parallel

An Chi wasn't enrolling for the first time, so he didn't need to prepare anything. He wore a simple short-sleeved shirt with a faded pattern on the left chest, and black straight-leg pants that hung loosely at his feet. They were a bit long, and he hadn't expected that his height would result in pants that didn't fit properly.

The black-framed glasses on his face were exactly the same as before; his vision hadn't changed for many years, and so had the same frames.

His nostalgia seems to always manifest itself in the smallest details. His usually glamorous appearance makes him look more like an ordinary student now.

I only had my phone in my hand and nothing else with me.

My advisor sent me a message with the only request: remember to bring him a latte that you can't order from delivery.

Seeing the pinned message on her phone, without saying a word to him, An Chi locked the screen and remembered that Su Yao liked to drink Americano with milk.

Everyone says that Americano with milk is like a latte.

When An Chi was young and didn't understand things, he asked Su about this question. He said, "Why don't you drink a latte?"

Sue had seriously considered telling him that she felt a latte and an Americano with milk tasted different.

Curious, he tried both a latte and an Americano with milk, hoping to taste the difference on his palate just like Su did.

In fact, aside from bitter and sweet, he has never known how to distinguish the taste of any other coffee. Even now, after experiencing many situations, whenever someone asks him what he wants to drink, he instinctively answers, "Americano with milk."

This is a habit ingrained in one's bones, or an imitation.

Even now, Su Yao hasn't asked much about her major, but An Chi really wants to tell her that she has been following in her footsteps and has studied finance.

He had always studied science, and even in college, Su respected his choice and studied science as well, but he unexpectedly switched to economics and management.

An Chi drove himself to the coffee shop, bought coffee, and then drove to school.

After finding a parking space, he walked towards the teaching building.

Upon entering the faculty office, he found only one teacher, not his advisor. An Chi remembered meeting his advisor during the interview and sending him a message.

He met a senior female student on the playground, who said she would be back soon.

An Chi had no choice but to put the coffee on the table and stand aside playing on his phone. He noticed it was almost noon and thought Su Yao would probably be too busy to eat. He considered whether he should send her a message to say hello.

She thought she shouldn't cling to Su Yao too much, because Su Yao didn't like it.

The sounds of laughter and conversation drew closer; it was a deep male voice and a gentle female voice. The female voice became clearer and clearer as it got closer, and the more you listened, the more familiar it became.

An Chi wanted to hear more, but the man had already stepped through the door; he was the mentor he had met before.

An Chi was about to hand over the coffee when he heard, "Xiao Yao, this is your handsome junior brother."

His body stiffened. "Xiao Yao," he was all too familiar with that way of addressing him. His eyes immediately turned to the door, but he didn't look to the side. A man entered, his face showing undisguised disappointment, and he didn't look at the door again.

Just then, the man walked toward the teacher at the back desk. A woman with a graceful figure stepped in, wearing a black dress with a V-neck that ended just above her knees, hugging her figure and showcasing her superior beauty, as gorgeous as Aphrodite from ancient Greece. She stood next to An Chi, extended her right hand, and smiled, "Hello, junior brother."

An Chi looked up and saw such beauty. His eyes flashed with surprise, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Senior sister, please give me your guidance."

The tutor wasn't stupid. "You two know each other?"

"Mm," Su replied.

Actually, when Su was about to come over, she didn't expect that An Chi's graduate advisor was a teacher who had taught her a few classes before.

She had originally intended to ask An Chi where he had registered after arriving at the school, but she ran into a university teacher and they ended up chatting. During the conversation, the teacher immediately mentioned An Chi, saying that this year's class was full of talented people, with a student even switching from science to university. Su Yao just listened, smiled, and remained silent.

Su Yao was somewhat surprised by An Chi's change of major, but it was ultimately his own choice. She didn't want to ask too many questions or interfere too much. Perhaps if she hadn't sent him abroad four years ago, he would have had a bright future and would have had someone to take care of him in China. As for how his life was during those four years abroad, her understanding was always superficial.

After looking at her, An Chi stared at her intently without ever shifting his gaze.

The tutor glanced between the two of them, chuckled, and asked, "Have you prepared all your materials?"

An Chi then looked at the teacher and nodded, "I've forwarded all the documents to you."

"Alright, why don't you two go take a look around first? I'll look at your materials first. Later at noon, I'll treat you to some food from Beicheng University. I can't guarantee it'll be as good as the food from Hong Kong University," he joked.

Su smiled and pursed her lips.

Since they were unfamiliar with the area and knew that the teacher would be busy for a while, they simply chose to wander aimlessly around the playground.

An Chi asked her softly, "Why are you back from your business trip?"

"I always keep my promises," she said.

An Chi's smile deepened, and as they walked side by side, he recalled the years he had spent abroad.

...

“Hey, An, how about we go to a bar?” Lucas put his arm around his shoulder and said to him affectionately.

Lucas isn't a bad person; at most, he's just as playful as Su Wenxie. He's already figured him out in the few days he's been here.

However, being a reserved and introverted person, he was not used to being so close to someone he had only known for a few days.

"No, thank you, Lucas."

Seemingly unable to understand rejection, Lucas continued to enthusiastically promote the bar's attractions. Anchi, feeling he couldn't escape this predicament, finally agreed.

But the whole thing, with all the expected antics, left him feeling bored.

At that time, he didn't have any ambition to achieve anything. He might have just gotten a diploma without much thought, but Su would have arranged everything for him anyway. After all, it all belonged to her, and she could do whatever she wanted. If she wanted him to go abroad, he had to go abroad; if she wanted him to stay by her side, he could stay by her side...

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. That's what he thought in his youthful arrogance. He couldn't help but sit in the booth and drink a couple more glasses of wine. He was still sober. He restrained himself and shrank into a corner of the booth, like a cicada in the dark night, tiny, nonexistent, and even ending its life when the weather gets cold. All of this was the result of its many years of dormancy. At this moment, he didn't feel resentment. Instead, he felt a sense of relief. His resentment had long been worn away by his chirping in the summer.

Seeing that he wasn't very interested, Lucas drank his wine one glass after another, shrugged, found a girl who looked Asian, raised his hand, and asked her to chat with An Chi, perhaps people from the same hometown would be more interested.

Unexpectedly, An Chi only glanced at the girl sitting next to him, moved a little further away, and remained silent.

Lucas had no choice but to tell the girl to leave, and then sat down beside her. "Ann, are you tired?"

The person, who hadn't even lifted their eyelids, finally raised them slightly and said, "No, it was fun, thank you."

There were a few sincere words hidden beneath the polite greetings, and Lucas truly took them to heart.

When the show ended, An Chi was already quite tired and was preparing to take a nap.

Unexpectedly, Lucas pulled him up to introduce his friend, saying that the resident singer at the bar was his friend. Even though An Chi was a little sleepy, he still went with him to meet his friend. After all, Lucas had done so much just to make friends with him, and he had no reason to refuse. He shouldn't let his own problems affect others.

Unexpectedly, this incident led him to learn guitar. He was just spacing out while Lucas was chatting with his friends, and the guitar was in that direction. Lucas's friends noticed and thought he wanted to play the guitar. Even though he had said that he could not play the guitar, his enthusiasm was irresistible.

Lucas said his friend was very good at playing guitar, and Anchi could learn from him. Hearing their enthusiastic conversation and seeing their expectant expressions, Anchi agreed to learn guitar.

An Chi, who had no ambition and even little desire for life, unexpectedly started learning guitar.

And so, guitar became Anchi's first passion abroad, and Lucas became a true friend of Anchi's.

An Chi, who thought he would just coast along until graduation, received a devastating piece of news the following year—Su was going to sleep with Bai Lutong.

He didn't have the ability to find out all the details; he had only heard bits and pieces of gossip, and her friends would tease her about it.

At that time, An Chi felt like his world had collapsed, and perhaps even the last bit of hope he had left was extinguished. Su Yao had been deceiving him from beginning to end, and even his promise not to be with Bai Lutong again was a complete "lie".

It was at that moment that he realized the enormous influence of Su Yao; even a small, uncertain piece of news could completely destroy his perseverance over the past year.

When exactly did it become like this?

He couldn't help but start thinking.

But when those images appear in my mind, I only feel an unbearable headache.

For the first time, An Chi felt lost in life. For the past ten years or so, he had worked hard for his family. After meeting Su Yao, he worked hard for her. But now, no one needed him. Maybe no one ever needed him. It was all just his fantasy.

That period was when he was most deeply trapped in a vicious cycle of self-criticism. An Chi was constantly pondering his own worth, but when he discovered that the end result was meaningless, the long quagmire trapped him in a quagmire.

This time, it wasn't Lucas's "rescue," nor could it be.

He broke through the encirclement on his own.

When he was at his lowest point, he liked to walk alone.

He thought that perhaps as he walked along, he would truly find his own ending.

By chance, he met his current business partner, Sido.

He helped Sido solve a code problem, and Sido happily invited him to help with the decoding.

Anchi, who was taking things one step at a time, didn't care whether Sido was a bad person or not. He just wanted to be of some use, so he did something.

It was Sido who introduced him to racing. Anchi had thought that Sido, who was used to working with code, was very rigid and inflexible, but he never expected that Sido would get him involved in racing.

But there were many people in the world more capable than him, and soon Sido also chose stronger computer personnel to work for him.

Anchi seemed to have already accepted this fact. He even smiled and congratulated Sido on finding a capable assistant. But he also became so lost. It seemed that the guitar was no longer the reason for his persistence. Even the guitar seemed to have ended in "abandonment".

But the sudden appearance of racing was the first step that made him face himself.