Including what Luo Zan mentioned, about Yu Bosong locking Chen An in the equipment room.

Looking back, since the changes at home, her memory had deteriorated year by year, with her subconscious forgetting people and things related to the past. Chen An, as an existence even more inconspicuous than the dust in the corner, it was already quite a feat for Ying Ni to remember the matters of the adult ceremony.

But then again…

Ying Ni truly regretted that pair of shoes.

Limited edition AJ, a popular collaboration, bought at a price in the low four figures back then, and now it’s probably worth at least ten thousand.

Ying Ni thought to herself, opening her phone and searching on shopping websites with the remnants of her memory. As expected, many people were looking to buy these shoes.

The lowest asking price was thirty-five thousand. Ying Ni gasped as she held her phone.

“Hiss…”

Could she get them back?

The thought came quickly, but it wasn’t realistic at all.

After so many years, even if Chen An hadn’t worn them, he’d probably thrown them away long ago.

The weekend flew by.

On Thursday evening, Ying Ni drank a bottle of yogurt that was almost expired. In the middle of the night, she had severe vomiting and diarrhea, and it wasn’t until dawn that she managed to nap for a bit.

She had planned to take the whole day off, but Huaxing would deduct her wages if she took the day off, and since she hadn’t had full attendance that month, after hesitating for a while, she gritted her teeth and got out of bed.

Huaxing was strict with clocking in, and when she arrived half an hour late, all the workstations were filled. Looking around, everyone was focused on their work.

There was no difference from usual, but the atmosphere was clearly oppressive.

The entire department, a space of several dozen square meters, felt like it was covered by layers of dark clouds.

It was probably due to some new performance assessment task, or unpaid overtime.

Although Ying Ni also had a gloomy face, her heart had already become numb. After putting down her bag, she went to the tea room to get some hot water and take her medicine.

When she was walking back to her workstation holding the cup, Xiao Wen looked up at her several times, and a few colleagues across the room also glanced at her with their peripheral vision.

It gave her the illusion that they were paying attention to her.

Ying Ni continued walking without showing any emotion, wondering if she had put her clothes on backwards this morning since she was in such a rush.

When no one was looking, she quickly glanced down.

Her clothes were fine, looking nice and well-fitted, and the zipper wasn’t loose.

Ying Ni relaxed as she sat down. Just as she set her cup down, the sound of high heels clicking on the floor behind her came rapidly.

She turned around just in time to see a shadow flying toward her. The corner of a piece of paper scraped across her jaw, and her skin burned with pain.

Before she could even react, her supervisor, nostrils flaring, pointed at her and yelled, “Look at what you’ve done!”

Ying Ni froze for two seconds, bent down, and picked up the document that had fallen to the ground.

“What’s the use of just having a pretty face? You useless thing, you can’t even handle such a small matter!”

“If it weren’t for the other company being new, that two million would be gone!”

The supervisor got angrier, her voice growing sharper, like needles stabbing into Ying Ni’s eardrums.

“What a fool!”

“Don’t know your place, do you?!”

“Get it done or get out!!”

After a rant, the supervisor stormed off.

Ying Ni still lowered her head, looking at the document.

Xiao Wen came over to comfort her. “Are you okay?”

Ying Ni remained silent, her gaze fixed on a string of numbers.

“Before you came, the general manager went to Supervisor Sun’s office, and the scolding was so bad, everyone heard it. Supervisor Sun—”

Before Xiao Wen could finish, Ying Ni snapped the document shut with a “snap” and stood up.

The order was missing a zero, turning two million into two hundred thousand. If this order went through, the company would lose one hundred and eighty thousand.

It was normal to be scolded for a major mistake at work.

But the problem was—

This order wasn’t her responsibility.

Ying Ni scanned the room, her anger simmering down. “Where’s Qiao Juan?”

The room fell silent.

Some people watched her like they were watching a show, while others were indifferent, as if it had nothing to do with them.

Xiao Wen tugged at her sleeve. “I don’t know where she went. She was just here.”

Team leader Zhao came over. “What do you need her for? If you have something, talk to me.”

Ying Ni glanced at him, then headed towards the supervisor’s office. Zhao quickly walked ahead and blocked her path, his chin lifted slightly, lowering his voice as though trying to prevent stirring up any trouble: “Let’s go talk about it.”

Outside the workstation was a narrow, long corridor with poor lighting, and the entire hallway was shrouded in darkness.

Ying Ni stood in the shadow, while Zhao explained:

“Qiao Juan’s work is assumed to be handled by everyone.”

“Whoever finishes it is responsible for it.”

Ying Ni raised a sarcastic smile. “I didn’t help.”

Zhao sighed, feeling helpless about both Qiao Juan and Ying Ni. “She left it with you, so it’s your responsibility.”

Ying Ni sneered, feeling there was nothing more to say to him, and turned to walk away.

Zhao stopped her. “This is indeed Qiao Juan’s mistake, but going to the supervisor won’t help. Don’t even bother with the manager, they all know. Do you think they don’t know?”

Ying Ni paused but didn’t turn around.

Zhao paused, then said, “Trust me, just let it go. Anyway, nothing major happened, and work can still continue.”

Ying Ni stood stiffly, a sliver of dusty light filtering through the dark, faint and sharp.

In just a few words, she understood that when you’re the scapegoat, you can’t voice any complaints.

…

Ying Ni spent the whole day feeling down. After work, she pulled herself together and headed to the hospital.

When she arrived, the caregiver was turning Lin Rongyuan. Ying Ni quickly put down her things and helped out.

“Visiting your mom again?” the caregiver said. “You’re really diligent.”

“Today is Friday, got off early, and since there’s nothing else to do, I came over,” Ying Ni said, opening a bag and handing some cherries to the caregiver.

“They’re quite expensive,” the caregiver waved her hand. “My daughter loves these. I’ve seen them in the supermarket, and they cost a lot per pound. Let your mom have some.”

Ying Ni pressed the cherries into her hand. “She’s fine. They’re fresh. Try some.”

After the caregiver left, Ying Ni washed the remaining cherries, took out a juicer, pitted them, and blended them into juice. She then filled a syringe and slowly pushed it into the nasal feeding tube.

There was a bit of leftover pulp.

Ying Ni gently dabbed it with a cotton swab on Lin Rongyuan’s tongue.

“Sweet, right?” she asked.

Lin Rongyuan blinked, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.

“What fruit would you like tomorrow? Lychees or watermelon? How about lychees? Watermelon is too cheap. Let’s have something expensive, imported ones. My salary’s good now, I can buy anything I want.”

“Meimei” was Ying Ni’s nickname. When she was born, her face was wrinkled and dark. Lin Rongyuan called her “little coal ball” all the time, and later, the nickname just stuck. Even after Ying Ni grew fair and went to high school, Lin Rongyuan and Ying Junyu still called her that.

After Ying Ni finished speaking, Lin Rongyuan’s eyes lifted at the corners, and her lips curved up slightly.

She was obviously smiling.

Ying Ni leaned down and pressed her face to her mother’s chest.

Before coming to the hospital, she had thought about quitting and even about ending it all. But at this moment, seeing her mother’s smile, she felt:

As long as her mother was still around, she could endure anything.

After the hospital lights went out, Ying Ni finally left. The moon was covered by thick clouds, and the sky was pitch black. She opened her phone, and the weather forecast showed thunderstorms tomorrow.

The hospital was in the west, and she lived in the east, across the entire city. By this time, the subway had stopped running, and the evening bus stop was at the end of Fangcao Street’s junction. It would take around 20 minutes on foot.

The narrow two-way street, with walls on both sides and barren land behind them, was said to be developed for commercial housing.

Perhaps because it was far from the commercial area, there were very few pedestrians, and the streetlights flickered, covered in cobwebs. It looked desolate.

Ying Ni held her bag, her head lowered, kicking pebbles along the road.

Suddenly, a distant high beam light shone from behind.

Ying Ni moved to the side of the road.

The light grew brighter.

She moved onto the sidewalk.

The light still followed her, clearly illuminating the road ahead.

What a weirdo.

Hadn’t she already moved aside?

Ying Ni stood still and turned around.

The car stopped right under a streetlight, and the interior was darker than outside.

The man had one hand on the steering wheel, the window rolled down two-thirds, revealing his sharp jawline.

The scene felt familiar.

But this time, it was a different car.

A Volkswagen Tiguan.

An unassuming but expensive low-key luxury car.

This time, Chen An wasn’t in a suit; he wore a white T-shirt and sports pants, looking casual.

He looked straight at her. “Just passing by.”

His gaze seemed to suggest he saw something in her eyes.

Maybe he knew she thought this encounter was too coincidental, suspecting he had ulterior motives.

So before she could speak, he preemptively explained.

Ying Ni said nothing, pretending not to care, and looked away, continuing to walk.

The situation unfolded the same way as before.

But this time, her steps were neither fast nor slow, and there was less awkwardness. After all, her mood was much worse than the last time, so she couldn’t think about anything else.

The entire street had no other cars or pedestrians, and it was eerily quiet.

The Tiguan moved slower than a turtle, the window staying parallel with Ying Ni.

Ying Ni walked ahead, ignoring it.

When they reached the transformer box, the low male voice came.

“Get in the car.”

Ying Ni glanced over, sneering. “Why don’t you go drive for DiDi?”

Chen An’s expression didn’t change. He wasn’t angry at her harsh words, instead, he smiled faintly. “My driving skills are a little lacking.”

Chen Jingjing was working the late shift. It was raining and cooling down, so he came to deliver clothes. On the way back, he unexpectedly ran into a familiar face.

Although the other person didn’t appreciate it, it was nearing midnight, and the streets were empty with fewer cameras.

It wasn’t safe for a pretty woman to be out at night.

Ying Ni made a “tsk” sound and kept walking, the car following her at a steady pace.

It was like—

As long as she didn’t get in the car, he would follow her to the ends of the earth.

Ying Ni was a little annoyed and took out her phone.

The Tiguan stopped right in front of her.

Chen An turned to look at her. “It’s a little remote here, not easy to get a cab.”

“…”

Here we go again, as if having a pair of X-ray vision made him special.

Ying Ni ignored him, gripping her phone tightly, checking all the options except the luxury models, selecting everything from top to bottom.

She silently prayed, “Please accept the ride, please accept the ride.”

The radar scanned again and again, showing that a driver would accept in five minutes, but after fifteen minutes, no one responded.

Ying Ni closed her eyes and finally opened the car door.

“Jindong District, Chang Le Street.”

After she finished speaking, the car remained silent for a long time. Chen An kept his eyes on the road while Ying Ni played with her phone. After more than ten minutes, Chen An suddenly spoke. “There’s water in the armrest…”

Ying Ni was already asleep.

Her head tilted, chin nestled in the collarbone, her chest rising and falling evenly with each breath. The streetlights outside blurred like flowing water across her face, as if time stood still.

But the furrow in her brow and the dark circles under her eyes made her look exhausted and weary.

The Tiguan slowed down, cruising steadily along the road. Fifty minutes later, the car arrived at the intersection of Chang Le Street as indicated by the navigation.

Ying Ni had only mentioned Chang Le Street without specifying the exact location. The map showed seven or eight neighborhoods nearby. Chen An lightly tapped the brake, looking around.

The car continued slowly forward. Just then, something moved nearby, and Chen An glanced sideways.

The next second,

Ying Ni leaned on his shoulder.