Hong Siyu's day began in a kitchen filled with the aroma of coffee.
After years of working for a living, a cup of coffee in the morning had become her daily habit. No matter how groggy she was when she crawled out of bed, the familiar scent wafting from the coffee machine always made her feel a little more awake.
It was still early, and the sky outside remained somewhat dim. But the first ray of sunlight had already pierced the clouds, laying a thin golden sheen across the floor of the studio apartment. Hong Siyu hummed a song as she busied herself with breakfast.
Pot off the stove, heat off, counter wiped.
Cup washed, coffee poured, brew prepared.
After a series of practiced motions, the small round table beside the stove held a boiled egg, vegetable congee, and coffee. That was Hong Siyu's breakfast for the day.
After leisurely finishing everything on the table, Hong Siyu began changing clothes. Once she had put on her work attire and walked before the bathroom mirror, she instinctively reached to put on makeup—only for her movements to freeze the moment her gaze landed on the mirror.
In it, a girl who looked incredibly young, almost like a high school student, was staring back at her.
No, this was exactly what she had looked like in high school.
At that thought, the corners of Hong Siyu's lips curled upward, and she nearly threw back her head in triumphant laughter. But she had already laughed days ago. The self-restraint expected of an adult kept her from losing composure, and she merely coughed a few times with perfect calm.
A few days earlier, her treatment with Emerald had concluded, finally allowing her to return completely to her original, normal life. And the most important part