thought of the more than 1,000 steps ahead made him feel a little depressed.
"How could I be the first man to carry you on his back? Didn't your dad carry you on his back when you were a child?"
When Chen Zhe was little, he would ride on his father's back. When visiting relatives, if he was tired or sleepy, he would sleep on his father's back.
Therefore, he naturally assumed that Hu Ling was the same way when she was a child.
“He never carried me on his back. When I was little, I only saw them a few times a year.”
Hu Ling's words surprised Chen Zhe.
"Really? You're a wealthy family, your parents don't need to work away from home, do they?"
Hearing Hu Ling's words, Chen Zhe realized that she was a left-behind child, but it was a bit ridiculous. Did Hu Ling's family need to have a left-behind child?
"Who told you that parents from wealthy families don't go out to work?"
Hu Ling countered with a question.
Chen Zhe was taken aback.
"Isn't that right? That's how it's portrayed on TV. Rich kids live in big mansions with their parents, and you two travel abroad or go camping from time to time. You must spend a lot of time together, since you're financially independent and can do whatever you want."
"Pshaw, that's all fake. When I was a kid, most of my friends didn't live with their parents. They were mostly cared for by nannies. To us, our parents were strangers, like relatives who came to visit."
"Huh? Is it really that exaggerated?"
"There's no exaggeration or not, that's just how it is, it's normal."
“I feel something is wrong. How can this be a normal family? A normal family should have parents with their children. The left-behind children in our village, even though their parents also work away from home, are always inseparable from their children when they come back.”
"That's because they're poor and their lives aren't exciting, so they divide their time into two parts: one for work and one for family."
Chen Zhe felt that Hu Ling's words were a bit harsh.
"Isn't that a rather absolute statement?"
"Heh, absolutely?"
Hu Ling countered with a question.
“You’re being too extreme. I think it’s not that they’re poor, but that they’re willing to sacrifice their own leisure time to spend with their children. That’s family love.”
"That's because they're poor. Because they don't have money, they don't know how wonderful the world is. There are so many people to keep them company and so many things to do. As for children, they can just pay a nanny to take care of them."
Chen Zhe, who was climbing step by step, suddenly stopped; "Sister Hu, didn't you experience family love when you were young?"
“I have experienced it. They spent a lot of money on me and invited many top scholars to teach me. I knew from a young age that if I were not their child, I would not have received this kind of treatment.”
"No, no, no! That's not what I meant. I meant the joy of family life, the kind where parents and children are happy together. Money isn't involved."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I believe everything is related to money. How could there be nothing about money?"
"Well... what you said seems to make some sense, but I still feel something's not right. The feeling you're describing seems conditional, while I think parental love should be unconditional."
How could there possibly be unconditional love in this world?
"Yes, parents' love for their children is unconditional."
"No, it's conditional. Your parents love you, but only if you're a good child. If you're not good, they won't love you. It's like having a pet. If you have a dog, and it's well-behaved and obedient, you'll like it a lot. But if it's always aggressive and bites you, would you still like it?"
“Pets are different from people. Animals are animals, and people are people. Moreover, even animals have family ties. There’s an old saying that even a tiger won’t eat its cubs. This means that no matter how vicious a tiger is, it will not eat its own children. This kind of affection transcends its bloodthirsty instinct. Isn’t this unconditional love?”
"Even tigers don't eat their cubs, because they're not hungry enough. Look at humans, how many times in history have people exchanged their own children to eat them?"
Chen Zhe was struck hard by those words.
He swallowed hard, realizing that he really couldn't refute it.
Hu Ling continued, “Family affection is conditional, and so is romantic love. You like someone because she fulfills your preferences; you are paying for your preferences, so you don’t truly love her. In fact, the person you love is yourself.”
"I don't think so. If I love someone, I'm even willing to give my time and money. How could I possibly love myself?"
When Chen Zhe was dating Xu Weiwei, he would rather eat steamed buns himself than not save money to buy her luxury goods. Isn't that love?
"Hehe, how can it not be? You spend more than ten hours a day working for your boss, you give your time to your boss and the company, and you even have to be humble. Can you say that you love your boss and the company? Aren't you just doing it for that little bit of salary? Similarly, you are willing to be a slave for the woman you like because you want to achieve some goal for yourself. That is the essence of love."
Chen Zhe realized that Hu Ling was a genius of sophistry, and he couldn't win an argument with her no matter what, so he simply shut up.
Seeing Chen Zhe remain silent and climb up like an old ox, Hu Ling became interested again.
“Since we’re here at Qingyun Mountain today, let’s talk about the girl you like, that little Taoist priest.”
Chen Zhe was a little afraid of Hu Ling.
"I don't want to talk about this with you anymore."
"Haha, why don't you want to talk anymore? I was just getting interested in chatting with you. Actually, I'm quite curious, since you like her, why haven't you confessed yet? Don't you want her to be your girlfriend?"
Hu Ling believes that Chen Zhe's kindness towards that girl is obviously aimed at making her his girlfriend. However, things are a bit strange now. Chen Zhe risked his life to save her, but he hasn't confessed his feelings yet, which is a bit silly. She thinks now is the best time to confess, and the girl will definitely agree.
"Of course I want to, but... I feel I'm not good enough for her..."
Chen Zhe sighed softly.
"Huh? That shouldn't be the case. Given your current status, I can understand if you feel inferior in front of me, but that little Taoist priest isn't someone you can't reach, is he?"
"You don't understand. Like I said before, you've never loved anyone, so you wouldn't understand how I feel."
"Pshaw! Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run, right? Aren't you just afraid she'll reject you? Actually, you don't need to worry, she's unlikely to reject you."
"On the contrary, what I fear most is that she won't reject me."
Chen Zhe's words stunned Hu Ling. She paused for more than ten seconds before asking incredulously, "Are you stupid? What do you mean by being afraid she won't reject you? Don't you want to be her boyfriend? Don't you want to possess her?"
"Of course I want to, but... I feel I'm not good enough. Sometimes I even think my existence will bring her danger. You know, Guan Yingjie won't let me go. He will definitely come back. I'm afraid of implicating Xiaoyu."
Hu Ling fell silent. Guan Yingjie's hatred was something she had incurred for Chen Zhe, so Chen Zhe's refusal to confess was her fault? But don't misunderstand, she didn't feel guilty; rather, she had a strange feeling in her heart.
Lying on Chen Zhe's not-so-broad back, feeling the beads of sweat seeping from his neck, and thinking about what Chen Zhe had just said, his so-called "love" seemed to slowly become concrete.
This made Hu Ling feel a little uncomfortable.
She felt that her life philosophy, which she had upheld since childhood, was being challenged by Chen Zhe.
She thought of Chen Si again. That woman gave everything she had to Chen Zhe before she died, so that was "love," right? Chen Zhe stubbornly insisted on helping the deceased Chen Si revive the company. Wasn't that also a kind of love?
Thinking about this made her irritable.
Chen Zhe said he didn't understand love and had never loved anyone. He said that even a woman like Chen Si, whom he looked down on, understood love. He had always been so smart since he was a child, so why didn't he understand?
She became increasingly agitated and slapped Chen Zhe on the back.
"Put me down!!"
Chen Zhe didn't understand Hu Ling's inner thoughts and was puzzled by her sudden emotional fluctuations.
"Sister Hu, we're almost there. This part is quite difficult. Since we're going to carry you all the way here anyway, I'll carry you."
"No need! I don't need you to be that nice to me, and I won't give you extra overtime pay!"
Chen Zhe laughed; "There's no need. Have I ever asked you for overtime pay since I started working with you?"
Hu Ling, who was struggling, was stunned.
Indeed, Chen Zhe is a bit different from other employees. He never complains about the length of his working hours, nor does he worry about whether the salary he is paid is reasonable.
Could it be...?
[Could it be that this guy loves me too?]
The thought of this possibility made Hu Ling's heart skip a beat.
...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com