The scorching sun blazed overhead, and the humid, hot wind brushed against his face. Standing amidst the bustling, weaving traffic of the street, a tide of memories surged back. His heart tightened, and a faint smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, he turned his head. As that door dissolved into drifting smoke and dust, he waved his hand vigorously, then strode forward.

There had been far too many regrets in his previous life, and he hoped that in this one, not a single regret would remain.

"Let all of that flow away

Let those past events

Let those past events be like a drunken stupor

May tomorrow's wine glass no longer hold yesterday's sorrow

Please raise a glass with me

And toast to the past..."

In his ears came the hoarse and hysterical singing of a certain familiar yet unfamiliar Hong Kong or Taiwan pop star. The smile on Andrew Brooks's lips grew deeper. He bent down to glance at a slip of paper in his hand, covered in two lines of delicate handwriting. With a casual flick, he tossed the note, letting it drift into a gasoline-drum-shaped trash can by the roadside.

In front of him was a tidy and tranquil residential compound. Lush green ivy climbed all over the red walls, and here and there, dainty red-and-white morning glories bloomed.

Andrew Brooks walked in quietly. As he was about to pass the gatehouse, his steps paused slightly, for he had already seen a young security guard in what looked like an '88-style police uniform push open the tinted glass door and step out.

Andrew Brooks knew this was the First Residential Compound for the Municipal Party Committee staff, home to all the top officials in the city. Naturally, outsiders were not allowed in without permission.

He walked up to the guard, steadied himself, and spoke the first words since his rebirth: "Comrade, I'm here to see Emily Summers in Unit 3, Room 201, Building 2."

The guard glanced at Andrew Brooks. "Wait inside."

Andrew Brooks followed the guard into the gatehouse. While the guard made a phone call to inquire, he looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall, his complicated gaze settling on one spot: July 13, 1998.

After the call, the guard realized that this tall, scholarly young man before him was a classmate of Deputy Mayor Noah Summers's daughter, Emily Summers. His attitude did a complete 180. He invited Andrew Brooks to sit on the wooden bench, pulled out a crumpled pack of Hongtashan cigarettes, and offered one with a smile, "Brother, want a smoke?"

Andrew Brooks took it. Glancing at the Hongtashan cigarette in his hand, he felt a twinge of emotion. How many years had it been since he last smoked this brand? Back in his first year of college, he learned to smoke from his Shanghai roommate Logan, and this was the most popular brand nationwide. Later, Emily Summers often brought him whole cartons of premium hard-pack Hongtashan from home, sometimes even the beautifully packaged Yuxi, and occasionally the kind of state-supplied Zhonghua you couldn't buy on the market.

In the time it took for the two of them to puff away, the talkative guard had already struck up a friendly rapport with Andrew Brooks. Listening to the guard show off all sorts of "anecdotes" about Deputy Mayor Xia and his daughter—stories whose origins were anyone's guess—Andrew Brooks let out a gentle sigh.

He and Emily Summers had been classmates in the Journalism Department at Yanshan University. In those days, she was known as one of the "Five Beauties of Yanshan University," proud and solitary by nature; he, on the other hand, was president of the university poetry club, forever lost in the lingering, passionate verses of Wang Guozhen.

The two of them quietly got together, and at the time, it was big news on campus. A perfect match of talent and beauty, and besides, Andrew Brooks himself was tall and handsome.

As for why Emily Summers fell for him, Andrew Brooks had asked her many times afterward. Each time, Emily Summers would just smile and not answer. If he pressed, she would grin and say, "However you fell for me, that's how I fell for you."

At first, Andrew Brooks had no idea about Emily Summers's family background. He only knew her family was wealthy, with a Hongqi sedan picking her up every holiday. Emily Summers always seemed to avoid the topic. It wasn't until a month before graduation that Emily Summers solemnly told him her father was Deputy Mayor Noah Summers of Binhai City.

They were both in Binhai, but he only had a mother who was a middle school teacher. Compared to Emily Summers's family, it was like heaven and earth. At the time, Andrew Brooks felt half his heart go cold.

They say graduation is the end of campus romance, but Andrew Brooks always believed his relationship with Emily Summers wouldn't end, because they were in the same city, because he understood the feelings between them, even if they had only shared moonlit walks and not sworn eternal vows.

Although Andrew Brooks considered himself outstanding—ever since elementary school, all the way to being admitted to the country's most prestigious university as the top liberal arts student in the city—such a vast difference in family background still sent a chill through him.

Sensing his hesitation, Emily Summers said nothing, only turned her back and murmured, "Little Andrew, if you dare give up on me, I'll die to make you regret it for the rest of your life."

Chapter 002: Visiting the Home

Dressed in a snow-white dress, Emily Summers had shed her youthful innocence and gained the allure of a mature woman. She stood gracefully outside the door, calling out excitedly, "Little Andrew!"