(This book is a slow burn. If you don’t understand the beginning, please be patient. You’ll get it after ten or twenty Chapters. This note was added based on a reader’s suggestion.)

The sounds of the Chinese New Year firecrackers faded into the distance, and with them, the lively atmosphere that had filled every home naturally dissipated.

Students returned to school and adults to their jobs. Those who worked or studied in other cities all left their homes after the brief family reunions.

Located in Yue City’s Kehua District, Qingzhen was a small town. After the brief clamor of the Spring Festival, it returned to its usual tranquility.

Qin Xiaoxia walked down the street, bored out of his mind. The stalls that had crowded the roads during the New Year—with their balloon-shooting games and miscellaneous goods—had almost all vanished. It seemed the vendors always had a keen sense for when the holiday spirit was gone.

He couldn’t help but wonder how these people made a living when it wasn’t a holiday. Surely they weren’t like antique dealers, where one big sale could feed them for half a year, right? Not with those five or ten yuan knock-off goods.

’Setting up a stall during the New Year is probably just a side gig for them,’ Qin Xiaoxia mused casually.

Up ahead, he reached his destination: Ruixing Supermarket.

He had come out to stock up on groceries and household essentials, having used up most of his supplies over the New Year holiday.

Outside the large supermarket, red posters advertising New Year discounts and freebies were still plastered everywhere. Inside, festive music continued to loop endlessly, as if this were the last bastion of the holiday.

"The only good thing about the New Year, for me, is that the discounts are pretty steep..."

He picked out the items he wanted, tossing them into his shopping cart.

"Ugh, looks like my usual takeout places haven’t reopened yet. I’m really craving Old Liu’s secret recipe braised pork noodles and golden fried rice!"

With that lament, Qin Xiaoxia tossed two bags of pineapple buns and a case of instant noodles into his cart. He added some replacement toiletries like toothbrushes and towels, then headed for the checkout counter with a cart that was over half-full of his spoils.

One of the main reasons he disliked coming to the supermarket during the New Year was the long lines at the checkout.

At one in the afternoon, the supermarket wasn’t very crowded. Besides, most people’s Spring Festival holidays were over, so the packed checkout lines from a while ago were nowhere to be seen.

In just a few minutes, Qin Xiaoxia walked out of the supermarket, carrying two large nylon bags filled with his purchases.

A light breeze blew past, making him twitch his nose involuntarily.

The Wan Niqiu River outside Qing City had, at some unknown point, become polluted for some unknown reason. Several cleanup attempts had been ineffective.

Whenever the wind blew from the northwest, the river’s unique stench would remind people in certain parts of the small town of its presence. Ruixing Supermarket was one place where you could get a direct experience.

There had been a strict environmental inspection recently, but the environmental protection department had reportedly investigated many times without finding the cause. Of course, for ordinary people like Qin Xiaoxia, the first thought was still illegal dumping by corporations and inaction from the authorities.

The foul smell quickly passed with the wind. He quickened his pace, bags in hand, to spare his nose any further suffering.

As a freelancer, Qin Xiaoxia didn’t have to worry about the end of the holiday signaling a return to work. In the eyes of most people, he was just an idler.

But while he seemed quite idle most of the time, he didn’t consider himself unemployed. After all, he earned income from online reselling and part-time creative work, and he was still looking for a more stable job.

At the same time, he also had to periodically clean and look after an old building in his capacity as its "administrator." After all, according to Old Qin, the property rights would belong to him when he turned 40—that was less than twenty years away!

Looked at that way, you could say he was "juggling multiple jobs."

Lost in thought as he walked, he soon arrived back at Qian Building District, an old residential complex that was nearly twenty years old.

Then, with practiced ease, he went up to the sixth-floor penthouse of Building 12.

Before taking out his key to open the door, he subconsciously glanced at his palm. There was a deep scar there from a burn, and after all these years, it seemed to be faintly aching.

’That damn old man really didn’t hold back!’

Silently cursing a certain deceased person, Qin Xiaoxia stuck the key into the lock.

CLICK. The door opened.

He glanced inside, went in to put the bags on the table, and then prepared to change into his slippers.

"Huh!"

He exclaimed in surprise.

"Why is one of my slippers missing?"

On the shoe rack, various shoes were neatly arranged, but one slipper from Qin Xiaoxia’s favorite pair was gone.

Just one was missing.

He didn’t have amnesia, and he’d only been out for less than half an hour.

He clearly remembered putting the slippers next to the shoe rack before he left.

He then carefully observed his home. Although he couldn’t see anything out of place, his intuition told him there was an indescribable sense of disharmony.

A burglar?

That was Qin Xiaoxia’s first reaction.

So, he immediately grabbed a folding stool and went from doorway to doorway, peering into each room. He even cautiously peeked under the beds from the doorways.

After more than ten minutes of skulking around the apartment like a creep, he finally confirmed that no one else was there.

Then he quickly looked around to see if anything valuable was missing.

These days, few people kept large amounts of cash at home, and Qin Xiaoxia was no exception. Besides, he wasn’t one to wear jewelry.

Besides the large furniture, the most valuable things in the entire apartment were a desktop computer, a laptop, and a tablet.

Clearly, none of these items were gone. In fact, nothing else in the apartment looked like it had been touched.

’What kind of burglar is this bored? Stealing my slipper, and only one of them?’

Qin Xiaoxia returned to the shoe rack, staring at the lone slipper, unable to make heads or tails of it.

The windows had security bars, so it was impossible to climb in. The door to the rooftop terrace had an internal latch and no keyhole on the outside, so that was also not a possible entry point.

He went back to the entryway and opened the door to check the lock. There wasn’t a single scratch from being pried open. Could it have been a master lockpick?

’Did I have a brain fart and throw one slipper away before I left?’

He shook his head, pushing the absurd idea out of his mind.

It couldn’t be a ghost, could it?

Qin Xiaoxia was generally a non-believer in ghosts and gods. The reason it was "generally" was because he still visited Old Qin’s grave to pay his respects. One had to honor their ancestors, after all.

But a ghost that steals slippers... yeah, right.

Besides, he hadn’t thoroughly checked the apartment yet. Maybe something he’d forgotten about had been stolen. He glanced again at the messy rooms and the thick dust in some spots.

’Might as well do a deep clean!’

He was usually quite lazy; he’d even skipped the traditional "out with the old, in with the new" cleaning before the New Year. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done a major cleanup.

He would take this opportunity to give the place a good cleaning and, while he was at it, check carefully to see if anything was actually missing.

This was one of the few situations that could motivate a lazy guy like Qin Xiaoxia to clean voluntarily.

「...」

He had no idea how bad it was until he started cleaning.

Qin Xiaoxia discovered that in the dead corners under the bed and sofa, the dust had accumulated into full-blown dust bunnies. It was a bit ridiculous.

And so, the epic cleaning session began.

Mops and brooms came out in full force, while rags and cleaning solution were never idle.

It wasn’t long before he was drenched in sweat. Soon, Qin Xiaoxia had stripped down to just a thin sweater. Only his hands felt a bit chilly from the cold water, but it definitely wasn’t too cold overall.

For once, all his miscellaneous junk was sorted and neatly put away. Some long-neglected, dusty corners were finally attended to.

He even found many long-lost items, including a bus card, two dried-up plums, some small trinkets, and a random assortment of coins.

By around 6 p.m., the entire duplex penthouse, including the attic and rooftop balcony, had finally been cleaned. Qin Xiaoxia was thoroughly exhausted.

He stretched his back, his bones letting out a series of CRACKLES.

"I’m getting old... or am I just really out of shape?"

Muttering to himself, Qin Xiaoxia looked at his now relatively tidy "pigsty" with a considerable sense of accomplishment.

Although he couldn’t be sure if he’d missed anything, he was basically certain that no important items he could think of were missing.

But there was still one small problem: the slipper had yet to be found.

CLATTER.

The mop that had been leaning against the table fell over. Qin Xiaoxia subconsciously bent down to pick it up.

Just then, the jacket he had put back on after cleaning caught on the back of a nearby chair. As he bent over, the large movement sent the chair toppling over with a THUD.

Qin Xiaoxia stood there with the mop in his hand, staring blankly at the overturned chair. Because there, wedged in a gap on the underside of the chair, was a slipper.