Chapter Fifty-Three: Life is Like a Dream

Time flows silently like water. Another year has quietly slipped by since that brush with death in the hospital and the long recovery. Ji Moli stood at the window of her rented apartment, watching the hurried pedestrians in the morning light below, and made an important decision: to start her own business.

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a deliberate choice made after experiencing decline, despair, and rebirth. At thirty-eight, in today's job market, especially for a woman like her who had once held a mid-to-high-level position in her industry, it was an awkward and unpopular age. "Yes, it's their loss," she said, a self-deprecating yet stubborn smile playing on her lips as she looked at her blurry reflection in the glass. She knew perfectly well where her strengths lay.

She is a highly sensitive person, naturally possessing strong social intuition and emotional insight. She is meticulous in her work, much like the ancient Chinese strategist Huairou, adept at planning and structuring her garden. She absorbs new knowledge and summarizes experiences far faster than most, and her soul seems to always be imbued with a spiritual light unbound by the constraints of time. However, in the past, she worked in a strictly regulated, fast-paced industry, driven daily by KPIs and performance pressures. Any attempt to "lie down" and catch her breath was met with overwhelming anxiety and peer pressure. That environment undoubtedly took a slow toll on her natural talents.

Now, she understands. She wants to create a completely different work environment for herself and for those who share similar traits and feel uncomfortable in a fast-paced society: a peaceful, quiet psychological environment with minimal unnecessary distractions. She knows that highly sensitive individuals can only truly shine in areas that require depth, focus, creativity, and profound insight, where their strong thinking and empathy abilities can find their unique brilliance.

Looking at the current economic situation, traditional industries are under immense pressure from deleveraging and overcapacity, struggling to survive; while booming emerging industries, with their high barriers to entry, tend to attract young, qualified "fresh blood," which is not friendly to "veterans" like her who intend to change careers. She realized that she had reached a stage where she needed to rely on integrating resources and creating unique value to achieve a breakthrough, rather than continuing to passively wait in the job market.

In their married life, after several calm and in-depth conversations with her husband, Moli made a decision that might be difficult for outsiders to understand, but which they had carefully considered – “peaceful separation within the marriage.”

There were no heated arguments, no mutual recriminations. Having shared that near-death experience, this ordinary couple, whose edges had been smoothed by life, understood more deeply than ever before that, apart from life and death, everything else was trivial. The framework of their reality couldn't withstand much more turmoil. Without turmoil, they might not become rich and powerful, but further turmoil would likely cause their barely balanced little family to crumble completely.

They agreed to separate for a while, as neither of them planned to remarry, in order to provide their child with the most stable and loving environment possible. They rented separate apartments in the same neighborhood, tacitly dividing the responsibilities of raising their child. More importantly, they transferred their son from an expensive boarding school to a public elementary school. They took turns picking him up and dropping him off every day, helping him with his homework, and participating in every aspect of his growth. This heavy responsibility of raising their child, after surviving a life-or-death ordeal, became sweet and fulfilling, becoming the strongest bond holding this special "home" together.

Moli's entrepreneurial journey quietly began against this backdrop. She chose the home furnishings sector, a field she had always been interested in and which resonated subtly with her memories of Huairou. Starting with a basic personal studio, she selected design products that conformed to nature, practicality, and aesthetics, running a small, modern "Liyuan Workshop." She strictly controlled the business volume within a range that one person could perfectly manage, seeking stability and quality over speed.

Time has flowed on again, and another two years have passed.

Ji Moli registered her own small company, "Moyu Home Furnishings," focusing on creating home furnishing products that are warm, have a story, and meet the spiritual needs of modern people. Although the scale is still small, it has been able to operate stably and has a loyal customer base.

That day, she was invited by a partner to attend a small but exquisite product exhibition on "Artificial Intelligence and Future Living." The partner believed that smart homes were a future trend and might provide new inspiration or points of integration for "Moyu's" products.

The exhibition was bustling with people, filled with a sense of technology and futuristic atmosphere. A dazzling array of robots and smart devices dazzled the eye. Moli moved among them, her gaze calmly sweeping over each booth, searching for elements that might be related to "home." Suddenly, she stopped in front of a booth decorated with a distinctly homey feel.

In the center of the booth, a robot with sleek lines and a not-so-"cold" design is demonstrating actions such as storing clothes and watering plants. Its movements are not particularly swift, but they are exceptionally smooth and precise, carrying a strange sense of "gentleness".

"This thing... has it really developed to the point where it can actually handle some daily chores?" Mo Li's heart stirred slightly. As a mother who manages her life and her child's daily life on her own, she immediately and keenly grasped the potential demand it contained. "If its stability and practicality are truly up to par, perhaps... I could try to get in touch with it and see if there's any possibility of becoming a distributor for a specific channel, or developing it for the market?" Business thinking began to run through her mind.

As she intently observed the robot's movements, trying to assess how well its core technology fit into her home environment, a deep, magnetic male voice, with a gentle, professional tone, came from behind her:

"Hello, ma'am. This is our company's second-generation prototype, which we are currently testing and commissioning. Originally designed for rescue missions in complex environments, it has been expanded to assist in daily life and improve quality of life in a wider range of homes, especially for families with special needs, such as those with elderly members or young children..."

That sound!

As if traversing the barriers of a thousand years of time and space, it carried an indescribable familiarity, striking straight into Moli's eardrums and instantly shattering all her psychological defenses.

Her body trembled almost imperceptibly, and almost instinctively, she suddenly raised her head.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely and freeze at this moment.

Standing before her was an exceptionally tall man, a full head taller than her nearly 1.7 meters. He wore a finely crafted light blue pinstripe shirt, the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing his strong wrists and a simply designed smartwatch. A brightly colored name tag hung around his neck, and his broad shoulders and upright posture made him impossible to ignore. He exuded a sunny, composed, and energetic aura.

But all of this pales in comparison to the impact his face had on Molly.

Those features… the shape of those eyebrows, the curve of that nose, those slightly pursed thin lips, especially those deep, ancient well-like eyes that were staring at her… Although her hairstyle was a modern, neat short haircut and her clothes were the professional attire of a tech company, it was the contours of that face that truly captivated Mo Li’s heart.

Who are you……?

Mo Li felt as if an invisible hand had gripped her heart tightly, then suddenly released it, causing it to pound uncontrollably and violently. The "thump-thump-thump" sound roared in her ears, almost drowning out all the noise of the exhibition. She stood there, stunned, forgetting to breathe, forgetting to react, just staring blankly at him, as if trying to see through his modern face to the shadow of "Zhen Jiancheng" deep in his soul.

"President Cheng, don't worry about me here! I just received a notification that there's an urgent matter in the R&D department that needs your immediate attention." A well-dressed and dignified young man approached with light steps, smiled and nodded to Mo Li, then turned to "President Cheng," his tone respectful yet urgent.

However, the man called "General Manager Cheng" did not leave immediately. He raised his head from his slightly bowed posture while introducing the product, his gaze still steadily fixed on Ji Moli, his eyes carrying a hint of barely perceptible inquiry, and... a kind of deep attraction that even he himself might not have realized.

His eyes and brows rippled with a warm and genuine smile, like the surface of a lake touched by a spring breeze. Ignoring his colleague's urging, he calmly took out an elegant business card holder from his suit pocket, pulled out a business card, and, holding the edge of the card with both hands, presented it to Moli with an extremely solemn and respectful gesture.

“Madam,” his voice was clearer than before, carrying an undeniable confidence and sincerity, “you are welcome to contact me at any time if you have any needs or cooperation intentions regarding this product, or other technologies of our company, or directly with my team.” His gaze was frank and direct, as if to say that this matter was worth his personal attention.

Moli snapped out of her shock and daze, a flush rising to her cheeks. She fumbled in her bag, fumbling for her business card holder. "Okay, thank you!" her voice trembled slightly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself; after all, this was a business setting.

She also presented her business card with both hands, straightened her posture to display the professionalism and demeanor of a startup founder, and introduced herself: "I am Ji Moli, the founder of 'Moyu Home Furnishings'. I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with your company." Her heart was filled with mixed emotions, including nervousness, a tremendous joy of regaining what she had lost, and disbelief and doubt, which made her appear somewhat different from her usual composure.

"Mr. Cheng" took her elegantly designed business card, glanced at it, and read, "Moyu Home Furnishings, Ji Moli..." He murmured, a polite yet friendly smile curving his lips, a smile that seemed to penetrate directly into Moli's heart. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ji." He looked up, his gaze meeting hers again, a hint of just the right amount of doubt and interest in his eyes. "Have we met somewhere before?"

A thunderbolt struck Mo Li's heart. She fought back her tears, trying to maintain her composure, shook her head, and smiled slightly, "There will be opportunities to see each other often in the future."

"President Cheng" nodded, smiled, and didn't delve into it, but the probing look in his eyes seemed to intensify. He glanced at his slightly anxious colleague beside him, then smiled apologetically at Mo Li: "Today, my colleague, who is also our product manager, will give you a systematic introduction to the market development progress and cooperation model of this robot. Please forgive my absence." He paused, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment, as if trying to memorize her appearance, before speaking gently and clearly: "I look forward to seeing you again."

After saying that, he nodded slightly to Mo Li again, then turned around and quickly disappeared into the bustling crowd with his colleagues.

Moli stood there for a long time, gazing in the direction he had disappeared, as if her soul had drifted away with him. Only when the product manager beside her began his enthusiastic introduction did she slowly withdraw her gaze. In her heart, however, a smile bloomed like a flower, like a crabapple blossoming suddenly in spring after a long winter.

She unconsciously tightened her grip on the small business card in her hand, still warm from his fingertips. Looking down, she saw his information and name printed in simple black lettering on the sturdy white cardstock: Zhen Jiancheng.

A phrase she had long forgotten, buried in the corner of time, now surfaced in her mind with unparalleled clarity, echoing with a sense of destiny:

Every love at first sight is a reunion after a long separation. May everything still be possible in this life.