In the early morning, Lu Shouyue sat on the balcony, in front of him were sunshine, beach, and waves, and behind him was a comfortable living room with central air conditioning lowering the room temperature. The glass doors of the living room were wide open; the cool breeze seeped out from indoors, making the expansive balcony pleasant as well. Lu Shouyue leisurely appreciated the sheet music imported into his iPad, silently humming the melody while reading the score. After humming just one or two lines, he felt the tune was familiar; where had he heard it before? He tapped on the video Xiao Chong played on the zither sent to him by Lin Wanwan stored on his phone, suddenly realizing, "Ha, it’s actually this one." Lu Shouyue smiled faintly, sent a WeChat message to Lin Wanwan, "Wanwan, before I didn’t look carefully at the tune of the sheet music, I was preoccupied with checking its authenticity and calligraphy. Now looking again, let me tell you some good news, the value of your sheet music can increase, even masters in the zither community might be interested in collecting it. If it is authenticated as genuine, it can confirm two things. First, the story of Boya and Zhong Ziqi is not just a tale; it’s a true story, proven by ’High Mountain and Flowing Water’; second, the ’High Mountain and Flowing Water’ that has been submerged in the river of history appears again, and being so captivating, it will certainly cause a stir in the zither community. Are you planning to auction it? If you do, I can help you orchestrate it; creating buzz for two or three months before the auction will make the price more ideal." After clicking send, there was no response from Lin Wanwan. Lu Shouyue sighed helplessly, he had become a missing person now. He didn’t know whether she hadn’t gotten up or if she had gone out alone again; in any case, she wouldn’t come looking for him. Alas, he thought that by inviting Lin Wanwan to Qiong Ya, traveling and playing together, their relationship could naturally and rapidly advance! Unexpectedly, reality was disrupted at the very first step after getting off the plane because Lin Wanwan insisted on staying at a hotel, and afterwards he couldn’t even find her shadow. Thinking about staying at the hotel, Lu Shouyue suddenly froze. Right, why don’t I just stay next to her? Why am I stuck with Old Wang, someone with whom I have mutual disgust? Listening to them downstairs living a drunken and lavish life, while I sit foolishly alone on the second-floor balcony looking at the sea and reading a book. Lu Shouyue slapped his forehead, crying at his own stupidity; now, however, it’s too late for regret, since the two had already agreed to fly back tonight. He couldn’t help but open the shopping website on his iPad, and on the homepage, after being analyzed by big data, it showed contents he previously searched for, including a book entitled ’Love Secrets — A Guide to Getting Out of Singlehood.’ Lu Shouyue stared at the book cover disdainfully yet hesitantly for a moment, ready to order it to his usual residence when Wang Bocheng’s voice suddenly came from the door, and he hurriedly switched back to the sheet music screen. The identity of an intellectual and guest professor cannot be discarded. The door wasn’t fully open, but Wang Bocheng’s voice was heard first, "Old Lu, what are you up to? Come down quickly, we’re playing poker; come team up with me." "Alright." Lu Shouyue put down the iPad, got up, and walked over. Going for a game of poker to sweat it out is not bad; otherwise, he’d start acting foolishly. The plan of the day is determined in the morning; how can one be foolish in the morning? Near the dock, amidst a dilapidated and dark alley, stood a house filled with the smell of medicine, constructed with a few broken wooden boards and straw. In front of the house, an elderly woman and a child stood absentmindedly in front of the useless broken door, looking around. Her son and her father — the only backbone of the family, went out last night, still not returned. The two caught a crab at the edge of the mudflat in the morning, cooked it, and split it to deceive their stomachs; from last night to now, they hadn’t eaten anything else. Though the two were rumbling with hunger, the scariest thing wasn’t the hunger at the moment, but the man who returned at the hour every day to bring the grandmother and granddaughter something to eat, today, was still not back even after the hour. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on ⓝovelFire.net "Grandma, why hasn’t dad come back yet?" The little girl, although withered and yellow, had her hair combed clean, looked at her grandmother, full of questions. "It’s okay, your dad is just held up by something, he’ll be back soon." At forty but looking sixty, the weathered old lady patted the little girl’s head, although anxious inside, her face remained calm. In fact, she knew exactly what her son went out for last night. Otherwise, how can a mere beggar sustain two burdens? And one of them is a medicine pot. She could weave some cloth to support the family, but being physically weak, she often needed medicine to prolong her life. He still hasn’t returned yet; did he get caught last night? Was he sent to the government or... In the old lady’s mind emerged a thief who years ago stole grain from a squire’s home, got beaten half to death, thrown onto the road, and died that night; tossed onto a graveyard. A thief’s ’death’ didn’t even warrant a question from the government. They are fleeing households, not registered, the government doesn’t even arrest them, which is regarded as fortunate, who would care about their lives. Her mind filled with many possible tragic outcomes for her son, remorse and heartache swirled, repeatedly tangled. She shouldn’t have taken medicine, shouldn’t be alive... But without her, who would take care of this poor child? Her dad certainly wouldn’t bring up the child. As she was tangled, suddenly, the sound of running echoed in the alley. The elderly and the young one shook with spirit, raised their eyes toward the source of the sound. Against the light, the setting sun rendered the incoming person into a silhouette, yet even so, the two immediately recognized who it was. The little girl freed herself from the old lady’s hand, ran towards the man with outstretched arms. The visitor was indeed Sun Chuyao; he picked up his daughter, placed her on his shoulder, happily walked to the old lady. "Ama (Qiong State dialect), come on, enjoy the blessings with me." Sun Chuyao took out a piece of chocolate already slightly melted wrapped in dirty oil paper from his arms, handed it to the old lady, "Eat, this is a good thing." The old lady took the chocolate, stuffed it into the little girl’s mouth: "Treasure, you eat, grandma doesn’t like to eat." Then she grabbed Sun Chuyao and searched him up and down; no wounds, no trace of being beaten, she was relieved, slapped him on the arm angrily, "Going out for so long without saying anything." The little girl quickly hugged her father’s head with one hand, holding the remaining half piece of chocolate, stuffed it into the old lady’s mouth with the other, also with her own little mouth full of half chocolate, mumbling, "Don’t hit, don’t hit, delicious, grandma eat." Sun Chuyao took a slap, but it didn’t hurt at all, instead, he laughed, "Your son met a fairy! Let’s go, tonight we’ll sleep in a spacious and clean cabin!" "What cabin, what fairy? You’re not dazed, are you?" The old lady was puzzled. Sun Chuyao looked around; the dilapidated neighbors were living so difficultly they could hardly make it, naturally, indifferent and uncaring about others’ affairs, thus there were no people watching here. Seeing no one noticed, he pulled his shirt lapel, showed the old lady a quick look at a glass bead, then dragged her away, "Quick, Ama, we must go fast, later after sunset, the road will be hard to navigate." The old lady was dazzled by the shiny thing that just flashed in her eyes, pulled away towards the outside, hastily said, "The door isn’t closed yet." Sun Chuyao said boldly, "What door to close; all these broken things, don’t want them anymore. Girl, we’re staying on a big boat!" "Oh, staying on a big boat!" The little girl joyfully clapped on her father’s shoulder. The old lady wanted to turn back, but was pushed forward by Sun Chuyao forcibly, following her son with blame, with nostalgia, with anticipation towards the place of brightness.