Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

Chapter 1235 Going down the mountain is even harder

Using Xu Ying's belongings, they successfully diverted Lao Zhao's attention. Lin Mo was alright, but Lao Zhao was panting heavily, and Chuan Mei was so exhausted that she started foaming at the mouth.

"Huff...huff...huff...slow down, I'm going to die, I'm really going to die!"

The Sichuan girl caught up, her hands on her knees, panting heavily.

The other three ignored him. Lin Mo stepped forward, patted Old Zhao on the shoulder, and said, "Let's go take a look!"

"Okay~" Old Zhao said in a deep voice.

The three of them then stepped forward together. Seeing this, the Sichuan girl rolled her eyes but could only grit her teeth and follow.

When they arrived at the entrance of the girls' dormitory, the three girls in front of them looked at the four of them. Without a doubt, Chuanmei had already spoken to the three of them on the phone while running this way.

It has to be said that Chuanmei is a very meticulous person. After learning the truth last night, he chose to deal with it after taking graduation photos today. He even made arrangements last night.

They left their contact information with the three people, asking them to stay a little longer, and to leave behind any of Xu Ying's belongings that hadn't been taken. They told them not to pack them up and to bring Lao Zhao over.

"You've arrived!"

"Xiaoying doesn't have much left, we haven't touched it, it's all upstairs!"

My condolences.

As Lao Zhao walked over, the three girls couldn't help but speak up. To be honest, they were also surprised to see Lao Zhao again this time, but when they thought about the reason, they understood. After all, who could remain indifferent to such a thing? They, as his roommates, had seen clearly how affectionate the two of them were during their college years.

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhao looked at his girlfriend's three roommates in front of him, then glanced at the dormitory building entrance. For a moment, he felt a little dazed, as if that familiar figure would run down from upstairs in the next second. Then, she took his arm and asked him with a smile which restaurant they should go to for dinner later.

"Thank you, thank you!" Old Zhao said in a low, somewhat hoarse voice.

Seeing this, the three led the way, and the four followed upstairs, soon arriving at the dormitory entrance.

The three women had already packed their luggage, placing large and small bags under their beds.

"Old Zhao, you go inside, we'll wait for you outside!"

Lin Mo stopped one of the girls who wanted to go in and said.

Upon hearing this, Old Zhao nodded and went into the dormitory. Director Wang closed the door behind him.

"Well, thank you girls for today. I'm so glad you guys helped me!" Lin Mo turned to Xu Ying's three roommates and said.

Although they were not familiar with the three girls, they knew their names: Si Xin, Yang Jinyao, and Wang Dairong.

She's not exactly a stunning beauty, just an ordinary person, but she's not ugly either. Especially after her internship, she's become much better at dressing up and has matured considerably compared to a year ago.

"Of course!" Wang Dairong said.

Yang Jinyao sighed: "No one expected this to happen. Last year, we only found out that Xiaoying was gone after receiving a group message on WeChat."

“Zhao Ziyu…” Si Xin asked with some concern.

In response, the Sichuan girl waved her hand and said, "It's okay, Lao Zhao will get through it. Besides, we're here for you. By the way, are you leaving today? Also, I didn't have time to ask yesterday, what kind of work are you doing now?"

Upon hearing this, the three nodded, and Si Xin said, "They all left today, their trains were this afternoon, and they've packed everything."

As for work... it's so tough being an art student. I chose this path as a hobby, but when it came time to graduate and find a job, I realized how difficult it is. I've decided to switch careers; you can't make a living drawing. I'm currently working as a clerk at a company!

Wang Dairong nodded, deeply understanding: "Me too. I changed jobs several times this year, but I couldn't stay in any of them for long. At first, I wanted to find a job in advertising design or teaching children to draw, but I found that I was not cut out for it. I decided to go home and take the civil service exam. I'm already preparing to go back and study for the exam!"

"I'm doing alright, especially after seeing your account, Li Shiya. I've decided to combine drawing with social media to see if it can be successful. I really envy your major; it's so much easier for you to find jobs than for us," Yang Jinyao said with a smile.

This is an art academy, full of students studying painting. But it has to be said that very few people can actually make a living by painting, and the employment prospects are indeed much worse than those of other majors.

Of the three people in front of me, two have already decided to change careers. It's not that they don't want to work, nor is it a matter of salary; it's that sometimes they simply can't find jobs in their field of expertise.

Lin Mo and his friends who study computer science can at least try being programmers; the worst that can happen is they go bald.

"Sure, you can make a living doing anything!" the Sichuan girl laughed. Hearing this, Lin Mo nodded, then asked, "Are the three of you leaving together later?"

“Hmm? Although the three of us are not going to the same destination, at least we are all going to the high-speed rail station,” Yang Jinyao said.

Lin Mo: "Then how are we going to get there? I see you have a lot of stuff!"

Yang Jinyao: "There's a lot of stuff. Let's find a place to mail the luggage back. We've already sold the books to the old man downstairs who collects recyclables. We can just carry the suitcase and backpack ourselves! As for the rest of the things we can't take, we can just throw them away when we go downstairs!"

“The three of us definitely can’t leave, Lao Zhao. How about this, Director Wang, call the squad leader later and have her drive over to give us a ride,” Chuanmei said.

After all, the three of them had helped, so they couldn't just leave without giving anything in return. If it weren't for waiting for Lao Zhao, the three of them would have been preparing to leave by now.

"No need, no need, the three of us can just take the high-speed train!"

"It's really not necessary!"

"You guys go about your business."

The three refused repeatedly, but Lin Mo and the other two persuaded them until they finally agreed. Director Wang walked a couple of steps away and called the class monitor.

Meanwhile, Lao Zhao stood in Xu Ying's dormitory, staring blankly at Xu Ying's clean bed.

The dormitory was decorated in a very cozy style, with pink wallpaper on the walls and even foam boards under the beds.

The individual lockers in the dormitory still have cute little bear hooks, which clearly indicates that it's a girls' dormitory.

However, this time the dormitory was almost completely tidied up, so it felt a bit empty.

Xu Ying didn't have many things left. Her bed and personal closet were already empty, with only a few items left on the table under the bed.

These things were sorted out by the three girls overnight. Some of them were left by Xu Ying with them or in public places. Her parents were unsure if they belonged to their child, so they didn't take them.

There weren't many things: a stack of drawing paper with her artwork on it (which could also be considered draft paper), a water cup, two basins, a small fan, a bottle of toner, a peace pendant, and a small doll pendant.

Looking at these things, Old Zhao was stunned for a long time before finally pulling out a chair from under the bed and sitting down.

He was very familiar with this angle, because Xu Ying had sat here to send him videos and make phone calls more than once, and he could even feel that he could smell the familiar scent.

At that moment, Lao Zhao suddenly recalled a topic the two of them had discussed.

It was an evening during their sophomore year when the two were taking a walk on campus. Xu Ying suddenly asked him a question: how long does it take to forget someone?

He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a definite answer. Xu Ying then asked him a different question, asking whether it was more difficult to go up the mountain or down.

He chose to go up the mountain without hesitation, saying it was difficult, but Xu Ying countered that it was difficult to go down the mountain.

Now, at this very moment, he finally has an answer.

"So you were right, it really is harder to go down the mountain!"

Going up the mountain relies on instinct and impulse, just like falling in love with someone, but going down the mountain requires overcoming gravity with every step, just like those fragmented and repetitive memories.

They say climbing a mountain is easy, but descending is difficult. Who knows that it's easy to give your heart away, but difficult to give up a thousand things? The first glimpse is breathtaking, and the soul is intoxicated. After parting, the lonely figure is filled with tears.

Now, the image in my heart, once deleted, returns again; revisiting the old place breaks my heart; parting songs fill the night under the cold moon.

I ask the heavens, how is the word "love" written, so difficult?

In an instant, time seemed to rewind to that sophomore night, when the two of them sat on a set of steps outside the playground.

Old Zhao chuckled and asked the girl beside him, "Hey, how long will you stay with me?"

Upon hearing this, the girl beside her smiled and replied, "The one thing we don't lack is time. As long as you don't mention breaking up, we'll stay together forever!"

(End of this chapter)