Chapter 1 Part 2 - 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.

-小余(xiǎo yú)- Xiao Yu, referring to the female protagonist

-余子涣( yú zǐ huàn )- Yu Zi Huan, the male lead

-王大爷(wáng dàyé)- Wang Da Ye, an elderly living in the same building as the female and male leads

-聂洪(niè hóng) – Nie Hong, the male lead’s friend

It was another day of a fruitless attempt. Yu Zhi Le got off the bus and walked back with heavy steps. As soon as she entered the residential area, the smell of cooking oil and smoke filled every corner which made her homesick. Her eyes turned red immediately but she quickly held back her tears.

“Xiao Yu [1] , You have just ended work.” Wang Da Ye who was sitting on the side of the road with his own folding chair greeted Yu Zhi Le with a smile.

Wang Da Ye is a resident on the first floor of Yu Zhi Le’s building. He is about 80 years old and he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. But it was strange that he only remembered Yu Zhi Le. Everyday when he was brought out by the housekeeper to bask in the sun, he would greet her on his own initiative.

At this time, his housekeeper was probably cooking, and Wang Da Ye was left there to chat with other elderly men and women. But strangely, there was a tall young man standing amongst the group of old people, with his back to Yu Zhi Le, talking to them.

Yu Zhi Le thought that the figure of this man was familiar, but she didn’t think much about it. She smiled and greeted Wang Da Ye.

Wang Da Ye beckoned to her, smiling from ear to ear, “Come here, Xiao Yu. Your younger brother is here.”

Yu Zhi Le could not understand what was going on. When did she have a younger brother?

The young man turned around at this time. Like an arrow, he pierced into Yu Zhi Le’s line of sight. She immediately remembered why she felt he was familiar.

But just for a moment, the young man hid the sharpness in his eyes. His whole body exuded a gentle and polite disposition. He did not show any impatience with the long winded old people around him. The smile in his eyes was sincere and kind.

Yu Zhi Le was startled and she did not dare to look at the young man again. She answered vaguely. She continued walking away with the same distance in step, and she kept increasing her speed. After she couldn’t be seen by the elderlies, she increased her speed of walking by replacing two steps with one and ran towards the building.

The young man was still talking with Wang Da Ye, but his line of sight from the corner of his eyes has never left Yu Zhi Le. As he saw that Yu Zhi Le almost trot up, he looked at her with a sharp look. He smiled and motioned to the elderlies that he was leaving , and then he started to catch up with her.

Yu Zhi Le didn’t dare to turn back. When she heard the energetic footsteps behind her, which wouldn’t be coming from an elderly, her heart was in a panic. She stepped on the black little high heels and clattered up the stairs. When she climbed to the second floor, she fell for a moment, her hands were full of dust but she didn’t dare to stay for a second. She gritted her teeth and went up in pain.

When Yu Zhi Le entered the building, she closed the outer iron door. The young man pulled it and it didn’t open, but he immediately took the key out of his pocket and opened the iron door. At this time, Yu Zhi Le was out of his sight. He could not restrain the bad premonition in his heart. He rushed up two steps at a time, but he could not see Yu Zhi Le at the stairs or the third floor corridor where Yu Zhi Le lived.

He felt his heart begin to ache. He reached for the doorbell, but he stopped when he was about to touch it.

He was so scared that he didn’t even have the courage to press the button at all.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yu Zi Huan firmly pressed the doorbell. Pressing once wasn’t enough that he pressed continuously. After he stopped pressing, the sound “ding dong ding dong” was still ringing for a long time.

There wasn’t any sound.

Other than Yu Zi Huan’s own heart beat, the whole corridor was very quiet, and there was no wind behind the door.

No one came to open the door, not even the sound of carefully pretending not to be at home, or leaning on the door eavesdropping.

Yu Zi Huan’s heart suddenly calmed down. He lowered his eyes and took out the key borrowed from He Liang. He opened the anti-theft door first and then the wooden door inside. He was calm during the whole process.

After entering the room, he glanced at all kinds of sundries one by one. Yu Zi Huan stood in the centre of the living room as he stared into space after checking all the rooms. The memories that he abandoned eight years ago surged and the overwhelming anger, incomprehension and sadness intensified in his chest. However, he had already lost the strength of releasing these emotions in these years’ of waiting and searching.

When the cell phone rang, he answered the phone robotically without checking who the caller was, “Hello”.

“How is it? Is she the one you’re looking for?” Nie Hong’s chirpy voice rang in Yu Zi Huan’s ears. Normally, he would take his mobile phone away from him but now he was indifferent.

“She…” Yu Zi Huan opened his mouth, but unexpectedly, he choked. He paused for a moment. His eyes were red as he tried to make himself smile. He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his words. “She’s gone again.”

[1] 小余(xiǎo yú)- Xiao Yu. Little/young+ Yu. It’s a pet name given by Wang Da Ye. Please do note that the second word Yu in ‘Xiao Yu’ is the same ‘Yu’ from the male lead’s name, Yu Zi Huan. They have the same pronunciation in Mandarin.