As soon as he heard this, Shawn Lawrence, biting his popsicle, spoke while crunching down the last piece, tossed away the popsicle stick, and strode ahead. Emily Thompson pressed her lips together in a gentle smile, and in just a few steps, they were walking side by side again. Soon, they left the bustling job market behind, and not far ahead was the bus stop. After walking for a while, Shawn Lawrence suddenly realized he had absentmindedly gone the wrong way—he’d been following Emily Thompson’s footsteps. This startled him awake. He scratched his head several times, wanting to invite her to a meal, and glanced at the junior schoolmate a few times, but just couldn’t bring himself to say it. After all, they’d just met today; if she turned him down, there’d be no chance for anything more... It wasn’t until they reached the bus stop, when he finally mustered up the courage to speak, that he managed only a single word: “I...” But facing the junior’s pure eyes, the rest of his words got stuck in his throat, and what came out was a harmless, polite offer: “I... how about I walk you home!?”

“No need. The bus is just a few stops, and it’s not far from here to Zhongda.” Emily Thompson shook her head with a smile, thinking to herself that this senior wasn’t as thick-skinned as he seemed.

“Well... actually, I wanted to invite you to dinner, but since we just met, maybe it’s not appropriate... How about we eat together before heading back...” Shawn Lawrence smiled, expressing himself tactfully, afraid of making her uncomfortable. Emily Thompson, however, was quite gracious about it, smiling as she replied, “Actually, I should be the one treating you, but I already made plans with my roommates—they’re waiting for me to report back about today... How about this, I’ll treat you next time... Thank you for the ice cream, it was really delicious.”

She smiled and gestured at the ice cream she hadn’t finished yet. Though it was a gentle refusal, it didn’t feel off-putting at all. Shawn Lawrence nodded, “Sure, no problem. I’ll wait for you then...”

At that moment, under the warm sunlight, on the wide, empty street, away from the noisy crowd, Shawn Lawrence actually felt at a loss. Both of them were a bit tongue-tied—after all, they’d just met and didn’t know much about each other. They exchanged a few harmless questions about school, but before they could say much, the bus—oblivious as ever—rumbled up. Shawn Lawrence hurried to see Emily Thompson onto the bus. As she got on, she looked back through the window and waved happily, her final image frozen in his mind: pure, reserved, and radiant with a bright smile.

She was gone. The sunlight shone on the dazed Shawn Lawrence, his hand still raised in the air as he watched the bus drive farther and farther down Zhongzhou Avenue. It took him a while to snap out of that smile. He smacked his lips, licked them, pulled out his phone to look at her number, and recalled every expression and smile of this junior. He couldn’t help but question his own taste for women with big busts and wide hips—how had he ended up attracted to this plain-looking junior?

The long braid, the little pimples, that delicate, pitifully thin figure, and that innocent, sweet smile made Shawn Lawrence stop in his tracks after a few steps. Tilting his head with a bit of a silly look, he almost put his finger in his mouth to bite it, gently nibbling for a while as if savoring today’s encounter... Huh? This really felt like the nervous, uncertain feeling of a first love.

“Yes, that’s it. Just looking at her is even more refreshing than chewing on an old popsicle. But I wonder if she’s taken?... Will she ask me out? If she takes the initiative, maybe there’s hope... If not, and I ask her, will she agree to come out?”

Shawn Lawrence’s eyes lit up—he’d finally found the root of his infatuation. Instantly, he thought of several possible next steps for pursuing her, but then more problems popped up. After all, he was the type lacking both talent and money, and not particularly handsome—a member of the struggling masses. Trying to seriously pursue a girl was pretty tough. The more he thought about it, the harder it seemed. He stopped biting his finger and touched his cheek—hard; patted his leg—still hard;... and when he patted his bag, things got even harder. Why? Because Shawn Lawrence had just touched the thick stack of résumés in his bag, and in an instant, his daydreams crashed back to reality. He immediately dashed back toward the job market, cursing himself as he ran:

“Damn it, I was so busy thinking about girls I forgot myself... I still have more than half my résumés to hand out. If I don’t find a job soon, I’ll have to live off my savings...”

...

...

When Shawn Lawrence’s figure once again disappeared into the crowd at the job market, across the street, not far from the bus stop, a middle-aged man watched him with a smile, shook his head, and strolled in the opposite direction across the road. He walked to the parking area on the other side, opened the door of a Buick, got into the driver’s seat, and handed a résumé to the back seat. Someone took it, and the man said with a laugh:

“Master, what makes you interested in this kid?”

In the back seat sat an elderly man. If Shawn Lawrence saw him, he’d be shocked—this was the fortune-teller he’d met in the park. At this moment, the fortune-teller Ethan Sullivan was holding Shawn Lawrence’s résumé, reading it with great interest. He didn’t answer the man in the front seat, but smiled and asked in return, “Why, Olivia Brooks, you’ve followed him for hours and haven’t noticed anything unusual?”

“No, he’s just a rookie. Everyone here is just trying to get by in Zhongzhou—what could be special about him?” The man called Olivia Brooks turned around. He was a guy with a mustache, a narrow forehead, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. On closer look, he even had a bit of a harelip. Seeing Ethan Sullivan reading the résumé so seriously, he was even more surprised and joked, “Master, you’re not thinking of taking on a final disciple, are you?”