Chapter 6 Fourth Encounter

Chapter 6: The Fourth Encounter

With the autumn rain finally over, Beijing plunged into winter overnight.

Mou Wen finally made it to the weekend. She and Chu Ling each lugged a large bag onto the bus heading to the zoo wholesale market.

Mou Wen had decided to readjust her budget—putting the laptop purchase on hold for now. She needed to buy clothes first.

"I'm going to become a proper city girl." Her hand gripped the handrail tightly as Chu Ling held onto her arm for support, steadying herself on the crowded bus.

"Why?"

"Because I don't have enough clothes," Mou Wen said. "I need a few decent outfits—the kind that can fool people."

She had always been frugal, thinking of herself as a rough-around-the-edges construction worker type who didn't need particularly nice clothes. She didn't own many, but with her height and sense of style, she could mix and match and always look good. These past few days had taught her that appearances really mattered—many people would judge you by what you wore and issue you a "pass" accordingly.

Beep—you dress well, you must have some money, I should show you some respect.

Something like that.

She had just stepped into the real world, wanting to prove herself with her abilities. But before she even got the chance, reality had already thrown a punch at her.

"You're rattled," Chu Ling said. "Mou Wen, you've really been rattled by that client."

"Yes!" Mou Wen nodded firmly. "I'm rattled! I'm seriously rattled!" She mimicked the client's tone: "If this breaks, you couldn't afford to pay for it..."

"Anyway, today I'm going to tear it up at the zoo market and Zhongguancun!"

She wanted to soar, but the weekend zoo wholesale market wouldn't let her fly too high. It was packed with people—her toes kept kicking against others' heels as she squeezed her way to the stalls she liked.

Shopping for clothes required precision: you had to be quick, precise, and cutthroat. Once you spotted something you liked, you tried it on immediately, exchanged a glance with Chu Ling—a nod meant it looked good and was a buy, a shake meant it was ugly and off it came. For bargaining, you never cut the price in half; you'd offer twenty percent of the sticker price. If the owner couldn't be bothered to respond, you knew your offer was too low and had to bump it up. If they grudgingly said, "Fine, fine, I'm selling this at a loss," you knew you'd overpaid.

It was a series of battles, and in the end, the only thing being fought over was how much cash you had on you. Mou Wen battled while dreaming of the future: one day, she'd just pay full price and walk away, or buy out the entire place.

Their bags slowly bulged until they couldn't hold any more—and they'd only spent about a thousand yuan. They squeezed back onto the bus, dropped off their haul at the dorm, then headed straight to Zhongguancun.

The mall in Zhongguancun had business women's wear. Mou Wen tried on and took off, took off and tried on, finally dropping a small fortune of two thousand yuan on a coat and a blouse. As she paid, she felt her heart bleed, and the thrill of new clothes was instantly cut in half.

"When I'm rich~" She waved her arm and whispered, "I'll buy all of these!"

Chu Ling mimicked her: "I'll take one of everything too!"

Their eyes met, and they couldn't hold back their laughter.

The best part of the day was hitting up Pizza Hut.

The two sat by the window, poring over the menu like it was a life-or-death decision. Chu Ling wanted to help Mou Wen save money, but Mou Wen patted her wallet: "No penny-pinching—we're eating good!"

Steak, pizza, pasta, fries, chicken wings—all of it!

Mou Wen loved the cheese pull on pizza. She took a bite, cheeks puffed out, head tilted back, stretching the cheese into long, thin strands. Sitting side by side, they raced to see who could pull the longest cheese strand, their eyes crinkled into happy crescents.

Outside, the sidewalk was a river of people. Occasionally, a passerby would glance in, catch their goofy antics, and crack a smile. They were wrapped up in their own little bubble of joy, not caring who was watching.

A perfect day with a friend, a great dinner, and the best part—the next day was Sunday, with a whole twenty-four hours to burn. It was pure bliss.

Mou Wen shoved the bad vibes from Xie Chong to the back of her mind.

On Monday, she wore her new clothes to the office.

A charcoal-gray chunky knit turtleneck, a pair of faded white jeans with the sweater casually tucked in, a black belt, and a black coat over it all. In the elevator, she snuck a glance at herself in the mirror and thought she looked like a real grown-up.

Xiao Gu caught sight of her and went, "Wow: Wenwen, you look so... good today!"

Mou Wen planted her hands on her hips, all high and mighty: "Call me Urban Beauty."

"Okay, Urban Beauty."

"From now on, this is what I wear to site visits." Mou Wen lifted her chin and strutted around the office, mimicking the clients' cool, collected vibe. Xiao Gu giggled off to the side.

The phone rang—it was Lin Weisen. His wife had gone into labor early, so he couldn't make it in. He asked Mou Wen to swing by the site—Xie Chong's place was breaking ground today. The foreman was already on site, and the designer had to be there as well.

"I'd rather not," Mou Wen said, feeling a knot in her stomach at the thought of Xie Chong. "What if Mr. Xie sees me and gets upset?"

"He won't be there today. The keys are already with the foreman."

"Then I'm in!" Mou Wen was all business and headed out immediately.

Dressed in her new threads, she couldn't resist checking herself out in every mirror she passed, each time giving herself a genuine nod: Damn, you look good. Waiting for the elevator in Xie Chong's building, with nobody around, she seized the moment to admire herself.

The elevator doors slid open, and she was still mid-pose—never expecting Xie Chong to be standing right there. She snapped to attention and smoothed her expression, explaining: "Mr. Xie, so here's the thing... my mentor, he—"

"His wife's having the baby. I know—he just called." Xie Chong gave Mou Wen a polite glance, then looked straight ahead. In the elevator's reflective doors, they both stood in black coats—him big, her small. Her look was casual and put-together—clearly someone with style.

Xie Chong concluded that the "smiley face" shoes had been a one-time fluke.

He also started to think Mou Wen might actually be someone he could deal with.

He rarely flip-flopped like this about people, and catching himself doing it, he couldn't help but frown.

He frowned, and Mou Wen caught it. Crap, I've pissed him off again.

She stood there, rigid, lips sealed, not daring to say a word to Xie Chong.

Xie Chong realized he'd spooked her.

She hadn't done anything wrong. Her reality was just what it was: a girl who hadn't even officially graduated, grinding through a brutal internship, pulling all-nighters almost every day, with no time or money to look put-together. She was learning the first lesson of the real world: survive, and keep surviving.

Xie Chong had never lived like that. His life had been smooth sailing—his parents had stacked money early, and by the time it was his turn, he could turn his hobbies into a career and rake in cash.

He'd always known they lived in different worlds, but he'd been too hard on her.

Now she stood there, scared of ticking him off, scared this run-in would cause problems for her mentor. The naturally bright and easygoing girl was now scrambling to figure out how to deal with him.

Xie Chong glanced over at her.

Mou Wen met his eyes and offered a polite smile.

The elevator doors opened, and Mou Wen stepped out alongside Xie Chong toward the door.

Xie Chong opened the door and stepped in, but Mou Wen lingered at the threshold, leaning halfway in to call the foreman: "Foreman Liu, can you come here a sec?"

Xie Chong turned at the sound of her voice.

He watched Mou Wen pull a thick stack of drawings and a pen from her bag, press them against the wall, and start marking.

"Come in and check the plans," Foreman Liu said. "Make sure the marks I made are right."

"My mentor already went through them with you—I just want to double-check." Mou Wen smiled. "Come on, Foreman Liu, let's go over it right here."

She said nothing about what had happened that day. Out of respect for Xie Chong as a client, she didn't set foot inside his home.

"Come in and talk," Xie Chong finally said. "It's not easy to talk out here."

"Is that okay?" Mou Wen asked him earnestly.

"Yes," Xie Chong replied.

"Okay."

Normally, you wouldn't need shoe covers at the start of construction, since everything in the room would be torn down, turning it into a dusty, debris-filled mess—wearing shoe covers was just pointless. But Mou Wen still found a pair and put them on.

She wanted to make sure she came across as flawless, not wanting Xie Chong to judge her any more than he already did.

She pulled out the blueprints and went over the demolition details one last time with Foreman Liu.

She didn't even need the blueprints.

This was the first house she had ever designed, and she had the whole thing in her head. But she didn't want to show that. She was afraid Xie Chong would think she wanted to claim his house as her own and look down on her even more. Though, to be fair, he wasn't entirely wrong. She'd definitely imagined more than once: what if this were my home?

She had to hold herself together.

She held the blueprints and went over every detail with Foreman Liu, especially the electrical outlets. When Xie Chong had said he wanted to work anytime, anywhere, she'd thought through every possible scenario where he might work and planned the outlets accordingly.

Her initial design had been so good that Xie Chong hadn't even asked for any major changes, and the house went into construction.

Thinking about that, Mou Wen perked up again.

She quietly asked Foreman Liu, "Foreman Liu, you've renovated so many houses—how's the layout of this design? Tell me the truth."

"Honestly? It's excellent."

"And the design drawings—are they good?" she asked again.

"Really good."

Mou Wen was thrilled, her eyebrows lifting in a flash of pride. She felt she'd done a great job on this project, and how Xie Chong saw her didn't matter anymore.

Xie Chong stood in the living room, watching Mou Wen lead Foreman Liu through the house.

In just a few days, she seemed to have taken her first step into the "real world."

Then his gaze landed on her movements. When she stood by the wall, she'd press her hand against the hem of her coat, carefully keeping it from getting dusty.

It was just a coat.

But she had to be so careful with it.

Mou Wen noticed Xie Chong's gaze and looked at him. Not knowing what this shrew was going to pull to ruin her mood this time, she asked, "Mr. Xie, is there a problem with what we just went over?"

"No," Xie Chong replied.

Good. That's great. Please don't. Mou Wen sped up, wanting to leave quickly. She was like a wound-up toy, suddenly speeding up. Foreman Liu, who had been immersed in her meticulousness, soon couldn't keep up. He scrambled to keep up with Mou Wen as they walked through the house again.

"No problem!" Mou Wen said. "Thanks for your hard work, Foreman Liu. If anything comes up in the next couple of days, call me first." Then, remembering she should get the homeowner's approval, she turned to Xie Chong and asked, "Is it okay to call me, Mr. Xie?"

"Yes," Xie Chong replied.

"Thanks for trusting me." Mou Wen clasped her hands together in a salute. "I'll head off now—there's a lot to do at the office."

She walked to the door to take off her shoe covers, wobbled, and hopped twice to keep her balance. A hand caught her shoulder to steady her. She looked up—it was Xie Chong.

"You got springs in your feet?" Xie Chong teased.

Normally, Mou Wen would have shot back a witty remark. But at that moment, she went still.

She thought Xie Chong was crazy.

She just stared at him, scrutinizing him. Forgive her for being so inexperienced—she couldn't understand how Xie Chong could switch so easily between being judgmental and joking around.

Who gave him the right?