Chapter Sixty-Two: Why Must One Forge Ahead Without Hesitation
"Xiaoxiao, tell me where you are!" He spoke with urgent concern, his voice trembling with worry.
On the other end of the line, her heavy breathing came through, thick with a nasal tone. "My heart... it hurts so much... it feels like... I’m about to die..."
He no longer hesitated, immediately driving out to look for her. Half an hour later, he found her by the roadside behind the Golden Hall. The car headlights illuminated her pale face. He rushed to help her into the car and personally fastened her seatbelt.
Returning to the driver’s seat, he glanced at her lifeless eyes and asked tentatively, "Are you alright?"
"Don’t ask anything. I don’t want to say anything."
He gently agreed, started the car, and took her down the mountain. As they reached halfway, she could no longer hold back and broke into heart-wrenching sobs, crying so intensely she seemed unable to control herself. He parked by the roadside, handed her tissues, and said softly, "I’m not good at comforting people. If you want to cry, just cry."
Once her tears began, they were impossible to stop, flooding uncontrollably until she nearly retched. It was the most intense crying she’d done in four years. When she finally spoke, it was only one sentence: "Back then, I overestimated myself, thinking I could reach his heart. Who could have guessed, after circling for so long, I couldn’t even touch a single pore of it." All that talk about sinking to the bottom before rising to the top, or falling to the feet before entering the heart—it was nonsense. Once you’re stepped on, you’re doomed to remain there for a lifetime.
A nameless fire burned in Xi Mintang’s chest. He forcefully dragged her out of the car, slammed the door shut, grabbed her arm, and pointed down at the brightly lit city. "Wipe your tears and look carefully!"
She turned away, refusing him. "How can I face the world? What dignity do I have left?"
He ignored her resistance, twisting her head to make her look down, his voice brimming with frustration. "Look closely! So what if life tricks you, so what if fate crushes you so you can’t rise again? Every person down there is fighting desperately for their lives. What right do you have to stop and hide here crying?"
She collapsed weakly to the ground, hugging her knees and gulping in the cool mountain air. Xi Mintang demanded, "Do you think you’re the most miserable? Losing love is reason enough to wallow and give up everything? If the Ni Xiaoxiao I know is so weak and incapable, then I will truly despise you from the bottom of my heart!"
"Xi Mintang!" she screamed, standing up with fury, glaring at him with all her tears swallowed, speaking in the calmest voice, "Do you know who must march forward without hesitation? The answer is those with no support and no way out!"
From that night on, her life became an uncontrollable speeding train, pulling her away from all her plans without warning, rushing her toward an unforeseeable future.
"Maybe you think I exaggerate. That’s fine. I understand—because you’ve never stepped into my world, never lived my life. You are you, not Ni Xiaoxiao." She took a deep breath, struggling to suppress her sobs. "I hate myself now, too, but there’s no other way. No matter how hard it is, I have to keep going."
That night, she suffered the greatest humiliation of her life. She watched her beloved Lin Shuo storm out in anger, accused of crimes she never committed, enduring the most terrifying and dark night of her existence in the detention room. At the same time, her father, always her pillar of strength, suffered a sudden stroke from the shock, leaving him unconscious and unresponsive.
When she was finally released, the scorching sunlight poured over her, yet she felt as if she were standing in an ice cellar. The space outside the door was empty—no one was waiting for her.
Lonely Hours: Do Not Speak of Love, Chapter Sixty-Two—Why Must We Press Forward Without Hesitation? The update is complete.