I thought Xu Junyan wanted to confess his feelings to me. My heart was pounding nervously. During the last math lesson, I hardly took in anything, my mind was filled with what I'd say to Xu Junyan later.

In the end, it was an unfortunate conclusion. Alone, with the rustling wind blowing, I stood on the rooftop and shivered from the cold, waiting. Stars appeared, then the moon, but Xu Junyan never showed up.

The next day, Xu Junyan did not come to school, and I sneezed staring at his empty seat.

From that day on, Xu Junyan disappeared completely. As silently as he had arrived, he had left.

Much later on, there was an accident at the mechanics factory. Hundreds of tons of overhead cranes collapsed, killing many people, including my parents.

After over a decade, he reappeared in front of me. The first meeting after such a long separation, was unexpectedly a meet-up for a casual date, which made me feel uncomfortable.

"Damn it, no more dates! Never again!" Sitting in He Zhenzhen's Volkswagen Beetle, the more I thought about it, the more agitated I became.

"Honestly, wasn't the experience thrilling?" He Zhenzhen asked, making faces at me as she drove.

"What thrill?" I was baffled.

"Isn't hooking up with your elementary school classmate thrilling?" He Zhenzhen smirked, her expression lewd.

"I ran off when my pants were halfway down. How is that thrilling?" I gave her a heated glare.

"Why did you run away? You could've beaten him up, remember when you saved him like a hero?!" He Zhenzhen 'tutted', dismissing my arguments.

I tapped her head lightly, sighing, "He was a weak boy then, but now he's a muscle man. I can't even defeat his little finger!"

"Why not rekindle old flames with him? I heard his family is well-off, they're not short of money. Take the opportunity to piss off Chen Jianren! That jerk was so arrogant the last time he saw me, I slapped two boxes of stinky tofu on his car windshield!" He Zhenzhen turned around excitedly, almost taking her hands off the steering wheel.

"Keep your hands on the wheel!" I screamed as the car veered off.

Back in the days, my relationship with Xu Junyan, born out of youthful rashness, felt as though a thousand rivers and mountains stood between us. In other words, we were of different worlds. Seeing his villa earlier, I realized that even with a lifetime of struggle, my current income would never suffice for such.

Seeing the look on my face, He Zhenzhen assumed I was upset, so she suggested finding another place for drinks. I declined, joking that my reputation in Xinshi would be ruined if we ran into another high school classmate.

He Zhenzhen chuckled and then drove me to my residential complex.

After returning home, I went to bed early. I had a job interview the next day. I had been sending resumes for months before I finally landed an interview. I knew I dared not take it lightly.

The call came from a foreign trade company named Zhengqing. Their office was located in a downtown office building and they had a factory in the suburbs—on the surface, it looked like a robust company.

I strictly adhered to the business etiquette for the interview. I changed into a black professional suit, applied light makeup, and listening to the sound of my high heels on the carpet gave me an inexplicable sense of security.

A woman should return to the workplace to realize herself. Without a man, I surely won't die, but without a job, I can't survive!

I clenched my fists, pep-talking myself as I rang the doorbell of Zhengqing Company.