—-【Shi Youwan: Day off today? Heading out?】
—-【Chi Yumo: Sorry, I don’t always carry my phone.】
—-【Chi Yumo: Went out, to the company gym.】
—-【Shi Youwan: No worries.】
—-【Shi Youwan: Regular workouts are a good habit. Does the company have weight requirements for you?】
—-【Chi Yumo: No.】
—-【Shi Youwan: You’ve always been disciplined. Even if they did, you’d be within standards.】
—-【Chi Yumo: Probably.】
—-【Shi Youwan: What for dinner tonight?】
—-【Chi Yumo: Haven’t decided.】
—-【Chi Yumo: Maybe pan-fried steak or chicken cutlet.】
—-【Shi Youwan: Got it. Go cook then; I won’t disturb you.】
Pointless chit-chat, as nutritious as drained chicken breast—tasteless to eat, wasteful to toss.
But choices had to be made. Chi Yumo chose to let it end there, at Shi Youwan’s “won’t disturb.”
Chi Yumo recalled the past. In the two years she spent with Shi Youwan, their chat conversations had been few and far between. Each time, they exchanged only a few brief sentences—straight to business, no personal talk.
Most of them started with Shi Youwan and ended with her.
No personal talk— that was fine.
But when she thought of Shi Youwan’s emaciated frame, so thin it hurt to touch, her heart ached.
Her thumb tapped the blank chat box, bringing up the virtual keyboard. She typed: 【I’m back in Yinzhou today. I have some things to handle. If President Shi has no other plans tonight, let me treat you to dinner.】
【Shi Youwan: No plans.】
【Shi Youwan: Which hotel are you at? It’s early. I’ll come find you first.】
Early?
Shi Youwan had taken off from Lingjiang City a little after three. By the time she reached Yinzhou Airport and then the city center, it would be at least five-thirty.
Chi Yumo had booked a mid-range comfortable hotel for herself, not a five-star luxury one. With Shi Youwan’s distinguished status, she probably never stayed anywhere less than five stars.
At that moment, she had forgotten that fourteen years ago, when they first met in Tong’an Town, there hadn’t been any star-rated hotels around.
【Chi Yumo: It’s just an ordinary hotel. Don’t come.】
【Chi Yumo: Let’s meet at the restaurant directly. I’ll find one soon and send you the address. Six o’clock okay?】
【Shi Youwan: Sure. See you at six.】
Setting the time was easy; picking the restaurant was not.
The high-end restaurants Chi Yumo had been to in Yinzhou could be counted on one hand, and without exception, she had gone to all of them with Shi Youwan.
A couple of them, she and Zhang Kai had even eaten “staff meals” in a small private room, courtesy of the boss.
She had no particular preferences for food and rarely dined at large-scale restaurants, except for class reunions.
During her university years, she either ate at the school cafeteria, went home to eat with Grandma, grabbed something at a small shop on Old Street, or cooked for herself. She knew next to nothing about the restaurants hidden amid the bustling avenues or secluded spots in the city center.
Should she go to one Shi Youwan frequented, risking recognition, or search online for an ordinary one, risking a bad experience?
Chi Yumo stared at her phone, stumped.
Indecision stirred an inexplicable irritability in her. Shen Muxi had told her to take the initiative, but she clearly wasn’t used to being in charge.
She listened to her teachers at school, to Grandma at home. Later, to Shi Youwan, and now to Shen Muxi.
Her teachers, Grandma, Shi Youwan, Shen Muxi—they all meant so much to her. They were dear mentors she trusted deeply, and she was willing—happy, even—to follow their guidance.
She knew this made her seem spineless. But if someone pointed her in the right direction and spared her detours, what was wrong with that?
In the ten years she and Grandma had relied solely on each other, with no one else to lean on, “harmony above all” was the life philosophy Grandma had taught her. No matter where they moved, Grandma got along wonderfully with neighbors and employers, making their simple lives smooth and fulfilling.
Grandma was so wise in navigating the world—what reason did she have not to listen to her? And so, humility and compliance became her creed.
In the two years by Shi Youwan’s side, she witnessed the authority and decisiveness of those in power, turning their hands to make clouds or rain. Plus, as someone in debt to Shi Youwan, obediently following orders was her code of conduct—the only way.
Now, though Shen Muxi differed greatly from Grandma and Shi Youwan in temperament and interpersonal style, Shen Muxi had her own strengths and wouldn’t harm her. So why not listen to Shen Muxi?
Decisively attending art school and auditioning for the Jinxi Theater, seeking Shi Youwan’s help, coming to Lingjiang with Shen Muxi, pursuing modeling—these pivotal changes in her life weren’t they her own “initiative”?
Dinner was just a trivial matter. Letting the more decisive Shi Youwan choose was no big deal.
【Chi Yumo: Sorry, I’m not familiar with restaurants. President Shi, you pick one.】
After sending it, she looked at her words and smiled.
Had she and Shi Youwan fallen into some strange loop? Since reuniting, she kept saying “sorry” and “excuse me” to Shi Youwan, while Shi Youwan kept saying “sorry” and “it’s okay” to her.
Where had they gone wrong?
What were they sorry for?
—Next time you’re back in Yinzhou… go take a look at that apartment in the neighboring city… President Shi’s feelings for you, she hasn’t said them, but they’re in all the little details.
Qiao Ke’s words from the yacht echoed in her mind, drumming against her eardrums.
Should she go see it?
Yes, she should. She was already here…
Ride-hailing apps allowed mid-journey destination changes, automatically updating the driver’s navigation.
Chi Yumo changed the destination to the apartment complex.
When the phone’s electronic voice announced the update, the driver glanced up at her in the rearview mirror. “Miss, are you sure about changing to that neighborhood? It’s cross-city, longer drive. I’ll probably return empty. How about adding fifty?”
Detouring to the apartment added nearly thirty kilometers; the total was sixty-five, with a last-minute route change pushing the one-way time to seventy minutes.
The driver’s tone was polite and reasonable. Empathizing, Chi Yumo nodded and agreed to the extra fee.
Everyone struggled to make a living. Understanding was key.
At the garage, Chi Yumo followed the route she remembered from her twenty-second birthday night, taking the elevator to the twenty-seventh floor.
Unit 27-6. She entered her six-digit birthday code. Hearing the lock mechanism whir, she pressed down the handle and opened the door from the outside for the first time.
Once both feet were inside, the motion-sensor light under the shoe cabinet in the entryway flicked on.
Under the light sat two nearly new pairs of slippers placed outside. Beige small size, gray large size—the ones she and Shi Youwan had worn.
On June 27th last year, she had sat alone in the living room all night.
Because of Shi Youwan’s words about letting others stay over, she rejected the place entirely. She hadn’t entered a single room—not the bedrooms, bathroom, or kitchen. Only the next morning did she step onto the balcony, watch the first dawn light brighten the horizon, and bid it farewell.
What was love in the little details?
Chi Yumo first stepped into the bathroom. But the racks and mirror cabinet held no matching pairs of bathrobes, towels, or toothbrushing cups as she had imagined.
What did that mean?
That Shi Youwan back then had no intention of staying here often, or using it as a rest stop. Was this apartment just a consolation prize to get rid of her?
Pushing open the master bedroom door, Chi Yumo no longer held any expectations. She shouldn’t have had any even entering the bathroom.
But behind the door was a surprise. The master bedroom was unexpectedly spacious—twice the size of her room in Lingjiang. The bed was huge, the wardrobe even larger. It took up an entire wall with extension space—a walk-in closet at a glance.
She lived alone, with no commute dress code for work. Simple styles sufficed. Why had Shi Youwan made her such a massive wardrobe?
The solid wood wardrobe was a sliding-door design to the right of the entrance.
Sliding one open, she found several sets of spring/fall and summer pajamas and loungewear hanging inside. Further in, winter pajamas and loungewear—all her size.
At the far end, next to the bed-head wall where it connected to the wardrobe, there was an archway. Flipping on the light, Chi Yumo stood there, stunned.
The two connected closets on the left: one filled with suits in various styles and colors, the other with shirts in various styles and colors.
To the right, floor-to-ceiling dressing mirrors. Straight ahead, another closet, styled for clothes, hats, bags, and jewelry.
—Sis, you have so many suits: black, white, blue, gray, brown, apricot, camel… You could make a color chart.
—When you start working, dress more formally too. I’ll buy you suits in all these colors.
—Though I’d love to say I’ll buy them with my own salary, I’d rather wear the ones you buy me. Sis, you buy me clothes, and I’ll give you my salary card, okay?
—Keep your salary card. Save your earnings for starting a family someday.
—Oh, got it. Then I’ll buy my own clothes.
Chi Yumo leaned against the wall, eyes stinging.
So, at the modeling contest when she won and Shi Youwan came backstage with flowers, specially praising how she looked good in any color—had she been imagining her in these colorful suits through the gowns?
Sometimes, she really didn’t understand Shi Youwan—her considerations, her flip-flopping, her feelings. Pushing her away ruthlessly, then pulling her back desperately.
She didn’t go in to examine each piece. With a heart full of cracks, she turned off the light and silently left the apartment, as if she had never been there.
Before getting out of the car, she had arranged another plan with the driver: he’d wait twenty or thirty minutes, then take her to the hotel in Yinzhou City.
The outbound fare was over two hundred; return under forty kilometers. Round trip, flat four hundred.
The driver agreed readily.
Dinner was at six. Chi Yumo didn’t linger; from entering to leaving the apartment, sixteen minutes.
Just as she rode the elevator down, Shi Youwan messaged her—likely having landed. She said she’d been tied up with something else, then sent a Western restaurant name and location.
But she had been to this one with Shi Youwan. Shi Youwan knew she liked beef and had sent her and Zhang Kai upstairs, ordering steaks for them.
—Xiao Mo, is tonight’s steak good?
—Yeah, delicious.
Still in the car, Shi Youwan reached out and patted her belly.
—Sis…
—Full? In the future, eat more of what you like. Don’t save money for me.
—Mhm. Then next time… I’ll have one more piece.
—You… only thinking of one more steak? What about the rest?
—The rest…
She murmured “the rest,” her mind blank, but her gaze locked like an arrow on target—straight to Shi Youwan’s lips.
As if receiving the signal from her heated stare, Shi Youwan reached over and lightly tapped her nose.
Then, the partition between the back seat and driver’s compartment dropped. With no barriers, the arrow hit its mark.
Snapping back, Chi Yumo didn’t call out the so-called “something else.” She replied 【Okay】. A quick search showed the restaurant was only 2.8 kilometers from her hotel.
Just… a coincidence?
Regardless, that gave her plenty of time: check in, drop her bag, head out.
At five-forty, Shi Youwan messaged the private room name.
Chi Yumo was walking out of the hotel, replied 【Okay】, and headed to the nearest bus stop.
Two stops away. It really was… very close.
