“So, did you sign the contract?”
As soon as they got in the car, the boss, Zhou Hai, asked eagerly.
“I signed for two sets, 25 million all-inclusive. Apart from a few luxury furniture pieces and decorations we can’t source ourselves, President Shen said we can give him the styles and types, and he’ll have someone find them.”
Jiang Wanyin took the contract out of her bag and handed it to her boss: “A 3 million down payment for the first phase, and after the design drawings are finalized, another 8 million for the second phase.”
“Good, very good!”
Zhou Hai’s face was flushed with excitement: “President Pei just said that President Shen has very high standards and would normally only hire foreign designers. President Pei had actually planned to introduce mainly someone else, but it turned out that person didn’t show up today.”
“Good thing I had you prepare thoroughly and draft an initial design for this one too. Sure enough, opportunities go to those who are prepared.”
What Zhou Hai didn’t mention was that Pei Zhou had asked him to prepare a male designer instead. He had thought Pei Zhou was worried Jiang Wanyin looked too young and not professional enough.
Later, after more conversations, he learned that this President Shen had no female employees around him.
He had also assumed things would fall through with President Shen, but unexpectedly, Jiang Wanyin managed to sign the deal.
If the company weren’t trying to transition and Jiang Wanyin weren’t the only interior designer, he wouldn’t have brought her this time. It turned out to be a lucky accident.
“Next, you need to revise the designs according to President Shen’s feedback as soon as possible and hurry to finalize the drawings.”
Zhou Hai’s brows relaxed as he continued: “Who did he assign to liaise with you? You need to build a good relationship with them…”
“Ah? President Shen added me on Cloud Message but didn’t mention who to liaise with.”
Jiang Wanyin felt frustrated—she had actually forgotten such an important matter. The boss must be very busy, and for the later drawing submissions, she would definitely need to coordinate with his secretary or assistant.
Zhou Hai was surprised: “He added you proactively?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Wanyin looked down and started typing, about to ask who she should coordinate with, not noticing how brightly her boss’s eyes were gleaming.
President Shen replied quickly, telling her to send the revisions directly to him.
“President Shen wants to review it himself—he must really value these villa renovations. But with that many sets, what are they for?”
Jiang Wanyin sighed. She herself rented a tiny cramped place, while others had more houses than they could count.
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Zhou Hai’s eyes: “Probably just a few convenient places to stay. You should coordinate well with President Shen.”
What he was actually thinking was: Value, my foot. With this President Shen’s assets, buying these villas is just for investment. Normally, he’d commission a design company for full decoration—there’s absolutely no need for him to review it personally.
“From this commission, take another fifty thousand as a wardrobe allowance. When you meet President Shen, you must dress appropriately—you can’t be as casual as you are in the office, understand?”
Jiang Wanyin: “…”
She felt like her boss’s words carried some other hidden meaning, but since this deal had a high commission, she would do her best to complete it no matter what.
Her monthly rent was 2,500, and she sent 2,000 home. The money she had left made life in the magic city very difficult.
She couldn’t skip colleague gatherings either—each split bill cost four to five hundred.
There had been big changes at home this year. Her younger sister got into a second-tier university in the magic city, and her younger brother got into a key high school in their hometown.
The living expenses and tuition for these two siblings had shot up dramatically.
Her younger siblings were ambitious and sensible, and Jiang Wanyin had a close bond with them. She would support them through graduation no matter what.
It was already past ten by the time she got home.
Jiang Wanyin had just taken a shower when her phone rang—it was her younger sister, Jiang Yanran, calling.
The voice on the other end of the phone was muffled, my sister’s voice: “Sis, the old man and old lady came today.”
Jiang Wanyin knew something was up just from her tone: “They’re asking for money again?”
“Said Fourth Cousin didn’t do well on the high school entrance exam, so they want to send him to a private school—and a private school in the city, no less.”
Jiang Yanran grew angrier as she spoke.
“Which private school in the city charges less than twenty thousand in tuition? How can Uncle, a taxi driver, possibly afford that?”
Jiang Wanyin was angry too. Uncle couldn’t afford it, so Grandpa and Grandma came to “sponsor” it.
Her stepfather was the eldest son. As the saying goes, parents dote on the youngest child. Her stepfather had studied well, but dropped out of school to work and support his younger siblings’ education. Unfortunately, none of those younger siblings were cut out for academics, and the youngest uncle was the most hopeless—he didn’t even finish middle school and could only drive a taxi.
For the sake of Uncle’s family, Grandpa and Grandma went around to all their children demanding money every day. This youngest uncle also had the most kids—seven of them—and none were particularly promising.
Her mother was a rural schoolteacher earning sixty thousand a year. Before meeting her mother, her stepfather had been a small contractor making over a hundred thousand a year. But later, to support her frail and sickly mother’s teaching career, he took over all the laundry, cooking, and childcare, and could only work odd jobs as an electrician, with his annual income dropping to thirty to fifty thousand.
The two old people naturally opposed their son marrying such a delicate wife. Their family had to give at least twenty thousand a year just to keep the old folks from making a fuss.
Compared to her biological father, who drank and beat people, her stepfather was far better. Jiang Wanyin understood her mother’s desire to buy “peace” with money.
Jiang Yanran fumed: “Sis, how come the old man and old lady don’t understand that Xiao An’s illness also needs money? He’s their grandson too.”
Jiang Qi’an was their younger brother, born with congenital heart disease. He was frail and frequently hospitalized.
Jiang Wanyin sighed: “If it really comes down to it, our whole family can just move to the magic city.”
Escaping the “hostage” of family obligation was hard. She comforted her sister, then opened her contacts and created a group chat with her youngest uncle’s two adult daughters. She pasted in the documents she’d recently paid to obtain—the evidence chain showing where the money her family had given Grandpa and Grandma over the years had actually gone.
She left a message: 【Stop crying poor, or I’ll send these to your husbands—and future husbands.】
Let’s see them try to latch onto rich men then.
Without waiting for their response, Jiang Wanyin left the group.
Because of her sister’s call, Jiang Wanyin remembered the hometown specialties her younger siblings had mailed yesterday, sitting in the fridge. She opened it: lard cakes, fish cakes, dried shrimp, smoked chicken, duck tongues, and soy-sauce pork.
The braised duck tongues were her mother’s specialty. The fish cakes required meticulous deboning of the fish, which her stepfather always handled. The dried shrimp and soy-sauce pork were made by the three siblings together. Afraid she couldn’t get hometown food in the magic city, her family sent a rotating selection of homemade specialties every month.
The fully stocked fridge brought back memories of home—the three siblings making soy-sauce pork together, mixing the marinade into the meat, endlessly kneading the pork in the basin. It was sticky and a bit gross, and from the time Qi An turned seven, he was the one who did it. She still remembered that fair-skinned, tender little boy in a pink apron, his face scrunched up like a steamed bun, tackling a huge basin of pork with the solemn expression of someone about to conduct a major experiment. He was especially adorable.
Jiang Wanyin had only eaten a cupcake earlier. Just as she was about to grab some duck tongues to snack on, her boyfriend Lin Wenhao happened to video call.
She answered.
Lin Wenhao: “You haven’t eaten yet?”
Jiang Wanyin adjusted the camera to selfie mode. “Mm, I’d love to have some of Mom’s duck tongues too.”
Lin Wenhao’s gaze lingered on his girlfriend’s figure, which had become even more alluring with her movements, and he swallowed hard. “Once my job is settled, should we go back to our hometown first to get engaged?”
The burning look in his eyes and the implication were not lost on Jiang Wanyin.
They had been dating for over a year, but they hadn’t gone that far yet—limited only to kissing, and that was Jiang Wanyin’s own insistence.
When she was young, she had been abused by her alcoholic biological father, which had once instilled in her a strong fear of men. Later, her mother divorced and remarried into the Jiang family, and under the loving care of her stepfather and younger brother—both warm-hearted men—Jiang Wanyin could at least interact with men normally on the surface.
Her boyfriend Lin Wenhao, like her, came from a rural background. He was hardworking and ambitious, and with his looks, he was considered one of the top-tier guys in their cohort—truly outstanding.
Their family backgrounds were comparable, a well-matched pair.
Once Lin Wenhao came to work in the magic city, in about two years, they would have saved enough for a down payment and wedding expenses, and then they could finally tie the knot.
“Okay.”
Jiang Wanyin gave a subtle agreement, and across the screen, Lin Wenhao’s eyes suddenly lit up with much more brightness.