The first winter after Ruan Jiujiu’s disappearance, it seemed that the entire company had entered a cold season.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the previously cheerful and lively atmosphere had disappeared. Even Tu Nan, who usually loved to joke around, often wore a serious expression and no longer followed his secretary around as conspicuously as before, even though they had confirmed their boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
Old Meng had privately talked to Tu Nan multiple times, trying to find out what was going on, but all he got were uncertain responses from Tu Nan.
Ruan Jiujiu’s office remained as it was, with the decorations untouched, as if waiting for the return of its owner.
Old Meng would occasionally hang protective amulets in the office to ensure safety. The office was now filled with these amulets, giving it a comical look of auspiciousness, but the one they prayed for to return safely still hadn’t come back.
On Christmas Eve, Cheng Jun finished his work as usual and sat in his office chair, lost in thought or contemplation, it was hard to tell.
They had expected Cheng Jun, who was no longer with Ruan Jiujiu, to continue not caring for his own well-being, just as he had in the past. However, everyone was surprised to find that he remembered to put on his coat on rainy and snowy days, ate regular meals in the cafeteria, took care of his health, and kept to himself, speaking very little.
Before meeting Ruan Jiujiu, Cheng Jun had been this silent as well, but back then, it was due to his lack of interest in talking. Now, in their presence, he simply had nothing to say.
Sometimes, they genuinely feared that he might fall ill from holding everything in.
But in this world, no one could persuade Cheng Jun anymore. The only person who could reach into his heart was also the one responsible for making him so numb.
“Boss, aren’t you going home?” Fu Zicheng asked cautiously.
On Christmas Eve, Tu Nan had gone out to have fun with his secretary, Jiao Fan had flown to the United States to see An Rou, and Cheng Jun was left alone on the empty floor, sitting quietly in his chair.
After Fu Zicheng’s question, it took Cheng Jun a while to respond sluggishly, “Huh?”
“I mean, aren’t you going…home?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Fu Zicheng realized he had said the wrong thing. For Cheng Jun, the empty house no longer counted as home. Even he felt a pang of sadness and turned his head away, muttering a quiet apology.
Cheng Jun stood up in silence, and under Fu Zicheng’s watchful gaze, he picked up his coat and draped it over his shoulders. He silently left the office. The driver was waiting for him in the parking lot, and his daily routine was mechanical, as if he could navigate it with his eyes closed, knowing exactly where to step with each stride.
Perhaps because he was too bored, he even counted how many steps it took to walk from the office to the parking lot, and how many steps it took to get back home after getting out of the car.
The distance from heaven to hell seems to be this long.
His shoes tapped on the stairs, one step after another, and the empty corridor echoed with the sound of footsteps. There was no expression on his face, and he climbed the stairs slowly as usual. Just then, he heard a faint “thud,” and the corridor suddenly plunged into darkness.
His footsteps froze in place.
In the pitch-black corridor, there was a deathly silence.
Cheng Jun tightly grasped the handrail with one hand, his back straight, and his face in the darkness was blurry. In the pitch-black corridor where you couldn’t see your own fingers, he held his breath and concentrated, so nervous that even the fingers resting on the handrail were trembling.
“Jiujiu… Is it you?”
No one responded for a long time from behind.
At this moment, someone in the corridor walked out to see what was happening. The sound of footsteps approached, and someone said that the whole neighborhood was experiencing a power outage, and it would be restored in a while.
Just as they were talking, the lights in the corridor suddenly lit up.
Cheng Jun stood still for a while, as if he were on the edge of a world abandoned by everyone, clinging to the last glimmer of hope as he turned around.
The empty corridor, there was nothing there.
He bit his lip, his grip on the handrail loosened, and he slowly squatted down, burying his head in his knees.
The corridor lights were glaring, almost dazzling.
The passage of time in the two worlds was completely different. In the other world, nearly half a year had passed, while on this side, Ruan Jiujiu had only spent half a day.
With hope of returning in her heart, she stepped into the door of the Internet cafe.
One minute later.
Ruan Jiujiu encountered the most challenging thing in her life.
That was – having no money.
Her phone couldn’t use payment functions, and she didn’t have a single cent on her. After searching herself thoroughly and maintaining a silent stare-off with the network administrator, Ruan Jiujiu began to consider whether she should sell her earrings. They were made of silver, so they might still be worth something.
Just as she hesitated, the network administrator guy said in a soft voice, “I’ve seen many girls like you, and most of them refuse without hesitation, after all, my salary isn’t much.”
Ruan Jiujiu: “?”
“But, a straightforward and unpretentious girl like you, this is the first time I’ve seen one,” he brushed his hair back, “Don’t mention monthly, even a yearly subscription is fine. I’ll give you the best spot.”
Ruan Jiujiu paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that he seemed to be mistaking her for a girl who had come to the Internet cafe to use it for free.
“Wait, that’s not what I meant…”
“No need to say more!”
The guy turned away from her with a casual wave of his hand, saying, “I can’t resist girls like you who can breathe.”
Ruan Jiujiu: “…”
It really didn’t take much to please him.
The network administrator helped her set up a computer in a corner with a decent location, far away from the guys playing games as usual. She was about to express her gratitude when her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly, and the awkward silence between the two resumed.
Ruan Jiujiu: “…” It really wasn’t her fault!
The network administrator guy casually took out his phone from his pocket and opened a food delivery app, saying, “Tell me what you want to eat. I can even afford hot pot with beer.”
“Really, there’s no need!” She really didn’t plan to freeload on food and drinks!
Despite being tired and hungry, Ruan Jiujiu still declined.
She just couldn’t bring herself to accept food and drinks when she hadn’t figured out what was going on. The network administrator guy left without saying a word, and while Ruan Jiujiu was waiting for the computer to start up and began searching for that document, he returned with food.
“The restaurant across the street has decent food.”
“Oh, this…”
“It’s fine, it didn’t cost much.”
Feeling embarrassed, Ruan Jiujiu accepted a plate of fried rice and a drink. As soon as the guy left, she hastily opened the plastic bag and started stuffing herself with food, as if she had been starving for days.
While she still had food in her mouth, Ruan Jiujiu took a few more bites of fried rice, and it choked her. She was just about to open the drink when she suddenly wondered if there might be something in the drink. Immediately, she also thought that the food might not be clean. With these thoughts in mind, Ruan Jiujiu’s stomach churned, and she pushed her chair away, rushing to the restroom and vomiting everything out.
She dry heaved while tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.
Having been around Cheng Jun for so long, she had lost some of her original caution. She had accepted food from a stranger so easily. Ruan Jiujiu cursed herself for her foolishness, even though the person seemed harmless, he wasn’t Cheng Jun, and she shouldn’t have trusted him so easily.
She cupped her hands under the cold water and splashed her face to wake herself up.
Not eating or drinking wasn’t a big deal. As long as she found a way back, she could endure a bit of hunger and thirst as a small sacrifice.
Ruan Jiujiu straightened herself up, her reflection in the mirror looked a bit tired, with red eyes and wet hair sticking to her forehead, making her appear somewhat disheveled. She wiped her face clean with a tissue, took a deep breath, and then left the restroom.
Cheng Jun must be getting worried by now. He might be searching for her in the middle of the night. She needed to find a way back as soon as possible!
Ruan Jiujiu returned to her seat and pushed the food and drink aside. She took off her earrings and put them in her pocket to make herself look less like someone with money.
Once she finished checking the information, she planned to leave her earrings as a reward for the person who helped her. Regardless of whether they were genuinely kind or had ulterior motives, she was grateful that someone had provided her with a warm meal.
Ruan Jiujiu opened the website she hadn’t visited in a long time, logged into her account, and found her subscription history.
At the very end of the list was the last book she had subscribed to.
As she looked at the familiar novel title, Ruan Jiujiu took a deep breath, clicked on it, and quickly skimmed through the plot.
When she saw the female lead recalling her past life and mentioning Cheng Jun’s name, her heart trembled, but unfortunately, the story glossed over it with only a few brief mentions.
From the first chapter to the last, the entire book’s plot unfolded like a movie, and familiar faces automatically played out in Ruan Jiujiu’s mind.
This novel had been completed for over half a year, yet the first chapter still had occasional comments criticizing the author, saying the female lead wasn’t worthy of the male lead, and making other negative remarks. She opened the author’s profile, which indicated that the author hadn’t updated for a long time. Perhaps they had given up writing, or maybe they had been discouraged by the negative comments. The latest update date remained stuck on the completion chapter.
Seeing the update date, Ruan Jiujiu felt a strange and complicated emotion she couldn’t quite describe.
The author’s synopsis stated that anyone who criticized the story must dress up as the vicious supporting female character. Could it be that if she wrote a long critique, she would be able to return?
She clicked on the comments section, filled in her reader name as “Jiujiu,” and began typing on the keyboard. After a while, a lengthy critique filled with sharp words and pinpoint criticisms of the entire story was completed. With a final sentence, she heaved a long sigh.
Her cursor hovered over the send button for a while.
Her fingertip couldn’t bring itself to click.
Ruan Jiujiu reread her own comment, pursed her lips, and hesitated for a moment before deleting the extensive critique she had written and started writing a new one. She still pointed out the flaws in the story and some aspects worth criticizing at the beginning.
As she typed, her typing speed slowed down, and she continued to type the next line. Finally, she left one sentence.
“Despite its many shortcomings, thank you for the world you’ve brought me. Please don’t give up writing.”
She clicked send.
Ruan Jiujiu slumped exhaustedly on the computer desk, not moving.
The main characters in the story were no longer just symbols in her mind. After writing that lengthy critique, it seemed to go against her original intention. Besides, the author had already concluded the story.
“…”
She needed to think of another way.
Ruan Jiujiu took a short nap while lying on the desk, planning to wake up and contact the author on Weibo to find a new solution.
In the midst of a hazy sleep in the middle of the night, she sneezed and rubbed her eyes, sitting up straight. The computer screen was still on, displaying the page of her lengthy comment. She instinctively clicked refresh and saw that there were replies below.
1st comment: +1
2nd comment: The OP made a fair point.
3rd comment: Kind of touched, what’s going on?
…
Ruan Jiujiu scrolled down slowly and reached the 10th comment, which showed a reply from the author.
Author: Sorry, it’s been a while since I logged in. I was actually thinking of updating a few extra chapters, so feel free to check them out if you’re interested. I won’t give up on writing.
Extra chapters?
…Wait a minute.
Updates, extra chapters?
Ruan Jiujiu couldn’t believe her eyes as she rubbed them, and her heart started pounding wildly.
She had a feeling that she was going back!
Author’s note: Today’s update is a bit slow, sorry!
Tomorrow’s updates might be a bit unstable, but I’ll try to update before 6 PM. There will still be bonus updates as compensation. Sorry for the slower pace as we’re nearing the end of the main story~
Also, tomorrow the two of them will finally meet!
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