"My biggest wish is to live a better life," Xu Qian thought for a while and told the truth. Xu Qian thought about it and told the truth, "I stayed on the first level. Although I always wanted to forget those days, it turned out to be my most profound memory. Every night I spent there, I swore in my heart that if I left that place one day, I would never go back."
"So, you have never gone back since you left, right?" Zhang Heng asked.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Xu Qian asked. After a pause, she continued, "I have come so far, and I have come all the way here. Now, I just need one more step, and I can realize my dream. I know what you think of me. I am a vain female streamer. I don't deny that, but it is really important for me to become a resident of the fourth level. What's more, my boyfriend is a very nice person. He will be a qualified life partner."
Zhang Heng did not comment on what she said. "It's getting late. Go to bed early. We have to go out tomorrow."
Xu Qian nodded and stood up shakily from the ground. While asking the housework robot to clean up the unfinished snacks on the ground, she said to Zhang Heng, "If you have any physical needs, I can spend money to find you … a professional to deal with it. I just hope that you will not hurt me for the sake of our happy relationship."
"Oh, you think too much," Zhang Heng said. "I am your bodyguard. Our contract is not over yet, right?"
"Yes. Anyway, um … thank you for helping me find the person who followed me in the mall." Xu Qian crossed her arms and walked back to the bedroom door. "And, um … good night."
"Sweet dreams."
After Xu Qian returned to the bedroom and closed the door, Zhang Heng did not lie down immediately. Instead, he went to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room. Detecting that someone was standing there, he slowly opened the automatic curtains on both sides.
The night view outside the window was revealed.
Xu Qian's apartment was located close to the city center, and she could see half of the third floor from here.
Under Zhang Heng's feet were colorful street lights and electronic billboards. Although it was late at night, there were still many vehicles on the street. The suspended light rail whizzed under the circular track, and on both sides of it were futuristic office buildings, half of which were still lit up.
A group of elite white-collar workers had just solved the problems encountered in the project. They walked out of the office building while talking and laughing. Although they still looked tired, they were more excited. They didn't go home to sleep. Instead, they met up to have supper to celebrate.
Although Xu Qian had always laughed at herself for being a vain streamer, it was clear why she wanted to climb up the ladder so much when she compared this level to the first level.
Compared to the bleak, crowded, and messy first floor, this floor was indeed full of vitality. Other than the difference in education, living environment, and consumption level, the most important thing was that everyone here was brimming with confidence for the future.
Convenient and trendy technological products, rows upon rows of department stores, clean and tidy streets, and a beautiful night sky. Even the harshest critic had to admit that this might be the most ideal future for mankind.
And this was only the third floor of New Shanghai 0297. There were more dreamy and beautiful fourth and fifth floors above it.
Zhang Heng took one last look at the huge shuttle track in the center of the city. It was like the tower of heaven described in the Old Testament, connecting the earth and heaven.
After that, Zhang Heng turned off the lights in the room and said to the hamster on the table, "Good night."
…
Although Zhang Heng promised that he would not hurt her, Xu Qian still looked a little nervous the next morning, especially during breakfast. She tried to ask Zhang Heng several times, but he did not tell her where they were going.
So Xu Qian could not help but feel nervous. It was not until the two came to the station after breakfast. Xu Qian saw the electronic ticket Zhang Heng bought that she realized where they were going next.
"The first floor?" Xu Qian looked incredulous. "I told you that I will never go back there again."
"Relax. I'm not asking you to settle down there. Just treat it as a short trip," Zhang Heng said.
"But I don't want to travel there because it will remind me of my life there."
"I forget who said that when we want to understand the present, sometimes we need to face the past first," Zhang Heng said. "Anyway, I have already bought the ticket. As long as you go with me once, I won't bother you anymore."
Xu Qian looked a little conflicted. A series of things that happened there made her very reluctant to return to the first floor. And the security situation on the first floor was not good. If Zhang Heng was there, it would be easier for him to do anything to her.
However, if Xu Qian screamed and asked the station guards for help, Zhang Heng would probably be arrested and recalled by the company in advance. Once Zhang Heng's memory was read, she would be implicated in what happened before. And it would undoubtedly affect her engagement.
In the end, the strong desire to go to the fourth floor overwhelmed the fear in her heart. Xu Qian chose to accept Zhang Heng's arrangement and took the shuttle to the first floor.
"You said that when you first came to New Shanghai 0297, you worked as a greeter in a small restaurant. Do you remember where that restaurant is?" Zhang Heng asked Xu Qian on the shuttle.
"Of course." Xu Qian slightly moved her body that was fastened by the seat belt. Although she had made a decision, once she realized that she was gradually approaching the first floor, she still felt inexplicably annoyed. All she wanted to do was get up from her seat immediately and escape from the shuttle. However, once the shuttle started moving, the seat belt could not be unfastened. So, Xu Qian had no choice but to sit until the end.
After that, she frowned again. "You want me to go with you to the small restaurant where I first worked. Why? I don't like the boss there, and I don't want to see him again. "
"You are much more successful than him now. Don't you want to go back and take revenge for what happened that year?"
"What's the point of that? It was a long time ago." Xu Qian shook her head. "And with his thick skin, he will probably take a photo with me to advertise his small restaurant. I don't want him to take advantage of me anymore."
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm here. If you are unhappy, I can even help you beat him up," Zhang Heng said.
"This proposal sounds good." Xu Qian forced a smile on her face.
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