Days passed like flowing water, drifting eastward day after day.
Beijing winters rarely offered a sunny, windless weekend.
Mu Wen slept until the sun was high in the sky, then dressed, slung her little cushion over her shoulder, and headed to the Book Building. This was her favorite way to spend a weekend.
She'd pick out a few books in the Book Building, find a quiet corner, toss her cushion on the floor, and sit cross-legged to read.
Mu Wen loved reading.
Reading was her greatest pleasure.
Her hometown was so remote that another hundred kilometers would take you to the border. The adults there often talked about "pastures," "seeds," and "hunkering down for winter." In the beginning, everything she knew about the world came from books.
Back then, the small town had no library—only a bookstore with very few books. Mu Wen would go there whenever she had free time. Her father drove long-haul trucks, and besides bringing back food from all over the country, he also brought her books from all over.
On weekends when she could read, she'd usually stay there until four in the afternoon, then buy a few books before leaving. She loved buying books from the Book Building—the clerk would tie them up with pretty string and hand them to her.
She'd carry them away carefully, as if holding some rare treasure.
On the way back, she'd pass by some snack shops and stop for Guilin rice noodles with an extra braised egg. At the entrance of a nearby restaurant stood "palace maids" and "eunuchs" dressed in Qing Dynasty court attire. Every time she passed by, she'd quicken her pace and run past, as if afraid of being dragged inside and castrated.
The strangest thing was that one day, she actually saw Xie Chong. The restaurant entrance was very narrow, and several people were directing him as he drove in. She watched from a distance for a few glances, imagining what Xie Chong would look like in a eunuch's outfit. It was hilarious.
Then she thought: Well, at least Xie Chong can have a good meal now, without worrying about someone spitting into his bowl.
Fortunately, he didn't see her, and that was the only time she ever ran into him.
She hadn't seen Xie Chong since that meal. In between, she'd called him twice about the renovation, and he'd sounded busy both times, telling her: "It's all up to you. I trust you. If there are problems, I'll take responsibility." Then he'd hang up in a hurry.
Mu Wen was bold—if he said that, of course she dared to make decisions.
Besides, her master's family had just welcomed a baby girl, so he couldn't keep up with work. Almost all the clients were being handled by Mu Wen. In a short time, she'd become a "veteran."
Her workdays were spent either drawing designs or going to "construction sites." During the day, she was always shuttling around Beijing, gradually getting familiar with the city. Each site had a different style. Recently, one site was almost finished—it already looked like a home. Imagining the happiness of the people who would live there filled her with a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
That day, she stayed at the Book Building until a little past three, when the post office called to tell her a package had arrived. Ge Yunqing's shipment had come in.
She'd just picked it up from the post office when Lin Weisen called, asking her to accompany Xie Chong to look at various appliances and their dimensions.
Mu Wen looked at her big box and flatly refused: "Master, can we do it tomorrow? If I go now, I'd have to drop this off at the dorm first, then rush to the mall—it'd be closing by then."
"Alright."
Mu Wen hung up and started figuring out her route back: she wanted to take the bus to bring the box home, not a taxi. Anyway, she had plenty of strength.
She crouched down, lifted one end of the box, and rested it on her foot. Before she could make the next move, Xie Chong's call came in.
"Where are you?" Xie Chong asked.
"I'm at the post office. What time tomorrow?"
"Now," Xie Chong said. "I'll come pick you up."
"I have a lot of stuff… you…"
Before Mu Wen could finish, Xie Chong had already hung up. Ten minutes later, his car stopped in front of her. He saw Mu Wen, dressed all fluffy like a little bear, sitting on a big box wrapped in layers of tape, holding a few books in her arms.
Looking at the huge box, he asked: "What is that? Are you trying to dispose of a body?"
Mu Wen was already exhausted from wrestling with the box. She looked up at him, pitifully: "Didn't we agree on tomorrow? Look at my situation—can I really go?"
"Stand up," Xie Chong said.
"I don't want to stand up. I'm tired."
Xie Chong stepped back, opened the car door, and gestured for Mu Wen to get in.
"You're not going to throw my box away, are you? Those are treasures my mom sent me."
"Stop with the nonsense." Xie Chong pulled her up and stuffed her into the car, then walked around to the box, bent down, and lifted it effortlessly, shoving it into the trunk. This box, which had drifted over a thousand kilometers to Beijing, covered in dust and dirt, also dirtied Xie Chong's coat.
After getting in the car, he said to Mu Wen: "You're paying for my dry cleaning."
"Then I might as well have just taken a cab back," Mu Wen said. "I didn't ask you to come—you guys are the ones forcing me to work overtime on the weekend."
Mu Wen was the stingiest person Xie Chong had ever met.
He was absolutely convinced: if he didn't come, she would drag that massive thing back on the bus even if it nearly killed her. In business, when he heard clients complain about "stretching a penny into two," he always scoffed. Now he'd met someone who stretched a penny into four, and he figured people stretching it into two were actually living pretty comfortably.
"First the mall, then dinner, then I'll take you home." Xie Chong announced the itinerary crisply and directly. Afraid Mu Wen might want to eat something "weird" again, he warned her: "What we eat today is my call."
"Does it count as a business meal?" Mu Wen said. "I can't treat you back because I don't have any money." She flipped open her little wallet to show Xie Chong: "See? Really no money."
Xie Chong gave it a cursory glance and said, "How are you like Grandet?"
"I'm different from Grandet. He has money but won't spend it. I genuinely don't have money."
"If you had money, would you spend it?"
"That depends on who it's for." Mu Wen finished speaking, saw Xie Chong glare at her coldly, and immediately pressed her lips shut.
Mu Wen had already accompanied clients through appliance stores a few times, so she knew her way around. Xie Chong's whole-house customization required scouting everything in advance and reserving dimensions—it was exhausting work.
When they first met, he'd said he would put effort into the soft furnishing. Now, well, he didn't want to put in a single bit of effort. The only effort he made was pushing Lin Weisen and Mu Wen.
Just like right now.
Once they got to the store, he sat down and let Mu Wen do the looking. He was considerate enough, though—he had the salesperson bring paper and a pen for Mu Wen to take notes.
"Aren't you going to participate at all?" Mu Wen asked him. "It's your home. You should at least familiarize yourself with the specs of those appliances."
"I am participating," Xie Chong said. "Me being here is participation."
Mu Wen couldn't help swinging a fist at him—she really wanted to punch him. A lazy person like him wouldn't even be able to beg for food back in her hometown. At least beggars had a silver tongue!
Xie Chong didn't move, making Mu Wen run back and forth. Within his line of sight, she'd pick out styles and point them out to Xie Chong. When he nodded, she'd go negotiate the specs. Once that was done, she'd run back to him, sit down beside him, and report.
Mu Wen was quick on her feet, running trip after trip without complaining. Clients were all like this anyway—Xie Chong was already one of the better ones. At least he was generous and didn't throw unreasonable tantrums.
He watched her study everything seriously.
She had a sharp mind—all the spaces and dimensions from the drawings she'd made were stored in her head. When looking at appliances, she'd sketch out diagrams in a few strokes and explain them to Xie Chong. What the result might look like with this choice, how it could change under certain specific factors—she explained it all in detail.
Xie Chong didn't say much, just listened to her talk.
Truth be told, Xie Chong hadn't been having a great few days—something like a run of bad luck. In business, he'd encountered one double-crossing scoundrel after another, he'd had a falling out with Jiang Wu, and a close friend had suddenly betrayed him. In short, nothing was going right.
So listening to Mu Wen talk felt soothing to his heart.
The renovation fees he paid were transparent—there was no financial entanglement between them. She was putting her whole heart into renovating his house, and every word she said was for his benefit. Many details he hadn't even had time to think about, Mu Wen had already considered them all for him. At least she wouldn't swindle him.
Mu Wen chattered on, asking Xie Chong if this or that worked. Xie Chong didn't respond. She looked up at him: "Does it work or not? Give me a word."
The way she eagerly awaited his answer was so vivid that Xie Chong momentarily couldn't recall anyone he'd met recently who was as sincere as her.
"It works," he said. His gaze fell to her hands. Because she frequently held a pen, the knuckles of her index and middle fingers had developed slight calluses.
Mu Wen followed his gaze, then openly spread her hand out: "What's there to look at! Go check the hands of any high school senior—they're all like this!"
"Are you tired?" Xie Chong asked. "I've watched you go back and forth, and you only seem more energetic each trip. Aren't you exhausted?"
"I am tired. Are you going to pay me overtime?"
"No."
"Then why ask?" She deliberately snapped at him.
"I'm tired," Xie Chong said. "I'm tired of sitting." He stood up and said, "Let's go eat."
"Let's finish looking first, or the store will close soon." Mu Wen believed in finishing today's work today—she couldn't put it off until tomorrow.
But Xie Chong said, "Eat first. If we don't finish, we'll look tomorrow."
"Overtime again tomorrow?" Mu Wen pretended to look displeased: "When I was looking for an internship, I was aiming for a job with weekends off!"
Xie Chong grabbed her by the collar and hauled her up: "Come on, let's eat."
Mu Wen was actually hungry too, but she couldn't accept a client's meal. She suggested they eat separately and regroup afterward.
Xie Chong stopped in his tracks and stared hard at her. His gaze was truly intimidating—Mu Wen wanted to hide behind the display refrigerator. After scaring her enough, he turned and walked off. Mu Wen followed behind him step by step.
There wasn't much to eat in this mall, and Xie Chong found nothing appetizing. Mu Wen pointed randomly:
"This one—Hunan cuisine, goes great with rice!"
"This one—hotpot, bubbling and steaming hot."
"This place serves Northeastern cuisine—big portions and filling!"
…
Xie Chong didn't want any of it. In the end, he drove Mu Wen to a Shanghainese restaurant instead. The entrance alone looked impressive, and stepping inside revealed an entirely different world.
Mu Wen usually avoided Shanghainese dishes in the cafeteria, but now she dared not complain. When Xie Chong asked what she wanted to eat, she said anything was fine. He quickly ordered a few dishes.
Last time they'd eaten together, he'd been too busy guarding his own tray to exchange a single word with Mu Wen. Now that it was quiet, Xie Chong didn't know what to talk about. He felt his heart was gloomy and negative, as if nothing held any meaning.
No matter—Mu Wen knew what to talk about.
She quickly pulled out the drawings she'd completed and began persuading Xie Chong to finalize the decision right away. She wanted to sleep in tomorrow, after all.
Xie Chong felt like a fly had buzzed into his ear. He pulled the drawings away and tucked them under his phone, then asked Mu Wen, "Where are you from?"
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"I'm from Inner Mongolia."
"Did you ride a horse to school?" Xie Chong asked deliberately. He didn't want to look at the drawings; he wanted something lighter.
"I could ride the moment I was born!" Mu Wen played along, teasing him: "Where I'm from, not knowing how to ride gets your whole family executed."
The corner of Xie Chong's mouth lifted, and he finally smiled.
"So can you ride?" he asked again.
"I can!" Mu Wen perked up. "I really can! When I was little, I went with my mom to visit relatives in the pastoral area—yes, my mom has family out there. They put me on a horse, and I just figured it out on my own. I could ride!"
"That's impressive. Do you know dressage?" Xie Chong asked.
"No, I don't. I only know how to gallop freely. Do you?"
Xie Chong had learned dressage since childhood.
It seemed like all his friends had been sent to learn it too. Strangely, he loved horses but hated dressage. He only liked being with them—watching horseshoes being nailed on, feeding them, watering them.
Jiang Wu was excellent at dressage. They'd met at the riding school; Jiang Wu was the daughter of one of the instructors.
He fell silent all of a sudden.
Fortunately, the food arrived.
Mu Wen didn't care for Shanghainese cuisine, but she hated wasting food even more. The rich, dark sauce worked well over rice, so she ordered two bowls and dug in with gusto.
Seeing her eat so heartily, Xie Chong's appetite returned, and he wolfed down his food.
Watching him then, Mu Wen felt he wasn't so different from her male classmates. Same nose, same two eyes, a "young" man attacking his meal with vigor. He looked much more agreeable this way.
He was a decent person, aside from his unpredictable moods.
"Have you ever had a meal with other clients?" Xie Chong asked her.
"Does a boxed lunch count?" Mu Wen had once shared a boxed lunch with a client at a building materials market. That client was something else—he'd bought a 600-square-meter standalone house but insisted on shopping at the materials market. They'd eaten boxed lunches, and Mu Wen had paid. Of course, she didn't spend her own money for nothing—she'd gone back to the company and filed for reimbursement with Lin Weisen.
Xie Chong found her stories amusing. He said, "I won't let you pay, but I can give you a receipt to take back and get reimbursed."
Mu Wen waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no! I couldn't do that!"
Xie Chong shrugged.
After finishing his meal, he didn't leave right away—he had to sit there drinking water and eating fruit. The whole ritual dragged on, and Mu Wen kept rolling her eyes internally. By the time it finally ended, the mall had closed.
He drove Mu Wen back. When they arrived, he stopped the car and went to grab the box, but it had given out under the long journey—broken. Xie Chong saw what was inside: milk tablets, milk tofu, milk skin, bagged milk tea, plus a knitted sweater and a pair of gloves.
Mu Wen tore open a milk tablet and popped it into her mouth. The rich, creamy flavor spread across her tongue, and suddenly she was homesick, her eyes stinging.
She gestured for Xie Chong to hold out his palm. Puzzled, he did as asked.
She scooped up a full handful of milk tablets and placed them in his hand.
"Eat them. You're in a bad mood today. This'll make it better," Mu Wen said.
Xie Chong's breath caught for a moment, and he had the faint feeling that she had just comforted him.