Chapter 1

I have someone... someone I want to find, no matter life or death, no matter how far apart we are.

I’ve been searching for her for a very long time, so long that I’ve forgotten the passage of time, but I will keep searching.

Our relationship can’t be defined by so-called love, family, or friendship. We are two lonely souls who rely on each other, indispensable parts of each other’s lives.

One day, after I had just withdrawn money from the bank, a girl in her early twenties suddenly grabbed me, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"Brother, can you help me? I need money."

I looked at her suspiciously and saw that her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice trembled as she said,

"Brother, I’m really at my wits' end, that’s why I’m borrowing money from you. My parents are divorced, and I left with my father, away from my mother.

Later, my father became addicted to gambling, sold the house, and ran off with the money, leaving me here. I don’t have a single cent on me. Please, lend me some money so I can go back to my mother. I’m not a liar, really."

Many people around us pointed and said she was a liar. I thought so at first too, but looking at the girl’s innocent face, it didn’t seem fake.

At that moment, I thought that the person I’m looking for might also have encountered similar troubles. If someone had helped her, perhaps she would have returned to me long ago.

If there were fewer cold-hearted people in this world, perhaps it would be a better place.

I patiently continued talking to her. In the conversation, I learned that she was a college student before the incident at home. After the incident, she couldn’t continue her studies, so she took a leave of absence.

She planned to go back to school after finding her mother. She knew her mother wasn’t easy, as she was also taking care of her two elderly grandparents. She said she would work part-time and study hard, and in the future, she would become a lawyer to help those in need.

Looking at the girl in the sunlight, I felt that people with dreams are truly beautiful.

So, I chose to believe her. I gave her a room to rest in and counted out a thousand yuan for her. I only had seventeen hundred left in my card, and I planned to buy her a train ticket for the next day.

Then you burst in.

"Hmm, today we caught over a dozen people, and your story is the most interesting."

In the interrogation room, a female police officer was writing something on the documents in front of her.

Sitting in front of her was a tall young man in his twenties, dressed in simple casual clothes, with a clean-cut short haircut. He had a high nose bridge and sharp lips, which under the light seemed to be coated with a layer of white glaze.

"Name?"

"Xia Ya."

"Pretty Western-sounding."

"Ya means 'second best.' It’s about being humble and wise, not showing off too much."

"Any aliases?"

"Xia Yi, Xia Ming, Xia Ci..."

"Stop!"

The female officer’s forehead creased, but she quickly calmed down and wrote Xia Yi under aliases.

"Date of birth."

"Daoguang twenty-fourth year."

"What?"

"1844, after the Opium War, the Year of the Dragon..."

The female officer’s forehead veins bulged, and she clenched her fists. She took out an ID card from a file and looked at the date of birth.

April 1, 2050.

The female officer raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised, but still wrote 32 years old on the document and filled in the subsequent information based on the ID card.

"Alright, you can go. Someone has already paid your fine, and they’re waiting for you outside..."

...

"Phew~"

Walking out of the police station, Xia Ya took a deep breath. Although he had been in jail many times, both domestically and abroad, he still didn’t like the feeling of being restrained.

A black Phaeton was parked at the entrance. A man with neatly groomed gray hair and beard stood by the open door. Seeing Xia Ya come out, he bowed slightly.

"Second Master."

Xia Ya responded softly, without hesitation, and bent down to sit in the back seat of the Phaeton. The old man also got in, and the car slowly started moving...

"Second Master, why did you go to such a place?" the old man said steadily. "If you really had that kind of need, I could have found you some maids, no need to go to..."

"Maids? The Qing Dynasty is long gone, and landlords no longer exist. Your thinking is still stuck in the old days."

The old man laughed awkwardly. "I’m old-fashioned."

"Should be called maidservants..."

The old man: ...

"Just a joke. You might as well use the money to give me some extra pocket money. You give me so little every month, it’s not enough."

As he spoke, Xia Ya skillfully picked up a blue thermal cup from under the seat.

He opened the lid of the thermal cup, and steam rose. He poured the water into the lid, and on the reddish surface, a few goji berries floated.

He took a sip of the goji berry water and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"If you didn’t spend so much on those fake health supplements, it would definitely be enough."

"That’s a formula that people broke their ancestral rules to publish. How can it be fake? Look at my condition, it’s working well, isn’t it?

I’m not saying this to criticize you, Ah Xu, but so-called health preservation is more effective the earlier you start. Look at you, you’re only eighty-three and already have a head full of white hair. Do you want to die young like your grandfather at the age of one hundred and twenty?"

Lin Xu was silent for a moment and then nodded.

"Yes."

"Look at your lack of ambition. Your grandfather used to wish for my death. Even in his coffin, he opened his eyes and watched me breathe for twenty minutes before passing away."

Lin Xu said softly, "Seeing you like this, I can send Ya away."

"So you need to learn from me. Start health preservation early, and start drinking goji berry water.

Do a set of Ba Duan Jin and Tai Chi every morning, maintain a young and humorous mindset, and learn to embrace new things. You’ll naturally stay young. You’re so old at such a young age."

Lin Xu looked at the young man sitting next to him, who looked no more than twenty, and sighed, "I think you have a big misunderstanding about health preservation."

Xia Ya sighed, "People’s hearts are not what they used to be. Young people these days don’t listen to advice..."

He turned to look out the window, watching the street scenes pass by like a fast-forwarded film. Perhaps because of his answers at the police station, his thoughts gradually drifted back to the past...

...

1934, Spring.

"Oh, Miss, you have such good taste. This child has been smart since he was little. If you adopt him, you’ll surely be happy in the future."

At the entrance of the Huadi Orphanage.

A woman in an apron was smiling at the woman in front of her, with a young boy in rough clothes standing beside her. Though he looked only eight or nine, his eyes were deep and calm, like the surface of an ancient well.

He lacked the usual curiosity and vitality of a child, instead appearing old beyond his years.

In troubled times, the orphanage was already struggling to make ends meet. When someone came to adopt a child, it was a relief for the orphanage.

The woman in front was wearing a light blue, simple, pearl-edged blouse and a silver-red pleated skirt.

Though she wasn’t heavily made up, her face and arms were fair and translucent, like a mountain fairy.

The woman in the apron guessed she was at most twenty, but her soul seemed to extend to her feet, making her appear ageless and ethereal.

And her fine silk clothes indicated she was from a wealthy family. The boy would likely have a good life with her.

She smiled at the woman, bent down to be at eye level with the boy, and smiled, making the surrounding scenery pale in comparison...

"Hello, my name is Ya. I’m a friend of your mother. From now on, you will live with me."