In the early morning, the young girl stood before a mirror riddled with cracks, examining her lovely face.
Her skin looked so supple that a single poke might draw water.
She smiled with satisfaction, turning to the side and straightening her slender waist.
The fruits on her chest were so pert they couldn’t be ignored.
‘Mom is amazing. Drinking milk really makes them grow this big. That’s how she conquered Dad… and I’ll do the same…’
After admiring herself for a few minutes, she dressed and prepared to head out.
Her phone screen slowly displayed a recommended route:
“To the Old Town Labor Market…”
She glanced at the man still sleeping soundly on the floor mat, then quietly stepped out of the house.
Just as she stepped outside, a *crunch* came from beneath her foot.
She impatiently moved her leg and picked up the newspaper on the ground, wondering who could be so inconsiderate.
Suddenly, she saw conspicuous red circles on the paper, ringing specific words in the headline:
“Myself”
In the main text below, two more words were circled:
“Recently”
Sensing something fishy, she flipped through the pages one by one.
Sure enough, more words were circled in succession: “at,” “practice room,” “closed construction,” “missing someone too much,” “recommend checking,” “tail,” and “column.”
She kept flipping until she reached the recruitment column at the very end.
Upon seeing one of the items circled in red, she suddenly understood.
She cautiously pushed the door shut and rolled the newspaper into a bundle.
She kicked a small pebble in front of her, clutching her chest as she tried to calm her racing heart.
It took a few minutes before she finally composed herself.
On her way to the trash can, she suddenly stopped.
She held the newspaper up in the air, staring at it blankly.
‘She won’t come anyway… Someone who uses this method must be an arrogant woman. Right, she won’t come! Why would a proud person come to such a dump? She’d only go as far as sending a newspaper…’
She muttered softly to herself as she crouched in the hidden bushes behind the apartment building, tearing the newspaper into pieces and tossing them into the trash.
She kept only the last page, stuffing it into her pocket.
Returning to the front of the apartment building, she made sure no one was around before walking out of the complex as if nothing had happened.
The sky gradually brightened.
As the sunlight spilled down, the surrounding air filled with the noisy, piercing chirps of birds.
They had seen everything, but they could only lament their inability to speak human words.
***
“For celebrating Brother Mingshan’s successful interview, cheers — “
“Cheers!”
The following night, the already small apartment room felt even more cramped with three people squeezed inside.
Any movement of an arm threatened to scrape a layer of dust off the walls.
I picked up my beer can, meeting the gaze of the two excited people before me.
Aside from Su Xixia, the other person was a tall man named Xiao Ji, a friend of mine.
When he heard the news of my successful interview, he insisted on coming over for a celebration.
In reality, he just wanted someone to drink with.
After all, his family hated alcohol and cigarettes, and they were all very strict.
Taking a sip of the slightly bitter beer, he crushed the empty can in his hand and tossed it aside.
“How refreshing! My brother finally found a job after nearly one year. Nothing is better than this! This feels great!”
“Xiao Ji, don’t drink too much. Besides, it was just a successful interview. Nothing is set in stone yet,” I advised him.
Today’s interview had been simple.
The HR representative only asked some basic questions about my life.
Afterward, the promotional department manager asked a few professional questions before pivoting to obvious ones, like when I would be available to start and if I could handle potential overtime in the near future.
Though it was hard to believe, I had been invited to interview at that company from the newspaper this morning, and it had gone incredibly smoothly.
I even had a premonition that I would receive an offer tomorrow.
“What’s the problem? Why are you so hung up on it!”
Xiao Ji exhaled a cloud of alcoholic breath and gave me a punch to the chest.
“Ah, and this beauty too! You’re practically a lucky star. No, you’re even more dazzling than the stars!”
He turned to strike up a conversation with Su Xixia.
She gave a brilliant smile and waved her small hand.
“Thanks! I didn’t really do anything.”
“I heard you were the one who saw it in the newspaper? And you say you did nothing? You’re too modest! Brother Mingshan, she’s a keeper. A woman who loves reading newspapers and following current events is definitely family-oriented!”
“What are you talking about!”
I gave Xiao Ji a shove, reminding him not to say the wrong thing.
I had expressed some doubts this afternoon, so he was likely switching the topic on purpose.
“Well, I do read it. I’ve discovered recently that newspapers are easier to get into than phones! Maybe it’s because I stayed in the countryside for too long.”
Su Xixia’s face flushed as she nodded, her index finger sliding over the cold beer can.
“Speaking of which, is there anything noteworthy lately? We’re drinking anyway, so let’s talk about current events!”
Xiao Ji took the initiative to clink cans with Su Xixia, and they both took another gulp.
“Let me think… that, uh… the practice room… a big star rented a practice room around here! And… the South Ring Road main road is closed for construction! Also, a long-distance couple really misses each other, and they sent… sent what was it? Long-distance is really hard…”
Su Xixia paused after every few words.
When she started to stumble, she would take a heavy gulp of beer, as if the news was being sipped directly from the alcohol.
“Yeah…”
Seeing her eyes grow misty from the drink, I chimed in.
She was a woman; if she kept drinking like this, she would probably throw up on the spot.
I would be the one cleaning it up, and if she got sick, it would be even more troublesome.
“Whoa! You know so much. I’ll leave Brother Mingshan in your hands from now on!”
Xiao Ji’s ears were bright red, and it looked as if white smoke was rising from the back of his head.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
I signaled him with my eyes to stop.
When I came back this afternoon, I had bought this issue of the newspaper to browse through.
From the look of it, she had at least read it; the content she mentioned generally matched up.
Even if there were still suspicious points, there was no need to keep testing her.
“Okay, leave it to me! Mingshan has already been taken down by me… *hic*! That night… *hic*! He…”
“Ah! It’s already 9:00 PM! Xiao Ji, I’ll walk you out of the complex!”
Su Xixia was clearly drunk out of her mind, letting out burps while saying things that shouldn’t be said.
My brain flared with heat as I grabbed Xiao Ji and pulled him toward the door, turning back to slam it shut.
Sicheng didn’t really have a spring or autumn.
The outdoors, which should have been autumnal, felt exceptionally cold.
The half-broken streetlights at the complex entrance flickered, and the vehicles on the road sped past, kicking up a chilly breeze.
“Brother, you can relax now! you’re always overthinking things. When a beauty delivers herself to your door, just eat her up and be done with it!”
The wind couldn’t blow away the heat on Xiao Ji’s face.
He laughed flippantly and patted my back.
“If I recorded those words and played them for your senior, what do you think would happen?”
I asked, feeling a bit annoyed.
“That’s different! I haven’t confessed to her yet… but you already have a girlfriend! And that girlfriend hasn’t come back for a long time. Leaving you all alone is lonely and depressing; she isn’t there when you need her most!”
An Zhi was in the rising stage of her career.
She was so busy I didn’t even know where she was.
For roughly the past half a year, the only thing of hers I had seen was her money.
She had said she would participate in the company’s closed training while live-streaming to earn money.
She said those days were exhausting but interesting.
How could I be selfish enough to force her to come back to me?
I never told her about my difficulties.
Perhaps in my heart, I already felt I wasn’t good enough for her.
I had remained in the same place for a long time, while a deepening chasm opened between me and her as she continued to move forward.
When and where would I ever see her again?
“Yeah…”
I lowered my head, my heart full of guilt.
“I told you long ago: less overthinking, more enjoying! She hasn’t come for so long; a normal person would have assumed it’s a breakup by now. If you keep holding it in, you’ll go crazy. Isn’t it perfect that a beauty showed up?”
“You’re the one who’s crazy! Alright, get going.”
I gave him a hard shove, and only then did he disappear into the shadows of the distant factory buildings with a grin.
The suburban roads at night were desolate and lonely.
Vehicles raced past, kicking up a trail of fallen leaves.
A gust of wind happened to blow by, carrying them toward a brand-new place.
‘An Zhi maybe won’t come find me anymore. Should I let go completely and let this cold body get warm again…?’
“Mingshan~ I’m so hot — “
A woman’s voice suddenly rang in my ear.
A soft sensation instantly enveloped my back.
My heart jolted, and my legs went weak, nearly causing me to lose my footing.
It was Su Xixia!
When did she come out?
And how much had she heard?
I turned my head.
She had undone the top two buttons of her shirt.
A large patch of white-flushed skin was being pressed inward by her straps and my back.
A heavy scent of alcohol mixed with a strangely enticing body fragrance flooded my nostrils.
“You’re drunk…”
I said.
“But you aren’t! Not being drunk means we can do it, right?”
Her forehead rested against the back of my head.
Her hot breath blew into my collar, igniting my nearly frozen body and soul.
‘Give up… I already guessed that when An Zhi stopped helping with the rent, she was disappointed and had unilaterally declared a breakup…’
If anyone could soothe my wounded soul, it was Su Xixia.
She was right here by my side, craving my body and mind —
I wrapped my arms around her shoulders.
With a soft groan from her, her supple body collapsed into my embrace.
We held each other in the cold wind as we returned to the room.
If this moment could become eternity, it wouldn’t be so bad.