That night, Yu Mo returned to that most prestigious high school in Northern Jiangsu. She knew it was a dream; the entire scene was bathed in a rose-colored hue.
A few days after the start of her freshman year, the classroom was a chaotic mess. Luo Xiaomiao, who would later become her best friend, still had her hair cut in a short bob back then. She suddenly nudged Yu Mo’s arm and whispered in her ear, "Look, look! That guy in front is Xue Shen. I’m telling you, stay far away from him. The girls in our middle school division were all head over heels for him." Her voice carried a warning, yet it was laced with unmistakable gossip and excitement.
Yu Mo would often recall that scene later. Their first meeting felt like a slow-motion sequence in a movie; even years later, every detail remained vivid.
Xue Shen was fooling around with a few other boys as they entered the classroom. He wore a white shirt with a teal V-neck sweater vest over it, standing out like a crane among a flock of scruffy tracksuits.
Even knowing she was in a dream, Yu Mo couldn't help but think: *He’s as vain as ever.*
The dream shifted to the grand auditorium on the third floor of the multipurpose building, with its faded red velvet curtains and long wooden benches that made one's backside ache. During the school's New Year's Eve gala that freshman year, thousands of people sat in the auditorium. The originally drowsy atmosphere suddenly exploded when Xue Shen, wearing a black turtleneck, stood on stage with a furrowed brow, singing "Don't Love Me" with flamboyant vocal runs. The boys' cheering nearly took the roof off. The school leaders in the front row looked grim; who would have thought someone would be bold enough to conspire with the audio technician to pull a bait-and-switch, singing about love and passion right in front of the administration?
Knowing it was a dream, Yu Mo still tried desperately to see his face—the version of Xue Shen she had first fallen in love with. But she could only see the spotlight hitting him; his features remained blurred. she craned her neck and stood up to get a better look.
Then, with a sudden jolt, she woke up. She was lying alone on the hard board bed of her rental room. Dawn had not yet broken, and unknown insects chirped outside the window.
She felt that familiar, knife-like tearing sensation in her heart.
She had once asked herself: *Do you regret it?*
The answer was no. The experiences they shared were wonderful beyond measure and utterly irreplaceable. Even if she were to be shattered into pieces now, it wouldn't change the fact that they had once possessed the most sincere love in the world.
Pain was simply a normal reaction to withdrawal.
She whispered to the sixteen-year-old Xue Shen in her dream, *What should I do? We lost each other.*
***
In the morning, Yu Mo rushed to Zhongfu for work, nearly arriving late.
The Zhongfu office had no partitions, and the rows of seats were already filled with people.
Lili shot her a look and whispered, "The Manager wants to see you."
Yu Mo put down her bag and went to knock on the manager's door, her heart pounding with apprehension.
Her manager’s surname was Zhang. He had a round head, a long face, and a tall, thin build, only a few years older than her.
Manager Zhang saw her enter and gestured for her to sit, his expression somewhat displeased.
In a few sentences, the manager brought back the shame of the previous day. Suppressing her discomfort, Yu Mo hurriedly explained, "Manager Zhang, there’s been a misunderstanding. I called Lili last night to review the case because I wasn't clear on the contract yet. It was due to my own lack of preparation. There was absolutely no intentional deception."
Manager Zhang waved his hand. "I don't want to say much more about this. You were at our front desk for three months, and I didn't think you were that kind of person. But there won't be a next time, you understand?"
Yu Mo nodded quickly.
"Letting you join sales was a favor to Lili. You know the headcount in my group is fixed, and I have sales quotas to meet. We agreed on three months to close a deal. If you can't make it by then, my hands will be tied."
Manager Zhang gave her a stern lecture. Seeing her looking as wilted as a frost-bitten cabbage, he felt he had made his point and waved her away.
As she reached the door, he added one more thing: "Yu Mo, a woman's beauty is a weapon. But if you don't plan on using it, it really has no value."
Yu Mo returned to her seat in a daze.
Lili, holding a large-nosed mug, pretended to get water. She stopped by Yu Mo's desk and leaned against it, asking in a low voice, "What did Old Zhang want?"
"Nothing much, just asked about yesterday and my current business leads." Yu Mo sighed and asked, "Lili, how long did it take you to close your first deal?"
Seeing her defeated look, Lili offered some guidance. "What's the rush? Everyone goes through this. Sometimes a deal just happens out of nowhere. Don't compare yourself to others. You know the top performer in the next group? He didn't close a single deal for his first three months either. It doesn't prove anything."
As they were talking, Zhou Tao walked past them, swaying her hips in high heels. She cast a glamorous roll of her eyes in their direction.
Among the male colleagues at Zhongfu, Zhou Tao’s nickname was "Peach." She had snow-white skin and a curvaceous figure that seemed as lush and juicy as a ripe June peach.
She left a trail of cloyingly sweet perfume in her wake. Yu Mo didn't even need to look back to know it was her.
Seeing her arch-rival, Lili didn't back down and rolled her eyes right back, muttering under her breath, "Crazy woman!"
She then asked Yu Mo, "I just saw the list for the evening booth at Eurasia Supermarket. You signed up too? To be honest, that kind of place has the lowest return rate. Notice how none of us veterans signed up?"
Yu Mo nodded. "As a newcomer, I don't have many better options. It’s after-hours anyway, so I might as well try the brute-force method and cover all the bases."
She knew there were better ways—like placing ads in residential elevators and at gate barriers—but that cost ten thousand yuan a month, and she couldn't afford it.
Seeing that she had said enough, Lili didn't want to slack off for too long. She straightened up to go to the water dispenser.
As she passed the neighboring manager's office, she saw Zhou Tao inside, laughing so hard she was practically trembling. Lili rolled her eyes in disgust again.
Lili didn't consider herself a noble person, but she had always been a high performer—hardworking and sharp-witted. She hadn't had any deep friendship with Yu Mo in the past. With her background, where would she have met someone so refined, a literal orchid from a greenhouse? Was she supposed to meet such people through her manual-laborer father who favored boys over girls, or her mother who worked as a cleaner and could curse in the street all day?
She still remembered the first time she saw Yu Mo standing next to Xue Shen, smiling innocently. She had thought to herself: *What elegance.* She had only befriended Yu Mo out of professional habit to please a client, but after a few chats, that "idiot" had started treating her like a real friend. Lili had been a bit undecided, but she figured having a friend like this wouldn't hurt.
Recommending Yu Mo for the sales team was a small favor; after all, with Lili's high performance, Manager Zhang had to give her some face. She wouldn't do anything more than that.
She admitted she also wanted to watch the show—to see a pampered little wife leave her man and, perhaps, pull off a face-slapping comeback.
If nothing else, seeing Zhou Tao’s eyes twitch with jealousy lately was already an unexpected joy.
Thinking of this, Lili couldn't help but grin, hiding her face behind her mug as she pretended to drink.
Lili and Zhou Tao had been rivals for years, their performance neck-and-neck. But there was one thing Lili couldn't win at no matter how competitive she was: Zhou Tao was known as the "Flower of Zhongfu," flitting around the office like a social butterfly every day. Lili lacked the looks to compete on that front, which always left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Once Yu Mo arrived, Zhou Tao’s position as the "Flower" was immediately threatened. Lili felt that for this reason alone, it was worth it; her days in the office were much more pleasant now.
***
Yu Mo stood at the Eurasia Supermarket for two and a half hours. It wasn't until 8:30 PM that she finally boarded the bus home, her legs feeling like they didn't belong to her.
It took over an hour of jolting travel to get from the east side of the city to the west side where her complex was.
Lili had been right. Forget about potential clients; she hadn't even met a single person who wanted to inquire.
The temperature fluctuated greatly between day and night, and the evening air was cold enough to numb her fingers. There were few people on the small paths of the residential complex, and the streetlights glowed feebly.
At first, Yu Mo thought it was her imagination, but she felt as though someone was following her. She stopped abruptly and stood still.
Sure enough, the person behind her also stopped.
The hair on her neck stood on end. She didn't dare walk toward her building. Instead, she turned back toward the main road, pulled out her phone, and said loudly into it, "Hubby, I'm downstairs. Come out quickly, I'm waiting for you at the usual spot."
After finishing the "call," she stood still, pretending to wait for someone.
The person behind her remained a few paces away, also unmoving. Then, she heard the person chuckle—a "he-he" sound—and say in a nauseating, breathless voice, "Hey, beautiful..."
A scream nearly tore from Yu Mo's throat. She bolted forward.
A tall figure was walking toward her from the end of the road. Seeing him as a savior, Yu Mo rushed toward him blindly. Only when she got close did she realize it was an acquaintance. She grabbed Qi Lian’s arm and said in a panic, "Help me, someone is following me." Her voice trembled involuntarily.
Qi Lian’s brows knit together. He looked up and saw a scrawny man quickly walking away behind her.
He patted Yu Mo’s hand, which was gripping his arm, signaling her to let go. "Stay here. Don't move," he said, his voice low and heavy.
An aura of violence suddenly radiated from him, his muscles tensing. In a few strides, he caught up, raised a long leg, and kicked the man squarely in the back. The man fell forward as stiffly as a log.
Qi Lian stepped on the man's back and leaned down, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear. "Motherfucker. If you dare go near her again, I'll beat you into a hospital bed. Before you cause trouble here, find out who Qi Lian is!"
He stood up. Seeing the man sprawled on the ground like a dog, a surge of nameless anger rose in him. He delivered a sharp kick, making the man groan in pain. "Scum," he spat.
Yu Mo stood under the streetlight clutching her backpack, not daring to move. Due to the shock, her eyes were filled with panic, making her look delicate and pitiable within the circle of light.
She couldn't hear what Qi Lian said; she only watched as he slowly walked back to her. The hostile aura still clung to him, and his height was imposing.
He was wearing black shorts, revealing sturdy, powerful calves and long Achilles tendons. On his feet was a pair of cheap black plastic slippers.
The look he gave her wasn't particularly friendly. With his short black hair and thick brows silhouetted by the streetlight, he looked like someone you shouldn't mess with.
The scene made Yu Mo’s heart, which had just begun to steady, start pounding again.
The whole ordeal had been too much of a shock. She managed to speak: "Thank you, Master Qi."
Qi Lian glanced at her and jerked his head toward the intersection. "Let's go. I'll walk you back." As Yu Mo followed, he continued, "That guy won't dare come near you again. But you... you need to be especially careful in a place like this."
Yu Mo nodded unconsciously, not daring to disagree.
Qi Lian asked her, "Do you come home this late every day?"
Yu Mo nodded again.
Qi Lian didn't say anything else.
The streetlights stretched their shadows long, occasionally intertwining.
When they reached the entrance of her building, Yu Mo turned around to speak, but Qi Lian didn't let her. He answered directly, "It's only a few more steps."
The sensor light in the stairwell was broken again. Qi Lian took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "You go first," he told Yu Mo, providing light from behind.
Yu Mo remembered that when she was with Xue Shen, she would never walk in front of him on the stairs. He would always play pranks, trying to poke her backside. She would have to climb the stairs while shielding herself with her hands.
Habits built over years were hard to break. She felt uncomfortable walking in front of someone, but she said nothing and simply lowered her head, walking faster.
When they reached the door of unit 403, Qi Lian nodded and turned to leave.
Yu Mo hurriedly called out to his retreating back, "Thank you, Qi... Lian."
Qi Lian had already reached the turn in the stairs. He raised one hand and gave a brief wave.
He soon vanished from sight, leaving only the sound of his slippers.
After half a minute, the sound of the slippers stopped. Then, he started walking back up. His head appeared at the turn of the stairs. Seeing her still standing at the door, he looked into her eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
In that moment, Yu Mo had a sudden flash of insight. He wasn't scary at all. She gave him a smile she hadn't shown in a long time—a smile like a flower in full bloom.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 中富 | Zhongfu | The name of the company where Yu Mo works. |
| 章组长 | Manager Zhang | Yu Mo's supervisor at Zhongfu. |
| 周桃 | Zhou Tao | A colleague of Yu Mo's. |
| 水蜜桃 | Peach | Zhou Tao's nickname among male colleagues. |
| 欧亚超市 | Eurasia Supermarket | A supermarket where Yu Mo does promotional work. |
