Chapter 1: A Simple Life

Ling Xuan, 26 years old, is 1.75 meters tall and weighs 63 kilograms. He graduated from university with a bachelor's degree in Chinese Language and Literature. When he graduated, his father found him a teaching job in their hometown's county. However, he couldn't endure it for more than half a year and "quit" on his own.

His home is in the provincial capital, and he's accustomed to big - city life. After resigning, he had to find another job. Ling Xuan went to the talent market alone, and the next day, he started working as a copywriter at Elite Advertising Company, responsible for some simple advertising copy planning. The work was dull and straightforward. Moreover, those in the advertising industry usually have no fixed rest time and need to be on call at any time, which is more tiring and arduous compared to the stable life of a teacher. But no matter how tired he was, Ling Xuan didn't want to go back to teaching. He thought he might mislead students and always felt that he wasn't a qualified teacher. At least, in terms of being a role model, he didn't think he was up to the mark. Not to mention anything else, just his constant thoughts about women were the biggest obstacle to being a good teacher! If a person with bad character could be a good teacher...

He has been working at Elite Advertising Company for four years without job - hopping. Due to his loyalty, intelligence, and willingness to work hard without complaint, he has won the boss's appreciation. He has been promoted from a junior copywriter to a supervisor and now to a planner and planning director. In fact, this planning director title is somewhat nominal. The company only has about ten people: five people running business, one secretary, two copywriters, and two designers. The planning director of the advertising company is equivalent to a vice - general manager - level position. Although Elite Advertising Company doesn't have a large business scale and its annual profit is only about one million yuan, it's still a company. Ling Xuan is in charge of one copywriter, one designer, and two business staff, mainly responsible for the long - term integration and advertising promotion plan of a slimming beauty chain institution.

Ling Xuan's daily work is basically done by his subordinates. He is more responsible for communicating with the boss of the slimming beauty chain institution. Ling Xuan shuttles between the company and the client. There is no fixed working time, and he can be on call at any time. Most of the time, he can also take advantage of time differences to slack off. For example, when the company has work, he says he's busy at the slimming beauty place. When he's sleeping late at home, he says he's out on business. In short, Ling Xuan's work mainly involves a phone and a computer. He distributes promotion plans and activity plans to his subordinates. After they finish, they send them back to Ling Xuan's email. Ling Xuan then synthesizes them into an implementation plan and sends it to the company and the slimming beauty chain. Then he waits for the review of the company and the slimming beauty chain. Finally, Ling Xuan calls his subordinates to execute the plan as scheduled.

This kind of life can be simple, but it can also be busy. When it's busy, even trivial matters need to be taken care of. For example, when placing an advertisement, the boss will ask the planner for advice. Once the advertisement content is discussed, it seems endless. Ling Xuan actually hates meetings. He is a doer who doesn't talk much. In his eyes, meetings are a waste of time and life. But often, he spends half a day in those boring meetings and then has the remaining half - day to do a day's work. Because he is serious and responsible at work, he appears very busy.

Ling Xuan doesn't have many relatives in City N. His parents have retired. His father was originally a chief doctor at the Medical University, and his mother was an elementary school teacher. They have a three - bedroom, two - living - room house in the provincial capital, and their pensions are quite substantial. However, they said that after working in the provincial capital for a lifetime, they wanted to go back to their hometown to reconnect with old friends, return to their roots, and spend their remaining years in peace. Ling Xuan's hometown is a small town with only 20,000 people. Although it's a small town, it's as beautiful as a paradise, with fresh air and a simple folk custom, an ideal place to live. The family has a large area of farmland. Some time ago, the government expropriated land, and exactly one - third of Ling Xuan's family's farmland was taken. The family got a large sum of money. Coupled with years of savings, Ling Xuan's parents used this money to build a villa, bought a car, and opened a small clinic in the town. Because the villagers all know that Ling Xuan's father is a great doctor, there is a constant stream of people coming to see a doctor every day. His parents live a comfortable life in their hometown, so they rarely come to the provincial capital. Therefore, Ling Xuan goes back to visit them during festivals.

Ling Xuan earns about five to six thousand yuan a month. It's not a high salary, but it's enough for his daily expenses. Plus, he has his own house, so he doesn't need to worry about buying or mortgaging a house. In fact, his life is quite comfortable.

Ling Xuan's social circle is small. Besides colleagues at work and classmates from university, he basically has no other friends. He doesn't like nightlife like going to bars. After work, he usually cooks for himself, then surfs the Internet, watches TV, or has a beer and gets together with colleagues outside.

Ling Xuan is actually a typical lecher, but he also cares about his face. He has the desire but lacks the courage. At most, he watches porn movies at home and plays some adult games. Series like "Tailings," "Blood of Lust," and "Sexy Beach" are his favorites. Every time his friends ask Ling Xuan to go out for some "fun," he declines because he doesn't want to leave a bad impression. But later, when he gets home, he deeply regrets not going.

He had a close girlfriend in university, but they broke up more than half a year after starting work. The reason was that Ling Xuan earned too little money when he was teaching at school, which was also one of the reasons why he left the school. Moreover, she thought Ling Xuan wasn't handsome enough. Indeed, at 1.75 meters tall and weighing only over 120 pounds, he was slightly thin. His facial features were okay, but he looked bookish, just like a pedantic scholar in ancient times.

Without a girlfriend, he's not really lonely. His life alone isn't so bad. The only problem is that he has long - term sexual frustration that hasn't been resolved, but there are no other discomforts.

According to his current conditions, with a house and income, although he's not super - handsome, he's not ugly either. It should be easy for him to find a woman to be friends with. But Ling Xuan has high standards. He doesn't look down on ordinary women.

Some women have good figures and are beautiful, but they're too vain. Ling Xuan is afraid of getting involved with them and not being able to get rid of them. Women with good temperaments and those who are of the good - wife - and - mother type aren't necessarily good - looking. Intellectual new - age women are often too arrogant. This situation makes Ling Xuan feel both love and hatred, itching in his heart. He cares about his face, isn't very bold, and isn't a particularly flamboyant person. So he doesn't dare to have an affair or have a one - night stand with a woman. Since breaking up with his girlfriend, in the past three years, Ling Xuan hasn't been with any woman, and the pent - up feelings in his heart can be imagined.

One day, when surfing the Internet at home and playing the game "XX Beach 3," he suddenly felt bored as it seemed repetitive. He then felt a bit hungry and looked at the time. It was almost seven o'clock. So he put on his clothes and went out to eat. Ling Xuan lives on the first floor of the staff quarters of the Medical University. It's a unit - allocated house left by his parents in the provincial capital. Since his parents went back to their hometown, he lives alone. Usually, Ling Xuan rarely brings friends back to live because he doesn't like others disturbing his living habits. Besides the master bedroom where he sleeps, he converted one room into a study, and there's also a guest room. In fact, after Ling Xuan gets home, he always stays at home playing on the computer or watching TV. The computer in the study and the TV in the living room are hardly used.

Since it was already evening, Ling Xuan didn't want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries and cook. He just planned to find something to eat at an outside fast - food restaurant. As he came out of the house, the corridor was spacious. Just as he walked into the corridor, someone came towards him and then knelt down in front of him, hugging his leg.

"Sir, sir, have mercy. Give me something. I haven't eaten for days," a woman's voice rang out.

"Annoying beggar!" Ling Xuan hates such beggars the most. Everyone has hands and feet. Instead of working to earn money, they pretend to be pitiful and beg, which is really despicable!

Because of a conflict between the trade union of the Medical University and the original property management company, those people no longer care about the safety of this dormitory. So the security guards in the unit dormitory are almost useless. Everything has to be taken care of by themselves. Now it's winter, and the rain outside is cold. Some corridors in the dormitory have become shelters for beggars. But no beggar has ever dared to come into the corridor. It seems that beggars these days are even more audacious than robbers. Maybe one day they'll break into the house and rob! There are quite a few beggars entering the unit, but there's nothing he can do. After all, he can't just move.

Hearing that it was a woman's voice, Ling Xuan took a look. He could hardly tell that this beggar was a woman. She was wearing a mess of things, which looked a bit like abstract art at first glance. Her pants were layered, but there were holes all over, and her skin was showing. In the dim light, it seemed to have a bit of a rosy - white charm. Oh, it was a woman.

"Sir, sir... I have a daughter, and we haven't eaten for a long time," she continued to plead with Ling Xuan when she saw he didn't speak.

Ling Xuan is a person who cares about his face. He could have kicked her away, but she held on too tightly. Ling Xuan had no choice but to take out ten yuan from his bag and give it to her.

"Thank you... thank you... thank you, kind sir!" she said while constantly kowtowing to Ling Xuan.

Ling Xuan didn't care about her gratitude at all. He turned around and walked outside. Hey, filling his own stomach was the most important thing!