Early Sunday morning, the sky was still veiled in a layer of gray.
Wang Xiaoliang slipped out of bed without a sound, moving as lightly as a cat.
Beside him, Wei Zijin was sound asleep, her breathing even and deep.
Her shoulders lay bare above the covers, exceptionally enticing.
He bent down and gently pressed a kiss to her smooth forehead, filled with boundless affection and a trace of reluctance to leave.
But he could no longer linger in this tenderness.
The appearance of that female fan last night had sounded in his heart like a bell, neither loud nor soft.
Wei Zijin had already begun to shine in her own patch of sky. Soon, more and more people would know her, like her, and admire her.
But what about him?
Wang Xiaoliang dressed and gently closed the door behind him, his footsteps echoing clearly through the empty corridor.
I can't let the gap between us grow too wide.
That gap wasn't about family background or looks, but the confidence and standing with which one faced the world.
During the hour-long ride, the streets drifted slowly backward beyond the window: elderly people doing morning exercises, bustling breakfast stalls, the city gradually stirring from its sleepy haze.
Yet through that hour of jolting travel, Wang Xiaoliang's mind was clearer and more resolute than ever.
He thought about many things.
Join a state-owned enterprise? Stable, but I could see the whole road ahead at a glance. Thirty years from now, I might just be a minor section chief doing neither well nor badly, wearing away all my drive in an office.
Join a major tech company? It sounded glamorous, but behind that so-called "blessing" lay endless overtime and cutthroat competition. At thirty-five, I'd face the risk of being "streamlined" out.
*Take the