Shanghai had always been a city of contrasts—gleaming skyscrapers casting shadows over narrow alleyways, the smell of street food mingling with exhaust fumes, the constant hum of life that never seemed to pause. Today, though, the city felt oppressive, grey, and cold.
Li Mei walked briskly under a fraying umbrella, her eyes fixed on the rain-slicked pavement. She had once loved the city's vibrancy, its energy, but today even the neon signs seemed muted. Six months had passed since the car accident that claimed her parents. Six months of an emptiness that gnawed at her chest every waking moment.
Her apartment, once filled with laughter and warmth, now echoed with silence. Bills had stacked on her table like tiny monuments to despair. Each reminder of money owed made her stomach churn. She had tried to focus on studies and part-time jobs, but survival was a daily battle, and the future seemed as bleak as the stormy sky above.
A sudden, sharp honk pulled her from her thoughts. Li Mei's heart skipped a beat. She looked up instinctively, just in time to see a truck veering toward her path. She froze. The next few seconds stretched into eternity. Tires screeched, the world tilted, and then—darkness.