Early in the morning, the sound of cicadas outside was incessant. A bit of wind blew in through the window crack, but it carried hardly any coolness.
Li Younan had worked overtime until late last night. Even though he got up a bit late today, he still didn't catch up on much sleep, and his whole body felt groggy. He got out of bed in just a pair of shorts, bare-chested, planning to freshen up first.
Just then, the door to the living room suddenly opened, and it was his girlfriend, Yang Ting, who had returned. Li Younan's heart sank slightly.
The next moment, Yang Ting's voice exploded in the living room: "Li Younan, why are you just getting up? Didn't I tell you? Have lunch ready before I get home, and also get the package I asked you to pick up. You really don't care about these things at all. Can't you be a bit more ambitious?"
Li Younan felt his head buzz as if it was throbbing. He escaped into the bathroom, squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush, and shoved it into his mouth as Yang Ting continued to complain incessantly from outside. He buried his head under the tap, and the sound of running water created the illusion of two separate worlds.
Yang Ting continued to make a fuss in the living room for quite a while. Her final words were shouted at the bedroom door: "Li Younan, I hope to see you all cleaned up and ready to go out when I get back!" Then came the sound of the living room door closing, filled with resentment.
The world was finally quiet.
Li Younan looked up at himself in the mirror.
He was already 25 years old. In the mirror, he had long hair like Jin Chengwu's, some stubble on his chin, and his eyes looked a bit melancholic. He gave a self-mocking smile.
Why so melancholic? He thought, he used to be someone who loved freedom and sunshine.
He now lived with Yang Ting, in a house that Yang Ting's parents had bought for her.
By comparison, Yang Ting's family conditions were more favorable, and his salary was used for daily expenses.
In fact, he could understand Yang Ting's irritability.
He had met Yang Ting's mother, a very domineering woman.
That day, he helped Yang Ting's family move some things, and her mother incessantly belittled her daughter. The most memorable moment was when, while eating, Yang Ting made a slight noise with her mouth. Despite being an adult, she was tapped on the head with chopsticks by her mother and scolded for about ten minutes.
Yang Ting, who was usually so assertive in front of him, had tears in her eyes under her mother's rebuke.
Growing up in such an environment, Yang Ting had taken on that shadow — she would often escalate minor issues into criticisms of him as a person. Like today's late rising, in Yang Ting's words, it was called a bad habit and a lack of ambition... even though he usually got up an hour earlier than Yang Ting every day.
Just at that moment, the manager called: "Xiaoli, have you thought about the thing I talked to you about the other day? It's really a small matter. As an adult, don't take pride so seriously. Just apologize, and the year-end bonus won't be deducted."
Li Younan fell silent. He knew the manager was talking about apologizing to the new supervisor lady.
She was the daughter of a major shareholder in the company and was merely there to gain experience. Because he was unhappy with her meddling in technical matters, Li Younan had spoken back a bit, and the lady had blown it out of proportion. The manager had undoubtedly taken her side and had been persistently trying to persuade him to apologize.
After hanging up the phone, Li Younan gave a self-mocking smile.
Once upon a time, he was a prominent figure in college. He stood tall, played basketball, was handsome and dashing, could play a bit of guitar, and was the heartthrob of many girls.
But after graduation, none of that held any meaning.
He recalled a few years back in college, his greatest desire after graduation was to buy a car, get a dog, and then travel around the world.
Getting up, Li Younan thoroughly tidied up the living room and kitchen. He had always been a man who liked things neat and organizing objects to be conveniently accessible made him comfortable. After finishing, he imagined that maybe when Yang Ting came home and saw the neat room, her mood would improve.
Just then, Yang Ting called, first asking if he was ready and could go out. They had planned to go camping today, so she said, "Don't keep my friends waiting. And also, bring my blue sun hat when you come down."
After hanging up, Li Younan went to the wardrobe to look for the blue sun hat Yang Ting mentioned. Unfortunately, he searched every corner of the room but still couldn't find it.
Then, Yang Ting called again, demanding, "Why aren't you downstairs yet? I've been waiting for you down here for a few minutes."
Li Younan had no choice but to pick two other sun hats in different colors and hurried downstairs.
As soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs, Yang Ting sighed and said, "Why aren't you mindful of time?"
Yang Ting was really beautiful, with a graceful figure and delicate features.
Li Younan opened his mouth, wanting to say something but held back.
Yang Ting reached out her hand again and said, "Hat."
Li Younan took the two hats out of his backpack. As soon as she saw the hats, Yang Ting's face changed. "Didn't I tell you to bring the blue one? Do you think these hats match my outfit?"
Li Younan paused briefly and said, "I searched the whole room and couldn't find it."
Yang Ting showed a look of extreme disdain on her face and said, "You can't even find a simple item; what good are you?"
There was no expression on Li Younan's face. He took a deep breath and, with a gentle tone, said, "If worse comes to worst, we can just buy a blue hat."
Yang Ting replied, "Buy, buy, buy. All you think of is buying. Don't you need to consider time and money? Are you that wealthy?"
Li Younan lowered his head, stuffed the two hats back into his backpack, paused, and then said, "I don't think it's that big of a deal."
Yang Ting sneered, "Are you implying I'm being unreasonable?"
Li Younan remained silent. He thought arguing on the street wasn't a decent thing to do, so he simply said, "Aren't your friends still waiting for us? Let's go."
Only then did Yang Ting stop her berating.
...
It wasn't until the evening that they both returned to the residential area downstairs.
Yang Ting's face clearly showed displeasure as she said with some disdain, "Look at Xiaoya's boyfriend, how well he takes pictures of her. You're never serious about anything, not even work."
Li Younan's head buzzed.
Just then, the manager called again, speaking in a somewhat heavy tone, "Are you free now? I have something to tell you."
Li Younan felt a slight sinking in his heart and said, "I can talk, I'll call you back in a couple of minutes."
Putting the phone down, Li Younan calmly looked at Yang Ting, interrupting her rant, "You go ahead upstairs, I have a call to make."
Yang Ting was immediately a bit dissatisfied and said, "Are you even listening to me?"
However, this time her response was met with a somewhat cold look from Li Younan.
He didn't speak, just looked at Yang Ting calmly.
Yang Ting wanted to say something more but instinctively felt intimidated, only harshly throwing out, "Go ahead with your stupid call; I'm never going camping with you again, it's a downer."
With that said, Yang Ting went upstairs alone.
Li Younan walked over to the bench outside the residential area and returned the manager's call.
The manager sighed, "Things are a bit sudden. To be honest, I also think they're handling it poorly. I tried to fight for you, but there's nothing I can do—after all, the person you offended is the daughter of a major shareholder. The company decided to let you go, offering compensation of n+2, and they're willing to release the commission from your previous projects early. This is the best I could negotiate for you."
Yet, Li Younan felt not the slightest sadness; he felt an unexplainable lightness. He smiled and said, "Alright, I accept."
The manager added, "Don't be upset, you're a talented person, you can shine anywhere."
Li Younan chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "I'll come tomorrow to handle the procedures."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Li Younan held the phone in his hand, deciding to take a walk around the nearby park.
At that moment, he felt an inexplicable calmness within.
Soon he found himself sitting on a park bench, the dim yellow light shone down, and mosquitoes buzzed around in the shadows.
Li Younan just wanted to sit quietly by himself for a while. He thought, perhaps it's time for a change.
Just then, Yang Ting called again. He picked up, unsurprised by her complaining tone, "Is your call going to take this long? Why aren't you coming up?"
As she spoke, she began ranting about the room cleaning, saying how Li Younan misplaced items, making it hard for her to find the hairdryer.
Li Younan thought, all he did was move the hairdryer from the kitchen back to the bathroom.
As for why the hairdryer was in the kitchen, Li Younan didn't want to think about it.
Yang Ting's voice continued to ramble on in the phone, but Li Younan's thoughts drifted back to a few years ago, when he first met Yang Ting, sitting quietly under a tree reading a book, that girl looked up…
A truly beautiful girl.
But in Li Younan's heart, there was no longer any ripple.
He suddenly interrupted Yang Ting's words, "Yang Ting, let's break up."
Silence.
The other side was obviously stunned, "What did you say?"
Li Younan calmly repeated, "Let's break up."
Yang Ting was instantly furious, "Fine, then don't come back tonight! I'll pack up your things tomorrow!"
With that, she angrily hung up the phone.
Li Younan gently placed the phone beside him.
Just then, a virtual panel suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Host has activated the Sign-In System, complete sign-ins at designated places to receive random rewards.]
Then, a navigation map appeared on the panel, flashing with many light points, marked as check-in locations.
The next moment, he was stunned because the nearest check-in point coincided with his own coordinates.
Then the system prompted: [Congratulations to the host for arriving at a check-in point, stay continuously at this location for 6 hours to complete the sign-in.]