Chapter 1 – The Invitation Card

　　Li Yiming was standing under a tree. The sight of a couple laced in a tight embrace, leaning against a red Maserati, made Li Yiming's hand s.h.i.+ver as it sought the support of the trunk. Shock, anger, helplessness and confusion swirled within his eyes. One of the young woman's arms rested on the man's shoulders, while she gently traced circles on his chest with a finger from the other hand. Her face was red with shyness, and her eyes, watered by l.u.s.t. Beneath her mini-skirt, her slender thighs, pale as freshly fallen snow, rubbed against the man's body frictionlessly.

　　"Xiaoqin…" The joints in Li Yiming's right hand whitened as he clasped a tree branch, but, after an ultimate effort, his arm slid down, limp. It was accompanied by a silent uttering of his girlfriend's name.

　　The man abruptly swept the young woman into his arms, to which she responded with a shriek of surprise, only to wrap her arms around the man's neck and bury her head shyly into his chest the next second. He walked into the entryway of a residential building with her in his arms, leaving behind the echoes of a barbaric laugh.

　　Li Yiming quietly deposited his rose bouquet onto the ground and turned around mechanically. At the entrance of the residential district, he raised his head and looked; he printed into his mind the blue curtains of a familiar window one last time. Then, his lonely and desolate silhouette slowly faded into the veil of the night.

　　Li Yiming failed to notice someone hidden in the shadows behind him. It was a man with a cigarette between his lips and a nylon bag made of criss-crossed red and blue lines in his hands. The depth of his eyes glinted with a dark l.u.s.ter, darker still than the shadows in which he hid. A frustrated smile hung on his lips as he followed Li Yiming.

　　Li Yiming recently graduated from Hangzhou Teachers College, majoring in dance. His girlfriend, Ji Xiaoqin, was his cla.s.smate. They had been a loving couple for two years. This year, they had planned to take their relations.h.i.+p to the next step through a meeting between their parents on Chinese New Year, followed later by their engagement on the first month of the Lunar Year. After taking into consideration the housing prices as well as the living costs in Hangzhou, they decided to move back to Li Yiming's hometown, Lishui, to seek a better life after their marriage. The prestige of a degree from a Hangzhou College was still fairly admired in a small city such as Lishui, so, despite his family's modest financial situation, Li Yiming was confident that he would be able to secure a stable teaching job. He could then give dancing lessons to supplement his income and shoulder the responsibility for the blissful family he promised to Ji Xiaoqin.

　　Today was the day of his teaching interview and, at the same time, it was Ji Xiaoqin's birthday. They had spoken on the phone and planned to celebrate her birthday three days later. Yet youthful pa.s.sion is a stranger to reason, and Li Yiming rushed to the train station after the end of his interview, hurriedly boarding the train bound for Hangzhou on the same night.

　　For men and women in love, this was simply screaming out romantic.

　　Then, romance met reality…

　　The owner of the Maserati was called Guo Xiang and he could be considered one of Li Yiming's friends. Guo Xiang used to pursue a student in Li Yiming's dancing cla.s.s, and he used to be on quite good terms with Li Yiming. Guo Xiang's grandfather was a prominent figure in the capital before his retirement, and his father was the chairman of Yunlong Construction Group: this made him the stereotypical wealthy third generation.

　　Back then, Ji Xiaoqin loathed people like him, whose only virtue was to be born in an affluent family. When she talked about him, it was usually with derision and contempt. But Li Yiming would never have guessed that after leaving Hangzhou for less than a month…

　　Li Yiming wandered aimlessly in the streets. Night fell, but it did little to alleviate Hangzhou's sultriness in the midst of August. As the clock ticked past two o'clock, the entertainment venues closed one after another. Night's tranquility was broken by the chatters of groups of young people returning home. Li Yiming's mind was once more boiling from an emotional upheaval as the cuddling couples strolled past him.

　　The love he shared with Xiaoqin bound the two together over the years like an ivy climbing up a pair of branches. He thought it strong enough to outlast the s.h.i.+fting of mountains and the drying of seas. But now, vain was all longing for happiness; and to ashes all plans for a future together. Now, everything had been broken like fleeting spumes on an ocean wave. Was the sole purpose of these exchanged vows to show his own powerlessness and reality's cruelty?

　　His steps unawarely led him to a building whose name he did not know, but remembered it as being the place where he had his first kiss. In a dark alley behind Li Yiming, a lit cigarette b.u.t.t splashed embers as it hit the ground. A dull gray flip-flop slowly rose over it and crushed it gently. The man followed Li Yiming into the building with his red and blue bag swaying back and forth,

　　Li Yiming gazed into the distance as he leaned on the railing. The dazzling neon lamps bore witness to the prosperousness of Hangzhou. The scenery reminded him of another moment in his happy past, and loss and defeat gripped his heart once more. He remembered Ji Xiaoqin's coquettish protests, the kind words she whispered to him. He could perceive her well-known yet now unfamiliar silhouette. The indistinct echoes of her voice continued to reverberate and amplify in his mind, resounding more and more clearly with each pa.s.sing second. He closed his eyes, shutting away those memories and sounds, but in his mind, he could see Ji Xiaoqin set flight into a beautiful dance. He reopened his eyes, and could see her shadow looming behind the curtains of every lit window in the distance.

　　Li Yiming removed his shoes and slowly climbed onto the rusty railing. He swayed his legs in the air as he sat on it. His eyes slowly emptied as he thought of his parents. He was only nine years old when they divorced. Then, shortly after, they both remarried and had a child with their new spouse.

　　"They all have a family of their own…" Li Yiming raised his eyebrows, not knowing how else to console himself.

　　"Mulling over enough? Now hurry up and jump, will you?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

　　The unexpected voice almost made Li Yiming fall off. He tightly grasped the railing and turned around with surprise written all over his face. He saw a man in his forties, with a sleeveless vest, colorful hawaiian shorts and a pair of flip-flops. He held a nylon bag and threw an amused glance at Li Yiming.