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Du Xiaosu only half-believed her friend. “How do you know?”
“I’m a fashion fanatic,” said Zou Siqi with a know-it-all air. “Imagine chasing celebrities around all day but still only knowing Armani.”
“Hey, there are plenty of rich people in this world. Even if this person is literally Li Ka-shing, an exclusive is an exclusive and a headline is a headline.” Du Xiaosu proceeded to fix her friend with a glare. “If I actually end up not getting a bonus, I’ll blame it all on you and your crow’s mouth.”
Du Xiaosu would never have expected that Zou Siqi was right on the money. Mo called Du Xiaosu into his office after looking over the photos she had handed in. “Good work, Du Xiaosu. Unfortunately, we can’t release these photos. And there’s no need to keep an eye on Xu You anymore. Let’s wrap up for today.”
“Who’s the owner of the car?” Du Xiaosu asked. “How did you find out so quickly?”
Mo shook his head. “There’s no need to find anything out. We have a heavy burden to bear in our line of work. Didn’t I teach you all of this back when you entered the profession? There are four things that are off-limits to capture on camera, one of them being snapping photos of private-label brands. How could you have completely forgotten?”
Du Xiaosu realized that she had indeed completely forgotten to abide by these unspoken rules. She proceeded to spend the entire afternoon trying to make some sense out of the photo, but to no avail. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual captured in the shot. “The license plate is nothing special . . . FE . . . starts with six characters . . . followed by a bunch of numbers . . .”
“Don’t underestimate the license plate,” said Mo knowledgeably. “It may very well prove to be even spicier than A8 license plates. Look into it and learn more while you’re at it.”
Even though she hadn’t gotten the bonus, Du Xiaosu didn’t display any signs of being disheartened. If it hadn’t been for Shao Zhenrong bringing it up later that day, she would’ve long since put the matter in the back of her mind.
It was one of those rare Sundays—both of them were free, so they were nestled in the cozy confines of her apartment. Although her complex was small, it was still homey. That was, after all, the reason Du Xiaosu had chosen to rent this one in the first place. As she was a northerner, she was used to having central heating during the winter seasons. The temperature was toasty, and Du Xiaosu was sprawled across the thick, soft carpet. She had her device propped against a pile of books as she watched Anime on Tudou. Every now and then, she would let out a few giggles.
Meanwhile, Shao Zhenrong sat beside her, searching up medical material on his phone. After a lengthy stretch of silence, Shao Zhenrong noticed that Du Xiaosu was no longer laughing at regular intervals. Feeling that this was odd, Shao Zhenrong turned around and found Du Xiaosu fast asleep on her stomach. When had she slipped into slumber? The piggy pillow had been squashed flat by her elbow, leaving only its pink nose to support her cheek. How adorable!
The reflective rays of the setting sun were weaker in the winter, passing through the gauzy white curtain and gently gilding the room. The passage of time seemed to be treading on tiptoes. Her face was ruddy from slumber, and a sliver of saliva glistened in the corner of her mouth.
She didn’t look particularly flattering. In fact, she rather resembled the little pig she was cradling. Yet, he felt a sudden stirring in his heart, as if it were a dry sponge that had suddenly sucked in its fill of water, rendering it soft beyond imagination.
He went to the bedroom to fetch a blanket, then gently covered her up with it. She continued sleeping soundly, still smelling faintly soapy from her shower. Her forelocks were slightly messy, much like a child’s bangs. He bent down to brush a kiss against her lips before settling down to sit by her side. Several things would cross his mind at once, then just as suddenly he would be thinking about nothing at all. After a long while, he finally rose and went back to doing research on his device, his fingers moving swiftly across the screen. He could only her the sound of her breathing in the serene space, her breaths light and shallow and rhythmic.
There was a strange feeling in his chest. Could this be happiness?
He’d had a girlfriend before during his college years, though just the one. At the time, both of them had been far too young and naïve. They had constantly argued out of foolish pride; they had even broken up and gotten back together multiple times. At times, it had seemed like they were hell-bent on hurting each other. Ultimately, he had finally come to understand that it was not love, ending the relationship once and for all.
Now, it seemed to him that love was meant to be simple—even ordinary. He wanted her to stay like this forever, carefree and calm as she slept beside him.
She slept until nearly nightfall. As she raised herself to a sitting position, she rubbed her eyes and exclaimed, “What? The sky’s already gone dark!”
He turned on the floor lamp, the bright orange light emanating in warm waves. On the screensaver of his laptop, a large and noticeable sentence “Shao Zhenrong likes Little Pig Du (Du Xiaozhu)” paraded across the screen.
Upon seeing this, Du Xiaosu jumped up in surprise. She had originally set the screensaver to say “Shao Zhenrong likes Du Xiaosu.” How dare he change it, she thought.
Immediately, she lunged for the laptop in order to change it back, but he wouldn’t let her. They playfully fought over it, laughing uncontrollably, and nearly tumbled to the floor. She eventually got ahold of the mouse and changed the screensaver back to what it read before.
As Xiaosu typed, her slender fingers gently pressed the black keys. Zhenrong suddenly felt the temptation to take her delicate hands in his. The pads of her fingers resembled soft, round drops of jade. He couldn’t help but notice her messy, shoulder-lengthen hair as she raised her head just slightly. Her dark eyes twinkled like crystals. The light they reflected was most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Shao Zhenrong embraced Du Xiaosu with both arms, then kissed her.
The kiss was redolent of almonds. She exclaimed vaguely, “Did you steal my almonds?”
His lips quirked as he parted them to speak. “What do you mean by steal? What’s yours is mine.”
Her fridge was filled to brim with junk food that she never hesitated to stuff herself with, and she ate whatever was most convenient. Somehow, she never seemed to gain any weight, which was really a testament to how busy she was on a daily basis. She always running all over the place, so no matter how much she ate, she never ended up harboring any food babies.
“Hungry, are you?” she asked him. “What do you want to eat? I’ll cook it for you.”
He felt distinctly spoiled. “You know how to cook?”
“Well, of course,” she said, looking very pleased with herself. “A modern woman like me, how could I not have the ability to hold my own in both the kitchen and the workplace?”
As it turned out, she had been bluffing about her talents in the kitchen. She ended up simply making some egg fried rice, although not without a great deal of fanfare. The kitchen was a mess afterward: she had scorched the pan and nearly knocked over the bowl of eggs.
“Give me the towel,” he finally said, resigned. “And you can go.”
Now it was her turn to get pampered. “You know how to cook?”
“Well, of course,” he replied rather faintly. “A modern man such as myself must be multi-talented. I, too, can hold my own in both the kitchen and the workplace.”
How rude of him to give her a taste of her own medicine!
He shooed her into the living room, where she absent-mindedly played a video game for a while. In the end, unable to contain her worry, she walked back to the kitchen to check in, and wow!
She was shook.
The fridge was actually pretty limited in terms of ingredients available to use for cooking. Aside from the stacks of snacks and all the convenience foods, there were a few eggs and two cucumbers, which she had initially intended to use for a face mask. This man had somehow managed to concoct two dishes and a soup from these meager materials.
She sized up the dishes curiously. “Seaweed egg drop soup . . . where did you manage to find seaweed?”
Without even lifting his head, he responded, “I used a pack of your nori.”
Wow, that works?
He set the table and laid the dishes out; it all looked very good. She took a photo out of a habit, and Shao Zhenrong in his chef costume happened to be in the frame. The apron even had a little cartoon bear sewn on it. He rarely ever looked this youthful and cute.
“No way! Delete that photo!” he insisted, laughing as he shed the apron.
“Come on, we can print it out and put the picture in a photo album. It’ll be amusing!”
He leaned in close so they could look through her camera roll together. As she swiped backwards one photo at a time, she suddenly scrolled to the shot of Xu You that she had captured that day at the airport.
“Hey, who’s that?” asked Shao Zhenrong.
“No idea. Mo won’t let me share it. I have no idea why. Ugh, what a shame that I won’t get my bonus.”
“I meant who is this woman.”
“You don’t even know who Xu You is? She was in A Pleasant Place No Longer.”
He rarely ever watched TV, so he never concerned himself with entertainment news, but right now, she was suddenly getting jealous. “Why are you asking about her? Do you think she’s pretty?”
He thought about it very solemnly for a while. “Mhm . . . far more beautiful than you.”
She had a quick comeback. “But of course the young man at her side looks far more handsome and charming than you.”
His face fell, and he looked deeply wounded. “Really?”
Du Xiaosu chortled as she reached out and squeezed his cheeks affectionately. “However, you get extra points for being able to hold your own in both the kitchen and the workplace!”
Indeed, she had no complaints about his hearty handiwork. Perhaps she was just hungry: these dishes had her grinning from ear to ear. Satisfied after eating her fill, she set down her chopsticks and said, “Shao Zhenrong, could I give you my hand in marriage?”
He gazed at her steadily.
“Yes or no?” she demanded.
“Why?” he asked her.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re a talent in every sense of the word, graduated from a top school, work at one of the most renowned hospitals, you’re a rising star in the neurosurgery field, you even know how to cook . . . .” She shook his arm. “I won’t spend a lifetime in regret. I must act first and take initiative in case you get snatched away by other ladies. Can I give you my hand in marriage? Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
Now it was her turn to stare in shock. It was only after a while that she was able to muster the ability to ask, “Huh? You agreed? Why?”
The corners of his mouth quirked. “So I’m a talent in every sense of the word, graduated from a top school, work at one of the most renowned hospitals, am a rising star in the neurosurgery field, and I even know how to cook . . . . Someone like me agreed to your marriage proposal, and now you’re questioning me?” He made an exaggerated expression. “I’m hurt.”
She threw her head back and laughed out loud. He caught her balmy lips against his own and taught himself indulgence.
After they finished eating, they went out to watch a movie. Catherine Zeta-Jones’ comeback film No Reservations was currently in theaters. It was perfect for the occasion, as it was full of warm romance. Even though Du Xiaosu had just had a full meal, the concession stand still seemed seductive. After all, she always had an appetite to satiate.
As she munched on her popcorn during the movie, she realized that it was not helping satisfy her cravings. In fact, it was only making her even more hungry.
Halfway into the movie, Shao Zhenrong said in a low voice, “I’m going to head out for a moment.”
She assumed he was just going to the restroom. Who knew that when he returned a few moments later, he would be holding a paper food tray in his hands, almost as if he had conjured it like a magic trick.
In the dim theater, she caught a whiff of a tangy aroma that could only be her favorite: Takoyaki. Fresh, piping hot, and served with a smattering of bonito flakes, the octopus balls were delicious. Du Xiaosu didn’t want to disturb the people sitting next to them, so she lowered her voice and whispered, “How did you know I was hungry?”
“I could hear you swallowing.”
Was I that obvious? She rolled her eyes at him, not caring whether or not he actually caught sight of her doing so in the pitch-black movie theater. Cupping the warm paper platter of octopus balls in the palms of her hands filled her with a feeling of comfort and cheer. She finished them off one by one, then left the last one for him.
He wasn’t used to eating outside, but she fed it to him, holding it up against his mouth. After a moment of hesitation, he ended up eating it.
Du Xiaosu was very happy, as she took a sort of wicked pleasure in wrecking his habits. Holding his hand, she watched Aaron Eckhart singing at the top of his lungs in the big kitchen. The love of the two leads was so lovely, far finer and more exquisite than the texture of tiramisu. It was all so unimaginably sweet.
Then, her phone, which was in her outside pocket, began to vibrate. She dug it out to find that Sun was calling her.
She lowered her voice to barely a whisper and had just answered the phone, but Sun had already begun to holler on the other end of the line, “Xiaosu! My wife is about to give birth! I need to head to the hospital soon. Can you come take over at the office and keep an eye on Xiao Zhang for me? Please? Please!”
“What happened?” Shao Zhenrong asked Du Xiaosu.
“Something came up. My colleague has a family emergency. He asked if I could replace him on duty.”
“I’ll send you over,” Shao Zhenrong said.
She was a little disappointed by the fact that they didn’t get to finish the movie as she observed the bustling city scene at night: through the window was a view of luxury and temptation. The bright neon lights shone all around as streams of cars flowed calmly through the streets. The traffic signals would turn red every so often, stopping the car here and there. Zhenrong remained fixated on the road ahead of him. Xiaosu began to wonder whether Zhenrong had the same sort of focused expression when he worked on the operating table. He looked so handsome in that state of concentration, with his slightly furrowed brow and keen gaze.
She couldn’t help but feel bad. “We couldn’t even watch a movie together.”
At another red light, the car slowly came to a halt, and he said, “I actually just wanted you to be sitting by my side. The movie was more of an afterthought.”
She felt her heart warm a little, and, as if something had nudged her into motion, she found herself smiling slightly as she said, “Ah, Shao Zhenrong, now I have the sudden urge to kiss you.”
He gave a little jump, almost as if he were surprised. As he turned to look at her, his ears reddened for no reason. She found it adorable when he flushed, so she pulled him in by the collar of his coat as she leaned over to kiss him.
The warm breeze from the car’s air conditioning system whirred, casting a few strands of her hair onto his face. Shao Zhenrong seemed to be breathless. Her face was heated as well. He finally released her and said, “In the future, only I’m allowed to kiss you. You’re not allowed to kiss me.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so!” He had never spoken so fiercely before.
When Sun caught sight of her, he acted as if she were some sort of savior. “Oh, Du Xiaosu, thank you so much! Ah, Doctor Shao, you came, too? So sorry to have bothered you, so sorry.”
He continued apologizing profusely until Du Xiaosu said, “You should get to the hospital. Your wife and your child are the most important!”
Soon, Sun hailed a taxi and departed.
As parking was not allowed around the premises, Shao Zhenrong parked his car at a nearby hotel’s underground garage before heading back to accompany Du Xiaosu. The frigid night wind of early winter already had a bit of a bone-biting chill to it. He noticed that the tip of her nose was red from the cold and immediately asked, “Are you cold?”
“A little,” she replied earnestly.
He took her hand in his. Together, they moved their clasped hands to his pocket for the sake of warmth. He had large hands, so his palms radiated heat. As his fingertips began warming up a little, she felt her heart doing the same. Since their hands were in his pockets, they stood very close to each other, with her nearly encircled against his chest. Behind them was the hotel edifice, the myriad of magnificent lights limning their silhouettes against the scenery in splendor as the two of them lingered where they stood in silence. Her eyes gleamed like precious gemstones, reflecting the various vibrant colors of the streetlights, as she tilted her head just slightly to gaze up at him.
“Xiaosu, I had no idea before, but your line of work is so toilsome,” he remarked.
“It has its pleasures and its pains,” she said. “You know, I think it’s worth it. Because if I hadn’t been in this line of work, I never would’ve crossed paths with you.”
Upon arriving at this topic, he began to act as if he were settling a score. “Don’t get me started! A young woman climbing high and low. What if that pipe had broken?”
“How could it have broken? It was an imported PVC downpipe. According to the city’s construction eligibility regulations, the thickness of the pipe wall must be above 0.85 cm, so the cross-sectional load-bearing capacity can bear up to 65 kilograms of weight, and I weigh no more than 51 kilograms. Besides, when I stand on the pipe, there’s an incline involved in the force I’m exerting, so there’s no way it would’ve broken.”
Shao Zhenrong was a little surprised by all her knowledge. “How do you know all this?”
Du Xiaosu affected a triumphant manner, rather like a good student who had just earned the praise of the teacher. “I graduated from T University as a Construction Engineering Major. This is exactly the kind of stuff I learned in college.”
Shao Zhenrong never would’ve expected this. That university actually specialized in that particular field of study, coming second to none in the nation. “Then how did you end up in the entertainment news industry?” he asked her.
“I was naïve back then,” she said. “The relationship that I was in throughout college ended in a lot of hurt, so I switched jobs and started over. Before, I dabbled in finance for a short period of time. Later, I realized that the entertainment industry suited me the most, since there’s always an abundance of boys and gossip around, which is great for me.”
He released a breath and tugged her even closer to himself. He had a cleanly air about him that was accompanied by a faint hint of disinfectant. She had always appreciated the scent, so she breathed it—and him—in deeply before speaking again. “Why don’t you head home first? It’ll be quite a few hours before I can clock off.”
“I’ll stay with you,” he said.
“It’s all right,” she said. “Plus, you have a day shift tomorrow.”
He kept his voice low, speaking into her “Xiaosu, perhaps I’m a little selfish, but if it’s possible, could you consider switching into a different line of work?”
She sank into a lengthy and pensive silence, causing him to worry that she might have taken offense. “Xiaosu . . . .”
Du Xiaosu let out a cheerful chuckle: “Jealous?”
“I am jealous,” he conceded, nodding.
He really was quite jealous of the man who had caused her to give everything up just to get away. What kind of man—?
Yet, the way in which she had just told him about all of this made it clear that she had long since moved on.
Indeed, Du Xiaosu spoke with an easy smile: “All right, then I’ll switch jobs.”
When Zou Siqi heard that Du Xiaosu intended to switch jobs, she began clicking her tongue with approval. “Mighty is the power of love! Someone will no longer serve the people of this entire country for a lifetime by funneling every ounce of fight in her body towards a profession in the entertainment industry.”
Meanwhile, Mo lamented when Du Xiaosu resigned, for she had always been so diligent, and he had brought her up himself here. “When you’re free, please stop by and say hi,” Mo said with alacrity.
Du Xiaosu also felt a twinge of reluctance and spent a long time bidding her farewells to her colleagues.
In the following days, she started reaching out online and sending her resume to a few places, but it was all of little avail. Nowadays, jobs were more difficult than ever to find. Besides, she only had a bachelor’s degree.
When she was finally contacted by a company for an interview, the person from the human resources department asked her, “Miss Du, I know that you graduated with a related degree, but you have less than a year of actual work experience in engineering. Why did you choose to leave that job for these past two years?”
“I wanted to try new things and continue challenging myself,” she said simply.
When she saw the expression on the face of her interviewer, she knew it was a lost cause. However, the person was not unkind when saying to her, “Thank you, Miss Du, for coming in for an interview. Please wait for our notification by phone call.”
The wait was excruciating.
After receiving rejections from multiple jobs, she decided that she might as well change course entirely, so she applied for an advertisement copywriting position, given that she had working experience in journalism. Quite a few companies were interested, thinking that she had connections in the media industry, but her interviews always seemed to go downhill once they learned that she had just been an entertainment reporter.
She wasn’t too put down by it all, but Shao Zhenrong seemed to be even less concerned. “Let’s get married; I’ll support you,” he said to her.
She felt like he had been setting her up, so she responded, “We can get married if you want, but that has nothing to do with my ability to support myself.”
“I’ll treat you well,” he said. “You’ll have a pale complexion and a plump stature. That way, you won’t be able to run away.”
“So you’re insecure,” she couldn’t help but note gleefully.
He rubbed his nose and laughed. “In any case, you were the first one to bring up the topic of marriage. I’ll remember that my entire life.”
“Doctor Shao, you are very vexing. Once I find work that’s worth my while, I’ll like the new and hate the old and you’ll be off my hands.”