Lu Zhiyu was woken by the heat.
At some point, the air conditioner had stopped working. The temperature in the room had slowly risen, leaving a thin layer of sweat on his body.
He opened his eyes.
The sky outside was already bright. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a dazzling patch of light across the floor.
His arms were empty.
He turned his head.
There was only him left on the lower bunk.
The bamboo mat still bore the faint impression of where Song Kening had slept, and the pillow had been moved against the wall.
Lu Zhiyu sat up and rubbed his forehead. He slipped on his sandals and stood, then walked toward the window.
The window was slightly open, allowing the morning breeze to drift in, carrying humid heat with it.
His eyes fell on the clothes hanging by the window.
They were still dripping with water, clearly washed not long ago.
His white shirt, sweatpants, and underwear were hanging neatly alongside Song Kening’s floral dress, pajamas, and underwear, all lined up in a row.
He turned toward the kitchen.
The door was half-closed, and he could hear movement inside.
Lu Zhiyu pushed open the kitchen door.
Song Kening was standing in front of the stove, stir-frying food with a spatula.
She had changed into a clean T-shirt, her hair tied into a bun, exposing her fair neck.
In the iron wok, water spinach sizzled in hot oil. The aroma of minced garlic mixed with the rich fragrance of lard filled the tiny kitchen.
Beside it sat a large bowl of stir-fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, evenly coated in soy sauce and looking incredibly appetizing.
Hearing the movement, Song Kening turned to look at him.
“Awake? Go brush your teeth and wash your face. Breakfast is almost ready.”
Lu Zhiyu said nothing and turned toward the bathroom.
He picked up his toothbrush and began brushing.
There was no sink in the bathroom, so a grown man like him could only squat down to brush his teeth.
When he finished washing up, Song Kening had already brought the food to the table.
There was a pot of thick white congee, a plate of garlic-fried water spinach, two boiled eggs in a small bowl, and a large basin of stir-fried rice noodles with bean sprouts.
Song Kening served him a bowl of congee and pushed the two boiled eggs toward him.
“Eat.”
Lu Zhiyu sat down and picked up his chopsticks.
The congee was cooked perfectly. It had a rich rice aroma and was soft and smooth going down.
The water spinach was prepared the same way as yesterday, fried in lard with plenty of garlic.
He picked up some of the stir-fried rice noodles and ate a few bites before looking up.
“Why is it water spinach and rice noodles again?”
Song Kening was peeling an egg and answered without thinking.
“Obviously because they’re cheap and filling. Water spinach has been on sale at the supermarket’s morning market for 90 cents a bunch for three days straight. And we bought two jin of rice noodles yesterday. Am I supposed to leave them there until they grow mold?”
She placed the peeled egg into his bowl and picked up the other one.
“And water spinach is good for you. It’s rich in iron, calcium, and vitamins. My mom—”
She paused.
“When I lived at home, we ate water spinach all summer. I never got tired of it.”
Lu Zhiyu watched as she finished peeling the second egg and placed it in his bowl as well.
“You don’t eat?”
“Congee is enough for me. You eat the eggs. You have to go look for work today, so you need to eat properly.”
After saying that, she served herself a bowl of congee, added a few pieces of water spinach, and began eating.
Lu Zhiyu stared at the two white eggs in his bowl.
After a moment of silence, he picked one up and put it back into her bowl.
“One each.”
Song Kening looked up at him, then picked up the egg and took a bite.
“Fine.”
After breakfast, Song Kening took the dishes to the kitchen to wash them.
Lu Zhiyu sat at the computer desk, opened his phone, and began browsing job listings.
He had downloaded several recruitment apps on the train yesterday, registered accounts, and filled out his resume.
There were plenty of job postings in Yangcheng, but most were from small companies hiring for positions such as sales, customer service, and general labor.
He filtered the results and found several technical positions, then submitted his resume to each one.
A small smart-home company was looking for an embedded systems engineer, with salary negotiable.
An electronics trading company was hiring a hardware engineer, offering 8,000 to 12,000 yuan a month.
There was also a startup developing IoT devices looking for a technical partner, offering equity plus salary.
The recruitment apps kept showing the same listings.
Even after scrolling all the way to the bottom, there weren’t many suitable positions.
He changed his search terms.
Chips.
Embedded systems.
Hardware.
The results were even fewer.
Although Yangcheng was an international metropolis, its industrial structure was different from Shanghai’s.
Shanghai had a complete semiconductor industry chain, with chip companies everywhere.
Yangcheng’s electronics industry leaned more toward manufacturing and trade, with relatively few research and development positions.
Song Kening finished washing the dishes and came out, drying her hands with a towel.
“Did you send your resumes?”
“Yes.”
“How many companies?”
“Three.”
Song Kening sat beside him and picked up her phone.
She had also downloaded a recruitment app to see whether there were any suitable jobs for her.
The results gave her quite a shock.
The world created by the author of this novel was so strict that even dishwashers had to have graduated from high school.
But the original Song Kening didn’t even have an elementary school diploma.
It seemed her only option was to set up a street stall.
She put down her phone and looked at Lu Zhiyu.
He was leaning against the back of his chair, his brows slightly furrowed as he stared out the window, seemingly lost in thought.
“Don’t worry. It’s only your first day sending resumes,” Song Kening said. “Yangcheng is so big. There has to be somewhere that needs you.”
Lu Zhiyu said nothing.
He knew the problem wasn’t Yangcheng.
His resume stated that he was the founder and CEO of NEX Group, that he had built the company into a trillion-yuan enterprise in just three years, and that the military-grade chip he developed had won the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
With a background like that, sending his resume to a small company wouldn’t make them pleasantly surprised.
Their first reaction would be suspicion.
Either they would think his resume was fake or assume there was something suspicious about him.
And now he was a bankrupt businessman whose commercial investigation case had yet to be concluded.
Although Zhou Yuqing had framed him and fabricated the accusations, outsiders saw it differently.
As far as they knew, he had stolen trade secrets and operated illegally, resulting in his company being seized.
Who would dare hire someone with a criminal record?
His phone vibrated.
Lu Zhiyu picked it up.
It was a response from the smart-home company.
“Mr. Lu, we have received your resume. After comprehensive evaluation, we feel that your background does not currently match our company’s position requirements. We wish you success in finding a suitable position.”
The wording was polite, but the meaning was obvious.
Rejected.
Song Kening leaned over and glanced at the message, then curled her lips.
“A small company like this can’t afford someone as talented as you. It’s their loss.”
Lu Zhiyu said nothing, his expression complicated.
A while later, his phone vibrated again.
The second company had responded as well.
The message was similar.
Not a good match.
Song Kening looked at his expression and began to worry too.
She knew how capable Lu Zhiyu was.
But now the plot had completely gone off track.
His bankruptcy had happened three months earlier than it should have.
The real female supporting character had disappeared, and she had taken over the role of the vicious female supporting character.
What if her arrival in this world had also disrupted Lu Zhiyu’s opportunities?
What if, because of her, even his chance to make a comeback was ruined?