Chapter 1 Part 1 - Where It Begins Ten Years Later

Translated by: Jellylynn

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Proofread by: Lian

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Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary ):

-俞知乐( yú zhī lè )- Yu Zhi Le, the female protagonist.

Yu Zhi Le and one third of her classmates entered the army of unemployment on the day of her graduation.

The rented apartment was dark, small and narrow. To save electricity, Yu Zhi Le didn’t turn on the light. Surrounded by the shadows from all directions, she laid on the bare mattress and thought about her life as she faced the ceiling of the wall that had been very dusty and peeling for a long time.

She only had ten thousand yuan from her parent’s sponsorship. After paying the rent and deposit, she had used up more than half of the money. Most of the resumes that she had sent didn’t have any response. The interview she attended two days ago also did not return any news.

She turned over and smelled a musty smell, which belonged to the old house.

Because she had no job, there was no need to choose a location convenient for commuting. Yu Zhi Le, who is in a tight financial situation, naturally chose somewhere that has cheap rental. She rented an apartment that’s in a community which has a long history. It’s a remote location that is not in a school district. The residents who are still living here are mostly retired elderly. The public security is good. Of course, the most crucial point is low rent.

It’s just that, most of the time, material beauty is not related to low cost. Although Yu Zhi Le was mentally prepared, she still sighed softly.

Yu Zhi Le didn’t know when the sun had set entirely. She didn’t turn on the light. In the dark, she dragged her slippers and went to the kitchen, where it was difficult to turn around. She made use of the ray of light from the corridor outside to make a cup of instant noodles. While she waited in the dark as she bit her fork, she smelled the fragrance of the instant noodles. She couldn’t help but begin to imagine the satisfaction of the hot instant noodles in her mouth, burning her lips. Yu Zhi Le’s melancholy thoughts were flung beyond the horizon.

There was a roof on the top of her head and a cup of instant noodles to eat. Her life wasn’t too bad.

Yu Zhi Le is such a person without any goals.

“Ding Dong——”, the doorbell suddenly rang.

At that moment, Yu Zhi Le did not recall anyone who would visit her at this time and place. She estimated that it would take a few minutes to be able to eat the instant noodle, so she put down the plastic fork and walked towards the door. She leaned towards the peephole and looked outside the door.

A good looking yet unfamiliar young man stood at the door.

Yu Zhi Le asked, “Who would you be looking for?”

Hearing the voice behind the door, the young man said with a smile, “Hello, is this Miss Yu Zhi Le?”

Once Yu Zhi Le heard the young man mentioning her name, her vigilance increased. In her mind, it has popped up several suspects that may have leaked her personal information. As well as the range of possibilities of which the young man outside could be, from an insurance seller to a house-breaker with the intention of murder. With a “Click” sound, she reversed the lock of the door.

When the young man heard this, he became stiff. He didn’t seem to expect Yu Zhi Le to be this alert. He looked back and said, “Don’t misunderstand. I used to be a resident here. I’m here to disturb as I wanted to survey the current living environment. I just wanted to ask a few simple questions, please.”

Yu Zhi Le noted that he was sincere. She turned on the lights in the porch and hesitantly opened the wooden door leaving the old anti-theft iron door outside closed. She said through the anti-theft door, “Go ahead.”

The young man was relieved to see that she was finally willing to reveal her face, but his expression changed a few times when he saw Yu Zhi Le. He was a little surprised and didn’t speak for a long time.

“Are you Yu Zhi Le?” After a while, the young man asked in bewilderment.

Yu Zhi Le was confused by his attitude and nodded without speaking.

The young man looked back again. Yu Zhi Le followed his line of sight and saw another man standing at the stairway.

The lights in the corridor are sound controlled. As the young man stamped his feet from time to time, it maintained the dim light at Yu Zhi Le’s door. But the man at the stairway did not make a sound. Therefore, he was always hidden in the dark, and only a rough outline could be seen.

The first word that appeared in Yu Zhi Le’s mind was “partners in crime”. As she was about to close the door, she heard the young man ask, “Are you twenty?”

Yu Zhi Le frowned and did not wish to talk to him anymore.

“Do you have a sister or aunt who looks like you? About 30 years old…”

Yu Zhi Le immediately shut the door. At that moment, before the door was closed, she happened to notice the man at the stairway.

He was dressed in a well-fitted suit outlining his attractive figure. He has broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His shoulder line was straight and full. His tall body was leaning on the side of the stairs. His head was slightly lowered. His hands were put in his trouser pocket. The elitist aura exuding from his body stood out amongst the old residential buildings. It seems that he was just in the state of waiting for others, and did not care about Yu Zhi Le’s situation.

But when Yu Zhi Le looked at him, he also suddenly looked up, and a pair of black eyes stared at Yu Zhi Le directly, which made her heart skip a beat.

After the door was closed, Yu Zhi Le managed to pull herself together after leaning back against the door for a long time. Those eyes were bright as stars in the dark, and the emotions contained in them were too turbulent and robust. Yu Zhi Le didn’t know how to describe them. She couldn’t understand when she caught the attention of the two people.

Both of them talked briefly at the entrance of the stairs. Yu Zhi Le didn’t manage to hear their conversations as they were standing far away from her door. After leaning on the door to listen for a while, they seemed to have left. Yu Zhi Le opened the door slightly and peered out. As expected, there was no one in the corridor.

Yu Zhi Le has just moved here. Many of her daily necessities in her home were not arranged properly, and she had to worry about finding a job. Those two people have not appeared again. This evening’s incident was quickly forgotten by her.