The game's heroine has come true? The aloof school beauty is in tears.

Lu Yuan's attitude towards all of this is too casual.

Xu Zhixiao was a little envious of his casualness.

"Lu Yuan, you're amazing. You look more like an adult than I do."

"Being an adult is tough; you have to suffer."

"That's true, my parents have protected me too well."

Xu Zhixiao admits that she was a very well protected child, so much so that she has never grown up.

Therefore, she could not face the separation from her parents.

"Lu Yuan, are my parents having health problems?"

"I have no idea."

Lu Yuan shook his head and looked out the window to the other side.

Being the matchmaker is inherently an act of interfering in the karma of others.

And when it comes to such heavy topics as life and death, he should be even less able to get involved.

So Xu Zhixiao could only look at the back of his head.

One person muttered to himself: "Lu Yuan, I'm a doctor, I can feel it, because I've seen too much of it."

She said quietly, "Death is actually foreshadowed. The closer a person is to death, the gentler their breath becomes, and the more they look at the world with longing. They may not even realize it themselves. At this time, you should not get close to them, because the closer you get, the stronger this feeling will be. When this sense of sadness clings to you, it will slowly attach itself, and then on a warm, sunny afternoon, a wave of sorrow will surge up like a tide."

"Your parents' education was truly remarkable; cultured people are different."

"What makes it so impressive?"

"Using myself as an example, I can prove that people can die at any time, even if you are an old doctor who has never had any bad habits and takes good care of yourself."

"Your joke is hellish."

Faced with Xu Zhixiao's smear campaign, Lu Yuan raised his finger and swore an oath.

"I swear Old Xu himself would laugh if he heard that while sitting here."

"But I can't laugh."

"So your dad found me."

"Do you want me to face this farewell with a smile?"

"Parting is something you can't face. If you laugh, Old Xu might think you've given birth to an ungrateful child; if you cry, Old Xu will probably feel sorry for you."

So Lao Xu launched his last educational program, which was to teach you how to move forward.

You either grit your teeth and bear it, only to cry your heart out when you think back on it; or you find someone to lean on, and even if you still cry your heart out, at least when you're done crying, someone will be there to help you move on.

Xu Zhixiao nodded silently.

She suddenly looked up: "I understand why older people urge their children to get married."

Lu Yuan nodded, speaking from the perspective of a genius matchmaker:

"Because they are old, they realize that everything in a long life is phased: heavy workload, whether someone sends you love letters, your passionate dreams."

Loneliness is the only constant throughout life.

Therefore, the last task of most parents before they die is to ensure that their offspring do not spend the rest of their lives alone, which is why my profession was born.

Because not everyone is capable of shouldering the burden of "accompanying you through the rest of your life," they scrutinize their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law with the most critical eyes.

This is actually what makes humans so interesting. As animals, their task of propagating the species ends the moment they give birth to their offspring.

Like a migrating salmon.

But humans are different; they have to have a wedding and personally hand their daughter's hand to another man.

She wouldn't rest until she heard the strange man in front of her swear an oath: that they would never be apart, through sickness and health.

Xu Zhixiao silently shed tears by the car window, gazing at the dim lights of the vast city.

For this city.

It was just another ordinary night, even for a daughter facing the loss of her parents.

Because in this city, there are countless people facing the same situation as her.

"Old Xu probably realized his oversight. Originally, the destination of his grand educational plan might have been just Confucius Temple, hoping that you would cultivate yourself and become a talent."

But I didn't expect to overlook your inner growth, so I ended up getting on the bus halfway to Xuanwu Lake to become a part of your life.

Lu Yuan thought he was a genius; he could come up with such romantic ideas just by looking at a bus route map.

But Xu Zhixiao's answer was only one sentence:

"Romanticism is harmful."

"Wow, this environment is so artsy, sorry about that."

Lu Yuan scratched his head and smiled, counting the stop information above the bus.

The carriage was so quiet that it made me want to sleep.

So Lu Yuan lay down unsteadily and fell asleep.

If you don't want to comfort someone when they cry, just pretend you don't see them.

When I woke up again, the bus had already reached its final stop.

The Confucius Temple is not far from them.

But instead of checking the entrance, they ran to the other side and boarded the return bus.

Xu Zhixiao stopped crying and put on her headphones.

One was given to Lu Yuan.

She said, "The road is long, what should I do?"

"You spent your entire childhood learning how to curl up and hide from your parents' lectures. Now you need to take the time to feel your limbs stretch out, and in doing so, feel your place in the world."

"But now I think my parents' lessons were quite good."

"It's not a matter of good or bad, it's something that people have to do when they grow up."

Lu Yuan patted his chest, leaned his head against the seat in front of him, and nudged the seat with his hand.

"Life is suffering. Even if you lie in bed doing nothing, illness, pain, and separation will still find you. So you must grow up and experience a bigger world to fight against the pain that may appear at any time."

"Combating entropy increase."

"yesyes".

"I see."

Xu Zhixiao lowered her head silently, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

However, the song playing in my headphones was quite upbeat—"Flowers" by the Huichundan Band.

"Okay, actually your problem is easy to solve. Even if your parents pass away, you still have the financial means to withstand the risks. If you can't handle it psychologically, then go sing rock."

"When you've figured things out and want to get married, you can come find me. For Lao Xu's sake, I'll make an exception and give you this service for free once."

The bus returned to the Xuanwu Lake stop.

Even if it's far, I have to get off the bus.

Before leaving, he said his final goodbye to Xu Zhixiao.

He acted as both a client and a close friend of Mr. Xu, despite their age difference.

Because from beginning to end, the person he was serving was actually just Old Xu.

He took money from a father and fulfilled a father's entrustment and task.

But just as he was about to get off the bus, Xu Zhixiao grabbed his sleeve.

"I want to find you right now."

"Spend some quality time with your parents first, and then..."

"I want to get married before my parents pass away." Xu Zhixiao smiled gently.

She said, "My parents have done so much for me, I can't let them worry about me before they pass away."

"This is a bit difficult."

"This is not difficult."

Xu Zhixiao said some very mean things very shyly:

"I was your first client, but I didn't end up getting married. If I secretly did something bad and wrote a long essay about it to you, would you be devastated?"

"So, the worst thing you can imagine is having to write a short essay, right?"