From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

The sightseeing electric vehicles in the park slowly drove away from the Su Family Villa area, and the exquisite streetlights on both sides of the road rushed backward, as if crushing all the repression and illusory class dignity of the night under the wheels.

Su Qing clung to my arm the whole time, her small face pressed tightly against my sleeve, gentle and quiet.

She was completely different from the proud and arrogant young lady who was usually talkative, cheerful, and outspoken.

I knew in my heart that she wasn't tired; she was holding back a lot of grievances for me.

Any young man who experienced what happened tonight would have been overwhelmed.

He was pressured by the woman's parents because of the disparity in their financial situation, completely blacklisted by industry giants with no way out, relentlessly smeared and slandered by online trolls, and mindlessly mocked by countless passersby as a gold digger and a cuckold...

Any one of these incidents is enough to make someone lose their temper.

But I didn't panic. It wasn't that I wasn't aggrieved; it was that I was already used to this kind of hardship and suppression.

Dropping out of school at a young age and entering society early, enduring hunger and harsh winters, facing difficulties from customers while delivering food, and being suppressed when starting a business...

Life has repeatedly and brutally pushed me into the mud, making me understand the cruelest rules of adulthood.

Feeling wronged is useless, tears are worthless, and the emotions of the weak are never cared about.

If you want dignity and a future, the only way out is to grit your teeth and turn things around.

Having survived the extreme cold and snowstorms of no man's land, where temperatures plummet to tens of degrees below zero, and faced life-or-death situations, the embarrassment of losing all dignity and the deceit and treachery of the human world are truly insignificant.

I turned my head and looked at Su Qing beside me.

The interplay of light and shadow from the streetlights swept across her delicate profile. Her features remained beautiful, yet they were etched with an unyielding sorrow, filled with heartache and unease.

She was born into privilege, with a life of ease and comfort, and was pampered by her family from a young age. She should have lived a carefree and unrestrained life, the kind of life that everyone envies.

But because of meeting me, she was forced into a vortex of worldly disputes and online criticism.

She did nothing wrong, yet she had to endure the scolding, the oppression, the cold stares of her parents, and all the pressure with me.

A complex mix of emotions welled up inside me. I gently patted the back of her hand and soothed her softly, saying, "Don't worry."

Su Qing raised her head, her beautiful eyes slightly reddening, her tone filled with resentment and heartache:

"How could I not be worried... You saw my dad's attitude today. He wasn't giving you a chance; he wasn't giving you a way out."

I gazed at the long, dark road ahead, a faint smile playing on my lips, and said:

"A livelihood is never given by others; it's always earned with one's own hands. The fact that he's willing to give me thirty days is already the biggest concession he can make."

Su Qing frowned, her face full of confusion: "This can be considered a concession? This is clearly a dead end!"

I turned to look at her and said calmly, "If he had forced us to separate tonight and decided that I wasn't good enough for you, I wouldn't have had the right to struggle. But it's different now. He gave me time and a chance to prove myself."

"This is the fairest, yet cruelest, reality of the adult world. It only looks at the results, not the effort."

Su Qing stared at me blankly, remaining silent for a long time before her soft, sweet voice gently rang out:

"I'm not afraid of hardship, I'm not afraid of being scolded, and I'm not afraid of going against my family. I'm just afraid that you'll have to shoulder everything alone, it'll be too tiring."

That simple sentence instantly touched the softest spot in my heart.

I've lived for over twenty years and heard countless denials and ridicule.

All I hear are "You can't do it," "You're too naive," "You're not good enough," and "You're bound to fail sooner or later."

Apart from my mother, no one has ever asked me if I'm tired, if I'm suffering, or if I can hold on.

At that moment, I really felt a lump in my throat.

I remained silent for a few seconds, forcibly suppressing the surging bitterness in my heart, and tried to make my tone as light as possible:

"It's good to be tired. People like me who climbed up from the bottom are born to endure hardship. I can't hold onto a life that's too comfortable."

"You're such a fool, so stubborn."

Su Qing raised her hand, her fingertips gently stroking my cheek, her eyes full of tenderness.

I took her warm little hand in mine, looked down at her, and smiled gently:

"You're stupid too. You could have lived a peaceful and carefree life, but you insisted on suffering these unnecessary hardships with me."

Su Qing leaned back against my shoulder, her hair brushing against my neck, her voice soft and sweet:

"Then let's be foolish together to the end. Two people sharing the burden, no matter how bitter or difficult, is better than one person alone."

Soon, the sightseeing bus drove out of the heavily guarded villa area.

Suddenly, the view opened up before me, revealing the bustling night market of Jiangzhou.

The streets are bustling with traffic and neon lights, and countless lights are being lit up in every home. Countless ordinary people are moving through the streets, busy with their daily meals and their future.

This city has always been like this: gentle and inclusive, yet cruelly realistic.

It is willing to accept every ordinary person who is pursuing their dreams, but it will also ruthlessly crush all naivety and fantasies that are not supported by strength.

As I gazed at the dazzling lights rushing past the window, I felt a clarity I had never felt before.

Fang Heng thought he was clever, using his capital and connections to block my resources, spending money to hire online trolls to smear my reputation, and deliberately stirring up public opinion to create controversy, which would completely block my path and force me to admit defeat.

Su's parents were also convinced that the thirty-day deadline, along with the insurmountable class gap, was enough to make me realize that I was unworthy and voluntarily withdraw from Su Qing's life.

In everyone's eyes, I was just a lucky guy from the bottom of society.

They briefly gained popularity through a survival story in a no-man's-land and managed to ride the wave of success, but they couldn't withstand the pressure and setbacks.

Nobody believed in me, nobody had any faith in me, everyone was just waiting to see me make a fool of myself, waiting to see me fail miserably.

Only Su Qing stood firmly by my side from beginning to end.

And that's enough.

I withdrew my gaze from the distance and looked down at the girl nestled obediently against my shoulder, saying earnestly:

"Qingqing, for the next month, don't do anything, just stay with me."

Su Qing immediately looked up, her eyes full of confusion: "What do you mean? If I don't help you, who will help you fight them?"

"You don't need to help me, and don't use your personal resources to confront the Fang family head-on. Also, don't have any more direct confrontations with your family."

"The more you help me, the more outsiders will seize on this and spread rumors, smearing me with the stigma of being a kept man who rose to power by relying on women."

"Even if I, Lin Ye, lose in the end, I can't lose so badly."

Su Qing bit her red lips, feeling both heartache and helplessness, and glared at me angrily: "You're really like a donkey, so stubborn!"

I chuckled lightly and said, "If I weren't so stubborn, I would have died long ago in the snow and wind of the no-man's-land, in the mud of society."

Su Qing remained silent for a moment, a hint of unease flashing in her eyes, and tentatively asked in a low voice:

"What if... I mean, what if you really can't turn things around? Will you leave me then?"

Without the slightest hesitation, I blurted out, "No. If that day ever comes and I lose everything, I'll take you away from all this strife, wander the world, and live a simple life."

"You said it! You can't go back on your word!"

Su Qing's brows instantly relaxed, and she smiled brightly.

Seeing her bright smile, most of the gloom that had been weighing on my heart all night instantly dissipated.