I disciplined myself all year round, both in terms of sleep and diet, and it helped. My girlfriend was eight years younger than me, so how could I age so fast?

But now, I thought that getting old wasn't such a big deal.

People who would appreciate flowers had stopped caring about how delicate they were.

Stella brought Charlie Scott home, and she was surprised to see me passed out on a liquor cabinet.

That was right. She got a room with Charlie behind my back, thinking I didn't know about it yet, and I would have been on my way to work at the research center at a normal hour.

I smiled with tears in my eyes, "It's been a long time, Charlie."

Charlie looked flustered. "Long time no see, Mr. Harrington."

It was great. These two people of the same age stood together like a perfect match.

Charlie and Stella were high school classmates, and they were in love for two years, but Charlie went abroad, so they broke up naturally.

At that time, as a college professor, I went to their school to give a lecture, and that was where I met Stella.

Her experience was much like mine, with high academic achievement but poverty, and her family couldn't provide the funds for her to go to college.