Huo Zhenzhen finally left. After opening the door, she even threw her house key to the floor, expressing her determination never to come back.
She also knew that there was no coming back.
There were still traces of her existence in the house that could not be removed immediately.
Alone, Liu Qing remained in the room and began to think about an issue—should he terminate the lease of the house and move back to the dormitory?
His monthly salary was only around 3,000 to 4,000 dollars. The rent and utilities bills added up to about 1,700 or 1,800 dollars. It was actually quite stressful for him.
He had previously stayed in the dormitory before he met Huo Zhenzhen and he did not mind it too much then.
However, he was already used to having a place to himself now. The thought of moving back to the dormitory, where he would only have a small single room and needed to get used to community living again, was not appealing at all.
It was easy to go from being frugal to being extravagant, but it was difficult to go the other way.
In that life, during the period after he broke up with Huo Zhenzhen, Liu Qing did not terminate the lease of the house. At that time, he was totally floored by the setback and did not care about his future at all. He was only going through the motions of living without really feeling anything and he did not care about saving money.
Just as Huo Zhenzhen had said, "You can only be a security guard for the rest of your life. There's no hope for you. If I stay with you, I don't see any hope either."
Since he was hopeless, there was no need to fight so hard and no point in saving money. He would just live one day at a time.
All he did during that period of time was to live in a loop—dwelling on old memories, complaining about fate, doubting himself and living in a state of pain and depression—and he never got out of it.
Although he was alive, the way he lived, he might as well not be alive.
He picked up unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking. His health gradually deteriorated and he got more and more depressed.
Even when he learned about the truth later, he only replaced his resentment towards a person with bitterness about how unfair fate was to him.
By that time, he was already a broken person, both physically and mentally.
He no longer had the ability to pull himself together.
Now that he was reborn, his body was still in its original healthy state, and he had the option of becoming a rich second generation. His longing for that woman had already become hatred, and he was actually looking forward to the future.
He was full of the vitality which he had once lost.
Therefore, he must plan his future properly.
After thinking for a while, it suddenly struck him, "In two months' time, I'll have a chance to become a rich second generation. Why should I worry about all these?"
If his memory was correct, Ding Yun would come and look for him in the month of August to ask to reunite with him.
It was now the month of June and there were only two months to go. There was no need to suffer in the dormitory to save this small amount of rent money.
This rented place was air-conditioned, and given that it was now summertime, it was actually a nice place to live alone if he did not worry about the electricity bill.
"Don't terminate the lease then. I'll just make do for two months, then I'll get to live in a big villa in the future," Liu Qing thought to himself.
Not only was he no longer depressed, he was even feeling quite pleased with himself.
Breaking up felt like having a shackle removed. He felt so much lighter and decided to celebrate the occasion.
He had more than 3,000 dollars in his account now. After deducting the rent and utilities, there was still around a couple of thousand dollars left.
This amount of 2,000 dollars was all his and he did not need to set any amount aside. Liu Qing felt so rich at the moment.
He left the house and went out to buy some cold dishes costing more than 10 dollars, as well as two bottles of cold beer from the convenience store downstairs. Once he got home, he turned on the TV and tucked into the food and drinks.
It had been a long time since he felt like this.
After being with Huo Zhenzhen, he could only go along with her preferences when it came to food.
Even though he wanted to order things he liked, he could not bear to spend the money. He only had that much money and he needed to pay for everything. The little bit of money he had left for himself meant that he could not afford to buy whatever he liked.
It was different now. Now he was on his own and could eat alone every day.
He could eat contentedly.
At the same time, he was also remorseful.
"Was I possessed for all these years? Why would I lower the quality of my life for a woman like that?"
"It's not worth it. It's just not worth it."
"A person can be anything except a spare tire or a simp."
"From now on, if I, Liu Qing, lose myself or compromise my own needs for a woman again, then I will be the number one idiot in the world!"
"I was an idiot in that life."
"In this life, I want to live well for myself!"
"I would only live for myself!"
After downing two bottles of beer, he felt dizzy and fell asleep on the bed without even taking a shower.
In the past, Liu Qing never touched alcohol. In that life, he only started drinking after he broke up with Huo Zhenzhen. As he drank, his alcohol tolerance level got higher and higher and he could finish five to six bottles of beer at a time without any problems.
When he bought two bottles of cold beer at the convenience store this time, it was not to get himself drunk. He just wanted to have a drink by himself.
However, he had forgotten that his current body was not the one that was used to drinking. The two bottles of beer completely knocked him out.
The next day, he was woken by the phone ringing.
The team leader's angry voice sounded in his ear.
"Liu Qing, what are you doing? It's not your day off today. Why aren't you at work yet? Do you know what time it is?"
Liu Qing sobered up immediately and looked at the time on his phone. It was 7:05 a.m.
He quickly said, "I'm so sorry, the alarm on my phone was out of sorts today and it didn't ring. I'll be right there!"
"Hurry up!" the team leader said and hung up.
Every shift change was at 7 o'clock and anyone who was late would have points deducted. The initial deduction was for two points, and if one was more than 15 minutes late, five points would be deducted.
However, the staff at the management office were all not at work during shift changes, thus it was up to the team leader to decide whether to deduct points or not.
Liu Qing hurriedly packed his things and left the house.
Ding Yun would only look for him two months later. He only had 3,000 dollars on hand, and the amount would not be able to last him for two months.
It was not as if he did not think about taking the initiative to look for Ding Yun so that he could experience happiness earlier. Liu Qing had also held that thought for a moment before he cut it off.
Firstly, such an action would make Ding Yun look down on him and she would then feel less guilty about what she did. This would result in her compensating him lesser in the future.
Secondly, Su Yi of the Tianyuan Group was not dead yet. He would not die until the month of July.
He did not die of natural causes. It was caused by a car accident.
Liu Qing did not want to trigger any butterfly effect by his actions. If that car accident did not happen again, he would not be able to cry even if he wanted to.
Ding Yun had not contacted him for so many years after she remarried. She had waited until Su Yi's death before getting in touch with him, which meant that she probably had issues on her end.
It would be foolish for him to look for her now.
Therefore, he still had to suffer for two more months and be a security guard for another two bitter months.
When he reached the apartment complex, the team leader was at the sentry post, having taken over his shift for him. The team leader gave him a dressing down after he arrived at work.
"Don't lie that your stupid alarm clock is broken! You've been drinking! I called you several times before you answered!"
"I don't even want to talk about how sloppy you usually are at work. At least you have to turn up for work!"
"Did the company pay you only for you to skip work?"
Liu Qing thought to himself, "When I have money in the future, I'll buy an apartment here and become an owner. Then, I'll keep an eye on you every day and complain about you to the management office!"
After the team leader scolded him, he then said, "I'll let it go this time. If you're late again, I'll report it to the management office and deduct your points!"
Hearing this, Liu Qing thought again, "Forget it. This guy does not have it easy too. I should not complain about him."