Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Only later did I learn that he wasn’t Minister Zhou’s secretary.
His name was Tan Zongmin.
He was a scion of the Tan Family, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent wealthy families.
But honestly, as a girl from a rural mountain village who had only just graduated, I had no real understanding of what the name Tan Zongmin represented.
All I could see was that he was handsome, gentle, and composed.
So when he asked me to be his girlfriend, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.
Besides, dating Tan Zongmin was easy and enjoyable.
Perhaps because good fortune had suddenly smiled on me, the station opened up an additional permanent position. Both Wen Xuan, the station director’s niece, and I were able to stay at Hong Kong TV.
Once we became permanent employees, Wen Xuan was actually quite friendly toward me.
But I still had mixed feelings about the rival who had nearly cost me my position.
Sometimes, I would complain about Wen Xuan to Tan Zongmin.
I’d tell him that all she ever did at work was touch up her makeup, and whenever we were on the same team, she dumped all the work on me…
At the end of one such rant, I frowned at Tan Zongmin. “I still don’t understand how I almost lost to her back then.”
Tan Zongmin ladled out another bowl of soup and placed it before me. “Yaoyao, her connections are part of what she’s capable of too.”
And those connections of hers outweighed every award I had ever won.
Steam from the soup rose into my throat.
It stopped the rest of my complaints in their tracks.
Because I realized how painfully naive I sounded.
After that day, I began trying to accept Wen Xuan’s overtures of friendship.
Before I knew it, we had grown close enough to dine and shop together.
One weekend, Wen Xuan invited me to hike up Victoria Peak and asked me to see if Tan Zongmin wanted to join us.
After driving me to the foot of the mountain, Tan Zongmin said something urgent had come up.
Wen Xuan complained on my behalf, “Seriously? Mr. Tan is so busy he can’t even spare the time to keep his girlfriend company?”
Tan Zongmin shook his head gently and said to me, “Sorry. I’ll come with you next time.”
In the end, only Wen Xuan and I made the hike.
She knew the area like the back of her hand.
By the time we reached the summit, night had fallen right on cue.
The lights of countless homes shone like stars in the sky, illuminating the tranquil, glittering waters of Victoria Harbour.
Without thinking, I took out my phone to snap a picture.
As the flash went off, Wen Xuan suddenly said, “When you and Mr. Tan are about to break up, could you give me a heads-up?”
“That way, I can hurry in and pick up the scraps.”
Her words struck me speechless.
Seeing my stunned expression, she covered her mouth with a soft laugh. “Wait, you don’t actually think you and Mr. Tan are going to last, do you?”
I looked her straight in the eye. “And you would?”
She pointed to a brightly lit villa halfway down the mountain. “That’s one of Mr. Tan’s properties.”
“I’m not in Mr. Tan’s league either. Why else would I call it picking up the scraps?”
Then she wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Are you mad? Honestly, I was planning to steal him from you if I got the chance. But you’re so dowdy and clueless, and you’ve helped me so much at work that I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
“So I decided to be honest with you instead.”
“Forget it. Just pretend I was talking in my sleep.”
Silently, I removed Wen Xuan’s arm from my shoulders.
When she saw me putting distance between us, she studied me for a moment, then abruptly turned nasty. “Zhong Yao, can’t you take a joke?”
“You are pretty dowdy, you know. Who wears jeans on a hike? Oh my God, and you were taking pictures just now…”
The look in her eyes suddenly brought back so many moments: when she’d ordered an Americano while I’d ordered a latte, when I hadn’t recognized the luxury cars parked along the street…
She had only wanted to be my friend so she could get close to Tan Zongmin.
In the taxi home, I couldn’t stop myself from looking up the clothes Wen Xuan had worn on our hike.
I patiently compared each item against photos on social media.
They weren’t that hard to find. After all, there weren’t many clothes that cost such outrageous amounts.
Her hiking jacket alone cost nearly ten thousand.
More than half a month’s salary for me.
When you didn’t recognize a brand, clothes were simply something you wore to cover your body.
The urge to compare, the vanity, the envy, the feelings of inferiority… Those things only began creeping into your mind once you learned what the brand meant.
And once they surfaced, there was no suppressing them again.
The next time you saw that logo, the price would automatically appear in your mind.