Autumn in Shencheng was breathtakingly beautiful. The plane trees on both sides of Wenkang Road were edged with caramel-colored borders, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the foliage, casting a warm glow on every passerby below. It was picturesque and serene.
Wen Ye rode her small electric scooter slowly down Wenkang Road until the navigation prompt chimed, “You have arrived. Your destination is on your right. Navigation ending.”
Wen Ye stopped. On her right was an old Western-style house. She looked up at the dark red gates, scanned the perimeter, but could not find the doorbell anywhere.
She took out her phone, found the order, and called the customer. The phone rang twice before being answered.
Wen Ye spoke first, “Hello, I am the repair technician you booked online. I have arrived at the gate. Could you please open it for me?”
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
The voice on the other end belonged to a middle-aged woman. Her Mandarin was standard and her tone was calm. She sounded like an easy person to deal with, and Wen Ye stood patiently at the gate.
Two minutes later, the gate slowly opened. Standing inside was a woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties. Her long hair was neatly pinned back with a hairpin, and she wore a simple yet exquisite solid black shirt and trousers. She took two steps forward, looked at Wen Ye’s neat and clean work uniform by the gate, and offered a polite smile, “Hello, I am the housekeeper here. Are you Master Wen from the same-city quick repair service?”
Wen Ye nodded, “Yes, that is me.”
“Please follow me.”
Keeping her eyes straight ahead, Wen Ye followed the housekeeper inside. Passing through a garden, they arrived at the front door of the old mansion. The housekeeper gently pushed the door open, handed over a pair of guest slippers, and lowered her voice to tell Wen Ye, “My employer, who is the owner of this house, prefers quiet, so please keep the noise down as much as possible. Thank you.”
Wen Ye accepted the slippers with both hands. They were the soft-soled, silent kind. Lowering her voice, she replied, “Got it, no problem.”
Led by the housekeeper, Wen Ye arrived at a laundry room in the basement, where two sets of washer-dryer combos were placed.
“This dryer suddenly stopped working properly over the last couple of days,” the housekeeper briefly explained the issue.
Wen Ye took a general look and had a fair idea of what was wrong. She gently placed her tool bag on the floor and said to the housekeeper, “Alright, I will take it apart to check. It is likely a motherboard issue. I will fix it if I can, but if not, we might need to replace the board.”
“Very well.” The housekeeper retreated to the side. “Go ahead and work on it. If you need me, just call my phone. I will go back upstairs.”
“Okay.” Wen Ye was not used to the housekeeper addressing her so formally, so she was glad she was leaving to save her the awkwardness.
The housekeeper walked up to the door of the study on the second floor, knocked twice lightly, and then stood quietly with her hands by her sides, waiting.
“Come in,” a cold voice replied.
Only then did the housekeeper raise her hand to gently press down the door handle, push the door open, and stand respectfully at the doorway, “Miss, the repair technician has arrived and is currently working.”
Following the direction of the housekeeper, behind a solid-wood executive desk sat a young woman with slightly wavy long hair and a silk professional pantsuit. Her demeanor was cold and aloof, and as she raised her eyes to look over, her gaze carried a sense of detachment.
Gu Sheng asked, “Is it a woman?”
“Yes, we specifically requested a female technician,” the housekeeper answered respectfully.
Gu Sheng nodded, and the housekeeper tactfully and quietly closed the door behind her.
More than half an hour later, Wen Ye reassembled the dryer and tested it. It was okay and had no problems.
She packed her tools back into her bag one by one, arranged them neatly, and washed her hands clean in the laundry room sink. Glancing around and seeing no tissues, she wiped her hands a couple of times on her white T-shirt underneath. The white fabric became semi-transparent where it got wet, but Wen Ye unconcernedly pulled her work jacket over to cover the damp patch.
Wen Ye originally intended to go straight upstairs to find the housekeeper, but thinking of what the housekeeper had said about the owner preferring quiet, and fearing she might offend someone, she took out her phone and called the housekeeper again.
The housekeeper came down quickly. After testing the machine herself, she smiled and praised Wen Ye, “You repair things really fast.”
Wen Ye waved a hand dismissively, “It is just a minor issue.” Then she added, “However, I need your employer to sign off on it.”
The housekeeper’s expression paused for a second, “Can I sign it instead?”
Wen Ye replied, “No, all our orders require the homeowner to sign.”
Last time, one of their colleagues had an order where the live-in nanny signed, and she got chewed out by the supervisor. Wen Ye certainly did not want to get scolded too.
The housekeeper hesitated for a moment, but looking at Wen Ye’s clean and polite appearance, she finally led Wen Ye to the study door. Knocking gently, and waiting for Gu Sheng to say come in, she told Wen Ye, “Please wait a moment. I will go in first to explain the situation.”
Wen Ye understood; rich people were always particular.
Before long, the door opened again, and the housekeeper said, “Please come in.”
“Thank you.” Wen Ye kept her footsteps very light, afraid of disturbing this quiet-loving customer. She took her work tablet out of the outer pocket of her bag, pulled up the order interface, walked over to the luxurious large desk, placed the tablet on the table, and gently pushed it forward, “Hello, Boss, please sign here to confirm.”
Without looking up, Gu Sheng simply took the tablet, glanced over the content, and then casually dashed off a sweeping signature in the signature area.
“Done.” Gu Sheng handed the tablet back to Wen Ye.
Wen Ye hurriedly accepted it with both hands.
The desk was too wide, and as Wen Ye reached out too far with both hands, her sleeve slid up above her wrist, revealing a bracelet that completely clashed with her demeanor. A small rabbit was suspended from it, though the rabbit was missing an ear.
Gu Sheng caught sight of this bracelet inadvertently, her eyes widening instantly. She grabbed the hand in front of her, jerked her head up to stare intensely at the person before her, and searched the unfamiliar facial features until she finally found a trace of familiarity. With a trembling voice and stumbling words, she said, “You are Wen. You are Wen.”
“Wen Ye.” Thinking this customer was very strange, Wen Ye nevertheless pointed to the name tag pinned to her work uniform.
Gu Sheng quickly stood up, her long legs striding in a wide arc around the desk straight toward Wen Ye. With slightly shaking hands, she aggressively rolled up the right sleeve of Wen Ye’s work shirt.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Ignoring her manners, Wen Ye hurriedly tried to pull her hand back, only to find that the seemingly frail woman opposite her possessed extraordinary strength. Gripping her tightly, Wen Ye could not manage to pull free.
Gu Sheng had already rolled Wen Ye’s sleeve up to her elbow. She saw the scar exposed beneath the fabric. The shape of this scar was etched into her memory even if it turned to dust. Every single night over the past fifteen years, she had thought about it, and she knew she would not mistake it.
Amidst Wen Ye’s bewildered expression, the wealthy client lunged into her arms, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. Her tear-stained cheek pressed instantly against Wen Ye’s neck, and with a voice choked with sobs, she cried out, “Wen Ye, Wen Ye, it really is you. I have looked for you for so long and could not find you.”
Before Wen Ye could even recover her senses, the beautiful woman in her arms raised her face, her lovely eyes brimming with tears as she gazed up at her. Her next words left Wen Ye completely stunned in her tracks.
“Wen Ye, I am Gu Sheng.”