Mu Wen’s sense of hurt slowly began to surface.
She remembered that she had not done anything wrong, yet Xie Chong had treated her coldly. Lin Weisen had privately asked her whether she had offended Xie Chong or done anything inappropriate around him.
Mu Wen never told her master that it was because she had looked so miserable that day.
Who would want to show themselves to others in such a state?
She felt like she had suffered an unfair treatment that she could not even explain to anyone.
Mu Wen looked away and bent down to take off her other shoe cover.
When she was truly upset, she did not like to talk.
She knew that even if she explained, Xie Chong would not understand.
She thought her master would be back in a few days. Engineer Liu was also the construction foreman who had worked with their company the longest, so there probably would not be any reason for her to come here again.
They probably would not meet again.
Still, out of politeness, she said goodbye to Xie Chong.
“I just finished going over everything with Engineer Liu. The next few days will mainly be demolition, so there shouldn’t be any problems. My master will be back soon, so you don’t need to worry, Mr. Xie.”
“I hope the renovation goes smoothly, and I hope you can move in soon.”
Her attitude was distant.
She held the two shoe covers in one hand and carried her document bag over her shoulder. A little dust had gotten onto her new clothes, so she brushed it off with her hand.
Then she waved at Xie Chong.
“See you!”
She turned around and pressed the elevator button.
Her back felt strangely hot, but she did not turn around to check whether Xie Chong was watching her.
Why is this stupid elevator so slow today?
She urged it silently.
Come on. Come on.
Finally, the elevator arrived.
She stepped inside, then sensed movement behind her and turned around.
Xie Chong had also entered the elevator.
“I’m leaving too,” he said.
“Oh.”
I said my goodbye too early, Mu Wen thought.
I should have waited until we were inside the elevator. How annoying.
“You didn’t press the button,” Xie Chong reminded her.
“You’re closer to the buttons,” Mu Wen said.
Xie Chong glanced at her and pressed 1 for her.
“You didn’t press B1,” Mu Wen said.
“I’m not going to B1,” Xie Chong replied. “I’m taking you downstairs.”
Mu Wen looked up at him.
He seemed to be holding back a smile.
She finally could not stand it anymore.
“My arms and legs work perfectly fine. You don’t need to escort me. Your time is valuable, so hurry back upstairs.”
“I’m sorry. That day at your company, I told Engineer Lin that he should contact me directly if there were any problems. I’m sorry.”
The elevator doors opened.
Xie Chong reached out and held the doors open, letting Mu Wen walk out first.
His apology came so suddenly that the hurt she had just managed to suppress began rising again.
She walked outside mechanically, with Xie Chong following behind her.
It was the transition between autumn and winter. A gust of wind blew through, sending fallen leaves drifting down one after another.
In the blink of an eye, each of them had a leaf on their shoulder.
One even landed on Mu Wen’s head.
“I think I may have misunderstood you.”
Xie Chong had always been a straightforward person. Mu Wen’s cautious behavior that day made him feel ashamed.
Once again, he realized that without even noticing it, he had been using an attitude of superiority to crush this young girl who had only just entered society.
He really should not have treated her that way.
“Misunderstood what?”
Mu Wen was completely confused.
Apart from the so-called difference in their financial backgrounds, she could not think of anything else they could have misunderstood about each other.
“I misunderstood and thought you had feelings for me,” Xie Chong said honestly. “Mu Wen, I’m afraid of trouble.”
“Huh?”
Mu Wen’s eyes widened.
She liked his house.
She liked his car.
She even liked the way he carried himself.
But she did not like this self-important arrogance he was showing now.
And she still did not really understand what Xie Chong meant.
Even if she took his words to the extreme, what trouble could possibly come from someone liking you?
Her eyes moved around as she thought.
Then they landed on Xie Chong, and she suddenly understood.
“You’re afraid I’ll trick you out of your money!”
She immediately covered her mouth.
“Oh my gosh! How could you think that? Why would I steal your money? If I became a scammer, my mother would break my legs! And I still have to—”
She stopped herself.
She realized she had already said too much.
She waved her hand casually.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to become a scammer.”
“That’s not the kind of trouble I meant,” Xie Chong said. “You’re clever, but you’re not clever enough to fool me.”
“Then what kind of trouble?”
Xie Chong shrugged.
“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore. Anyway, I’m sorry.”
Mu Wen did not really care what kind of trouble he had been talking about.
She let out a long breath.
“So there’s no misunderstanding between us anymore? You won’t target me again, right?”
Xie Chong shook his head.
“No. There isn’t. And I won’t.”
He reached out and gently removed the leaf from the top of her head.
His movement was polite enough that he did not even touch her hair.
“Actually, after meeting you several times, I think you’re quite a cute person. Of course I won’t target you anymore.”
Mu Wen held out her hand.
“What?”
“Then give me a deposit!”
Xie Chong stared at her.
“I don’t think your personality is very stable. You say you won’t make things difficult for me now, then you might turn around and complain about me later. I can’t let all my effort go to waste!”
Her hand remained stubbornly extended.
“Pay up! Hurry!”
Xie Chong actually took out his wallet.
Mu Wen saw a thick stack of cash inside, along with a photograph.
She could not clearly see the person in the photograph because her attention had already been captured by the money.
So much cash!
Did people really carry that much money around with them?
She usually only withdrew 500 yuan from the ATM at a time.
Xie Chong took out some bills and handed them to her.
She really accepted them, carefully counted out five hundred yuan, and returned the rest.
“As long as you don’t make things difficult for me, I’ll return this five hundred yuan after you pay the full renovation bill.”
“Only five hundred?”
Xie Chong asked.
“Yes.”
Mu Wen nodded firmly.
“Exactly five hundred.”
Xie Chong laughed.
He was normally extremely picky, with a bad temper and a stubborn personality.
But he did not like bullying people weaker than himself. To him, that was simply too low.
After clearing things up with Mu Wen, he felt much more relaxed.
His smile looked very good.
Mu Wen narrowed her eyes and copied his smile.
In that exchange of smiles, she felt that Xie Chong had finally given her the respect she deserved.
Her mood genuinely improved.
Her happiness began growing again in every direction.
She waved goodbye to Xie Chong and said the same thing as before.
“Mr. Xie, you really are a good person!”
“What did you call me a few days ago?”
“A jerk, obviously. What else?”
After saying that, Mu Wen pouted at him and ran away.
Xie Chong watched until she left the residential complex before turning around and heading back.
That evening, he had plans with Jiang Wu.
They met at a revolving restaurant. Jiang Wu loved the place because it offered a full view of Beijing at night.
That day, she arrived before Xie Chong.
When she saw him, she waved.
Xie Chong sat across from her and noticed that Jiang Wu was wearing makeup.
Whenever she met Xie Chong, she normally did not wear makeup.
As she always put it, she looked exactly the way she normally did whenever she saw him.
“Why are you wearing makeup today?” Xie Chong asked.
“I went to an exhibition today.”
Jiang Wu happily described the avant-garde exhibition to him.
Xie Chong knew the exhibition.
He thought it was terrible.
He worked in the art business himself and had no interest in exhibitions that relied on attention-grabbing tricks.
But he said nothing.
If he spoke his mind, Jiang Wu would accuse him of being arrogant again.
After she finished talking, Jiang Wu asked,
“You seem to be in a pretty good mood today.”
“Not bad.”
Xie Chong said, “The renovation has started.”
“That’s great.”
Jiang Wu said, “How long will it take to finish?”
“About half a year.”
“That’s pretty fast.”
As she spoke, Jiang Wu casually tied up her hair, revealing her graceful neck.
When she noticed Xie Chong looking at her, she raised her palm to block his view.
“Didn’t we agree? We’re just going to be good friends.”
“What do you want me to do? Gouge out my eyes? Close my eyes whenever I talk to you?”
“Xie Chong!”
Jiang Wu stood up and lightly hit him.
“You’re doing it again!”
Jiang Wu liked Xie Chong.
But Xie Chong was always like this.
His mouth was sharp, and no matter the situation, he refused to back down.
Jiang Wu often said that his wealthy family background had made him so arrogant.
Xie Chong would always answer,
“Family background? In Beijing, who am I supposed to be? You know very well that the one thing Beijing never lacks is rich people.”
Xie Chong stopped talking.
He had originally prepared a birthday gift for Jiang Wu.
But just then, he heard her mention how much she liked a gift another friend had given her.
It was a decorative piece that the friend had spent a long time carving by hand.
Jiang Wu said that the time and effort put into it made it especially meaningful.
So Xie Chong did not mention his gift.
He knew that if he brought it out, Jiang Wu would probably say,
“I don’t like these flashy things that have no real use.”
It was the same way he could not understand why she liked that terrible exhibition.
The truth was, Jiang Wu really did not like expensive, showy things.
But the things she liked were things Xie Chong genuinely did not know how to make.
After finishing dinner with Jiang Wu, he drove her home.
The two walked through the night.
When Xie Chong unconsciously moved a little closer to her, Jiang Wu immediately held out her hand and gestured.
“One-punch distance. Did you forget?”
Xie Chong gave her a look.
“I’m never walking this road with you again. How about you build me a railway first? Then I’ll walk inside my own track.”
“Sure.”
Jiang Wu said, “Then wait until I finish building it.”
Xie Chong felt like his good mood had been completely ruined by Jiang Wu.
Every time he went to meet her, he was in a good mood beforehand.
Every time he went home afterward, he was full of frustration.
But he was stubborn too.
The more Jiang Wu acted like this, the more determined he became to argue with her.
By then, almost all of his good mood from earlier was gone.
He did not say a word during the drive.
Jiang Wu noticed some mud on the floor mat in the passenger seat and casually asked,
“Did someone ride in your car?”
“Yeah. People from the renovation company.”
Xie Chong said, “I haven’t had time to get the car washed these past few days.”
“What have you been so busy with that you don’t even have time to wash your car?”
“I’m making money.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Wu carefully moved her feet away from the muddy mat and said nothing else.
When she got out of the car, she said to Xie Chong,
“I’m not tying you down. You can date someone else. We’re just friends anyway, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Xie Chong asked.
“It means our personalities really aren’t compatible.”
Jiang Wu said, “Every time I see you, I end up unhappy. I don’t even know why. If being together always makes us unhappy, then we’re simply not suited for each other.”
“Fine. I’ll date someone else.”
Xie Chong said this out of spite.
Then he drove away.
He drove aimlessly through the city.
There were not many cars on the Third Ring Road late at night, so he lowered the window, wanting to enjoy the freedom of the night.
Less than two seconds later, he rolled it back up.
“Damn, it’s cold.”
He cursed.
“I really am an idiot.”
Beijing’s winter had truly arrived in that bitter cold.
Xie Chong hated Beijing winters.
Everything was bare and gray.
He also did not like going to the apartment. The place was still a mess, and looking at it only irritated him.
So he called Mu Wen.
Mu Wen was working overtime.
A client wanted to renovate a tiny, old apartment. The client complained that the space was used too inefficiently and wanted Mu Wen to find a way to “fold and store” everything.
Mu Wen kept moving things around on the drawing and calculating measurements.
But it was extremely difficult.
The bathroom was tiny. If they installed a glass shower door, an outward-opening door would hit the sink.
If they installed a clothes-drying rack on the balcony, the cabinet door would not be able to open.
The child’s storybooks needed somewhere to go, but there was no room for a bookshelf in the children’s bedroom.
None of this could defeat Mu Wen.
She was already close to finding a solution when Xie Chong’s call interrupted her thoughts.
She did not even look at who was calling.
She simply hung up.
On the other end, Xie Chong thought he had dialed the wrong number.
He checked the phone again before calling back.
Mu Wen let out an irritated “Oh, come on!” and had no choice but to pick up.
When she saw Xie Chong’s name, she made a small sound of surprise.
The demon.
Why is he calling me?
“Hello, Mr. Xie.”
Before Xie Chong could respond, Mu Wen immediately asked,
“Is something wrong?”
“…You just rejected my call.”
“No, I didn’t…”
Mu Wen stubbornly denied it.
“What’s up?”
“How is the renovation going?”
“We’re removing the floor tiles.”
Mu Wen said, “Mr. Xie, you can go take a look yourself. Engineer Liu even mentioned today that you haven’t visited the site once since construction started.”
“I don’t want to go. It’s too dirty inside.”
“Oh.”
Mu Wen answered absentmindedly.
“We’ll go to the site later. I’ll give you an update afterward.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Mu Wen was eager to get back to her drawing.
“So, goodbye!”
She hung up without hesitation.
Xie Chong listened to the dead tone on the phone and thought,
Was I too nice to her?
She actually dares to hang up on a client now?
Two days later, he went to the apartment in the evening.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he saw that the door was open.
He could hear someone talking inside.
It was Mu Wen.
Xie Chong walked in and saw Mu Wen wearing a mask and crouching on the floor, checking whether the tiles had been removed evenly.
She was so close to the floor that she almost had her face against it.
When she saw Xie Chong, she immediately jumped up.
There was dust stuck to her white mask, making her look dirty.
She did not even notice.
She took a new mask from her pocket and handed it to him.
“Mr. Xie, put this on quickly. There’s so much dust.”
Xie Chong took the mask and looked around.
Their workers really had done a good job.
After only a few days, all the walls that needed to be removed were already gone. The floors had been stripped, and the construction waste had been hauled away.
The entire apartment was now empty.
Without all the old walls and furniture, it looked even bigger.
“Are you satisfied?”
Mu Wen’s eyes, the only part of her face visible above the mask, were full of anticipation.
She was waiting for his praise.
“It’s okay.”
“Okay?”
Mu Wen immediately became unhappy.
“How can such beautiful work be called just ‘okay’?”
“You should change your mask.”
Xie Chong said, “This one is dirty. It’s unpleasant to look at.”
Mu Wen pulled down her mask and looked at it.
Then she put it back on.
“It’s not dirty on the inside.”
She immediately began explaining the next stage of the work to him.
“Once we finish setting up the space, we’ll start running the electrical lines. Later, you really should come and see how Engineer Liu does it. His wiring looks like a work of art!”
Engineer Liu laughed beside them.
As they were leaving, Xie Chong asked Mu Wen,
“Do you really like this job that much? Every time I see you, you look like you’ve had a huge dose of energy.”
“Of course!”
Mu Wen said enthusiastically.
“This job is so much fun!”
There were still marks from the mask on her face. She rubbed them as she spoke.
“How could anyone not like it? Building houses, renovating them—these are all such fun things!”
Xie Chong suddenly asked,
“Did Engineer Lin send you here today?”
“No.”
Mu Wen said, “Master has been too busy these past few days and doesn’t have time. I live nearby, so I come over after work to take a look.”
She proudly patted her chest.
“You can trust us! We make sure everything is done properly. You don’t need to supervise us at all!”
She was really good at praising herself.
Xie Chong smiled and glanced at his watch.
It was almost seven-thirty, and it was already completely dark outside.
“What are you having for dinner?”
He wanted to thank Mu Wen.
He had not expected her to care so much about his house, and it genuinely touched him.
“I’ll eat behind my dorm later.”
Mu Wen said, “There are lots of good things to eat there.”
She did not realize that Xie Chong was offering to treat her.
She simply continued talking.
“I have to eat more today. I was too busy during the day and didn’t have time to eat.”
“I mean, I can treat you to dinner.”
Xie Chong sighed.
“Do you really not understand?”
“Huh?”
Only then did Mu Wen realize what he meant.
She waved her hands in surprise.
“No, no. You don’t have to. This is what I’m supposed to do.”
Seeing that Xie Chong was becoming impatient, she quickly added,
“If you really want to, then how about you just come with me and grab something simple in the alley?”
She did not believe in accepting something without giving something back.
She did not dare to let Xie Chong truly treat her to an expensive meal.
If she accepted it, she would have to think about how to repay him.
And with the little money she had, she could not afford to owe Xie Chong a favor.
She kept talking about “the alley,” but Xie Chong had no idea such a place existed.
He was curious.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Mu Wen insisted on taking the bus.
She said it would save them the trouble of finding a parking space and would mean she could eat sooner.
She really must have been hungry.
On the bus, she was nearly squeezed flat.
Xie Chong had not taken a bus in many years.
Now his tall body was standing in the middle of the crowd.
One moment someone’s elbow hit him in the waist.
The next, someone stepped on his foot.
Mu Wen secretly felt a little pleased.
So you have days like this too!
But she was ultimately a good person.
She reached out and pulled him toward her spot.
Then she turned to face Xie Chong.
One hand held the back of the seat in front of her, while the other held the vertical pole.
She firmly created a relatively quiet little space around him.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Mu Wen said, “It’s only a few stops.”
No one had ever protected Xie Chong like this before.
He imagined that, at this moment, he must look extremely “pitiful” and “helpless.”
That thought made him want to disappear through the nearest crack in the ground.
Fortunately, they soon reached their stop.
Following Mu Wen, he passed through a small entrance and turned several corners.
Suddenly, the scenery opened up.
The “back alley” Mu Wen had mentioned was actually a small night market.
There was everything imaginable, and people were packed shoulder to shoulder.
Xie Chong had disliked crowded places since he was young.
Whenever he entered an environment like this, he automatically became irritated.
It was the same with restaurants.
If a restaurant made him wait in line, he would simply turn around and leave.
Mu Wen took Xie Chong straight to a stall selling spicy skewers.
When the Sichuan owner saw the extraordinary-looking man beside Mu Wen, she asked,
“You brought a friend to eat?”
“Yep! He’s my client!”
Mu Wen enthusiastically introduced him.
She pulled over a chair and directed Xie Chong to squeeze into the seat beside her.
Xie Chong’s arm was pressed against Mu Wen’s arm, and his knee touched hers.
He felt that it was impolite, so he moved to the side.
Unfortunately, he immediately bumped into a stranger.
So he moved back again.
He was afraid the stranger would mistake him for some kind of creep.
The hot pot steamed in front of them.
Mu Wen’s eyes shone with what looked like pure greed.
She expertly picked out skewers and then turned to Xie Chong.
“What do you want?”
“Anything.”
“Then pick whatever you want from the pot yourself.”
“Okay.”
There was practically no privacy here.
Xie Chong could hear every word the people beside them were saying.
He was also worried that someone might accidentally spit into his dipping sauce, so he kept one hand protectively over the dish.
He looked like a mother hen guarding her eggs.
Mu Wen secretly glanced at him while eating.
For some reason, seeing Xie Chong like this made her incredibly happy.
She even pretended to be concerned.
“What’s wrong? Is it not tasty?”
Xie Chong ignored her and picked out a few skewers from the pot.
This food wasn’t very good either.
He could not understand how Mu Wen could eat it with such enthusiasm.
The steam made him restless, and all he wanted was to leave as soon as possible.
Fortunately, Mu Wen ate very quickly.
He paid the bill immediately and left first.
The Sichuan owner quietly said to Mu Wen,
“He really doesn’t eat much.”
She did not suspect for a moment that he thought her food was “not tasty.”
Mu Wen nodded.
“Exactly. His appetite is really small!”
Once they were outside, Mu Wen asked Xie Chong whether he thought it tasted good.
She even told him that she had watched romance dramas before, and the wealthy characters always seemed to love places like this because they were so down-to-earth.
Xie Chong asked,
“Do you want to hear the truth?”
“Yes.”
“I think this place is only good enough to fill your stomach.”
Xie Chong remembered the loud belch from the person sitting nearby, and his stomach turned again.
He deeply regretted suggesting that he treat Mu Wen to dinner.
Mu Wen was a very good person.
But the two of them really could not agree on what made a good meal.
“I’ll walk you downstairs.”
“No, no.”
Mu Wen waved her hand.
“You don’t have to. Goodbye!”
Xie Chong said nothing.
He simply walked toward Mu Wen’s apartment.
When they reached the building, he said,
“Go upstairs. You worked hard today.”
“Bye-bye.”
Mu Wen waved goodbye.
She quickly ran upstairs.
When she reached the small balcony, she looked down from above.
Under the crowded pedestrian bridge, she searched through the sea of people and finally found Xie Chong.
He seemed to be trying to hail a taxi.
But when a taxi finally arrived, someone else got to it first.
It was a rare moment when Xie Chong looked completely awkward and helpless.
Mu Wen let out a little laugh.
“What are you looking at?”
Chu Ling asked.
Right.
What am I looking at?
Why did I rush upstairs just to watch him?
Mu Wen became confused.