When this autumn rain came to an end, winter abruptly descended upon Beijing.
Mu Wen finally made it through to the weekend. She and Chu Ling each lugged a large bag onto the crowded bus heading to the zoo market.
Mu Wen had decided to readjust her budget allocation—she would put the computer purchase on hold for now and go buy clothes first.
"I'm going to become a true urban beauty." Her hand gripped the handrail tightly as Chu Ling held onto her arm with both hands, borrowing some of her strength to stay steady on the jostling bus.
"Why?"
"Because I don't have enough clothes," Mu Wen said. "I need a few decent outfits—the kind that can fool people."
Mu Wen had always been frugal, thinking of herself as half a "construction site kid" who didn't need particularly nice clothes. She didn't own many clothes, but she was tall and had her own sense of style—mixing and matching this with that always looked good. These past few days, she'd realized that appearances really did matter. Many people would hand you a "pass" based on what you wore.
Beep—you dress well, you must have some money, I should show you some respect.
Something like that.
She'd just stepped into the real world, intending to let her abilities speak for themselves. But before she even had the chance to show what she could do, reality had already thrown a punch at her.
"You got triggered." Chu Ling said. "Mu Wen, you really got triggered by that client."
"Yes!" Mu Wen nodded emphatically. "I got triggered! I got seriously triggered!" Mu Wen mimicked the client's tone: "If this breaks, you can't afford to pay for it, you know…"
"Anyway, today I'm going to make my mark at the zoo market and Zhongguancun!"
She wanted to make her mark, but the weekend zoo wholesale market wasn't about to let her fly too high. It was packed with people, her toes kicking against others' heels as she squeezed her way into the stalls she liked.
Buying clothes required precision—steady, accurate, and decisive. The moment you spotted something you liked, you tried it on right there. She and Chu Ling would exchange a glance—a nod meant it looked good and was worth buying; a shake of the head meant it was ugly and off it came. For things worth buying, you had to haggle. No cutting the price in half—you went straight for a 20% offer. If the owner ignored you, that meant you'd offered too low and needed to bump it up a bit. If they put on a pained expression and said, "Fine, fine, I'll sell it to you at a loss," that meant you'd offered too much.
It was one game of bargaining after another, and in the end, all they were really fighting over was how much money was in their wallets. Mu Wen bargained while dreaming of the future: someday she'd just pay and walk away for anything she liked—or buy the whole place out.
Their bags slowly bulged until they couldn't hold any more, and they'd only spent about a thousand yuan. They squeezed back onto the bus, dropped their haul at the dorm, then headed straight out to Zhongguancun.
The mall in Zhongguancun had business women's wear. Mu Wen tried on and peeled off outfit after outfit, finally shelling out a hefty two thousand yuan for a coat and a blouse. As she paid, she felt her heart dripping blood, drop by drop, and the joy of owning new clothes was instantly diluted by half.
"When I have money~" She swung her arm and lowered her voice: "I'll buy all of this!"
Chu Ling mimicked her: "I'll take one of everything too!"
Their eyes met, and they couldn't hold it in—they burst out laughing.
The happiest moment came when they sat down at Pizza Hut.
The two of them sat by the window, seriously studying what to order. Chu Ling wanted to help Mu Wen save money, but Mu Wen patted her wallet: "No saving money—we're eating well!"
Steak, yes. Pizza, yes. Pasta, fries, and chicken wings—all of it!
Mu Wen loved the "cheese-pull" of pizza. She bit into a slice, cheeks puffing slightly, head tilted back as the cheese stretched into thin strands. The two sat side by side, competing to see who could pull the longest strand, eyes crinkled with laughter.
Outside the window, pedestrians streamed past endlessly. Occasionally someone would glance in, see their silly antics, and smile happily. They were lost in their own small happiness, paying no mind to others' gazes.
Spending a wonderful day with a friend, having a good meal in the evening—and the best part was that the next day was Sunday, with twenty-four more hours to squander. It felt so blissful.
Mu Wen completely pushed the unpleasantness Xie Chong had brought her to the back of her mind.
On Monday, she wore her new clothes to the office.
A smoke-gray chunky-knit turtleneck, a pair of faded white jeans with the sweater hem casually tucked in, a black belt, and a black coat over it all. In the elevator, she secretly checked herself in the mirror and felt she really looked like a proper "adult."
Xiao Gu saw her and let out a "Wow": "Wenwen, you look so… so good today!"
Mu Wen planted her hands on her hips with an air of haughtiness: "Call me Urban Beauty."
"Okay, Urban Beauty."
"From now on, I'm wearing this to measure rooms." Mu Wen lifted her chin and strutted around the office with measured steps, mimicking the clients' composed air. Xiao Gu giggled on the side.
The phone rang. It was Lin Weisen. His wife had gone into early labor, so he couldn't come to the office. He asked Mu Wen to check on the construction site—Xie Chong's house was starting work today. The foreman was already in place, and the designer needed to be there too.
"I'll pass, I think." Mu Wen felt a wave of reluctance at the thought of Xie Chong. "What if Mr. Xie sees me and gets upset?"
"He won't be there today. The keys were already given to the foreman in advance."
"That works!" Mu Wen was efficient and left without hesitation.
Because she was wearing new clothes, she couldn't help but glance at herself whenever she passed a mirror, and each glance earned a heartfelt compliment: Looking good. Waiting for the elevator downstairs at Xie Chong's building, with no one around, she seized the moment to admire herself.
The elevator doors opened, and she was still tilting her head, not expecting Xie Chong to be standing inside. She immediately straightened her posture and explained to him, "Mr. Xie, it's like this… my mentor, he—"
"His wife is having a baby. I know—he just called me," Xie Chong said. His eyes met Mu Wen's once politely, then looked ahead. In the reflective mirror, they both wore black coats—he was larger in build, she was smaller. Her outfit was casual and effortless, yet showed taste; there was real skill in it.
Xie Chong confirmed that the "smiling shoes" had been an accident.
He also felt that Mu Wen seemed like someone he could interact with normally.
He rarely wavered like this about people, and when he realized it, he couldn't help but frown.
He frowned, and Mu Wen caught a glimpse of it. Oh no, I've annoyed him again.
She stood there stiffly, lips pressed tightly together, not daring to speak to Xie Chong.
Xie Chong realized he seemed to have frightened her.
She hadn't done anything wrong. Her real life was just like that: a girl who hadn't officially graduated yet, doing grueling intern work, pulling all-nighters almost every day, unable to afford looking polished or put-together. She was learning the first lesson of entering society: survive, keep surviving.
Xie Chong had never experienced such days. His life had been smooth sailing—his parents had accumulated wealth early on, and by his generation, he could turn his passion into his profession and still earn a fortune.
He had known long ago that they weren't from the same world, but his attitude toward her had been too harsh.
Now she stood there, afraid of offending him, afraid this chance encounter would cause trouble for her mentor. A naturally outgoing and carefree person was now racking her brain over how to deal with him.
Xie Chong turned his head to look at her.
Mu Wen glanced back at him and gave him a polite smile.
The elevator doors opened, and Mu Wen walked with Xie Chong to the entrance.
Xie Chong opened the door and went inside, but Mu Wen stood at the threshold, leaning half her body in, calling out to the foreman: "Liu Gong, sorry to trouble you—could you come over for a moment?"
Hearing this, Xie Chong turned around.
He watched as Mu Wen pulled a thick stack of blueprints and a pen from her document bag, pressed the paper against the wall, and began marking it.
"Come in and check the drawings," Liu Gong said. "See if the points I marked are correct."
"My mentor already went over them with you—I just need to double-check," Mu Wen said with a smile. "Come on, Liu Gong, I'll go over it with you right here."
She didn't mention a word about what had happened that day. Out of respect for Xie Chong's feelings as a client, she didn't step foot inside his home.
"Come inside to talk," Xie Chong finally spoke up. "It's inconvenient out here."
"Really?" Mu Wen asked seriously.
"Really," Xie Chong replied.
"Alright."
Normally, shoe covers weren't needed for demolition work, since everything in the room would be torn down, turning the place into a dusty, debris-filled mess—wearing shoe covers was practically pointless. But Mu Wen still found a pair and put them on.
She wanted to make sure every detail of hers was impeccable, not wanting Xie Chong to hold any more prejudice against her.
She pulled out the blueprints and went through the demolition details with Liu Gong one last time.
She didn't actually need the blueprints at all.
This was the first house she had ever designed, and everything about it was already in her head. But she didn't want to show that. She was afraid Xie Chong would misunderstand and think she wanted to claim his house, making him look down on her even more. Though his assumption wouldn't have been wrong—she had, more than once, imagined: If only this were my home.
She had to maintain her composure.
She held the blueprints and confirmed each point with Liu Gong one by one, especially the electrical outlets. When Xie Chong had said he wanted to be able to work anytime, anywhere, she had mapped out every possible scenario where he might work and planned the outlets meticulously.
Her initial design had been so good that Xie Chong hadn't even made any major revisions before the project broke ground.
At that thought, Mu Wen cheered up again.
She quietly asked Liu Gong, "Liu Gong, you've renovated so many houses—how's the spatial layout of this design? Tell me the truth."
"Honestly? It's excellent."
"And the design drawings—are they good?" she asked again.
"Really good."
Mu Wen was deeply pleased, her brows lifting in a moment of pride. She felt she had done an outstanding job on this project, and how Xie Chong saw her no longer mattered.
Xie Chong stood in the living room, watching Mu Wen lead Liu Gong through the house.
In just a few short days since he'd last seen her, she seemed to have completed the first step of "socialization."
Then his gaze settled on her movements. When she stood by the wall, she would press her hand against the hem of her coat, carefully protecting her clothes from the dust.
Just a piece of clothing.
And yet she treated it with such care.
Mu Wen noticed Xie Chong's gaze and looked back at him. She had no idea what kind of grimace this demon was about to pull to ruin her mood, so she asked, "Mr. Xie, is there a problem with what we just discussed?"
"No," Xie Chong replied.
Good, no problem. Please, don't have one. Mu Wen quickened her pace, eager to leave. She was like a wound-up spring, suddenly speeding up her speech. Liu Gong, who had been immersed in her meticulousness, found himself struggling to keep up. He hurriedly shuffled his legs to follow Mu Wen as she walked through the house again.
"No more issues!" Mu Wen said. "Thank you for your hard work, Liu Gong. If anything comes up in the next couple of days, call me first." Having said that, she remembered she should get the homeowner's approval, so she turned to Xie Chong and asked, "Is it okay to call me, Mr. Xie?"
"Okay," Xie Chong replied.
"Thanks for the trust." Mu Wen clasped her fists at him. "I'll be off then—there's still a lot to do at the company."
She walked to the door to take off her shoe covers, wobbling slightly, and hopped twice on the ground to keep her balance. A hand grabbed the fabric at her shoulder to steady her. She looked up and found it was Xie Chong.
"Got springs in your shoes?" Xie Chong teased.
Given Mu Wen's personality, she would normally have fired back with a witty remark. But at this moment, she froze.
She thought Xie Chong was insane.
She just stared at him, with a look of scrutiny. Forgive her for not having seen much of the world—she couldn't understand how Xie Chong managed to switch so effortlessly between prejudice and jest.
What gave him the right?