Half-asleep and drunk—the perfect moment for memories to erupt, bringing forth things long forgotten.
In her girlhood, Hu Xiu’s room could hardly be called a bedroom. Its double doors led on one side to her mother’s room and on the other to the main hall; a left turn would take her straight out of the house.
When she was eighteen, her long-absent father walked through the door just as her mother’s lover slipped like a gust of wind from her room, brushing past his back.
After that, her father never returned home—until the night of her engagement, when she moved her belongings into the new marital home. He showed up with a group, broke down the door, threw all of her mother’s possessions downstairs, and changed the locks, completing a revenge seven years in the making.
When she and her fiancé rushed back, she smelled the air after the rain and caught the disdainful snort from the man beside her.
Standing before the soiled belongings, her boyfriend remained expressionless, his words cutting and decisive:
"Since things have come to this, let’s find a place to stay. Our new home isn’t suitable. I’ll get your mother a hotel room first."
Not long after, Hu Xiu was indeed left at the altar, right at the tail end of her twenty-sixth year.
Afterward, she often consoled herself: if you can’t hold onto the sand, you might as well let it scatter. But she still occasionally dreamed of standing in an empty field on a rainy day, facing what she once treasured—the happiness she had yearned for all her life. She couldn’t tell whether it had been destroyed by her father or buried by her fiancé.
Hu Xiu slid lower in her seatbelt; sitting upright made her nauseous. When she woke, she was still jostling in the car—
April 20, 2018, midnight. She had just turned twenty-seven, celebrating by drinking with former colleagues until she was thoroughly drunk, then hailing a cab home.
Out in the outskirts of Shanghai’s outskirts, there were no streetlights at night. Xu Jingdong got into the taxi, racing with cargo trucks on the highway for half an hour before winding through countryside lanes that felt like fields. They ducked under a bridge and emerged into darkness, the narrow headlights pushing forward to illuminate farmland on either side. The road ahead was dilapidated and deserted. Occasionally, an oncoming car would slow them both down, half a wheel on the dirt path as they squeezed past each other.
Beyond the outer ring, there was no trace of Western flair or cyberpunk aesthetics, nor the dense, towering buildings that blocked the view like a military formation. Out here in the countryside, people set off firecrackers, caught fry in nets, and electric bikes darted out faster than cars. In her daze, Hu Xiu felt as if she were somewhere in Jiangsu or Zhejiang, having downed a bottle of dry white wine mixed with Jägermeister. She felt like she was on an extended roller coaster, waves of nausea churning in her stomach, refusing to let her find solid ground.
She forced herself to stay composed, arms crossed, staring ahead, rolling down the window to clear her head—lest the driver take a detour into some woods with ill intentions. Soon, the 4D roller coaster sensation grew even more vivid.
Entering the residential complex, she relaxed, even feeling a hint of pride. A single woman living in a high-rise in the outskirts wasn’t so bad after all. As long as she kept her wits about her, sat steady, and occasionally let out a low cough, the driver would surely think she wasn’t to be trifled with.
"Where to stop? Oh dear, this shabby complex doesn’t even have lights. How awful."
"Master, go into the underground garage. Follow my directions: left, right, straight, stop! Then left again. See Building 18? You can stop here..."
After saying this, Hu Xiu felt even more pleased with herself. A wind-swept mind, she thought, was far clearer than a waterlogged one—she could still recite her address. Her alcohol tolerance had grown with age; she was a mature, independent woman now. Though, why had the security guard manually lifted the garage barrier earlier?The car stopped. The driver suddenly spoke in the pitch-black underground garage: "Young lady, living out here in the middle of nowhere—don't come back so late in the future. It's really dangerous."
"Well, the apartment's big and the rent is cheap."
"It's too remote! Not a single light around. I wouldn't live here even if it were free."
Shutting the driver's words inside the car door, Hu Xiu pulled out her phone for light, still disoriented.
So dark? The elevator indicator lights were off. After pressing the button dozens of times with no response, she realized there had been no lights all the way through the garage—the complex had a power outage.
She lived on the 25th floor, and she was currently at B2.
Suppressing the churning in her stomach, she sat on the ground to sleep. Since she couldn't climb up anyway, she might as well sober up before attempting the ascent.
But within fifteen minutes, her neck and back started aching. Fine, she was sober enough now—time to climb.
Mustering all her energy, she reached the 5th floor before her legs gave out faster than her brain. By the time she'd mentally reviewed every year from elementary school through her master's degree, she'd only climbed halfway.
She thought to herself: Was life really this uneventful, that even reminiscing about the past felt this brief...?
No, life was already miserable enough—what was climbing stairs? Even if it were 250 floors instead of 25, she'd still have to climb them!
Waking up at her doorstep the next morning, she gradually pieced things together: she'd blacked out last night, her memories cutting off right around first grade.
As for why she'd reached her door without entering—she'd completely... forgotten her keys.
Damn it!
The power was still out, her phone was dead, and now she had to climb down 25 floors with a hangover to find a shopping district, borrow a power bank, and call a locksmith.
There were always a few days each month when she missed the convenience of the city—today they'd all decided to converge.
The stench of alcohol and her throbbing skull made Hu Xiu feel like her head was a methane tank about to explode.
If she'd known she didn't have her keys, she should've just slept in the garage yesterday. Her dead phone was just a brick in her hand. In desperation, she walked three kilometers, finally finding a shared bike with a broken lock among the ones she'd seen along the path, and rode along the main road—as long as she reached the subway, she could get to a shopping district.
Halfway through the ride, it hit her: she had no money, couldn't even take the subway. Stranded in the suburbs without a phone, she was utterly immobilized.
Stopping by the roadside, starving with the cold wind howling in her ears, Hu Xiu remembered her last resort. Of the two places she knew best in the suburbs, one was her home—the other was that place.
The 170-yuan taxi ride from the distant suburbs to the city center made Hu Xiu think: If she'd known it would come to this, she should've just gone to him from the start.
Getting out of the car, she saw Li Ai exactly as expected—standing at REGARD's entrance smoking.
Seeing disheveled Hu Xiu, Li Ai understood instantly. Without asking a single question, he paid her taxi fare.
In that moment, Hu Xiu swore he was the handsomest café owner on Yuyuan Road—no, in all of Shanghai.
Even his slight limp couldn't diminish his gentle aura, only making people more curious about the story behind such a man.
She'd once boasted she'd never fight for anyone forever—but if Li Ai couldn't pay his rent, she'd pawn everything, take out loans, even work in entertainment venues to raise money for him.The café was simply decorated, with six high stools placed before the floor-to-ceiling windows and at the ordering counter, a guitar and a folding bicycle positioned in the middle. Opposite the counter were four tables for four, separated by a bookshelf filled with business management books and foreign novels. The left side featured light-toned peach wood decor, while the right side had entirely black tables and chairs, backed by a Tiffany blue wall with no additional adornments. Li Ai said the customers themselves were the best decoration.
REGARD, like other cafés on Yuyuan Road, was youthful, minimalist, and creative—light on its feet, much like Li Ai’s insistence on not using a crutch. Discarding anything that made one appear burdened was his form of minimalism.
Sitting on the stool, Hu Xiu’s legs were still trembling. Li Ai brought a plate of pasta and an Eisbock over to Hu Xiu and laughed at the sight of her shaking legs: "Running a marathon since this morning?"
"No, I climbed nearly sixty flights of stairs and cycled five kilometers... The power went out in my neighborhood."
"You need to move back from the suburbs. I’ve heard you complain about the property management at least five times—power outages trapping you in elevators, the long distance to the subway making it inconvenient, and it’s unsafe for a woman living alone."
"The rent is cheap. And... I haven’t had any income this month."
"How long are you planning to stay unemployed?"
"It’s not like that. I’m freelancing, writing live-streaming scripts for people. Do you know about live-streaming? It’s all the rage now for selling products."
"Giving up a proper career as a conference interpreter is such a waste of talent."
"It’s fine. It’s just that they’re slow to pay. If I can’t cover the rent this month, I’m planning to sell some gaming equipment."
Noticing someone entering the café, Hu Xiu picked up her plate and moved to a high stool, freeing up the larger table for four. "Go attend to your customers, don’t worry about me."
"If you’re short on money, I can help."
"No need. I’m just living authentically." Hu Xiu pursed her lips and gestured toward his limp. "Worry about yourself."
Li Ai checked his watch. "Zhao Xiaorou should be here soon."
Without looking up, Hu Xiu replied, "Yeah, her confinement ends today."
Zhao Xiaorou pushed the door open in a foul mood. She’d foolishly bought a group coupon for a hydrating facial treatment today.
Then she encountered a chatty technician who either thought the acupuncture points on her face were blocked or asked if her nose was fake—like the aunties in Northeastern bathhouses who inquire, "Girl, is your face touchable?"
Her apple cheeks and temples were filled with hyaluronic acid, and the rib cartilage hidden in her scalp was reserved for her next rhinoplasty revision. What was the big deal?
Besides, her nose’s expanded polytetrafluoroethylene implant looked natural, with a low nasal bridge and restrained filler. Her double eyelids were subtly narrow, even more natural than the Korean plastic surgery template, Go Yoon-jung. Once she stepped out, she could snap a few photos and garner thousands of likes and comments on Xiaohongshu.
Why should she be gossiped about by a massage therapist? Even her husband hadn’t noticed!
Sitting on the stool and seeing Hu Xiu’s disheveled appearance, she instinctively shifted back. "Oh my god, did you just crawl out of a garbage dump?"
After hearing about Hu Xiu’s absurd night, she finished the Baileys latte Li Ai had given her and teased unhurriedly, "Not surprised at all. Living in that dump, you deserve this kind of hardship."
"Zhao Xiaorou, you’re too harsh on me.""Living in the suburbs, relying on that meager freelancer income with constant payment delays—how did you end up in such a pathetic state."
Watching Hu Xiu press her lips against the cup rim without speaking, Zhao Xiaorou felt exasperated. "Just a year ago you were a conference interpreter! You quit your job for a man, and after becoming single you've been moping around ever since. It's been 365 days—shouldn't you be over it by now?"
"I... I'm trying to pull myself together..."
"Move back to the city, find a proper job. Stop thinking about that worthless man who left you—he was so ordinary, not worth remembering at all."
"Single life is wonderful. I wish I could get divorced myself. Wang Guangming is trash—riding on my clout, using my Weibo account to promote himself. Shameless."
Noticing the coffee shop had emptied out, Zhao Xiaorou didn't mind Li Ai washing cups nearby: "If I could do it over, I'd rather die than marry Wang Guangming. I'd stay single and marry Li Ai instead."
"Teasing me again." Li Ai's light brown sweater looked particularly soft under the warm lighting, with fine hairs visible on his neck. His hair needed trimming.
"Never mind, let's drop it. Hu Xiu, since you're free anyway, come play Live Action Role Playing Game with me."
"I don't want to go home and see Wang Guangming. All he does is calculate expenses and talk about assets. I'm just an ordinary internet celebrity, but he keeps planning grand blueprints for me. Who wants such an ordinary man in their blueprint? Come on, let's go flirt with some Non-Player Characters."
"What's Live Action Role Playing Game..." Of course Hu Xiu knew what NPC meant—she was a translator and played games—but given Zhao Xiaorou's tendency to lecture, she'd definitely explain anyway.
"NPC—Non-Player Character. Characters not controlled by real players who can trigger plotlines. In Live Action Role Playing Games, they're actors."
"And you've watched so many seasons of Who's the Murderer. Nowadays Live Action Role Playing Game NPCs are all young handsome guys. Acting alongside them and receiving missions—just looking at them is pleasing to the eyes."
Right after speaking, Zhao Xiaorou pulled out her phone, excited fingers flying: "I've played several terrible scripts recently and need something to cleanse my palette. Last time I played an American horror script—you know how the NPC acted out hanging? They hung a pair of pants in the window—I thought someone was drying pee-stained trousers. There are exactly two spots left for Snowpiercer. Want to join?"
"No. I have no money. Besides, at our age, going to check out handsome NPCs—isn't that inappropriate?"
"You're only twenty-seven but already acting ancient. That ex-fiancé really brainwashed you with his patriarchal nonsense. Fine, my treat. The session starts at 6:30—we should head out."
She was unemployed, while Zhao Xiaorou was a minor internet celebrity earning tens of thousands monthly. Though both appeared to have ample free time, their incomes were worlds apart.
Arriving at the lifestyle plaza near the train station, Zhao Xiaorou confidently located the basement-level address, while Hu Xiu followed hunched over, somewhat dejected.
In the changing area, Hu Xiu randomly picked a Role Package—a Japanese character. She draped a kimono over herself, pinning a name tag reading "Nadeshiko" on her chest, waiting for Zhao Xiaorou to straighten her hair with flat irons.Seeing how genuinely happy she could be from playing games, Hu Xiu felt a twinge of envy. In her monotonous, day-to-day life, she hadn’t found anything that could ignite her passion in a long time. The ticket cost five hundred yuan, and she had no idea how she was going to endure three and a half hours in this immersive theater.
After finishing the last sip of water in the storage room, a young man in a white shirt, with a suit jacket draped over his arm, stepped out.
His voice was exceptionally magnetic, as if the entire B1 space was filled with his hormone-charged tone: "It’s getting late. I am Qin Xiaoyi, the Finance Minister of Rong City. Sorry to keep you waiting. Please bring your invitations and enter Rong City. Everyone, this way."
Hu Xiu stood rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning—this guy was way too handsome!
OpenNovel