The night wind blew against Mu Wen's clothes and her stubbornly pinned hair. In this moment, she became aware of herself: she was unwilling to accept any contempt from Xie Chong. The wind blew her thoughts into clear focus.
She ran all the way to the entrance, where the streetlights on Wanliu Middle Road were dim. She decided to run home. When she was a student, she ran laps around the track every morning; this distance was nothing to her. By the time she reached home, her unhappiness would surely have been blown away by the wind.
She shouldn't let this inexplicable demon affect her.
Someone ran toward her silently, overtook her like the wind, and finally blocked her path.
It was Xie Chong.
Would he lay hands on me because I cursed at him? Mu Wen touched her canvas bag, which held a small fruit knife. She thought that if he dared to touch her, she would cut him with it.
Xie Chong stood there with his hands on his hips, just looking at her. "Mu Wen, aren't you good at demanding money with righteous indignation? Weren't you doing just fine a moment ago?"
Mu Wen was stunned by his question. "What are you talking about?"
"Since you can demand money with righteous indignation, why were you so fawning toward that client yesterday?" Xie Chong's voice rose involuntarily. "Can't you see how lecherous his gaze was when he looked at you?"
"What are you talking about?" Mu Wen asked again, her voice trembling slightly. Inwardly, she was deliberately ignoring the discomfort Mr. Liao had caused her. She was focused solely on signing him. She told herself that his eyes were on him, and she could pretend not to see.
Xie Chong took a step closer and raised his voice again. "I! Am! Asking! You! Can't you see how lecherous his gaze was when he looked at you? Can't you?"
His voice tore through the night sky, and Mu Wen felt as if even the leaves on the roadside trees were trembling and scattering with his words.
"Speak! You can't see it, is that it?" Xie Chong pressed her relentlessly.
Mu Wen took a step back, putting more distance between them. Xie Chong's questioning was sharp and piercing; she felt as if he were grabbing her by the ear, forcing her to hear him, to answer him.
"Yes! I saw it! So what? What of it?" Mu Wen shouted. "What does it have to do with you? What right do you have to control me? Just because someone looks at me lecherously, you think you can humiliate me that way?"
"What makes you any different from him!" Mu Wen cursed, her eyes reddening. "You're both just my clients! The two of you are the same—neither of you respects me! What right do you have to criticize him? In other words, decorating for him will earn me more money! He's better than you!"
Mu Wen thought: He looked at me that way, and I could ignore it. But you threw my wallet into the tree—you hurt me. You trampled my self-respect into the ground.
Suddenly, they both fell silent.
Xie Chong's chest was heaving. He stared at the ground for a long time. On the quiet road, there were no cars and no people—only the two of them.
"Earn money standing up, Mu Wen," Xie Chong suddenly said softly. "Earn money standing up."
"Otherwise, one day you'll regret it."
Xie Chong met Mu Wen's startled gaze, and a flicker of pity passed through his eyes.
She had just graduated. Many people in this society were like floodwaters and savage beasts—they would devour her by any means necessary. She wanted money, so they lured her in the name of money. They made her bow her head willingly, made her accept willingly.
Xie Chong had stood beneath that tall potted plant and seen the man's gaze wander over Mu Wen several times. He was like a skilled hunter, but Mu Wen seemed completely unaware. No—she knew. She was smart enough to know. She just pretended not to.
Xie Chong had seen too many people to be mistaken. That man was a wolf in sheep's clothing, more terrifying than a wolf itself. When you see a wolf, you run away immediately, never giving it a chance to get close. But when you see a wolf in sheep's clothing, you think the little lamb is adorable. You don't guard against it; you approach it, until it's right in front of you, suddenly pouncing on you, tearing at you, devouring you. That gentleman was exactly that kind.
Xie Chong thought that no matter what, it had nothing to do with him. He hadn't wanted to speak, hadn't wanted to interfere. He wanted to be an outsider. But he had failed. All day, he had been thinking about that gaze laden with hidden intent—a net meant to trap Mu Wen.
He didn't want Mu Wen to be so fawning and ingratiating. She was fully capable of winning clients with her professionalism and integrity. She didn't need to do that.
A taxi approached from afar, and Xie Chong raised his arm to hail it for her. Mu Wen was still standing there in a daze when he said again: "Earn money standing up."
He took Mu Wen by the arm through her clothing and guided her to the roadside. The car stopped, and he opened the rear door for her. Then he pulled a thick stack of bills from his pants pocket, extracted a hundred-yuan note, and handed it to the driver. "To Xiaonanzhuang. Give her the change."
Mu Wen looked at that thick stack of money and remembered the wallet hanging so lightly from the tree. In an instant, she understood why it hadn't fallen: because there was no money inside.
Xie Chong said, "The wallet was empty. I threw it away because I didn't want it anymore. I'm sorry—the joke went too far."
He patted the taxi, saying to her, "Go on. Let me know when you're home—if you still want to talk to me."
Xie Chong stepped back, and the taxi drove off. He glanced at the license plate.
Mu Wen's mind was completely blank and muddled. Xie Chong's words echoed through her head over and over. She thought again of what Xiao Gu had said to her—Xiao Gu must have sensed something off about Mr. Liao too. Everyone could see it. And she herself had known.
But she had wanted so badly to make money, thinking that as long as she stayed alert, she'd be fine. She had overlooked that the games of the adult world were complex, treacherous, and merciless.
When she got home, she didn't message Xie Chong.
Mu Wen didn't want to talk to him anymore.
Xie Chong passed by the tree and glanced at it—the wallet was still hanging there. He jumped up, grabbed the branch, and shook it. The wallet fell. He pulled out the photo inside, tore it up, and tossed the wallet into the trash.
Back home, he was hit by a wave of nausea that turned his stomach inside out. He figured he must have drunk some counterfeit liquor—or maybe because he'd made an ill-timed joke to Mu Wen, the heavens were punishing him. All night he vomited several times and made several trips to the bathroom. By the next morning, he looked gaunt and haggard. Still, he went to Jingdezhen.
There was still a lot of work waiting for him there; he had to get back right away.
Mu Wen slept until she naturally woke up. She sat up in bed, placed her laptop on her knees, and quietly worked on her drawings. Chu Ling was reading in her own bed. They exchanged a few words now and then.
According to Mr. Liao, his wife wanted American country-style decor. She thought she'd push to finish it over the weekend as required, and ideally schedule a meeting with Mr. Liao on Monday.
She didn't leave the house all weekend, wrestling with the design, unkempt and disheveled. On Sunday night, she messaged Mr. Liao to set up a meeting. He said, "Sure, how about lunch together? We can talk while we eat?"
Mu Wen thought it over—broad daylight, no problem—and agreed.
Monday morning, an unexpected visitor arrived at the company.
The woman claimed to be Mr. Liao's wife, saying Mr. Liao had gone on a sudden business trip and she'd come to review the design plan.
Mu Wen happily carried her laptop to the conference room. The moment she pushed open the door, she saw a beautiful woman in her fifties looking at her with a meaningful gaze, as if to say: So it's you?
Mu Wen hadn't expected Mrs. Liao to be much older than Mr. Liao. Flustered for a moment, she quickly set down her computer, walked over, and extended her hand humbly: "Hello, Mrs. Liao, I'm Mu Wen."
Mrs. Liao gave her hand a perfunctory shake, her eyes fixed on Mu Wen's face.
"I've finished the first draft over the weekend. Let me present it to you now, Mrs. Liao."
As Mu Wen was setting up the projector, Mrs. Liao suddenly said, "You should call me Miss Liao. Because the man you call Mr. Liao—his surname is Gao."
Mu Wen froze mid-motion, trying to figure out how to respond. She hadn't expected Mr. Liao's surname to be fake.
Miss Liao added, "It's fine. Between the two of us, he handles the money." Then she winked at Mu Wen.
"Since you're here, I'd like to properly walk you through the plan. I—"
"It's fine. You're young; the plan will pass no matter what. I just came to take a look at you… You two have lunch planned for noon to go over the plan, right? Go ahead." Miss Liao stood up and headed out. Mu Wen hurriedly followed to see her off, accompanying her all the way to the elevator and pressing the button for her.
Miss Liao said to her, "Enjoy your meal. Have plenty of them. I don't mind."
Mu Wen didn't understand what she meant and saw her off in a daze. She wasn't sure whether she should still go to lunch, but then the man—Mr. Liao, no, Mr. Gao—called her: "My wife came to see you, didn't she? It won't affect our lunch."
Mu Wen was young and inexperienced, truly unable to grasp the ins and outs of this. Just then, Xiao Gu returned from measuring a property, and she told him about Miss Liao.
She said the woman was very beautiful and elegant, but looked older than Mr. Liao. The way she looked at me was strange, as if she thought I was having an affair with Mr. Liao…
Xiao Gu listened and said quietly to Mu Wen, "That's not uncommon. A wealthy older wife with a younger kept man—we see a lot of that among our clients."
"I don't get it," Mu Wen said. "What do you mean?"
Xiao Gu analyzed it for her: "Most likely Miss Liao has plenty of money, and Mr. Gao is the kept man. Mr. Gao is always out chasing women, so Miss Liao came to see who he's chasing this time."
"Then if I were Miss Liao, I'd be angry—using my money to fool around outside…"
"You don't understand, Engineer Mu. Mr. Gao pays Miss Liao back double… How should I put it? Maybe Mr. Gao plays the wolf in front of young women, then turns around and plays the dog in front of Miss Liao. The more he plays the wolf, the harder he plays the dog for Miss Liao. It's—"
"Control, right?" Mu Wen asked cautiously.
"Yes." Xiao Gu said seriously, "You can go to lunch by yourself and see. The restaurant is a public place anyway. Don't be afraid—I'll wait outside for you and keep an eye on things."
Mu Wen loved Xiao Gu.
She was truly a kind and gentle soul.
She went to meet Mr. Gao.
The moment they met, the "refined and elegant" Mr. Gao rose to pull out her dining chair, then his hand "naturally" rested on her shoulder, guiding her to sit down.
"Calling me Mr. Gao is fine—it's just a form of address." Mr. Gao raised his hand to order dishes, showing no embarrassment over the morning's incident. When Mu Wen said she wanted to show him the design proposal, he stopped her: "Whatever you make, it'll be wonderful."
Then he moved on to other topics.
He spoke of that day at the venue, how Mu Wen had walked toward him in a white dress, and how his heart had soared in that moment. He felt that, no matter what, his home had to be designed by Mu Wen.
Mu Wen listened quietly.
Then she remembered Xie Chong's question to her: He looked at you so lewdly—couldn't you see it?
She suddenly raised her eyes and met Mr. Gao's gaze as he appraised her. It was the look of a predator eyeing its prey—invasive, exploitative.
Mu Wen said nothing and lowered her head again.
Then she heard Mr. Gao speak again: "I like you very much. If you're willing, I can buy you a small apartment and give you some money each month. Of course, if you'd rather keep working, you're free to continue."
"I know you don't dislike me."
"I also know you're very smart—you know what you want. Otherwise, you wouldn't have singled me out at that banquet to meet privately."
Mu Wen's head was buzzing.
These words came too suddenly. In her mind, contempt or filth between people was always supposed to wear a mask, to be phrased with some subtlety. She never expected such bluntness.
She had treated him as a potential client, but he thought she was extending an olive branch to him. He actually thought she was seducing him.
She took a deep breath and asked, "And what about Miss Liao? What would she think?"
"She likes you too. She doesn't mind."
The moment he finished that sentence, Mu Wen threw a punch.
Her fist had never struck anyone before, but it slammed squarely into Mr. Gao's nose. Seeing him clutching his nose, she walked up to him, grabbed his collar with the strength she once used to catch lambs, and cursed in Mongolian: "Noyin gulug!" (Son of a bitch)
Her eyes blazed with fury as she glared at this bastard!
This was the first time Mu Wen had ever hit someone. She turned and walked out of the restaurant. Xiao Gu rushed up to her and asked, "What happened? What did he say?"
"He wants to keep me as his mistress."
"I knew it!" Xiao Gu was furious. "I knew it! It's always like this! This kind of thing always happens—they always think money can buy everything."
Mu Wen loved money dearly, but she felt no regret. Back at the company, she went to find Lin Weisen and told him about that bastard Gao. She said, "The proposal is done, but I don't want to keep this client. Master, I'm handing this client to you. Whether you can close the deal depends on your skill."
"If I close it, I'll give you a bonus," Lin Weisen said.
"No need, Master. I don't want a single cent."
Mu Wen had loved money since she was a child—she adored it. She admitted that as a child she was a little money-hoarder, and as an adult, a big one. She had poured so much effort into that standalone villa, but so what?
In this city of Beijing, she had learned her most profound lesson—refusal. She had learned to say no.
Mu Wen's heart felt light. That day in the villa, the discomfort that bastard had brought her had vanished. She no longer cared about his money, and she no longer respected him. Some people simply didn't deserve respect.
Lin Weisen tried to console her: "How should I put this? This kind of thing is very common. In the world of the rich, everyone has their own 'excitements.' Once you've seen more of it, you won't react the way you did today."
"I know, Master," Mu Wen said. "We'll see how things go."
For her, this incident had shaken her considerably. Mr. Gao naturally wouldn't let her off easily—bastards had their ways of being shameless. But Mu Wen wasn't afraid of him either. She threatened him: "Why do you think I dared to hit you?"
Mr. Gao said nothing.
"Do you think I'd dare to hit you if I didn't have backing?"
"Just you wait."
Mu Wen fabricated a powerful background for herself, and as she said those words, her gaze was fierce and unyielding. The usually well-acted bastard Gao showed a look of guilt and fear, while Mu Wen pointed a finger at the tip of his nose, turned, and walked away.
She didn't tell Xie Chong about what had happened either.
She didn't want to talk to Xie Chong. In her heart, this chapter of knowing Xie Chong had come to an end—they weren't on the same path. Xie Chong was merely a kind man who had moved her heart when she first arrived in Beijing.
She still treated Xiao Gu to dry-pot duck heads.
As Xiao Gu ate, she said, "I couldn't eat this while breastfeeding—worried the baby would get heaty. I also want spicy hotpot, ice cream… Mu Gong, can we eat these whenever we have time? I can treat you too."
"I'll treat you," Mu Wen said. "I'm all alone, you know—one person full, the whole family's fed!"
Xiao Gu laughed. "Some people say you're stingy, but I say Mu Gong isn't stingy at all. Mu Gong treats me really well."
"They're not worth it," Mu Wen said. "We don't earn money easily. Every penny should be spent where it matters—on people who treat us well, people we care about. With everyone else, I'm stingy. I don't care what they say about me."
Mu Wen felt that no matter how big Beijing was, it was still like the grasslands. On their grasslands, no matter how loud the sound, it would be swallowed by the wind. In Beijing, no matter how big the rumor, it would be swallowed by the crowd. Same thing.
At the end of September, Mu Wen received a call from Xie Chong.
The moment the call connected, she said directly, "Mr. Xie, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I don't want that client anymore," Mu Wen said. "You were right—I should earn money standing tall."
Xie Chong was quiet for a moment, then said, "Mu Wen, congratulations. I also have good news for you."
"What?"
"Earlier in Jingdezhen, someone hijacked my goods. Now his goods are stuck in Jingdezhen, while mine set sail across the seas today."
"Oh my god, how did you manage that?" Mu Wen was happy for Xie Chong. She knew he was very capable.
"It's a long story, but just a small trick. I'll tell you in person someday." Xie Chong said without any modesty, and Mu Wen could feel through the phone that his tail was wagging up to the sky.
"Actually, I knew about that client situation—your Engineer Lin told me about it. I called today mainly to congratulate you. You handled it beautifully."
He's congratulating me. Mu Wen's nose tingled a little, and she felt a small swell of pride inside: he's happy for me.
Xie Chong said, "I still have things to do. Remember to open the gift when you get home."
"What gift? Why would I have a gift?"
"Don't think too much about it. I saw it and thought it suited you, so I bought it."
"Thank you, Mr. Xie."
Mu Wen practically ran home without stopping. At her doorstep, she saw an exquisitely beautiful delivery package. A gorgeous wooden box painted with a scene of a cowherd boy tending cattle, with an elegant lock on it, key already inserted.
Mu Wen carefully carried the wooden box inside, placed it on the table between her and Chu Ling's beds, and opened it.
Inside were many small wooden cases of different sizes, each painted with different grassland scenery: sunset over the pasture, wind bending the grass revealing cattle and sheep, birch forests and grasslands on both sides of a river…
A name card was affixed to the box, reading: "To the esteemed Ms. Mu Wen, best wishes on your new beginning."
She opened them one by one and saw a small Pixiu coin bank, a little bowl with a fan under a grape trellis, a teacup with little fish swimming around… Those dozen or so items were all things Mu Wen had once scoffed at as "flashy and impractical."
He said "best wishes on your new beginning"—not to celebrate her actually moving houses, but to congratulate her on learning to let go. She had learned to let go, and so she gained more. Her heart had found its home.
Mu Wen couldn't quite define Xie Chong as a person.
Sometimes he was annoying, sometimes adorable, sometimes childish, and sometimes this gentle. He was ever-changing, yet also concrete.
She thought about how he was this kind of person—someone she really liked. Though there was no possibility between them, thinking about how good he was to her made her shed little golden beans again. They were happy little golden beans—little beans of self-affirmation that her taste was good, that she hadn't been blind enough to fall for a terrible person.
Chu Ling came in and saw Mu Wen's eyes still red, as if she'd just been crying, and asked her, "What's wrong, Wenwen?"
Mu Wen sniffled and joked, "Chu Ling, do you know anyone who'd buy these things? I think these could sell for a good amount."
Chu Ling stepped forward to look. These exquisite items were all purely handmade—almost impossible to find in Beijing: "I don't know what to say. Whoever sent these must be a romanticist, right? It's rare to meet such people in our lives."
Mu Wen opened her arms and encircled the gifts, as if embracing the romantic, childlike Xie Chong.
"Is it the person you were waiting for a call from before?" Chu Ling asked.
This time Mu Wen didn't avoid the question. She nodded. "It's him."
She put all the gifts away, because Chu Ling said they were too precious—it would break their hearts if they got shattered. They agreed that once they bought their own house, they'd use these things to fill every day of their lives.
Xie Chong asked her, "Did you receive it?"
She asked, "When are you coming back? I still owe you two meals."
"Then let's eat now," Xie Chong said. "Come out. Meet me in the back alley."
Mu Wen let out a squeal, jumped off the bed, and rushed out the door.