Chapter 51: Forty-nine: Qipao

Forty-nine: Qipao

It was another Friday, and Subway Line 3 in Cuizhu City was more terrifyingly crowded than any other day of the week. Xin Junmao barely managed to squeeze himself onto the train, nearly dropping his messenger bag outside in the process; it was a close call, and it took quite some effort to yank the bag back through the gap in the subway doors before the train started moving.

Xin Junmao let out a long sigh of relief, standing in the middle of the dense crowd, carefully shielding his messenger bag.

Although Cuizhu City was a first-tier city with strong law enforcement, where pickpockets and perverts were basically impossible to see, it never hurt to be a little careful.

Standing amidst the crowded throng, Xin Junmao relaxed his feet; because the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd was pressed tightly against him, he didn't need to struggle to stand steady, nor did he fear falling over.

He still had an hour and a half of subway travel ahead, followed by a half-hour bus ride before he could get home. It was rush hour now, so there was no guarantee he would find a seat. Since he might have to stand the whole way, he had to save some energy.

Watching the subway travel through the underground Tunnel, everything outside was blurred. Xin Junmao's attention seemed to fly away with the speed, gradually losing focus as he began to drift into a daydream.

Today's interview was a failure again. This was probably the thirty-third company or organization he had interviewed with since graduation. Although he hadn't received a clear rejection from the interviewer, Xin Junmao could be certain, based on his rich experience with failed interviews, that he had not been chosen.

Xin Junmao graduated from an ordinary second-tier university in the Shenzhou Region, majoring in Information Management (a major that focused on computer programming, while the management aspect was basically just a name, yet he received a management degree upon graduation). He had a relatively introverted personality and no great ambitions. After graduating, he only hoped to find an ordinary clerical job to drift through life; he didn't intend to find a career matching his major. After all, the internet industry was too cutthroat now, and he had self-awareness regarding his own talent in computer science.

However, this idea of his did not come to fruition, because in this era of global integration, talent was not scarce. Even for ordinary clerical jobs, there were candidates with matching degrees, and the companies currently hiring fresh graduates required at least one year of work experience to start.

Of course, Xin Junmao later learned that for some clerical jobs, work experience wasn't actually that important; it was mainly that companies wanted to find good-looking women or men, and good-looking women were more important than good-looking men.

Xin Junmao's relationship with the word "handsome" was just like his relationship with a girlfriend—nonexistent.

When the subway car became less crowded, Xin Junmao didn't intend to look at his phone, because if he did, he would inevitably browse social media platforms, and he couldn't avoid seeing messages from family and friends.

His parents might ask when he would be home or ask how the interview went today.

His friends might post their reflections and complaints about their day at work, and at this very moment, be holding their significant other's hand, having dinner together at some restaurant.

He didn't want to be a son who only knew how to vent his incompetent emotions to his parents, nor did he want to be a friend who envied and was jealous of his companions.

But he knew that in the end, he would still become the person he didn't want to be, just like how he never imagined when he was a child that he would be so pathetic when he grew up. That guy who once dared to brag about getting into Qing-Bei after getting a perfect score in first grade had, in the end, become an unemployed drifter.

Two hours later, he would eventually return home, forced to face his parents' questions, and then he would have a fit of incompetent venting, desperately shifting the blame for his failure, and finally slamming the door to his room.

And he would eventually open his WeChat in the middle of the night, when no one was asking or bothering him, and with mixed feelings, scroll through the chat groups where he no longer had a space to speak. Then, he would secretly envy, secretly be jealous, become cynical, feel his talents were wasted, and finally, with a calm heart, feeling guilty, mocking his own mediocrity, he would lie awake, unable to sleep, scrolling through job-hunting platforms.

Day after day, without beginning or end...

Xin Junmao knew that if things went on like this, one day he would be anxious to the point of a breakdown. The only panacea to solve his current situation might be to find the job he wanted—a job his parents wanted, a job his classmates and friends thought he would do, a job his future girlfriend and her parents would approve of, and a job society considered decent.

In a moment of distraction, Xin Junmao was startled into a cold sweat. Looking at the no-longer-crowded car, he wiped the cold sweat from his neck and then found a quiet corner seat to sit down.

He had been like this often lately, frightened by his own thoughts.

He felt that, for the time being, there should be nothing in this world more terrifying than his own chaotic future.

"Dongshen Station has arrived. The doors on the right will open. Passengers getting off, please take your belongings and exit from the doors on the right..." The subway broadcast sounded on time. Xin Junmao glanced at the digital television above the subway door, calculating how many stops were left until his station.

People who don't want to play on their phones get a bit bored, and their eyes wander. Xin Junmao's gaze soon noticed a poster on the wall of the platform. It was an advertisement for a concert by the musical genius Haimofen. He had heard people in that company's office chatting about it during his interview today, saying that this effeminate violinist was going to perform a brand-new, great work at the concert, and celebrities from all walks of life were scrambling to support and attend. Tickets for the concert were now hard to come by.

Subsequently, Xin Junmao started letting his mind wander again. He felt that when he was in elementary school, he should have shown some perseverance to continue learning his guitar. Perhaps even if he couldn't become a pop star now, he could be like so-and-so from middle school, working as a music teacher at a school, which would also be quite nice.

He thought expressionlessly about things he knew were impossible, but for him, this was much better than the experience of self-inserting into a "cool" novel, because it was more "real."

The daydreaming Xin Junmao suddenly caught a whiff of an orchid-like fragrance. The scent was somewhat dizzying and made his heart race. He subconsciously looked in the direction of the scent, only to see a socialite beauty who looked as if she had walked out of the 1920s or 30s from history, wearing a plum-blossom Qipao, walking gracefully into his car.

Looking at that peerless beauty that could sink fish and drop geese, Xin Junmao was a bit stunned. It was a beauty he had never seen before; he couldn't imagine that such a stunning look really existed in the world—jade bones and icy skin, perfect in every way.

In this woman, he felt the greatness of the Creator and also felt the gift of the world.

Perhaps the heavens had arranged such an encounter for him in the dark, so that at his most down-and-out and frustrated moment, he could catch a glimpse of such a beauty's world-toppling appearance, feast his eyes, and use it to comfort his long-suppressed heart.

It wasn't until the Qipao-clad woman noticed his gaze and cast a smiling look at him that he was startled into withdrawing his eyes, sitting nervously in his original seat, and looking around the car in a panic.

And it was only then that Xin Junmao noticed that the car he was in was actually empty, and the nearest two cars were also empty. The entire subway was quiet, as if there were no one else in the whole world except for him and the Qipao-clad beauty before him.

He rarely shared a room with a woman because he never had such an opportunity. Xin Junmao was a bit nervous, especially since the other party's magnificent beauty made him feel even more pressured.

He didn't know if the Qipao-clad woman noticed his awkward mood, but as if secretly being mischievous, she deliberately chose to sit in the seat opposite him, which made Xin Junmao lower his head even more uncomfortably.

Throughout the journey while waiting for the subway to arrive, Xin Junmao didn't dare to lift his head at all, at most sneaking a few glances at those long legs stepping on bamboo-woven high heels. He felt as if he could hear the woman opposite him laughing softly after seeing through his lecherous behavior.

Finally, the station arrived. Xin Junmao ran out of the subway as if fleeing. When he was about to go down the stairs, he couldn't help but look back, wanting to see the beauty of the Qipao-clad woman one more time, but he was disappointed to find that the woman had already disappeared.

With a feeling of loss, Xin Junmao left the subway station. On the way to the bus stop, he wasn't paying attention and bumped into someone.

Smelling a whiff of refreshing incense and fireworks, Xin Junmao suddenly felt a jolt of spirit, as if an invisible chain had been unlocked. He suddenly woke up and hurriedly apologized to the young man in front of him: "Sorry, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." The young man's gentle voice made Xin Junmao's mood relax. He slowly looked up and saw that the young man had a handsome appearance, and on his easygoing and approachable smile were a pair of dark, deep black pupils.