Chapter 1

The moment I saw Jiang Haozhi, I knew he was a liar.

A few days earlier, while I was waiting tables, I had accidentally stained his friend’s clothes.

His friend knew I couldn’t afford to pay for them and cursed me out.

Then, looking thoroughly disgusted, he told me to get lost and said he’d chalk it up to bad luck.

Jiang Haozhi probably wanted to make me suffer some bad luck too and amuse himself in the process.

That was why he had gone to all the trouble of changing into a delivery uniform and putting on an innocent expression before coming over to chat me up.

I stared silently at Jiang Haozhi.

I wanted to tell him to drop the act.

A year ago, he and his friend had dined at the restaurant where I worked.

They had brought their own bottle of Yamazaki 55, worth more than three million yuan.

But I was so exhausted that even speaking felt like a burden.

I had worked twenty-six days at the restaurant that month.

On the other four, I took jobs doing deep cleaning in people’s homes.

Whenever I stood up, my vision often went black.

I watched his lips move as he told lies I couldn’t make out and didn’t care to hear.

I walked around him and turned into the alley to find my parked e-bike.

It was lying on its side.

Maybe the kickstand had broken again.

Thinking that, I bent down and tried to lift it.

I couldn’t.

I swear I used every bit of strength I had.

But that bike was like my life, whose end I could never see.

It lay there without budging an inch.

Suddenly, someone came over and helped me lift it upright.

It was Jiang Haozhi.

I nodded to him and wheeled the bike out of the alley.

I don’t know why, but after only a couple of steps, tears began pouring from my eyes.

Jiang Haozhi hurried after me, fumbling out a packet of tissues and holding it toward me.

“Why are you crying? What happened? Are you upset?”

I pressed the tissues hard against my eyes, struggling not to break down and sob.

On my twenty-second birthday, someone helped me lift the e-bike I couldn’t lift myself.

He handed me a clean tissue and asked if I was upset.

Even if all he wanted was to make a fool of me.

At that moment,

I still decided to forget the bottle of Yamazaki 55.

I pretended I knew nothing and added him as a contact.

Jiang Haozhi and I soon became a couple in name.

Although he moved into my rented apartment, I wasn’t worried he would try anything with me.

I had sensed his distaste for me from the start.

We came from two different worlds. It was only natural.

He said he respected me and could sleep on the couch at night.

I said all right and brought him a pillow and a blanket.

When I got home the next day, I expected him to be gone.

One night in this miserable apartment was probably enough to give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

To my surprise, he was still there.

As soon as he saw me, he sprang up from the couch and pointed at the food on the table.

“A customer ordered this delivery and then didn’t want it. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it, so I saved it for you.”

Slightly surprised, I nodded and said, “Thank you.”

Jiang Haozhi sat beside me.

“Would you stop being so polite all the time? Why are you thanking me?”

I smiled, picked up my chopsticks, and began eating dinner.

A bowl of grilled eel over rice, a few yakitori skewers, and a serving of almond tofu.

It was my first time eating any of them, so I ate slowly.

After working hard all day, I had come home to delicious food I would never have bought for myself.

And there was someone beside me to talk to.

It was different from all the numb, dreary, exhausting days that had endlessly repeated before.

People suffer because they are always trying to hold on to things that do not belong to them.

They even mistake those things for happiness.

Fortunately, I had learned that lesson long ago. I no longer expected anything from anyone.

Anything extra I received was a gift from fate.

He sat beside me, watching me eat as he made conversation.

“Hey, Xiaohe, how did you get that name? Who chose it, your dad or your mom?”

I swallowed the food in my mouth, thought for a moment, and said, “I don’t know.”

Jiang Haozhi wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

“Why don’t you know? Ask them.”

I had no choice but to say, “My parents are both gone.”

Jiang Haozhi’s expression froze for an instant.

I didn’t want him to feel guilty or uncomfortable.

I wasn’t ready for him to leave so soon.

So I lied. “I’ll ask my uncle sometime. He should know.”

“After my parents died, I lived with my uncle’s family. They’ve always treated me very well.”

“What about you? Who chose your name?”

Sure enough, Jiang Haozhi’s face relaxed.

“Oh, my name? My grandfather chose it. He was very—”

“Ahem. Very particular about these things. He even hired someone to read my fortune.”

I smiled. “Then you must have been born to a very fortunate life.”

Jiang Haozhi scoffed.

“I’m a delivery guy. What kind of fortunate life is that?”

“But I think you have a wonderful personality. You’re handsome, and your family loves you so much.”

“You should have a very happy life.”

Jiang Haozhi rubbed his nose, looking a little awkward.

“Oh.”