As April arrived, the temperature climbed day by day. Birds began to sing, the wind turned into a gentle caress, and the Jiangnan city of Jinning took on the full splendor of spring. Ordinarily, this would have been Yu Mo’s favorite season, but for the first time in her life, she had no leisure to appreciate it. Carrying her discarded coat over her arm, she merely lamented how quickly the heat had set in, making the heavy fabric unbearable. She turned into the residential compound, her stiletto heels clicking sharply against the pavement like a clarion call, drawing the gazes of every man and woman toward her. Her slender ankles and straight calves were like two awls, ruthlessly piercing the hearts of the men she passed, looking entirely out of place in the dilapidated, grey gloom of the Lianhua relocation community.
With the arrival of spring, the days had grown noticeably longer. It was past five in the afternoon, yet the sky remained bright. The compound was filled with children and laundry that had yet to be taken in. Areas that should have been green belts were instead packed with various vegetables, most of which Yu Mo couldn't even name. In a moment of distraction, a modified handcart suddenly swerved out from the side, nearly colliding with her. She narrowly avoided a direct impact with the bold red characters painted on the cart: "Cold Skin Noodles & Hand-Shredded Pancakes." She hastily stepped aside as a middle-aged woman popped her head out from behind the cart, grumbling and cursing as she tried to pick a fight.
Yu Mo pretended not to hear, walking forward with her eyes fixed straight ahead. In the three months she had lived here, she had learned to shut down many of her senses, tucking away her shame and self-respect along with them. *Only when the granary is full does one learn etiquette*—an immutable truth.
She reached the base of her building. Only two rows of broken chairs remained at the entrance; the "elderly sentinels" who stood guard all day had finally gone home for dinner, allowing her a sigh of relief.
Those crippled stools and tattered, drafty wicker chairs, still clinging to the murky, ill-intentioned gazes of those who sat in them, formed a composition like a masterpiece of decay. The way their eyes stuck to her was greasy and cloying; the memory of it made her uncomfortable every time.
The stairwell was dim. Even though the sun hadn't set, it was impossible to see clearly. Whether the motion-sensor lights would trigger was entirely random, so she had to be especially careful where she stepped. Clutter occupied nearly every inch of space, leaving almost no room for her feet. If you stubbed your toe, it was your own bad luck; if you broke someone’s junk, it was even worse luck.
She climbed to the fourth floor and entered Room 403. Someone was cooking in the kitchen to her left, the air thick with the stinging scent of chili. There was no sound from the other partitioned rooms; it was still early, and her housemates hadn't returned yet.
She opened the door to her own room. It was the largest in the unit and, for better or worse, had solid walls—far superior to the thin boards that merely blocked the view without muffling a single sound.
She stepped inside and reached to the left to flip the switch. The light didn't come on. Refusing to believe it, she toggled it off and on again, but the room remained dark.
In that instant, the string inside her that had been pulled taut for so long finally snapped with a sharp *pop*. She turned back and gently closed the door. A sob escaped her throat, and she bit her lip hard, terrified of being heard.
An hour ago, the lingering warmth of that man’s finger poking at the tip of her nose still seemed to haunt her. The shame of being insulted still clung to her thin skin. She was an orchid raised in a greenhouse, accustomed to being admired from a pedestal. Now, she had been knocked to the ground and trampled ruthlessly. She was so ashamed she felt like a cornered animal, using every ounce of her strength just to keep from crying in front of others.
Even the light was conspiring against her!
Only a few months ago, she had been debating whether antique furniture from the Black Forest period was more beautiful or if Louis XVI pieces held their value better. Her resolve wavered. With just one phone call, in an hour at most, she could be lying in her old room on a white carpet, surrounded by the scent of Malin+Goetz candles. Everything here could become a nightmare from which she had just awakened, returning to a life of floral abundance.
The neighbor’s dinner was ready, the aroma seeping through the cracks in the walls. How warm the "smoke and fire" of the mundane world felt, yet here she was, alone in a dark room as twilight gathered, her body gone limp from weeping. She was like a lost little boat, heartbreaking to behold.
When she had cried until her limbs felt weak, she lifted her head and wiped her tears. Her head felt heavy and dull from the exertion. The priority now was to fix the light; she had no time for melancholy. She would be returning late every night for the next week, and if she hadn't been driven away by that man’s insults today, she wouldn't have been home this early.
Clutching her phone, she headed out. Having moved in recently, she wasn't familiar with the neighborhood and didn't know where the property management office was.
After wandering around, she eventually made her way to the security booth at the main gate.
Inside the small shack was a middle-aged man with a round, fleshy face, hunched over his phone watching short videos. The sounds of canned laughter were clearly audible from outside.
She spoke tentatively. "Hello, could you tell me where the property management office is?"
The guard looked up, his eyes lighting up the moment he saw her. He gestured for her to come in. "Hey there, beautiful. Come in, come in. We *are* the property management. Come in and have a cup of water."
His smile made Yu Mo uncomfortable. She remained standing at the door. "That’s kind of you. I just wanted to ask—the light in my room is broken. Can property management help fix it?"
The guard’s smile shifted, his lips curling into a sneer. "Listen, beautiful, have you ever heard of someone going to a security guard to fix a light? Do you know how many people live in this compound? I’m the only one watching this gate! You don't look like you belong in this neighborhood, and you're talking like you're in a fairy tale."
Yu Mo turned and left immediately. She had reached her limit for malice today.
She found a few repair numbers online, but no one would take the job. For a moment, she wondered if she was the unluckiest person in the world.
As the sky turned to dusk, she grew increasingly anxious. She circled the compound with her phone in hand, her eyes scanning the utility poles for small advertisements.
As she turned onto the main road, she spotted a man with a tool bag among the few people walking ahead. Driven to desperation, she didn't care about decorum; seeing that large tool bag, she rushed forward. "Master! Master!" she called out as she chased him.
The *clack-clack* of her heels was dizzying. A few passersby turned to stare, unsure who she was calling for. She was soft-spoken by nature, and though she thought she was shouting, her voice sounded muffled to others.
The man with the tool bag didn't seem to hear her; in fact, he started walking faster. Her face flushed red as she lunged forward, grabbing the strap of his tool bag when she was just an arm's length away.
The man turned to look at her, his brows knitted together in a wary scowl, looking as if he were ready to bolt.
Terrified he would ignore her, Yu Mo explained frantically, "Master, Master, I saw your tool bag. Do you know how to fix lights? The light in my house is broken, and I'm in a real hurry. My place is just back there, two minutes away." He didn't answer, his eyes merely gesturing toward her hand. She quickly let go of his strap and added, "I'll pay. Two hundred yuan?"
In her panic, her words were jumbled and her expressions erratic. Her eyes, still damp from crying, looked helpless and pitiable.
The man studied her for a few seconds, then tilted his head, signaling for her to lead the way.
Her eyes instantly brightened with a spark of disbelief and joy, and she began to trot alongside him to show the way.
The last sliver of natural light had vanished. Entering the room from the streetlights outside, it was nearly pitch black.
The repairman pulled a small flashlight from his bag and clicked it on. Yu Mo hastily dragged over the only chair in the room and pointed to the ceiling. "It's this light. Could you take a look, Master?"
He shone the light on the ceiling a few times, then pulled several tools from his bag and tucked them into his pants pockets. Gripping the back of the chair, he vaulted onto it with effortless grace.
The chair wasn't quite high enough. He was a tall man, but he still had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the ceiling.
Yu Mo stood by, her neck craned at a ninety-degree angle.
The repairman bit the silver flashlight between his teeth, supporting the lampshade with one hand while using a screwdriver with the other.
As Yu Mo watched the light, she couldn't help but see his face. His jaw muscles were bulging from gripping the flashlight, hard as stone. His body, strained on his tiptoes, was as taut as a bow drawn and ready to fire.
*This isn't easy money to earn,* she thought.
In a moment, he had unscrewed a small screw. He paused with the tiny object in his hand. Yu Mo immediately held out her palm, face up. He gave her a subtle glance before leaning down to place it in her hand. As he bent over, the beam of the flashlight hit Yu Mo directly in the face, causing her to squint and turn away instinctively. After it happened twice, she quietly shifted to the side.
Once all the screws were removed and the head of the European-style lamp was detached, he poked around with a voltage tester. He took the flashlight out of his mouth and turned to her. "Help me out. When I tell you to, flip the switch."
It was the first time he had spoken. His voice was deep, matching the darkness of the room, and surprisingly, it lacked the gruff, blunt tone common among many laborers.
Seeing her hurry to the switch, he added, "Don't lose those screws."
Yu Mo tightened her grip on the handful of screws. "Okay."
She toggled the switch several times as instructed, but the light remained dead. Anxiety began to creep back in. "Master, can it not be fixed?" she asked.
Yu Mo’s voice was soft and restrained, but with that hint of urgency, it possessed a sort of blunt, childlike charm.
The repairman took the flashlight out of his mouth, rested a hand on the back of the chair, and hopped down silently to the floor. If she hadn't been so worried, she would have genuinely admired his incredible core strength.
Standing on the floor, he hesitated before speaking. "It can be fixed, but it needs a new electronic component. The model is too old; I don't have it on me, and it might not be easy to find." He stopped there.
Yu Mo waited anxiously for him to continue, not understanding why he had trailed off. "And then?" she urged.
"Either you buy the part and I'll come back to swap it," he said.
Hearing this, Yu Mo’s composure nearly crumbled. How was she supposed to know where to buy it? Or what to buy?
Perhaps reading her expression, he added mercifully, "Or, don't bother with the part. It’s simpler to just tear this down and install a ceiling light."
Yu Mo let out a long, weary sigh. Standing there, she said despairingly, "I can't change the landlord's light. He made it clear that this was his wedding home back in the day; nothing can be moved."
In the dim light, the repairman gave her an unreadable look. Yu Mo felt it—it was a look that clearly said she was being stupid.
She didn't speak or move, standing her ground stubbornly. She knew she should let him go, but then he spoke again. "Tell you what. There’s a hardware store not far from the compound. I’ll go check for you now. If they have it, I’ll come back and fix it. If the shop at the gate doesn't have it, we'll leave the light for now. I'll pick one up when I head to the market another day and come back then. It’s up to you."
She really had no choice. Seconds ago, she had already decided to just go buy a desk lamp. She could tell he was genuinely looking out for her, even though it meant more trouble for himself. This man was either not yet jaded by the trade or simply a good person. She said gratefully, "Yes, yes, let's do that. Thank you so much. I haven't asked your name yet?"
The man turned to put his tools back into the bag, slinging the bulging strap over his left shoulder. He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened WeChat as he answered, "My surname is Qi. Add me on WeChat. I'll contact you regardless of whether I find the part. If you decide you don't want to fix it later, just let me know on there."
He held his phone out to her; the black device looked exceptionally small in his large hand.
Yu Mo quickly pulled out her phone and scanned his QR code.
His WeChat name was Qi Lian, and his profile picture was a lush, leafy tree.
After seeing Mr. Qi out, Yu Mo went to the bathroom for a quick shower. She didn't bother drying her hair, just giving it a messy rub with a towel.
When she returned to her room, her phone chimed. She thought he had returned incredibly fast and opened it with high expectations, but it wasn't from Mr. Qi.
She opened the text message. It read: *Momo, you promised me you wouldn't disappear. You can't do this. I've started losing sleep; I'm afraid of the night. I'm trying to hold back from telling your parents, but I don't know how much longer I can resist.*
Yu Mo touched the two characters of her name on the screen and whispered, "I found someone to fix my light. I don't need you anymore, Xue Shen."
Xue Shen was very good at fixing things because he was brilliant. No one who met him ever failed to mention his intelligence.
In their senior year of high school, she and Xue Shen had been sent by their Chinese teacher to photocopy some exam papers. It happened that the waist-high copier in the printing room had broken down. The doorway was crowded with students from various classes waiting for their copies, and the teacher in charge was frantic.
While everyone else looked at each other in confusion, only Xue Shen circled the machine a few times. He told the teacher, "Teacher, let me open it up. I can fix it."
The teacher shook her head like a rattle, thinking he was just another troublemaker. "Do you know how much this machine costs? I don't even dare open it, let alone let you try. Don't add to the mess; all of you, get back to your classrooms. Go on, hurry up."
She shooed everyone out of the room and hurried off to find the principal.
Yu Mo had wanted to leave too, but Xue Shen gave her a subtle wink, so she intentionally lagged behind.
Once everyone was gone, he whispered to her, "Go stand guard at the door for me. I'm going to open this precious machine today no matter what."
Standing at the door, Yu Mo’s heart pounded. She had never done anything so rebellious, but Xue Shen’s eyes were sparkling, and she couldn't refuse him. She still remembered the secret thrill of being accomplices in mischief.
Fifteen minutes later, when the teacher returned, their class's exams were nearly finished, the machine dutifully *puff-puffing* out paper.
Xue Shen’s eyes shone with pride as he winked at her, looking like a peacock with its tail spread.
Their homeroom teacher later laughed and scolded him, "You brat, don't think you can be lawless just because you're smart. You'll try anything."
The printing room teacher scolded him too, but after that, whenever something broke in there, she would come to the door of Class 15 to find him.
Everyone loved Xue Shen.
Her phone chimed again. A message from Mr. Qi: *I found the part. I'm coming over to install it now. Is it convenient? Or we can do it another day.*
Yu Mo replied quickly: *It's convenient. Please come over now.*
She had just showered, and her hair was still damp. She was wearing a set of pink loungewear, looking like a dewy, tender lotus flower.
When Qi Lian entered, his gaze lingered on her for a few extra seconds.
While he was changing the part, Yu Mo took it upon herself to stand by the switch, idly watching him work. He was quite tall, wearing grey cargo pants with many pockets. From her angle, she could only see his profile. She surmised he must be a very serious person; his profile was as sharp as if carved by a knife, without a hint of softness.
The moment Qi Lian stopped moving, even before he spoke, she somehow knew. She pressed the switch with a *click*.
The room was flooded with light, almost blindingly bright.
At that moment, Yu Mo was truly happy from the bottom of her heart. Her eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled at Qi Lian. "It's fixed! It's fixed! Thank you so much, Mr. Qi."
Seeing her smile like a child, Qi Lian was suddenly reminded of a leopard cub—a clever, beautiful little leopard that knew how to act spoiled.
He jumped down from the chair, took a rag from his bag, and wiped the chair where he had stepped. Then he began sorting his tools back into their places.
Yu Mo stepped forward. "No need to wipe it, it's fine." As she got closer, she saw his open tool kit and gasped. "Mr. Qi, your tool kit is so... clean."
Qi Lian had already slung the bag over his shoulder. He looked at Yu Mo without saying a word.
For the first time, Yu Mo met his eyes in the bright light. She noticed he had thick brows that made him look a bit cold.
She said quickly, "We agreed on two hundred yuan. How much was the part you bought?"
Qi Lian said, "That thing isn't worth much, forget it. You don't need to give me two hundred. Just one hundred is fine."
Yu Mo thought she had misheard. She had dealt with contractors before and had never met one like this. She confirmed with him, "You mean one hundred in total?"
His somewhat cold eyes seemed to grow even more impatient after her question. "Yes."
Yu Mo quickly transferred the money to him via phone, thanking him repeatedly. She thought to herself: *This is no ordinary repairman.*
Qi Lian didn't bother with pleasantries. He took the money and headed for the door. As he stepped out, he hesitated for a moment, then turned back to her. "I'll say one thing, even if it's none of my business. It's late; don't let strangers into your home in the future. And when you're paying people, don't act like such a sucker."
With that, he walked away with long strides.
Xue Shen had also always worried about her being cheated. Back when they were inseparable, he had said, "I'll never let you leave me; I'm worried you'll be swindled out of your money and your heart."
Unfortunately, there was no "forever." Perhaps it was true that she was foolish.
Xue Shen’s intelligence was like a vast net, descending from the sky to trap her, leaving her nowhere to run. She would always love a "sexy brain," always love that man who burned as bright as the scorching sun.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
晋宁 | Jinning | A fictional or specific city in the Jiangnan region.
莲花小区 | Lianhua Community | The name of the residential compound (Lotus Community).
于茉 | Yu Mo | The female protagonist.
祁连 | Qi Lian | The repairman/male protagonist.
薛慎 | Xue Shen | Yu Mo's ex-boyfriend.
师傅 | Master / Master [Surname] | A respectful term for a skilled worker or craftsman.
人间烟火 | Smoke and fire of the mundane world | A poetic term for the warmth of daily life, cooking, and human society.
仓廪足而知礼节 | Only when the granary is full does one learn etiquette | A classic Chinese idiom regarding the relationship between material wealth and social morality.
