Chapter 3

Stepping out of the building, I suddenly thought how lovely the sunshine was.

The pain of yesterday’s breakup seemed so insignificant beside this small success in my career.

“Did you take a cab here?”

Pei Qingyan jingled his car keys.

“I just bought a new car. I’ve been looking for someone to show it off to.”

I was too embarrassed to admit I’d come by bicycle. A little dazzled by his bright, guileless smile, I got into his car.

As he pulled up outside my shabby old apartment complex, I clearly saw the flicker of incomprehension in his eyes.

After all, I’d once been a pampered girl from a wealthy family. To have sunk this low in just a few years was hard to fathom.

“My place is rather basic, so I won’t invite you up for tea.”

I felt awkward. Pei Qingyan smiled softly.

“All right. But once the project gets going, you’ll soon move out of here. When you get a new place, you can’t refuse to invite me up again.”

I pressed my lips together. Thinking of the project I’d just secured, I couldn’t help feeling little sparks of happiness.

“All right.”

My phone rang just after he left.

The moment I answered, a man’s rough voice came down the line.

Through the noisy background, I finally made out what he was saying.

Yu Jingchen had gotten drunk, caused trouble in his bar, and smashed his expensive liquor.

The man gave me the exact address and asked when I’d arrive.

Yu Jingchen was a bad drunk. Whenever he drank too much, he lost his head. That was what had first led me to keep him confined.

I was still holding today’s contract against my chest. A little dog passing by stopped to pee beside a foul-smelling trash can.

Suddenly, I desperately wanted to move out. I shouldn’t be living here.

So I said,

“I barely know him. Call someone else.”

Before I’d finished, there was a loud crash at the other end. Someone seemed to snatch the phone.

“Who the fuck told you to call her? It’s not like I can’t pay.”

Even over the phone, Yu Jingchen’s harsh breathing was painfully clear. He spoke through gritted teeth.

“Meng Qingge, I barely know you either.”

“Playing tough this time? Fine. Whoever gives in first is a pathetic little loser.”

He hung up. After a few seconds’ hesitation, I blocked his number.

I wasn’t going to be the loser.

I was going to have my good life back.

The project went smoothly. Once Yu Jingchen was out of my world, everything seemed to fall back into place.

There were seats on the subway. One project came right after another. Even my parents, whom I hadn’t heard from in ages, called and told me to come home for dinner when I had time.

The day the funds arrived, I hired my old employees back.

I’d started the company in college. It had done well at first. Even my father, who’d always held me to exacting standards, had spoken of me with pride.

Later it had gone steadily downhill. Now, sitting in my familiar office and watching my familiar colleagues return to their desks, beaming, I felt the wad of cotton that had been lodged in my chest suddenly disappear.

Even when I saw a bright, pretty girl in his latest Moments post, it didn’t seem to hurt as much.

They were very close in the photo. Yu Jingchen wore a handsome smile, and the bracelet I’d given him was still on his wrist.

I enlarged the photo and looked at his smiling face. The last trace of bitterness in my heart vanished.