Xu Xilin remained silent for a long while, and Dou Junliang did not rush him, but waited leisurely by the side.

Xu Xilin was silent for a while, then said to Dou Junliang, "Uncle, people can only have the final say in their own affairs, and cannot interfere with other people's affairs. The future is a personal choice. If biological parents interfere too much, they will inevitably be blamed in the future, let alone me? Whether he is worth it or not, my words have no say. You should go and talk to Dou Xun."

Dou Junliang was a little surprised. He didn't expect Xu Xilin to be more difficult to deal with than he thought. He squinted his eyes and looked at Xu Xilin. He felt that this kid might become a big shot in the future... if he didn't insist on going astray.

Dou Junliang didn't force him, and nodded: "That makes sense, but the reason why I went to you instead of him is not because I can't afford to offend Dou Xun, but because I can't explain it to him clearly. That kid thinks he is the best in the world and has no plan in his mind. It's useless for me to explain it to him. Right now, the two of you have defeated me, the big villain, and defended your feelings. It sounds touching, but it won't take long. Ten years, when you are in your thirties, even if Dou Xun is slow to react, he will be able to figure it out. By then, he will understand what he gave up and what he gained. Do you think you two can still be so good in ten years?"

Xu Xilin was speechless.

Dou Junliang won half a move against him, but he didn't show any pride. He stood up and patted Xu Xilin on the shoulder affectionately: "Uncle is a businessman, and I'll give you some businessman's advice. In this world, everything changes very quickly. Things that you didn't dare to think of before may happen overnight. In the future, perhaps one day, even banks and countries may go bankrupt. You can become destitute overnight or become rich overnight. If property changes so quickly, what about the relationship between people without contracts or rules?"

After that, Dou Junliang paid the bill generously and ordered a box of soft and easy-to-digest snacks to pack and handed to Xu Xilin: "The old lady has bad teeth, this is easy to chew, you can take it back to relieve her boredom."

If Xu Xilin could still withstand Dou Junliang's initial verbal trap, then his last words completely hit the nail on the head for Xu Xilin.

"Long-term" is something he dares to think about but not to say out loud. Can a person live in seclusion and in secret for a lifetime?

Xu Xilin didn't know if Dou Xun would regret making such a rash decision in the future. Dou Xun was not the kind of person who could silently endure being wronged. How long could he endure it? Could he accept his role as someone who was just like everyone else?

He is indeed smart and has the capital to start over, but he is used to smooth sailing. Does he have the tenacity?

Even if he does, when their youthful looks are gone, their youthful passion is gone forever, when they both slowly turn into boring middle-aged men who are "eloquent outside but silent at home", will Dou Xun feel that it was not worth it for him to give up everything he should have for such a relationship?

A relationship cannot have too many hardships, otherwise even if it is barely achieved, resentment will inevitably arise in the future.

Xu Xilin said "I can't interfere in other people's business" with just his upper lip, but he couldn't be so carefree and straightforward in his heart. When love is strong, everything else is external to the body. Xu Xilin was willing to get up early and work late, willing to compromise and give in, as long as it could give Dou Xun better, but he couldn't bear the four words "delayed him".

It's a dilemma. I'm really stuck between a rock and a hard place.

When Xu Xilin returned home, Dou Xun was on the phone. He heard Dou Xun say, "Well, thank you...anytime is fine...well, four days a week this year is no problem."

Xu Xilin only heard the last syllable and his heart sank slowly.

Dou Xun put down the phone, as if he had let go of something on his mind, and came over in a good mood: "Did you buy anything delicious?"

Xu Xilin didn't say anything, just gave him a look and went upstairs. Dou Xun saw that his face was not right, and followed him without knowing why: "What's wrong?"

Xu Xilin went upstairs, closed the door, put his hand on the door, lowered his head and took a deep breath, and said in his calmest tone: "Did you reject the school's guaranteed postgraduate study?"

Dou Xun was stunned for a moment, then immediately responded: "Dou Junliang is looking for you?"

Xu Xilin was very helpless. Dou Xun was always slow to react when he should be sharp, but very observant when he shouldn't be.

Dou Xun was like a dragon whose reverse scales had been rubbed. He got angry and turned to leave. Xu Xilin blocked the door and asked, "Where are you going?"

Dou Xun: "Don't worry about it, I'll go find Dou Junliang."

Xu Xilin: "And then, smash his glass?"

Dou Xun was furious: "Why should he find you? Can he find you? Is it his turn to act like a boss in front of me?"

Xu Xilin: “Alright!”

Dou Xun's chest kept rising and falling, and he tried to pry Xu Xilin's hands away: "Get out of the way!"

Xu Xilin pressed his chest and pushed him back a few steps: "When will you stop being a powder keg that can catch fire at any time?"

Dou Xun looked extremely unhappy.

Xu Xilin put one hand behind his back and used his thumb to pinch the joints of his other fingers. He was under too much pressure, like a bucket about to overflow. Even a leaf floating up would make the emotions inside pour out.

His knuckles made a crackling sound, and Xu Xilin swallowed the breath that threatened to choke him to death. He leaned against the door, opened his hand, and whispered to Dou Xun, "Can we talk it out? I love you."

Dou Xun calmed down from his frenzy, stood stiffly for a while, and reluctantly stepped forward and patted Xu Xilin's palm: "What else did Dou Junliang say to you?"

Xu Xilin: "It was said that a professor took a liking to you and was eager to give you a scholarship, but you turned it down."

"Nonsense," Dou Xun grabbed a handful of his hair, "You believe whatever Dou Junliang says - I don't understand, do you all think I will be the president of the country in the future?"

Xu Xilin smiled bitterly.

They all had higher expectations for Dou Xun, hoping that he would not be a "Zhongyong who was brilliant when young, but not necessarily brilliant when grown up". He had never been ordinary since he was a child, and it would be too cruel to force him to return to the life of an ordinary person now.

"Dou Junliang asked me to consider your future," Xu Xilin tried to communicate with him, "I considered it, but I can't make the decision for you. I want to ask you what you think."

Dou Xun replied nonchalantly: "I plan to change my career."

Xu Xilin: “…”

Dou Junliang is right, it’s hard to explain it to this guy.

Xu Xilin's suppressed anger began to bubble up: "You've already finished writing your graduation thesis, and now you're telling me you want to change your career? If you really don't like this major, what were you doing before? Is it that easy to change majors?"

Then he saw Dou Xun's expression and realized that Dou Xun seriously thought that changing majors was as easy as eating and drinking.

Dou Xun put one hand in his pocket and said, "I know a teacher of elective courses. His undergraduate major was physics, his master's degree was Shakespeare's literature, and his doctorate was international trade. Now he teaches business English..."

Xu Xilin interrupted him helplessly: "What a coincidence. I also know a teacher who has studied for three doctorates, but now he is still nothing, and he can't even get a decent professional title. The school helped him get a hukou and then ignored him. He is so poor that he has to take private jobs outside every day, and sometimes he has to pay for his own travel expenses. He is reluctant to even take a graduate student to help him... Douxianer, many things are not what you think!"

Dou Xun turned his head and glanced out the window, without saying anything.

Xu Xilin knew at a glance that he was acting like a egomaniac again, so he had no choice but to take a step back and said, "Well, if you really want to change your major, then study seriously and drop that ridiculous medical excuse."

Dou Xun used body language to express his stubborn refusal - I don't.

"I understand that you want to get rid of Dou Junliang. If you don't want to use me, I... I also..." Xu Xilin said this with a bit of sadness, feeling exhausted. "If you think there are no scholarships in China and it takes too long, I agree. You can go abroad to apply for a scholarship for four or five years, or at most six or seven years... What else can you do? By then, will you be Qin Xianglian or will I be Chen Shimei? There are many roads to take, why do you have to go down this unreliable dead end?"

Xu Xilin made a half-sweet joke, hoping to ease the atmosphere, but Dou Xun looked at him deeply with an indescribable look. Gradually, Xu Xilin couldn't laugh anymore, he understood Dou Xun's implication - Dou Xun really thought so, he watched closely beside Xu Xilin, even dreaming of holding his finger, fearing that if he looked away, he would no longer be his.

Xu Xilin leaned slowly on the desk, and after a while, he curved the corners of his mouth in a half-smile.

"Oh..." He lowered his head slightly, "So that's what you think."

Dou Xun panicked immediately and nervously tried to pull his shoulder, but Xu Xilin dodged him. Dou Xun blurted out, "You said you wouldn't be angry with me!"

Xu Xilin's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt so distressed that he could hardly control himself, so he held Dou Xun's hand and unilaterally ended the quarrel.

"I'll give it a try," he thought, "I'll go along with him, just like Dou Junliang said, and prepare a decent life for him, so he can do whatever he wants. If he has any grievances or hurdles in the future that he can't bear, I'll cover for him."

The so-called "differences", in the final analysis, aren't they just because he is not strong enough?

Xu Xilin's desire for success was stronger than ever before.

There is a saying in chicken soup for the soul, "When your heart longs for success like a drowning person longs for air, you will succeed"...but when it comes to Xu Xilin, it doesn't seem to be accurate.

Ever since Education Supermarket joined the vitamin supplier, there have been many subsequent incidents.

At first, some users were suspicious - the taste of fruit varies from tree to tree, and no one mentioned it before, but now as long as the taste is a little bit unsatisfactory, skeptics will appear on the message board, thinking that the vitamins are inferior goods sourced from the education supermarket.

The Education Supermarket was always looking for trouble. A guy named Wang treated Xu Xilin as his own little nemesis and summoned him over from time to time, either asking him to make posters or asking him to find someone to help distribute flyers... This was still a good thing. The bastard named Wang always said that the sales channels of the Education Supermarket were subject to "unfair competition" and repeatedly asked Xu Xilin to raise the prices of other fruits as well.

Vitamin, who was not popular on both sides, saw his sales drop by 40% in one month. In the end, even the number of people cursing him on the message board decreased.

Xu Xilin ran for more than a month exhaustedly, and tried his best, but still failed to stop the decline.

However, no matter what holds the students back, final exams are approaching as midwinter approaches.

Xu Xilin opened his new textbook distractedly when exam week was approaching. He was shocked to find that he had been busy with nothing this entire semester and had not studied seriously for even a few  days !

He had no choice but to squeeze out time and move into an all-night study room with other internet-addicted teenagers who were suffering from advanced procrastination, and began to cram for "twenty hours a day, two weeks a semester."

He stayed in the all-night study room every day. When he felt too sleepy, he would lie down and take a nap. At 6:30 the next day, he would go back to the dormitory where he had not lived properly for a few days, wash up, come out for breakfast, and then stay in the study room again. He worked day and night for more than half a month. After the crazy exam week, Xu Xilin felt that he was completely drained. He was so tired that he felt dizzy when he walked. He was about to take a taxi home when he suddenly received a strange phone call.

An old man with poor hearing yelled into the receiver: "Hey...are you the grandson of Su Wenwan?"

Xu Xilin was a little confused and wondered, "Who is Su Wenwan?"

The next moment, he suddenly realized that he had seen this name on his grandmother's ID card before.

Xu Xilin: "Yes, yes, it's me. Hello."

"Hey, kid, come here quickly. Your grandma was teaching them how to walk at the activity center today, and he accidentally fell..."

Xu Xilin's head buzzed, his floating feet suddenly fell to the ground, he put down the phone and ran away.

He hurried to the hospital and saw a group of old men and women surrounding Grandma Xu. When they saw him, they all started talking to him, making him dizzy. Fortunately, they were all driven out by the nurses. Only then did he understand from the doctor that the old woman's bones were brittle and she had broken bones after a serious fall.

"There is a bone spur here," the doctor pointed to the film and showed it to him. "You can have surgery, but it may grow again in the future. The patient is too old, so it is best to use conservative treatment. Don't let her walk too far in the future. Go back and buy her a crutch or something..."

Grandma Xu heard this and protested quietly, "I don't want that. It's hard to put it down once I pick it up."

The doctors all laughed and said, "Then don't put it down. It's normal for you to use crutches at your age. So, do you plan to run a marathon in the future?"

Grandma Xu remained silent.

Xu Xilin comforted her with a few words, handled various procedures for her, and hired a nurse. It took him half a day to get everything done. When he was done, he sat down on a chair beside him, numb with exhaustion.

Grandma Xu was lying alone on the hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown, with dishevelled hair and no jewelry. Her face was pale and full of wrinkles. She waved at him, "Come here."

Xu Xilin moved a chair closer to her bedside: "I just called Xiaoxun, he will be here soon, the two of us will take turns to accompany you, and there will be a nurse, just lie down... You too, just gesture a little, it will be fine, you are not going to be on stage, why do you have to teach so hard?"

"I'm old." Grandma Xu followed his words and then raised her hand and pointed at her temple, "The earth is buried here."

She had never admitted that she was old before. This was the first time she said such a thing in front of him. Xu Xilin: "What are you talking about!"

"People can't stay here for long," said my grandmother. "My father lived to be sixty, and my mother lived to be seventy-one. I've surpassed them both."

Xu Xilin forced a smile: "People in the past had shorter life spans. You must live to be 110 to be worthy of the 21st century... Who hasn't fallen before? Dou Xun still falls like a watermelon rind in the boxing gym all day long, but he is still alive and kicking. You have just reached the level of inch power, so why are you still talking so depressingly?"

"Well," grandma waved her hands, "Don't be discouraged. Your life span is fixed. I know that. Grandma has something to say to you."

Xu Xilin had no choice but to listen attentively.

Grandma was silent for a long time, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

Xu Xilin suddenly had a bad premonition and the corners of his mouth tightened involuntarily.

Grandma seemed to think for a long time before she slowly said, "You and Xiaoxun, don't be together anymore."

Xu Xilin's heart froze in an instant. No matter what Dou Junliang said, it was not as important as his grandmother's gentle words.

She knew! When did she know?

Grandma Xu couldn't hide the worry on her old face. She patted Xu Xilin's hand and said, "I shouldn't be so long-winded. When I was young, I was also impatient to listen to the old people talking. I endured it for a long time, but when I fell, I thought, this is over, I won't see Xiaolin graduate from college... So when I was lying here just now, I still felt that I had something to say earlier - you two have had it so hard, I won't be at ease when I leave in the future, so... forget it."

Xu Xilin was speechless.

Dou Xun, who rushed over, braked suddenly at the door of the ward and was hit head-on by the conversation coming out of inside.

Dou Xun then walked out without thinking, wandering in the hospital lobby for more than half an hour before calling Xu Xilin: "I'm at the hospital, which ward are you in?"

Xu Xilin was exhausted and didn't notice Dou Xun's unusual behavior. He just said something and went home to get some clean clothes.

He floated back home in a daze. The moment he stood up after changing his shoes at the entrance, his vision suddenly went dark. He grabbed something and with a "bang", he pulled down the clothes hanger along with it.

There was no one at home. The grey parrot was so scared that its feathers stood on end. It flew to the small chandelier in the entrance hall and looked down at him.

Xu Xilin felt that the entire ceiling was spinning. He tried to climb up twice but failed, so he had to lie down on the cold floor.

He suddenly understood why Grandma Xu wanted to sell the house - it was not entirely a matter of money. Their house was simply too big. When it had a lively and bustling family, it was a warm and prosperous place. But now it was empty and deserted. As an old lady living in such a big house every day, she would probably be frightened for a long time if she heard any unusual movement upstairs or downstairs.

No wonder she used to be always at home but now she's always out.

It took Xu Xilin four or five minutes to gather enough strength to get up. He slowly picked up the clothes hanger, and his cell phone rang again.

Now he gets nervous whenever the phone rings. Only when he picks it up and finds it’s his counselor does Xu Xilin breathe a sigh of relief.

But the instructor's tone was not relaxed. She asked, "How do you think you did in the Signals and Systems exam?"

Xu Xilin was stunned - the exam week lasted for more than ten days, and this course was the first to be tested, so the results might have come out already.

The counselor sighed and said, "How about this, come to school tomorrow and I'll take you to have dinner with Teacher Zhou. You can't fail the course, you know?"

Xu Xilin's grades could be average, since his overall quality score was already full, so there was no problem getting a scholarship. But he couldn't fail a course, as the school had a rule that if he failed a course, he would be disqualified from all awards and scholarships for that year.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Xilin suddenly had an idea in his mind. He thought, "I can't take any more vitamins."