Chapter 128: IFâLu Yanli (Extra 1)
Shen Tangqing was woken up by his alarm clock.
He couldn’t help but knit his brows.
After opening his eyes, he was stunned.
He sat bolt upright, but because he had maintained one position for too long, his neck was stiff and his arm was numb. He couldn’t help but put on a “mask of pain.”
After shaking his hand, he stood up.
Looking at the familiar rental room, his expression was full of disbelief.
Wasn’t his lifespan exhausted? How did he transmigrate back?
“System…”
“System?”
He called the system several times in his heart, but unfortunately, 0032 didn’t reply to him instantly as it used to.
He realized with hindsight: was all of that just a dream he had after falling asleep?
Butâ
If it was a dream, it was too realistic.
But there wasn’t much time for him to think, because the alarm clock rang for the second time.
If he didn’t finish washing up and head out, he would be late for work.
Being late once meant a fifty-yuan deduction, and his “full attendance bonus” would be gone along with it.
After turning off the alarm, he went into the bathroom to wash up.
Itâs easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.
Shen Tangqing stood in the tiny bathroom, sighing as he brushed his teeth.
Suddenly turning from a rich man back into a “corporate slave” [niu ma] who owed three thousand yuan in Huabei creditâthe psychological gap was truly a bit large.
After washing up and quickly changing clothes, Shen Tangqing grabbed his phone and keys and went out the door.
Where he lived was very far from where he worked. It took five minutes to walk from the residential complex to the bus stop. He had to take Route 181 to Hongxing Road, then transfer to Route 72 to the bus stop downstairs from his company.
Without traffic, the journey took one hour and twenty-five minutes.
However, he usually allowed half an hour for traffic jams and waiting for the bus.
After all, during the morning peak in the Capital, it was rarely without traffic jams.
Shen Tangqing lived in an old, small residential area.
This entire area was made up of houses allocated by the government, which locals mostly rented out to people from out of town.
It was a “tube building” [tenement building]; the environment wasn’t great, but the surrounding facilities were fairly convenient.
Of course, the most important thing was that the rent was cheap.
He rented the sixth floorâone bedroom and one living room for six hundred yuan a month.
After Shen Tangqing went downstairs, he bought two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk at the breakfast stall next to the complex. He ate as he walked toward the bus stop.
For breakfast, he basically just made do with whatever.
There was no helping it; time was too tight in the morning, and this saved more time.
…
The people squeezing onto the bus in the morning were all corporate slaves going to work and grandpas and grandmas rushing to buy cheap eggs.
The terminus of Route 181 was the city center, so as soon as the bus stopped, a crowd of people swarmed toward it.
Shen Tangqing was pushed by the crowd and finally got on the bus.
As for seats, they were gone long ago.
It wasn’t until he finally clocked in at the company that Shen Tangqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Work started at 8:30 AM; it was now 8:25 AM. He had arrived five minutes early.
Sitting at his familiar workstation, Shen Tangqing was still a bit dazed.
“What are you thinking about?” His colleague Ran Ling patted his shoulder.
Shen Tangqing suddenly snapped back. He gave Ran Ling a polite smile.
“Nothing… what is it?”
“I called you just now and you didn’t answer. Turn the products in this document into a table format and send it to me later.”
Shen Tangqing took the document from her hand and nodded. “Okay.”
After Ran Ling left, Shen Tangqing skillfully opened his computer and began a busy day of work.
…
At 5:30 PM.
He finally survived until clock-out time.
By the time Shen Tangqing dragged his exhausted body back to his residential complex, he felt as if he had aged several years.
He bought two yuan worth of small green vegetables and a few eggs at the vegetable stall nearby before heading home.
He planned to just cook some noodles and make do for dinner.
Today was the 12th; there were eight days left until payday.
He only had three hundred-plus yuan left in his WeChat account, and he still owed over three thousand in Huabei and a thousand on his credit card. He had to be frugal.
Arriving home.
Shen Tangqing sat slumped on the old sofa, his gaze fixed on the mold spot on the ceiling.
He called for the system a few more times, refuse to give up, but there was still no response.
Shen Tangqing was in despair.
The previous experiences really were just a dream of his.
Now that the dream had ended, he was still that debt-ridden corporate slave.
…
After a week had passed, Shen Tangqing felt he had adapted to his current life again.
He couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
He really was a “Chosen Corporate Slave” [beast of burden].
After work, Shen Tangqing didn’t want to eat noodles anymore.
He went to the convenience store and bought two packs of hot and sour rice noodlesâmainly because one pack wouldn’t fill him up.
He was running low on shampoo, so he grabbed a bottle while he was at it.
Returning to the rental room, Shen Tangqing couldn’t help but glance at the door opposite his.
Two days ago, he saw things being moved out; it seemed the tenant had moved.
There had been no movement these past two days.
Though it was also possible he just came home too late.
He entered his room and went directly into the kitchen. Just as he finished cooking the hot and sour rice noodles, there was a knock at the door.
Shen Tangqing was a bit confused; he didn’t know who would knock on his door this late at night.
He put the bowl on the table and went to open the door.
When he saw the person outside the door, Shen Tangqingâs pupils contracted sharply.
His entire being froze on the spot.
It wasâ
Lu Yanli?
Shen Tangqingâs brain suddenly became a mess.
Is this person Lu Yanli or someone who looks very much like Lu Yanli?
Were those memories a dream? Or were they real?
Lu Yanliâs gaze landed on Shen Tangqingâs shocked face.
He could be almost certain that Shen Tangqing also had the memories.
His hand holding a box tightened, trying his best to restrain the emotions surging within him.
In his previous life, he had knelt and kowtowed at every third step for ten thousand steps up the Cloud Ladder, praying to the Buddha to grant him a lifetime of destiny with Shen Tangqing.
The Buddha took pity on him.
On the night before he passed away, he had a dreamâa dream of this Shen Tangqing in this world.
When he opened his eyes, he had actually transmigrated into this world.
Although it was inconceivable, after Lu Yanli quickly calmed down, only wild joy remained.
Now, at the moment he saw Shen Tangqing, he almost wanted to shed tears.
In this life, he finally had a chance.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he was the first to speak.
“Hello, Iâm the new neighbor who just moved in. My name is Lu Yanli. These are egg tarts I baked myself; I brought some for you to try.”
Lu Yanliâs words snapped Shen Tangqing back to his senses.
His chaotic brain failed to give him a reasonable explanation.
His mouth spoke before he could think.
“Brother Lu, don’t you recognize me?”
Lu Yanliâs expression carried a deliberate confusion. “It seems we are meeting for the first time.”
After he spoke, he extended his hand, his sharp features softening. “My name is Lu Yanli. Iâm very glad to meet you.”
Lu Yanli didn’t intend to acknowledge the past with Shen Tangqing. He didn’t want to be Shen Tangqingâs brother; he wanted to be his man.
It was a very formal way of greeting.
Shen Tangqingâs heart sank.
The person in front of him wasn’t the Lu Yanli he knew; those things really were a dream.
However, suddenly seeing someone who looked exactly like Lu Yanli and even had the same name, Shen Tangqing still found it miraculous.
Inexplicably, he felt a bit more of a sense of closeness.
He reached out and shook hands with Lu Yanli.
“Hello, my name is Shen Tangqing.”
They touched and released.
Lu Yanli lowered his eyes, his thick lashes hiding the emotions he wanted to leak out.
After a few seconds, he slowly looked up.
“Shen Tangqing, can we add each other on WeChat? I just moved here and Iâm not very familiar with the surroundings…”
“Oh, sure.”
After Shen Tangqing said that, he stepped aside. “My phone is in the room. Come in and sit for a while.”
Lu Yanliâs Adam’s apple bobbed for an instant.
It took a few seconds before he uttered a single word: “Okay.”
âââ
Translator’s Note: Welcome to the “Modern World” extra! Here, Shen Tangqing is back to being a “Niu Ma” (ç銏). This is Chinese internet slang that literally means “Ox and Horse,” but it’s used to describe exhausted workers who are treated like beasts of burden by their bosses. It’s the ultimate term for a corporate slave. Lu Yanli’s return is so sweetâhe literally prayed to the Buddha for another chance! And he’s already using the “new neighbor” tactic. Smooth.
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