I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Zhou Man acted very quickly. The next day at noon, Shen Kang saw the message in the "Operation Coordination Committee" group, saying that the house had been found, fully furnished and ready to move in. She then gave the address and asked everyone to gather together to see the house.

Although Shen Kang had booked an all-nighter yesterday, he had been sleeping since 1 a.m. Aside from a slight discomfort in his neck, he was in good spirits, so he took a taxi there.

The meeting place was the clubhouse of a high-end residential community called "Shenlan Waterfront," which could also be called the owners' activity center.

Zhou Man waited for them in the lobby, and after everyone had arrived, she led them directly into the residential area.

Shen Kang knew about this residential complex; it was a well-known high-end residential building in Yangcheng, with one apartment per floor and no small units, all of them being large apartments of over 200 square meters.

Walking through the community, the greenery is excellent, with trees and flowers everywhere, and an artificial river meanders through it, with a wooden bridge across it.

Zhou Man led them to an eight-story residential building, took the elevator to the top floor, and went inside.

Upon entering, you'll find a striking, extra-large living room. It's open-plan with a single, sealed floor-to-ceiling window that provides excellent natural light, making the room very bright.

"I misjudged it before; it wasn't a villa, but this large single-level apartment."

"This place has a total area of ​​271 square meters, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Although the terrace is legally considered a public space, it is actually ours to use. We'll all go up and take a look together later, but for now, let's look at each room first..."

The group looked around from room to room.

This house is truly move-in ready; everything is furnished and equipped with all the appliances. Each bedroom has a slightly different style, but they are all consistent with the overall style of the house—Swiss. In terms of size, the master bedroom is slightly larger, while the other three bedrooms are roughly the same size.

After looking at this floor, everyone went up to the terrace. There was a flower bed, a pool, a sunroom, a long storage room, and a large terrace space with wooden flooring. There was a long table in the middle, and the sky was visible above. There was also a grill in the corner.

Finally, the family of four came into the living room and sat around the desk in the study.

This house is bizarre; the study is directly integrated with the living room, separated only by a chest-high bar counter. It looks nice, but it's incredibly impractical.

However, Zhou Man was well aware of her father's intention in choosing this particular house—he only wanted one living room so that everyone could easily bump into each other. In this respect, villas were too outdated; each floor had a living room area, and if you really wanted to hide, you could live there for a year without ever seeing each other.

"Is everyone okay with staying here?" Zhou Man asked first.

No one objected, except for Xiao Bonian, who asked, "Is there a parking space for me?"

"I bought four parking spaces, Mr. Xiao, you can use one. I also have another car parked downstairs, the key is in the entrance hall, it's a spare car, anyone who wants to use it can use it."

"Then I'm all set."

"Let's talk about bedroom allocation..."

After some discussion, the bedrooms were quickly assigned: the two bedrooms on the left side of the living room were to be divided, with the master bedroom for Zhou Man and the second bedroom for Xiao Bonian. The two bedrooms on the right side of the living room were to be shared by Shen Kang and He Qiuzhu.

They also met the nanny, a woman in her forties surnamed Liang. She seemed quite friendly and was responsible for three meals a day and daily cleaning. She didn't live in the house.

After everything was arranged, everyone dispersed.

Zhou Man went to work, Xiao Bonian returned to school, and He Qiuzhu went back to her uncle's place to pack her things.

Shen Kang made an appointment with someone and rushed to "E-Net All-in-One" - it has to be said that the boss is a genius for choosing such an unlucky name.

However, its advantage lies in its low price: 2 yuan per hour for non-members, and 100 yuan free for members who recharge 100 yuan, which works out to 1 yuan per hour, so business has always been good.

Shen Kang sat and waited for a while. Bored and not wanting to play games, he started searching for information about various industries in 2008, hoping to find some entrepreneurial projects.

In this life, he severed all emotional ties and vowed to dedicate all his energy to his career. He had been busy with the affairs of his contractual family, but now that things were settled, it was time to start building his business.

But there are too many bad people hindering his career.

Before he could even finish searching, his QQ rang. Someone had requested to add him as a friend. The request message read, "I am Zou Jiajia, add me."

Who is Zou Jiajia?

Shen Kang was certain he didn't know this person, so he ignored it and continued searching for industry information.

A few minutes later, Yin Mingyang sent him a QQ message: "Zou Jiajia wants you to accept her friend request."

Who is Zou Jiajia?

"She's a classmate of yours, didn't she greet you at the hotel entrance the other day?"

It was that female classmate, Shen Kang remembered.

Just as he was about to reply with "Received," Yin Mingyang sent another message: "Old Shen, I've heard that people in their thirties are like wolves and in their forties like tigers, and it seems to be true. Look, your memory is declining; it must be because you've been working too hard lately and your energy is depleted. This really won't do; you really can't keep going like this."

Shen Kang was exasperated. He typed, "I'm so busy looking for startup projects that I'm completely overwhelmed." He then casually accepted Zou Jiajia's friend request.

Then Zou Jiajia quickly sent a message, "Shen Kang, I just checked your space."

"..."

Shen Kang typed: "Thanks, I also left a comment for you."

"Your QQ name is strange. Aren't you surnamed Shen? Why are you calling yourself 'General Manager Wang'?"

Who uses their real name online anymore?

"Yeah, right, I just noticed your signature is really interesting, what does it mean?"

"I don't know either, I just wrote it down."

……

Guys, does anyone understand? Women can be so talkative when they take the initiative!

Shen Kang could tell that Zou Jiajia had a strong desire to talk to him that night, and now it was confirmed. She kept sending messages, trying to find things to talk about from all sorts of strange angles, and it would be impolite not to reply.

Thankfully, the person he was waiting for finally arrived.

"I'm going to take a shower now, that's all for now."

Shen Kang quickly ended the conversation, closed QQ, then stood up and waved to the person who was looking around.

"here."

The person was a girl, a little older than Shen Kang, in her early twenties. She was very pretty, wearing makeup, and dressed in a simple short-sleeved shirt and jeans, looking youthful and radiant.

Her name is Li Xiangjun. She grew up with Shen Kang at the Yangcheng Third Welfare Home and is 21 years old this year. However, unlike Shen Kang, she didn't do well in school. She didn't continue her studies after graduating from junior high school and went out to work. She would occasionally come back to the welfare home and took good care of Shen Kang, like an older sister.

Shen Kang's membership at this internet cafe was paid for by her.

It was thanks to Li Xiangjun's sponsorship of internet fees that Shen Kang was able to go online regularly, and that he got to know his current "family" on Tieba.

"You didn't even offer to turn my computer on first."

Li Xiangjun plopped down, bent over to press the power button, complained, then straightened up, turned to Shen Kang, and smiled: "How's it going, top student? Will you get into university this time?"

"It shouldn't be a big problem; a second-tier university should be fine."

Li Xiangjun's eyes lit up. "Then you're going to be the first college student in our department? If you really do, I'll treat you to a big meal!"

"Then you should prepare the money first, Sister Jun."

Shen Kang talked to her while keeping an eye on her.

In his posthumous life, Li Xiangjun will die in 2019 from a malignant tumor caused by AIDS.

As for how she contracted AIDS, it was related to Li Xiangjun's work. With only a junior high school education, she didn't have many options. She first worked as a waitress in a restaurant, then in an electronics factory, changing jobs many times until one day she became a beer girl, selling beer, and later working in a karaoke bar. At first, she only sang and drank with customers, sticking to her principles, but gradually, she became more and more involved, even selling her body, until she was infected with AIDS by an unknown customer.

Shen Kang still clearly remembers the last time he saw her.

At that time, Li Xiangjun had entered the end-of-life care stage. She was lying on an ordinary hospital bed, wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown. She was so thin that she looked like a dried corpse. Her hair had been shaved off, her face was lead-gray, her eye sockets were sunken, and her eyes were half-open and dull. Only when she looked at herself did a little bit of spirit flash.

That day, Li Xiangjun talked a lot. She talked about her childhood life in the orphanage, her confusion when she first entered society, her despair at not being able to change her fate no matter how hard she tried, her most glorious time, and her pain over the years.

What Shen Kang remembers most vividly is Li Xiangjun's last question.

"Hey, you high achiever, I watched an old movie the day before yesterday called 'Back to the Future.' In the movie, there's a son who goes back in time, brings his parents together, and changes his father's timid personality, giving his family a better life."

"I thought, if I also had a son who could go back in time and help me, would my life be different? I don't need him to help me much, just give me a little hope."

"But then I thought, would it really be different? Could it be that I'm just naturally vain, lazy, and only want to make money easily? Even if I had a son who went back in time to help me, or even told me I would die, would I just think, 'Just be careful,' and continue down this path?"

"You're a top student, you're knowledgeable and intelligent. Tell me, what will you be like?"

Shen Kang didn't know what would happen either.

So he remained silent at that moment.

Just like his ex-wife said, he was dull and uninteresting, he wouldn't talk if he didn't know something, and he didn't even know how to say something nice to make people happy.

Unable to get an answer, Li Xiangjun didn't press for details, but just stared blankly out the window.

After a long while, she began to murmur.

"Hey, I think I saw Li Mei... I said I'd take her to Hong Kong Disneyland, but when I remembered I didn't have the money, and when I had the money I always forgot... Now Xia Hai even has Disneyland, but I can't go anymore, and Li Mei is gone too..."

That was the last time Shen Kang saw Li Xiangjun.

Three days later, Li Xiangjun left.

She didn't get an answer, nor was she able to take Li Mei to Disneyland.

Shen Kang cried like an idiot that day.

He had no relatives. Li Xiangjun was the second friend in his life to pass away suddenly. At that time, he was young and had not yet gotten used to this kind of permanent separation.

He also thought he would never see Li Xiangjun again.

But six years later, eleven years ago, he stood before Li Xiangjun again.

Shen Kang still has no answer to Li Xiangjun's question.

But this time, she was able to give that answer herself.