Ren massaged the back of his neck, thankful the meeting was over. With one look at his secretary and the other members in the room, he knew that they were all physically spent. The only thing that kept them from falling was purely their commitments.

He knew everyone had been putting lots of effort into this project. He was glad that this seemed to be leading to a good result.

"Sir, let me accompany you to your car," Cheng, the handsome man in a black suit, with oblong face-shaped, wide brown eyes and bushy brows, approached Ren and extended his arm for the older man to take. "With 5 hours straight, you must be exhausted."

It still surprised Ren every time he looked at his secretary, for Cheng resembled someone he deeply loved and was desperate to find. Both of them were of the same age, same height, and the same facial structure. The only difference was that Cheng preferred to frown, whereas the other person loved to smile.

Ren stared at Cheng's extended hand before looking down at his own to see a considerable difference was displayed right there.

In his mid-thirties versus the one in the early sixties, the two men's hands definitely contradicted each other. Naturally, Cheng was a built, muscular man, so it was typical for his arm to be full of strength, unlike his hands that were frail, thin, and full of wrinkles. For someone his age, Ren should have been retired and enjoyed his decades of success leisurely; yet for a businessman like him, there was no such word as ‘retired.’ At least not when he has no one he can trust his hard-earn business to.

Inside the lift, Ren stepped away from Cheng to rest his fragile body against the wall for support. He watched as the younger man pressed the button for B1, his reserved parking lot. He waited for him to take out his cellphone and make a call as usual, but surprisingly, he didn't.

"Cheng, aren't you going to call for Su?"

"He had an emergency at home, so I permitted him to leave early. I'll drive you myself, sir."

"Oh, is everything alright?" Ren asked: his face filled with worry.

Su was his driver, meaning he was a part of his staff. As such, he wanted nothing bad to happen to the guy.

"His daughter was running a high fever. But I just got off the phone with him earlier, and he told me that everything is fine now."

Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. Tell him to take a few days off and look after his daughter until she recovers. His salary won't be deducted, so he doesn't have to worry."

"I will, sir," said Cheng, "You're always considerate about your employees. Not to mention that you're kind-hearted as well. Back then, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today. It was kind of you to take me in when I don't even have a place to call home."

Home.

The word itself sounded short and straightforward; however, its effect on the older man was heavy and dark. It made his heart experience a throbbing pain, for it served as a switch that triggered a reminisce back to the past. The one that he wished he could buy a time machine to turn around time and changed it all.

The thought made Ren sigh inaudibly. He could help Cheng and many others have a place they could call home, yet he couldn't help himself find one.

He might have the biggest supermarket in town and several assets under his name. He even had a big villa that he was residing in. However, he couldn't buy himself a home.

A home sweet home.

He couldn't have it.

Not anymore.

*******

Thirty-five years ago...

"Daddy, this supermarket is so big," exclaimed a three-year-old boy, who was jumping up and down with his head looking around in amazement.

His almond brown eyes were wandering left and right, admiring the tall and long rows of shelves that were full of many products. He ran back and forth before stopping in front of a man in his early thirties who was pushing the trolley.

"Daddy, daddy, isn't this supermarket cool?"

"Yes, son. It is." The man looked down and smiled at the boy.

"You think so? Then, why don't we make our supermarket this big too?"

"Well," the man was about to say something when he was interrupted by his wife, who was approaching from the opposite direction, holding two bags of potato chips.

"Ying, it isn't simple to ask for something that's out of reach," said Meilin, Ying's mother, who was the same age as her husband, Ren.

"Why, mommy? It's simple, isn't it? All we have to do is to get a bigger house and buy more shelves like these," The boy's small hands pointed in every direction as he talked; his face was full of the innocence of a child who was ignorant to the outside world.

"And how do you think we'll get a bigger house and more selves? What do we use to buy them, honey?" Meilin shook her head and tittered at her little boy's ignorant words.

Ying timidly ran to hide behind his father, for every time his mother looked at him with this expression, it meant a reprimand was to come next.

"Come on, Meillin. Our kid only speaks his mind. He's only three," Ren said to his wife before turning around and squatting down to face his son.

"But Ying, it's just like mommy said. We shouldn't ask for something that's out of our reach."

"Okay," Ying murmured while using the tip of his shoe to circle the marble floor; his eyes lowered to the ground timidly.

The father patted his boy's head with affection before he continued, "However, what you just asked isn't something that's out of our reach."

Just like any kid who was given candy after being scolded, Ying looked up at his father with his eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Really?"

"Yeah. What you've asked is something that daddy is working hard on every single day. It seems we're sharing the same dream," Ren beamed as his son's timid expression turned into a broad smile. "Daddy can assure you that our supermarket will be as big as this one day. Or maybe even bigger."

"Really, daddy?!"

"Really."

"You promised?"

"I promise."

"Yay! I'm going to have a big supermarket! I am going to have one soon!" Ying jumped up and down, yelling and dancing with joy, ignoring the onlookers' watching eyes.

"Why are you making such a promise with him? We aren't even sure if that business plan of yours is going to be approved," Meilin asked her husband; her eyes looked between her beloved husband and her lovely son with worry.

The man stood up and put his arm around his wife's shoulder before giving it an assuring squeeze.

"It will, dear." He started pushing the trolley and took steps forwards again, taking his wife with him, "I'll make sure of it."

"Mommy, daddy!" Ying was a few feet away, waving his hands happily towards them, "Let's go home. It's time for my cartoon!"

"Sure. Let's go home," said Ren with a smile.

It was such a happy word back then whenever the word 'home' was mentioned, for many precious memories stored in that single word.