The Meaning of Being Alive

Xiao Hanhan happily clung to Su Ze's back, using a transparent umbrella to shield both of them from the rain. Su Ze waded slowly through the water, stepping across the flooded asphalt road. Ripples spread around his feet as he carried Uesugi Akizuki to the back seat, closed the door with the umbrella in hand, and jogged toward the driver's seat.

Shen Qingsheng stared dumbfounded at Su Ze, who was knocking on the window. "Get out, I'll drive!"

Shen Qingsheng cracked the window open slightly and asked coldly, "Do you even have a driver's license?"

"A driver's license? What's that... I... don't have one?" Su Ze looked confused. "I remember you saying I used to be really good at things, and I feel like I'm familiar with driving. How could I not have a license?"

"If you had even a shred of common sense, you wouldn't ask such a ridiculously stupid question!" Shen Qingsheng's face darkened.

Uesugi Akizuki in the back seat was already growing anxious. This was just like the last time Su Ze had sent her into the car and then sneaked away!

Su Ze knocked on the back seat window. "Wait a moment."

He continued to ask Shen Qingsheng about what a driver's license was.

A minute later, Su Ze seemed to have an epiphany.

"If I don't have a license and I break traffic rules, they can't deduct my points! They can't do anything to me! But if you break the rules, you'll get points deducted!"

Su Ze laughed and kicked the car's chassis. "Get out, I'm driving!"

"Did you just ignore everything I said? Fines of 200 to 2,000 yuan and 15 days of detention—did you just let it go in one ear and out the other?" Shen Qingsheng was furious.

Su Ze was also getting impatient. "Stop talking nonsense and get out. If you want to catch me, at least you'll need to see my taillights first!"

Shen Qingsheng instantly panicked and locked the doors tightly!

When Su Ze had his memories, he at least knew some boundaries, but now he was just a complete idiot.

With his driving style, letting him drive now would probably require more than a dozen bullets to atone for the crimes he'd commit.

"Don't you dare act up! Believe me, I'll hit you!" Shen Qingsheng pointed at Su Ze.

"I vaguely remember you can't beat me!" Su Ze stared back at him without backing down.

Nonsense! If I could beat you, I'd give you a few rounds of military boxing every day, you jerk!

"Nonsense! What nonsense are you spouting? I can't beat you? If it weren't for your girlfriend in the back seat who's already impatient, I'd have you pinned to the ground right now!"

Shen Qingsheng's back felt cold, but he still shouted with his neck stiff.

Seeing that Uesugi Akizuki was indeed getting anxious, Su Ze stopped arguing with Shen Qingsheng and got into the back seat.

As he shook the water off the umbrella outside the car, Xiao Hanhan tightly grabbed the corner of his shirt.

Su Ze folded the umbrella and put it back into the umbrella bag.

The sports car's headlights pierced through the gray rain curtain, cutting through the rain as it sped away.

"Let me pinch you," Su Ze said, now acting like an old rogue, pinching Xiao Hanhan's adorable little face.

Xiao Hanhan suddenly pinched his face too and rubbed it.

Su Ze smirked, leaning his head back so Xiao Hanhan's slightly shorter arms couldn't reach his face. "No pinching," he teased.

The little witch wasn't having it and suddenly pounced on him, pinning him to the seat! Su Ze, caught off guard, was pressed beneath her and muttered with a hint of dissatisfaction, "I want to!"

Uesugi Akizuki stretched out her fair hand, contentedly rubbing Su Ze's cheeks.

Shen Qingsheng gripped the steering wheel with a dark expression.

The wise don't fall in love; fools repeat their mistakes. The single king pursues a Ph.D., and we shall all marry rich women!

It's fine... the final winner will always be the one who endures the most.

Don't be fooled by their lovey-dovey act now. When they break up over some small argument, they'll cry more than anyone else! The more affectionate they are now, the more heartbroken they'll be later!

At that time, they'll lose more than anyone else! Because... they'll have lost their entire world!

Thinking this, the increasingly deranged Shen Qingsheng revealed an evil smile.

From An Yang to Kyoto, it was a seven to eight-hour journey. Su Ze was heading to Kyoto for surgery, scheduled for around tomorrow afternoon. It was still early morning, so they had plenty of time.

But for Shen Qingsheng, who was used to such drives, seven to eight hours was nothing.

However, for him now, it felt like an eternity!

After some time, Su Ze noticed through the rearview mirror that Shen Qingsheng looked off, and he hadn't said a word since earlier.

"Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell? Should I drive?" Su Ze asked considerately.

Shen Qingsheng's calm lips suddenly twisted into a strange smile, then returned to normal. His lips curled up again, and he let out a dry, eerie chuckle.

Su Ze felt a chill down his spine, watching the cars speeding through the rain on the highway. "Don't... scare me like that."

"Brother Ze, what's the point of living in this world?" Shen Qingsheng asked with a laugh, seemingly losing his grip on reality.

Su Ze, holding the confused Xiao Hanhan, felt a cold shiver:

"If you're dissatisfied with life, all I can say is, don't lose hope."

"If anything happens, and I survive, I'll take care of your parents and wife. If we both don't make it, I'm sure someone will take care of your wife."

Shen Qingsheng's fingers gripping the steering wheel creaked, his knuckles turning white. "How do you manage to be even more of a jerk after losing your memory than before?!"

"I'm not dissatisfied with life, I'm dissatisfied with you two!" Shen Qingsheng gritted his teeth, almost spitting out each word.

"You... don't have a girlfriend, do you?" Su Ze saw right through his facade of strength.

"Ahhh! Don't push me to the point of taking us both down with me!" Shen Qingsheng was on the verge of a breakdown!

"I've thought about what you said," Su Ze gradually calmed down, speaking slowly. "Life does seem rather meaningless. The memories I have only span a dozen or so hours, but the world around me feels both unfamiliar and familiar. It makes me feel lost, as if... I don't belong in this world..."

Seeing Su Ze's increasingly calm and contemplative expression in the rearview mirror, it was now Shen Qingsheng's turn to feel a chill down his spine:

"Don't you dare lose it now!"

"You need to remember, there are still many things worth living for—your girlfriend, your gaming console, the 'study materials' on your USB drive, and... and you can recover your memories! Don't do anything stupid... we're on the highway, and it's raining! The road's slippery!"

Shen Qingsheng's heart pounded, terrified that the increasingly calm, life-weary Su Ze in the back seat might lunge for the steering wheel!

Despite the tension, the seven to eight-hour journey was completed in just six hours by Shen Qingsheng!

The amnesiac Su Ze in the back seat didn't do anything outrageous.

He simply held the sleeping Xiao Hanhan in his arms, leaning against the window, watching the rain and listening to its sound, silently lost in thought.