“Stubborn!”
“You child, why won’t you listen — ! As soon as I start talking, you run into your room. Even a donkey isn’t as stubborn as you!”
A woman’s voice came from outside the moldy walls.
The shrill sound pierced the locked door, sounding muffled.
“It’s not like he’s a stranger. It’s Uncle Zhao, the one who lives in the small building at the village entrance. He’s only 8 years older than you. I heard he opened a cement factory in the new city district, and lots of college students are working for him! He’s older, but he’s not ugly!”
I know him.
‘I don’t want to. I don’t know that kind of person.’
The dark, ugly face that surfaced in her mind was definitely not someone she wanted to know.
*Bang! Bang!* Heavy pounding came from the door.
“Still not coming out! Your mother worked so hard to raise you to be so radiant, and this is how you treat me! When you were little, I woke up early every day to go to town to buy milk and papaya supplements for you. If I was late, they’d be gone! Now you have fair skin and a good figure, and it’s all thanks to me! You’re going to turn your back on all that now?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t acknowledge it… it wasn’t.
But if she did, she would have to obey her, so of course she couldn’t admit to it!
Why didn’t her mother understand?
“You’re in your early 20s, your most radiant years. Take the chance while Uncle Zhao still wants you! Stop thinking about that college student who left home! No matter how much potential he has, he’s just a common worker. He might not ever catch up to your Uncle Zhao! Besides, college students are everywhere these days. Is he really that special to you? Silly girl! You’re so naive! Open the door!”
*Boom — * The pounding sounded again.
The door panels shook, and the hinges inside the frame let out a piercing groan.
‘No, if I marry someone like him, I…’
‘I’d rather… I’d rather not be in this family! No — ‘
‘Run away! Escape this home!!’
The young woman jolted awake from her light sleep.
The buzzing in her head quickly faded, and pure white moonlight reflected on the floor beside the bed.
“Sigh — “
She exhaled in a voice only she could hear, avoiding waking the man sharing the bed.
But as she thought about it, a small surge of resentment made her lean over, pressing against the man’s firm, warm back.
“Idiot,” she whispered softly.
The masculine warmth made her feel comfortable.
How many times had they done it since the day they reunited?
At least a few times.
Every time, he would grip her arms tightly, as if he were in a rush to release something.
It was truly heartening.
Thinking about it, she straightened up again, deliberately distancing herself from the warmth that didn’t belong to her yet.
The other person remained still, either in a deep sleep or deliberately keeping his body stiff.
Knowing his personality, the latter was more likely.
‘Fool, big fool! This radiant, succulent forbidden fruit… after tasting it a few times, how could it be so easy to give up?’
‘No matter how much you endure, how much longer can you hold out?’
‘No matter how good your “she” is, she only dares to give hints. She probably doesn’t even know her home has been stolen.’
As she thought, her breathing gradually leveled out, and she buried those unpleasant memories from the past deep back into her heart.
***
“The client said it’s right here. Is there something wrong?”
“Hmm, this section needs a bit more context; otherwise, the integrated part feels too abrupt.”
I glanced at the text on the screen and gave a suggestion.
The icon for the office software, Didi, began flashing in the bottom right corner.
“Okay, thanks.”
The colleague who had come to thank me in person saw that I was about to be busy again and awkwardly slipped back to their workstation.
“Li, I’m at my wit’s end. Can you help me take a look at this?”
“Wait a moment…”
A finished document appeared on my desk.
I flipped through it briefly.
“What’s the issue? The client is really picky. Let Manager Mo have a look.”
“Okay! This is seriously going to be the death of me.”
Another colleague left a cigarette on my desk and hurried toward the supervisor’s office.
‘Honestly, I don’t smoke, but it would seem arrogant if I didn’t accept it…’
I thought to myself as I tucked the cigarette into my pants pocket and continued processing the copy that had been sent over.
My job was simple: match the client’s needs with copy and revise it until they were satisfied.
Fortunately, the clients I dealt with were very lenient; several times, it passed on the first try.
Because of this, Mo You had praised me privately once.
However, her expression remained blank and she didn’t give me a friendly look, but it was much better than before.
It had been a long time since I had been as focused as I was now.
The empty feeling in my heart faded slightly.
No matter what, I had to do this job well!
“Hello~ handsome! The introduction in this resume is very strange. Help me take a look!”
Along with the *click-clack* of high heels, I heard the voice of the HR girl, Yu Qian.
A fresh fragrance wafted toward me.
‘Don’t run in the office area…’
“Xiao Yu, how about I take a look? See how busy Li is!”
The male colleague at the workstation behind me offered a helping hand.
“No. If you did it, you’d hire her immediately once you saw she’s a pretty girl,” Yu Qian said with a smile and a wave of her hand.
“Tch, you’ve got me figured out.”
Another male colleague in the distance, for some reason, was paying attention to us and spoke up: “If Li Mingshan didn’t have a girlfriend, he and Xiao Yu would be a great match.”
*Clap, clap, clap — *
A burst of laughter rang out in the office.
The girl beside me whispered in a panic, “You look at it first, we’ll talk online,” before quickly escaping back to the HR office.
I looked at the resume on the desk.
I couldn’t see anything difficult to understand about it.
‘What exactly am I supposed to be looking at…?’
I grumbled privately.
For a probationary employee who had just been on the job for 1 month, wasn’t this thinking a bit too highly of me?
“Li, Manager Mo said your judgment was spot on. I’m going back to discuss it with the client. Thanks!”
When the colleague who had just entered the supervisor’s office came back to thank me, he actually left another cigarette.
Seriously, I don’t smoke!
During the lunch break, with several cigarettes hidden in my pocket, I slipped to the company entrance.
Opposite the wall printed with the company logo was a huge, transparent floor-to-ceiling window.
I stood in front of the window, looking at the light rain falling outside.
In the gaps between the shops facing the street, pedestrians were passing by in a steady stream.
I picked up my phone.
In the blackened area in the center of the screen, bullet comments drifted across from time to time, but the person they were directed at was nowhere to be seen.
“Not broadcasting yet?”
“Still in closed practice. Come back in a few days.”
“Not back yet?”
“She said in the stream that she went out of town this time.”
The bullet comments drifted by one by one, and before long, it fell into silence again.
‘This practice session is really long. According to the news from Xiao Ji in the past, closed practice lasts 3 weeks at most. What happened to An Zhi this time? Forget it, it’s none of my business. It’s fine!’
Since the day I argued with Su Xixia, she and I had rarely communicated.
Over time, I always felt like something was missing in my heart.
So, starting from a few days ago, I had been secretly keeping An Zhi’s live stream open in the background.
Doing so always made me feel at ease and satisfied, though I didn’t know why.
‘Is it because I’ve started chasing her footsteps? Maybe not. How could I ever catch up? She has millions of fans.’
“Li Mingshan.”
A slightly serious female voice sounded behind me.
“Ah, yes! Manager Mo. I’ll head back to my station right now.”
I hurried to put away my phone and turned around to give my superior a forced smile.
“No need, it’s not time yet. I saw you dazing off here by yourself. What are you thinking about?”
Mo You paced over to stand in front of me.
The sensor door opened, and a breeze brushed against my face.
Then, she lit a cigarette and stepped outside, gesturing for me to follow.
Standing beside her, the smell of tobacco was a bit pungent, yet it couldn’t mask her own fragrance.
“Just… thinking about work! Everyone is working so hard; I have to keep up.”
I hurriedly found an excuse.
I couldn’t exactly say I was thinking about personal matters.
“Regarding work, I plan to let you complete your probation early. After all, everyone relies on you quite a bit. Most of them are fresh graduates and need someone to guide them.”
“This… you’re thinking too highly of me.”
A cloud of smoke dissipated into the light rain.
I was still too nervous to look at her, fearing I might make her unhappy.
“Have some confidence. It’s not just them; you too. In the process of moving forward, don’t forget that someone is always waiting for you ahead — “
“Thank you for having faith in me, Mo You. Just like you asked me at the very beginning, I won’t let you down.”
“Hmph? Is that so?”
Her tone of doubt was somewhat deliberate, yet it still stimulated me, and my heart rate began to pick up again.
“Go back once you’re done dazing. Also, call me Mo You from now on. I’m not that much older than you.”
“Okay! Absolutely!”
While I responded loudly, I realized she had already put out her cigarette and walked back into the company.
At that moment, I started to regret it.
I hadn’t thought to offer her one of the cigarettes I was hiding.
Even after nearly 3 years since graduation, I was still not good at social niceties.
Can someone like me really become a role model?
Perhaps I can, because Mo You is right there ahead of me.
My colleagues and I, moving forward together, had already been unconsciously encouraging each other for a long time.
With a bit of regained confidence, I turned and walked back into the company.