At eleven o’clock at night well past rest hours Lu Wanning’s phone suddenly started buzzing like crazy.
[Group Chat · Department Work Group Let’s Go, Everyone!]
Project Manager: “Comrades!!”
Project Manager: “[Festive sticker]”
Project Manager: “I just confirmed with Finance, Fucheng paid up! Heaven rewards the diligent!”
This great news flushed everyone out of hiding. Not a single person seemed annoyed at being disturbed; instead, they all started cheering and celebrating in the group over this enormous piece of good news.
Business hadn’t been going well in the second half of the year, and closing this deal with Fucheng had been like a timely gift of charcoal in the snow. The amount was substantial, and it had single-handedly rescued the department’s performance metrics.
Xu Zhen: “[Red packet]”
Xu Zhen: “Everyone’s been working hard lately. Dinner’s on me my treat.”
Project Manager: “! Fierce but few words. Xu-jie, you’re a legend. Thanks for the big red packet, boss!”
The others quickly followed suit in a chain: “Thanks, sugar mommy!” “Who needs warm words when you can send cold cash? I hereby declare Director Xu the warmest leader in the whole world ”
Lu Wanning had been sitting on the couch watching a variety show with her roommate, but the commotion was too loud to ignore. She set down the scarf she was knitting, glanced at her phone, and let out an “Oh”: “Someone sent red packets in the department group.”
“Grab one, quick!” Her roommate was even more excited than she was. “Let’s see your luck.”
Lu Wanning raised an eyebrow. “Five hundred yuan.” Xu Zhen really was generous she’d sent out several thousand in total.
“That much!” Her roommate seemed to remember something and suddenly sneered, muttering resentfully to herself, “Comparison is the thief of joy. My boss had me fetch her coffee today and still hasn’t paid me back. I’ve been hinting at it and she keeps pretending not to hear. Old geezer, I hope nothing bad happens to you.”
“Don’t get mad. It’s not worth it over work,” Lu Wanning said. “This four hundred is our dinner money for tomorrow. My treat.”
Her roommate’s moods came fast and went fast too. One second she was gnashing her teeth; the next, hearing Lu Wanning’s words, she was smiling through her tears: “Waaah, Xingxing, you’re the best!”
Lu Wanning smiled. “That’s what shared prosperity is for.”
Her roommate was named Zhou Xue’er. The two of them had met in a rental-housing group chat, gotten along well, and decided to become flatmates.
Lu Wanning had seen plenty of horror stories online about people clashing with their roommates chaos, screaming matches, even outright brawls. Yet when it came time to find a roommate of her own, things had gone surprisingly smoothly. They were both fresh college graduates, close in age, with similar interests and even eerily synchronized schedules. The two quickly became good friends.
“Let me see what you’re knitting.” Zhou Xue’er picked up the half-finished piece she’d been crocheting. “Is this a headband?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Your hands are so skilled, you could sell these.”
Lu Wanning blushed slightly. “It’s not that impressive. I just knit for fun.”
“Then knit one for me.”
“Sure. This one’s yours when it’s done.”
Zhou Xue’er struck the pose from that meme: “Flowers for the beauty!”
The two watched the variety show a while longer, and before they knew it, it was nearly midnight. Time for bed they had to get up early for work tomorrow.
Zhou Xue’er yawned, then seemed to remember something. She hesitated, lips parting: “Oh, right, Wanning. When I got home, your bag was hanging on the wall.”
Afraid that Lu Wanning might misunderstand, she quickened her pace of speech and hurried to explain: “There was a document sticking out of your bag, and when I looked up I just happened to see a few words. It was really a coincidence I absolutely, absolutely wasn’t trying to peek.”
“Wanning, that… did you sign some kind of contract with someone?”
A contract?
Lu Wanning quickly realized what she was talking about. Other than that inexplicable agreement she’d gotten from Han Yao, what else could it be? In an instant, embarrassment and mortification surged from the depths of her heart to the top of her head, and her cheeks flushed pink with shame.
What was wrong with her? How could she have forgotten to put something like that away properly, where anyone could see it.
Fortunately, Zhou Xue’er had understood the situation entirely differently.
Seeing Lu Wanning’s expression, she misread it even more, and said gravely, “There are a lot of bad people out there these days. If you’re short on money, just tell me. I’m poor too, but if I can help you, I definitely will. Anyway, whatever you do, don’t take out loans from strangers, and definitely don’t go around signing random agreements, okay? So many people get scammed these days con artists specifically target young girls!”
Lu Wanning fell silent, not knowing how to explain. But she could see the genuine concern in Zhou Xue’er’s eyes, and hear that her roommate was saying all this for her own good.
After a long moment, she said softly, “Don’t worry, it’s not what you think.”
“Then what did you sign?”
Lu Wanning fell silent again.
Zhou Xue’er could tell she didn’t want to talk about it, and considerately didn’t press further. “Fine. Just make sure you’re safe, and call me anytime if you need anything. I may be pretty useless, but I am a law student after all, I can at least help you look things over.”
Watching her roommate’s retreating back as she went to brush her teeth, Lu Wanning hesitated, wanting to say something, but in the end it all reduced to a quiet, “Mm, I will. Thanks.”
She still didn’t seem used to talking to anyone about anything involving Han Yao. It had been that way before, and it was that way now.
But still…
“Xue’er, I do have a question.”
“Hm?” Zhou Xue’er turned around, toothbrush in her mouth, foam everywhere.
“Suppose a person gives up all their rights to their body, their freedom, their personal autonomy… and ‘gifts’ them all to another person,” Lu Wanning said. “Would that be legally invalid?”
Zhou Xue’er burst out laughing. “Of course something like that would be invalid it violates public order and good morals. What do you think this is, ancient times? Signing yourself into servitude?” Hearing such a question actually put her at ease, sweeping away all her earlier worry, and she teased, “Honestly, have you been reading too many novels?”
It was the same as what Lu Wanning had found online.
Just as she’d expected, this contract had no legal validity whatsoever. Even if she really had signed it, it wouldn’t be binding on her at all.
But had Han Yao done this on purpose? She didn’t lack for good lawyers to play word games with. This agreement could easily have taken some other, more tactful form it didn’t even need to mention the word “toy” to bind Lu Wanning tightly. Besides, Han Yao had a thousand ways to force her to sign.
Yet she’d done none of that.
Han Yao had simply taken the contents of that paper from their childhood and brought them back out again. What was it that she actually wanted?
Lu Wanning’s head was starting to ache from thinking about it.
“You should get to sleep early too.” Zhou Xue’er poked her head out, interrupting her thoughts. “You looked really pale just now. Good night.”
“Mm… Good night.”
The next day, Zhou Xue’er booked a Japanese buffet. It wasn’t too expensive, the dishes were all quite fresh, and the value for money was excellent. Unfortunately, that was exactly why it was packed private rooms were nearly impossible to book, so they could only sit in the main dining hall.
Starting from noon, Lu Wanning kept receiving messages from her roommate.
Zhou Xue’er: “Eat less at lunch, you hear me? If you fill up after two bites of dessert, I’ll scold you! That five hundred yuan didn’t come easy absolutely no wasting it!”
Lu Wanning: “…Okay.”
Zhou Xue’er repeated her instructions over and over: “Repeat our battle orders.”
Lu Wanning: “No drinks, more meat, more fish in short, eat as much of the expensive stuff as possible.”
Only then was Zhou Xue’er satisfied.
Today, everyone in the department had huge dark circles under their eyes, mainly because of the money Fucheng had transferred in the middle of the night well, that, plus the big red packet Xu Zhen had sent. Everyone had been too excited to sleep well.
The project manager came bouncing over to Lu Wanning. “Heh heh, Wanning grabbed five hundred yuan yesterday.”
“That’s right.”
“Oh, nice.” The project manager coughed lightly. “You should ask how much I got hey, how did you know I grabbed eight hundred?”
Lu Wanning slowly looked up, smiling without a trace of warmth. “Zero people asked you.”
The project manager said nothing, just kept grinning mischievously but his good times didn’t last, as he was soon mobbed by the coworkers whose luck had been bad.
Normally, whenever Xu Zhen saw them fooling around, she would remind them about discipline and to keep quiet. But today, when she came out of her office, she unusually said nothing.
With those “thorns in her side” projects at Fucheng resolved, the exhaustion on her face seemed to have vanished. Hearing the commotion, she even gave the project manager a smiling glance. “Not satisfied with the red packet? Should I send out some more?”
The project manager scurried away with his head in his hands, not forgetting to flatter his boss on the way out: “So generous, boss!”
“Alright, coffee’s on me.” Xu Zhen posted the order link in the group chat. “Who’s going to pick it up later?”
“I’ll get it,” Lu Wanning said out of habit. She was the youngest, so doing a bit more work was only natural.
To her surprise, Xu Zhen said, “I’ll come along. Let’s get some fresh air downstairs.”
Lu Wanning paused, sensing that Xu Zhen must have something to say to her.
Sure enough, as the two of them headed downstairs, Xu Zhen spoke, her voice echoing in the somewhat empty elevator: “This project went so smoothly thanks to you. Without your help, who knows how much longer Fucheng would have stalled the process.”
Lu Wanning opened her mouth. It was a happy occasion, and she wanted to crack a joke or two with Xu Zhen, but the words died on her lips.
Others might not know, but she understood better than anyone.
Fucheng’s so-called stalling was merely one of Han Yao’s little schemes, designed to make her come see Han Yao of her own accord. Everything had started because of her in the first place, what was there to be thanked for?
At this thought, even the smile on Lu Wanning’s lips turned somewhat bitter. In the end, she simply said flatly, “It was nothing. Just my job.”
Xu Zhen took in this restrained, emotionally laden response. After a moment, she asked, “Wanning, why aren’t you happy?”
“Hm?”
Over this stretch of time, the two had grown more familiar with each other, and Xu Zhen had become much more forthright in her speech: “Just curious, no other meaning. If I had connections like President Han, I’d wake up laughing from my dreams. But you’re not just unhappy you seem positively melancholy?”
There was a coffee shop a few hundred meters from the office building. Their pickup orders were ready, and the two of them walked toward it together.
It was an overcast day. Lu Wanning looked up at the sky and saw nothing but a vast expanse of gray. She tried to catch a trace of bright sunshine, but found none anywhere.
So autumn really was deep upon them.
After a long moment, she finally answered Xu Zhen’s question: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything comes at a price.”
The clerk had already set two full bags on the counter. Before Xu Zhen could move, Lu Wanning lifted them both with one hand, steady and unwavering.
“Pretty strong there,” Xu Zhen said, raising an eyebrow.
She thought for a moment, then continued where they’d left off: “Then it comes down to value for money. If you can trade a reasonable price for a lavish lunch, isn’t that a good deal?”
Lu Wanning tilted her head, her freshly cut hair brushing against her cheek, tickling it slightly.
“And if I can’t pay?”
“Haggle, run a tab or worst case, default on it. The world always has more room for error than you’d imagine.” Xu Zhen spoke in a businessman’s tone.
Default? Lu Wanning froze slightly.
She had already defaulted once.
Five years ago, she had left Han Yao without mercy, discarding her like garbage, casting all of their past together into the pouring rain without a shred of attachment.
Even now, Lu Wanning couldn’t forget the look in Han Yao’s eyes that day standing under an umbrella, gazing at her calmly.
With interest compounded on the principal she owed, how much must it add up to by now?