Chapter 58

Enough to buy a hundred-square-meter apartment in the city center of Changnan in 2007.

Although Xijiang Province was relatively underdeveloped economically, with a population of over five million, naturally there was no shortage of wealthy people. Therefore, Yuwen Private High School’s annual enrollment quota was always in high demand. In order to maintain student quality, since its founding in the second year after the founding of the Celestial Empire, Yuwen Private High School had not expanded its enrollment quota for fifty-seven years—admitting a fixed six hundred students each year.

Yuwen Private High School, First Year Division, Class A.

“Ring, ring!”

As soon as the bell signaling the end of the fourth period in the morning rang, the students in the classroom began packing up their things, preparing to head home.

Yun Yuan, being a boarder, was in no hurry to pack up. He simply sat at his desk, diligently working on his homework.

His thick eyebrows arched rebelliously upwards, and under his long, slightly curled eyelashes were eyes as clear as morning dew. His brows held a gentle ripple, always carrying a hint of a smile—curved, like a luminous crescent moon in the night sky.

A straight, handsome nose, lips as pink as rose petals. Fair skin set off his faintly peach-colored lips. With striking, well-defined features and a perfect face shape, Yun Yuan, just past sixteen, could easily be described as rivaling Pan An in looks.

However, in 2007, the internet was not yet so overwhelmingly developed, so Yun Yuan was only somewhat well-known within his own high school.

Slender fingers gripped a gel pen, scratching softly on the paper. About ten minutes later, most students had left the classroom, but Yun Yuan continued earnestly with his work.

A uniquely fresh fragrance wafted over—a scent belonging only to young girls. Yun Yuan assumed some female student must have forgotten something and come back for it, so he kept his head down, writing.

“Xinyao, I told you the new guy in our first-year division is just an innocent little boy. Do you believe it now?” came a girl’s voice nearby, followed by laughter.

The girl addressed as “Xinyao” sat to Yun Yuan’s left. He looked up and saw a fair face, eyes clear as water gazing at him, lips pressed lightly together in a subtle smile.

Yun Yuan glanced at Xinyao. Perhaps because he was still young, he merely thought this girl was a bit prettier than others he’d seen—nothing more. He bowed his head and continued writing.

“My name is Li Xinyao. What’s yours, little freshman?” the girl introduced herself.

“Is there something you want? Surely you know my name already, otherwise why come looking for me?” Yun Yuan didn’t answer in a gentlemanly way, but responded with a question, clearly wanting the two girls to state their purpose.

September 1, 2019. Sunday, 5 a.m.

Anji City, Xijiang Province. Shui J County. Yangshi Community, Building 15, Unit 1, Apartment 502.

After three years of junior high—over a thousand days of hellish struggle—Luo Wen had finally earned an acceptance letter from a city-level key high school.

Today, September first, was the first day for registration at Anji No.1 High School. Luo Wen had gotten up early; in the afternoon, his parents would accompany him to Anji City.

He picked up the watch from the right-hand bedside table.

4:59.

For the past year, Luo Wen hadn’t set an alarm. At first, he’d set his alarm for five every day—waking up to it in his first year of junior high. In his second year, he sometimes woke before it rang. By his third year, he stopped setting an alarm altogether, especially after his biology teacher explained biological clocks. Throughout the third year, Luo Wen woke daily at exactly 4:59.

Punctual to the minute.

The junior high he attended was the best in Shui J County. Yet, for someone who’d grown up in the county seat, attending the best of the only two middle schools wasn’t much to boast about—a fifty-fifty chance.

Thinking back to three years ago, Luo Wen remembered how excited he’d been to start junior high. But his mother, not knowing any better, would always tell acquaintances when they went out that her son was attending the best school in the county.

Over time, Luo Wen began to feel embarrassed about it.

After washing up, Luo Wen didn’t need to greet his parents—they only woke after six, and they knew he went out for exercise at five.

He picked up the twenty yuan from the coffee table in the living room, shut off the lights, tucked the money into his right pocket, and headed out.

Since his third year, Luo Wen had gotten up at five sharp each day to work out. His mother would leave twenty yuan on the table, so after exercising, he could buy breakfast.

This day was no different. Luo Wen left the community at fifteen past five. Even though it was September, the sky was still dark. The community lights turned on at four in the afternoon, went out at midnight, and only relit at half past five.

At this hour, Luo Wen could only rely on his memory of the community’s paths and the stray beams from windows left lit by forgetful neighbors to make his way out.

Yangshi Community was bought by his parents fifteen years ago when they married—over 120 square meters, three bedrooms, two living rooms. Back then, apartments didn’t have the huge shared-space ratios of 24% like in 2019, though Luo Wen didn’t know exactly how much was shared; in any case, it was minimal.

He often heard his grandfather say the place cost only three or four hundred per square meter back then, five thousand in total with renovations. Now, it wouldn’t go for less than a million. Moreover, his building had only two units per floor and was north-south facing—a hot commodity these days.

Out the main gate of Yangshi Community was a road. There was no security guard at this hour, so Luo Wen nimbly climbed over the fence, left the gate, and walked along the road.

The streetlights shone brightly at night, but their glow only made the darkness seem deeper.

September marked the most evident transition to autumn. In the Celestial Empire, September held both the “White Dew” and “Autumn Equinox” solar terms. After “White Dew,” temperatures in most regions would start to fall.

As autumn arrived, cold air from the north would collide with the retreating warm, moist air, bringing frequent rain and significant temperature drops, with large differences between day and night.

Walking down the exposed road with only a T-shirt on, Luo Wen shoved his hands in his pockets against the chilly wind.

At a crossroads, the pedestrian signal was red, but Luo Wen didn’t care—at this hour, there were hardly any cars—so he crossed directly.