Along the street, the sky still dark, stalls lining both sides of the road for the early market—food, fruits, vegetables, farm produce. Across the highway stood the Five Shops, not yet open for business. In the dawn cloaked in night, few people passed by. Each stall had its own light, but it was dim, barely illuminating the vendor's face and the customer's front.
Lin Yuhui walked along the sidewalk, guided by the scattered lights on either side, passing through the willow-shaded early-morning market street. At the crossroads at the end, he turned left, facing east. The sky was just beginning to lighten. Not far to his left, along the sidewalk, stood a red-brick wall. Behind it lay the nursery forest he often climbed over to play in as a child. Inside were young, still-stunted green pines, cypresses, and a type of very short shrub with dark green leaves and purplish-black berries that weren't edible. He didn't know its name, but the memory of running through the green maze they formed seemed to pull him back to that carefree childhood.
“Beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep,” the morning alarm jolted Lin Yuhui back from his dreams. He opened his eyes, glanced at the ceiling—not his own home—then looked out the window. The memories of his journey finally coalesced in his mind, and he understood where his body was. Over the past half-decade, he’d lost count of how many places he’d drifted through.
After breakfast, he left his lodgings early. Not long after setting out, he unexpectedly ran into a colleague, Hape, at the intersection. Hape had adopted an adjectival English name—youth was his only claim to sophistication—and surprisingly, he too lived nearby.
Hape was the kind of person who could strike up a conversation with anyone. Naturally, the cafeteria during lunch was often buzzing around Seris. But Lin Yuhui never joined the crowd fawning over her like the others did, simply because she was stunningly beautiful. Lin Yuhui was a bit of an anomaly—he kept to himself, sitting alone in a corner, neither disturbing others nor wanting to be disturbed, quietly enjoying his meal in solitude.
As they walked, they exchanged casual, trivial chatter. Before they knew it, they'd entered the factory grounds. Hape was headed to the production workshop, while Lin Yuhui was bound for the office—different directions. Yet he detected in Hape's conversation a hint of dissatisfaction with his job security. He offered some advice:
“In my career, I've changed jobs—including offers I turned down—well into double digits. I've worked at state-owned enterprises, private companies, and foreign firms. A workplace with this kind of environment and pressure is rare. Just settle in and focus here.”
Whether due to his technical background or his personality, Lin Yuhui always voiced his genuine thoughts directly, paying little heed to others' feelings.
When he entered the office that morning, Seris and Safir were already there. Standing at the empty desk opposite Lin Yuhui's workstation, they were deep in conversation until they paused upon his arrival.
Seris glanced over. Lin Yuhui noticed she wasn't wearing makeup as usual. Though her skin lacked the smooth, dewy finish of her usual makeup, it radiated a natural vitality unique to youth. Her undyed hair was gathered into a cloud-like bun at the nape of her neck. A pale blue, narrow-collared white shirt simply outlined her youthful figure, full of the rhythm of youth, as if she had returned to her high school days. Lin Yuhui's gaze lingered on her for a moment.
“Sometimes going barefaced is just fine,” Seris murmured to Safir beside her with a smile.
Every morning after arriving at the office, she and Safir would chatter away for a while. and this morning she was in an especially good mood because Lin Yuhui had given her a few extra glances. Attracting male attention seemed to be the desire of all mature women, yet Lin Yuhui had shown little reaction to her almost daily changes in appearance and attire. It wasn't until she shed that layer of refinement that she truly captured his attention.
Lin Yuhui genuinely disliked artificial glamour. He preferred natural purity in appearance and flawless sincerity within. Since joining this office, he had spoken to Serice only a handful of times. The reason was simple: he was long past the age of daydreaming and refused to waste energy on unrealistic fantasies. Moreover, he knew full well the potential emotional lethality of beautiful women—why invite trouble?
Yet in their brief exchanges of glances, he had noticed her large, captivating eyes—the kind of enchanting almond-shaped gaze a beauty might possess. He wondered if she looked at everyone that way, or if it was reserved for him alone. At the very least, she was a girl whose eyes sparkled with vitality, whether innate or cultivated. She possessed an extra spark of spirit compared to ordinary people, making her allure extend far beyond mere looks.
Even if she did harbor feelings for him, Lin Yuhui knew deep down she wasn't right for him. She stayed out all night—and regardless of the reasons, that was something his personal values simply couldn't accept in a woman. But... what if she changed? What if she had once been...
All these thoughts flashed through Lin Yuhui's mind in an instant. He needed to stay grounded and walk his own path in life. For now, his task was to familiarize himself with this company's product categories and Excel spreadsheets.
“David, how do I insert an image into this file?” Seris asked from beside him.
Lin Yuhui glanced over. He wasn't very familiar with Word 2016, which he rarely used, but how could he refuse a beautiful woman's request?
He pulled his chair closer, studied the screen, and rapidly searched his memory for how to use Word 2003. Back then, it involved the Insert Picture command, but scanning the interface, he couldn't find that icon in the 2016 version.
“Check the Insert menu,” he noticed it was accessible and pointed it out to Seris as he spoke.
As she clicked, the toolbar for the picture button appeared.
“Picture, From This Device,” Lin Yuhui instructed, pointing for Seris. He breathed a sigh of relief inwardly—he hadn't embarrassed himself in front of a beautiful woman after all.
Seris inserted the image.
“What do I do now?” she asked urgently when she saw the image placement was awkward and the text was jumbled around it.
What followed was a minor adjustment, something Lin Yuhui knew inside out.
“Double-click the image. See that text wrapping option? Click that button, select ‘Floating above text,’ and then you can adjust the image position without affecting the surrounding text.”
Watching Seris complete the steps he described, Lin Yuhui continued,
“Notice how the asymmetrical borders detract from the aesthetics. There's a crop icon—try trimming the image's edges.”
After following the instructions, Seris turned to Lin Yuhui with a smile—sweet and captivating. Lin Yuhui felt as though he could peer into her soul through her beautiful, large eyes. Though the sensation was delightful, he couldn't help but grow wary. Was he about to get lost in her tenderness?
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