Summer #24

Don't Turn from Summer (莫负寒夏) by Ding Mo (丁墨)

Chapter 24

When Mu Hanxia gets home, it’s already past 2 in the morning. Probably because it’s a weekend, people next door haven’t gone to bed yet. Light shows through from under their door.

Mu Hanxia goes into her room very quietly and changes her clothes. Then she goes to wash herself quickly in the bathroom and finally lies down into the bed.

Out the window, the night gets even colder. The withering trees are growing old quietly. Somewhere the water tap is not completely turned off, or the pipe is leaking, making the very clear “drip, drip” sound.

Mu Hanxia turns and tosses and can’t fall asleep.

After a while, when she finally feels sleepy, the people next door suddenly begin the bed shaking sound. And it’s 3:30 in the morning. Mu Hanxia snatches the pillow and covers it on her ears, but it simply doesn’t work tonight. The annoying sound just keeps pouring into her ears and drives her sleepiness away.

She holds back for a long time and finally can’t hold any more. So she gets up, opens the door and slams it shut, so loudly that the walls seem to be shaking. It suddenly becomes quiet next door. Next, she rushes to the bathroom. With the door open, she presses down the handle of the toilet tank, making the flushing sound. After all this, she goes back to her room, locks the door, and lies back down.

It is still quiet next door.

Mu Hanxia suddenly feels very complicated, hard to tell whether she’s feeling better or even worse. She stares blankly at the little bit of frost-colored moonlight beside her bed. After some time, the squeaky sound of bed shaking from the other side of the wall comes back again.

Mu Hanxia grabs her ear buds, puts them on, and lies there completely motionless.

The next day she gets up much later than usual. When she pulls the door open, the couple are having breakfast in the living room. Before they show anything on their faces, Mu Hanxia smiles first and says very politely, “I’m so sorry. I came home very late last night. I’d drunk some alcohol for my work-related stuff and might have made quite some noise. I apologize if I disturbed you.”

Before the girl can say anything, the guy smiles, “It’s all right. We’re watching a movie and didn’t quite notice. Have you eaten yet? Would you join us?”

The girl also smiles.

Mu Hanxia shakes her hand hastily, “No, no, thank you. I have to go to the company for some extra work.”

Getting out from the apartment and closing the door behind her, Mu Hanxia lightly heaves a breath and gets into the subway station.

--------

Lin Mochen still feels some headache as a result of over-drinking last night. But he is in a good mood, because the two big stores have both been launched with success. The influence they have in the apparel business circle of Beijing is phenomenal. The income of each store has far exceeded other brands. Now a substantial amount of profit is flowing into his pocket on a daily basis.

He notices that Mu Hanxia hasn’t arrived when he gets to the office. In the past, she always arrived before him. Lin Mochen has been drinking his coffee for a while when, through the glass wall, he sees Mu Hanxia walk in with a cold face.

Lin Mochen gazes at her. She doesn’t look his way, but just takes her scarf off and talks with the colleague beside her, finally showing her sweet and warm smiles.

“Ah, yes, it’s way too cold outside.” Her voice can be vaguely heard.

So it’s because of the coldness. Lin Mochen turns his eyes away.

However, it’s not long before he notices that something is wrong. Although she is still highly attentive and effective and all smiles when he assigns her work several times during the day, she doesn’t meet his eyes.

It’s almost noon and there are not many people in the office now. Lin Mochen picks up the internal phone and calls her: “Come in here.”

Mu Hanxia takes her time before walking into his office. She looks up at him smilingly, “Jason, what’s the matter?”

Lin Mochen gazes at her eyes: “What did I say to you last night?”

Mu Hanxia is stunned.

They look at each other, his eyes so compelling. Mu Hanxia turns her head slowly aside and smiles with a self-mockery: “You said...I haven’t done my job well enough.”

 Although Lin Mochen can’t drink much, he behaves well after getting drunk and seldom says something inappropriate. He really doesn’t remember clearly what happened last night. He just vaguely recalls that he was in the same room with Mu Hanxia at some time. Seeing the natural look on her face with the stubborn and hurt emotion hidden in her eyes, at the moment, he believes what she says.

So he smiles lightly and says, “Why, feeling bitter because of the boss’s criticism?”

Mu Hanxia: “Can’t I?”

“No, you can’t.”

Mu Hanxia responses with a “humph” under her breath.

He looks at her seemingly still unpleasant eyes, is silent for a moment, and speaks again, “I said wrongs things after getting drunk. I must have been joking. Your work performance is rather good, but can be better. You understand?”

His voice is unusually warm and gentle. Mu Hanxia feels as if her heart is stroked lightly by something. She keeps her face straight for a while and then can’t hold back her smiles, “I understand.”

Seeing her smiling face, Lin Mochen feels somehow happy too. He says, “Go with me to Lin City next week.”

Mu Hanxia is very surprised: “Lin City?”

“Yes, Lin City in the big southwest region. We are going there to open stores.”

--------

Three days later.

The plane is flying through the ocean of clouds; the sun is high and bright. It’s the first time for Mu Hanxia to travel by air, not to mention traveling first-class. She leans against the broad and cozy chair, gripping the armrest with both hands, but can’t help looking outside at the sunshine, the clouds, the sky, and the far, far away ground.

“Scared?” Asks Lin Mochen, who is sitting by her side.

“How can it be possible?” Mu Hanxia replies, trying not to show anything.

Lin Mochen just smiles.

Mu Hanxia asks, “Why go to Lin City for the business?”

Lin Mochen answers, “Establish the brand in the first-tier city and then harvest profits in the second-tier cities.”

Mu Hanxia thinks for an moment and agrees it’s right.

“But why Lin City?” She asks again.

Lin Mochen puts his book down and looks at her: “Didn’t you do the regional economy analysis? Lin City is the most developed city in the whole southwest region and is the rising center of the region. Besides, I’ve found partners and funds, why shouldn’t I go?”

Mu hanxia replies with a “Oh” and says, “Lin City is good.”

After a while, she starts again, “I heard from Su Yin that you were born in Lin City?”

Glancing at her, Lin Mochen replies, “Yes.”

But Mu Hanxia pursues no further. She picks up the newspaper to flip through.

Lin Mochen reaches out and gives her a gentle pinch on the back of her neck.

“You are so appropriately smart.”

--------

Once they arrive in the city, they are picked up by a car arranged by the partner company and dropped off directly at a luxurious hotel in the city. Pulling the door open into the private dining room, they walk into the glamorous light. A few people already are sitting at the round table.

Lin Mochen walks over with smiles on his face and greets each of them, with Mu Hanxia at his heel.

“How are you, Chief Zhang? Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Ah, Chief Lin, please don’t mention it.” A middle-aged lanky man says smilingly, “You are doing so wonderfully in Beijing. Now you are willing to come develop with us in Lin City, how could we not welcome you with all our heart?”

Lin Mochen smiles lightly and shakes hands with another man with a big size: “Chief Xie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Looking forward to our collaboration.” Chief Xie’s eyes are almost squeezed into a thin line: “Chief Lin, we’ve come to agreement on the phone that the fabrics from my factory will be supplied to you exclusively starting next month. Let’s make money together, Haha!”

Lin Mochen replies, “That’s for sure. You are introduced to me by Chief Deng from the Ru Yi Group, and we certainly will collaborate. Besides, it’s all because you that we can have fabrics with such a low price and high quality. I appreciate it very much.”

Chief Xia laughs loudly.

“This is our marketing manager, Mu Hanxia.” Lin Mochen introduces. Mu Hanxia greets each of them with her sweetest smiles. She is honey lipped and soon the bosses all smile: “Manager Mu, you’re so charming.” “So young and so talented!”

There is also a woman who sits at the table, quietly watching them with smiles all the time. Mu Hanxia and Lin Mochen have noticed her since the moment they walk in.

So Lin Mochen inquires, “And this is?”

Summer #23

Don't Turn from Summer (莫负寒夏) by Ding Mo (丁墨)

Chapter 23

Summer is gone and Autumn is here.

Two months have slipped by like the light between fingers.

Today is a cool sunny day, Mu Hanxia is standing under a big tree by the street side, drinking from a water bottle. Nearby is a scene of excitement. It’s the grand opening of the second store of Feng Cheng this year. Right now, it’s filled with customers inside. At the door there are piles of flower baskets and the ground is covered with colorful confetti.

Her cellphone rings. She sticks out her tongue at the name on the screen before picking up, “Hi, Jason.”

“Where are you?”

“Outside the door.”

“What are you doing there?”

“...taking a rest.”

Sure enough, Lin Mochen chuckles on the other end, “While I’m working like crazy here, Manager Mu is taking a rest? Come up here.”

“Oh...” Mu Hanxia hangs up the phone and goes back into the store.

There are a few small offices on the second floor. Some store assistants greet her while walking past: “Hi, Manager Mu.” “Hello, Manager Mu.”

Mu Hanxia nods smilingly, no long blushing with timidness as two months ago.

Lin Mochen sits in one of the offices, a stack of data reports in his hand, talking to the store manager beside him. He is wearing a solid black suit and a white shirt, complete with a dark red tie. Plus the wrist watch and leather shoes, he gives a noble feel all over. Just sitting there in a casual manner, he is already very imposing.

Mu Hanxia walks over.

The store manager has finished his report. He smiles at Mu Hanxia and walks out. Lin Mochen looks up at her, “Boss Mu, where have you been enjoying yourself?”

“Boss, I was just taking a break outside...”

The corner of Lin Mochen’s mouth goes up a little, but he does not keep on ridiculing her. Mu Hanxia sits down beside him, picks up some of the reports, drags the laptop over, and starts to continue the work with him.

“The W3-11 product?”

“It sells 33 pieces, mostly sizes M and L.”

“Gross interest rate?”

“33%.”

“Data on the same day from the first store?”

“Forty-three pieces, 45%, M, L.”

“Percentage of inventory?”

“40%, plenty. Five styles need to add inventory.”

...

The two of them go on rapidly with one asking and the other answering. Employees sometimes pass their door, but none dares to make any noise lest they would disturb them. They have the same concentrated look and apparently collaborate perfectly in such a manner.

In fact, at the very beginning, Mu Hanxia couldn’t follow Lin Mochen’s thinking pace and searching speed. The first time she assisted him, she looked in the computer for some data for 10 minutes and still couldn’t find it. Lin Mochen sneered at her right on the spot, “Ahh... I hired a log for myself?”

At that time she even argued, “Such a huge computer system, and a whole desktop of data reports. How could one possibly find the data from them so easily?”

But Lin Mochen just fixed his eyes on her, “Every single outstanding marketing manager I’ve ever met had all the market data printed in their mind. With no exception. Otherwise, how do you think they could maintain the extraordinary acuteness about the market? Mu Hanxia, you are really hard-working.”

Mu Hanxia was stunned at his words.

Lin Mochen ignored her after that.

After a while, she got close to him and whispered, “Jason, I was wrong. I was too narrow. Thank you for teaching me.”

He glanced at her.

She put on that meek and compliant attitude.

They looked at each other for a moment, and his palm gave her a gentle pat on the head: “What else is delaying you? Get to work.”

......

Having worked for quite a while, she feels a little thirsty. Glancing at the cup beside her, she notices it’s empty. Just as she reaches for it to get a refill, a hand stretches over and grabs it first.

Lin Mochen stands up, with the two cups in his hand, and walks toward the drinking water machine.

Mu Hanxia gazes at his back while he bends to fill the cups, and feels her heart as gentle and hazy as the night outside the window.

Lin Mochen turns around and their eyes catch each other.

His eyes are deep quiet water.

Right at the moment, the store manager and a few other managers come over, all beaming: “Jason, the opening today is so successful. Shouldn’t we have a celebration dinner?”

Lin Mochen smiles too, “OK. You folks pick the place.”

There’s a burst of cheers.

They go to the most expensive seafood restaurant nearby. The atmosphere is excellent and they all eat to their heart’s contend. Even Lin Mochen has drunk a lot. He sits at the head seat, eyes clear and bright and expression a little laid back.

After the dinner, the group is still unsatisfied and cries for Karaoke party. Lin Mochen agrees readily. They then go to a Karaoke club, ask for a luxurious private room, and order a lot of beverages and snacks.

A few vivacious girls run to pick songs. Someone asks, “Boss, would you sing a song for us?” Everybody cheers for the suggestion. But Lin Mochen just leans in the coach and says, “You guys enjoy yourselves.”

Of course no one will pursue the request again.

Mu Hanxia picks up a popcorn and pops it into her mouth. Actually, she likes to sing. But the colleagues are all nice to her, she’d better not torture them...So, forget it.

“Won’t you sing?” Asks Lin Mochen, who is sitting next to her, his voice slightly husky as a result of drinking.

Mu Hanxia shakes her head.

“Awful to hear?”

Mu Hanxia gives him a fierce stare.

He chuckles.

Mu Hanxia: “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.”He says slowly, “Thought you would be very active on occasions like this.”

Looking at his eyes that are darker than usual, Mu Hanxia suddenly realizes, could it be that he’s a little drunken? Somehow her spirit suddenly rises high, and with a light “Humph”, she picks up the juice and drinks quietly beside him. He doesn’t speak either. With his eyes half closed, he listens to others’ singing with her.

After a while, his cellphone rings, the ringing sound can hardly be heard in the noisy music.

He picks up: “Huh...you are in Beijing now? I’m outside with people form the company. Ok, I will send you the address.”

Putting the phone down, he waits a while and calls someone over, “Xiao Wang, go take someone in from the lobby.”

“Boss, who’s it?”

“Cheng Weiwei. She heard that we are celebrating and wants to join us.”

 They immediately understand.

Everybody knows Cheng Weiwei, because her Yong Zheng is a major client of Feng Cheng. Each month, a significant part of Feng Cheng’s production goes to the multiple stores of Yong Zheng. In the last two months, Cheng Weiwei flied Beijing several times, and every time she would visit their company.

There are guesses about the relationship between Lin Mochen and her. But except for business, they do not seem to have other interactions. Beside, Lin Mochen never goes to Jiang Cheng, so gradually few people gossip any more.

When Cheng Weiwei came to the company she met Mu Hanxia. She was surprised the first time at seeing her. But they don’t have much contact.

Shortly, Xiao Wang leads someone in. Long flowing hair, delicately applied make-up, a dark red embroidered cape, the slender legs, and high heels, Cheng Weiwei looks dazzling in the colorful lights that flow around.

“Hi, Chief Cheng.” “Hello, Chief Cheng.” Everbody greets her. Some who are more familiar with her even exclaims, “Wow, Weiwei is so pretty today!”

Lin Mochen also greets her with a nod.

Cheng Weiwei glances around smilingly, pausing a second on Mu Hanxia who is sitting next to Lin Mochen, but quickly fixes her eye on Lin Mochen, “Jason, a total victory with the second store today. Congratulations!”

Lin Mochen smiles back: “Come sit here.”

Some get up and some move back to make way for her. Mu Hanxia instinctively moves aside to give her the space beside Lin Mochen. Cheng Weiwei sits down and turns to talk with Lin Mochen, without even a glance at Mu Hanxia.

People go on having fun.

Mu Hanxia chats with a colleague beside her, smelling the very light perfume on Cheng Weiwei. Her talk with Lin Mochen can be clearly heard.

“Class brother, congrats!”

“Thank you.” Their wine glasses click lightly together.

“I’ve brought good news too. Feng Chen’s sales at Yong Zheng has risen another 15% this month. Class brother, how would you thank me?”

“How do you want to be thanked? How about I give you a set of our new products from this season?”

“Just like that? You are really good at calculating, class brother. Both saving money and making me your live advertisement, right?”

“Hah...”

......

Mu Hanxia gets up to go to the bathroom.

--------

Outdoor, the stars are twinkling brightly.

Mu Hanxia is leaning in the corridor to feel the cold air. Someone walks over.

She turns around, and there stands a male colleague from the designing department. He is about 25 or 26 years old, tall and skinny, and looks gentle-mannered . His face blushes a little as a result of drinking. His eyes are especially bright, fixed on her.

Mu Hanxia gives him a small smile.

“Hanxia, here you are. Why no go in?”

“I’m here to catch a breath.”

“Oh.” This is a typical technology type of man, standing beside her and gazing at the sky as she does, trying unsuccessfully to say something.

“Hanxia, do you have a boyfriend?” His ear-lopes are all red.

Mu Hanxia is taken aback. When she was in high school, she received a few love confessions. But these last few years it seldom happened. Somehow, she gets nervous as well: “Huh?”

“I... like you. Would you consider...”The tech guy’s voice is very low but also very sincere.

Mu Hanxia blushes. Fairly speaking, this colleague is not bad. He graduated from a famous university and is very competent at work. He is honest and kind with people. She never would have imagined that such a person would confess his love to her.

She turns to looks at him. She is about to say something when she notices that on the other side of the glass door behind them, there’s someone standing.

Lin Mochen.

Hands in his pant pockets, he peers at them. No, more precisely, he is peering at her. It is gloomy here, but his face looks gloomier.

Mu Hanxia stares at his eyes and her mind can only think of one thing: this spot is so far from the private room, why is he also here at this end?

But the tech guy is still gazing at her earnestly. Mu Hanxia withdraws her gaze, looks at the one in front of her, and says apologetically, “Thank you, but sorry.”

...

The guy walks away very disappointed. The surroundings become quiet again.

But for some reason Mu Hanxia’s heart beats so fast, just like the few stars in the sky above her, bright but cold, flickering silently. She turns to open that glass door, only to find Lin Mochen is no longer there.

She thinks he must have gone back to the room, but after a few steps, she sees the door of a smaller room is half closed with light slipping out, someone is vomiting in there.

She sticks her head in and sees the back of Lin Mochen. Arms propping on the sink, his head hangs and his face pale.

This is a lounge, not a karaoke room. Mu Hanxia immediately pushes the door open and walks over to him: “How come you get like this? Why not drink less if you can’t drink?”

Even though Lin Mochen is drunk, his behavior is still graceful. He takes a towel and lightly wipes the corner of his mouth before saying: “I’m really not good at drinking. But there’s the drinking culture here in China, no matter for business or for personal purposes. If I don’t treat my employees sincerely, how can I make them willingly work hard for me?”

This sounds reasonable. But Mu Hanxia glances at his slightly red but very pale face and wonders whether he is really drunk or not.

He gives her a glance and dumps the towel aside. Then he turns to sit down in the coach and closes his eyes.

Mu Hanxia asks, “Cheng Weiwei is still in that room. Aren’t you going back?”

He says indifferently, “Let her be there if she likes. I’m not a barmaid.”

Mu Hanxia chuckles involuntarily. Seeing his bad look on the face, she goes to the drinking water machine to get him a hot cup of water. Then she hears him speak: “Why not accept him?”

Mu Hanxia looks at the water filling the cup, its surface reflecting the broken gentle lights. But her heart is very quiet at the moment, so quiet as if something is going to break out.

She walks back to him with the water, and says flatly, “I just don’t like him.”

Lin Mochen opens his eyes, without taking the water from her, asks with his slightly husky drunk voice, “Who do you like then?”

Mu Hanxia is quiet for a while, then she suddenly smiles. But she says nothing.

Lin Mochen stares at the smile lingering at the corner of her month, suddenly grabs her hand and drags her into his arms. Mu Hanxia is stunned, only sensing his hand locked around her wrist and the tender warmth in his arms, mixed with the light smell of alcohol.

Her world comes to a sudden stop at this moment.

But the next second, he let her loose and lies back into the coach.

Mu Hanxia is still muddled in her mind. Now she is sure that he is truly drunk. Because he smiles calmly and coldly, just like the smile he has when he makes a business decision.

He says, “Mu Hanxia, don’t fall in love with me, and stop attracting me. Because we are not a good match for each other.”

Summer #22

Don't Turn from Summer (莫负寒夏) by Ding Mo (丁墨)

Chapter 22

Driving east out of the Beijing city, there are miles and miles of green farm fields and lush woods. The sky is very blue with clouds floating. Mu Hanxia hasn’t realized until now that the sky in Beijing is even bluer than in Jiang Cheng.

Lin Mochen is driving his Cayenne on the wide state road which has very light traffic. Besides Mu Hanxia, there are Chen Zhiduo from the designing department and Fang Kun from the operation department in the car. They are going to visit the factory today. The atmosphere is light while they chat casually with one another.

The car drives into the factory, and Mu Hanxia notices that the factory is not a small one at all. Looking into the distance, she sees rows and rows of white factory buildings neatly standing.

She stands there looking after getting out of the car. Lin Mochen walks over, “What are you looking at?”

She sighs, “It’s so big! Jason, are you planning on building your own apparel empire?”

“Your vision isn’t too bad indeed. Come in with me.”

The three of them all have their own tasks here in the factory, only Mu Hanxia is here mainly for visiting and learning. After walking through the whole factory in over an hour, especially after seeing all the finished products neatly stacked in the warehouse, she has a lot of thoughts on her mind.

She now has a basic understanding about what styles Lin Mochen wants to follow. First, the quality of the clothes are top level, especially the materials and techniques, totally free of the low quality which he despised earlier. Second, the styles are in line with those products he provided Yong Zheng with, fashionable, simple and decent. The prices are definitely higher than the regular casual wear commonly seen in the market, but not too much.

Intuitively, Mu Hanxia has a feeling that these products are very good. Besides, she can hardly think of any competing brands with similar brands.

When she comes back to the main workshop, Lin Mochen and the others are all there. Fang Kun sees her and asks with a smile, “What do you think? Aren’t our products quite good?”

“Very good.” Mu Hanxia answers, “I even wanted to buy a few when I saw them.”

Lin Mochen is speaking with the production director and looks up at her at the words.

“Didn't you know? Our own employees can buy at 60% off. You go pick some you like. When the store opens, they may sell out quickly and you won’t be able to buy even if you wanted to.” Says Fang Kun.

“Really?” Mu Hanxia becomes really interested, “Then I’m going to pick a few.”

Fang Kun then smiles at Lin Mochen, “Jason, you too. We’ve decided that we will all wear the clothes from our own company on the opening day of our store. You are the boss, so you got to be the role model.”

Lin Mochen replies, “Sure.” And he looks Mu Hanxia’s way, “Go pick a few for me.”

Mu Hanxia: “OK. What style do you want then?”

“You are the marketing manager. You decide.”

Fang Kun and Chen Zhiduo both chuckle. Mu Hanxia thinks to herself, “But I’ve never picked clothes for a man.” Then she tries to confirm with Lin Mochen, “You wear the 180 size, right?”

Lin Mochen smiles lightly, “Do I possibly wear 170?”

Fang Kun titters, but Chen Zhiduo covers his face with his hands: “Chief Lin, could you leave some space for us 170s to live? What a hard blow on us!”

Mu Hanxia can’t help but laugh too. Her glance meets Lin Monchen’s; there’s a hint of smile in his dark and deep eyes.

Mu Hanxia goes to the back of the warehouse to pick the clothes. Lin Mochen sauters over after he has finished up the work at hand. From the distance, he can see her standing in front of a box of products, choosing among them with her head bending over. In her arm is a man’s polo shirt. Lin Mochen glances at it and nods to himself, a fine choice.

Then he sees her take out a few pieces of lady’s under garment to study closely, probably hesitating on the shapes. With his good eyesight, and the short distance between them, Lin Mochen easily sees the size on the tag: 32B.

Huh...

Mu Hanxia has made her decision and put the pieces into a small plastic bag. Then she turns around and suddenly notices Lin Mochen. She pauses a little with a little embarrassment, but loosens up when she sees his calm expression, probably not seeing anything. She hands over the polo shirt to him, and they walk out of the warehouse together.

Mu Hanxia has been in the company for several days, but Lin Mochen hasn’t given her any serious job yet, at most taking her around different places while on errands. She wanted to ask long ago, and now she finally speaks up, “Jason, you see I’m the only one in the marketing department, and the HR doesn’t even have my job description. So what on earth am I supposed to do on this position?”

But Lin Mochen just responses by asking, “Haven’t you figured out yet?”

Mu Hanxia is stunned. This is the first time she feels his pressure as a boss.

“No.”

Luckily Lin Mochen seems to be in a good mood today and does not continue to taunt her. Instead, he says, “Before you came, the responsibilities of marketing department is actually taken by myself. Since you are doing marketing, if you don’t know where to start, then start from learning about the market.”

Mu Hanxia thinks for a moment and nods, “OK.”

They walk on a little in silence and she starts again, “I’m going out to learn about the market then. Do I get reimbursement on the transportation expenses?”

Lin Mochen gives her a glance: “Yes.”

“Lunch expense...”

“Yes, all.” Lin Mochen interrupts her.

“Oh.” Mu Hanxia beams.

--------

However, even Lin Mochen didn’t expect that in the following four days he doesn’t see Mu Hanxia at all. She just hasn’t shown up in the company.

On the fourth afternoon, he calls Fang Kun who sits beside her into his office and asks, “Where’s Mu Hanxia?” Fang Kun notices that his expression isn’t exactly good and answers cautiously, “I don’t know.... She did not tell me.”

On the same night, after getting home and finishing his work, Lin Mochen gazes at the sparkling lights outside the window and takes out his cellphone.

“Where are you?”

Mu Hanxia answers in the phone, “Why, I’m in the company.”

Lin Mochen is silent for a second and then speaks in a cold voice, “Mu Hanxia, I hire you to come work for me. As a department manager, shouldn’t you report your progress to your boss everyday? Do you possibly plan to be left alone and perish on your own in my company?”

Mu Hanxia is silent for a long while before she replies, “I see. I’m sorry Jason. I didn’t have any experience being the head of a department. I will make improvements in the future.”

“What are you doing in the company right now?” Lin Mochen asks again.

“I’m sorting out the field study results, hoping to put them together and report to you soon.”

Lin Mochen hangs up the phone.

The night is deep. A full moon adorns the sky. The dark clouds have retreated, lingering far away surrounding the moon. Lin Mochen pushes the company’s door open and sees the light on her desk in the darkness of the room, like a tiny island. She sits there with her back facing him, having not noticed him at all.

Lin Mochen looks down at his watch: 11:50.

He approaches her slowly.

She coughs lightly a little, maybe due to the coldness in the late night. But her eyes are glued to the screen, fingers dancing rapidly on the keyboard. She is loosely covered in a jacket. On the desk, apart from the stacks of documents and files, there’s an empty fast food lunchbox. She looks very concentrated and steady, engrossed in her work.

This scene looks familiar. Lin Mochen is reminded of himself in the past.

It was when he freshly graduated from college and was still in the U.S.. He tried his hand at challenging the fruit business leader in New York. When the fight was the most fierce, his company was cut off utility, his employees were injured and send to hospital, and they even got threat mails. Those who started up with him were more or less scared. After all, he was no more than a newly graduated Chinese young man with no roots or background at all.

At that time, there were countless nights when he worked alone in his office until late into the night. It was a light like this, it was also a suit jacket covering him like this, and nothing or nobody else could enter his mind.

He stops behind her. As if feeling something, she turns around slowly. Lin Mochen puts his hands on her shoulders, which scares her to a shudder. Lin Mochen chuckles: “What to be afraid of? Afraid of being checked on by the boss?”

Mu Hanxia realizes it’s him and heaves a sign of relief. The next moment she cries angrily: “Lin Mochen! You scared me to death!”

Lin Mochen chuckles again. His eye turns to the screen: “What precious ideas are you writing?”

His hands are still on her shoulders, neither too light nor too heavy, the fingers long and slender. Mu Hanxia sees them in the corner of her eye and feels like a bird fluttering its wings lightly in her heart. She turns her eye to the screen and says, “I have three conclusions. But they must all have been in your plan already.”

“Tell me.”

“First, I’ve investigated. Currently in Beijing’s market, including the surrounding regions and towns, even though there are a few brands that are similar in style with us, none of them have enough influence on the market. Some of them have less than satisfactory qualities, some others sell products of other styles and have a messy pricing system. That is to say, there hasn’t been anyone who precisely calibrates on the same style and price as ours and is influential enough to be a competitor. So, we are the first one.”

“Mmm, keep going.”

It is so quiet around and the light is hazy. Only their voices, one asking and the other answering, are heard in the deserted space. It feels kind of unreal.

Mu Hanxia points to the many diagrams and charts on the screen and says, “Second, these are the data of the styles, prices, and targeting customers of several big brands in the market. The sources are some industry analysis reports and the industry research data from our company. We can see that among the brands in the nation, the high-end brands are very high and their prices are also high. They are mostly business and professional styles. The middle ones are mostly casual wear, not very fashionable, nor very reliable in quality. But their prices are similar to ours or even higher than us. No need to mention the low-end ones. But the middle part is actually the biggest portion of our market, especially when we give more attention to the feel of fashion. The clothes with 100 to a few hundred yuan in price will sell among office employees as well as students. What we will have is the biggest space for profit.”

“Third, ” She glances at his silhouette on the desk, “I went to take a look at the store you are preparing. To tell the truth, I’m quite surprised, and amazed. I hadn’t thought you would make the store so big and rent in the most expensive department store, while the finish is so simple and neat. I can’t tell what’s so nice about it in my word, but when I stepped in, I just felt at home, and kind of novel. Also, this kind of finish must have saved quite some money. Kill two birds with one stone, right?”

Mu Hanxia turns to look at him.

Lin Mochen eyes her quietly.

He knows that she is smart and acute. But his plans are all clear to her after she only takes a few glances into the industry.

He smiles quietly, and then says, “You said so much. But to me, there’s only one strategy all through.”

Mu Hanxia is taken aback, “What?”

“Didn’t you already discover it when you were in Le Ya?”

Mu Hanxia feels lost in a fog. As they are very close to each other, and he is standing behind her, she almost feels the warmth in his arms. Her heart is beating fast, “I don’t understand...”

He replies, “For all businesses, in all pursuits for profit, there’s only one law for the winner: establishing the shortest and most accurate path from your products to your target customers. Haven’t you got it yet? I only produce the products my target customers are most interested in and are in most need of. I put the store where they can most possibly see, and use the warehouse layout to reduce the cost of middle steps... All that I’ve done is to send the right products to the customers in the shortest path. Thus I can have the biggest possible profit from it. It has no difference from the almost successful lychee business you had at Le Ya, or my selling fruits in the U.S. in the past.”

Mu Hanxia is stunned. And he gazes at her. After a moment, she suddenly smiles, and nods, “Now I understand. Wait, let me write it down.” With the words, she turns to grab the notebook and pen and scribbles quickly.

A light hint of smile appears in Lin Mochen’s eyes. He gazes at the sparkling colors in her eyes and the curve of her bending neck. The skin at the neck is fair and clean, with a little soft baby fat.

Lin Mochen raises his hand and gives her neck a light stroke with his finger.

Mu Hanxia freezes a little, feeling the numbness as the flowing water, generated from where his finger touched and spreads rapidly to the whole neck, even the whole body.

She is motionless.

Lin Mochen’s low and deep voice rings at her ear, “Any other questions?”

“Mmm... Let me see...”

The dark night and the dim light surround them. Everything feels somewhat unreal in this quietness. But in this deep night, at this little corner of this enormous city, there’s only them, so close to each other, talking on about profit-making and business-planning and sharing the ambitions in their heart. This feels so real and so close.