The night sky was pitch-black, moonless, and stars-less, just like Leuliang's dark eyes, which gazed upward. A heavy breath escaped his lips, cold as the air against his skin. He wore only a worn jacket, simple clothes, faded trousers, and shoes that were starting to tear slightly, but all were clean.
"I have to find another job," he muttered. "If this continues, I'll be evicted from my rental property." His voice was barely audible. He walked along the rain-drenched sidewalk, past the dim streetlights. He stopped at a bus stop and sat down, letting his thoughts drift as he relaxed. The noise of traffic accompanied him until he heard a soft meow.
Leuliang turned and saw a scruffy kitten curled up under the bench, its fur dull and its eyes gleaming with hunger. He reached hesitantly into his backpack and retrieved a packaged sausage he had been saving for dinner. "Eat," he said softly, holding out the sausage. "This is your fortune today." The kitten immediately devoured it. Leuliang smiled faintly, faintly, but sincerely. After the cat had its fill and licked its mouth, Leuliang stood up, closed his bag, and continued walking, despite his growing hunger.
Leuliang passed through the buildings, his steps slowing. He finally arrived at the city park. The night air in the park felt slightly cooler, punctuated by the scent of leaves damp from the rain. The gate lights cast a dim glow. As he entered the park, he saw a long-haired girl sitting alone, illuminated only by the glow of her cell phone.
"Why is a girl alone in a place like this?" The girl suddenly stood up and walked toward him. Leuliang froze, his body tensing, and he could feel his own heartbeat drowning out the silence of the night. Leuliang's slow steps stopped when he heard the girl crying. He hadn't intended to approach, but his hunger made him stand too close as she passed. His stomach growled, so loudly that the sound was clearly audible in the silence of the park.
The girl stopped and turned her head. Her eyes were puffy.
"Are... you hungry?"
"I'm fine," he focused on the ground.
But the girl instead opened her bag and handed him a packet of biscuits.
"Take this. Seriously, you look—"
Before she finished, someone appeared from behind the shade of the trees. A man in an expensive jacket, his steps quick, his face tense.
"Honey? Where have you been—"
He stopped when he saw Leuliang. His gaze sharpened, clearly misunderstanding.
"Who is this?" His tone was sharp, not angry, but full of displeasure.
"Nobody," the girl replied quickly. "He's just... hungry. I just—"
"Yes, I saw," the man muttered. He eyed Leuliang from head to toe, his worn shoes, like assessing trash on the side of the road.
"Do you often beg here?"
Leuliang looked up, doubtful. "No. I just—"
"I'm not accusing you of anything." The man grinned sarcastically. "But at least keep your distance from my girlfriend."
The girl pinched his arm gently, trying to calm him down.
"Come on... he just needs food."
"Yeah, yeah." The man reached for his wallet and took out a few bills without really looking at the denominations.
"If he needs food..."
He didn't throw the money at Leuliang's face like a brute. Instead, he held it out slightly and dropped it to the ground. It was a subtle but deeply insulting gesture.
"Now. Take it. Buy some food. And don't worry my girlfriend anymore."
The girl stared at Leuliang for a moment, looking confused.
"Sorry... I really just wanted to help."
The couple then turned around. The girl held her partner's arm, her head lowered, while the man didn't look back. Silence fell again. Leuliang stared at the packet of biscuits in his hand, then at the money lying on the ground. His hands trembled. He didn't know which hurt more, the hunger or the treatment.
The packet of biscuits in Leuliang's hand felt heavier than it should. He sat slowly on the park bench, his body drained of strength as if the cold night air had sapped all the warmth he had. He opened the biscuit, but when he saw its contents, his throat tightened. Each crumb of the biscuit seemed to remind him of how degrading he had been treated.
After a few seconds of just staring at the food, he closed the wrapper. It wasn't because he was full, but rather because there was another feeling pressing even harder than hunger: the feeling of rejection. His stomach growled again, loudly. He swallowed hard. He squatted down slowly, picking up the money with stiff movements.
"Even pity can feel like a knife," he whispered. He picked up the money, slightly damp from the rain-soaked soil.
"Funny..." he murmured softly. "It turns out I've lived to the point where people's help feels like an insult."
He leaned back against the bench, closed his eyes, and tried to take a deep breath. But his breath caught in his throat. The suffocating feeling was familiar. It was all too familiar. Just like the day he'd sat in a room filled with musty air and the smell of old paper, the HR office that had been the starting point of his downfall.
It felt so natural, not just a forced flashback. Fatigue, hunger, and the feeling of being stepped on earlier had dragged his mind back to that moment.
"Thank you for coming, Leuliang," said the HR staff member, sitting across the table. Her tone was polite but flat, a voice that didn't even bother to pretend to care. The clock ticked loudly. Too loudly. Leuliang still held the folder containing several work reports he'd spent the night working on.
"We... are not renewing your employment contract."
The words fell like a hammer. No lengthy explanation. No evaluation. No opportunity. Just that sentence. Leuliang clearly remembered how the entire room seemed to shrink.
"Yes..." he replied. Simply. Because there were no other words to say.
"Thank you for your hard work."
The staff member stood, shook his hand briefly, and then left, leaving Leuliang alone in the room. Leaving behind a silence more piercing than any sound.
Leuliang opened his eyes. His throat was dry, and a sour taste lingered on his tongue. A headache was starting to set in, perhaps from hunger, perhaps from the stress of thinking, or perhaps both.
"If this keeps up... I could really lose everything," he whispered. He looked up at the dark sky. No moon. No stars. As usual. "This is the worst day of my life." He massaged his temples, trying to ease the throbbing pain. But in the midst of that despair, in the moment when his chest felt completely empty, something changed.
The air warmed. Light, soft, strangely soothing. Leuliang slowly opened his eyes. And the night was no longer dark. That's when he felt something strange. The chill of the night suddenly vanished, replaced by a gentle, warm sensation enveloping him, as if a hidden fire were burning. Leuliang frowned, feeling the warmth seep into his skin. He looked up.
"Impossible," he muttered.
The night sky, once so dark and flawless, had now changed. Thousands of stars shone like diamond dust, and the moon shone brightly. The change was magical. Then, a soft, whitish-blue light, not from above, but directly in front of him, illuminated the darkness of the garden. A warm, gentle aura enveloped Leuliang. Before him stood a girl with waist-length brown hair and light brown eyes like topaz, wearing a silk veil and a plain white dress that radiated a strange serenity. She appeared silently, causing Leuliang to fall off the bench.
"AHHH!"
"Are you hurt?" the girl said calmly.
"N-No, w-who are you...?" Leuliang immediately stood up and took a step back, his eyes filled with fear.
"Your question is important, but a sincere introduction is more valuable, isn't it?" she replied, her tone firm but light.
Leuliang's fear lingered, and he tried to calm himself. "Leuliang... Leuliang Esculenta."
"Esculenta..." The girl smiled faintly. "I, Serenity Peaceraft, just call me Serenity, am the observer of the world."
"Observer... what?" Leuliang's eyes narrowed.
"Observer." He pointed to the sky. "I... more precisely, we see your world from a different vantage point."
"And why did you appear here?"
"Because I wanted to..." look into Leuliang's face, "Because I saw what you did." Her gaze pierced gently. "Even in your current state... you still choose to do good deed."
"Kindness? Just feeding a kitten. It's a small thing."
"No kindness is truly small." Serenity clasped her hands together. "Sometimes the world judges differently."
Leuliang sighed. Serenity immediately raised an eyebrow.
"You know you're not alone. Don't act like you're bringing all the destruction to the world alone."
Leuliang was stunned, then laughed softly without realizing it.
"Why is it that every time I see her face, I always feel calm? I must be going crazy... The Watcher of the world appears, and I'm calm instead."
Serenity noticed his expression. "Lian."
"Huh? Who?"
"You." She smiled. "Leuliang is too long."
"No one has ever called me Lian. I don't know why that name sounds familiar." he blushed, then muttered, "Whatever."
"Stomatch growling. " echoed through the garden.
"Haven't you eaten yet?"
"I'm fine."
Serenity immediately took Leuliang's right hand. "Go back to when you weren't hungry."
The hunger that had been raging a second ago had vanished completely, replaced by Serenity's warmth coursing through every nerve. His stomach felt light, strangely painless, as if the physical and emotional burden had been lifted. "What are you doing to me?" he slowly released Serenity's grip.
"This is one of the secrets of my abilities," Serenity's sweet smile was clearly visible.
Leuliang's face turned red as a tomato as Serenity relished the expression.
Then Serenity's body began to glow. "Time seems to fly when I'm with you, Lian."
"What's wrong with your body?" Leuliang's hand reached out to reach for Serenity but stopped.
Serenity smiled contentedly. "Since this isn't our first time meeting, I'll give you a gift."
"A gift? What do you mean, this isn't our first time meeting?" her eyes widened.
"I wanted to talk longer... but now more than enough. We will definitely meet again."
At that moment, Serenity's body began to radiate an intense light. The light was no longer soft. It was the brightness of millions of compressed stars. Leuliang instinctively closed his eyes and shielded his face with his arms.
He could feel a warm breeze swirling around him as the light peaked. A soft whirring could be heard, and as Leuliang held his breath behind his arm, he felt Serenity's presence slowly fade. The girl's body wasn't just gone. She disintegrated into silvery particles of light that rose into the air, like diamond dust blown by the wind. Soon, the whirring was gone, and the light vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a faint blue octagonal symbol glowing on his palm. The symbol slowly faded, but it left behind a distinct, warm sensation, as if a gentle fire had been embedded in his skin. Leuliang froze on the park bench, puzzled. He stared at his palm, which now looked ordinary, but the warm, gentle fire-like sensation still lingered. "Serenity... why do I feel familiar with her?"
to be continued...