Chapter 17: Don’t Care? Can Anyone Truly Do That?

Chapter 17: Not Caring? Who Can Truly Do That?

Xu Moxing rarely made a fuss. Once he agreed to only drink half a cup of milk tea, he'd stick to his word and hand it over after half a cup.

Su Lichen finished the remaining milk tea, tossed the empty cup into the trash can, and they continued browsing the mall.

Afraid that little incident from before might affect Xu Moxing’s mood, Su Lichen asked, “Are you okay? Did it affect your mood?”

Xu Moxing shook his head. “I’m fine. Maybe I was just too pumped from the claw machine earlier.”

Xu Moxing was easily influenced by others. If someone said something to him, compliments were fine, but criticism or negative feedback often took him a while to get over.

That’s why a year ago, he was so negative all the time—he cared too much about others’ opinions and judgments.

Su Lichen nodded. “That’s good. Next time you’re in a bad mood, I’ll take you out to have some fun.”

“Haha, where would we get that much money? We’ve still got bills to pay.”

Su Lichen disagreed. “If you’re unhappy, what’s the point of living a long life? You can’t just survive without worrying about quality of life. That’s gonna cause problems sooner or later.”

Xu Moxing seemed thoughtful. “You’re right. Once in a while, you gotta spend money to make yourself happy, but you can't do it all the time.”

“Hahaha, that’s so you, you little cheapskate, Mo.”

“Is that wrong? You can’t just live like there’s no tomorrow. You can't not spend anything, but you can't overdo it either. You have to keep things in moderation.”

“Alright, alright. I just hope you don't forget to have fun because you're so focused on saving money. Aside from that, you’re the boss.”

Xu Moxing nodded, speaking his mind.

“Actually, I think in this society, not only women are judged, but men are constantly being judged too.

If you’re a bit short, you get mocked. If you tear up easily, people make fun of you. If you like pink, people laugh at you. If you're sensitive, they call you a sissy.”

Su Lichen pushed him forward, listening quietly.

“But who gets to decide what a man should be like or what a woman should be like?

If I’m sensitive and empathetic, can’t I still be a man? Can't women have big dreams and ambition? Why do we have to put individual differences into gender boxes? Liking pink doesn't make me feminine.”

Xu Moxing had also been attacked a lot for the way he was.

A lot of that criticism came from his parents.

His mother said he was too soft, not manly enough.

His father said he would end up a loser, too weak to find a job, and eventually be cast out by society.

So back when they first started having feelings for each other and learning what the other liked, Xu Moxing didn’t dare tell Su Lichen that he liked pink.

It was Su Lichen who discovered it on his own and went out of his way to buy him a bunch of pink stuff.

Even now, Xu Moxing's mouthwash cup is still pink, and the first pink umbrella he ever used was bought by Su Lichen.

“I remember in college, people were talking about whether they wanted a boy or a girl someday. Some said they hoped for a girl because girls are better behaved.

But being naughty shouldn't just be a guy thing. Girls can be naughty too. These are just different personality traits, and they shouldn't be divided by gender. That's not fair at all.”

Xu Moxing was the kind of person who was terrified of being different.

Because being different requires a lot of courage and inner strength; otherwise, it’s hard to withstand verbal attacks, isolation, and mockery from others.

When talking about these things with friends, they always say, “Don’t care about what others think.” But let’s be honest, how many people can truly achieve that?

It’s easy to say that to others, like you can just do it effortlessly. But don’t fool yourself—have you really achieved it?

“It’s normal. Everyone sees the world through a biased lens, without exception.

Look, Mo, I think you need to learn to filter what you hear. Some people have limited perspectives. They’re from a different world than you. They don’t understand you, and you can’t understand them either.

If you dwell on every casual comment they make for a long time, life will be very hard for you, and you’ll eventually run into trouble.

I’m not telling you to completely ignore what others say. What I’m saying is you should learn to filter: listen to comments that are helpful or constructive.

As for the rest, even if you can't just brush them off completely, you shouldn’t let them really affect your health—and by health, I mean both physical and mental.”

Xu Moxing was silent for a moment, then nodded. “True. Even the yuan can't please everyone, since some people prefer foreign currency.”

“Pfft, what have you been watching at home? Suddenly coming out with something like that.”

“I’ve been watching spy dramas lately. Those traitors who sell out their country are like that—they like foreign money.”

Lately, Xu Moxing had been bored at home, spending time watching movies and TV series to kill time, occasionally playing on his phone.

He learned that the hostility between men and women online was terrifying, with some even deliberately pitting men and women against each other.

But the world has always only been divided into normal people and abnormal people. Since they’re not normal anyway, why bother distinguishing by gender?

“Thank you,” Xu Moxing said.

“Hmm?”

“Really.” Xu Moxing, holding several plush toys with a balloon string tied around his wrist, was turning heads. “I’m really happy today.”

Su Lichen smiled silently.

In the past, Su Lichen rarely gave Xu Moxing advice. Basically, Xu Moxing would talk, and Su Lichen would listen without giving constructive opinions, just listening, acknowledging, and exchanging thoughts—more like companionship.

Su Lichen didn’t like guiding others; he disliked being a know-it-all.

Growing up, his parents intentionally cultivated his problem-solving skills, so he naturally assumed that Xu Moxing had only ever needed someone to listen and acknowledge him before.

That’s why he hardly ever gave Xu Moxing suggestions, and Xu Moxing never asked him what to do.

But now, Su Lichen knew that sometimes he needed to give Xu Moxing a push, because he was afraid Xu Moxing would end up in the same situation he was in before losing his memory.

Of course, the choice was still Xu Moxing’s. Su Lichen only offered advice; whether to listen, adopt it, or be willing to change—all that was up to Xu Moxing to decide on his own.

Xu Moxing saw a shop selling small trinkets and insisted on going in to take a look.

Su Lichen pushed him inside. He walked around for a while, and they started guessing the prices of the items.

“Guess how much this hat costs?” Xu Moxing peeked at the price tag and asked with a sly look.

Su Lichen looked at the hat. “$40?”

Xu Moxing shook his finger. “Nope, $160.”

"That expensive?"

Su Lichen took the hat from Xu Moxing's hand and put it back.

The two wandered around guessing prices but ended up buying nothing.

When they stepped outside, the sky had turned overcast and the wind had picked up.

"Is it going to rain?" Xu Moxing looked up at the sky.

Su Lichen took out his phone and glanced at it: "The forecast says it'll rain this evening."

"We'd better hurry back. We didn't bring an umbrella."

Su Lichen pushed him back, the wheelchair making a rumbling sound as it rolled forward.

Xu Moxing was holding a bunch of plush toys, a pink pig balloon bobbing around, with Su Lichen behind him.

The two stood in front of a large glass that was like a mirror, took out their phones, snapped a selfie, and then slowly continued on their way back.

It was about to rain, but both were in a good mood.