The old apartment in the old city was dilapidated and cramped. The walls were covered with posters of Hong Kong stars from the early 2000s, the ceiling had a thick layer of cobwebs, and the living room was filled with various items, leaving only a few square meters of space to move around. But this small corner was Zhu Yiyi’s only safe haven, a place where she could escape when she felt suffocated.

Now, she felt that it was even more stuffy and depressing than the outside world.

Zhu Yiyi moved her lips, her voice seemed to be squeezed out of her throat: “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.”

Ms. Zhu took a deep breath and analyzed the pros and cons with her fingers: “What kind of man is He Shen, he’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you said that yourself. It would be best if this child was He Shen’s. I don’t know why you broke up, but with a child, you have to compromise. Two people will always argue and fight when they live together, just talk it out. Then get a marriage license, you quit your job, stay at home and take care of the baby.”

Zhu Yiyi’s eyes were like a pool of stagnant water after listening. She slowly turned around, looked at her mother, her eyes like a confused student seeing a difficult problem, puzzled and lost: “What do you mean by having to compromise because of a child?”

Because of pregnancy, she had to enter a marriage that had already disappointed her; because of the child, she had to compromise and spend the rest of her life with another man.

Was that right?

Ms. Zhu couldn’t understand what Zhu Yiyi was thinking, her mind was completely focused on the flesh and blood in her belly, she found it difficult to say, “If the child isn’t He Shen’s…”

She gritted her teeth: “Then get rid of it.”

In short, her daughter couldn’t be gossiped about for being “pregnant before marriage.”

She couldn’t repeat the same mistake.

Ms. Zhu was stubborn, once she made a decision, it was impossible to change it.

Zhu Yiyi had two choices left.

Either get married for the child.

Or get rid of the child to get married later.

Marriage, marriage, marriage.

For the first time in her 25 years, Zhu Yiyi felt disgusted by these two words.

She threw out a cold “We’ll talk about it later” and walked into her room, slamming the door shut with a “bang.”

A night passed.

When she woke up, the sky was already bright.

The morning after the autumn rain, the temperature dropped sharply, and the smog in Beijing began to spread.

Zhu Yiyi was wearing a beige long dress with a light yellow knitted cardigan and a leather backpack, she looked like a college student.

Ms. Zhu was already having breakfast in the living room, she was still sulking because of last night’s incident, she was deliberately clanging her bowls and chopsticks loudly.

Zhu Yiyi drank half a bowl of porridge and was about to leave.

“You’re eating so little, are you feeding a cat?”

She ignored her, changed her shoes and walked out, as she closed the door, she vaguely heard Ms. Zhu sigh, “What if she gets hungry eating so little.”

Zhu Yiyi wouldn’t let herself starve, she went out of the community, there was a roasted sweet potato stall on the street, the entire street was filled with a rich aroma, making people drool.

She had lived in Xuanzhou, a small town in the south, before high school. Her grandparents were farmers, they would go to the fields to dig sweet potatoes every autumn and winter, the biggest ones were like small basketballs. At that time, people in the countryside cooked with stoves, her grandmother would steam a circle of sweet potato slices on top of the rice, and her grandfather would roast sweet potatoes in the fire of the stove, they were roasted until fragrant, the thin skin would peel off, revealing golden tender flesh.

Later, her grandparents passed away, and Zhu Yiyi also got into a university in Beijing, Ms. Zhu bought the land and foundation of their old house in the countryside, she used that money to buy a house in an old community in Beijing, and then the mother and daughter settled in Beijing.

Every winter, when she smelled roasted sweet potatoes on the street, Zhu Yiyi would think of her two grandparents.

Her appetite increased after she became pregnant, she bought two fragrant roasted sweet potatoes and ate them while walking.

The south of the city was an old community, mostly workers lived here, there were very few office workers. So there were very few people commuting to and from work every day, and the subway regulations were also relaxed. Zhu Yiyi carried the half-eaten sweet potato and got on the subway, she rode it all the way to the company, just in time to finish eating.

She smacked her lips, still wanting more, she decided to buy three tomorrow!

When she got off the subway, the smog was heavy, Zhu Yiyi put on her mask, she could walk to the company in a hundred meters.

A black car suddenly stopped on the side of the street.

An Aston Martin, worth five million yuan, was the kind of mature and stable model that He Shen always favored. And the license plate was one that Zhu Yiyi had seen before.

She furrowed her brows.

Unexpectedly, when the window rolled down, it was another face, slightly frivolous.

The man had a broken eyebrow, his eyes were long and narrow, compared to He Shen’s gentle and gentlemanly appearance, he was more arrogant and unrestrained, a typical Beijing socialite.

He was He Shen’s best friend, they were close.

The second son of the Nan family, Nan Er.

Because of the homophone, and he was the youngest, everyone in the circle called him Nan Er.

Seeing her, Nan Er seemed surprised: “Zhu Yiyi?”

Zhu Yiyi had met this Nan Er a few times when she was dating He Shen, they weren’t close.

She was introverted and shy, she couldn’t fit in with their circle. And these socialites from the upper class looked down on her, an ordinary girl, they often gossiped behind her back about whether she was dating He Shen for money or for promotion. Over time, they would only nod at each other when they met.

Just like before, she remained silent and nodded, she was about to leave.

“You broke up with He Shen?”

Zhu Yiyi stopped: “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“It’s not necessary to tell Nan Er about my business with He Shen.” She turned around and said calmly, “You’re his best friend, if you’re curious, you can ask him directly.”

The street was bustling with traffic, the noise never stopped.

The orange morning sunlight fell on the ground, the dust in the air floated up and down.

Zhu Yiyi’s eyes were looking at the distance, a little out of focus, her mouth opened and closed: “I hope you’ll say the same thing to your good brother.”

She turned on the screen, saw that she was already late, she didn’t delay any longer, she turned and left.

Nan Er lazily leaned against the window: “You’re not playing some kind of game of hard to get, are you?”

Zhu Yiyi stopped speechlessly.

Before she could speak, he laughed, half-jokingly: “Okay, if you really need anything in the future, come to me, don’t deliberately approach He Shen.”

Nan Er went into Timeshun Media, he was in a good mood, he arrived at the top floor lounge, stretched out his legs and swiped his phone.

He Shen was holding a freshly brewed coffee, he glanced at him: “Something you need?”

“Contract.”

The Nan family and Timeshun Group’s new season of cooperation, the contract needed to be signed regularly, Nan Er had nothing to do, so he brought the documents over.

He pointed to the table: “It’s over there.”

He Shen put down his coffee, picked up the documents, and sat on the sofa next to him to read.

Suddenly, he heard: “I ran into Zhu Yiyi downstairs at the company.”

His hand flipping through the documents stopped.

He Shen lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, then casually lowered them: “What did she say?”

Nan Er saw his indifferent reaction, which further confirmed his thoughts, He Shen probably didn’t care much about Zhu Yiyi. He poured himself a cup of coffee, took a sip, found it bitter, and put it down resentfully: “We just chatted for a bit.”

“I told her to stop bothering you.”

He looked like he was waiting for praise: “How is it, brother, I’m a good friend, right? Smart, right?”

He Shen stared at him coldly.

He was truly as stupid as a pig.

He slammed the coffee cup heavily on the table, a loud “bang”: “Young Master Nan, do you have anything else to do? If not, you can scram.”

Nan Er was stunned by his rude attitude: “We haven’t finished discussing the cooperation.”

“No time.”

“Hey—”

He Shen didn’t look at him, he directly dialed his assistant’s phone, “Show him out.”

Nan Er: “…”

After the “Morning Phoenix” project was launched, the entire advertising planning department was busy.

Zhu Yiyi worked until eleven o’clock, she stretched, and used a small bear massager to tap her neighbor Ling Mai, “Lunch buddy, let’s eat.”

“I’d forgotten, I’m so hungry, let’s go!”

Timeshun Media, as the leading media company in Beijing, not only had good salaries, but also various benefits. Especially the employee cafeteria, it was decorated like a music restaurant, with a coffee shop, reading room, and everything else, the daily menu was also rotated.

Zhu Yiyi and Ling Mai lined up at their usual window, when they received their meals, their eyes widened.

The ordinary meals suddenly became delicious and fragrant, they also came with refreshing fruit, and the most thoughtful part was that each person got a cup of warm milk for their stomach.

Ling Mai: “Is our company starting winter benefits early?”

Zhu Yiyi took a bite, her appetite was wide open.

Especially that cup of milk, it was a little sour, which suited her taste after pregnancy, she smiled contentedly, her eyes curved. “Maybe.”

Ling Mai took a sip of milk, she squinted her eyes from the sourness, and put it aside, “It’s so sour, I thought it was for pregnant women.”

Zhu Yiyi almost choked on her milk: “Pfft—”

“Yiyi, what’s wrong?”

She gulped down a few sips of water, “I’m fine.”

Ling Mai laughed: “Are you shocked by the company’s thoughtfulness!”

Zhu Yiyi laughed dryly.

Ling Mai glanced around, and said in a low voice: “Actually, I have a guess why the company suddenly arranged these benefits.”

“Why?”

“The art department recently had a new director, but he’s very capable, a returned PhD, and he was also the agent of a big brand’s Asian branch before. Think about it, why would such a hot commodity suddenly jump ship to our company?”

“High salary, right?”

“Wrong!” Ling Mai whispered mysteriously, “It’s because of our Mr. He.”

Zhu Yiyi’s chewing stopped.

“I’ve heard about it, the new director’s surname is Lu, her name is Lu Pei, she’s super beautiful, and her temperament is definitely a career woman.” Ling Mai said excitedly, “I took a peek when I went to the art department to deliver documents this morning, I just happened to see her talking to Mr. He, they really look good together!”

Zhu Yiyi took a few bites of rice, she picked up her plate and was about to leave.

“Yiyi, why aren’t you eating anymore?”

“I’m full.”

In the afternoon, the advertising planning department held a departmental meeting, mainly to discuss the division of labor for the “Morning Phoenix” project.

Amy was on a business trip in France these past two days, the meeting was chaired by the deputy supervisor, Xia Ningxi.

Xia Ningxi and Amy couldn’t stand each other, and they couldn’t stand Zhu Yiyi, who was chosen by Amy. She often picked on Zhu Yiyi, and this time, taking advantage of Amy’s absence, she directly assigned the most difficult part of the work to her.

“Zhu Yiyi, the department needs an interview with Ms. Yu Jia, you’ll do it, have the interview transcript ready and send it to my email by Saturday.”

Yu Jia was the female lead of the “Morning Phoenix” drama.

A top-tier actress, she had won all the major awards, her family background was strong, and she was known in the entertainment industry for being “difficult to work with.” Even in daily work, if she was unhappy, she would leave directly, she was a big-name diva who was always throwing her weight around, but what could you do, she had the capital to be a diva.

Zhu Yiyi had been in the company for over two years, she mostly organized documents and hadn’t gone out to the field yet.

Ling Mai had been in the company for a few years longer than Zhu Yiyi, she stood up to speak for her, “Ningxi, Yiyi isn’t suitable for this task, right?”

Xia Ningxi sneered: “It’s all work, where is there suitable or unsuitable? If you can do it, do it, if you can’t, get out. Amy recruited her, she’s responsible for her own people.”

The sarcastic tone made Ling Mai almost explode, Zhu Yiyi pulled her, signaling her not to be impulsive.

Zhu Yiyi took a deep breath: “Okay, I’ll send the interview transcript to your email by Saturday, Deputy Supervisor Xia.”

She emphasized the last four words.

In the current situation where the economy was declining and college graduates couldn’t find jobs, it was Amy who pulled her up, she was a benefactor.

She couldn’t lose face for Amy.

Xia Ningxi left the meeting room with a cold face.

“Yiyi, why did you accept it, Xia Ningxi is clearly trying to make things difficult for you.” Ling Mai was indignant on her behalf.

“I know, but what can I do?”

“That’s Yu Jia!!! Everyone in the circle knows she’s hard to deal with!!!”

Zhu Yiyi had a glimmer of hope: “How hard to deal with?”

Ling Mai put her forehead in her hand, worried for her: “You don’t think she’s just going to be uncooperative during the interview, do you?”

She shook a finger: “No, girl, you’re too naive, you won’t even get to see her.”

Zhu Yiyi was stunned.

So she was that difficult to deal with.

The task of interviewing Yu Jia was urgent, Zhu Yiyi planned to take action in the afternoon, Ling Mai accompanied her.

Yu Jia lived in a mansion, a wealthy villa, they had to take a taxi.

Unexpectedly, the weather in Beijing changed suddenly in the afternoon, the rain was pouring, the water was above the ankles, there were hardly any cars on the street.

Ling Mai was angry: “Xia Ningxi is too much, she didn’t assign us a company car, how are we going to get there in this weather, are we going to row a boat?”

Zhu Yiyi looked at the ride-hailing app anxiously.

Half an hour passed, no driver accepted the order.

A black car drove up in the hazy rain.

It stopped steadily in front of them.

Zhu Yiyi thought it looked familiar, she hadn’t seen the license plate yet, Ling Mai ran over first: “Xia Ningxi had a change of heart, she sent us a car?”

Zhu Yiyi stood there, watching Ling Mai knock on the car window, she shouted to the person inside to take them to Yu Mansion.

The all-black car body, even in the rain, couldn’t hide its luxurious shine.

The windshield wipers moved slowly and deliberately.

The car windows were being hit by raindrops, making a crackling sound.

Zhu Yiyi’s gaze slowly moved to the license plate.

This time, she finally saw it clearly:

A.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It was him.

The next second, the black car window slowly lowered, a man’s profile appeared in her line of sight.

His brow bones were cold, his jawline was sharp.

Through the gold-rimmed glasses, those deep eyes seemed to be able to see through the bottom of one’s heart.

He Shen looked at her: “Get in.”

Zhu Yiyi blinked, suddenly remembering the stormy night a year ago, when she made a desperate confession to He Shen, he responded to her in the same way:

“Zhu Yiyi, do you want to hear my answer,” the rain washed his voice over, “Then get in.”