Summer #49

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

Chapter 49

They walk on and go into the the hotel’s grand hall.

It’s around eight or nine o’clock in the evening. The hall is brightly lit and looks splendid. Mu Hanxia goes in to a 24-hour convenience store attached to the hotel to get some feminine products and refuses to be followed by Lin Mochen. So Lin Mochen just waits in the couch by the door.

Carrying a shopping basket in her hand, Mu Hanxia is standing in front of the shelf making her choices when suddenly comes a voice of surprise: “Mu... Hanxia?”

Mu Hanxia turns to look over her shoulder. Lin Mochen, who’s not far from the door also looks up.

It is one of her high school classmates. After a moment’s pause, Mu Hanxia also calls out the other person’s names: “Chen Sijin?”

Chen Sijin is wearing an aqua blue night dress, exposing much of her shoulders and back. She wears a delicate makeup, looking slender and pretty, with her hair combed into a bun. It’s a good-looking woman. Her arm is in the arm of a young man in his formal suit. They appear to be just back from an evening banquet.

Seemingly surprised, Chen Sijin eyes Mu Hanxia and says, “My old class monitor, why are you here? Aren’t you...working in Jiang City?”

He intently surveys Mu Hanxia straight up and down a couple times, which makes Mu Hanxia somewhat uneasy. In fact they weren’t very familiar in high school. Mu Hanxia only remembers that she was a rather introverted girl, good-looking, with average grades. Can’t imagine she turns into such a radiant figure nowadays.

Mu Hanxia answers with a little smile, “I recently came to work in Lin City.”

“Oh.” Chen Sijin nods. Glancing at the simple casual outfit she’s wearing, she seems to understand, “You are ... the waitress in this hotel?”

Mu Hanxia is stunned, but she just smiles without saying yes or no.

But Chen Sijing takes it as a silent admission. The look in her eyes... is somewhat hard to describe. They seem to say “so it is really what she’s doing.” There’s a little pity and a little sense of being superior, very obvious.

So, Mu Hanxia has no desire to say anything else. Just as she is ready to say good-bye, the man beside Chen Sijing suddenly speaks up, “Linda, who’s this beautiful lady?”

Chen Sijin gives him a glance and pouts prettily, “She is my former classmate, Mu Hanxia. Hanxia, this is my boyfriend, Bob. He is the executive manager of Welson Company in the great southwestern region. I’m here to attend the company’s anniversary banquet with him.”

Mu Hanxia smiles, “Nice to meet you.”

She is just about to say goodbye, when Chen Sijin starts emotionally, “Actually Hanxia was also one of the top students in our class. If it’s not that something happened to her family―her father got into an accident and owed a big debt, and her mother was seriously ill so she had to look after her every day―she wouldn’t have tumbled in the College Entrance Exams. Hanxia, we are all old classmates. If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask. Those classmates of ours are doing pretty well nowadays. We may not be able to help with big things, but we will do our best with small things. To be honest, don’t blame me for being outspoken, I think you’d better work hard to improve your diploma. Don’t drift around like this, get a stable job, right? Hanxia, good luck!”

Her words seem to be really sincere. Her boyfriend Bob also looks at her with a gentle expression. Mu Hanxia is silent for a moment, musing: “Whenever was I ‘also’ ‘one of the top students?’ I was THE top student of the whole grade. ” But this thought only makes her sigh for herself. At last, she just nods with a smile, “Thank you.”

“Mhm.” Chen Sijin smiles, “We will wander around a little more and won’t hold you up any longer.” 

“OK.”

Chen Sijin leans against Bob’s shoulder, looking at Mu Hanxia no more, and says in a sweet voice, “Go buy a lipstick for me. You can find it at the counter. Hurry!”

“Summer, these are?” Interrupts a clear but low voice.

The three of them all come to a pause.

Lin Mochen stands behind Chen Sijing and Bob, the black overcoat in his arm, the amber-colored sleeve button glimmering in the light. He gives just one glance at those two and walks straight to the side of Mu Hanxia. Winding his arm around her waist, he says in a low voice, “I’ve been waiting so long. Turns out you run into former classmates here?”

The overly gentle tone makes Mu Hanxia gives him a couple extra glances before she makes the introduction: “My high school classmate Chen Sijin, and her boyfriend Bob. Sijin, this is Lin Mochen, my...”

“Boyfriend.” Lin Mochen smiles slightly and extends his hand to Bob, “Nice to meet you.”

Bob stiffens a little. “Lin Mochen? Are you not... the Feng Chen CEO Lin Mochen?”

Lin Mochen glances at him and then glances at that not-so-agreeable girlfriend of his. Hah, this guy knows the right clue to pick up.

His tacit acknowledgement makes Bob excited. He grasps his hand and shakes it nonstop: “So nice to meet you. Really, really nice to meet you. I’ve heard of you for a long time. What a pleasant surprise to see you here. What a pleasure. Chief Lin is such a celebrity in the great southwestern region recently. My CEO even said that you’ve changed the development mode of a whole industry. He wants so much to get to know you as well...”

“Thanks for the compliment. But it’s your Chief Deng who’s the best of the industry.” Lin Mochen says with an even tone.

The two men chat on, mentioning Mu Hanxia as Feng Chen’s marketing manager in between their exchanges, which makes Bob look at her with new attitude and even shake hands with her again. Whereas Chen Sijin is dumbfounded by the news. She moves her lips a little but can’t utter a single word. All she can do is watch them with forced smiles.

But when she peers at Mu Hanxia again, she realizes that she’s actually different from a supermarket sale assistant who she heard Mu Hanxia was. Although she’s wearing a casual outfit, the textile and workmanship are both quite good, not the kind that a store assistant can afford. Her face is light-colored and fresh-looking, at least well cared for recently, having no sign of being exposed much in the sun or wind. What’s most important, she actually has such a boyfriend, tall and handsome and holding a position even higher than Bob. His financial strength must be even greater. He is better than Bob in every way, and Mu Hanxia herself has actually got to a middle-level manager position.

She has actually turned her own life over.

For a long moment, Chen Sijin doesn’t know how to feel.

Of course, Mu Hanxia has noticed the somewhat awkward expression of her old classmate. In fact, when Chen Sijin deliberately showed off herself at the beginning, Mu Hanxia didn’t think about fighting back and show off herself. But Lin Mochen just pops in all by himself. One has to know that most outstanding young men will lose much of their glamour when put in front of Lin Mochen. No wonder Chen Sijin is not happy now.

At last, Bob has Lin Mochen’s name card in his hand and sees them out the small convenience store with great courtesy, holding Chen Sijin with him...

Mu Hanxia and Lin Mochen take the elevator upstairs. He says in a low voice, “Drop by my room for a moment?”

Mu Hanxia: “OK.”

His room is a suite, much larger than Mu Hanxia’s room. After coming into the room, he opens the refrigerator, taking out a bottle of red wine and two glass cups.

But Mu Hanxia doesn’t have the refined habit of drinking wine anytime. She asks, “Got juice?”

Lin Mochen chuckles and replies, “No, I don't. Next time I’ll prepare kid’s milk.”