Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

Su Meng placed the key in his palm, her fingers lingering on his hand for a moment. "I don't live in that house much anyway, and I'll have even less time to manage it after I become the principal."

Chen Ping looked down at the key in his palm; the metal felt cool to the touch.

He opened his mouth, "No need, the house was agreed to be yours when we divorced, I can't take it!"

"It's not for you, it's for you to stay in. When you come to Tianhai City on business, you'll have a place to stay, so you don't have to stay at someone else's house every time."

"You can return it to me when you have your own place to live in Tianhai City."

She spoke casually, as if it were a trivial matter, but her gaze lingered on the keys for a moment before looking away.

Chen Ping held the key in his palm. This time, he didn't refuse. "Okay."

He bent down to change his shoes, opened the door and walked out. Su Meng followed him to the door and stood inside the doorway watching him enter the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, he saw her give him a slight smile—a small but gentle one.

The elevator descended, the floor numbers ticking one by one, and finally, with a ding, it arrived at the first floor.

As he walked out of the building, he glanced back. The light in the upstairs window was still on, the curtains weren't drawn, and he could see a figure standing by the window, seemingly looking down.

He withdrew his gaze and walked out along the passageway, the streetlights casting long shadows.

When he reached the entrance of the residential area, Chen Ping hailed a taxi and headed towards his former home.

More than ten minutes later, the taxi arrived at its destination, and Chen Ping paid the fare and got out.

He stood by the roadside and looked up at the building in front of him. He had lived here for five years and knew every window and every step of the stairs like the back of his hand.

The streetlights are still the same few, and the osmanthus tree in the green belt is still in the same place, only most of its leaves have fallen, with a few withered yellow leaves hanging on the branches, swaying gently in the wind.

He walked down the passageway and took out the key when he reached the entrance of the building. The key fob still had the access control attached to it.

Chen Ping swiped his access card, and the door opened.

The motion-activated lights in the hallway turned on, and Chen Ping entered the elevator, swiped his access card, and pressed the button for his floor.

To be precise, this is no longer his home.

The elevator stopped, and Chen Ping stepped out. He stopped in front of the security door on the left, inserted the key into the lock, and with a click, the door opened.

The room was dark, so he felt for the light switch on the wall and pressed it, and the living room light came on.

The moment the light shone in, he stood motionless in the doorway.

The sofa is still the same sofa, the coffee table is still the same coffee table, and the potted green ivy on the TV cabinet is still in the same spot, only the leaves are a bit wilted, probably because no one has watered it for a long time.

On the shoe cabinet were the same pair of slippers he used to wear, gray ones, exactly the same as the ones he wore to Su Meng's house tonight. He bent down and put them on, and after taking a few steps, he felt the familiar touch under his feet.

He took off his coat and draped it over the back of the sofa, then walked around the living room.

The kitchen stove was spotless, there were no bowls or chopsticks in the sink, and the spatula was hanging on a hook on the wall, its position unchanged.

The refrigerator magnet on the refrigerator door is still there. It was bought when they went to the beach the year they got married. It's a small seashell-shaped gadget, and the edges have faded a bit.

He opened the refrigerator and looked inside; it was empty except for a few bottles of mineral water and a carton of expired milk.

When he entered the master bedroom, he touched the light switch on the wall and pressed it, and the bedside lamp turned on.

Warm yellow light shone on the bed, the blankets were neatly folded, and on the bedside table sat a lamp and a half-read magazine, the one he used to read often.

Then he saw the wedding photo on the wall.

He stood at the foot of the bed, looking at the photograph.

In the photo, he is wearing a suit, and Su Meng is wearing a white wedding dress. Their hands are clasped together, and their eyes are crinkled with laughter.

He stared at them for a long time, as if trying to confirm that the two people were indeed himself and her from many years ago.

On the wall next to their wedding photo are several other photos of the couple, one of which was taken on the top of Mount Tai. The wind had messed up their hair, but they were both smiling happily.

Another photo was taken in front of the osmanthus tree downstairs in the residential area. Su Meng was wearing a red coat, and he was standing next to her with one hand on her shoulder.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, opened the bedside table drawer to look for something, and the moment he opened the drawer, he saw the box of condoms.

The blue box, with slightly worn edges, was placed at the very back of the drawer, next to a tube of hand cream and a comb.

He reached out and took out the box of condoms, turned it over and looked at the date on the bottom. It had expired, but he didn't throw it away. He just held it in his hand and looked down at the box.

We've been married for five years, and he uses this every time we have sex.

Su Meng said she can't have children now because her career is on the rise, and she'll wait until it's more stable.

He never objected, thinking she made sense. They were both still young, and it wouldn't be too late to consider having children after settling into their respective jobs.

But he waited for five years. During those five years, he never raised any objections. Every time, he would take out the little blue box from his bedside table, tear it open, put it on, and then everything would proceed as normal.

Su Meng never asked him if he really didn't want children, and he never said that he would feel a pang of longing every time he saw other people's children running around in their yards.

He stared at the expired box for a long time, pressed his finger on the corner of the box, then put the box back in the drawer, closed the drawer, stood up and walked to the window.

The streetlights outside the window cast the shadow of the osmanthus tree below on the ground, swaying gently in the night breeze.

He looked at the wedding photos hanging on the wall one by one, and finally, his gaze fell on the last one, a group photo.

It was taken downstairs in the apartment complex. Su Meng was wearing a red coat, and he was standing next to her with one hand on her shoulder. They were both smiling rather silly.

Just then, my phone rang.

He took it out of his pocket, and without even looking, he knew it was a call from Cui Ying.

He pressed the answer button, held the phone to his ear, and Cui Ying's voice came through, fresh from a shower: "You're still not back? I've been waiting for you."

Chen Ping stood leaning against the windowsill, a hint of guilt and embarrassment on his face as he said, "I haven't seen my friend in a long time, and we chatted until late, so I found a hotel to stay at. I'll come to your house tomorrow morning, and then we'll go see Xiao He. You don't need to wait up, go to sleep!"

Cui Ying was silent for a moment, then said without asking any further questions, "Then you should get some rest and not stay up too late. You have to travel tomorrow. Make sure you're covered up properly so you don't catch a cold."