The outdoor temperature was at least thirty-eight or thirty-nine degrees. By the time Qi Lian walked from the building to his car, he was drenched in sweat. He grabbed a tissue, wiped his face, and started the engine, racing toward the next construction site. His schedule was incredibly tight.
Even through his work pants, the car seat felt scalding against his skin. The sunlight was so piercing he could hardly keep his eyes open, so he fished a pair of Ray-Ban aviators out of the glove box and slid them on. He mentally calculated how to rearrange his tasks; if Yu Mo agreed to have dinner with him tonight, he would need to carve out time to go home and cook.
He remained busy until just after ten o'clock that night. By the time he reached home, his black T-shirt had dried and soaked through repeatedly, leaving behind white, crusty salt stains. The elderly residents who usually sat out in the cool evening air had already carried their stools back inside.
He looked up at the fourth floor across the way. The windows were dark.
He pulled out his phone: "Not home yet?"
After showering, he pulled on a pair of loose shorts that hung precariously low on his hips, revealing a lean, wiry waist and a sculpted V-line. The heat made him loath to wear anything else, so he went out to the balcony shirtless to hang his laundry.
The moonlight spilled over his firm chest, casting a soft glow over his muscles.
Once the clothes were hung, he stood on the balcony for a moment, staring at the window opposite his. A sudden breeze made his freshly washed, damp clothes sway back and forth, one of them hitting him with a wet *thwack*.
It was getting late. He had to wake up early tomorrow to put in overtime and catch up on the schedule. He should have gone to sleep immediately, but he didn't want to move. His heart felt sticky and tangled, like a ball of hemp he couldn't quite straighten out. Usually, when he returned from overtime, he would shower and pass out until dawn. Now, he didn't even recognize himself.
Just then, his phone let out a *ding*. He finally received a reply: *I’m staying out tonight.*
In the silence of the night, that *ding* seemed to pierce straight into his brain, followed by a dull *thump* that echoed in his mind.
The moon climbed toward the zenith. The mountain air was damp and cool, with occasional breezes that made the white gauze curtains on the balcony billow like sails.
Yu Mo was currently lying in a hotel halfway up Qiyun Mountain. Their room featured a massive balcony with a built-in bathtub. Soaking in the tub, one could see the scattered lights below and the distant lake, which looked like a polished mirror.
She took a large gulp of red wine and spoke to Wu Yisheng, who was lying opposite her, buried in her phone replying to emails. "This wine is good. It’s sweet, with a hint of preserved plum."
Without looking up, Wu Yisheng teased her, "Is that all you’ve got? Do you have any idea how much this bottle cost, and all you taste is 'sweet'? You might as well be drinking soda."
Yu Mo didn't mind. "I just felt like having a drink today. I couldn't stomach anything else."
She kicked up a few splashes of water with her feet in protest. "Hey, what are you even here for? Aren't you almost done?"
Wu Yisheng was lying directly across from her. The splashes landed on her face and her phone. She tossed the phone aside and kicked back twice as hard, sending a spray of water directly into Yu Mo’s face.
Yu Mo barely had time to lift her wine glass high to save it. She dodged, laughing and scolding, "You stingy brat!"
Wu Yisheng watched with a grin as Yu Mo nearly jumped like a startled rabbit. She narrowed her amber eyes and let out a roguish whistle. "Little Mo, your figure makes me drool. It hasn't changed in ten years."
Today, Yu Mo was wearing a yellow bikini. With her milky-smooth skin, she looked like a plump, succulent peach.
Yu Mo ignored her. They had known each other for over a decade and were far too familiar. Back in school, Wu Yisheng had always been full of dirty jokes. Now that she was a sales professional for a foreign firm—earning her living through her silver tongue and frequenting business banquets—her ability to talk "off-color" was seasoned and impossible to guard against.
Yu Mo took another sip of wine, smacked her lips, and said, "This trip is on you. I’m broke."
Wu Yisheng froze. She had many questions but wasn't sure if she should ask. After a moment of hesitation, she maintained her casual tone. "If you want to scam me, just say so. Big sister here can afford to treat you. But I don't believe for a second that you're broke. Did Xue Shen go bankrupt, or did your father?"
In her usual soft, gentle voice, Yu Mo dropped a bombshell: "I’m divorced, Yisheng. I want to stand on my own two feet in this world now. For the time being, I am very poor."
The calm in Wu Yisheng’s eyes shattered like ice in spring. For a moment, the self-proclaimed veteran of the world couldn't hide her shock. She looked at Yu Mo as if Yu Mo were a heartbreaker who had just announced she was abandoning her.
She leaned forward. "You and Xue Shen divorced?? Why? I refuse to believe I was that wrong about you two. You were clearly madly in love."
No matter how cynical a thirty-year-old career woman might act, or how much she claimed to look down on men, deep down she still harbored the fantasies of a young girl. She hoped that true love existed in this world. Even though it had nothing to do with her, the shattering of this particular fantasy made her profoundly sad.
Her surprise was so blatant that Yu Mo felt a pang of guilt. She gently nudged Yisheng’s leg with her foot to comfort her. "You weren't wrong. He loved me. Even now, I’m certain that if only one of us could live, he would sacrifice himself without hesitation. If I were sick and needed his liver or stomach, he would give them to me without a second thought. From that perspective, Yisheng, don't be disappointed. Love exists. But human nature is complex. We reached a fork in the road, our destinations changed, and so we waved goodbye."
Wu Yisheng just stared at her, speechless.
Yu Mo took another sip of wine. "Do you remember the metal lockers against the wall in our high school cafeteria? One Christmas, Xue Shen said he wanted to give me a gift. That night, he snuck into the cafeteria and carved 'XS AND YM FOREVER' into the corner of a locker. The cafeteria was the place where we’d meet to eat every day, a silent understanding between us. He said those lockers wouldn't break for decades and the school wouldn't replace them easily. Three years ago, we went back to the school specifically to look for it. It was still there. Things don't change, but people do."
Something bright and crystalline fell from her eyes. She could finally talk about these things, like an old person recounting stories of their youth.
"Do you hate him?"
"I don't. I’m just very sad. We were each other’s best friends. I would support him in becoming whoever he wants to be. A mother doesn't hate her child just because they were naughty and made a mistake. I don't hate him; we just can't be lovers anymore."
Wu Yisheng felt a sharp pang of heartache. This was the Yu Mo she knew—firm in her heart yet humble and kind. No matter how dizzying the world became, she always had her own philosophy that radiated warmth. The more people Wu Yisheng met, the more she realized how precious this quality was.
"Mo Mo, why didn't you tell us something this big?"
Yu Mo wiped the moisture from her face, turned, and poured herself another glass. "Yisheng, I suddenly wanted to see if I could stand in this world on my own. Separating from Xue Shen made me realize that nothing is eternal. Perhaps every person is like a riverbed, constantly meeting and parting with the rushing water. Not a single drop stays forever. All we can do is reinforce the riverbed and wait for the next meeting and the next parting. You understand what I’m saying, right?"
Wu Yisheng didn't speak. She had a very Eurocentric face—high brow bones, a narrow frame, amber eyes, and snow-white teeth. When she smiled, she was incredibly charming.
When they were younger, Yu Mo used to tease her, calling her a "barbarian."
Her background was vastly different from Yu Mo’s, and she had become world-weary over the years. She sighed inwardly.
"I just want you to be happy. Whatever decision you make, I’ll support you." She nudged Yu Mo’s leg back with her foot.
Yu Mo laughed, revealing her rarely seen small canine teeth. "Don't worry, I’m doing great. I made nearly twenty thousand yuan this month. Pretty impressive, right?"
Wu Yisheng laughed too, raising her wine glass to clink it against the air.
Twenty thousand? For the old Yu Mo, twenty thousand was the price of a single cashmere sweater or a handbag. Now, she was grinning like a nouveau riche peasant over twenty thousand yuan. But she loved this version of Yu Mo.
She kicked Yu Mo lightly. "Your phone has been buzzing nonstop."
Yu Mo scrambled to find her phone, eventually digging it out from under a pile of clothes.
Wu Yisheng shouted playfully, "You should try out a few more men! I told you years ago it was a waste to only have one man your whole life."
Yu Mo ignored her. She opened her phone to find a mountain of WeChat messages and several missed calls. When she tried to read the text on the screen, the words seemed to have double shadows. She cried out, "That’s weird! Why are the words on my phone running away today?"
Wu Yisheng burst into laughter on the other side.
Yu Mo picked a few important messages to reply to, ignoring the rest because reading was too much effort. Just as she put the phone down, a video call came in. She saw the name and answered without thinking.
"What do you want, Qi Lian?" she said, drawing out the last syllable like a spoiled child.
Wu Yisheng glanced over.
On the other end, Qi Lian froze for several seconds. The hardness he had built up from a night of anxiety melted instantly into tenderness. He cleared his throat and involuntarily softened his voice. "Where are you? Do you want me to pick you up?"
Yu Mo answered with another long, lingering tone, "No need... I’m not coming home today..." Before she could finish, her hand slipped, and the phone dropped onto her chest. She scrambled to retrieve it.
In that brief drop, Qi Lian caught a glimpse of her pale, exposed chest. His eyebrows shot up, and his gaze darkened. He fired off a volley of questions: "Where are you? Who are you with? Are you drunk?"
When Yu Mo didn't answer immediately, he raised his voice urgently. "Answer me!"
His voice lacked any warmth and sounded gratingly sharp.
Yu Mo’s beautiful brows furrowed. She pulled the phone away slightly and caught sight of Wu Yisheng’s "enjoying the show" expression. She felt a bit embarrassed, and with her brain in a muddle, she didn't know how to handle it, so she simply turned the phone off.
Wu Yisheng leaned in, looking mischievous. "That fast? Have you tried him out yet?"
Yu Mo pushed her head away. "Tried what? He’s just a passerby. He’s too good... the kind of person where you look at him and wonder how someone can be that good. I can't bear to hurt him." Her speech was starting to slur.
Wu Yisheng snorted. "What, did you meet a living Buddha? Men should be begging on their hands and knees for you to hurt them."
Yu Mo didn't think she was drunk, just a bit lightheaded. she gazed at the distant mountains, which were now only vague silhouettes, thinking about Qi Lian. She said to Wu Yisheng with a thick tongue, "Have you ever met someone? At first, you don't care about them at all. But slowly, they’re everywhere. They handle everything for you so perfectly that by the time you realize it, they’ve permeated every part of your life. Then one day, you suddenly think he’s very sexy. Don't you think that’s strange?"
Wu Yisheng took a sip of wine and said, "I think you’re very stupid."
Yu Mo couldn't hear clearly. She tilted her flushed face and asked, "What did you say?"
Wu Yisheng knew she had reached her limit. She stood up from the water with a splash, snatched the wine glass from Yu Mo’s hand, and coaxed her, "I said you’re very pure. That’s enough. If you drink any more, you’ll be crying tomorrow."
She helped the mumbling Yu Mo—who insisted she wasn't drunk—into the room to sleep. What can you say to someone who gets tipsy after three glasses? It was the same as someone who reached thirty having only ever had one love; there was simply nothing to be said.
The next day at noon, when it was time to check out, Yu Mo was still fast asleep. Her head was buried like an ostrich under a pile of down pillows. Every time Wu Yisheng called her name, she buried herself deeper.
Wu Yisheng packed everything she could find in the room and forcibly dragged her up. "Hurry, hurry! It’s checkout time. If you delay us, you’re paying the late fee yourself."
That finally cleared Yu Mo’s head a little. Holding her throbbing head, she walked unsteadily to the bathroom to wash up.
As a saleswoman who lived out of a suitcase, Wu Yisheng was efficient. In no time, she was standing by the door with both their bags, nagging Yu Mo like a stern mother-in-law.
Yu Mo winced, her face small and pained. She wore large sunglasses to block out the piercing light and clung to Wu Yisheng’s arm like a timid bride as they walked.
The room was halfway up the mountain, and the trek down was not easy.
Wu Yisheng supported her, saying, "I used to be a lightweight too. Now, there’s basically no drinking session that can put me under the table. I haven't been drunk once this year. Everyone grows up eventually. You get used to it after throwing up enough times."
The blinding sunlight turned the ground white, making it hard to see. The thatch along the steps gave off a fresh, herbal scent.
Just as Yu Mo was about to speak, Wu Yisheng added mischievously, "Do you know what you look like right now? Coming out of a hotel with unsteady steps... looks like a night of pure debauchery."
Yu Mo replied weakly, "Director Wu is indeed experienced."
They ate a few bites of noodles in the hotel lobby, though neither had much of an appetite.
Wu Yisheng drove Yu Mo to the high-speed rail station. She lived in Longcheng, which was in the opposite direction of Jinning.
Once Yu Mo was seated on the train, she pulled out her phone. She had kept it off since the night before and only turned it on when she needed to buy her ticket. The moment it powered up, it was like a lit firecracker; notification pings went off incessantly. Only now that she was seated did she have the time to go through them one by one.
More than half were from Qi Lian. He had called multiple times at two and three in the morning. The most recent call was from just after ten this morning. Feeling a pang of guilt, she quickly sent a message: *I’m fine. My phone was off yesterday.*
Qi Lian’s video call came in almost instantly.
She took a deep breath and answered.
***
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