It must have been late at night when it started raining outside. The sound of rain pelted against the window, crackling and popping, as if trying to shatter the glass.
Mu Wen pulled the blanket over her head in her sleep and turned over, accidentally bumping her "injured" ankle. She frowned and let out a soft whimper.
The aftermath of wearing high heels wasn't just in her feet—her whole body felt like it had fallen apart, aching everywhere.
Her phone rang along with a clap of thunder, startling Mu Wen awake. She opened her eyes.
It wasn't Xie Chong. It was Chu Ling.
"Mu Wen, I'm back! The handle on my suitcase broke, and there's a huge hailstorm outside… Mu Wen…"
"Where are you?" Mu Wen said as she jumped to the floor, throwing on clothes haphazardly.
"I'm at the entrance of the neighborhood."
"Wait for me. Don't be scared. I'll be right there!"
Mu Wen grabbed two umbrellas and ran out. Only when she stepped out of the building did she realize it really was hailing. Hailstones the size of pebbles crashed down from the sky, hit the ground, bounced, and rolled away. Mu Wen opened the big umbrella and ran toward the neighborhood entrance. Her ankle got soaked by the rain, and it hurt badly. But she couldn't afford to care about that now.
Chu Ling stood under the bus stop shelter, hugging her shoulders, looking utterly helpless.
Mu Wen rushed over, draped her clothes over Chu Ling, and tilted the umbrella to block the hail.
"Are you cold?" Mu Wen hugged Chu Ling's shoulders tightly. "Don't be scared—hail doesn't last long, just ten or fifteen minutes."
She had seen worse hail in the pasturelands.
That hail had been the size of eggs, pounding against the sheep pen, scaring the lambs into bleating and huddling together. She had paced anxiously inside the yurt, wanting to help the little sheep. When she pushed open the door, a gust of wild wind blew her back inside, and a hailstone struck her forehead, raising a big bump on the spot.
Having seen hail that big, she wasn't afraid of this little stuff.
"Thank you, Mu Wen. I was so scared just now." Chu Ling said with a tearful voice. "Everything was fine when I got out of the taxi. I'd just unloaded my luggage when it suddenly started pouring. I tried to run home, but after a few steps, the hail started."
Chu Ling had never seen hail like this—falling thick and fast. She felt like she was going to be pelted to death. She was soaked, and the wind blew at her from every direction, from the sky and the ground alike. She was freezing to death.
"Don't be scared, don't be scared. I'll make you a soul-reviving soup in a bit."
Mu Wen brought Chu Ling home and told her to take a hot shower first, while she cooked stone-ear chicken soup for her. It was originally the soup course from the banquet—one table had six fewer clients, but the dishes were served anyway. When Mu Wen left, she'd asked the server to pack it up, thinking she'd cook some noodles with it over the weekend.
Now she gave it a second round of processing: added a little of the mushrooms Ge Yunqing had sent her, some greens, and noodles. She told Chu Ling to eat it while it was hot.
She asked Chu Ling if the pre-interviews had gone smoothly and if America was fun. Chu Ling said the pre-interviews were tiring but otherwise fun; she hadn't gotten to sightsee much in America because she'd been working the whole time, only going to the supermarket to buy gifts before she left. Oh, and the athletes were all very healthy—just as healthy as Mu Wen!
Mu Wen stood up, hands on her hips, and asked, "Healthy like this?"
"Yeah!"
Mu Wen's phone lit up. She grabbed it quickly—but it was no one. Chu Ling asked her, "Are you waiting for a call?"
Mu Wen said, a little aggrieved, "No."
She didn't know why Xie Chong had suddenly stopped talking to her. She couldn't quite say how bad she felt, but it was like a little hand kept grabbing at her heart, loosening and tightening by turns. Mu Wen was unfamiliar with this feeling and didn't know how to dissolve it. Fortunately, Chu Ling was back, so she didn't feel as bad.
Chu Ling had brought her lots of gifts—lipstick, face masks, fridge magnets… Mu Wen said they were too expensive, and Chu Ling said, "We'll use them together!"
The two of them turned off the lights and lay on their own little beds. Chu Ling's sleep schedule was all over the place—the jet lag would take days to fix. Uncharacteristically, she talked to Mu Wen a lot.
She said, "I think I'm getting promoted, Mu Wen. My boss talked to me—they want me to be deputy team leader.
There are two directions I can choose: entertainment or sports. But I don't want either. I want to go into current affairs.
Mu Wen, I've been thinking a lot about the future these past few days. I think maybe in ten years, I'll become someone really impressive, able to run my own show…"
"You can do it, Chu Ling," Mu Wen said. "You write so well and you're so capable. You'll have your own show sooner or later."
They chatted, and as dawn approached, Mu Wen drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
The next day, since she needed to go look at Mr. Liao's villa and didn't have to go to the office, she got up a little later. She put on a white shirt and a pair of jeans, stuffed her blazer into her backpack, and headed out.
She had to trek all the way from Suzhou Street to Shunyi.
On the subway, she pulled up the floor plan of Mr. Liao's neighborhood to do her homework. Her phone rang—and it was actually Xie Chong.
The heart that had been constantly clutched by that little hand suddenly felt like it had opened up. She answered joyfully, and before Xie Chong could even speak, she said, "Xie Chong! Do you know how amazing I am? Yesterday! I signed a letter of intent for a single-family villa!"
This was the first time she had called him by his name directly. She hadn't thought about it—his name had simply burst out of her throat naturally. She really wanted to share her "achievement" with him, even though it might not count as much of an achievement in his eyes.
She called his name so naturally, so happily, so intimately.
There was no sound from Xie Chong on the other end. Mu Wen called him again: "Xie Chong?"
"Not calling me Mr. Xie anymore?" Xie Chong's voice was very hoarse—he had drunk a lot the night before. His phone had been taken away by Qian Song, who said no one was allowed to look at their phones while drinking. They had finished drinking around three in the morning, and he had seen Mu Wen's message, planning to call her back the next day.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Xie." Mu Wen's voice dropped again, carrying that elusive emotion.
Xie Chong chuckled on the other end of the line: "You signed the standalone villa? That's worth celebrating. How about this—didn't you say you wanted to treat me to a meal? Add one more to that."
"Then you'll have to wait—until the contract is truly signed and the money comes in…"
"Alright." Xie Chong didn't say anything else. He still sounded just as polite: "I was just returning your call. It ended too late yesterday; I was afraid of disturbing your sleep."
Mu Wen's signal was bad. By the time she regained reception, Xie Chong had already hung up.
Xie Chong's politeness gave Mu Wen no room for complaint, but deep down she vaguely wished he wouldn't be like that—that he would have a bit more "human warmth." Mu Wen didn't like his politeness. His politeness put such a vast distance between them.
Back in Yakeshi, if anyone acted like Xie Chong, people would say: "What are you putting on airs for? Are you looking down on me?"
Even though Mu Wen had come to Beijing, she still preferred the way people in Yakeshi interacted. When you see a good friend, you dash up to them, punch them twice or give them a hug, and then it's all lively and warm.
But Xie Chong wasn't like that.
Mu Wen thought: He's not from Yakeshi—he's from Beijing. He won't be like me, rushing at people with burning enthusiasm.
Mu Wen didn't want Xie Chong to disturb her peace of mind. The only important thing that day was Mr. Liao.
Mu Wen didn't know Mr. Liao's full name—the letter of intent he signed just said "Mr. Liao." She also didn't know what he did for a living. She didn't dare ask too many questions, afraid he might think she was being nosy.
When she arrived at the entrance of the residential complex, she saw that Xiao Gu was already there.
Xiao Gu had driven her husband's car that day—an old Jetta. Xiao Gu had originally wanted to pick Mu Wen up, but Mu Wen didn't want her to take a detour.
Xiao Gu looked very tired. She told Mu Wen that her little one had vomited several times the night before and had been taken to the emergency room—it turned out to be food poisoning.
"Then you didn't need to come!" Mu Wen said. "I can measure by myself. You go sneak off and take care of the little one. I'll send you the data, and you can just go register it."
"No way," Xiao Gu said. "We can't measure the house alone—what if there's danger? Some people have issues, and you'd be at a disadvantage without even knowing how to seek justice."
Mu Wen stepped forward and hugged Xiao Gu: "Xiao Gu, you're so good. Why are you so good to me? I like you so much."
Xiao Gu said: "If this Mr. Liao signs the deal, will you treat me to dry-pot duck heads?"
"Five days straight of dry-pot duck heads!"
Mu Wen met Mr. Liao again.
He had made a special trip from the city and had just arrived as well. He had prepared bottled water for Mu Wen and Xiao Gu.
Mu Wen and Xiao Gu bent down to put on shoe covers, but Mr. Liao said: "No need. Don't bother. The place is going to be renovated anyway."
They put them on anyway.
Mr. Liao led them around the house—a large standalone villa with one basement level and three above ground, surrounded by a courtyard of about 300 square meters.
Mr. Liao said this was his wedding home.
He and his fiancée planned to get married next year.
Mu Wen sincerely offered her congratulations, then asked if he had any other requirements. Mr. Liao said his fiancée didn't want to get involved in these matters—she liked American country style. Some distressed wood furniture, a bit of small patterned tiles, and so on. In short, something that looked free and easy.
Alright. Mu Wen noted down Mr. Liao's requirements in her notebook. When she finished writing and looked up, she found Mr. Liao looking at her.
"You remind me of a friend of mine," Mr. Liao said. "An old friend of mine."
"Is that so?" Mu Wen said. "Then that's my honor."
"I'm usually very busy. From now on, I'll only have an hour or two at noon or after work to go over the renovation details in person," Mr. Liao added. "If you have the time."
"I have time," Mu Wen said. "I'll work around Mr. Liao's schedule."
She felt that Mr. Liao was a very amiable, friendly person. He kept smiling at Mu Wen, and when he couldn't quite hear what she said, he would lean in a little closer. His eyes stayed on Mu Wen the whole time. Mu Wen tried to deflect with small talk a few times without much success, but at least it eased the awkwardness.
Xiao Gu talked more than usual that day.
Sometimes, mid-measurement, she would call out to Mu Wen: "Engineer Mu, could you take a look here? My right eye sees a slant."
"Engineer Mu, I'll make a note here: the wall is cracked."
"…"
Despite being interrupted multiple times, Mr. Liao didn't seem angry. Mu Wen's impression of him improved a bit.
After leaving Mr. Liao's place, Xiao Gu said she'd drop Mu Wen off at the subway station. On the way, Xiao Gu told Mu Wen a story: there used to be a particularly beautiful female designer at the company who got very close to a client. One day, the client's wife showed up and made a scene. The matter blew up, and the designer left afterward.
Xiao Gu stopped there, and Mu Wen understood—she was warning her to be careful about her relationship with Mr. Liao.
"He has a wife!" Mu Wen said. "And I don't even like him."
"Some men don't care whether they have a wife or not," Xiao Gu said. "Engineer Mu, you just graduated, so everything looks fresh and everyone seems good to you. Sometimes you can't tell that those smiling tigers are bad people."
Mu Wen seriously considered Xiao Gu's words. She was someone who took advice well, and she thought Xiao Gu was right. "Then from now on, will you accompany me every time I meet Mr. Liao?" she asked.
"As long as I have the time."
Mu Wen didn't want to delay too long. She planned to produce a draft proposal right away to avoid any complications down the road. She decided to work overtime this weekend to finish the proposal and contact Mr. Liao on Monday.
That evening, everyone else had left the company, and the air conditioning was turned off. Her long hair stuck to her neck, which was very uncomfortable. So she casually gathered it into a high bun and turned to push open the window.
The night scene outside made her feel a bit dazed.
Because it had rained the night before, the building looked as if it had been washed, exceptionally clean. The tip of the Central Radio and TV Tower pierced straight into the clouds. Brilliant lights were everywhere. Mu Wen leaned on the windowsill, watching for a while, letting the wind blow over her.
She thought of Xie Chong again.
She was thinking of him more and more frequently.
She remembered how Xie Chong had pushed open the door yesterday and strode toward her, how he looked sleeping on his sofa, how he delivered dumplings and labor fees to her at night… Was Xie Chong the kind of person Xiao Gu had described? The kind of bad person who would take advantage of her because she was young and inexperienced?
He wasn't.
Mu Wen didn't think he was.
Because he was polite and distant with her. He wasn't like Mr. Liao—Mr. Liao seemed like the bad one. When he spoke, he always deliberately leaned in close to her, which made her uncomfortable.
She wanted to call Xie Chong, but didn't know under what pretext. She thought for a long time and decided to call him using the excuse of a follow-up on the dinner party.
There was music playing on Xie Chong's end. He told her he'd call her back later and hung up. Xie Chong was watching a concert with Qian Song, Jiang Wu, and others. Qian Song had gotten a few tickets and invited the people who had learned horseback riding together to attend.
The group was a mix of men and women, and except for Jiang Wu, they were all from wealthy families. But Jiang Wu held absolute authority among them, because they were all afraid of her. When Jiang Wu had served as her father's horseback riding assistant instructor, she had scolded them relentlessly. That kind of intimidation persisted to this day.
That day, they arranged for Jiang Wu and Xie Chong to sit together. When Xie Chong answered the phone quietly, Jiang Wu glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The name in his contact list was so long—though she couldn't make out what it said, she felt the person might be someone special.
At least someone Xie Chong didn't dislike.
Xie Chong's contact name for people he disliked was S-someone-B. Both Jiang Wu and Qian Song knew this.
After the concert ended, Qian Song suggested they get together, but Jiang Wu said, "Some other time. Someone's picking me up." She then walked toward a luxury car by the roadside. She got in without looking back.
Xie Chong drank some alcohol with the others.
He was in a bad mood. One glass down, he already felt dizzy. Drinking required the right time and place, he decided. He refused to drink more, saying the liquor smelled foul and made him nauseous.
The others didn't dare provoke him when they saw this—he rarely acted like this.
"I'm leaving." Xie Chong dropped the words and left. The driver asked where he wanted to go. He said home.
That day was strange—no matter what he did, his key wouldn't open his own door. So he called Mu Wen: "The door lock you guys installed is broken."
"The door lock isn't something we installed," Mu Wen said.
"It is something you installed." Xie Chong insisted.
Mu Wen could tell he seemed to be in a bad mood, so she stopped arguing with him and said, "Wait a moment. I'm on my way home. I'll come over first and take a look for you."
Mu Wen saw Xie Chong sitting against the door. When he saw her, he rubbed his eyes with his palm and said, "Is this the Engineer Mu who signed the single-family villa?"
"Yes. The universe's super invincible awesome designer, Engineer Mu." Mu Wen reached out her hand to him. "Keys."
Xie Chong stood up and fumbled for his keys. He felt like the liquor he'd drunk that day must have been fake—why else couldn't he stand steady? He tried several times to pull the keys from his pocket but couldn't get them out.
Mu Wen stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
She was surprisingly strong—she steadied him in one go. She accurately fished the keys out of his pocket and, while unlocking the door, suggested to Xie Chong, "Seriously, switch to a fingerprint lock. Fingerprint locks will become more and more common in the future."
"I don't like fingerprint locks," Xie Chong said. "Then what's the point of opening a door?"
"Opening a door—the important thing is opening it. What point is there supposed to be?"
"You don't understand." Xie Chong leaned his head against the door and said softly, "This key opens this lock—isn't that fun?"
After saying this, Xie Chong fixed his gaze on the lock, lost in thought. He'd said it so casually, yet there was something profound in it.
Mu Wen didn't understand what he meant. She was focused on opening the door, thinking as she worked: How is this lock a match for our key? I did the quote myself—did they throw it in as a gift later?
The door opened. She grabbed Xie Chong's arm and said, "Come on, let's go home." Seeing that Xie Chong was slow to react, she gave him a firm tug and pulled him inside.
Xie Chong stumbled slightly and mumbled in protest, "You're so fierce."
"Huh?" Mu Wen was confused. "When was I fierce with you? I came to help you unlock the door, and you say I'm fierce!"
"You are fierce." Xie Chong kicked off his shoes and turned on the light. The brightness seemed to sting his eyes, and he shielded them with his hand. As he walked further in, he noticed there was no sound behind him.
Turning around, he saw that Mu Wen hadn't changed her shoes and was already preparing to leave.
"Are you afraid of me?" Xie Chong asked. "Why don't you come in and sit for a bit?" He just looked at her, as if certain she wouldn't leave.
"No, it's fine." Mu Wen said, "It's too late. Get some sleep. Good night." She turned and left, feeling a bit dazed once she stepped out of the building entrance. She checked her phone—no more buses. She'd overspent today.
She'd forgotten to have him sign the work order.
If I get the work order signed, I can get reimbursed. Mu Wen thought.
Just then, she heard the building door open. Xie Chong called out from behind her, "Mu Wen?"
Mu Wen turned to look at him.
He wasn't happy.
It was strange—he hadn't said anything, but Mu Wen could tell he wasn't happy. Still, she didn't ask. She only said, "Why did you come down?"
"I'll walk you home." Xie Chong said, "It's too late. Don't want anything to happen."
"This is Beijing. What could happen?"
"Beijing has the most ghosts and demons of all." Xie Chong said, "Come on, I'll call a cab for you."
"I can call a cab myself." Mu Wen said.
"You won't, Mu Wen." Xie Chong said with certainty. "I know you too well. You won't take a cab. You're a Pi Xiu."
He looked perfectly calm, as if he were joking. In the past, Mu Wen wouldn't have given his words a second thought. But today, she sensed Xie Chong's deliberateness.
He seemed to need to say it, to vent some emotion brewing inside him.
Mu Wen walked up to him and held out her hand. "Give me the money."
"What money?"
"Door-unlocking service, fifty yuan." Mu Wen said.
Xie Chong would never give her the money. Instead, he said to her, "Watch this—I'll show you a magic trick." Then, under Mu Wen's gaze, he tossed his wallet up into the tree.
In late August in Beijing, the leaves were still lush. The wallet was thrown up without warning, and the branches rustled as if welcoming it.
There probably wasn't much money in that wallet, because it never fell back down.
Mu Wen was genuinely angry now. She said to Xie Chong, "I don't care what your reason is, but you can't treat me like this." She was on the verge of tears and had to sniff to hold back the ache.
"Get lost." She said, then turned and ran off.