Her daughter had never spoken like this before. For a moment, her mother was shocked. Then she began to cry, “How can you say that? Your brother will never get better. He needs dialysis, and he’s stuck at home every day. He’s so unhappy, and he’s only got a few more years to live! You’re his sister, can’t you just do something small to make him happy? You can squeeze out a few thousand yuan, it’s not like it costs you money to live with your boyfriend!”

“First off,” Han Yanyan replied, “Being on dialysis doesn’t mean that he can’t do anything. Just look online. Plenty of patients don’t give up their normal lives. They study hard, work hard, and earn money to treat themselves. He stays at home because he wants to stay at home, do nothing and let other people support him. Insurance only covers half his dialysis payments, and I’m paying for the rest. Since he’s spending my money, I get a say in this. I won’t force him to go to school or work, but he’s not getting a gaming laptop.”

“I broke up with Xiao Xu, just like you wanted. But I’m not going home to have a blind date with the contractor you introduced. I’m going to school here and I work here. I can keep paying for your precious son’s medical expenses, but if you try and trick me into going back again to have another blind date, you can forget about getting another penny out of me.”

Han Yanyan couldn’t care less about how the woman on the other side was shocked, indignant, raged, and wept. She hung up and sat down on the sofa in contemplation.

A boyfriend who left after just one night, a family you couldn’t even look at… Why was the setting of this world so good? She was free from any emotional attachments, instead of the last world, when a fallen pillar had crushed the father who had loved and protected her wholeheartedly. She hadn’t even dared to look back.

The less interference, the better.

Han Yanyan glanced at the clock on the wall, ready to leave for her tutoring lesson. But it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t yet gotten her mobile phone back. Any modern person would feel uncomfortable going out without it.

She dialed a number from the landline. It rang several times before someone picked up.

A slightly hoarse voice, like a man who had just woken, said, “Hello?”

When Yao Chen was released from the police station, the items that the police had taken in their search were returned to him. He had left Han Yanyan at the gate of Jinhao, then opened the brown paper bag and poured out the odds and ends inside only to find that there was an extra phone within.

The bright screen wallpaper was a selfie of a couple young and beautiful enough to make anyone jealous. The girl was lovely and the boy was handsome, and most importantly, they were so young that one could feel the collagen on their faces through the screen.

Yao Chen bragged that he was in his prime, in a man’s golden years. But in contrast to these youths, he couldn’t help but feel old.

He stuck out his tongue, casually unlocked the phone, ignored a whole bunch of missed calls, and opened the photo album.

It was full of a girl’s pleasant face, along with a young man photographed in obvious happiness. Some photos were taken at home, and though they were not revealing or pornographic, they were very private. Through them, Yao Chen caught a glimpse of the girl’s life. Rice, oil and salt1 were accompanied by sweet feelings; by plain, pedestrian happiness; by frugal bliss.

But the girl in the photos seemed very content.

Yao Chen’s mouth quirked in a smile. He slipped the phone easily into his pocket.

When he woke the next morning, he went downstairs to the kitchen to find something to eat and heard the sound of a phone vibrating. The phone that he had thrown onto the coffee table last night when he got home was shaking. The caller ID was “Home”, and the avatar was a photo of two young faces together, smiling happily and foolishly.

Yao Chen silently picked up. “Hello?”

Han Yanyan paused for a moment, “Mr. Yao?”

There was some special connection between Han Yanyan and her mission objectives. She could always distinguish them at a glance, and recognize them when they met. Even through the telephone line, she immediately recognized Yao Chen. Just as she had been thinking about the best way to attack him, he had delivered himself to her door. No matter what, she had to interact with him before she could figure out what made him tick.

“Mr. Yao,” she explained, “I’m Han Yanyan. This is my phone. It might have gotten left with you yesterday.”

“Well,” Yao Chen said casually, pouring himself coffee, “Come get it.”

Han Yanyan thought for a moment before declining, “I’m sorry, Mr. Yao, but I have to work during the day. If it’s convenient for you, could you leave it at Jinhao? I’ll be there to work tonight.”

Oh? “Got it,” answered Yao Chen. He hung up the phone.

On the screen was the girl’s pleasant, sweet face, as pure and innocent as a lamb. She had delivered herself to his door.

Han Yanyan tutored during the day and afterward resigned from both families. So long as she was able to refuse the unreasonable demands of her wonderful family members, her salary and tips from working at Jinhao were enough to cover her tuition, living expenses, and younger brother’s treatment every month. There was no need for her to waste her time and energy working.

That night she went to Jinhao on time, changed into her work uniform, and prepared to ask for her phone back. When Yao Chen had nothing to do, he often spent his nights at Jinhao.

When she asked, she found that he wasn’t there yet. It was still too early.

As the guests gradually arrived and she began getting busier, her supervisor called for her. “Mr. Yao asked for you in 812.”

Han Yanyan put down what she was doing and went. When she knocked, she found the room is full of men and Yao Chen sitting in the middle, surrounded by his minions.

When she appeared, the men turned their heads to look at her. Within this nightclub, every man looked at women with an overtone of erotic ambiguity.

Han Yanyan stood there as they looked her up and down. This scene was… just like deja vu.

But this time she wasn’t going to die for the man in the middle. Stabbing a man in his innermost heart and making him remember you forever didn’t actually require such a sacrifice.

After all, hate lasted longer than love.