Chapter 1
The Departure
Lin Xi sat by the window of her small room in the New Colony of Shenhigh, staring at the familiar streets bathed in the soft golden light of evening. For fifteen years, this had been her world — the park where she played as a child, the bookstore she visited after school, the tall lamp posts that lit her walks home.
But tonight, everything felt different.
Her father had retired just yesterday, and the colony’s strict rule was clear: once an employee turned sixty, their family had to leave. No exceptions. Lin Xi had known this day was coming, but she thought she still had one more night to say goodbye.
Now, in a sudden twist, the decision had changed.
They had to leave today.
Her heart throbbed with panic. The walls of her room seemed to close in as she looked at the half-packed boxes around her. She wasn’t ready — not to leave, not to say goodbye to the only place she had ever called home.
“Lin Xi,” her mother’s voice called from the hallway, urgent and heavy. “We must hurry. The transport is waiting.”
Lin Xi’s hands trembled as she touched the windowpane one last time. A storm of emotions swirled inside her — sadness, anger, and something else she couldn’t quite name. For the first time in her life, she felt that the world she knew was slipping away too fast, and she had no control over it.
As she stepped out of her room, a strange thought struck her: Why did they suddenly change the plan to today?
She didn’t know then — but the answer to that question would change her life forever.
---
Five Years Later
The sun was setting over Jinjuyan City, painting the rooftops in shades of red and gold. Lin Xi, now twenty years old, stood at the edge of the marketplace, her gaze distant. The noise of vendors calling out, the smell of roasted chestnuts in the air, and the rush of city life surrounded her — but inside, she felt a hollow silence.
Five years had passed since that night in Shenhigh, yet the memory of leaving still clung to her like a shadow. She often wondered if she had left behind more than just a city — perhaps she had left behind a piece of herself.
Something in her heart whispered that the past wasn’t finished with her yet.
