Chapter 297 – Two Ants (2/2)
Li Qingshan said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re friends or not. If she’s interested in me, I would never turn her down.”
Hua Chengzan said, “If it’s not mutual, yet you stay together, it’ll only make you lonelier.”
Li Qingshan said, “I think you just have nothing better to do.”
Hua Chengzan smiled. “You can say that.”
Li Qingshan was helpless over how unperturbed he was. He thought of something and made fun of him. “Though, don’t tell me you have some special interests with how you went as far as to offend your friends to help me?”
Hua Chengzan replied seriously, “You overestimate yourself.”
Li Qingshan snickered. He studied him and said, “Surely I’m passable.”
Hua Chengzan could no longer stand it anymore either. “Someone told me to take care of you.”
Li Qingshan said, “You’re finally telling the truth. It’s Gu Yanying, isn’t it?”
Hua Chengzan was slightly stunned, or even rather irritated, by how he had suddenly called her by name. However, he had great control over himself, so he showed none of it on the surface. All he did was ask, “How did you know?”
Li Qingshan said, “I might not be the cleverest, but I do have some wits about me. It’s impossible for boss Wang to get you to take care of me. He utterly loathes me. The commander loathes me, yet you still need to take care of me. That means that the person’s status is even higher than boss Wang, such that even boss Wang has to listen to them. The only person I’ve seen who is as important as that is Gu Yanying.”
Hua Chengzan said, “Smart. Your analysis is impressive.”
Li Qingshan became carried away. “And, I’m confident enough to say that you’re interested in her.”
“Oh? How come?”
Li Qingshan said, “You’re not even fazed when someone as fantastic as sect master Qiu takes a liking to you, and you don’t like men either, so that can only mean you have someone else you like. Even I have only seen a single woman who completely surpasses sect master Qiu in terms of charm. Great commander Gu probably doesn’t treat me with any importance at all, so she probably just told you to take care of me without proper thought. Just a single careless word from her is enough for you to uphold it like strict orders, even going as far as to offend your friends for me. You can’t just call that loyalty to your commanding officer anymore.”
Hua Chengzan said, “You’re far too modest. You don’t just have your wits about you. You’re the cleverest.”
Li Qingshan said, “Then you really shouldn’t take care of me.”
“Why?”
Li Qingshan grinned. “Because we’re rivals.”
Even Hua Chengzan was left surprised for quite a while before erupting in laughter, laughing so hard that he had to lean on his knees.
“Alright you, Li Qingshan. It has been quite a while since I’ve laughed so hard. Pfft, rivals. Hahahaha! This is just too interesting.”
Li Qingshan looked at him with a smile. He was as firm as a rock excavated from a ravine. Clearly, he was not joking.
Hua Chengzan stopped laughing, but he continued to smile, “Do you know what we look like?”
“What?”
“We look like two ants fighting over a mountain. Oi, go away, this is my territory. But we can’t even move a single rock.”
Li Qingshan said, “Even if we’re ants, as long as we climb as hard as we can, there’ll be a day when we climb to the top of the mountain.”
“Climb? Don’t you understand? The mountain is rapidly growing taller. By the time you take a tiny step, it has already grown ten times higher. Wake up!”
Li Qingshan said confidently, “You underestimate me.”
Hua Chengzan said, “Alright. Then I’ll definitely have to take even better care of you and see just how long you can climb for.”
Li Qingshan was instead surprised. “I’m obviously going to climb until I die. Don’t tell me you’ve turned pursuing a woman into everything there is in life?”
He had set himself a distant goal, and he would be doing all that he could to strive towards it, but he did not treat the goal as his absolute meaning of existence. Whether it was Gu Yanying or venturing beyond the Nine Heavens, if he died half way, killed off by someone, then all he would do was shrug and apologise to brother ox.
This was both an imprint from his past life and a deep impression he had gained from this life. The hunger and cold in the cowshed filled the boy cowherd’s mind with only wearing cotton clothes and eating meat. Right now, his goals were only equivalent to larger cotton clothes and more delicious meat. He understood the value of these two items more than anyone else. The warmth of cotton clothes to warm a person’s heart, and the delicious taste of meat surpassed all pills and medicines. They were not divine. He could strive towards them with his own two hands.
“I have nothing better to do, but you won’t understand this feeling.” Hua Chengzan smiled.
PS: Yep, just as expected, it doesn’t hurt anymore today. Haha, I’m so young and full of energy, so why would I develop any occupational illnesses- Ah, my hand, it’s so numb, I can’t feel any-