Chapter 49: A Naive Fool

Chapter 49: The Naive Fool

Xu Moxing didn't even feel like talking to Mai Cong anymore. He felt he couldn't accept Mai Cong's values and didn't want to chat with him.

Mai Cong didn't pick up on Xu Moxing's hidden disdain, and started chatting with Su Lichen.

Originally, Mai Cong got along better with Su Lichen anyway; Xu Moxing was just a tagalong. Even if Mai Cong knew Xu Moxing didn't like him, he didn't care.

After Liu Huiyi came back, the atmosphere had shifted.

Liu Huiyi was playing with her phone and showed a picture to Mai Cong, asking with a hint of anticipation, "Does it look good?"

Mai Cong gave it a quick, casual glance, "Looks good. I'll take you to get it sometime."

Liu Huiyi was happy, put away her phone, and continued eating.

Xu Moxing watched from the sidelines, having mixed feelings.

Xu Moxing didn't know if he was overthinking, but looking at Liu Huiyi, he always felt a bit sorry for her, taken in by Mai Cong, a player.

Later, Mai Cong went to settle the bill. Liu Huiyi sat there and suddenly looked at Xu Moxing.

"You two," she pointed at the two of them, "have been together for a long time, right?"

Xu Moxing was caught off guard and felt a bit awkward.

"Yeah, many years."

Su Lichen added.

Xu Moxing didn't say anything, just shared a smile with Su Lichen.

"That's nice."

She didn't say anything else.

Mai Cong came back, and they walked out together.

At the door when they parted, Liu Huiyi waved at them and left arm in arm with Mai Cong.

On the way back to the hotel, Xu Moxing stayed silent.

Su Lichen held his hand and asked with amusement, "What's wrong?"

"Mai Cong is taking advantage of a decent woman. Shouldn't we warn that girl?"

Su Lichen was sometimes helpless about this. Xu Moxing hadn't been this sweet and naive before losing his memory. It seemed the years before his amnesia had really changed him, making him more mature.

Now, with only a 23-year-old's memories, Xu Moxing was so innocent it made Su Lichen speechless.

"Do you think that girl doesn't know Mai Cong is just messing around with her? They're just using each other."

"What do you mean?"

Su Lichen stopped and cupped Xu Moxing's face.

"Oh, sweetie, how can you be so naive? Don't be so quick to think the best of people. Mai Cong likes to have fun. You can dislike him because he doesn't match your values, but he doesn't mess with honest people. That's why he's been able to play around for years without things blowing up."

"Huh?"

Xu Moxing blinked.

"Look at the clothes Liu Huiyi is wearing, her phone, the brands—all bought by Mai Cong. She just asked him to buy her more stuff, ordered a giant lobster, asked to stay at a fancy hotel with a special suite. Do you really think she's a good girl?"

"..."

Xu Moxing was used to being poor; he didn't understand those brands or how to tell if someone's belongings were expensive or not.

Su Lichen was still holding his face and continued.

"She quit her job voluntarily, right? When I was pursuing you, I knew you for so long, and it took forever to get you to agree to go out with me alone... For someone she'd only met once or twice, someone obviously approaching her with ulterior motives, she agreed to go out with him after playing hard to get for two days... Do you think she's a good girl?"

Xu Moxing shook his head. He didn't agree with that kind of behavior.

It wasn't about being naive or not. A naive person would be scared and say no, not go on that date.

Xu Moxing pouted, remembering what Mai Cong had said earlier, and asked again, "Then why did Mai Cong say in the restaurant that day that he had an ex pestering him?"

"Hounding him for money. People are complicated. At first it's for money, just playing around, but in the end they can't let go, so they pretend to be in love to try to win back the sugar daddy.

People are good at pretending—so good they can even deny their own true feelings. And because they know they have no real value, they use love to disguise their actual desires."

Just because the transaction started on a shady basis, does it get whitewashed with so-called love?

Xu Moxing looked at him. Su Lichen gave him a kiss.

"Mai Cong is that kind of person. He never pretended. That girl knew that, but she still went for it."

Xu Moxing felt a bit regretful. He thought he was so stupid.

"You can't make decisions for others, or feel sorry for them, or project your own values and perspective onto everything. It's meaningless and only brings unnecessary trouble."

This wasn't just Xu Moxing's problem; many people had it.

Xu Moxing nodded. "I was wrong. I'm so dumb. Tell me off. I thought too well of her. I thought she was being deceived by Mai Cong."

They continued walking back.

"You didn't think too highly of her; you're used to thinking the best of people, but you don't know how to protect yourself."

Xu Moxing always felt sorry for others, had too much empathy, and saw things from his own perspective, making him easily hurt.

When a colleague got bullied, he got angry. When a friend broke up, he felt sad. Seeing Liu Huiyi with Mai Cong, he thought about warning her, worried she was being fooled.

It was all him projecting his own past. Because he had a hard time before, but he chose kindness, hoping others wouldn't go through what he did—essentially trying to save his past self.

"You're the naive one. Some people are just like that. She chose this path; she wasn't tricked—she wanted it. You feel sorry for her, but she doesn't need it."

He remembered his own past, always feeling sorry for others.

But Liu Huiyi didn't need it. This was the path she chose. Whatever good or bad came from that choice, she had to bear it.

Reaching out to people like that is just being cruel to yourself.

After a bit, Xu Moxing suddenly asked, "Being friends with Mai Cong, doesn't that bother you?"

"Nope. There are all kinds of friends. He's not my best friend. He does his thing, and I do mine. What he does is his own business."

Xu Moxing was a bit frustrated. "You can keep things so separate?"

Su Lichen looked at him. "If you can't separate them, you're the one who ends up hurting."

Xu Moxing fell silent.

He thought of how he used to be, always unable to separate things. Other people's business, his own business, all mixed up together.

He would get involved in things he should and shouldn't.

In the end, no one was happy.

He suddenly began to understand why Su Lichen could maintain a superficial friendship with Mai Cong, but he couldn't.

Because he couldn't "separate things."

When others felt bad, he felt bad too.

When others got hurt, he felt that pain too.

When others chose the wrong path, he wanted to pull them back.

But they didn't want to be pulled.

That was exactly the path they chose.

He was starting to understand: not everyone deserved that kind of empathy from him.

Not all the pain was his to bear.

This wasn't kindness or compassion; it was just constantly hurting himself.

After they washed up back at the hotel, they lay down on the bed to rest.

Xu Moxing tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He rolled over and moved closer to Su Lichen.

Su Lichen hadn't fallen asleep either.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Moxing said softly, "Nothing."

Su Lichen reached out and pulled him closer.

In the darkness, Xu Moxing listened to his heartbeat and thought to himself:

He had liked Su Lichen back then because he seemed mature and steady, but the same trait also made him seem a bit cold at times.

Now he realized it wasn't coldness; it was boundaries.

It was protecting himself, without overstepping boundaries and interfering with others. He hadn't learned this yet, but he could learn gradually.