The moment the police entered, they started clearing the place.

Zhang Meizhen threw away the Five Bats Token and left on her own. The guests let out a sigh, and the people who had been involved in the past affair also left in twos and threes. Ruan Xiaoshan and a few others sobbed until their strength was exhausted, finally realising that time had flowed by like water and nothing could go back to the way it was in the past. And so, holding on to one another for support, they staggered out.

In the large hall, all that remained were a few living creatures scattered here and there… as well as the light shining through the windows.

Han Dongsheng stood up and helped to tidy up the aftermath of the event. From nowhere, an indescribable feeling rose in his heart. When he stood up, he heard his knees creak and so, for the sake of dispelling the melancholic feeling, he struck up an idle conversation with Yu Lanchuan. "After sitting for so long, my back and legs can't bear it anymore. I've really gotten old."

"When you have time, you should train a bit," Yu Lanchuan answered easily.

"Where would I find the time?" Han Dongsheng smiled. "I have the old and the young to take care of at home. That gremlin kid is also not sensible. Every other day, his teacher would call me over to receive an admonishment. My lousy job doesn't pay much either. I always have to work overtime but I also can't not work… I want to be promoted to deputy team leader this year. Speaking of that, it doesn't mean much but I can earn 2,000 more each month. Ai, you must think I'm ridiculous, speaking of these petty matters in front of Little Master Yu…"

"Why would I? Who doesn't want to be promoted and get a higher salary? I'm also waiting for a pay rise so that I can pay off my loan quicker," Yu Lanchuan said.

Yan Hao gave Qiao-Qiao a light tug. Qiao-Qiao looked up in confusion. She was just in a daze, like a hole had opened up on top of her head and her soul could no longer be kept inside. And with nothing holding it down, her soul would fly away just like that, up to the sky. Yan Hao didn't know how he should advise her, so he also went to help put away the chairs and tables. He half-listened to Han Dongsheng and Yu Lanchuan talking, and couldn't help following their conversation and thinking of the future.

He was in his twenties already. He couldn't keep depending on Boss Jiang. Yan Hao considered that he wasn't very good at studies and didn't like interacting with people, and he also probably couldn't do service-oriented jobs, so he should probably learn a skill… the kind that quietly worked behind the scenes. In the future, as long as he was hardworking, he could make a living no matter where he went.

Everyone had hopes for the future, yet no one dared hope for too much. They were all going through the ups and downs of life, but were also all working hard to maintain their usual way of life.

Qiao-Qiao suddenly shivered like a dreamer falling unexpectedly into the mortal realm. She stared at the bustle before her, at a loss for what to do. After spacing out for a long while, she bent down and collected her own walking corpse of a body, then left on her own without a sound.

Yu Lanchuan signalled the confused Yan Hao with his eyes. Yan Hao stared blankly for a while, then hurried after her.

Han Dongsheng sighed. "Fortunately… she's still young."

Fortunately, she was not yet eighteen. Her life had just begun, there was time for her to start over, and there was also enough time for her to defeat expectations and make a comeback. She didn't have to squander the rest of her life when it could be much better.

Han Dongsheng suddenly asked, "Little Master Yu, will the Martial Arts General Assembly still go on at the end of this year?"

"No. There's no one to help me organise it and I don't have that much time anyway," Yu Lanchuan said. "When I get back, I'll create a group chat and our friends from all over can communicate with each other online. On festive occasions, everyone can exchange red packets and greetings, and that's good enough."

Han Dongsheng followed his gaze and looked at the empty event hall.

Yu Lanchuan was someone very aware, very capable, with solid martial arts skills and an upright character. When he first moved into No. 110, the old people all had high hopes for this young descendant of the Seven Secret Arts of Han Jiang, hoping that decades later, he could be like Old Alliance Leader Yu and use different means to once again realise the dream left by the old jianghu even as it deteriorated day by day.

Who would have thought that he would be too aware, Han Dongsheng thought, and would decisively and efficiently wake them up from this "dream" in Yanning City.

In his final years, Old Alliance Leader Yu Huaide had not bothered himself with the affairs of the world. He lived like an immortal, free as the clouds and the wild cranes. Thinking of it, he had probably come to understand that this was an era where great waves would wash away the sand. But as the head of the Five Supremes, he probably could not be at peace with that.

When Han Dongsheng came back to himself and turned around, Yu Lanchuan had already left at some point.

The police dispersed. The mobile signal at the event hall finally returned. Yu Lanchuan's phone that had been silent for a long while vibrated. He looked down; there were two messages, one from Yu Yan telling him that Wang Jiusheng and his accomplice had been arrested, but Wang Jiusheng had over-exerted himself while running away and his heart illness suddenly flared up so they had to send him to the hospital.

The other one was from a certain meme queen. It was a WeChat meme of a grimy face and the caption: I've come crawling back for food.

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

Director Yu emphasised efficiency in everything and never replied to this kind of meaningless and pointless message. So he put his phone away and walked towards his home, his face impassive. After a few steps, his solemn expression slowly cracked, revealing a smile.

Just like that, another month passed. The mantis emerged, the shrike began to sing, the mockingbird fell silent; the first sign of the coming summer heat.

"Is Meng-Meng back? She started updating her translations again in her WeChat Moments a couple of days ago."

"Star Dreams is not open, will she still work there in the future?"

"I don't know about the shop but I don't think she's leaving. She seems to be running the Weibo for Star Dreams now. In the past couple of days, the official Weibo has been updating diligently. There is a lot of interesting stuff, it's not like in the past when all it did was try to sell things."

Old Sect Leader Yang paid a visit to the police station and very quickly came back. Even though he had concealed information, the incident had happened too long ago and had passed the statute of limitations. On top of that, he was already so old. After coming back, he informed Yang Yifan and then left Yanning to return to his old home. Zhang Meizhen accompanied him. She entrusted Gan Qing with the task of looking after her house.

Before she left, Gan Qing helped her pack. The luggage was stuffed until it was bulging. In the end, there was still a large pile of lipstick and lip gloss left, at least thirty to forty tubes, and there was really no space for them. Gan Qing searched for nooks and crannies to stuff them in, and ended up with a face covered in sweat. "Meizhen-jie, isn't it enough to just bring any two lipsticks?"

Was her entire body covered in lips?

Zhang Meizhen rolled her eyes. "The colours aren't the same, the textures are different and the shades are also not alike. They can't replace each other. What do you know, you're colourblind and you don't care."

"...Oh, okay," Gan Qing said.

Previously, Zhang Meizhen had once left all these superficial desires behind when she decided to visit Yang Qing at the hospital but it seemed like it was only for a short while. After coming back, her true self was exposed at the speed of light and she dressed herself up more gorgeously than ever, displaying to the fullest extent the true essence of a demoness.

Gan Qing strained to pull the zip shut on the last bag, then turned to look at Zhang Meizhen who was carefully applying mascara on her lashes. She asked suddenly, "Meizhen-jie, do you still…"

...love that man?

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." Gan Qing felt that since she was from a younger generation, it wasn't appropriate for her to ask this kind of question so she swallowed it back down. I guess she should have deep feelings for him, she thought. Otherwise, why would she accompany him back to his old home?

"You want to ask about Old Yang, don't you?" Zhang Meizhen removed the excess mascara with a cotton swab and said nonchalantly. "Old Yang probably doesn't intend to come back anymore. Cemetery plots in Yanning are too expensive. Even though his kid is quite generous, that old fool doesn't have much wealth to leave to her so he wants to save money for her wherever possible. His old home has everything he needs. When the time comes, he can be buried together with Yang Ping's mother. The space is already there."

"Huh?"

"As for me, I'm just accompanying him for this part of the journey," Zhang Meizhen said. "We've known each other for so long after all."

Gan Qing stared blankly. She could sense a hidden meaning in those words.

Zhang Meizhen turned around and patted her head. "What's important is loving yourself. Once you truly love yourself, if you have any energy left over, you can try loving someone else; if you don't, then forget it. There's also no need to love so seriously, be more relaxed and carefree. That's better for everyone, isn't it?"

Gan Qing looked up at her. Zhang Meizhen tsk-ed. "Forget it, I don't think you need me to tell you this. You're a heartless little thing, you… Ai, speak of the devil."

Before she could finish speaking, someone pressed the doorbell. Zhang Meizhen raised her voice and called out, then pulled the door open and said to Yu Lanchuan, "Hi, handsome. Here already?"

Yu Lanchuan bent down and picked up her luggage. "The car's waiting downstairs."

"All right, all right, I'm leaving now. I won't stay here and stop you two from dating, will that be fine?" Zhang Meizhen sighed and instructed Gan Qing, "Don't forget to take in my deliveries for me!"

Gan Qing walked her to the car and sighed, "I know. If any old, middle-aged, or fresh young meat comes looking for you, I'll get them to take a number and get in line."

With her back to Gan Qing, Zhang Meizhen waved and got into Yang Yifan's car.

Probably because village roads weren't easy to drive through, Yang Yifan had gotten an SUV from her company. The lines of that car were clean and sleek, announcing its grand arrival as it came to a stop in the courtyard. It emitted an aura of wildness that could not be contained. Compared to it, the little passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the courtyard looked like demure daughters from humble families. Yu Lanchuan also couldn't help going with the norm and taking a few extra looks.

Gan Qing nudged him with her elbow. "Stop staring. When I have money, I'll buy one for you."

Upon hearing that, not only did Yu Lanchuan not feel touched, he even looked at her in shock. "Aren't you afraid you'll sprain your tongue from telling such lies? I'm not going to wait for you, what if I wait until I die and still haven't received it? Am I going to have to borrow 500 years from Heaven?"

Gan Qing, "..."

Yu Lanchuan gave her a look full of pity. "Have you gone so mad from being poor that you're hallucinating?"

Gan Qing checked her bank account balance and could not say anything. She shut her mouth dejectedly and returned home to work. Firstly for practise and secondly to earn some quick cash, she was helping a bunch of quack public accounts that talk a lot of mysterious nonsense to get some astrology information from the outside web, then translate word by word and edit them. There was even an illegal publisher who had gotten wind of her and contacted her recently, asking her to help compile a bestseller that combined the arcane arts and chicken soup motivational stories. She was still considering whether or not to accept it because she was also self-studying how to do interpretation.

The jobs she had were all small jobs. They were time-consuming and paid pennies.

At the start of every month, Gan Qing had lofty aspirations, desiring to support one dearly expensive Yu Lanchuan; at the end of every month, she would look at her account balance and fall to her knees.

There was a saying that went like this: Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat. Settling down for the long-term was much harder than entering university and learning knife skills with her left hand.

Truly, a heroic spirit never lasted long.

The news about Futongda being a large-scale money launderer and related to gang activities broke out. No one in that bunch of people could escape. The people below them could not hold out anymore and started to sell out Wang Jiusheng. This was the news brought by Officer Xiao-Yu when Little Friend Liu Zhongqi was just starting his summer holidays.

Yu Yan didn't come empty-handed; he brought with him a pile of drinks and fruits to celebrate Yu Lanchuan successfully usurping—no, smoothly getting promoted.

"Master Lan, you're steadily on your way to the peak of your life." Yu Yan crouched on the floor, helping him open his delivery package as he spoke. He tsk-ed, seeing that Yu Lanchuan had bought a bunch of household products which meant that he planned to give the old apartment a thorough cleaning. "You're really Director Yu now. When will your new name card be printed? Give me one, let me get a bit of that Director Yu immortal aura and enjoy the fun."

From the kitchen came Director Yu's aloof voice. "What's so fun about that? In the past, I have also doubled as a board member for quite a few companies that were under us, don't make a fuss just because you're ignorant… Go away! You're not allowed to touch the wok, get back to your prepwork!"

Yu Lanchuan swiftly removed Gan Qing from beside the wok to prevent this punk-style cook from creating an overly avant-garde flavour. "You're just the kitchen help in charge of prepwork, don't keep trying to usurp the position of head chef. Get your role right!"

Yu Yan said in shock, "You make someone help out in your own home, and only let them be a kitchen help? Why is it that someone like you can break out from the ranks of bachelors?"

Gan Qing poked her head out and said softly, "The result of being spoiled."

Amidst the sizzling sounds of cooking, Yu Lanchuan did not hear her words clearly but he intuitively felt that the two of them were not saying anything good about him. Hence, one hand holding the spatula, his other hand reached out and grabbed the back of Gan Qing's collar and pulled her back.

"Why are you getting all handsy again…"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Yu Lanchuan take from the side a meatball that had been fried and carefully blew on it, then brought it to her mouth with a serious expression on his face.

Gan Qing looked at him. Yu Lanchuan lowered his gaze, hiding the apprehension in his eyes. "Don't just stand around and do nothing, help me check the taste."

Gan Qing took a bite from his hand. Yu Lanchuan looked at the top of her head and pressed his lips together, nervously observing her response. He had studied abroad for many years and knew how to cook, but he didn't like cooking so his skills were mediocre. Gan Qing had grown up by the side of a great chef. Even if she had now become someone who could survive on eating trash, he didn't want her to bear any more ill-treatment.

Gan Qing was very encouraging; she had always said nice words like they didn't cost anything. "Mm, it's just right, delicious! Little Master Yu is good at everything he does."

After hearing that, Yu Lanchuan was half reassured. He studied her expression carefully and seeing that she wasn't forcing herself at all, he was completely reassured. Then, while being all elated, this man also put on an act. He lifted his chin. "As if I need your nonsense."

Yu Yan could not bear to watch anymore. He quietly retreated from the kitchen, then faced Liu Zhongqi who was crouched on the sofa memorising study notes and pointed behind him. "The result of being spoiled."

This time, Yu Lanchuan heard him. "Old Fish, if you have nothing to do, go downstairs and buy a packet of sugar. Don't disturb the exam candidate!"

With a self-important air, Yu Yan said, "I am a guest! How can you order a guest around, so shameless!"

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

"I'll go, I'll go," Gan Qing said hastily.

After saying that, she seemed to realise that something was wrong and was stunned for a moment.

"Oh, you are not a guest," Yu Yan said.

Yu Lanchuan turned around like nothing had happened, pretending to devote all his focus to opening a bottle of soy sauce and sniffing it like it was a precious bottle from the '82 vintage. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

Gan Qing bent a finger and flicked the jeering Yu Yan, then turned to go downstairs to the nearest grocer. She got the sugar; then, after thinking for a while, she picked a few cartons of ice-cream from the freezer and paid for them together. Yu Lanchuan liked ice-cream but was too embarrassed to admit it. Every time she bought some, he would share his outlook on her future prosperous measurements when she hit middle age until she did not feel like eating anymore. The next time she went to look for the remaining half of the carton, it would have disappeared.

In the peak of summer, the cicadas' droning was clamorous. However, there was a tree-lined corridor shaded from the sun in front of No. 110 Courtyard and when walking there, a person would have a feeling of contentment, of their exhaustion settling into tranquility.

Gan Qing came out of the small shop, holding the bag of ice-cream. Without realising it, her feet were walking in time to the music playing in the shop, her steps sometimes light and sometimes heavy, full of delight and humour.

Just as she was about to walk past the intersection, the rhythm of her feet was suddenly disrupted. On the opposite of the road, an old lady who was enjoying the cool breeze stared at her with a face full of horror. At the same time, the wind whistled past her...