Mu Wen burned the midnight oil to produce a draft proposal and sent it to Lin Weisen, all the while bracing herself for him to tear into her. She'd heard that interns at this company always got scolded over their first proposal, and figured she definitely wouldn't escape that fate.
But Lin Weisen suddenly notified her that evening, telling her to contact Xie Chong to discuss the proposal.
"Huh? My draft?" Mu Wen was caught off guard. "Master, you haven't even revised it yet!"
"We'll go with your draft first." Lin Weisen had worked with too many clients—nearly 100% of them would ask for a second and third revision no matter what the first draft looked like. So as long as the initial proposal didn't have major issues, it could basically slide through. Besides, Mu Wen's proposal was that good.
Lin Weisen had discovered that Mu Wen was an extremely talented designer. Many interns at the company shared a common flaw: they struggled to translate theory into practice, so their designs all came out mediocre. Mu Wen was different—her designs were full of clever touches. She must have put in a tremendous amount of thought. She truly designed it as if it were her own home.
Lin Weisen didn't say any of this to Mu Wen. As her mentor, he needed to maintain some authority, afraid that too much praise would go to her head. Even without his compliments, she was already affirming herself daily—before the proposal meeting, she told Lin Weisen: "Master, let me tell you, this draft of mine is amazing!"
"You're too confident." Lin Weisen said. "Don't let your tail get too high. If the company doesn't sign you, you'll end up at a design institute!"
"Im-pos-si-ble!" Mu Wen knew Lin Weisen was just trying to scare her. "Of course the company will sign me—I'm that good. I'm not going to a design institute; they don't pay enough."
"Design institutes can get you a Beijing hukou." Lin Weisen reminded her. Some of Mu Wen's classmates had gone to design institutes for the hukou—salaries were relatively lower, but the benefits were excellent. Mu Wen didn't want that; she wanted a high salary. If she was going to draw blueprints either way, she wanted to draw ones with the best pay-to-effort ratio.
"A Beijing hukou is nice and all… but right now I really want to make money." Mu Wen said honestly. Her father used to drive big trucks and had a bad lower back; her mother had always made baozi and had a bad neck. They'd both worked so hard, and Mu Wen wanted to earn more money while she was young.
By the time Mu Wen called Xie Chong, it was already close to midnight.
She first called his work number from the office phone, but after several rings with no answer, she switched to his personal number.
The call was picked up quickly. Xie Chong addressed her directly by name: "Mu Wen." Very crisp, with nothing else.
Mu Wen paused for a moment, then mimicked his tone: "Xie Chong."
This time it was Xie Chong's turn to be surprised. He put on a serious voice: "Are you imitating me?"
Mu Wen couldn't hold back her laugh and let out a "heh" before saying: "Mr. Xie, the initial draft is ready. When would you have time for us to go over it?"
"I'll come to your office," Xie Chong said. "I'll head over after I finish work tomorrow, around 5:30 in the afternoon."
"Alright."
Xie Chong's voice was really pleasant to listen to. After hanging up, Mu Wen sat there in a daze, feeling like she wanted more. But she couldn't think of any way to strike up more conversation, so she went online to search: What topics can poor and wealthy people of opposite genders talk about? The answers that came up were all over the place. Mu Wen laughed as she scrolled through them—so funny, what kind of nonsense was this? Then she asked herself: Why am I even searching for this?
Mu Wen had never truly experienced autumn in Beijing, always assuming it would be more or less the same as Tianjin. Having pulled several all-nighters in a row, she felt like her lifeblood had nearly been drained dry. When she got up the next morning, her movements were especially slow. She sat up wrapped in her blanket, eyes still closed, and dozed off sitting up for another two minutes.
Chu Ling tapped on her bed board from the bunk below, calling her to get up.
Only then did Mu Wen fully open her eyes.
They'd agreed to try the new breakfast place for tofu pudding and youtiao. Before heading out, Chu Ling clipped a new hairpin onto Mu Wen's head: "Here~ I noticed your flower one had fallen off, so last night I went to the little alley in the back and bought two—one for you, one for me."
Chu Ling turned her face to show Mu Wen hers. Mu Wen had already leaned in to throw her arms around Chu Ling's shoulders: "Chu Ling, Chu Ling, you're so good to me! When I get my paycheck, I'll treat you to Nine-Headed Eagle or Pizza Hut, okay!"
That Pizza Hut was right there in plain sight under the pedestrian bridge. Every time Mu Wen wanted to go, she always felt it was too expensive. But treating Chu Ling? She wouldn't feel a hint of regret.
"Great, great!" Chu Ling was delighted. "When I get my bonus, I'll treat you too—let's eat at both places downstairs!"
"Not Bistro Hong Kong! Too cheap!" Mu Wen snorted, putting on an air of disdain for the place, then laughed to herself.
The leaves on both sides of Suzhou Street were beginning to rustle down. The two of them huddled together in their coats as they walked, saying, "Once the weather clears up, let's go to the zoo market on the weekend to buy winter jackets!"
The tofu pudding at the breakfast place was delicious. The two of them had hearty appetites and ordered an extra basket of xiaolongbao. After finishing, one headed left toward Baishi Bridge, the other right toward Zhongguancun.
Mu Wen hadn't even sat down at the office when Lin Weisen waved her over: "Come on. Xiao Gu's kid is sick and took the day off today, so you're coming with me to look at three properties. After that, we'll come back and go over the proposal with Mr. Xie."
"Will Mr. Xie really come to the company?" Mu Wen said. "I bet he'll stand us up."
"Not necessarily. People who accomplish big things are masters of time management. I think he'll come." Lin Weisen turned back to glance at Mu Wen after speaking, looking like he had something he wanted to say but held back. What he was thinking was: there are so many bad people in this world, and a girl like Mu Wen could easily become a target.
"Master, what do you want to say?" Mu Wen asked.
"I want to say that newcomers in our line of work have it too hard. You need to hang in there."
The two were chatting as they left the company, only then noticing it had started to rain.
Beijing's autumn rain falls in layers upon layers.
Dark clouds blanket the tallest buildings, spreading outward bit by bit until they cover the entire city. The autumn rain carries a chill—with each downpour, the weather turns colder by a notch. That's why autumn in Beijing always seems so short.
Mu Wen shivered and followed Lin Weisen into the car.
That day's measurements were tough—two duplex villas and one large flat. The homeowners all had endless demands. As Mu Wen measured, the client kept talking:
"Be careful, that illustration is very expensive!"
"I'm not planning to repaint the walls, so don't get them dirty."
"You're measuring too slowly, I have urgent matters!"
…
Mu Wen's attitude was good at first—whatever the client said, she'd smile and respond: "Okay, don't worry, I'll be careful."
Until the client said: "You've probably never even seen something like this before. If you break it, you couldn't afford to pay for it anyway…"
Her movements paused for a moment.
That was genuine mockery and arrogance—the condescension of someone wealthy looking down from above. At that moment, Lin Weisen said: "That's right, we don't come into contact with these things much. Today is really an eye-opener."
Mu Wen thought to herself: What eye-opener? This is a fake. She'd never seen the real thing, but she'd seen it in books.
"Look, this young lady doesn't seem convinced. Is this how your company serves its clients?" The client suddenly turned hostile.
Lin Weisen quickly took the tools and notebook from Mu Wen's hands and pushed her outside. He knew Mu Wen was outspoken and was afraid she'd cause trouble. But he didn't understand Mu Wen—she might feel wronged, but she wouldn't do anything that affected her earning money!
He pushed her outside, and she suddenly turned back with a smile and said: "I'm so sorry! Please don't mind me!"
The door closed. She stood at the entrance, looking at the autumn rain outside, and suddenly felt very homesick. She called her mother, whining tearfully that she really wanted to eat the buns her mother made, and wanted to drink the milk tea her mother brewed herself.
Ge Yunqing instinctively asked if she'd been wronged. Mu Wen lowered her voice and said: "Mom, today I ran into a total idiot! He took a fake for the real thing, and then said my service attitude was bad!"
Ge Yunqing had a fiery temper. Hearing this, she flew into a rage: "Did you curse him out?"
"No, I didn't! I didn't dare—he's my client!"
"Unacceptable! Curse him back!"
Mu Wen knew Ge Yunqing's temper well, so she negotiated with her: "Dear mother, can I curse him back next time?"
Ge Yunqing calmed down a bit: "What did you say you wanted to eat?"
"I want to eat the buns you make, drink the milk tea you brew, I want to eat milk skin and milk curd, and beef jerky too…"
Before she could finish, the phone was already beeping with the dial tone.
Mu Wen knew she was putting her mother in a difficult position. By the time her mother's buns made it through the logistics from their hometown to her hands, they'd already be covered in green mold!
She thought her mother was right—she should curse him back. So she stood there and mentally cursed the client's terrible taste up and down! She didn't know how to curse, so the harshest thing she could come up with was: "Go to the hospital and get yourself a pair of glasses! You can't even tell real from fake!"
When Lin Weisen came out, he gave her a look. She immediately put on a smiling face and said to the client: "I've already reflected on myself just now. Don't be angry with me. I'm just an intern who doesn't know anything. Don't be upset, okay~"
She really had a way with people—neither humble nor pushy, but somehow just put people at ease. The client, who had been in a bad mood, felt much better now and said to her: "It's fine, I won't hold it against you."
On the way back, the rain grew heavier and heavier. The barrier arm at the company parking lot was broken. To avoid wasting time, Lin Weisen told Mu Wen to go upstairs and get ready first. She opened the car door, then sat back down and asked Lin Weisen: "Master, do I look like I had a good day today?"
Lin Weisen didn't know why she was asking, so he teased her: "You look like you have a good day every day."
"That's great! Thank you, Master!" Mu Wen pushed open the car door and ran into the rain.
She hadn't known Beijing's autumn rain was like this—it soaked through her thin clothes in an instant. In the elevator lobby, cold wind kept blowing in every time the building door opened and closed. Waiting for an elevator during evening rush hour took forever.
She saw her blurry reflection on the wall—a shivering drowned rat.
I need to avoid Xie Chong, she thought. Xie Chong would definitely say: "Your clothes, soaked through." Just like the way he said, "Your hair clip, lost a flower." Mu Wen was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop herself from cursing at him. Having to hold back twice in one day would be too cruel.
She ran toward her desk as soon as she entered the company. Xie Chong, in the meeting room, noticed that her wet shoe soles had left a trail of shallow damp footprints on the carpet.
Five minutes later, she walked back in wearing the custom T-shirt issued by the company, her feet in a pair of soaked canvas shoes.
She'd had a rough day. Xie Chong thought to himself. Autumn rain was rare in Beijing, but when it came, it stripped away the warmth and plunged you straight into winter.
Mu Wen sensed his gaze land on her feet and curled her toes where he couldn't see.
Fortunately, Lin Weisen pushed the door open and apologized to Xie Chong, saying the heavy rain had delayed him.
Xie Chong said, "No worries. Is it cold outside?"
"Freezing," Lin Weisen said.
"That's what I figured." Xie Chong looked at Mu Wen. "Assistant Mu's lips have turned purple." He stood up and tossed his leather jacket across the table to her. She caught it in a fluster, nearly dropping it to the floor.
"Borrow it for a bit. Give it back when you leave," Xie Chong said. "I saw you run inside earlier, and you didn't grab an extra layer when you came back. You must not have a spare."
Mu Wen didn't put up a fight. She said thanks and draped his black jacket over her shoulders. The faint scent of it wrapped around her. It might have felt intimate, but she couldn't afford to care. She was too cold.
Her old canvas shoes had finally died this autumn.
She'd been heartbroken wading through the puddles just now—those shoes had been with her for years. They were the Converse Ge Yunqing had gritted her teeth and bought her after she'd aced her first mock exam in senior year. Though the edges had frayed and the soles had grown thin, she always wore them when she had a lot of walking to do. Now they'd split open.
Mu Wen felt the cold wind slip through the gap and hit her damp, frozen soles, chilling her whole body along with it.
Damn it. Little calf Mu Wen was catching a cold. She said it to herself silently.
During the presentation, she forced herself to focus, scribbling Xie Chong's requirements into her notebook without pause. Sometimes she sensed Xie Chong's eyes on her, but she didn't look up. All she wanted now was to crawl into her bunk and sleep.
"Mu Wen."
She blinked her eyes open and looked around. Lin Weisen was nowhere to be seen—only Xie Chong across from her.
"Mu Wen." He called her again. "You fell asleep."
She hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well."
"You were snoring," Xie Chong said.
Mu Wen asked instinctively, "Was it loud?"
Xie Chong smiled. "Not loud." He paused for a few seconds, then said, "Because you weren't snoring."
"…" Mu Wen had no energy to deal with his little joke. She asked, "Where's my mentor?"
"He stepped out to take a call."
"Oh."
Mu Wen slumped back onto the table, aware that she was burning up. Xie Chong leaned his chair back, ready to rest as well. His gaze drifted naturally to the floor beneath the table and landed on Mu Wen's shoes.
The toe of her canvas shoe had split open into a grin, smiling up at him.
Xie Chong instinctively turned his face away.