Chapter 3

The locksmith arrived at the apartment lobby not long after receiving Shuangyun's message, where he met the man Shuangyun had mentioned in WeChat. After it was done, Shuangyun transferred the money to the locksmith on WeChat. Then she went to sleep in a good mood.
She was in her final year of her PhD, mainly working on her dissertation.
Shuangyun was writing a paper-based dissertation, so she just needed to take her previously written or published papers, make slight modifications, and piece them together into one large thesis. She also spent two days a week interning at a company, so her life was quite carefree—and also a bit boring.
When she came to Sydney to study, her family had bought her a high-rise apartment in Sydney. She liked the hustle and bustle, so she bought it in the city center. Shuangyun liked studying because it didn't require much effort. After graduation, like everyone else, she'd look for internships. After interning for six months to a year, most people could stay at that company.
Shuangyun wasn't some rebellious girl. On the contrary, she really enjoyed this smooth life. She lived easily and happily. Just like last night—he'd said he didn't add strangers, but in the end, didn't he still have to add her on WeChat?
Shuangyun thought about this while making breakfast, her eyes curving into smiles. She hadn't expected him to live in the same building as her. But thinking about it, it made sense they'd never run into each other. She was either a night owl out at dawn, or staying home all day ordering takeout. She definitely wouldn't run into a man with normal working hours.
"Normal working hours"—Shuangyun felt that even this phrase took on a proper, upright feeling when applied to him. He seemed somewhat serious and unsmiling, but he wasn't actually cold. Last night when she'd insisted on sitting at his table, he'd let her.
It was more like a properness in his character, rather than coldness.
Proper people—Shuangyun really liked proper people.
When proper people go crazy, it's much more attractive than when crazy people go crazy.
Shuangyun couldn't help biting her lower lip, immediately opening her phone to search the faculty websites of several universities in Sydney. But she gave up after searching for a while, because each school had several colleges, and each college had many teachers. Besides, he'd said "yes and no." He might not be a teacher, and even less likely to be a university teacher. It was just Shuangyun's intuition.
Shuangyun picked up her freshly made coffee and took a sip, deciding to try her luck during normal working hours on weekdays.
The next day was Sunday. Shuangyun went to the apartment gym as usual, then went home to order takeout and work on her thesis. Early Monday morning, Shuangyun got up and went out to buy coffee, but for three consecutive days, Shuangyun never saw that person again.
On Thursday, Shuangyun had to go to the company for her internship.
The company was also in the city center, and Shuangyun could walk there in five minutes.
During her PhD, she mainly worked on flood modeling. At the company, she was also working on municipal flood simulation projects. With a senior colleague guiding her, Shuangyun quickly got the hang of it.
At 9:30, Shuangyun sat down at her desk. Checking today's emails, she saw that one of the company's partners, Landon Cheng, had recently returned from the US and was starting to work normally at the company today. She'd always had little interest in the company structure and wasn't very interested in the leadership either. She only knew that Landon was mainly responsible for technical matters.
The reason she'd chosen this company was simple—it was the closest company to home that Shuangyun could find. She didn't like wasting time on commuting. The company wasn't very large either, with only about a dozen people total. She'd heard that three partners had left their previous company together and started this one.
One person was responsible for project bidding, one for daily operations and accounting, and one for technology. The company was small, so there weren't many rules. Everyone, regardless of rank, was quite casual with each other.
Shuangyun had only been interning for two weeks and only knew the other two leaders and a few colleagues. She closed the email with little interest and started thinking about how she could run into that man again at the apartment.
But just then, the company's communication software Teams popped up with a message: "Shuangyun, do you have time today? I'd like to take up ten minutes of your time."
Shuangyun frowned because she discovered it was actually her boss Landon who had sent her the message.
She hesitated for two seconds, then replied: "Hello, Landon, I'm free now."
Landon: "Can you come to my office now?"
Shuangyun: "No problem."
After sending the message, Shuangyun stood up. She wasn't scared, just didn't know why her boss wanted to see her. She passed by the restroom to fix her hair, then walked lightly to Landon's office door.
She raised her hand to knock and heard from inside: "Come on in."
Shuangyun thought, if manifestation really worked, this should be it.
But she hoped next time could be at a different time and place.
Behind the wooden desk, that man was sitting just as Shuangyun had seen him before—relaxed but not slouching, his body leaning against the back of the chair, his elbows naturally resting on the desk. But today he was wearing a white shirt, appearing more mature than that night.
Shuangyun's lips parted slightly, her gaze shifting from surprise to amusement in an instant.