"I've always wondered if I had gone to the West Gate instead of the East Gate that day, this incident wouldn't have happened, and that boy wouldn't have been labeled a murderer."
"Don't think like that," Chen Pan held Lu Zhishu's waist tightly. "It's not you who's at fault. It's the people who didn't solve the problem before the situation escalated. That includes the bullies, the school, the teachers, the parents... No matter how capable you are, you were just a child at the time. It's impossible for you to resolve such a complicated conflict on your own."
"Yes, but everyone is blaming me..." The wound in Lu Zhishu's heart was uncovered again, and he found that the things he had forgotten were still so painful.
"Because they are adults and have a say in society, and you are just a child. If they push all the problems onto you, you won't resist, or your resistance won't have any effect on them, and they can continue their lives more peacefully."
"That's right," Lu Zhishu said. "That period was probably the darkest time in my entire life. I was in junior high school at the time. My parents had always said that I would work in civil aviation and inherit the family business. But after this incident, I couldn't even go to school normally. My parents felt that I wouldn't be able to become the successor they had in mind. So they focused on training my younger brother. They were afraid that he would go through the same thing as me, so they sent him to school abroad."
Lu Zhishu chuckled, seemingly with disdain. "They probably didn't realize how foolish it was to send Lu Zhinan abroad. They thought they wouldn't face the same school bullying they faced at home. Ha, ridiculous. Lu Zhinan plucked out all the hair and sewed a wig onto the man's scalp. He should have been imprisoned, but my parents thought that what happened abroad wouldn't have any impact back home, so they paid to have it settled. Lu Zhinan received no punishment. They didn't even say he was causing trouble. Because Lu Zhinan was their last straw, they couldn't bear to leave him alone."
Shen Pan never expected that the brother whom Lu Zhishu had always hated would be such a cruel person.
"No wonder you and your brother can't get along at all," Shen Pan remembered that when he was in the imperial capital, he accompanied Lu Zhishu back to his home and met Lu Zhinan several times.
To be honest, if Lu Zhishu hadn't told Shen Pan about what Lu Zhinan had done, Shen Pan really couldn't imagine that Lu Zhinan was so cruel and inhumane.
Lu Zhinan always greeted everyone with a smile. As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. When Chen Pan first met Lu Zhinan, he really couldn't dislike him.
It's just that Lu Zhishu always ignores Lu Zhinan on purpose, and doesn't even say a word to Lu Zhinan. Shen Pan feels that Lu Zhishu's attitude is worth pondering.
"What happened next? How did you get out of it?" Shen Pan asked.
"During the time when I wasn't in school, I locked myself away, but lying alone all the time didn't help. So I learned programming and math, read a lot of books, and taught myself all the courses. I have to say, reading really helps. Many of the questions I couldn't figure out can be answered in books."
"You really got out of that dark moment entirely on your own," Chen Pan admired Lu Zhishu even more.
No wonder Lu Zhishu always has a good attitude when encountering problems, and he is neither hasty nor slow, unlike her, who would feel like the sky is falling when encountering some difficulties.
"I used to beg for my parents' love, hoping to gain support and strength from them. But later I found that even when I was 'terminally ill,' they didn't do anything to me. All they cared about was how to continue the family business. It was as if children were just tools for them to carry on the family line, whether it was me or Lu Zhinan."
"So they don't love you anymore, and you don't love them anymore?"
"Perhaps they don't love me, but their love is too utilitarian. They treat me as a business, and they have invested in me, so they naturally expect me to bring them profits. If they can't make profits, there is naturally no need to invest too much emotionally in me."
Shen Pan thought for a moment and said, "To some extent, we seem to have experienced similar things."
The difference is probably that Lu Zhishu's parents are his biological parents, while her parents are adoptive parents.
"Didn't you later become the general manager of Beijing Airlines? Are your parents still not satisfied with your performance?" Shen Pan asked.
"That's what's so scary about them," Lu Zhishu said. "I pulled myself out of the shadows, got into university on my own, and after graduation, worked my way up to the position of General Manager of Beijing Airlines. Others thought I was good, and my parents naturally felt very proud. During that time, their 'love' for me returned to normal. Plus, during that time, Lu Zhinan was always getting into trouble abroad, and my parents had to deal with a lot of his messes. Their love tilted towards me quite a bit, but I had long lost interest in them. Maybe they couldn't stand the feeling of being ignored, and they preferred Lu Zhinan's eloquence and his ability to make them happy."
"They...seem to be gambling," Shen Pan said, "like they're placing bets, jumping back and forth between you and your brother."
Instead of treating children as children, they treat them as stakes, betting on which child will become successful.
"More than that," Lu Zhishu said, "People change. When they were young and strong, they only thought about making the family business bigger and stronger, and then finding a successor. Now that they are older, they want to live a happy life with children and a harmonious family, and they begin to pray for family warmth. I can't give them what they want, so they can only place their emotions on Lu Zhinan. Otherwise, they wouldn't help Lu Zhinan clean up the big trouble he caused at Jinghang. That's a life at stake."
Chen Pan hugged Lu Zhishu.
Although the years have placed so many heavy shackles on him, he is still able to remain gentle and polite, which shows that he has tried his best.
Such a brave boy needs to be cherished.
The years kissed me with pain, but I responded with songs. This is probably the best explanation to describe Lu Zhishu.
"That worker who died in an accident...did he remind you of that old classmate, and that's why you resigned?" Shen Pan thought, wasn't the worker's death another example of the tragedy of "I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me"? After all, Lu Zhinan was arranged by Lu Zhishu to join the company.
Lu Zhishu was depressed for a long time because of that friend, this worker... No wonder he left the imperial capital and left that home.
"There's a saying that goes 'What doesn't kill me makes me stronger'. I've made it through it before, and I can do it now. I'm not leaving to escape, I just want to start over." Lu Zhishu hugged Chen Pan fiercely, "Can you always stay with me? You're the only one left by my side now."
"Of course," Chen Pan said, "Don't forget, I've been with you all these years, and I'll definitely be with you in the future."
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