Chapter 67 Stirred by the Scenery

Huo Yan strode forward in silence the entire way, though he clearly knew the route well. Upon entering the athletic field gate, he immediately gestured for Ning Shuyi to start running.

Ning Shuyi had not expected such a whirlwind journey, nor that this guy would leave her not even a second to catch her breath once they stepped inside.

Fortunately, although her athletic proficiency barely scraped past the passing line, she had never let herself go when it came to physical endurance over the years. Mobilizing her limbs to keep pace with Huo Yan’s speed posed no immediate problem.

Ning Shuyi adjusted her breathing, lengthened her strides, swung her arms, and worked hard to keep up with Huo Yan. Side by side, the two of them began running along the standard track of the sports field.

The physical education institute had a skewed demographic—far more male students than female. At this hour, almost the only girl running on the track was Ning Shuyi.

At first, seeing the two of them running together, the other male students cast knowing glances that practically screamed, "Bro, I totally get it."

However, as they watched the pair run lap after lap, and then lap after lap again—crossing the fifth mark—it became obvious that the girl running alongside him was growing exhausted. Her running rhythm had become somewhat disorganized, yet the man running with her showed no intention of slowing down whatsoever.

Far from slowing down, he was actually accelerating stealthily, running faster and faster!

A group of physical education majors shook their heads in disbelief, whispering among themselves that this guy seriously... seemed to really, really want to run.

Gritting her teeth and pushing through the sixth lap as though her legs were filled with lead, Ning Shuyi, stubborn and strong-willed though she was, had to yield to the physical reality. She gradually reduced her speed, no longer forcing herself to keep stride with Huo Yan.

She jogged half a lap down the track to let her heart rate gradually return to normal, then walked off to the side to watch Huo Yan run alone.

Ning Shuyi watched from the bleachers for a full half-hour, and Huo Yan ran for a full half-hour, running with absolute, single-minded intensity as if he desperately wanted to exhaust every ounce of strength in his body.

Finally, after another twenty-plus laps, Huo Yan’s speed finally decreased. Noticing Ning Shuyi sitting in the stands, he jogged up the steps to the very top row, turned his back to the sports field, and looked out at the hazy distant lights.

Although it was no longer cold at this time of year, mornings and evenings still carried a hint of chill. After running dozens of laps, Huo Yan was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

His chest heaved violently, and the panting caused by his fierce sprint had yet to subside. Despite his exhaustion, his face remained blank, devoid of any discernible expression or obvious emotion. Only his tightly pressed lips seemed to betray a sliver of what he was feeling.

Under normal circumstances, Ning Shuyi preferred not to probe into the inner worlds of others. She had always believed that if something was deeply harbored in a person's heart, it was surely because they did not wish for outsiders to pry.

If someone genuinely needed help, they would naturally express that intention and reveal their emotions.

Therefore, she rarely meddled in other people's business and always maintained a respectful and appropriate distance from those around her.

Yet, Huo Yan’s current state made it difficult not to pay attention.

He was clearly stung by something, yet he dared not display even a shred of emotion. He tried to vent his unspeakable inner turmoil through a desperate, exhaustive run, but his taut state plainly announced that burning off physical energy had failed to deflect his internal emotions or make him feel any better.

"Did something happen today that stirred up old feelings?" After a moment, Ning Shuyi decided to break protocol and ask, "Was there something that made you think of your family?"

If he truly didn't want her to ask, he probably wouldn't have let her tag along in the first place, right?

At first, Huo Yan did not respond, simply gazing into the distance. Just when Ning Shuyi assumed he would let her question hang, he suddenly spoke.

"I don't have a family."

Ning Shuyi paused slightly, nodded, and said nothing.

Huo Yan had anticipated that upon hearing his answer, Ning Shuyi might be shocked or try to offer words of comfort. To his surprise, he waited for a long time without receiving a single consoling remark from her, let alone any prying questions about his situation.

This caught him slightly off guard, and he turned his head to look at her in puzzlement. "Don't you have anything to ask me?"

"Nope," Ning Shuyi shrugged. "You made it pretty clear! If you want to talk, I'd be more than happy to be a listener. But if you don't want to say anything, my absolute pet peeve is prying against the person's will."

With that, she arched an eyebrow at him: "Confined strictly to our personal lives, of course! Prying during our work is a professional requirement!"

Huo Yan’s expression relaxed slightly, whether infected by her casual banter or relieved by the fact that Ning Shuyi hadn't reacted with shock to the news of his lack of family, bombarding him with a barrage of questions and thus lifting a heavy psychological burden from his shoulders.

"Tell me, where did Chang Junchao go wrong to end up like this?" Ning Shuyi suddenly brought up the case whose paperwork they had just finished processing, mentioning the pitiful Chang Junchao.

Huo Yan had not expected her topic to pivot so abruptly. He froze for a moment, shook his head, and feeling that such a response seemed too perfunctory, added, "Because of all those evil things Deng Qingrong did?"

"Wrong," Ning Shuyi shook her head. "I don't think so.

"I think the root of Chang Junchao reaching this dead end and plunging into total despair was that he tied his self-worth entirely to other people!

"Deng Qingrong deliberately suppressed and belittled him, so he felt worthless and lacked confidence. Deng Qingrong told him his original family would despise and reject him, so he became even more insecure and submissive.

"It never occurred to him that no matter how Deng Qingrong disparaged him, his job, his income, and his abilities remained unaffected.

"He never considered that even if he had genuinely been abandoned by his biological parents, so what? Would being recognized and taken back by his original family magically transform him into a completely different person overnight?

"Chang Junchao's biggest problem was that after years of brainwashing by Deng Qingrong, he formed a mindset of anchoring his self-worth entirely in other people's approval of him.

"That's why he originally assumed he wasn't good enough, which was why his biological parents abandoned him. Later, when he realized he had been stolen, a glimmer of hope sparked, only for him to discover that his biological parents and family members had passed away one after another.

"He poured all his hopes onto others. Once those hopes were gone, all his drive vanished instantly, and he sealed himself in a blind alley."

"Isn't that how it is?" Huo Yan asked. "When even your own biological parents despise you and don't want you, who else can you expect to care about you?"