Chapter 46 Letting Go

Chapter 46: Letting Go

New Year's Day.

The phenomenon of stars appearing in broad daylight and the resurgence of spiritual energy occurred on November 23rd.

Seven days later, on November 30th, the Netherworld descended for the first time. At that time, there was only one such realm, which was small in scale, offered very few inheritances, and held limited value.

One month later, on December 30th, the Netherworld descended a second time. Concurrently, a handful of lucky individuals who had seized opportunities and awakened their innate talents entered the realm.

And today is New Year's Day!

Considering how hard everyone had been working recently, Xiong Yan decided to give everyone a break. It wouldn't be long—just one afternoon and one evening!

Some chose to keep working overtime and grind away.

Some chose to chat and relax.

Others chose to perk up their ears and listen to the others bragging.

"It's classified! It's classified! I haven't seen Keke in over a year. This is the three hundred and ninety-sixth day I've missed her!" Lou Cheng said with a helpless sigh.

"What's the big deal? The director has already said that in a few days, all of us will be collectively relocated to the new base."

"When that time comes, won't you be able to directly invite that classmate you like? By then, you can teach her step-by-step how to achieve transcendence. Are you still worried you won't have time to spend together? Once you seize the opportunity, won't that just be straight out of a romance manga?"

At this, Ning Fan let out a few mischievous chuckles. Hearing the scenario Ning Fan painted and automatically picturing himself and Keke in it, Lou Cheng couldn't help but blush.

Compared to a veteran player like Ning Fan, he was still far too naive!

Seeing Lou Cheng blush, Huang Zixing let out a sigh and subconsciously shook his head. "It's great to be young!"

"Take me, for instance. Back in college, I also had a sweetheart, and we stayed together for four years, but we broke up right after graduation. She wanted to stay in the big city, and I could understand that, because who wouldn't want to stay in a big city?"

"I wanted to as well, except I couldn't afford a house in the big city. That's why, after graduating, I went back to my hometown to farm."

"Even though I later returned to my hometown, I still thought of her often. When the director said we could make our family members and romantic partners the first batch of trainees, I even thought of her."

"At the time, I thought to myself: if she still had feelings for me, I'd try to get back together with her. Because the current me is capable of buying a house in a big city, and I'm already a high-level researcher with a capital hukou and director-level benefits."

"And then..."

At this point, Huang Zixing sighed again, picked up a bottle of white liquor nearby, poured himself a full glass, and downed it in one gulp!

"And then I went to find the division head to inquire about her background. The division head told me that during her internship, she had been fiercely pursued by a local guy. Right after we broke up, she officially accepted his pursuit."

"As early as October, they had already met each other's parents. By now, they're already engaged, and their wedding home has even been renovated. Even though the formaldehyde levels inside exceed the limit and they can't move in just yet, what can I even do about it?"

Saying this, Huang Zixing poured himself another glass of wine.

Who was there to blame?

He didn't even know!

Chu Xuan had very responsibly told him that before breaking up with Huang Zixing, she had never done anything to betray him with her fiancé.

Back then, Huang Zixing had felt even more lost.

Huang Zixing felt he hadn't done anything wrong.

His ex-girlfriend didn't seem to have done anything wrong either; she only officially started dating her fiancé after they had broken up.

And her fiancé didn't seem to have any major flaws.

Yet it hurt so much!

Just thinking about it hurt!

Another glass downed in one gulp!

"So, Xiao Lou, I really envy you right now. I envy you so much!"

"Actually, if you think about it calmly, back then I liked her, but would the current me really like her the way I did back then? Men get corrupted once they have money, after all!" With that, Huang Zixing downed another cup.

Looking at Huang Zixing, whose face was so full of sorrow he looked ready to cry, Ye Fan poured himself a glass as well and offered some comforting words: "Hey, what's a breakup? It's really not that big of a deal."

"I broke up right after graduation too. My ex-girlfriend's name is Li Xiaoman. She went abroad to study after graduation, while I stayed in the country. We broke up too, but I have no intention of getting back together."

Hearing this, Chu Feng nodded and poured himself a glass as well: "You guys had it relatively good. Back in college, I had a nominal girlfriend, but that person mostly just used me as a shield."

"The result was that I didn't get any romance, yet I inexplicably ended up with a nominal girlfriend. Then I spent all four years of college single—a pure, unadulterated single dog."

"Your experiences are truly quite rich. Back in college, I was busy trying hard to study, striving to get recommended for a graduate program without exams, but I accidentally ended up directly in a Ph.D. track."

"During my direct Ph.D. years, every single day was study, study, study!"

"Back then, I would wake up at six-thirty in the morning, go for a half-hour morning jog, wash up, eat, tidy up my dorm, and then head to the library to read books at seven-thirty sharp every day."

"I would study and do experiments all the way until lunchtime. After a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon would begin, and I'd bury myself back in the library reading or stay in the lab running experiments."

"Dinner plus a break—one hour—and then back to the library to study!"

"Only at ten o'clock at night could I return to my dorm and have time to handle some personal matters. Before that, almost all my time was spent between the library and the laboratory."

"Even after returning to the dorm, I couldn't stay up late without restriction, so I forced myself to go to bed by eleven o'clock every night. Only by doing this could I get enough sleep and ensure that I still had abundant energy the next day to throw myself back into studying and experimenting."

"Getting a Ph.D. is so damn hard!"

"Let alone dating, I simply didn't have the time to date. My daily habits and the circle I interacted with were just way too small."

"With no free time to date, I only gave myself a little over an hour of personal time each day. During that hour, I still had to listen to music, relax, browse Bilibili, binge TV shows, and rest. I'm a human being too; it's not like Ph.D. students lose all their desires."

Hearing how bitterly Jiang Ju lived every day, and how he endured that bitterness continuously for a full three years, Huang Zixing instantly felt a lot better.

No matter how painful a breakup was, could it possibly be as agonizing as enduring the equivalent of senior year of high school every single day for three full years?

Especially since during college, he had long since lost the good study and lifestyle habits he had in high school. To suddenly plunge back into a high-intensity senior-year phase—how many people could endure that kind of suffering?

Then Huang Zixing thought of the grueling studies he had endured over the past year (which in reality was only a month and a few days), thought of his gains and growth, and suddenly, Huang Zixing let go.

Sometimes, men are just like this.

One moment they might be dying of love, but the next moment, they suddenly figure it all out!