Chapter 30 Ordinary

Chapter 30: An Ordinary Day

Mou Wen, returning from the construction site, suddenly felt the urge to visit the back alley.

She hadn't been back since she got married, and suddenly craved the spicy skewers from the Sichuan lady's stall. She got off the bus and went straight there, but when she reached the small back door, she saw a lock on it. She was on this side, the back alley on the other, watching longingly—she couldn't get through.

She peered through the gap in the door: the little stalls were gone, everything was quiet, as if the back alley had evaporated from the city.

She went to the 9.9-yuan bargain shop to ask, and the owner said, "City redevelopment. The alley's shut down, stalls cleared out. You didn't know?"

"When did that happen?"

"Just last month."

Mou Wen felt a little let down and peered through the gap again for a while. The owner said the stalls were gone, but proper little shops might still be there. If she really wanted to eat, she could go in through another entrance.

Her stubborn streak kicked in, and she actually went in through the other entrance, but the spicy skewers were gone. She stood in the empty little alley, feeling that those days—when she didn't have to think about what to eat and could get full for a few bucks—were gone for good.

Beijing was developing too fast, changing by the day. It was only natural for a nameless alley like that to vanish from the city.

She decided to go eat rice noodles instead.

Passing by that restaurant, she saw that big red lanterns were already being hung outside. They must be hosting some important figure today—there were more "attendants" than usual. Mou Wen stood across the street waiting for the light to change, looking at that "surreal" restaurant.

It was strange, like two different worlds.

The lights on this side were dimmer, with pedestrians hurrying past; while across the street it was bright, those people dressed in fine clothes.

Then she saw Xie Chong.

Xie Chong was wearing a custom-tailored shirt and slacks, standing across the street. She saw him at once. The moment she laid eyes on him, her heart gave a thump, and she couldn't help stealing a few more glances. He was different from anyone else. He didn't belong on this side, but he didn't fully belong on that side either.

She knew Xie Chong had a business engagement that day, because he'd texted her in the afternoon saying she didn't need to save him dinner. She saw several immaculately dressed men and women standing around him. Xie Chong was talking to them, and they were nodding in agreement.

Mou Wen wanted to greet Xie Chong. She stood on her side of the street, rising on her tiptoes to wave at him. She didn't know if he saw her—his gaze seemed to pause on her for a second, then slid away.

The light turned green.

Mou Wen took off running, passing people one by one, her dress hem flying up, just to say hi to Xie Chong face-to-face. When she got near, she called out, "Xie Chong!"

Xie Chong finally saw her.

He looked a bit taken aback.

Everyone's eyes followed his, landing on Mou Wen. She was wearing a dainty floral dress that day, a rainbow barrette in her hair, and carrying a canvas bag—totally out of place among those formally dressed men and women.

"Who's she?" someone asked Xie Chong.

Xie Chong looked at Mou Wen, now in front of him, and said, "A friend."

Mou Wen heard that, and for some reason, her heart sank a little. But she kept the smile on her face as she walked up to him and said, "I thought I saw you across the street, so I ran over to say hi. You go on, don't let me keep you. We'll catch up later." Her tone was natural, as if they were old friends running into each other.

"Let me introduce you to everyone—" Xie Chong began, but someone rushed out from inside to urge them: "Bosses, everyone's here, dinner's about to begin." Someone grabbed Xie Chong's arm and pulled him off.

Xie Chong turned back to look at Mou Wen and said, "You should come along."

"I'll skip it." Mou Wen shook her head and waved goodbye to him.

That day, a car company event was being held there, attended by owners of one of the car models Xie Chong had bought. Xie Chong hadn't wanted to come, but the organizers had gone out of their way to invite him, saying that if he came, all domestic event custom gifts for the next year would be sourced from Xie Chong.

Every little bit counts. The event was practically on his doorstep, so Xie Chong figured he'd make an appearance. He didn't want to stay long, just to make an appearance and then leave.

The event was high-profile—reporters from TV stations, newspapers, and websites had been invited. When Xie Chong signed his name at the signature wall, the flashbulbs nearly blinded him—people probably thought they'd invited some new celebrity.

Everyone had forgotten about the little scene with Mou Wen.

No one asked who the woman who'd said hi was. In fact, they'd never in a million years link Xie Chong to Mou Wen.

During the banquet, the organizers asked Xie Chong to share some stories about the car owners. Xie Chong stood up and spoke fluently: because he'd loved cars since childhood, he'd owned just about every car on the market. But the brand featured at today's event was the one he'd used the longest, because it stood for something—a certain spirit...

He could spin out that kind of small talk without missing a beat. The organizers were very pleased, and while raising a toast, assured Xie Chong that all future event gifts would be custom-ordered from him. Xie Chong said, "Then I'll head to Shanghai tomorrow to sign the contract with you all."

Someone joked, "We come to these events to have fun, but only Boss Xie comes to do business—no wonder Boss Xie's loaded."

Xie Chong smiled and brushed it off, then picked up his phone and asked Mou Wen, "What were you doing in this area?"

It took Mou Wen a long time to reply: "I went to eat rice noodles."

"What's so good about rice noodles?" Xie Chong didn't understand: "Worth the hassle of coming all those stops to eat?"

She didn't text back.

Earlier, when Mou Wen was standing across the street watching Xie Chong surrounded by people, she suddenly felt he was so far away. Maybe because when he was with her, he always seemed like a kid, but just now, he'd put on a different face—so distant and cold.

That version of Xie Chong scared her a little.

And the way those people sized her up was weird, like she didn't belong. That street seemed to divide people into two worlds.

Xie Chong had once told her, "There's extra money on the card—go buy some nice clothes." At the time she didn't think anything of it, but now she figured he must have seen this kind of thing coming.

Her rice noodles were tasteless.

The pickled beans weren't sour enough, and the broth was too weak. She asked the woman cooking the noodles, "Did the owner change?"

The woman said, "No."

She still ate it all anyway.

On her way back, she passed that restaurant and peeked inside: a long walkway strung with countless lanterns. She couldn't tell what was going on inside, just saw a few people with cameras coming out.

That was a life Mou Wen couldn't even picture.

Even though she was already married to Xie Chong, she couldn't imagine his other life. Just like she knew Xie Chong—he was a different person inside the house than outside it.

Back home, she tidied up a bit and went to the study to look over some materials.

Actually, that day had been pretty full for Mou Wen. She'd registered at a driving school, and Wang Xianhe had set her up with a client.

She tied her hair up, put on her blue-light-blocking glasses, and sat at the computer researching kitchen equipment. She was so focused that she didn't even hear Xie Chong come in.

It was already late at night. After his business dinner, Xie Chong returned home to find the living room dark. He called out, "Mou Wen." No one responded.

Usually, at times like this, Mou Wen would have come running out of some room by now, but that day she didn't.

"Mou Wen." Xie Chong called again, still no answer.

He changed his shoes and went to look for her, finding Mou Wen in the study wearing headphones, staring at the computer. She'd been staring at the screen so long her forehead was a little shiny. She seemed to be stuck on something, her brows knitted.

Xie Chong walked over and sat on the chair beside her, letting out a sigh.

Mou Wen took off her headphones and asked him, "You been drinking?"

"Just a bit." Xie Chong sighed again. "I was calling you just now, but you didn't even look up."

"I didn't hear you at all!" Mou Wen got up and sat on his lap. "I'm sorry, I hit a rough patch today. A friend introduced me to a client, and that client's standards are super high..."

"What friend is that?" Xie Chong asked. "That friend, Chu Ling?"

Mou Wen didn't bring up many friends around Xie Chong, and the only one he could recall was Chu Ling. He remembered her because she'd been Mou Wen's roommate, and Mou Wen often went to eat with her. As for everyone else, Mou Wen almost never mentioned them.

The truth was, Mou Wen rarely talked to Xie Chong about her life. The people she met in Beijing, the stuff that went down—she almost never brought any of it up. Xie Chong got the feeling Mou Wen didn't want him to see her life, like she had her own little world that didn't include him.

Qian Song said, "That's how pig-butchering scams go. Scammers who won't put in any effort will even make up their whole extended family—you never meet a single real, living person."

But actually, Mou Wen had mentioned it once. She brought up Xiao Gu, since Xie Chong knew her, so she wanted to share Xiao Gu's story with him. Xiao Gu was studying for a part-time master's degree, and because things were tense with her in-laws, she'd moved out on her own. Her home life was a mess, and her in-laws wanted her to come back and take care of the kids. Xiao Gu didn't want to go back. She said she'd take care of the kids, but only if they'd agree to the divorce.

Mou Wen admired Xiao Gu for that, so she brought this up with Xie Chong.

But after listening for just a second, Xie Chong shushed her and picked up a call. Twenty minutes later, he hung up, but he'd already forgotten what they were talking about. He didn't ask again either.

Mou Wen figured he wasn't interested in that kind of messy, everyday stuff, so she stopped bringing it up.

It wasn't until after they got married, when she got closer to Xie Chong, that she realized his life wasn't as easy as she'd thought. He got endless phone calls every day, his clients were in every industry you could think of, and he not only did import-export but also corporate bulk purchasing. Mou Wen had figured out the nature of his company herself: gift design and sales. Roughly. Except his sales territory was huge—mostly overseas.

He also had an office in Beijing with seven staff, and everything else was handled through partnerships with factories and shipping companies. He outsourced his legal stuff to a law firm. He seemed to be in court all the time, because Mou Wen always heard him on the phone saying, "Sue him!"

Chu Ling called it an asset-light model.

When Chu Ling heard about Xie Chong's setup, she gave him props to Mou Wen: "Your husband's got a sharp mind. We've worked with tons of companies—once they get money, they're dying to sink it into fixed assets: buying buildings, hoarding land. Their scale and reputation go up, but so do their costs. Your Mr. Xie is all about making money and has cut out every unnecessary expense. He's quite impressive. He knows exactly what he wants and how to keep his desires in check."

That Xie Chong felt so far away.

Mou Wen had always felt Xie Chong was distant, but that kind of distance was just a feeling. It was like she was standing here, he was standing there, with a foggy island between them—she couldn't quite make him out, that kind of distance.

But the distance now was different. She'd sailed past that island, made it to his side, stood right in front of him, only to find a mask on his face.

"Did you go to the event today?" Mou Wen asked him.

"Lame event, totally boring." If it weren't for business, Xie Chong wouldn't have gone at all, so when Mou Wen asked, his enthusiasm was low.

"Were they all your friends? Those people." Mou Wen added, "I was across the street and saw you guys chatting it up."

"I'm not close with them." Xie Chong said. "Honestly, some of them I don't even know their names."

"But how do you do business with people you barely know? Wouldn't it be awkward next time you run into them?" Mou Wen was curious—she thought Xie Chong had a great memory.

"The ones I don't remember are the ones I don't wanna do business with." Xie Chong said.

Mou Wen got the sense Xie Chong didn't want to talk about it, so she dropped it.

"You still haven't told me—who's the friend who hooked you up with this client?" Xie Chong was actually interested in this.

"She's the lawyer for one of my clients. Her surname is Wang—Wang Xianhe."

Wang Xianhe, huh.

Xie Chong said nothing, looking at Mou Wen with a meaningful gaze. It seemed Wang Xianhe hadn't told Mou Wen that she was Xie Chong's legal counsel.

Interesting.

"Does this friend know you're married?" Xie Chong asked again.

"I didn't mention it, and she didn't ask. She's very close with my client—every time my client has an issue, she's the one who calls me."

"What's your client's surname?"

"Chu."

Xie Chong raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Mou Wen had originally wanted to ask Xie Chong for advice on some artistic matters, but he was already rubbing his eyes and heading off to wash up.

Mou Wen dove back into her computer.

She was always like that—if there was an unresolved problem, she had to solve it. She didn't want to leave problems for the next day. The client's request to modify the kitchen exhaust duct was extremely difficult; she had to calculate every parameter precisely before she could come up with a viable plan.

Beside her hand were drawing pens, paper, and an eraser, and she kept sketching, erasing, sketching, erasing.

After Xie Chong finished getting ready, he saw she was still busy, her forehead shiny with oil. He said to her, "Go to bed early."

"Okay, okay." Mou Wen looked up from the computer, smiled at him, and said, "Good night."

"Good night."

But Xie Chong just stood there, as if he still had something to do. Mou Wen looked at him blankly and said, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Xie Chong's expression wasn't great. He grunted and left.

Xie Chong went to sleep, but Mou Wen worked until two in the morning. Afraid of disturbing Xie Chong's sleep, she went to the guest bedroom. She often slept alone—for some reason, the work never seemed to end, and sometimes inspiration struck in the middle of the night, keeping her up for hours. She had discussed this with Xiao Gu, who said that in their industry, anyone who could avoid staying up late was practically a deity.

But no matter how late she went to bed, she always woke up at eight-thirty the next morning.

She wanted to make breakfast—all kinds of breakfast. If she had a good breakfast in the morning, she'd be happy all day. She was very devoted to cooking. Perhaps because when she stood in the kitchen, she'd think of distant Yakeshi, the bun shop there, and her mother who never stopped working.

The next day she woke up a bit earlier, and she didn't go to the kitchen.

Xie Chong was still asleep when he sensed a fragrant, soft person slipping into the blankets. The covers bulged into a human shape, and she was fumbling around inside.

Xie Chong rubbed his eyes, smiled, and pulled her out from under the covers. Mou Wen pouted and apologized: "I'm sorry, I was so busy yesterday. I just remembered—we'd agreed to do it last night. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She made a praying gesture with her hands, begging for Xie Chong's forgiveness. He deliberately let out a "hmph" and said they'd make up for last night this morning, and tonight would proceed as scheduled.

"Great!" Mou Wen cheered up and tried to dive back under the covers, but Xie Chong pulled her out again. He laughed and said, "What are you doing?"

"Wake-up service! I'm providing you with wake-up service."

"You don't know how." Xie Chong flipped her over onto the bed, then jumped off and headed to the bathroom. Mou Wen heard the sounds of him washing up—she knew it was his usual routine: brushing teeth, showering, washing his hands thoroughly.

He was a very clean person. No matter morning or night, he always washed himself thoroughly. For a long time.

Mou Wen got sleepy waiting.

She hugged the blanket and drifted off, even having something like a dream, but she couldn't remember what it was about at all.

In her sleep, she sensed someone slipping under the covers, and then something cool and soft touched her. She let out a comfortable little moan, half-opened her eyes, lifted a corner of the blanket, and looked at Xie Chong.

He raised his head to look at her, as if he wanted to devour her.

Mou Wen shifted uncomfortably, and Xie Chong snapped at her, "Sleep! Don't you like sleeping?"

Yeah, right, like she could sleep!

The blanket rose and fell, her breathing getting more and more uneven. At that moment, she no longer felt Xie Chong was distant—he was so close to her, so close there was no gap between them.

That round left Mou Wen feeling completely satisfied and relaxed.

Now, on top of cooking, she had one more thing she loved. On days like this, when neither of them was in a hurry to leave, taking their time for a proper session was pure bliss.

Mou Wen threw on Xie Chong's oversized T-shirt and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of them. She hummed a tune, swaying slightly as she worked. That day, she was making a Western-style breakfast, because she'd recently designed a Western kitchen for a client and had picked up some research while she was at it. She thought foreign breakfasts were fun, and she was sure her own spin on them would taste great.

The doorbell rang, and Xie Chong went to answer it.

Mou Wen called out, "Who is it?"

Xie Chong said, "No one." Then he stepped outside.

A moment later, Mou Wen ran to the window and saw Xie Chong standing downstairs with a man and a woman. She had never seen either of them before, but since they had found their way to the house, they were probably Xie Chong's friends.

She stood at the window, watching as Xie Chong spoke to them, his face all serious. She couldn't make out what he was saying. She thought they seemed to be arguing, and then the man shot a glare in the direction of her window.

Mou Wen quickly stepped back, as if afraid of being seen.