Chapter 70: The Old House

The next morning, Su Chen arrived at the place he had agreed to meet Dai Anxin ten minutes early.

The first street corner of Nanluo Alley!

To his surprise, Dai Anxin was already there when he arrived.

Today, it seemed she had put some effort into her appearance, with a light touch of makeup on her face.

Her long lashes fluttered gently, and her pupils were clear and bright, making her look especially radiant in the sunlight.

At first glance, she wasn’t the kind of girl who would stand out for her beauty. But upon closer inspection, one would discover she belonged to that rare type whose appeal grew the more you looked at her.

Her skin was very fair, and her features relatively delicate, which gave her an overall impression of harmony and an intellectual kind of beauty.

“Come on, let me buy you breakfast first!”

As soon as Su Chen arrived, Dai Anxin took his hand and led him off in search of a breakfast spot.

“No, really, let me treat you!” Su Chen waved his hands quickly.

He was the one asking for help—how could he let the other person pay for the meal as well? Even if it wasn’t expensive, he’d feel uneasy about it.

“Trust me, I’m a local in the capital. You’re on my turf now—how could I possibly let you pay for yourself?”

Unlike her shyness last night, Dai Anxin was cheerful and at ease today.

Unable to refuse, Su Chen followed her to a small place for breakfast.

It was still early, and the tourists hadn’t arrived yet, so the street was quite calm. The shopkeepers had set their tables and chairs out on the sidewalk, turning their businesses into open-air stalls.

Su Chen noticed a few young people with backpacks, presumably heading to work.

Something occurred to him, and he turned to Dai Anxin and asked, “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask—am I making you late for work today?”

She waved dismissively, perfectly unconcerned. “Don’t worry about it. Work or no work, it’s all the same to me!”

Su Chen was startled. That sounded a lot like himself. Was she perhaps a composer too?

“What do you do for a living?” he asked.

Dai Anxin blinked at him, not answering, but instead tossed the question back: “What do you think I do?”

He almost shook his head, prepared to admit he couldn’t guess, but thought that would spoil the fun. So he ventured a guess: “A student?”

She shook her head.

“A teacher?”

She just smiled, saying nothing.

He tried several more guesses, all wrong, and finally she stopped teasing.

“I work in IT!”

“You? IT?”

Su Chen could hardly believe it. He couldn’t reconcile this girl with the world of information technology.

“What, you don’t believe me?” she teased.

“I believe you, but it just feels a little out of character.”

Dai Anxin said nothing more, instead pulling a few documents from her bag and laying them out in front of Su Chen.

“Look, what’s this?”

“I have some business to take care of later, so I needed these with me anyway. Otherwise, how could I prove who I am?”

He didn’t mind her joke, picking up one of the documents to look.

“Master’s in Computer Science, Capital University!”

Impressive! A chosen one of the heavens!

He opened another.

“Researcher, Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences!”

Every single credential was an enviable line on a resume.

“Who would have thought you were a bona fide academic superstar!”

They chatted over breakfast, which lasted nearly half an hour.

Afterwards, Dai Anxin led Su Chen down the street.

Before long, they left the area of Nanluo Alley.

“This place isn’t in Nanluo Alley,” Dai Anxin explained as they walked. “But it’s not far from here.”

Soon, they arrived at another cluster of buildings.

Compared with Nanluo Alley, this place was quieter and more secluded—almost deserted, even.

Looking around, Su Chen saw many of the courtyards seemed empty and uninhabited.

“Let me check the photos again,” Dai Anxin said, pulling out her phone to compare images.

After a bit of searching, she finally locked onto one particular courtyard.

“This is the place!”

Su Chen looked up.

It was a traditional courtyard with gray brick walls and tiled roofs.

The layout and location matched the photographs he had, but a fence blocked the entrance, making it impossible to get close or see the details clearly.

Taking out his old photo, he studied it carefully and found many differences.

For example, the house in the photo was squat and rundown, but this one was taller and looked much newer.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“I’m sure,” Dai Anxin replied, noticing his doubt.

“This place has been renovated. Some things have changed, but the overall layout and external appearance are the same.” She pointed inside the courtyard. “Look there…”

Su Chen followed her finger and saw a crooked jujube tree.

A jujube tree?

He quickly checked his photograph to see if there was such a tree in the same spot.

Same place! Same crooked trunk!

It really was the place.

After careful comparison, he was nearly certain.

Su Chen felt a stirring in his heart. He hadn’t dared hope, but now, finding this place felt like a happy surprise.

“I can’t believe you actually found it. Thank you!” he said.

Dai Anxin was pleased by his gratitude and explained further.

“Actually, I didn’t rely solely on the jujube tree to identify this place.”

“Oh?”

Su Chen was curious.

“I came here as a child,” she said. “I know what this place used to look like.”

Seeing his interest, she went on: “My family lived nearby. I used to run around these alleys all the time. I knew every street and every lane here. Once, playing hide-and-seek with friends, I ran a bit farther than usual and ended up here. It was getting dark, and the main gate was open, so I snuck into the courtyard to hide.”

“But as soon as I got inside, someone lifted me right up!”

“I burst into tears—I saw the person who grabbed me had a gun at his waist.”

“Though he let me go in the end, and even gave me lots of treats, I was too scared to come back here for a long time.”

“That’s why I didn’t bring you over last night.”

Su Chen nodded. He hadn’t expected her to have such a story.

So, this place really did have something to do with his father?

Curious, Su Chen peered through the fence.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

A harsh voice called out from a distance.

They turned to see a young man dressed head to toe in flashy designer brands, looking at them with a hostile expression.

Su Chen glanced back and, seeing the young man, was struck by a sense of familiarity.

At that same instant, the young man saw Su Chen’s face as well—and his own expression grew strange.