The cruelty of New York lies in this: No matter how filthy, chaotic, and ruthless this city may be—even when it feels like hell itself—you still have to find a way to survive.
As long as you're still breathing, there's a chance to turn things around, and in New York, opportunities never run out.
Here, you don't even have time to complain, let alone feel sorry for yourself. The only thing you can do is give it your all.
This is New York.
It tells you, in the bluntest terms: either succeed, or fail.
Six years ago, Cheng Yi, frail and broken-hearted, was recovering at Yang Li's apartment when she received a call from Mrs. Huang next door, telling her that a letter had arrived from overseas and asking her to pick it up. Filled with hope, Cheng Yi thought it must be a letter from Fang Zhiyuan. But to her surprise ,it was an acceptance letter from an American university.
Originally, she had applied to universities in the US as a compromise, a way to follow him. In the end, it was just her, clutching this cold piece of paper, making the journey to New York alone.
After paying her first year's tuition, she had almost depleted the savings her parents had left her. That was when New York gave her its first harsh lesson. The cramped streets of Chinatown were filled with cheap eateries and run-down motels. Within days, she could barely afford a place to stay or even a meal. She ended up renting the cheapest room she could find and scraping by, taking whatever work she could get just to make ends meet. She survived on leftover food from the restaurant where she worked and spent her days shuttling between school, her job, and her tiny room. All she could think about was how to scrape together next month's rent or earn a scholarship to ease her tuition fees.
Cheng Yi had never imagined she'd have to fend for herself, let alone survive in a foreign land. But New York's relentless pace left her no time to wallow in self-pity; it forced her to throw herself entirely into the daily grind. Gradually, without even realizing it, she became attuned to the city's rhythm.
And in time, Cheng Yi came to appreciate New York. She grew to like its coldness.
In this city, she didn't feel alone. There were thousands just like her, struggling to make it in this unforgiving place. No one had time to listen to your woes—they'd write you off as yet another failure. Everyone here carried their own stories, some perhaps even more tragic than hers. But no one had time to stop, to look back.
That shared sense of being trapped in the same struggle became, ironically, the strength that helped her survive in New York.
New York doesn't believe in tears.
She had no choice but to be strong, because there was no other option.
New York, one week before Christmas.
On Fifth Avenue, Broadway theatres, the Empire State Building... Every corner of the city was filled with the festive spirit. Streets, alleyways, and museums were all decked out in Christmas decorations. Store windows shone with renewed brilliance as families thronged the streets, kicking off the mad frenzy of the holiday shopping season.
Even the solemn façade of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street was adorned with festive trimmings. It was a time for celebration—for everyone, except Fang Zhiyuan.
He had entrusted his American colleagues to investigate Ye Mingzhe, and as soon as he got the information he needed, he flew straight to New York. He didn't rush to seek her out; instead, he chose to wander through the city, hoping to catch traces of the life she had built here over the past six years.
Maybe she had once touched the famous bull statue in front of the New York Stock Exchange, or paused in front of the shop windows along Fifth Avenue, mesmerized by a Broadway musical, or wandered through an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art...
Perhaps, just like him now, she had walked these cold streets alone during the festive season…
But what he never expected to find out was that she'd been married for four years.
And her husband was none other than Ye Mingzhe—a man he could never measure up to.
Why had she come to America?
And if she was here, why didn't she come to find him?
So many "whys" swirled in his mind, each one gnawing at him, making it impossible to let go.