She Stands High Above the City Lights, While I Linger Low in the Sea of People

Shen Yan has lived in this city for twenty-seven years.

She has lived in partitioned rooms, eaten the cheapest takeout, been blamed for her coworkers' mistakes, and been berated by her boss until she hid in the restroom. She is used to making herself as invisible as possible, to never inconveniencing anyone, to carrying everything alone.

That day in the conference room, she stood in the farthest corner with a stack of documents in her arms and watched Su Qingyuan walk in.

A black suit, hair meticulously in place, a gaze sweeping over the room like a blade devoid of warmth.

Shen Yan thought that someone like her would probably never notice her in a lifetime.

Later, she realized that whenever she was close to breaking, a pair of hands would quietly shield her from something.

She didn't know who they belonged to.

She only knew that the person stood somewhere beyond her reach, shining brightly.

Theme: A story about ordinary people surviving and finding their own way forward in the workplace of a big city, and the most restrained feelings adults experience across the chasm of social class. Two clear-eyed people, each climbing on their own and watching over the other, neither binding nor burdening one another, slowly drawing closer over the long years.