About Chapter 55 and further translations of Don't Turn from Summer

Dear book fans,

I know you like the novel Don't Turn from Summer by Ding Mo and must have been waiting impatiently for new translated chapters. I'm sorry I haven't been able to find time for my translation work lately and have kept you waiting for too long.
As many of you may have noticed the conversation under my About My Blog page, a fellow translator Appleslice has decided to take over the translation work of future chapters for now.
She has posted her translation of Chapter 55 (https://theotherhalfofmyapple.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/dont-turn-from-summer-chapter-55/) on her website and will be posting more soon. So if you're here looking for the new chapters, please click the link to continue enjoying the book:
https://theotherhalfofmyapple.wordpress.com 

I'd like to thank everyone visiting this site for supporting my efforts and encouraging me to push forward throughout my translation work. I might be able to contribute some more with the translations in the future, when my life settles down a little more and if there are still chapters left to translate. But for now, let's wave good-bye.

Thank you and wish you all the best!

PalmtreeH  

Summer #54

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

Chapter 54

Rao Wei, Manager of the Real Estate Division, sits opposite him, carefully brewing the kungfu tea. After it’s done, he fills two cups. Then the two of them hold their cups up and have a clink.

“Chief Zhang, you’re really the most tactical and sophisticated one. This time it would be really hard for Lin Mochen to stand back up.” Rao Wei says with a smile.

Zhang Yifang also smiles slightly. Putting down the tea after a light sip, he says, “Each step is his own choice. I haven’t done much at all. A young man like him, way too aggressive and bold, is doomed for a tumble in the business world. Some people can stand back up after the fall. But he’s unlucky to fall in my hand.”

These words are said calmly yet coldly. Rao Wei feels his heart quiver a little and nods, “Honestly, Chief Zhang, I didn’t expect Lin Mochen would follow each and every step of your plan. It’s truly...unbelievable!”

Zhang Yifang drinks the tea slowly, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes sprawling, “Wei, there’s an old Chinese saying, ‘the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; and the worst is to besiege walled cities.’ But I think to apply it to the business world, it needs a little modification. The best of all is to ‘control the heart’.”

“Control the heart?”

“Yes, control Lin Mochen’s heart.”

Rao Wei pauses.

Zhang Yifang speaks slowly, “Well, at the first glance, isn’t Lin Mochen someone who does everything perfectly and has no weakness? He is smart, knowledgeable, fierce but at the same time steady and attentive to details. When he first came to the apparel market of Lin City, you tried to trick him with the fabric quality problem. But playing cunning, you couldn’t get an upper hand with him. Later with the estate bidding, playing candid, you still couldn’t get an upper hand. Then how can we beat someone like him?”

Rao Wei is embarrassed at his words and can only listen on very respectfully.

“However, to someone who has been in the business world for so many years like me, he has two weaknesses, which are actually quite obvious: he’s too proud and he values feelings too much.”

Rao Wei agrees with the “too proud” part, but about “valuing feelings too much,” he is doubtful, “Chief Zhang, you say he ‘values feelings too much’? ” How can that be possible...

Zhang Yifang smiles a little, “Yes, Lin Mochen is ruthless and heartless. He appears to be financial interest first. But there are somethings one can’t hide. Why would he choose real estate and apparel out of all those business fields after he came back from abroad? With a little research, you will know that his mother went bankrupt from these two fields. This young man, has a knot in his heart.

And his girlfriend, what’s her background? A store associate with high school diploma. She even has no college degree. And very poor. But he keeps her by his side as a treasure. Sometime ago, didn’t we hear that the daughter from the Xue Family got quite close with him? If he really became the son-in-law of the Xue Family, I won’t dear to get my hands on him. With any other man, like you, like me, who would choose a store assistant against the daughter from the extremely wealthy Xue Family? So Lin Mochen is really someone who values feelings a lot. Valuing feelings, in another word is being silly, which someone in a business world should have. Ultimately, he’s still too young.”

Rao Wei is lost in his words and feels that this words suddenly make his thoughts clear. He nods admiringly, “So, that’s why he gets himself into the dead end step by step.”

Looking up at the distant mountains and the green forests, Zhang Yifang also feels enormously happy and contented. He picks up the empty porcelain cups, puts them one by one on the tea table as if they were chess pieces.

“First step, we collaborate nicely with him on Lot A so he looses up his guard. Guard as much as he wants to, he will feel reasonable when we show an attitude of Profit-first. However, what we want is not only the short-term profit, but also the long-term profit.” Zhang Yifang pushes down the first cup, “This fellow is too strong. If we leave it to grow, he will definitely eat up our profit in the grand southwestern area or even nation-wide. So, we must get rid of him.”

Rao Wei nods solemnly.

“Second, Lin Mochen’s mother. Even a fierce tiger doesn’t eat its own cub. Even though HE Qingling is not an amiable person, she won’t hurt her son. I can’t control her. But I can control her friend. Lin Mochen underestimated my roots in Lin City after all.

I said we should control his heart. Even though he and his mother are estranged to each other, I believe that he intends to mend their relationship and the same is with his mother. Therefore, appearance of a loaner is subconsciously welcomed by both of them. Besides, Lin Mochen keeps guard against everything and everybody possible, but he won’t guard against his own mother. I believe that in the heart of a son who follows his mother into the same business fields, there is still admiration of the mother. He trusts his mother’s judgement. So, from the step of taking the loan, he was drawn into the trap.”

Rao Wei continues, “Then you told me to arrange for Cao Dashen to accidentally leak the information about Lot One having problems by his people. Lin Mochen is so proud he will definitely revenge the trick they tried to play on him. So he countered with a trip to get the other lot from Cao Dasheng and got tripped as we wanted him to. But his people were really quick and ubiquitous. If Cao Dasheng wasn’t clever enough, his mistress would really reveal the land problem.”

Zhang Yifang frowns a little, “Better stay away with a slug like Cao Dasheng.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rao Wei refills Zhang Yifang’s cup and says, “But there’s still something I don’t understand. Why did we need to find Bob and Chen Sijin to get into contact with Lin Mochen and Mu Hanxia? What’s the meaning of this incident?”

Zhang Yifang smiles a little, “Wei, the stronger people we are dealing with, the simpler the trap should be. Because if the trap is too complicated and the time drags long, Lin Mochen, with his shrewdness, will easily detect the problem and fight to get out. But then I also said, the best approach is to control the heart. The trap is simple whereas the control of heart is complicated.”

Lin Mochen is extremely suspecting and cautious. With only Cao Dasheng’s trick, I don’t think it’s enough to lure him into the trap. So that evening, I let Bob and Chen Sijin show up in front of them. Seeing with his own eyes that the woman he cherishes so much is looked down upon and knowing about her miserable past, it’s impossible that his feelings won’t be affected.

You have to know that even the most sensible person is still possible to get a little bit emotional and thus become biased when making final decisions. If Lin Mochen only thinks about doing the business for ten years or twenty years, he might not make that move to be our rival. But exactly because of his girlfriend, he must have got a little hasty. So he went into the trap.

Rao Wei is quite shaken by the words and grows a heartfelt admiration. Zhang Yifang does not need to mention the next plots. They both know ― secretly changed the reports when Antony got them so they were convinced Lot II had no problem; in two days, Mr. Zhou in the bank will stop the loan to Lin Mochen, causing him unable to make ends meet; the Lot A they cooperate on will speed up the main building construction and require Lin Mochen to add investment based on the contract, making his situation even worse...

Feng Chen’s cash chain is bound to break.

The breeze gently brushes by. They sit quietly for a while, then raise their cups and clink to each other’s. After drinking up the tea in his cup, Zhang Yifang reaches out and pushes down the lined-up tea cups on the table, with a little smile at the corner of his mouth, “When a wall is about to collapse, everybody gives it a push. What difficulty will there remain for us to get rid of Lin Mochen the thorn in our flesh? An arrogant kid, dare to trap my Rong Yue for Lot A. Trying to snatch from me? Really ignorant of how big the world is out there. Now let him have a taste of his own medicine. I return him a trap and trap him deadly tight. Next, you go communicate with all our relations, make use of any important relation we need. Clever as he is, he’s still bare in Lin City with no strong background. You tell everybody, no one should give him a hand. This time I want him to completely fall, and fall dead. Make him bankrupt, send him to jail, and make sure he will never be able to get back on his feet again.” 

Summer #53

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

Chapter 53

It’s midnight when Lin Mochen rushes to the construction site. The night wind is chilly and the sky is covered up with thick clouds. The project hasn’t really started yet. There are just a few work sheds and lights, lighting spots up with the weak yellow beams. Sun Zhi and a few other core members quickly walk up to him, with awful looks on their faces.

Lin Mochen: “What’s the matter?”

Sun Zhi’s voice is a little stuck, “Chief Lin, it’s all soft soil beneath. This lot can’t hold buildings. The foundations will sink after they are built and will sink again after we build them again. We are tricked. Damn it! It’s impossible that both lots Cao Dasheng has are soft. The probability is way too small. Chief Lin...Ai!”

His words are disorderly, but everything is instantly clear to Lin Mochen, as if a sparkle has glided by and shed light on them. Lin Mochen stands in the wind with an extremely cold face, hands in the parka pockets, and lets out a laugh, “Ha...Haha...”

Everybody holds his breath. For a moment, it was completely quiet on such a vast wild land.

In his 26 years of life, Lin Mochen has always enjoyed victories in the business world, making his rivals struggle desperately for survival. This is the first time he’s had such a big tumble, and for a while, he is silent and sulky.

But then he starts to speak slowly, “Let’s all leave it here and go back. I will handle this situation.”

But nobody moves. They are still somewhat dumbfounded. Because “this situation” is not something minor. They have spent at least several hundred million to get this lot from Cao Dasheng. And the money are loaned from the bank. It’s all Feng Chen has. It’s the whole blood and flesh of the company!

Sun Zhi is relatively calm and waves to dismiss everybody. Only he himself stays, standing beside Lin Mochen.

“Chief Lin, I’ve sent someone to go after Cao Dashen.” He says in a low voice.

“How could he still be in Lin City? He must have hidden himself really well by now.” Says Lin Mochen.

Sun Zhi’s heart sinks and he doesn’t know what else to say.

Honestly, Sun Zhi has always thought highly of Lin Mochen as his boss. A young man at around 25, 26, with advanced education and very smart, his approaches are more like a seasoned businessman in his 40s. Every time he fights his way into an industry, he can stir it up and shake the ground, creating earthquakes or hurricanes at his will. He is about seven or eight years younger than Sun Zhi, but Sun Zhi nonetheless respects him very much.

But right now, Sun Zhi looks at Lin Mochen’s slim and tall figure in the weak light, the night darkening and spreading behind him. He seems to be half smiling, but the eyes are unprecedentedly fierce, making even the heart of someone so seasoned as Sunzhi tremble from inside.

“Where are those two inspection reports?” Lin Mochen asks.

Sun Zhi hastily opens his briefcase and finds the documents for him. When things got messy earlier tonight, he took care to bring them along.

Lin Mochen takes them over and gives them a few glances. Then suddenly he rips them to pieces and dumps them into the trash can nearby. Sun Zhi’s heart is pounding at the sight of this, feeling so distressed.

Lin Mochen is quiet for a moment and then turns to leave. Sun Zhi hurriedly follows him and asks, “Chief Lin, for now we can only try to keep everything covered as long as possible, and see if we can get the money back from Cao Dasheng. Try to make money on the project with Rong Yue as soon as possible. Also, the second loan installment from Mr. Zhou should also allow us some time for cash flow...”

Lin Mochen stops abruptly and turns to look at him, starting slowly to laugh, “Sun Zhi, if I were my opponent, the first thing I would do is stop the loan from its source and break the capital chain of Feng Chen. ”

Sun Zhi: “But the loan, wasn’t it guaranteed by your mother?”

“Exactly.” Lin Mochen says, “Guaranteed by my mother... What if this was part of the interlocked scheme?”

---------

The night is falling. Mu Hanxia is waiting for taking off at the Capital Airport in Beijing.

Early this morning, she took the entrance exam and interview with the institute from the USA and did fairly well. The written part wasn’t finished until afternoon. But when she tried to call Lin Mochen again, still no one picked up. Then she called some colleague from the company. It was when she first heard about the terrible news.

When she thought about Lin Mochen again, she was extremely worried.

“Summer, Chief Lin has been in the meeting all the time. Maybe that’s why he didn’t take your call.” That’s was the colleague said.

So, Mu Hanxia stopped calling him in the afternoon. Instead, she rushed through the company business in Beijing and then rushed to the airport.

Now, it’s almost dark. Is his meeting over yet?

Mu Hanxia takes out her phone and tries one more time.

“Ring, ring―”, after ringing twice, the phone is connected.

He says nothing.

Mu Hanxia: “Hey, are you OK?”

“Still in the meeting.” Lin Mochen’s voice is actually very calm, with other people’s voices fluttering around him.

Mu Hanxia: “Oh...”

Then he gets up and moves to a quiet place.

“Why? What’s the matter?” He asks.

Mu Hanxia says, “I’m boarding in a minute. I’ll be back today.”

He’s silent for a moment and seems to have chuckled a bit, then says, “OK. I’m still busy right here and can’t pick you up. Stay safe.”

“Mhm, no need to pick me up. The matter...is it going fine?”

“Don’t worry about me. I will handle it. Take good care of the business on your hand. OK?”

“OK.”

The phone is hung up. Mu Hanxia is a little lost in thought. To be frank, the calm and easy attitude of Lin Mochen over the phone makes her quite reassured. The matter...maybe it’s not that serious? But, she is still very worried about him. Faced with such frustration, someone proud as him may not show anything on the surface. But he must feel quite badly within himself.

Right now, she just wants to see him immediately.

As to the exams for entering a foreign institute, how can she bring it up at a time like this? They have to first fight through the stormy waves they are facing.

---------

The city lights are just turned on. Lin Mochen and Sun Zhi are at socialization dinners.

Although the opponent in the dark hasn’t made their next moves yet, Lin Mochen has already begun to prepare the money needed. But the gap of several hundred million is not a small number. It won’t be easy to fill.

After the dinner, Lin Mochen and Sun Zhi get back into their car. Sun Zhi says, “Manager Mu called just now and said she’s back in Lin City. Right now she must be in the hotel.”

Lin Mochen replies, “OK, I see.”

Sun Zhi gets home in a moment. Driving all by himself now, instead of heading back to the hotel, Lin Mochen takes a drive around the city first. For the first time after he returned to the city, he realizes that he hasn’t really looked at the changes closely enough after so many years he was away. The little streams flowing through the city are still winding and clear, but those old buildings he remembers are all gone, replaced with skyscrapers that can only be seen in a metropolis. The greens in the city are still full of life. In the air there is the freshness and moist typical of this southwestern city.

Sitting in the car, he stays by the river for a long time. Then he drives away. On the way he passes again the two lots he bought Lot A and Lot II (Note from translator: Lot II referes to the lot LMC bought from Cao Dasheng, previously translated as Lot B. From now on, Lot II will be used instead whenever applicable.) A sarcastic sneer comes to the corner of his mouth, his eyes icy cold. He doesn’t stop, driving on into the deeper night.

Finally, before he realizes it, he comes to the gate to the Third High School of the city. The students here have been dismissed from the evening studies. Few people are on campus. There are only a few lights in the classroom building. His little sister Lin Qian must have gone to bed back in the dormitory at this moment. Lin Mochen sits at the gate for a while and leaves.

It’s two past midnight when he gets back to the hotel.

The door to Mu Hanxia’s room is closed. It’s quiet inside. She must have fallen asleep, he thinks. In his mind he suddenly sees her clear and bright eyes. In such a quiet deep night, smiles come to the corners of his mouth, even unnoticed by himself.

Taking the door card out, he opens the door.

A table lamp in on, the light soft as in a dream. A slim figure is sitting near the bed, head bent into a book. At the sound, she puts down the book and looks up.

The two pairs of eyes lock their gaze.

Lin Mochen shuts the door behind him and walks over.

“Why are you here?” He asks, propping his hands on the bed beside her, almost encircling her beneath him.

“Why can’t I be here?” She lifts her head, “this is my boyfriend’s room.”

Lin Mochen smiles. He pushes her down into the bed and lowers his own head to kiss her.

In the enticing light and air, Mu Hanxia vaguely senses the kiss to be somewhat emotional and ventilating. His face doesn’t show much expression, and his gaze on her is deep. The kiss is a little too aggressive. The hand that has fumbled beneath her clothes are also with some urgency, not very gentle.

But everything is hidden behind his calm appearance.

This, however, melts Mu Hanxia’s heart. She reaches out to stroke his hair. Under his touches, she feels as if she’s melting away. This is it, tonight is the night, she thinks. She thinks that tonight he will really make her his woman. 

But he doesn’t go further. After kissing her for a long time, she even sensing his gradually hardening desire, he suddenly loosens her up and lies beside her, traces of smiles in his eyes and on his brows as usual.

He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want to make her completely his this night.

Mu Hanxia lets her disorderly breath calm down, for a moment not sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Gazing at the handsome and craggy lines of his profile, she says softly, “Lin Mochen, whatever happens, I’m facing it and shouldering it with you. ”

Lin Mochen is silent for a moment and reaches over to wrap her in his arms.

“The estate business, I will handle it. You just take care of the apparel business for me. Don’t let the backyard get on fire. That will be good enough for me.”

He says it so casually and lightly that Mu Hanxia feels much less nervous. After all, she has seen him manage all kinds of things well, keep everything under control, and have all the problems solved with simply a few words or some smiles. So this time, maybe he can also handle it?

But Mu Hanxia has her own thoughts. She has made up her mind to look for financial support for him starting from tomorrow. Only that she doesn’t have much power and may not be helpful. So she decides not to tell him right now.

Mu Hanxia has been travelling all day. Right now in each other’s arms and feeling quite relieved, she quickly falls asleep. Lin Mochen also shuts his eyes and sleeps for a while. But he wakes up not long after.

She is sound asleep now, face pressed against his chest and having left a little stain of saliva on his shirt. Lin Mochen smiles quietly, hugging her even closer, pulls over the quilt and covers the two of them with it. Then he looks up at the night out the window.

The moonlight is clear, the stars twinkling. Lin Mochen looks on with coldness in his eyes. Finally when the sky is slowly paling up, he closes his eyes and falls asleep.

--------

“Sunrise on the Yunwu (Note: Yunwu literally means ‘cloud and mist’) Mountain” is one of the famous scenic views in Lin City. In the early morning, a golden line of the sun just peeks out on the horizon, shining on the many mountain peaks that are covered with thin snow, contrasting the mountain ranges covered with lush forests. CEO of Rong Yue Group Zhang Yifang is sitting on the patio of his luxurious mountain-top house on the Yunwu Mountain, in his hand a brass hand warmer decorated with an interlocking-branch lotus design modeled after antiques. Fragrant tea and a few cigars on the table, he is enjoying the beautiful view of sunrise.

Summer #52

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

Chapter 52

The winter in Beijing is much colder than in Lin City, the snow half-a-foot deep. At dusk, the sky is dark as in a deep cave. Bracing against the wind, Mu Hanxia goes down the stairs, waving good-bye to a few colleagues, and walks toward Lin Mochen’s home.

In the apparel business, she needs to come often for monitoring and communication as a representative of Lin Mochen. This time she listens to him and stays temporarily at his home. But of course, she hasn’t gone to sleep in his master bedroom. Instead, she takes the guest bedroom.

This gives her a strange feeling. The spacious and empty rooms, with apparent simplicity and hardness, are also full of the traces he has left. The row of shirts in the closet, the shaver and man’s perfume in the bathroom, and a thin blanket of light gray color on the couch―does he wrap it on himself when he feels cold while at home alone?

Sometimes, she is a little lost in thoughts, imagining living together in this house when both of them return to Beijing, just like he said. Seeing each other all day and every day like that. That must be a very intimate relationship.

Being with him, living with him, intimate beyond word. Just thinking about it makes her dreaming and longing.

She sits in his dark-colored leather couch with the blanket wrapped around her, and holds the fast food she just bought downstairs, eating and smiling.

Honestly, the relation between Lin Mochen and her can’t be considered very warm and thick. The night he declared his love to her, she did feel him truly passionate and irresistible. But in work and life, he is still the cool and sensible one. If the work calls for it, he will still send her to Beijing for the business. He won’t be over-emotional and won’t find it hard to be left without her. His passion toward her mostly shows in late nights, when there are only the two of them and when she sees his assertive tenderness and his suppressed desire as a man.

This affection between them is really light, as if there’s no way to fully let it out, because of their more frequent separation than being together, and because of him being methodical and restrained. But then Mu Hanxia thinks about herself. Isn’t she the same kind of person? They are already business partners with excellent mutual understanding. Even when they can’t help but fall in lover later on, they still share the same understanding and sensibleness.

She guesses that maybe their love is not very deep and sturdy yet. He knows that their relationship has been disturbed by many things. But like Lin Mochen, she also believes that this situation is just temporary. If they hang in there and get over this period of time, when the business becomes stable, their relationship will enjoy a very very good advancement.

Besides, who can say that their feelings toward each other are not silently growing in a winter night like this?

Thinking about him, and here he is. Here rings the call from Lin Mochen.

Mu Hanxia stands up and walks to the window, gazing out at swirling snow in the vast city.

“Hi,” She smiles before saying anything, “What’s up?”

His voice seems to be tinted with the damp and cold air of Lin City, “Hmm. We’ve got the Lot B from Cao Dasheng.”

Mu Hanxia is silent for a few seconds and then smiles, her eyebrows curved up.

“Congratulations.”

“When are you coming back?”

“Need a couple more days. I’ll try my best to be faster.”

“OK.” His voice is slow and lazy. Mu Hanxia can almost see him sitting in the couch in his room, gazing out into the dark night outside the window.

“This lot is even larger than Lot A. There’s a spot in the northwest that has the best view.” He says, “I plan to keep it and build a single house there.”

Mu Hanxia: “OH? Okay.”

He is silent for a moment and then says, “We live there together in the future?”

Mu Hanxia feels as if her heart has been flooded by sudden surges of warmth. She never cries easily, but right now at these calm words of his, her eyes suddenly turn red. Maybe it’s because of the frustration due to separation, maybe the loneliness in such a winter night, or maybe it’s the implication of home in this promise of his.

He and she, the two of them, are both longing for a place called home?

She replies in a low voice, “Let me think about it first.”

Lin Mochen chuckles slightly, in a confident way.

Mu Hanxia can’t help but smile too.

“Come back early.”

“Mhm. Mochen...I miss you.”

The 26-year-old Lin Mochen, sitting in the skyscraper of this southwest metropolitan city, the tie still unremoved from his collar, looks up out the window at the drizzling rain and the misty night, smiling all along.

“I also miss you a lot.”

--------

The next day during work time, Mu Hanxia receives another call from Lao Fang.

He brings her good news, “Xiao Mu, they reviewed your application and said there’s no problem. But they will need a written exam and a video interview. It’s a short call and they want to do it tomorrow. What do you think?”

Mu Hanxia is both nervous and excited and certainly says Okay. Since Lao Fang told her about it the other time, she has tried to find time going over English and some courses whenever possible. When she’s in Beijing, she has also spent a lot of time on it.

After reminding her of some more precautions, Lao Fang hangs up.

Mu Hanxia sits quietly for a long time. The first thing she thinks about is not whether she can make it or not. Rather, she thinks that since there’s already progress, it’s time to tell Lin Mochen. Remembering the words he said last night, she feels even sweeter, so sweet that it spreads into her heart and lungs.

What if...he can’t let her leave the business, or doesn’t want her to leave him and go abroad? It’s not that she hasn’t thought about it. But when actually facing the situation, she really doesn’t know how to make up her mind.

She has always been a decisive person and at the moment a decision comes to her mind―follow her own heart.

Her heart, which side is her heart with?

The studies are important. How she wishes for a complete overturn of her own life

But, can she bear to leave him?

She doesn’t want to leave him, doesn’t want to leave this man.

But then, on another thought, how can the situation become really bad? So calm and sensible as he is, maybe he would support her more than she does herself about going abroad? Besides, he’s so rich now, it’s even possible that they will visit each other every month after she goes. After all, it’s not something he can’t afford.

Mu Hanxia decides, after she gets home from work this evening, she will call him.

--------

Lin Mochen’s cellphone goes off at past ten in the night.

He’s already back in the hotel, reading a magazine while relaxing in the couch. The development of Lot B has begun. The Lot A under collaboration with Rong Yue has also entered the phase of main building construction. The major work is done and he is actually less busy than earlier.

Smiling slightly at the sound of the ring tone, he grabs the phone and glances at the screen. But he doesn’t connect it immediately.

The call is not from her, but from Sun Zhi.

Sun Zhi seldom calls him the boss at this time of day.

Unless it’s extremely urgent.

Outside the window, the night is already deep. Stars are hidden from sight, and the chilly wind carries traces of snow. Holding the phone in his hand, Lin Mochen stares at it for a few seconds, before he put the magazine aside and picks it up.

--------

Mu Hanxia has been quite busy today. It’s past eleven when she gets home. But she doesn’t think he has gone to bed. And, she has to tell him the happening today, not wanting to keep it to herself any more.

She has thought it through. Whether he would be willing to let her go or not, whether his reaction would be gentle or strong, it’s OK as far as they are both candid.

As soon as she gets home, she crawls into that blanket of his, settles herself in the couch, and dials his number.

 “Ring...ring...ring...ring...”

The phone keeps ringing but not one picks up.

Mu Hanxia stiffens. Normally, he would have finished his day’s work by this time of day. And he is too energetic to have gone to bed at this time.

Why not pick up the phone?

She thinks about it and dials the number of the land phone in his hotel room.

Still no one picks up.

Maybe something urgent are keeping him busy?

With this thought, Mu Hanxia goes to brush her teeth and take a shower. After changing into her nightgown, she goes to lie down in bed.

It’s almost midnight.

After lying there for a few moments, she suddenly sits up and starts to call him on the cellphone and land phone again. But still no one picks up. A strange feeling comes to her, and she calls Sun Zhi instead. But still, no one picks up.

Mu Hanxia sits stiffly for a long while. She looks up suddenly and catches sight of the vague stars covered up by the clouds. That is the lengthy and silent winter in the north. 

Summer #51

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

Chapter 51

Neon lights, tasty wines, hearty laughs and pleasant chats.

This is the most expensive clubhouse in the city, and this is the coldest but also most heated night in the winter time.

Lin Mochen and Mu Hanxia sit in the rosewood chairs, his arm behind her. She pours him a hot cup of tea, helping weaken the strength of alcohol a little. From outsiders, there are the same weak smiles on their faces. They seem to have merged into the dazzling lights and enchanting wines, but they also seem to be keeping their distance.

Across the table, Sun Zhi is taking the role of getting Cao Dasheng drunk with the help of a few subordinates. Apparently this is where Cao Dasheng likes the most. His face burning red because of too much drinking, his eyes shining, he keeps gripping Sun Zhi’s hands and tells him, “Chief, Chief Sun, since your money is ready, let’s sign the contract right away. What to wait for? Since we’re having such a delightful conversation, I’m not going to consider other buyers! I’ll do Chief Lin the favor! Chief Lin, right?”

Showing a smile as pleasant as the spring breeze, Lin Mochen picks up the glass and toast to him. Sun Zhi gives Cao DaSheng a heavy slap on the shoulder and says, “Chief Cao, rest assured, the bank has got our money ready and we’ll sign the contract in a day or two. No problem! The day after tomorrow, right on the day after tomorrow, you just wait to count your money. Hahaha!”

Cao Dasheng keeps nodding his head and seems very happy, so happy that he starts to get his hands fumbling restlessly on the female secretary he has brought along.

Mu Hanxia can hardly bear the scene and lowers her head. Lin Mochen whispers to her in a voice only the two of them can hear, “Sorry for contaminating your eyes. The Lady Boss is the same as the Boss, having to fake smiles. Try to bear it just a little longer.” Mu Hanxia can’t help but smiles.

The scheme-filled dinner is finally over. But Cao Dasheng, with his nature exposed, calls loudly for Sun Zhi to arrange “the following activities.”

Mu Hanxia acts as if she hasn’t heard a word, while Lin Mochen already speaks with a smile, “Chief Cao, please excuse me from joining you. My own lady is here and I must take her home.”

Cao Dasheng glances over to Mu Hanxia with a dubious eye but doesn’t insist. He even calls out to Mu Hanxia, “Sister-in-law, you take care. Chief Lin and me are brothers from now on. Anything happens to you in Lin City, just come look for me.”

Mu Hanxia smiles and says “thank you”.

Sun Zhi, followed by a group of people, leave in cars, while Mu Hanxia and Lin Mochen just take a taxi.

In the flowing night light, Lin Mochen is a little tired. Holding her hand in his, he leans back against the seat and closes his eyes. Mu Hanxia gazes at his profile.

Actually she understands why Lin Mochen brought her to the dinner with Cao dasheng. A few days ago, he also took her to see that lot when Cao Dasheng was present. All this is to make Cao Dasheng believe that Feng Chen doesn’t know the truth yet and is eager to get that defective lot from him, and to make him believe that Feng Chen will soon bring money to sign the contract with him. See? The boss has even taken his woman to see the lot and has promised a big house on the lot as their dear new home. How can this not be true?

“Will he fall for it?” she asks in a low voice.

Lin Mochen opens his eyes. There isn’t any laziness in the eyes. Instead they are quiet and deep.

“He will.” He replies, “Simply because of one word: greediness. This kind of people this like a hungry dog, if the interest thrown his way is big enough and attractive enough, he will follow my way.”

Mu Hanxia leans against his shoulder.

“I’m going to Beijing again tomorrow. You be careful with everything.”

Lin Mochen isn’t someone who would act intimately with a woman in public, but now, he takes in the fragrance of her hair, presses against her soft cheek, lowers his head and finds her lips which he starts to kiss.

Mu Hanxia stays very close to him in the dim light, the corner of her eyes catching glimpse of the taxi running forward smoothly and noiselessly in the dark night. There is a sense of distance and solitude, but it still makes her feel boundlessly beautiful.

After a while, his lips leave hers. His eyes are very close to hers, both smiling. Mu Hanxia reaches out to give his chin a light pinch, “Hey, be honest, the night life Sun Zhi took them to, have you ever been there?”

“Ahh...do I look like a guy who has unsatisfied desires and needs to find comfort at those dirty places?”

Mu Hanxia: “Oh, so you don’t have unsatisfied desires. That’s good.”

With a calm face, Lin Mochen reaches out and gives her a hard pinch on her waist. Mu Hanxia cries with a loud oach.

---------

Antony, Lin Mochen’s classmate, has always been a merry young man. Since he came to help Lin Mochen in China, he has a feeling that he has found the new value of his life. Starting an enterprise in the great time of Chinese economic development, is there anything more exciting than this?

And Lin Mochen has made secret plans to find some geological survey agency to conduct a more accurate survey on Cao Dasheng’s two lots. Antony volunteers to take the job. In fact, the sinister Cao Dasheng also lowers Antony’s bottom line, who agrees with Lin Mochen on defeating this evil guy with schemes and plots.

It’s a beautiful sunny morning. The streets are filled with flowing vehicles.

Followed by his assistant, Antony comes out from the survey office. In his hand, are the two sealed reports. They will be able to tell whether there are serious geological problems with the Lot A Cao Dasheng is trying to sell them. And the reports will also tell them the value of the other lot he has.

Antony has to sigh with admiration that Lin Mochen is really a careful and detail-oriented guy. With such a strong witness as that street girl, he still needs this solid evidence.

There are many people at the peak hour, and the two are walking very fast. Some young fellow on a bicycle rides past and accidentally bumps into them. Antony lets out a painful cry, and that young man also falls down hard. But he hurries up and helps them pick up the documents, full of apologies. He leaves in a hurry only after making sure they are both unharmed.

Even with such a small unpleasant incident, Antony’s excitement is not affected. He knocks the dust off the envelopes, calls a taxi with his assistant, and rushes back to the company at the earliest time possible.

The newly arrived reports are now lying on Lin Mochen’s desk. Black ink on white paper, they clearly tell everybody that beneath the surface of Lot A there’s all soft soil which is difficult for foundations to stand on. Although it can still be developed, the difficulty will be very big and the investment has to be greater. Whereas, there’s no problem with Lot B.

After reading the two reports, Lin Mochen nods slightly and says, “proceed according to our original plan.”

--------

The company that Cao Dasheng claims to own is actually about a dozen people he hires working in two residence suites he rents, half of whom are his relatives. His is a typical briefcase company.

But in the eye of his several sidekicks, Cao Dasheng is in a very high spirit lately. On the one hand, Feng Chen, the most famous company in Lin City nowadays, is going to buy a lot from him. But they all know that lot is a useless one with soft soil. A great fortune is about to fall into his pocket in exchange of that rotten land.

On the other hand, the other lot he has is about to have a cooperative party. Cao Dasheng isn’t as rich as Lin Mochen, so he can’t buy a whole real estate company. If he wants to develop Lot B and make money, he has to cooperate with a real estate company with valid credentials. Originally, they have been in contact with several companies and got pretty good terms. But there comes a new company the last few days, which is said to have venture capital and likes the lot and offers very good terms. But they just require them to sign the contract immediately and get the money in place so that the project can start as soon as possible, because they think right now is the best time since the real estate market is just about to revive in China. They even provides Cao Dasheng with a stack of investment analysis reports.

Cao Dasheng doesn’t understand the big trend of real estate market, but he is so temped by such positive opinions of the company. However, the money he needs to develop Lot B has to rely on Lin Mochen. But it so happens that, after having made the appointment to sign the contract and exchange money and the lot one of these days, Lin Mochen told him the last minute that Rong Yue has some things coming up and he has no spare time, being trapped in endless meetings several days in a row. So he’s unable to sign the contract. In short, Feng Chen keeps postponing.

However, Lin Mochen especially gives him a call and tells him very earnestly, “Chief Cao, we will definitely purchase this lot. It’s just that I’m fully occupied by the business with Rong Yue and can’t find time now. I really can’t offend Rong Yue, I truly hope you’d understand. If I don’t want the lot, why would I keep contacting you? To be honest, it’s really hard to find such a good lot as yours in Lin City. Therefore, Chief Cao, please rest assured. There will be no change of the price and terms that we’ve agreed upon. Just give me a few days. As a compensation, I will give you 0.5% more on the price.”

Thus, Cao Dasheng can’t urge him any more. Half a percent, that isn’t a small amount. Besides, Lin Mochen’s business with Rong Yue is really bigger than with his.

But, the company who’s going to work on Lot B with them can’t wait any longer. The two parties have signed the agreement of intent, and are just waiting for the formal signing of the contract. One of the bosses of that company is a foreigner, who is flying abroad very soon. After urging them several times, that company gets impatient and tells Cao Dasheng, “Chief Cao, our CEO Max is flying to England. If we can’t sign before he leaves, then after he comes back, we’re not sure if he will change his mind. After all, there are quite many projects that we can invest in. If you really can’t get money around, maybe we cooperate next time?”

Cao Dasheng says, “Don’t, please don’t. Our luck draws us to each other and that must mean something. After all, we’ve been talking for so long about this lot and the cooperation plan is almost finalized.”

That other one asks, “So can we sign the contract?”

Cao Dasheng clenches his teeth and says, “Yes, I can! But can we postpone the money transfer deadline for two weeks? Because I have a big amount of money that won’t be transferred to me until some time later.”

The other one says it’s fine after reporting to his boss for approval.

So they pick the date and sign the contract, agreeing that in two weeks the money from both parties will be in place for the cooperative development, and no violation is allowed.

However, starting from the day after the signing, Cao Dasheng can no longer get through when he dials Lin Mochen’s phone. It’s the same when he tries to call Sun Zhi.

He doesn’t think much of it for the first few days. But then when more days pass by, he can wait no more. He brings some people to look for Lin Mochen in his company but are driven away by some muscular guards who look more like moving workers.

“Our Chief Lin is super busy. How can you just force in when you haven’t even an appointment?” Even the front desk lady who he tried to talk to during previous visits appears not to recognize him.

Cao Dashen is furious. So he falls back on his old hooligan ways, gathering a bunch of gangsters, trying to stir up somethings. But Lin Mochen is long prepared for it, protected by bodyguards every time he goes out. And so, Cao Dasheng can’t find him or do anything at all.

Soon, it’s almost time for the money transfer deadline of Lot B.

Cao Dasheng calls Sun Zhi again and suddenly gets through. Sun Zhi smiles warmly on the other end, “Chief Cao, what’s the matter?”

Cao Dasheng almost hollers, “Sun Zhi, what do you mean? You said you would sign the contract soon. But now what the hell do you mean? I’ve already, I’ve already...”

Sun Zhi smiles slowly and says, “Cao Dasheng, isn’t it just that you’ve already signed Lot B to another company and now you don’t have money to pay your part? We’re not going to buy such a rotten land as Lot A. You’ve treated us like idiots for so long. Let’s keep the peace and leave it behind, OK?”

He is about to hang up when Cao Dasheng yells really anxiously, “Wait! You don’t want Lot A, what do I do now? Chief Sun, Chief Sun, please talk to Chief Lin again, it’s my fault hiding the situation of Lot A from you, but it’s not totally unable to develop. I’ll give you discount, sell it cheap, really cheap. What do you think? Without the money, Lot B, Lot B...I’ll have to break the contract and my rights will have to be transferred!”

But Sun Zhi just smiles on the other end, “Well, then, why don’t you go ahead and transfer Lot B?”