Summer #44

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

Chapter 44

However, Mu Hanxia hasn’t expected, and neither has Lin Mochen, that they have to stay apart for half a month, from the deep winter to almost the end of it.

The issues in Beijing, although not very difficult, are quite troublesome, demanding a lot of her energy. Besides, this time she comes here as a representative of Lin Mochen to keep things under control, which means greater responsibilities than before. So it’s even impossible for her to leave in the middle. And she just stays in Beijing and focuses on the work.

On Lin Mochen’s side, he has the Lot A project which is newly started and has too many things to deal with. This is the first real estate project that he runs in China, it’s needless to say how much energy he will invest. Furthermore, although the collaboration with Rong Yue has been agreed upon, and the communication has been rather smooth up to now, how can someone like Lin Mochen believe that Rong Yue, Rao Wei and even Zhang Yifang won’t hold any grudge against him? Therefore, even though he is amiable on the face, in fact he has commanded his people to be extremely cautious and don’t let any collaboration detail go with any possible problems, just to prevent being taken advantage of. As a result, the project is progressing very steadily under his control and profit is expected soon.

Mu Hanxia has just got a taste of being loved by the one who she loves so much and now she has to be separated from him by geographic distance. It’s like that a seed has been buried in the heart for so long and has just sprouted above the ground with the new leaves having almost covered all her heart. But then the nurturing sun and rain is blown away by the wind, and the new leaves just stay in her heart, hanging low and craving for nutrients. But still, the sprout is making every effort to grow taller. It makes her all so tormented. Sometimes she remembers that they are now together, but then she feels like it only happened in a dream.

And Lin Mochen? Since he has become so well known because of the battle, all kinds of relations and resources endlessly come to seek collaboration with him. Now everybody in the business circle of Lin City knows that it’s no other one than Lin Mochen who is riding on the crest of success. It also results in him working or socializing until very late into the night almost every day before he can go back to his room. Tired or slightly drunk, he checks the time and sees it’s past midnight or even one AM. Many times he takes out the cell phone and gazes at it for a long time but then puts it down, not wanting to disturb her at this late hour.

As a result, the two of them, one in the north and one south, get to talk in the phone only every three or five days. They can’t talk long even when they do get to talk. But whenever they do, it’s the happiest time of the day for Mu Hanxia, and it’s when her heart beats the fastest during the day. For Lin Mochen, it’s also the only time when his heart feels tender and happy after fighting in the business world for a whole day.

Sometimes it’s he who calls her and sometimes she calls him. Their communication usually starts like this―

Lin Mochen: “What’re you doing now?”

Mu Hanxia: “Just got home after work. Lying in bed. What about you?”

“Just finished dinner. There’s a meeting in a minute.”

“Jason, don’t wear yourself out.”

“Hmm, I know. Is it cold in Beijing?”

“Yes, quite cold.” She reaches out to touch the heater pipe by the bedside. She still lives in the apartment she rented before. “Ai, the heater isn’t that warm here.”

Then his tone cools down: “Haven’t I told you the key to my home is in the office drawer? Summer, I don’t like that you live with others at the rented place. Ahh, and at also a broken one.”

But Mu Hanxia says, “No, I’m not doing that. Your home is your home and mine is mine. No matter how shabby my home is, it’s still my home. I don’t want to borrow a place in your home.”

Then Lin Mochen becomes silent.

Mu Hanxia senses the change of atmosphere and adds quickly, “Hey, don’t be mad. Actually my current living condition is pretty good. Really. Besides, I’ve lived here so long, I’ve got attached to it...”

Lin Mochen, however, suddenly smiles and says evenly, “This is the last time. Wait until the situation in Lin City is stable and we are back in Beijing. Then you won’t be able to live wherever you want.”

Mu Hanxia’s heart skips a beat at the words, but she plays dumb: “What are you talking about...”

On the other end of the phone, although Lin Mochen is purposely tantalizing her, his own heart is also secretly bubbling with emotions.

Should he put down some of the work and fly to her in Beijing? This thought has come to Lin Mochen more than once, especially every time after they finish the call in the winter night, when his hand is cold but his heart so hot. He really has thought about it so many times.

But he is a person with very strong self-control and clear goals. Since the powerful enemies are close by his side, he won’t allow himself the slightest loosening or distraction. As a result, during the period of over two weeks’ time while she’s away, he simply hasn’t flied over to visit her for even once.

As for the reasons, it’s partially because of his career. Another big part is that Lin Mochen is too confident. He is confident in himself, and he is also highly confident about the affection that he has given his heart to. Even though they have just begun, even though they are not together for most of the time, and even though their relationship has temporarily made way for the development of the enterprise, Lin Mochen believes that this love will be will managed in the future. Everything will be under his control, naturally getting sorted out as time goes on.

He believes that they will have very good results.

--------

It is a few days after Mu Hanxia arrived in Beijing when she receives the phone call from Fang Chengzhou.

She asks with a smile, “Lao Fang, what’s up? Aren’t you super busy very day?”

Lao Fang also smiles, but he has brought her some ground-shaking news: “Xiao Mu, I have a former classmate, who’s a professor at University of New York. He’s been there many years and studies economics. A few days ago, I happened to have mentioned you to him and he’s very interested with you. If you want, you can apply to be his student at the University. Of course, the precondition is that your high school scores have to be good enough and you need to take the entrance exam. Also, you need to provide a paper that summarizes your work experience over these years.”

Mu Hanxia remains dumbfounded for a long moment before she replies, “I...Can I?”

Lao Fang says with smiles, “I don’t know. But do you want to give it a try?”

For a moment, Mu Hanxia can’t find her words. It feels like that a star that’s too far and up in the sky, which you have only dreamed about occasionally or tried to trace its shape with your fingers from the far distance, suddenly flies to your face, right in front of you. It feels like something that only happens in a dream.

Lao Fang tells her: “Don’t give up your dreams when you are young. You are still so young and you have a long way to go. If you don’t try to find your way forward, how would you know whether there’s better scenery out there? Xiao Mu, you could be someone with a more wonderful life. I have a feeling that your path will be much farther than what you have reached right now. But of course, if you do decide to give it a try and do succeed, then between love and studies, you will need to find a balance.”

...

Hanging up the phone, Mu Hanxia’s mind goes blank for a long moment. And then she digs out the suitcase that she has kept at home. As she is all alone, she has brought all the important diplomas and documents from Jiang City with her. Soon, she is sitting on the floor with all the stuff scattered around. She stares at them blankly for a long time. Then she lifts her head and leans against the bed. For a second, she doesn’t know whether she should cry or laugh.

This time last year, she was still in the supermarket, working as the lowest level store assistant. Everyday, she had to get up very early to catch the bus, move and sort the goods, and to greet each and every customer with smiles. In Weibo (a twittering service) and QQ space (a blogging service), those high school classmates were all so polished in college or at work. She always watches quietly and often leaves good wishes. But it wouldn’t be honest to say that she doesn’t envy them.

And now, after almost a year, since she started to work for Lin Mochen, she has hardly taken any days off, frequently working extra hours, business trips even common. It’s more tiring than in the supermarket and multiple times stressful.

She has finally had her path wider. To her, it’s an opportunity as precious as gold, presenting itself to her at this time. As long as she can grasp it and get admitted, her whole life will be flipped around and started over...

She sits there lost in thoughts for a long time before she picks up her phone again. The first number she finds is He Jing’s. Seeing her name and the familiar digits, she feels warmth in her heart.

Since she left Jiang City, they have contacted each other less often. But they still care a lot about each other. Now this comes up, apart from Lin Mochen, Mu Hanixa wants to share with her the most.

He Jing is still the chirping one: “Xia, missing me now?”

Mu Hanxia beams, “Can’t I call you if I don’t miss you?”

“Don’t speak nonsense. What I’m concerned most is how it’s going with that ruthlessly deflowering [1] guy Lin Mochen? You are not still working for him, are you?”

[Note 1: Not sure if this phrase is straightforward enough, but ruthlessly deflowering(辣手摧花) means doing bad things to a girl using ruthless methods. A good word to define Lin Mochen based on what he did early on.]

Mu Hanxia just smiles without saying anything. He Jing instantly senses something unusual and gets excited, “You are not...having conditions, are you?”

She hasn’t mentioned about them to He Jing Yet. Mu Hanxia beams and returns “hmm,” and then slowly tells every detail to her good friend.

...

When the part about love is told, and so is the part about the study opportunity, He Jing is so excited and says, “Xia, based on what you just said, although Lin Mochen is kind of cold and proud, he is really fond of you. I’m really really happy for you! And after all, he is a tall, handsome and rich guy. Doesn’t he have a few thousand million? Oh, my goodness. Haha, your good days are coming! Don’t forget me when you become a wealthy wife some day!” 

Mu Hanxia is amused by her and says, “What are you talking about? I’m not going to live on him. I more or less amount to something myself, OK?” They both laugh. After a moment, He Jing asks, “But about going abroad, what are you going to do? If you ask me, I think doing studies is second important. Better not let it affect your feelings toward each other. But from a different perspective, you will be even tough with a higher degree and will be even more valuable. Ai, I’m so torn.”

But Mu Hanxia says, “No need to feel torn. I told him once before that I wanted to go to America for studies someday and he said that I could go anywhere I wanted. He is supportive. He’s different from other people. He has a big heart and totally understands me and I also understand him. Even if I do go abroad in the future, I believe we’ll figure out a very good solution that keeps our relation intact.”

“Hey, way too cheesy now! So... Have you mentioned this to him?”

This time Mu Hanxia is silent for a moment. Then she smiles: “What to mention now? I have my own dignity even before him. What If I fail? I’ll wait until it’s time.”