Shen Hua had been the “child everyone compared theirs to” since she was little. Top grades, the benchmark for her peers in the village, even the teachers constantly had her name on their lips.
The middle school she attended was in the county seat. Though it was a county, it was a place packed with the children of local officials and wealthy businessmen. Those kids got in through family connections, but Shen Hua earned her spot by ranking first in the entire town on the entrance exam.
Later, when she moved on to high school, she steadily got into the best school in Suzhou. Even among the top students, she never dropped out of the top three.
Her family ran a steel business. Her parents thought a girl wouldn’t be able to handle the heavy work at the factory, and seeing how quiet and gentle she was, they wanted her to take a more “refined” path.
Either learn painting and become an art teacher later, or study humanities and settle for a stable civil service job.
But Shen Hua wouldn’t have it. Her name contained the character “hua,” meaning elegant, yet she had zero interest in ink and brush. Instead, from a young age, she was drawn to the old pipa by the village opera stage. Later, after hearing a cello performance once, she plunged headfirst into the world of classical music.
She knew that classical music had a narrow audience in China. She wanted to go abroad, but her English was still shaky back then, so she had to settle for the next best option: Hong Kong.
She’d heard the music department at the University of Hong Kong was decent, and it would let her adapt to an international environment in advance. She submitted her application on a whim, never expecting to be admitted with the top score in her major and a full scholarship.
When she first arrived in Hong Kong, Shen Hua felt like she’d just been let out of a cage. Everything was fresh and exciting to her.
She had never seen such tall buildings or such crowded streets. Even the automatic doors at the mall could keep her occupied for ages. After class, she’d stuff a map in her pocket and wander around everywhere—ducking into old streets to eat fish balls one moment, dashing over to Victoria Harbour to see the night skyline the next.
Xu Manjin burst into her life around that time.
She was a true Beijing girl, speaking with a crisp, sharp accent, her sentences always ending with a casual, carefree edge. Growing up in the hutongs, with parents who were artists, she’d picked up a bit of everything—piano, chess, calligraphy, painting—but without any of the stiffness of a proper young lady. She could climb trees in a dress, sweet-talk her elders, and lash out with sharp words when provoked. A real little firecracker.
She also couldn’t sit still. She’d follow Shen Hua to crowded food stalls in a white dress. One was bold, the other crazy; after class, they’d sling arms around each other and run off, exploring every nook and cranny of Hong Kong.
Probably because they were both stunningly good-looking, the two of them stood out in the music department at Hong Kong University.
Shen Hua had the kind of bright, dazzling beauty, with a hint of aloof allure in her brows and eyes. She was widely recognized as the “school beauty.”
Xu Manjin had a cool, ethereal kind of beauty, but anyone who knew her knew she had a lively personality, with shallow dimples that appeared when she smiled. She was the department’s acknowledged “department beauty.”
When it came to the striking quality of their bone structures, Shen Hua always slightly outshone Xu Manjin. Xu Manjin resented it but had no choice, so she took the lead in giving Shen Hua the nickname “Daji,” after the legendary seductress. Later, she even dropped the surname and just called her “Su Daji,” which made Shen Hua so mad she chased her around the practice room for half a class period.
When they first arrived in Hong Kong, their classmates were all music students. They’d meet in the practice rooms, run into each other during rehearsals, and get to know each other over time.
They were young back then, full of energy, and always up for hanging out.
One day, the piano majors would organize a trip to KTV; the next, the orchestral students would plan a gathering at a small bar in Lan Kwai Fong. Shen Hua and Xu Manjin loved to go.
Every time before going out, the two would fuss around in the dorm for ages.
Shen Hua would put on lipstick in front of the mirror while Xu Manjin picked out a short skirt for her.
Xu Manjin would curl her hair while Shen Hua helped her choose a tube top. The flashier, the better.
When they arrived, they’d be like country girls in the big city, snapping photos left and right with their phones.
What they were most obsessed with were Hong Kong’s red taxis. They thought that flash of red zipping through the streets was like a moving landmark. Whenever they saw an empty cab parked by the roadside, they’d crowd around it, and the photos would have a built-in retro filter. Their Moments on WeChat would always blow up with likes.
One time, after taking pictures of a taxi, they were heading toward KTV when Xu Manjin suddenly let out an “Aiya!” Her eyes went wide, and she dragged Shen Hua over to the side of the road.
A black Rolls-Royce Cullinan was parked in front of a building. Its body was so polished it reflected like a mirror, standing out conspicuously among the row of ordinary cars.
Xu Manjin circled the car twice, whistling exaggeratedly. “Oh my god, this license plate is way too damn impressive!”
She pointed at the plate holder on the front bumper, counting carefully. “One from Hong Kong, one from Shenzhen, and another… from London!”
“That’s so rich.” Xu Manjin’s eyes were practically hearts.
Shen Hua also leaned in to look at the plates. It wasn’t just the three plates that were rare; the numbers themselves were astonishingly neat.
All consecutive lucky digits. In a place like Hong Kong, where land was worth its weight in gold, just this one set of plates could take an ordinary person a lifetime to afford.
She thought to herself that the owner of this car must be one of the top figures in the city.
But she didn’t dwell on it at the time. She glanced a couple of times and was about to pull Xu Manjin away when she heard Xu Manjin shouting behind her, “Hey, wait! Quick, take a picture of me!”
Shen Hua frowned. “With this car?”
“Yeah, it’s so impressive!” Xu Manjin was already moving toward the front of the car, her hand resting on the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. One moment she had her hand on her hip, the next she tilted her head, striking a series of exaggerated poses.
Shen Hua thought it was funny. A playful mood came over her, so she pulled out her phone and deliberately switched to the front camera. She called out, “Smile! I’m taking it!”
The moment she said it, she pressed the shutter several times in a row, capturing her own laughing face on the screen.
When she was done, Shen Hua stuffed the phone back into her pocket and said, “Okay, let’s go.”
“Done? Let me see!”
Xu Manjin crowded in, insisting on seeing the photos first.
Shen Hua had no choice but to take out her phone and unlock the screen.
The moment she saw the screen, Xu Manjin’s face was full of question marks. Her eyes went wide, clearly furious. “You’re messing with me! I posed for ages, and you just took pictures of yourself?”
She reached out to grab Shen Hua.
Shen Hua was so startled she nearly dropped her phone. She took off running, with Xu Manjin chasing after her, yelling, “Don’t you run!”
One ran, the other chased. Shen Hua went forward, Xu Manjin blocked her from behind. Back and forth, they ended up running circles around the Rolls-Royce.
After a few laps, Shen Hua was completely out of breath. She crouched by the roadside and waved her hand. “Time out, time out! I’m exhausted!”
She pointed at the car, annoyed. “What’s the point of taking pictures with this thing? If you’ve got the guts, go take a picture with the owner!”
That remark struck a nerve. Xu Manjin stiffened her neck, the corners of her eyes turning red. “You think I can’t do it?”
Shen Hua deliberately teased her. “If you actually manage to get to know the owner, I’ll address you as ‘Grandma’ every day from now on, serve you tea and water!”
She was certain Xu Manjin couldn’t pull it off, so she added, “Remember me when you come into money, okay? When you become a rich man’s wife, don’t forget your little sidekick here.”
Xu Manjin couldn’t help but laugh, giving the car a contemptuous look. “You said it. You just wait, old lady. Today, I’m going to seduce that owner into my hands!”
“Give it up,” Shen Hua laughed. “Someone who can afford a car like this is probably a gray-haired old man. You’ll have to wait until he passes his fortune to you.”
“Why does it have to be an old man?” Xu Manjin was exasperated. “Why can’t he be a young rich second-generation?”
Shen Hua shrugged, squatting by the car to catch her breath. “Three plates plus a luxury car? If it’s not an old man’s life savings, did a young guy just conjure it out of thin air?”
“Then let’s wait!” Xu Manjin squatted down too, her eyes sparkling. “We’ve got nothing to do today anyway. Let’s wait for the owner to show up and see if he’s an old man! If he’s young, I’ll go up and hit on him!”
Shen Hua waved her hand dismissively. “Suit yourself. You’re after his money anyway, not him.”
“Why are you so cynical!” Xu Manjin slapped her arm, annoyed. “When I get rich, I’m definitely dragging you along with me!”
Shen Hua was amused. She got into the spirit. “Fine! Bestie! For that, I’ll wait with you until dark today, even if it means seeing this old man.”
“Stop calling him an old man!” Xu Manjin reached out and smacked Shen Hua’s arm, a hint of panic in her voice. “What if your jinx mouth actually comes true, and some wrinkled old geezer shows up? Where am I supposed to cry about it?”
Shen Hua crouched by the roadside, poking at the cracks in the bricks with her fingertip, laughing so hard she could barely straighten up. “What’s there to cry about? An old man is fine!”
She looked up, deliberately winking. “Think about it: he’s old, maybe not many years left… You tough it out for three or five years, and the inheritance is yours! If you end up with a young rich playboy, strong and healthy, you’d have to wait until your own hair turns white before you see the light!”
Xu Manjin was so furious she reached out to pinch Shen Hua’s arm. “What kind of twisted logic is in that brain of yours? Do you think I’m the type to cozy up to an old man just for money?”
“Come on, you get heart eyes over a car. What difference does it make whether it’s an old man?”
“What do you mean I’m after the car?” Xu Manjin slapped her thigh in frustration, her voice rising. “I just want to see what kind of person can afford a car like this! What does that have to do with liking old men?”
She poked Shen Hua’s forehead, half annoyed, half amused. “So in your eyes, I’m just someone who goes goo-goo over a luxury car without caring what the person looks like? Then what’s the difference between me and those gold diggers hanging around old men?”
Shen Hua covered her forehead, laughing, and kept teasing her. “No difference. It’s all for the money. You just have a little extra ‘gambler’s mentality’—”
“Betting that the owner is a young handsome guy, betting you can ‘strike it rich in both love and career.'”
“Shut up!” Xu Manjin made a move to pinch her, but suddenly stopped, her ears perking up. She tightened her grip on Shen Hua’s hand. “Quiet! Someone’s coming!”
Shen Hua immediately stopped laughing and followed her gaze.