Mr. Melancholy Wants To Live A Peaceful Life

CHAPTER 1

At 5:59 AM, Yu Hua woke punctually one minute before his alarm rang. He turned off the alarm and quietly got out of bed. You Zhengping, sleeping soundly lying beside him, was entirely unaffected.

Yu Hua was twenty-seven years old. He was You Zhengping's partner, a graduate of one of the country's top three institutes of higher learning, and the former human resources manager of a famous banking institution, with an annual salary ranging from the hundreds to millions. Apart from necessary social engagements, company cocktail parties, and other such events, he always came home punctually at six in the evening, went to sleep before 11 PM, woke up a minute or two before 6 AM, and took a half an hour to an hour break at midday, depending on the state of work.

He had a calm and steadiness that far surpassed his actual age; there seemed to be many stories hidden in his deep eyes. Consistent good exercise habits had given him an excellent figure. His trim suits hid his muscles, giving a restrained air to the whiff of hormones.

Yu Hua's cooking was very good. He liked to get up a little early and prepare a sumptuous breakfast for his partner You Zhengping. Every time he saw You Zhengping's satisfaction eating the breakfast he had made, the happiness of being alive would rise in Yu Hua's heart.

At seven-thirty in the morning, You Zhengping was roused by the aroma of breakfast. He gave an exaggerated stretch, yawned enormously, and flopped in bed hugging his quilt with his hair a mess, mumbling, "What tasty things did you make today?"

Yu Hua laid breakfast out on the dining table and said to You Zhengping, lazing in the bedroom, "You said yesterday you wanted to eat a Guangdong style breakfast. I made shrimp dumplings, shumai, custard buns, congee with slices of fish, fried wontons, and a custard tart. There's also grilled sausages and steamed milk pudding with red beans. I didn't prepare much last night, and time in the morning is limited, so I only made a bit."

"You call that a bit?" You Zhengping vaulted out of bed, rushed into the bathroom, and quickly washed up.

He had married Yu Hua three years ago. After many years of living together, You Zhengping had developed a habit of eating breakfast, and his biological clock had also gradually become regular.

Before meeting Yu Hua, You Zhengping's living habits had been a total mess.

He'd played on his phone until three in the morning every day. Work started at 9 AM; he would be woken by his first alarm at 8:30. After turning off the alarm, he'd roll over to sleep some more. At 8:40, the second alarm would ring. Only at 8:50, when the third alarm, which was set

to make the shrill sound of a police siren, went off, would You Zhengping jump out of bed, take three minutes to carelessly wash up and dress, then run madly to his place of work, which wasn't far from his dormitory, and clock in precisely at nine.

He'd never eaten breakfast. Lunch had always been a high-calorie, heavily-flavored food like malatang or hotpot. In the evening he would snack constantly, and at eleven at night he would order barbecue and beer and eat until he was full to bursting.

The young You Zhengping had liked to go all out on eating and playing; food had to be eaten in big mouthfuls, alcohol drunk in big gulps, games played the whole night through. Night was party time for a young man. "Why sleep when you're alive when you can sleep forever after you die?" were the words he had used to fob off his elders. Living recklessly and triumphantly was the life You Zhengping had looked forward to.

Only when he and Yu Hua had met and fallen in love had You Zhengping slowly learned to go to bed early and get up early. He had also given up late night snacks.

After taking a shower and blowdrying his hair, he pushed back his thick hair. Thinking of his lay about friends, who still stayed up all night and were losing their hair by the day, You Zhengping laughed smugly and picked up a comb, preparing to comb his hair into a youthful and elegant hairstyle.