Prologue

Li An's evening routine had become a ritual of watching the city transition from day to night. From his desk on the twenty-second floor of Beijing Tower, he could see the sun casting its last warm rays. It was a sight that never failed to calm him after another relentless day at the office .As the minutes ticked by, Li An's colleagues packed up their belongings and bid each other goodnight. They often exchanged knowing glances, but it was Li An who stayed behind, his fingers still tapping away at the keyboard. Leaving before sunset had become a long-forgotten dream.

At twenty-nine, Li An had spent almost all of his twenties within the walls of this office, navigating the complexities of spreadsheets and corporate jargon. He had started here straight out of high school, thanks to his uncle's connection with the owner. Among young professionals, he felt like a lamb among wolves.

But he was persistent. He tirelessly sought knowledge from his colleagues, who, despite finding him annoying, eventually took pity on him. Gradually, his responsibilities grew, and he rose to the role of project coordinator. Over the years, his dedication and reliability had earned him respect among his peers, but it had also pigeonholed him into a role he could never quite escape.His seniors, seasoned professionals with degrees from prestigious universities, had come to rely on him. They entrusted him with tedious tasks that required meticulous attention to detail.

Li An took pride in his work, finding satisfaction in the precision of numbers and the order they brought to his otherwise dreary life. Working, though exhausting, was his escape from reality; during work, he focused his entire energy.But as the years passed, a sense of restlessness began to gnaw at him. He watched as his peers climbed the corporate ladder, their careers propelled by degrees and connections he could never hope to match. They attended meetings where decisions were made, while Li An remained on the periphery, a silent observer of how things ran. If a project succeeded, his contributions went unmentioned; if something went wrong, Li An was the one to clean up the mess.

Like today, he started the morning sorting through a flood of emails and reports in his inbox. The urgency in the subject lines mirrored the growing knot in his stomach. He quickly replied with a brief explanation and apology before forwarding the email to the project team.

Within half an hour, chaos erupted in the office."Li An, we need your analysis ASAP!" came the urgent message from Mr. Yang, the lead developer. He sighed heavily, fingers tracing over the stack of code reviews and bug reports scattered across his monitors. MediTech Solutions was meant to revolutionize patient management for a healthcare client, streamlining operations and enhancing patient car.

Yet, at the eleventh hour, compatibility issues and malfunctioning modules threatened to derail months of hard work.Gathering his resolve, Li An summoned the development team for an emergency meeting. Around the conference table, tension hung heavy in the air as developers and QA analysts presented their findings. Lines of code flashed on the screen, dissected and debated for their role in the impending catastrophe.

"We missed this in testing, I'm sorry,"

admitted Fu Shenyu, the senior developer responsible for backend integration. Li An nodded grimly, his mind already racing ahead to solutions.

"Alright, let's prioritize the critical issues," he directed, his voice steady despite the turmoil within.

"Fu Ge, focus on fixing the backend compatibility. Mr. Yang, please work with QA to validate the fixes. I'll coordinate with the client and keep them updated."

Hours blurred into a relentless flurry of debugging sessions, late-night coding marathons, and endless phone calls with the client. Li An's resolve was tested with each passing minute, but he remained steadfast in his determination to salvage the project.

By the time sunset painted the sky orange, a tentative calm settled over the team. The critical bugs were fixed, the modules integrated seamlessly. The crisis had been averted, but the lessons learned would shape their approach to future projects.

After resolving the crisis, he faced a reprimand from the client who had filed a complaint. Li An was already numb to it. When it came to disciplinary action, he was a frequent visitor. At this point, forget about promotion,he would kowtow in gratitude if he didn't get fired the next day.

It was almost 10 PM when Li An finally closed his laptop with a sigh of resignation. Gathering his belongings,a worn-out backpack slung over his shoulder and a stack of papers to review at home, he made his way toward the elevator. The familiar hum of the city below greeted him as the doors slid shut, carrying him down to the ground floor.Outside, the streets of Beijing buzzed with the energy of the evening rush hour. Pedestrians hurried past, their faces illuminated by the glow of neon signs and passing car headlights. Li An navigated the crowds with practiced ease, his mind already drifting toward the sanctuary of home.To save money, he chose to walk instead of taking a cab. Twenty minutes later, he arrived in his neighborhood.

His family's apartment, nestled in a quiet corner on the outskirts of the city, offered a stark contrast to the chaos of downtown.

After entering the door code,with a sigh he stepped inside. The apartment was bathed in the warm glow of a single lamp in the living room. The aroma of his mother's homemade dumplings filled the air, although it had gone cold hours ago. Li An kicked off his shoes at the entrance, feeling the cool wooden floor beneath his feet.

The walls were adorned with photographs of his family, capturing moments from his joyful childhood as a chubby kid to his middle school graduation picture. He didn't wash nor eat as always after work,he would settled into his favorite armchair by the window, overlooking the tranquil courtyard garden, Li An reflected on the day's events.

The frustrations of work seemed distant now, replaced by a sense of quiet determination. He knew that tomorrow would bring another day of challenges and disappointments, but for now, he allowed himself to savor the fleeting moments of peace.