That morning, Yu Mo left the house with her mind wandering, but once she arrived at the office, she quickly lost the luxury of distraction.
She had barely sat down and hadn't even taken a sip of water when a client she had only interviewed once called her. He was in a frantic rush, insisting on coming in immediately to sign the contract. Yu Mo was momentarily dazed by this windfall dropping straight from the sky.
When the client arrived, he was followed by two men. They were unremarkable in appearance and maintained a cold, dismissive attitude. Yu Mo gradually picked up on the subtext: these two were the client’s creditors. No wonder he was in such a hurry; he didn't care about the interest rates or the loan conditions at all. His only concern was whether the funds could be released immediately. It was a desperate situation—the metaphorical knife was practically at his throat.
The client pulled out a stack of "red books"—property deeds for Shuimo Jiangnan, one of the most expensive luxury estates in Jinning. Yu Mo couldn't imagine how illustrious a person owning over a dozen luxury homes must have once been, or what kind of catastrophe had befallen him to bring him to this point. Seeing the blisters on the client’s mouth and his dry, white-flaked lips, she felt that glory and wealth were truly nothing more than passing clouds.
Signing the contract and conducting the site visit under the predatory gaze of those two men was not only dizzying in its pace but also left her nerves frayed.
It wasn't until she returned from the Housing Bureau and retreated alone into the restroom at Zhongfu that she felt a sense of reality. She realized she had just completed a massive deal. Bolting the stall door, she danced and jumped in silence, letting out a series of voiceless screams before composing herself to wash her hands.
Whenever she thought about the fact that she was about to receive the largest bonus of her career, her smile involuntarily stretched from ear to ear. Unfortunately, she had no one to share this joy with.
The only person she could have told was Lili, who was currently overwhelmed with her own troubles and shouldn't be disturbed.
Yu Mo reined in her emotions and walked back to the office in her high heels. Looking up, she was surprised to see Lili, who hadn't been in for a long time, sitting at her desk. She hurried over and asked, "Why are you back? How are things going?"
Lili turned and, seeing it was Yu Mo, managed a long-absent smile. Her once-supple face looked like a withered apple from the constant strain. "I finally managed to get a handle on things. I hired a caregiver for my mother, and I’ll go back to stay the night with her. There’s no other way—there will be many expenses in the future. Making money has to be the top priority now."
Jinning was a ninety-minute drive from Shanghai. Going there at night and returning during the day would be incredibly exhausting.
Yu Mo felt deep sympathy for her, but any words felt hollow. She couldn't find the right thing to say, so she simply patted Lili’s hand gently. "It’ll get better. Once you get through this period, it’ll get better."
A colleague wearing glasses passed by and, seeing Lili, said jokingly, "Haven't seen our big shot in a while! Where’d you go to enjoy yourself? I thought you’d struck it rich and didn't need to come back to haul bricks anymore."
Lili gave a nearly imperceptible roll of her eyes, turned back with a grin to curse him out a bit, but a trace of exhaustion lingered in her eyes when she turned back to Yu Mo.
She leaned in and whispered, "Being an only child... there’s really no way around it. When you’re little, no one fights you for things, but when you grow up and trouble hits, there’s no one to share the burden. You just have to endure."
After lamenting for a moment, she changed her tone and said to Yu Mo, "I really need to thank you for this. And Xue Shen."
She grabbed Yu Mo’s hands, her words earnest. "Yu Mo, I can see that Xue Shen’s feelings for you are special. Are you really not considering going back to him? Don't say you haven't run into trouble yet—once you face something like I have, you’ll realize how rare a man like that is."
Yu Mo shook her head. A pair of high-quality South Sea pearls hung from her ears, swaying with the movement.
The relationship she had shared with Xue Shen, the way it began—it was a bond of absolute sincerity, of life and death. If it couldn't be perfect, she would rather not have it at all. The purer a thing was, the less it could tolerate even the slightest flaw.
To an outsider, it probably just looked like being difficult.
Lili squeezed her hands tightly. "Do you really not want him anymore?"
Yu Mo felt her hands being squeezed until they ached, wondering why Lili had such a strong grip.
"Lili, if you want to thank him, do whatever you feel is right. As for me, don't treat me like a stranger. You’ve helped me a lot too!"
Lili’s large eyes gazed intently at Yu Mo as if she had a thousand things to say. She had beautiful eyes. Not only did she have beautiful eyes, but she also had a stunning figure with a high, full chest. Her most precious quality was her eternal vitality; she was like a small leopard, evoking images of primitive jungles and raw desire.
***
That afternoon, Yu Mo left work on time. She arrived at the entrance of District 3 much earlier than usual.
Passing by the rice noodle shop that always had a line, she glanced inside and was surprised to see no one waiting.
The owner, who was blanching rice noodles on a stove by the door, noticed Yu Mo’s gaze. He stopped what he was doing and greeted her warmly. "Want some rice noodles? Come in and sit, come in! We have seats right now."
The owner was a short, middle-aged man with a southern accent, but his tone was brisk and friendly. "If you don't eat spicy food, try our 'Three Delicacies' noodles. You can't go wrong with that."
He squeezed past the tables to find a seat for Yu Mo, and she followed behind, tightening the strap of her bag.
A few young men who worked at the nearby electronics factory were eating, sweating profusely. Seeing Yu Mo walk in, they winked and nudged each other, forcing themselves to clear an empty spot.
The owner saw the vacancy and quickly ushered Yu Mo to sit.
Yu Mo hesitated for a second. The way these men were looking at her made her uncomfortable, but she still sat down lightly on the edge of the long bench.
She kept her face taut, meeting their gazes without flinching, which only provoked a few lewd chuckles from them.
She turned to her left, glaring at another gaze that had been stuck to her. With that one look, she was stunned. The person with the heavy, dark gaze was an acquaintance.
She was the first to lose the staring contest and looked away.
As she turned, she saw the girl sitting across from Qi Lian.
The girl was around thirty. She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but she possessed an indescribable charm and tenderness suited to her age. She was staring at Qi Lian with a gaze so thick and lingering that no one would believe they were strangers.
Yu Mo looked at the girl, then back at Qi Lian. He was buried in his bowl, eating large mouthfuls of noodles, his expression unreadable.
This place was truly small!
Yu Mo looked around and felt a bit suffocated. The weather was too oppressive. It really wasn't worth it just for a bowl of noodles.
The girl across from Qi Lian pushed a jar of garlic toward him. "Brother Lian, add some garlic. I don't think the owner put enough in."
Qi Lian, his mouth full of noodles, pushed the jar back. He swallowed before saying, "No need. I don't really like garlic much anymore. I'm about done, you go ahead and eat."
As he spoke, he pulled a napkin to wipe his mouth, walked a few steps away, and spoke to the owner in a low voice. "The noodles I asked to be packed to-go—I don't want them anymore. Don't put cilantro in that girl's Three Delicacies noodles. I've already paid for her."
The rice noodles Wang Ran had picked up with her chopsticks slipped back into the soup with a splash, much like the ten years that had slipped away, leaving no trace behind.
Back then, she used to sneak away from her parents to Qi Lian’s house to cook for him. He used to love lots of minced garlic in his food; he loved her cooking most of all.
Now, he said he didn't like it anymore.
Time was like an insurmountable mountain standing between them.
She hadn't intended to have any entanglement with the current Qi Lian, but she wanted to hold onto the memories of that time, along with her rose-colored youth.
Yet even those things could not be kept.
She couldn't say how many times over the years she had hoped for a chance encounter—perhaps during a midnight after a dream of the past, or in the early hours of the morning while crying alone after being hit.
It was strange. The Lotus district was only so big, yet they had never run into each other once until this afternoon in this modest noodle shop. He had walked straight in, and she had nowhere to hide.
Perhaps it was better to remember than to meet.
He was still the youth from her dreams, a man who could hold up the sky, while she had withered so much she wanted to sink into the dirt.
Since leaving him, she had forgotten how to smile; only the two deep dimples on her face remained, deepening with the passing years.
A surge of bitterness rushed from her heart to her eyes, and she blinked.
Qi Lian returned to the table and sat down. Looking at Wang Ran, who sat with her head bowed in silence, he asked, "What are your plans for the future? If you have any difficulties, feel free to find me. Money..."
Wang Ran quickly interrupted him. Charity and pity were the final straws. "No, no need. I'm not short on money. You know I'm an only child; we still have several houses. I'm moving back in with my parents to take care of them."
For a moment, neither spoke, carefully avoiding the landmines they both knew were there.
Finally, it was Wang Ran who spoke first. "My dad... he’s always been very guilty. He doesn't say it, but once when he was drunk, he said this was all retribution. He doesn't feel good about it."
That retribution had all fallen upon her. She had gritted her teeth and endured for so many years, suffering verbal abuse and beatings, forgetting what a normal life was like. It wasn't until Qi Lian stepped in to teach that man a lesson that she remembered she had once belonged to a man who could stand tall like this.
When she walked out of her house, she hadn't looked back once at the man who was begging for mercy like a dog.
Qi Lian kept his eyelids lowered, and no one knew what he was thinking. He said, "It’s not that serious. Tell Uncle Wang I remember how well he treated me and my mother. Tell him to take care of himself. I’ll visit him when I have the chance."
There was nothing left for the two of them to say.
Across the aisle, Yu Mo glanced at them. Seeing the girl on the verge of tears, she felt a surge of indignation.
This wasn't the first time she had seen Qi Lian with a girl. Who knew how many romantic debts he had piled up? Thinking back to what Qi Lian had said at her house that morning, she felt even angrier. It seemed she was just another entry in his ledger of flings.
She also realized that whenever they were out, no matter who he was with, Qi Lian never took the initiative to greet her. What did that mean? Was he pretending not to know her while trying to take advantage of her behind closed doors? Was he bullying her because she was alone in Lotus with no one to back her up? A whole soap opera played out in her mind.
The young men from the electronics factory were making various obnoxious noises. Seeing that Yu Mo wasn't reacting, one of the "casanovas" spoke up: "Hey beauty, let’s add each other on WeChat. I’ll take you out to have some fun."
Yu Mo had just taken a bite of noodles and couldn't answer immediately. Across the aisle, Qi Lian turned his head. His gaze was piercing, and his expression looked decidedly unfriendly.
Yu Mo swallowed her food and refused in a level voice, "It’s not convenient."
The guy next to the "casanova" jeered, "Don't be so stingy, beauty. Can't the lot of us even invite you out?"
The group began to put on a thuggish act.
Yu Mo put down her chopsticks, but before she could speak, Qi Lian’s long legs had already carried him to her side. He looked down at her and said, "Get up. I'm switching seats with you."
His tone was heavy and brooked no refusal. Yu Mo had no choice but to stand up and move to the side.
Qi Lian pulled her unfinished bowl of noodles over and instructed, "Eat slowly." Then he sat himself down in Yu Mo’s spot.
The young men looked at each other. One of them spoke up, "What’s the meaning of this?"
Qi Lian gave them a casual glance, then turned away, ignoring them completely.
The youngsters didn't have the guts to actually start trouble. They muttered a few words, nudged each other, paid their bill, and left.
Wang Ran had long since lost her appetite; she had barely touched her bowl of noodles. She had seen everything.
She knew Qi Lian. Even if his tone remained lukewarm, she could distinguish between distance and intimacy. She was shocked, her eyes darting back and forth to Yu Mo.
She had always worshipped Qi Lian like a moth to a flame. He was good to her, but she was never sure if he even knew what she liked to eat. He had never spoken to her in that tone one uses with a three-year-old child. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes today, she never would have dreamed he could be so fussy and protective.
This meeting was indeed better left unhappened. From today onward, not only was there no future, but even the past was gone.
She stood up and said, "Brother Lian, I'm leaving."
Qi Lian stood up as well. He looked at Yu Mo, who was eating with her head down, and said, "Eat slowly." Then he walked out, one after the other, with Wang Ran.
Yu Mo had turned to look at Qi Lian when Wang Ran spoke. She didn't know what that look in his eyes meant when he spoke to her. She stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth. Why should she eat slowly?
After finishing her noodles, Yu Mo carefully wiped her mouth clean before slowly walking out.
By now, the shop was packed to the point where people could hardly move. A line had started to form outside. The owner was so busy he didn't have time to look up, let alone greet customers.
As soon as she squeezed out of the noodle shop and breathed in the humid, hot air outside, her eyes landed on the man standing not far from the entrance.
She pretended not to see him, tightened the strap of her bag on her shoulder, and walked straight ahead.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
水墨江南 | Shuimo Jiangnan | Literally "Ink-wash Jiangnan"; a high-end residential estate.
晋宁 | Jinning | The city where the story takes place.
中富 | Zhongfu | The name of the company Yu Mo works for.
王冉 | Wang Ran | A woman from Qi Lian's past.
三鲜 | Three Delicacies | A common flavor profile in Chinese cuisine, usually involving seafood or a mix of pork, shrimp, and mushrooms.
红本本 | Red Books | Slang for property ownership certificates in China.
