Volume One, Chapter 26: Everything Is the Best Arrangement

The process of finding a place to live proved far more difficult than Sang Wan had imagined.

Every apartment she liked had its own merits. Only one flaw: too expensive. She couldn’t afford them.

As for those she could afford, each bore its own shortcomings. Too far, too old, too cramped—calculating it all, she’d spend two or three hours each day on the road.

When the blazing sunlight poured straight down from above, Sang Wan steeled herself and made a decision.

“Food first! Fill my belly, then keep searching. If I can’t find something today, there’s always tomorrow. And if tomorrow fails, I’ll try the day after.”

She refused to believe that in this vast imperial capital, there wasn’t room for someone as small as her.

The wontons she usually couldn’t finish even when stuffed, today she slurped down and still felt unsatisfied.

She looked toward the proprietor behind the stove. “Uncle Wang, another small bowl, please!”

“Alright!” Uncle Wang answered, beginning to roll out the dough and wrap the wontons.

When she finished eating and went to pay, Uncle Wang beamed at her. “Miss Sang, no charge today! Don’t you remember? Last time the boss said it was on the house, and you were here too.”

Sang Wan recalled it. Xu Yiyi remembered as well.

As they left the wonton shop, Xu Yiyi gave her a teasing look, eyebrows raised, eyes brimming with mischief.

Her ears grew a little warm; she couldn’t tell if it was from Xu Yiyi’s teasing.

Sang Wan defended herself, “How is it my business? He gave free meals that day because he called off his wedding, remember? Maybe he’s celebrating being single again.”

“Mm, you may have a point,” Xu Yiyi nodded, her face clearly skeptical.

They walked to the mouth of the alley. Suddenly, Xu Yiyi stopped short. “What did you say when we first got here?”

What?

Together, their mouths rarely stopped moving; not a moment’s peace between them. Especially these past couple of days, they’d been talking nonstop.

How could she possibly remember everything they’d said?

“You said Lu Jinnian came with you a few times but refused to come again because there’s nowhere to park.”

Before them lay the glittering Lou Corporation Tower. Behind, the orderly chaos of the old city alleys.

More precisely, the stubborn residents left behind in the tide of demolition.

“The most important thing is the free wontons—your favorite, right?” Xu Yiyi’s comment made Sang Wan instantly understand.

They spun around in unison and plunged into the old alley.

An hour later, they emerged, hailed a cab, and headed straight for the hotel.

Seeing that Sang Wan’s packed belongings barely filled their four hands, Xu Yiyi couldn’t help but sigh, “You really left with nothing… absolutely spotless.”

Sang Wan: …

The apartment she rented was on the second floor of a little attic in the old city alleys.

The landlady was an energetic woman in her sixties, hair streaked with white, living downstairs.

“There are two keys to the upstairs room, one for you and one for me. But don’t worry, I won’t go upstairs or enter your room.”

“I go to bed early, so remember to lock the courtyard gate when you come home. And no high heels in the room, alright…”

Handing Sang Wan the key and giving a few more reminders, the old lady left with her small stool.

The room was modest but had everything she needed.

The landlady seemed to clean regularly; even the top of the wardrobe was spotless.

So clean there was no need to tidy up further.

Only, it was a little warm.

“Do you regret it?” Xu Yiyi asked, opening the window to air out the room.

Sang Wan shook her head, lifting her chin.

Xu Yiyi turned back and froze.

Outside the window in the evening, the view was breathtaking.

Green vines reached over the sill, a few pale pink morning glories tinted orange by the vast blaze of sunset clouds.

Looking down, the palm-sized courtyard was neat and tidy.

In the garden, neat rows of vegetable seedlings grew lush and vibrant.

A sight to delight anyone with a fondness for order.

Three thousand yuan in rent.

The courtyard alone was worth five hundred; the window view, twenty-five hundred.

Sang Wan stood in the doorway, quietly gazing.

On the desk by the window lay a glass-topped tablecloth with a floral pattern, setting off the small lamp above—a single glance brought her back to childhood.

On evenings as a child, she’d sit at her desk doing homework while her mother sewed by the bedside, occasionally peeking over to check her work.

In the yellowed memories, those were the only peaceful years she and her mother had.

Later, she entered high school.

Tuition, living expenses… all the costs added up, and her mother began taking on more jobs.

Nanny, maternity matron—whatever paid well, her mother did it.

Eventually, her mother became the star employee of a housekeeping company and was recruited by Su Baohui into the Lu family.

Even now, Sang Wan remembered how excited her mother was after passing her probation. “Xiaowan, I passed the assessment—I made it!”

A monthly salary of five thousand, a fortune in those days.

According to Sun Yueqing, the master was gentle and quiet, the lady was beautiful and generous, the young master cold and handsome, the young miss lively and cheerful.

That family in the villa was the very template of happiness.

Her birth father was absent.

Her mother’s work was going well.

She herself had no worries about her studies, aiming only for Imperial University—and succeeded.

The four years before disaster struck were like a gift from the heavens for Sang Wan.

But it was as if fate couldn’t stand to see her happy.

Overnight, her mother became a murderer.

But thankfully, it would all soon be over!

“My mom’s been doing so well—not only finishing her assigned work, but teaching illiterate inmates to read newspapers…”

Talking about her mother, Sang Wan felt not a shred of shame.

Every word brimmed with pride. “The original sentence was thirteen years, but her good behavior earned her three years off. In three months, she’ll be out.”

“Yiyi…”

Sang Wan looked up at Xu Yiyi. “When I bring my mother home, come over for dinner.”

In college, they’d shared a dorm, and every lunchbox Sun Yueqing sent Sang Wan would be half pilfered by Xu Yiyi.

Later, whenever they met, Sun Yueqing would cook for Sang Wan, always in double portions.

So every time, Xu Yiyi would cling to Sun Yueqing’s arm, acting spoiled, claiming to be her unofficial daughter and wanting hugs.

Whenever that happened, Sun Yueqing would beam, saying she’d earned a daughter she never expected—a blessing from many lifetimes.

“Of course!” Xu Yiyi nodded. “When you go pick up our mom, let me know ahead of time—I’ll go with you! She should know her unofficial daughter hasn’t been loved in vain!”

“…Alright!”

Sang Wan’s tears nearly fell.

After a day of running around, their shoes were almost worn through.

Sang Wan, especially.

Not wanting to wander too far, they left the courtyard and ate at Uncle Wang’s wonton shop on the street.

A cool breeze drifted by.

Moonlight like water.

Sang Wan walked arm in arm with Xu Yiyi along the stone-paved alley, her heart filled with hope for the life ahead.

It would get better.

It had to!

In sixteen days, she’d have her divorce certificate.

In thirty days, she’d be a full member of the Lou Corporation’s design department.

In eighty-nine days, she’d bring her mother home and live a peaceful, happy life.

Everything was falling perfectly into place!

Breathing in the sun-washed scent of the sheets and pillows, Sang Wan drifted into a deep sleep.

The next day, she woke early.

Before sunrise, Sang Wan boarded a bus for a short trip, heading to the women’s prison far on the outskirts of the imperial capital.