The dating reality show host just wanted to give up, but the rich girl fell for him.

The taxi slammed on its brakes at the alley entrance. Its taillights flashed twice in the deep night, then it emitted a puff of white smoke and turned to merge into the traffic in the distance.

A cold wind rushed in from the empty street, swirling up a few withered leaves on the ground and sending them flying into the air.

Lin Mo stood quietly at the entrance of the dark alley, carrying a black suitcase full of pickled mustard greens.

He casually raised his hand and zipped the thin jacket all the way up.

I managed to shield myself from the chill that was creeping up my neck. The alley was deep, and most of the courtyard houses on both sides had their gates tightly closed.

The streetlights were old and in disrepair, casting only a dim, yellowish glow.

Lin Mo walked steadily into the depths of the alley, stepping on the dappled shadows cast by the trees. The location sent by the real estate agent was in a dead-end alley at the very end.

The further you go in, the dimmer the lights become, and the wind howls like a whistle in the narrow alley.

Finally, he stopped in front of a dilapidated courtyard gate.

By the dim moonlight, one could see the peeling vermilion paint on the gate, resembling pieces of dead tree bark.

The door knocker was covered with a thick layer of verdigris, giving it a sense of desolation that had accumulated over the years.

Without hesitation, Lin Mo raised his hand, placed his palm on the cold wooden door, and applied slight pressure.

"Squeak—"

A sickening scraping sound suddenly rang out in the silent night.

The door bolts had long since broken, and the two heavy wooden doors were pushed open a crack. A draft of musty and dusty air rushed in.

Lin Mo stepped over the high threshold and into the courtyard.

The scene before us could be described as utterly destitute, which would be an understatement.

The weeds in the yard grew to waist height and danced wildly in the raging wind. Half of the roof of the main house had collapsed, and a few rotten beams pointed awkwardly into the night sky.

Looking up, you can even see the crescent moon obscured by dark clouds through the large hole in the roof.

This scene is just like a real-life encounter with fox spirits and female ghosts from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

If it were an ordinary person, standing in such a ghostly, dilapidated courtyard in the middle of the night, they would probably have already felt their scalp tingle and retreated.

But Lin Mo's face remained completely expressionless. His dark eyes swept around, his gaze taking in every broken section of the building.

There were no complaints, no sighs.

He carried his suitcase and stepped steadily into the patch of wild grass swaying in the wind.

Footsteps rustled through the withered grass.

He walked straight to the rear building in the southwest corner of the courtyard.

This was the only spot in the entire courtyard where the walls were still relatively intact and could barely block the north wind. Pushing open the rickety door, the room was completely empty, without a single decent piece of furniture. There were only broken bricks scattered all over the floor and a thick layer of dust.

Lin Mo put down his suitcase, rolled up the cuffs of his jacket, revealing a section of his strong and smooth forearm.

He bent down and began picking through the dusty corner.

The movements were neither hurried nor slow, but carried a peculiar rhythm.

Soon, he picked out a dozen or so relatively intact blue bricks.

He went to the most sheltered corner of the room and began to stack the blue bricks one by one.

In the blink of an eye, a simple yet very sturdy windproof stove was completed.

Then, he turned around and walked back to the courtyard, where he pulled out a few dry broken pieces of wood and a pile of withered yellow weeds from the ruins of the collapsed side room.

Back at the stove, he crushed wild grass to line the bottom and used broken wood to support the structure.

With a slight twitch of the fingertip, the lighter's pale blue flame leaped up.

The flames touched the dry grass and instantly burst into a bright burst of light.

"Crackling sound."

The dead wood was ignited, producing a crisp cracking sound.

Orange flames danced merrily in the dark, dilapidated room, their faint yet real warmth gradually dispelling the biting cold around them.

Lin Mo opened his suitcase and took out a small cloth bag that was sealed in a plastic bag.

That was a small bag of high-gluten flour that he had casually packed before leaving his hometown in Jiangnan.

He then found a chipped bowl that had been abandoned in a corner and washed it with the mineral water he carried with him.

Pour in the flour and slowly add water.

His slender fingers gently stirred the dough in the bowl, and the dough gradually took shape.

The rough environment did not affect his skills at all.

Knead the dough, press your wrist, and flip it over.

Every movement exudes a natural ease and relaxation.

In this dilapidated temple, which was drafty and resembled a haunted house, he managed to live a life with the elegance of a reclusive hermit.

The firelight illuminated his calm profile, outlining its deep contours.

The water boiled, and steam rose into the air.

He planned to make himself a bowl of hot soup noodles first to warm his body, which had been chilled by the cold wind.

……

at the same time.

The Jiang family mansion on the other side of the city.

The gale raged wildly halfway up the mountain, blowing the precious trees in the villa garden to their sides.

At the base of the backyard wall, a dark figure was inching forward, hugging the wall. Jiang Ruoyun was completely wrapped in a heavy black windproof coat.

The buttons were fastened all the way to the top, the collar was turned up, and a woolen hat was pulled down low on her head.

From a distance, it looks just like a clumsy and round wild black bear.

She pressed herself tightly against the cold brick wall, not daring to even breathe.

Not far away on the stone path, two beams of bright flashlight beams were sweeping back and forth. Those were the security guards that Dad Jiang Jianguo had specially assigned to patrol the area.

"That old man has really gone mad..."

Jiang Ruoyun gritted her teeth inwardly, her nose, red from the cold, twitched slightly.

Normally, there are only two people on duty in the backyard, but today, the number has doubled.

They had a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps, practically making their home as secure as an iron barrel.

But the word "retreat" doesn't exist in the young lady's dictionary.

Especially after learning that the man had quietly arrived in the capital.

Her heart is still pounding wildly in her chest, it just won't stop.

As the security guard's footsteps faded into the distance, the bright light turned to another blind spot.

Jiang Ruoyun took a deep breath.

Like a clumsy penguin, she trotted towards the dark green recycling bin in the corner.

The coat was so thick that it severely restricted her movements.

She lifted one leg, trying to step onto the edge of the trash can.

As a result, when he raised his leg halfway, it got stuck on the thick fabric.

"oops……"

She let out a soft, irritated sigh, and could only hold up the hem of her coat with her hands.

His face turned red, and he finally managed to step on it with great difficulty.

The trash can emitted a dull screech of plastic scraping and shook slightly.

Jiang Ruoyun was so frightened that she immediately held her breath and froze on the spot, like a ridiculous sculpture.

After confirming that the security guard hadn't turned around, she carefully placed her other foot on the ground.

Standing on the wobbly trash can, there's still some distance between me and the wall, which is more than two meters high.

She looked up at the dark ceiling, the cold wind relentlessly blowing into her collar.

The piercing chill brought tears to her eyes.

"Lin Mo, you just wait..."

She was mentally hurling fierce words at him as she stood on tiptoe.

With great effort, she stretched her hands upwards, her ten slender, white fingers gripping the rough wall tightly.

The grit on the bricks made her palms ache, but she didn't care.

With a sudden burst of strength in her arms, she tried to pull her body up.

Once. Didn't pull.

Twice. Still no movement.

The weight of the coat, combined with her lack of physical strength, made her movements appear both comical and pathetic.

"I refuse to believe it!"

She bit her full lower lip and used all her strength to kick the wall wildly in the air.

Finally, after rubbing off a large patch of paint from the wall with the sole of my shoe.

She managed to hang half of her body on the wall with great difficulty.

Her stomach was pressed against the hard corner of the brick, and the pain made her gasp.

The cold wind blew across the top of the wall without any obstruction, and a few strands of her long, smooth hair were pulled out by the wind and stuck to her flushed cheeks.

She was like a heavy carpet swaying in the wind, bobbing on the wall.

Looking down, the ground outside the wall was pitch black, and the difference in height made me a little dizzy.

Jiang Ruoyun swallowed, a primal fear flashing through her mind.

But just thinking about that man freezing in the dilapidated alley...

The thought of him possibly standing alone in the cold wind is unbearable.

That sliver of fear was instantly dispelled by a strange impulse.

"It's just a wall!"

She closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, and suddenly released her grip.

He lost his balance and fell straight down like a weight.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud exploded on the muddy ground outside the wall.

Jiang Ruoyun fell hard on her bottom, the impact making her tailbone go numb.

"hiss--"

Tears welled in her eyes from the pain, and she curled up on the ground, gasping for breath. But she dared not linger, afraid that the noise would attract the security guards in the yard.

She scrambled to her feet, not even bothering to rub the sore spot from the fall.

He patted the fallen leaves and dust off his coat.

The wind whipped up dust and fallen leaves, but the young lady's eyes shone with an unprecedented brightness.

"Lin Mo, don't try to eat alone, I'm coming!"

……

The gaze returned to the dilapidated courtyard house. The fire in the back room still flickered steadily. The water on the stove was boiling thoroughly, bubbling and churning with white foam.

Lin Mo stood in front of the simple wooden plank, holding the dough that had already risen in his hand.

The dough became smooth and elastic under his kneading.

His eyes were focused, and his hands moved as if performing magic.

Stretch, fold, stretch again.

The thick noodles quickly thinned at his fingertips, making a soft "slap slap" sound.

A faint aroma of noodles filled the air. His movements were fluid and seamless, without any unnecessary pauses.

Just as he gently shook his hands, pulling the noodles into translucent strands, ready to put them into the pot...

A strange noise suddenly came from outside the door.

That was the slight rubbing sound of shoes stepping on dry grass.

The sound was soft and disordered, sounding like a stray kitten scratching helplessly at a door.

Lin Mo paused slightly in his movements.

A barely perceptible hint of doubt flickered in his usually calm eyes.

With a slight frown, he turned to the side and looked towards the door.

The night wind continued to rage in the courtyard, casting swaying shadows of the wild grass onto the windows.

Followed by.

The old, drafty wooden door was gently pushed from the outside.

"Creak—"

With a dry, scraping sound from the wooden shaft, the door was pushed open a crack...