Apartment in the Enchanting Bay. Specks of light pierced through the curtains, and Tang Yulan propped up his dizzy head, shaking out the messy and wine-stained sheets. The light was still on; three years of prison life had made it difficult for him to sleep in the dark. He rubbed his face, chuckled bitterly, and then glanced at the alarm clock showing half-past eight, only then remembering that he had an interview this morning. He hurriedly got up to wash his face. It had been a long time since he last drank, and a few glasses last night had made him oversleep. He dressed haphazardly, his clothes permeated with the smells of cigarettes, alcohol, and perfume. Tang Yulan frowned; he had just arrived in Lingjiang and hadn't had time to buy new clothes. The scheduled interview time had already passed, so Tang Yulan simply found a noodle shop outside the apartment and ate two bowls of beef noodles. Then he took a taxi and headed to the agreed location. Could the job arranged by his former superior through connections be bad? It was nothing more than going through the motions. Tang Yulan leaned lazily against the back seat of the taxi, squinting his eyes, occasionally scratching his messy hair, and chatting with the driver in a desultory manner. ... Qi Caiyang felt very annoyed; he wasn't the head of the personnel department, yet the chairman had specifically arranged for him to receive the applicants.

He begged her with tears and snot, insisting that this was a talent hard to come by. Pulling strings, the interview was nothing more than going through the motions and formalities, which she could have accepted. But this had already violated her principles, and she had suppressed her dissatisfaction. However, as she watched the elegant and delicate lady's watch hands reach eight forty, her fondness for the unseen applicant had plummeted to negative numbers. She felt increasingly annoyed and picked up the phone to dial a number, pouring out her complaints incessantly. The woman on the other end giggled, 'Cai Yang, oh Cai Yang, you consider yourself a heroine among women. Chairman Peng only asked you to receive his interview, not to arrange any job. If you think he's truly talented, then fine. If not, why not let him be a cleaner or a security guard?' Qi Caiyang nodded in agreement and asked, 'Qin Rong, have you found that handsome guy you've had a crush on for so many years? I really want to see what kind of person could turn you upside down.' She thought the woman on the other end would joke and say something racy, but after a moment of silence, she actually started crying. This was not the image of the decisive and ruthless strong woman she had in mind. Her voice quivered as she said, 'I saw him yesterday, but, alas...' Qi Caiyang comforted her for a while until she calmed down, and then she said softly, 'I don't know if he still remembers me. He's always been so proud, so outstanding. So much has happened over the years, and I'm not as innocent as I used to be. I wonder if he would look down on me. If I have the chance, I would be content to quietly follow him from afar.'

"Hua Qinrou, this is just the beauty that comes from distance. The sense of beauty arises from things we don't understand. When internet communication was not developed, Chinese people thought that America was full of banknotes and everyone was of high quality. But in fact, there was racial discrimination, sexual perversion, drug abuse, and swindlers everywhere. You think he's very good, but it's just because you haven't had contact with him." "It's not like that." Qi Caiyang continued: "For the beautiful impression in your heart, you keep processing it, thinking of all the good qualities of the male protagonists in TV dramas, handsome, brave, family-oriented, gentle, romantic, and stuff them all in, so you feel he is so perfect." "Oh, you've learned psychology too. You're twenty-four and haven't even been in a relationship, what qualifications do you have to talk about me?" The woman on the other end of the phone said sarcastically. "Hmph, yours is just unrequited love. If he were so excellent, he would have been snatched away by other women long ago and wouldn't have noticed you. Poor thing!" "You're even more pitiable. Such an excellent beauty doesn't even have a crush object." The woman on the other end persisted in taunting: "At least I have a spiritual sustenance." "What happiness, I bet you haven't even held hands!" Qi Caiyang was caught by her weakness of not having a relationship and sarcastically said with unconvinced heart. "Cut it out, he has hugged me..." "What?" "And I almost got him... Forget it, I won't tease you with it. I really miss his taste." The woman's voice on the other end became more and more charming, breathing enticingly: "I can't stand it anymore, I need to soothe my body."

“Come find me after work, I'll satisfy you properly, let you know what it's like to be between heaven and hell,” he said. Qi Caiyang's face flushed, and she spat out, “Mr. Hua, have you no shame? You're a person of status, how can you be so vulgar. Didn't you cry your heart out just now!” After saying that, she hung up the phone with a “snap!” Damn it, he wouldn't stand her up, would he? It's been so long and he still hasn't arrived. Qi Caiyang half-closed her eyes, resting and waiting, each minute and second dragging on endlessly. It wasn't until the hands pointed to 9:01 that a man wearing a wrinkled, worn-out shirt lazily pushed open the office door and walked in casually.