The others were clearly startled, and Teacher Zeng quickly spoke up, “Hu Yi Fei, are you crazy? You don’t need to make Zhan Bo jump off the building, no matter what!”
Yi Fei didn’t pay him any attention, she just stared at Zhan Bo quietly.
Zhan Bo’s eyes flickered with determination. “Okay, I’ll prove it to you now.” He said, then stood on the edge of the platform and made a long jump movement, then closed his eyes and yelled.
Everyone thought he had really jumped and shielded their eyes, afraid to look. Only Yi Fei wore a “I knew it” expression as she watched Zhan Bo, who remained motionless.
Mei Jia asked curiously, “Yi Fei Jie, what’s going on?”
Hu Yi Fei casually sat down on a chair nearby. “Look, do you see that door on the other side? Zhan Bo has been curious about what’s behind that door for a long time, so he’s always wanted to go over and take a look. But he’s never successfully jumped over since he was a teenager. He comes here every year to try, and the result is obvious.”
Xue Mo Yin stood aside and looked. The gap between the two buildings was only a little more than a meter at most. It would be easy to jump over even on flat ground, let alone with a drop of almost half a meter here. It wasn’t difficult to get over. It was just that this height seemed a bit daunting.
“Go for it, Zhan Bo. Believe in yourself, you can do it!” Guan Gu encouraged him from the sidelines. But Zhan Bo remained with his eyes tightly closed, yelling, and showed no sign of wanting to jump.
After about twenty minutes, Mei Jia sat bored on the side. “You’ve been yelling for almost half an hour now. Are you going to jump or not?”
“Don’t rush me, I’m still waiting to build up some momentum.” Zhan Bo said without turning his head.
Yi Fei shrugged. “Don’t wait, let’s go downstairs to eat.”
When everyone finished eating, Zhan Bo was still on the roof and hadn't come down. The others wanted to go up and see, but Yi Fei stopped them. In her words, this was Zhan Bo's own choice, and whether he succeeded or failed depended on him.
“Are you really determined?” Xue Mo Yin asked, sitting next to Hu Yi Fei.
“Sigh, what else? Do I really have to take care of him for the rest of his life? Like you said that day, he’s bound to grow up. No matter what, he should make his own choices.” Yi Fei sighed. That insurmountable hurdle was like a demon in Zhan Bo's heart, and she didn’t want to interfere with Zhan Bo's choice anymore.
Xue Mo Yin held her hand. “Don’t worry, if he can overcome that hurdle, then we have reason to believe he's truly prepared. If he can’t, then we’ll have the ability to help him live a good life.” This was his true feelings. If someone in the apartment really didn’t want to take risks, then they were still good friends, and he would definitely support them in their relationship.
Hu Yi Fei rolled her eyes. She was already used to this kind of small gesture. She didn’t pull her hand away, but let him hold it. “I know. I just want him to become a real man, not like a kid like he is now.”
Patting her shoulder, Xue Mo Yin released her hand and called out, “Zi Qiao!”
“What’s up?”
“Go up and check on Zhan Bo?”
Zi Qiao was a little confused. Just now Hu Yi Fei didn’t allow him to go, did she? But seeing that she didn’t refute Mo Yin’s words, Zi Qiao knew who to listen to. He turned and headed towards the top floor.
Xue Mo Yin didn’t really have much hope in his heart that Zhan Bo would overcome that hurdle. After all, in the original story, even after suffering such a great blow, he still couldn’t bring himself to jump over it in one go, let alone now.
When Zi Qiao went up, Zhan Bo was sitting dejectedly against the wall. Seeing that it wasn’t his older sister, he was a little surprised, then he said dejectedly, “They’re right not to come up, I can’t jump over at all. Maybe my sister is right, maybe I’m really not cut out for adventure.”
“Have you ever thought about why you can’t jump over?” Actually, he was quite familiar with Zhan Bo’s mentality.
Zhan Bo lowered his head even further. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m scared.”
Zi Qiao threw him a can of beer. “That’s right, it’s because you’re scared. You’ve never encountered any danger from a young age, you’ve never encountered any difficulties. Because you have a sister named Hu Yi Fei, she can help you get through everything and let you grow up peacefully, so now when you encounter even a little bit of difficulty, you’re scared out of your wits.”
“I didn’t!” Perhaps it was because Zi Qiao had truly touched on Zhan Bo's pain point, his reaction was quite intense.
But Zi Qiao sneered and said sarcastically, “Yes, you didn’t. You didn’t shrink back from difficulties? You didn’t think only of your sister when you encountered danger? You didn’t become a pathetic worm without any courage who can only fantasize. You’re scared of this small ditch, what else are you qualified to ask us to take you on an adventure with?”
“I...”
“Yes, you still have your sister, but is she really going to take care of you for the rest of your life? Are you going to suck her blood forever? Are she and Mo Yin still going to take care of you like this after they get married? Are they going to leave you a loft in their future house? Little brother, you’re not a child anymore.”
One by one, the questions made Zhan Bo completely silent. These words were like sharp swords that ripped off his fig leaf and shredded his self-deceptive dignity.
Taking a sip of beer, Zi Qiao continued, “Little brother, do you know? A man’s dignity lies in being able to stand proudly after going through a thousand hardships. You are a child who has always been well protected. It’s time for you to have the courage to stand in front of others.” With that, he finished the rest of the beer in one gulp and turned to leave.
In the corner, Hu Yi Fei suppressed the urge to comfort him and slowly backed away. Actually, she had arrived not long after Zi Qiao went upstairs, but she had been hiding.
And now the rooftop was left with only Zhan Bo. He stared blankly at the door opposite with the beer bottle in hand, seemingly thinking about something, yet seemingly thinking about nothing.
“How is it? Why hasn’t Zhan Bo come down yet?” Xue Mo Yin knew Yi Fei had gone up, so he asked.
Yi Fei shook her head, without explaining much, she simply sat quietly beside him.
“If you really can’t bear it, then don’t force Zhan Bo to make a choice.”
Yi Fei said calmly, “It’s not that I want him to make a choice, this is a choice he has to make himself, I can’t plan his life forever.”
Xue Mo Yin put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s good that you’ve figured it out.”
Hu Yi Fei twisted his waist hard. “I haven’t reached the point where I let you take advantage of me so easily.”
“Ah!” Xue Mo Yin quickly released her hand and quickly backed away, looking at her with resentment, like a sulky little wife.
Seeing his expression, Hu Yi Fei chuckled. “I haven’t cooked in a long time, I don’t know if my skills have declined. Want to try my signature fried rice?”
Heh, the only thing you can make is fried rice, right? “Do you need help?”
“No, just wait to eat your fill.” With that, she confidently walked towards the kitchen cabinet.
The next morning, Xue Mo Yin woke up early. The fried rice from last night really didn’t disappoint him. He found several strands of hair in it. If he ate it again, he wondered if he would be poisoned. And it was then that he noticed a letter on the table.
At this time, everyone else came out of their rooms one after another. Seeing the letter in Xue Mo Yin’s hand, they were all curious.
Mei Jia suddenly became nosy. “Mo Yin, is this a love letter you wrote to Yi Fei Jie?”
“You’re thinking too much, genius.”
He was also curious why there was suddenly a letter in the suite. He opened it and saw it said:
Sister, Brother-in-law, and everyone in the apartment, I will probably be out of touch for a while. Don’t worry about me, I might be back in half a month. Zi Qiao is right, I’ve always been like a kid, everything needs to be protected by my older sister, but I don’t even have the courage to face danger. So I decided to go out and see the world with my own eyes, to find my lost courage.
Brother-in-law, remember to save an adventure slot for me. When I come back, I will definitely stand in front of that door that I’ve always wanted to open and apply to you. Lu Zhan Bo requests to join the team.