Do second chances truly exist in life? As Lin Yuhui stepped off the high-speed train, he spotted a woman waiting on the platform to greet someone. Though he’d already passed her by, curiosity tugged him to glance back. Who could possibly need a pickup?
By the time he reached the escalator entrance, he finally saw: it was her mother coming to pick up the girl who had fallen asleep on the train. Sigh, she really wasn't mature enough yet. As he rode the escalator down, her fair face and those clear, large eyes still lingered faintly in his mind.
The station passageway was dimly lit. Lin Yuhui consulted the map he’d prepared earlier, double-checking the direction to confirm how to walk to the bus stop once outside. After all, it was nearly 4 PM, and time was tight.
The long passageway led straight to the station exit. Thankfully, the sunlight outside still looked bright. Right beside the exit, two tables and chairs were set up, with security personnel intercepting people to scan their QR codes. Lin Yuhui pretended not to notice, thinking it might be a random check, and kept walking straight ahead.
“Excuse me, passengers, please scan the code?”
He hadn't gotten away with it. Feeling helpless, he pretended not to know, stopped, turned around, and asked,
“What code?”
“Use Alipay to scan the travel code.”
“I don't have Alipay. Just take my temperature.”
The guard checked his temperature—no issues. Then he added,
“You have a phone, right? I can help you set up Alipay.”
Lin Yuhui felt helpless. He wasn't feverish and was in a hurry, but the guard was meticulously doing his job. He couldn't claim he didn't have a phone now, so he said,
“I don't have internet.”
“Ah, no problem. We have Wi-Fi here. Come on, let me set it up for you.”
Lin Yuhui had no choice but to hand over his phone and ID, thinking to himself: My old Philips X586 phone only has 2GB of RAM. Let's see how you manage that.
Just then, the mother and daughter arrived at the same counter, handling the same transaction at the adjacent desk. The young woman’s eyes drifted over again. Lin Yuhui met her gaze for a moment, wanting to say something but holding back. Instead, he offered a faint smile in greeting.
Sure enough, the persistent security guard was stumped by Lin Yuhui's phone. Undeterred, he turned to the young woman's mother.
“Use your phone to register an Alipay account for him. Sigh, his phone just won't work.”
She agreed. Lin Yuhui watched her as she handed her phone to the security guard without once looking at him. His future mother-in-law seemed utterly disinterested in him. Who would willingly choose to have their daughter live with a penniless old man?
The security guard finally fulfilled his mission, successfully registering an Alipay account for Lin Yuhui. But what use was a phone number stored in someone else's phone? None. Forget it. Lin Yuhui never believed he'd be the lucky one—life had taught him to abandon such fantasies.
After thanking them, he took one last look at the girl before turning and striding away.
Stepping outside the station building, Lin Yuhui realized that in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, with its lower latitude compared to Northeast China, daylight hours seemed longer this season. Even now, sunlight filtering through the leaves remained ample. Following the path through the greenery, he found the bus stop ahead—the terminal point. After confirming the route, he boarded the vehicle.
The bus departed almost immediately. It was a diesel minibus, moving at a brisk pace. Without air conditioning, it wasn't hot, but wearing an N95 mask the entire journey had felt stifling. Now, with no other passengers aboard and the air circulating freely, he could finally pull down his mask and breathe directly.
The bus journey stretched from the northern outskirts of Changxing County through the urban center to the southern suburbs. Initially, the streets were wide and somewhat desolate, but gradually, shopping malls, hospitals, schools, and pedestrians came into view. The streets grew increasingly bustling. Lin Yuhui quickly realized this was a prosperous area, spotting a Porsche 718, a blue Ferrari 599, and an AMG convertible within just half the journey.
After a little over an hour, Lin Yuhui finally reached the bus terminal at the other end. Stepping out of the station building onto the roadside, he called the company's HR representative, Safir, as promised, sending her his location and a photo of himself.
Soon, a black Audi A4 pulled up in front of him.
“Lin Yuhui?”
“Yes, hello. Pleased to meet you. I might need to put my luggage in the trunk.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Lin Yuhui stowed his bags. Safir opened the rear door for him, but the backseat was completely filled with belongings.
“Oh dear, the backseat is packed,” she muttered to herself.
“Guess I'll have to sit up front then.”
“Mhm.”
Safir was a young woman, a proper Chinese girl. Since Lin Yuhui was joining a foreign-owned company with a foreign boss, all employees had adopted English names. Though he hadn't planned to share the front seat with a young woman, circumstances left him no choice.
“I'll show you the way to the company first, then take you to your place. That way you can walk to work tomorrow morning,” Safir said.
“Okay.”
It was already past quitting time, and he felt a bit awkward about having her pick him up. Soon, Lin Yuhui found a topic to compliment the young lady.
“You know, you look a bit like a star from the past.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There was a Hong Kong-Taiwan actress named Joey Wong.”
“Oh.”
“Your features do resemble hers, especially from a 45-degree angle.”
“Haha.”
The accommodation was a room in a private residence with its own bathroom. The neighborhood consisted of three-to-five-story self-built houses, and Lin Yuhui's room was on the fifth floor. When he was finally alone and the quiet settled in, it was nearly six o'clock. The sky was darkening. This place was a bit remote, so going out to find a restaurant for dinner wasn't very practical. But Lin Yuhui always managed to take care of himself. He took out the hamburger he'd bought at noon—yes, he'd bought a double portion at noon—for dinner.
He watched the evening glow fade beyond the fifth-floor window while savoring his meal. After a day of rushing around, he could finally relax his taut nerves. No more frantic deadlines.
After dinner, the next task awaited. As the saying goes, “Everything is difficult when you're away from home.” Now, he needed to prepare his sleeping quarters. Safir had brought blankets, and Lin Yuhui had packed his own mattress pad. After making the bed, he had to hang the mosquito net he'd brought—he knew full well how vicious the mosquitoes were around here. The mosquito net had strings tied to its four corners for hanging, but there were no hooks. Lin Yuhui had no choice but to drape one side over the headboard, tie another end to the wardrobe, and prop up the remaining corner with a basin and his backpack.
The sleeping arrangement was set up. Though he'd be lying horizontally across the double bed, he had no further demands. Then came the most important task: setting up his laptop on the desk. That was his lifeline to information.
ns216.73.216.23da2
and then Add to home screen.