Start With An Encounter

An advertisement was playing on the high-speed train. A handsome man flashed into the screen from time to time.

"Woah! He's so handsome." "Murphy!" "He's the male star who just got a ticket to Hollywood." "My friend met him before. She said that he was so handsome and sweet!"

In a trance-like state, Nora Su lowered her head and tried her best not to listen to their ongoing chatter. However, she couldn't help but feel heavy inside. Although her heart ached at the sound of his name, she knew that she had absolutely nothing to do with him – at least, not anymore.

The little boy in her arms began to cry, as if hearing the sorrow of her heart. He was just about two to three years old with dark eyes and long eyelashes. He was a pitiful sight.

Nora Su patted the boy on his thigh, coaxing him to quiet down. He later followed suit.

She closed her eyes, feeling her head pounding more deliberately. It was because of the cold. She could already feel her eyes drooping, but she forced herself to stay awake, worried about the baby in her arms.

After a while, Nora Su let her mind wander to what had happened two years ago.

In the four years when they were together, he would always buy her breakfast in cold winter mornings and wait for her downstairs in her dormitory building. He would stay up all night to study with her when she failed her exams. He would accompany her to the activities she liked to participate in, even if he had no interest in them. And if she was jealous, he would do his best to put an end to those gossips and assure her that he was hers.

She would never forget the night on the rooftop. In a night of drifting snow, he held her hand and asked, "Nora, I've always wanted to be with you. Would you be my girlfriend?"

That night, she felt like a princess who finally found her prince. At that time, they thought it was them against the world.

"The train is about to reach Beijing. Please get ready." The steward's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Nora Su rubbed her eyes sleepily, shaking her head.

'Time had really changed us. Fortunately, even if I'm still struggling here, you're turning brighter and brighter. It's better like this... It's better that we forget about each other.'

Outside the window, it felt as if she was in another world covered in snow. Although it was still October, the city had experienced few bouts of snow along the month.

As soon as she got off the train, a gust of wind blew on her face. She helped the child in her arms close his jacket before zipping up her own.

Nora Su quickly found the nearest bank and grabbed the only card in her wallet. She inserted it into the ATM. Staring at the miserable number on the screen, she couldn't help but sigh.

A chill rushed up her chest. She covered her mouth and coughed a few times.

"Ring!" Just then, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and didn't answer.

When her phone rang again, she sighed and answered the phone.

"Nora, what are you doing? Why the hell didn't you tell me you're going to Beijing?" A woman's voice came from the other end of the line. It was her best friend, Grace Gao.

"I didn't want to bother you," Nora said bitterly.

There was a moment of silence before her friend answered helplessly,

"Look, even if you don't care about yourself, won't you think about Hugh? It's so cold outside. Are you going to make him suffer with you? Don't let your pride get to you!"

Nora squatted down and held Hugh's frozen face. She sighed. "Where do you live, Grace? I'll give you a visit."

Grace Gao immediately hung up. Within half a minute, she sent Nora her address.

Nora smiled, but she still felt bitter in her heart. Sometimes, she felt like a porcupine. Although she felt lonely, when someone would try to get close to her, her needles would start poking out.

However, her needles didn't protect her from the danger two years ago. Instead, those who did care about her had all suffered from her needles the most.

No matter Murphy Jiang, Grace Gao or her mother, they had done nothing wrong. They just felt sad and worried about her. She couldn't afford that, not anymore.

Even as her life had gotten wretched over the years, she had never bore any ill will against others. After everything she had gotten, God must've thought it was fair to give her hardships in exchange for her extravagance.

She had always hated herself. There were times when she wanted to leave the world countless of times, but she always backed out of it. Hugh Su was still so young. What would he be without his mother?

"Mom, I'm cold," he called out softly.

She gently ruffled his hair. "We'll see your godmother in a moment."

What Grace Gao said was right. She should cheer up for Hugh Su. She came to Beijing to escape from reality, but it was only then did she realize that she had to live a better life.

For Hugh Su and the people who cared about her.

Grace Gao didn't do well in Beijing. Although she was three years older than Nora, she was still single. She had become a supervisor in a small company, but it didn't pay much.

It was her dream to buy a suite in the capital, but reality didn't allow her to do so. Beijing had exhausted her. That was why Nora didn't want to ask for her help.

In a dark and damp rental basement, Grace Gao helped Nora with her luggage. "I'll move to a new place in a few days. I live here since it's near the company. You could let Hugh stay here for a few days."

Hearing that, Nora felt a lump in her throat. She bowed her head.

"Grace, thank you so much."

Grace Gao rolled her eyes. "Please, as if we aren't best friends! You're being too polite!" she snapped.

Nora plastered a smile on her face and hugged the woman in front of her.

The weather in Beijing wasn't constant. It was snowing heavily yesterday. And today, the sun was shining.

When Nora got up, she saw that Grace had already prepared breakfast. Nora took out the milk powder from her backpack. Testing the temperature of her warm water, she quickly fixed up a bottle of milk and fed it to Hugh.

Grace watched her prepare everything smoothly in a few minutes. "You look like a mother," she said before pausing. "I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse." Nora winked.

"There's no need to mention such things in front of the child. Fortunately, he had given me the courage to face these things."

Seeing the state she was in, Grace stood up and turned away. At last, she paused at the door and sighed. "I'm going to work. You and Hugh could live here now. No worries." Without another word, she left in her heels.

The rental house covered an area of less than a hundred and fifty square meters, but more than half of the space was filled with clutter. The damp air made Nora shiver.

She had absolutely no time to waste. With Hugh's milk powder and their living expenses, she needed to start picking herself up – even if not for herself, then for Hugh.

Thinking of this, Nora turned on Grace's computer and submitted her resume to many part-time platforms. From what she could see, there were many people who had already applied. They all came from average universities. Nora had no advantage given that she didn't have any work experience.

However, she wasn't going to give up easily. After sending her resume to different companies, she turned around and noticed that Hugh had already fallen asleep.

Nora rubbed her hands and placed them on Hugh's face. A smile threaded across her lips.

Two years ago, when she had just graduated from college, she had so many opportunities to get started. However, she waved them all off because of the baby she was about to have. After giving birth to Hugh, she fell into a wave of depression for a year.

Her mother's words hit close to home. Nora still remembered what she had said, "You really are a cheap bitch!"

Nora sighed. Where had she gone wrong?

A notice came from her e-mail. Nora quickly opened it and found an advertisement. She was about to delete it when she saw a recruitment notice.

"Daniel's Agency..." she mumbled as she scanned the article. The agency was looking for an assistant!

However, as she read it, she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. The Daniel's Agency was incredibly famous. It was the home of many superstars.

However, from what she had read, the company wasn't that strict in its recruitment process. All it needed was a bachelor's degree who attached importance to hygiene. And the monthly salary was incredibly high!

As soon as she had sent in her resume, she was informed that she had been accepted!

Nora stared at the acceptance letter in disbelief. She didn't expect that she could find a job this fast in Beijing.

She glanced at Hugh. He was just two and a half years old. It was still too early to send him to kindergarten. For a boy at his age, he should be sent to nursery school. She sighed. As a mother, she didn't do the best jobs in raising him.

The world was incredibly big and difficult. She and Hugh would still have to go through plenty of challenges in the future. It was up to them whether they could jump over those hurdles or not. The world would only act as a bystander.

It was not until midnight did Grace come back. She let out a string of curses outside the door, but she immediately stopped when she saw that Hugh had already fallen asleep.

Nora sat up. "What's wrong?"

Without saying a word, Grace sat down on the chair. Her eyes were bloodshot.

"What happened?" Nora furrowed her eyebrows in worry. Usually, Grace couldn't care less about the world, and now, it seemed that she was drowning in stress.

"Nora, do you think you need to rely on your nepotism to get a job?"

"Of course not! What are you thinking about?" Nora frowned.

"Hell, I'm even better than that bitch! I've been a supervisor for two years, but she's been promoted after working for half a year. All because she slept with the director's son!" She waved her hands exasperatedly. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed into her pillow.

Nora's nose was turning red as she sat next to Grace. She stretched out her hand and wrapped it around her friend. "Just be yourself, Grace. You're a hundred times capable than what you think you are. What's more, you get to keep a sense of dignity."

Every time Nora recalled that night, she couldn't help but be sad. That night, the two women bonded and shared their miserable lives with one another. After taking off her arrogant mask, Grace looked as if she was finally exhausted with life.

They hugged and cried the whole night.

At that point, they finally had a taste of reality, and none of them liked it.

Nora had boasted herself to be a very efficient person. She found a nursery school that was near both to her company and to Grace's home, so she quickly registered Hugh there. She also planned the shortest route as well as calculated the time it would take her from work to Hugh's school. After figuring all that out, she finally went to her first day of work.

When Nora entered the agency, her eyes widened. The big company was far different from all the traditional firms that she had seen. The Daniel's Agency was definitely meant for the high-end market.

She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable with her situation. Before going out, she made sure that she had chosen the most decent clothes she had in her closet. However, she still felt like someone from the countryside compared to the high end clothes the others were sporting.

The day before she went to work, someone called her and asked her to go to the assistant's office directly next day. She followed. After staying inside for a long time, a man in a suit entered the office. He looked like an agent.

"Are you Miss Su?" he asked politely.

She nodded.

"Here's the thing," he started, looking a bit embarrassed. "You know that the requirements we've given for our assistants are much lower this time around. That's because under certain circumstances, we are in dire need."

"I understand." She shrugged.

The man sighed with relief. "I'm acting as an agent for two actors. This is why I recruited an assistant for one of them. He's a neat freak, so it's very important for the assistant to be clean. As for work experience, we can provide the training. If you have any questions about the salary, you can ask me.

Also, since we're working in an entertainment business, it's important that we maintain a strict level of confidentiality for our actors."

Nora nodded again.

The man blinked in shock. He didn't expect that things would go this smoothly. "Okay. You can go to Murphy's office later to start. He's shooting scenes right now, and he would be back later on. I've already arranged for you to meet his ex-assistant, who would introduce to you all his likes and dislikes today." He smiled. "I hope you can adapt to your job soon. I look forward to working with you."

Murphy.

The moment she heard his name, her heart skipped a beat. It was as if her mind had just exploded. 'Why didn't I think of that?' Even if she didn't deliberately ask about him, she should have known that there were chances of her bumping into him in this agency. His agent was, after all, the Daniel's Agency.

Her cheeks reddened, but she quickly calmed herself. Three years had passed. He must have seen her resume when she was recruited as an assistant... Yet, he still hired her.

Since he didn't mind, then she didn't need to take it to heart.

The man noticed the change in her expression. "Do you have any questions?"

"No. Thank you." She smiled, waving her hands dismissively.

"Okay." The agent breathed a sigh in relief. He had been really worried throughout the recruitment process.

However, Nora was already panicking on the inside. 'This is the first step for you to move on.' She reminded herself.

The Daniel's Agency had a total of twenty floors of the building for arranging the artists' work. Murphy's office was on the eighteen floor. When Nora arrived, she thought she was going to faint.

Although she was just in one floor, there were still so many rooms that she thought she was going to get lost along the way.

"Ah!" As she was about to turn around the corner, she bumped into a woman.

The woman had long curly hair and a beautiful face. Although she had a lot of makeup on, it was only there to highlight her bright eyes and high cheekbones.

Nora couldn't help but feel that the woman looked incredibly familiar. She then bowed her head and apologized.

The woman glared at her coldly without saying a word.

All of a sudden, a man rushed behind her and shouted, "Laquisha, the play will help you return to the spotlight. Why wouldn't you sign it?"

Before the man could start on another rant, he stopped when he saw Nora.

'Laquisha!' She was one of the most popular stars four years ago. In fact, Nora had seen her performances when she was still in college. However, she remembered that Laquisha had been banned from the entertainment industry long ago. Was she making a comeback?

Nora quickly backed away. She didn't have the time to meddle in other people's affairs anyway. Right now, all she needed was to keep her job.

"I'm really sorry," Nora apologized again.

"Who are you? I haven't seen you in the company. Are you a fan?" The man narrowed his eyes at Nora suspiciously.

Afraid that he might call the guards, Nora quickly took out the work card that Murphy's agent had given her. "I'm Murphy's new assistant. It's my first day. I guess I'm lost." She laughed sheepishly, trying to relieve the tension.

Laquisha snorted in disdain. "Sure enough, the man fired another one of his assistants." She shook her head.

Nora lowered her head.

"Turn left. His door's the third one, you see." The man smiled and pointed the direction for her.

As Nora entered the room, she heard a woman talking on the phone.

"Ugh! Murphy's horrible. I just can't stand him. He thinks he own the place when he's just a little famous. God, don't get me started on..."

Nora decided that it was time for her to walk in. She coughed and opened the door.

The woman was startled from the sudden entry. When she realized who she was, she immediately relaxed and hung up her phone.

"Are you the new assistant?" she asked.

"Yes." Nora nodded.

"My name is Ruth Lu." Ruth Lu eyed Nora up and down as she crossed her arms against her chest.

"I'm Nora Su," she replied politely.

"You can walk around the office and familiarize yourself with the surroundings." She smiled. "Really, this job isn't that demanding if you're just writing documents all the time.

It's Murphy. The man's just difficult to work with!" Ruth Lu lowered her voice.

"The man wants to be clean, right? I guess it's not that abnormal." Nora raised her eyebrows.

After hearing someone speak against him, she couldn't help but stand up for the man. She took a deep breath once she realized her place.

Fortunately, Ruth Lu didn't notice a thing. She snorted.

"Please, you'll know once you work with him. For example, his office desk should be disinfected at least four times a day. The documents on his desk must not hold at least one speck of dust. His OCD is the worst! The documents' size and font must not be out of place. No one is allowed to disturb him in his assigned rest time..."

The more she droned on, the angrier she felt. She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Just pray for yourself, girl." Ruth Lu handed the file over before walking away.

It wasn't until Nora looked down at the file did she finally come to her senses.

She glanced at the office. There wasn't any other chair in the office. She didn't want to sit on Murphy's chair, so she decided to squat on the ground while reviewing the documents.