The golden sunshine spread across Lan’s shoulder. She wore a light purple shirt, with a V-shaped collar that whitened her long neck which seemed free like a swan dancing in a lake. Walking in the curved alley, Lan read an advertisement in her hand. She didn’t notice that a man was following behind her since she got off the bus and stepped into the paved road. It seemed had changed a lot here: It looked clean but it smelled a lot even though the trash was picked up on a routine schedule. When she stepped down stairs to the underground stores, she entered a small bookstore. It was her first day of work. Putting stuff in order and waiting customers to come, she took care of the store. And Lan had completely forgotten to the guy who followed her from the bus station and had no any idea when he disappeared.

<Mei An> was a small advertisement company. The boss, Mr. Ko, had a big shinny head with a little hair. And with bright eyes and intelligent face just like a typical business man. He always put a smile on the corner of his mouth. Mr. Hsu, manager of the company, was a humble man, with a greasy face. Sometimes you could feel the veins twitching up on his face. He usually walked straight and looked down. Ms. Nancy, his secretary, graduated from a local private college. She had a couple of years’ experience in marketing. Lan collected all the real-estate information, tore them from the daily newspapers and then pasted them into a file.

Once a while, they also had to clean houses, preparing for rental or sale. Cleaning was a lot of work, especially throwing away all of the junk. Making a large space available, put them quickly into the market. They made a living, doing whatever they could do. Lan worked there for one year. The working experience let her understand that labor is sacred. The past years also allowed Lan to start a new life after struggling through a blank, lifeless life.