As Liu Jun walked home, his lips still carrying the rich fishy smell, his slight intoxication lifting his spirits, swaying in the autumn breeze like a contented fat cat, he reflected on Cui Bingbing’s words. “Come whenever you want, just drop by for a meal?” If Qian Hongming and Jiali had said this, whatever they said, he would listen and do accordingly without feeling anything strange. But if it were Shen Huadong, who now called him more than once a day, Shen Huadong might not say such things out of privacy considerations, and he, respecting his friend’s privacy, might not act on it either. As for the newly acquainted Cui Bingbing, Liu Jun undoubtedly suspected the deeper meaning behind these words.
Thinking about Cui Bingbing as a person, her personality, Liu Jun had only three words in his heart: no prospects. Being friends would be quite nice, but the problem was that being friends with women was like walking by the river—the possibility of getting your feet wet was too high, belonging to a high-risk profession. He didn’t dwell on this matter much, dismissing it with a laugh. What was amusing was how Cui Bingbing had given him thousands of instructions and tens of thousands of warnings about how to deal with Director Li. She seemed more nervous than Director Li’s daughter, though, of course, Cui Bingbing had her little calculations. Liu Jun used the perspective of descriptive geometry to view Cui Bingbing’s behavior from above, seeing through her little schemes at a glance.
When Liu Jun was almost home, he unexpectedly received a call from Shen Huadong. Shen Huadong was similar to him, having somewhat of a fake foreign devil’s character—during early or late private hours, unless there were major changes, they generally wouldn’t call non-intimate friends.
“There’s something that completely exceeded my expectations. I have a friend whose father is one of the major leaders in the city’s tobacco industry. He’s been pursuing Yu Shanshan unsuccessfully. Just now, very suddenly, he told me that Yu Shanshan agreed to enter the tobacco industry as a career unit employee. You might not know this, but for ordinary people wanting to enter tobacco unit positions, it’s possible they’d need to spend two to three hundred thousand in lobbying efforts.”
“You mean Yu Shanshan is preparing to be with your friend…”
“If she enters the tobacco industry, this is the only way. But my friend, whether in terms of knowledge, appearance, or character, can only be described as below average.”
“What kind of shock did she receive?” This was Liu Jun’s only guess. If Yu Shanshan were good at exchanging beauty for material things, she could have done so long ago, and could have curried favor and bound herself to him or Shen Huadong—why would she devalue herself for a tobacco company’s young master? Before Liu Jun could clear his thoughts, he had already jumped into a taxi. When the driver asked where to go, after a moment’s hesitation, he gave Yu Shanshan’s residential complex address. His car keys had been forcibly confiscated by Cui Bingbing because he had been drinking.
In the car, Liu Jun wondered whether it was appropriate for him to try to dissuade Yu Shanshan. But thinking of Yu Shanshan’s impulsive personality, that never-growing-up temper, although he… he also didn’t want to watch Yu Shanshan go down the wrong path.
Yu Shanshan’s reaction was exactly as Liu Jun expected—she wouldn’t open the door, wouldn’t respond, and even the sliver of light that had originally seeped through the peephole and door crack disappeared because of his knocking and talking. But Liu Jun’s understanding of Yu Shanshan was like Wu Song’s knowledge that the Jingyang Ridge tiger only had three moves: one pounce, one lift, one swipe. Even though there was no sound from inside the room now, Liu Jun could guess that Yu Shanshan was just a door panel away from him, quietly listening to his movements outside. He took his time, not raising his voice, just speaking normally. “Dongdong just called me, saying you decided to enter the tobacco company? Have you thought about the consequences? Are you acting out of spite? Against whom? And why harm yourself out of spite?”
There was no sound from inside. Liu Jun imagined the person inside biting her lips tightly, rolling her eyes in response—this was Yu Shanshan’s most direct usual reaction. “I’ve summarized you as a person later on—you’re very smart, but too clever in small ways, your reactions are too quick, which makes you act without thinking. So your behavior is often a shallow and hasty reflection of others’ behavior, rather than an action after your deep consideration. To put it bluntly, you lack a sense of self. I’m convinced that today’s sudden decision is again a reflection of some unknown incident. I strongly suggest you calm down for three days, preferably take three steps back, talk to the person involved, clarify the reason for your spite, rather than assuming things and jumping to conclusions too early. Don’t act rashly—you’ll regret it.”
The room remained silent, but Liu Jun still believed Yu Shanshan was right on the other side of the door. “As someone… I must also remind you that you’re very beautiful, and I believe many people pursue you, but a person who only has beauty without a sense of self makes love impossible to grasp. I’m leaving now—think it over carefully. If you find what I said offensive, I’ll have Dongdong talk to you tomorrow. Don’t do anything foolish.”
Still silence. Liu Jun didn’t walk away as he had said—he was truly worried, and his slightly intoxicated mind was entangled with some emotion.
Finally, the sound of keys came from the darkness. After a while, the wooden door opened. Even in the night, with the room pitch black, Liu Jun could still clearly see the person inside. Although there was the expected lip-biting and eye-rolling, there were tears and sobbing as well. Liu Jun was surprised and familiarly reached through the iron-barred security door to turn on the light inside. Under the light, Yu Shanshan was still crying. She lowered her head and opened the security door. “Is someone forcing you? What’s going on?”
“Come in and talk.”
Liu Jun remembered that just recently, someone had used “it’s late at night” as an excuse to dismiss him when he had barely put down his hairtail soup and rice bowl. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled open the security door and walked in. Yu Shanshan’s simple living room naturally couldn’t compare with Cui Bingbing’s home. Liu Jun glanced around the living room, which had barely changed, and seriously doubted that Yu Shanshan’s import-export business was going well. A cup of cold boiled water was slammed down in front of Liu Jun with a “bang,” startling him. He didn’t sit down, just picked up the teacup and took a sip, saying, “It’s late at night, it’s inconvenient. I’ll stand for a bit and then leave. Tell me who’s forcing you, and I’ll find a way to help.”
But seeing Yu Shanshan’s tearful eyes, Liu Jun had to turn his face away, restraining his tender feelings toward the fair sex. If anyone dared say that beautiful women had no destructive power, he’d fight them to the death. He involuntarily bent his legs and sat down in the chair.
“You told me to talk to the person involved. Fine, I’m asking you, and you’re not allowed to evade. What’s going on between you and Yang Li? What did she do with you that night?”
Liu Jun hadn’t expected that the person involved was him, and that Yu Shanshan was bringing up old matters. He recalled for a moment and briefly described what had happened. He added, “Yang Li has experience handling such things. I only treated her as an ordinary friend, hoping she would help me deal with that kind of troublesome dispute. I don’t rule out that she was being deliberate at the time.”
“Why didn’t you explain back then?”
“It was obvious—me and Yang Li? Ridiculous. That’s why I say you act without thinking.”
“If you weren’t guilty, if you weren’t lying, why do you turn your head to look at the wall? Please look at me directly.”
“I’m afraid to see you cry. You’d better not force me anymore. Otherwise, late at night with just a man and woman alone, it’s inconvenient. You just need to use your brain to distinguish.”
“During Spring Festival, why were you so cold?”
Liu Jun still told the whole story of what happened at that time. Since Yu Shanshan gave him the chance to speak completely, he wouldn’t hide anything. “I couldn’t revolve around you. I have a sense of self, I need to develop myself. You must admit that a man with some ambition won’t spend all day revolving around you. In the past and now, I’m willing to do many things for you. If it’s beyond my ability, I’ll try my best to arrange things well. But to come at your beck and call—that’s impossible. Is there anything else you need to ask? Did you make your decision just because of these old matters?”
“You… did you rush over here specially today? You had plans with someone else today, didn’t you?”
“I just finished eating with friends when I got Dongdong’s call. After saying so much, have you resolved your knot? Can you call back and refuse that person?”
“My business—why are you meddling…”
“No matter what happened, we’re still friends. I don’t want to see you make mistakes.”
“How is it that all your girlfriends are evening girlfriends who are together with you at night, girlfriends who go grocery shopping and eat with you? How are you so fickle? Don’t you have any self-restraint?…”
Liu Jun was surprised that Yu Shanshan had witnessed him with Cui Bingbing. He couldn’t help but turn back to look at Yu Shanshan, but seeing Yu Shanshan’s tears streaming down like pearls again, his heart completely softened, and he surrendered with a full confession. “A’San… Cui Bingbing is gender-neutral. I didn’t consider her gender. If you’re angry about this…”
“How could someone gender-neutral get so close to you? Could you get that close to Shen Huadong? You always say you have good reasons. Today I saw it with my own eyes—two people close together picking vegetables, and you can still find reasons to deny it. How can you expect me to trust you? Help me think about it—is my logic wrong?”
“Close… close together… how is that possible?” Liu Jun tried hard to recall the situation in the supermarket, unable to think of when Cui Bingbing had been close to him. Although his safety standards were a bit loose, he wouldn’t go so far as to take advantage of people.
Yu Shanshan had seen Liu Jun close together with that fat woman, but the Liu Jun before her now had a completely innocent expression, looking so confused as if she were framing him. She angrily stepped hard on Liu Jun’s foot, grinding down with all her strength while crying accusingly, “I was just young and naive, which is why I was repeatedly deceived by you. You’re getting better and better at talking, always blaming me for not trusting you, for having no analytical ability, for having no sense of self. I almost believed you again just now. Go away, don’t let me see you again. From now on, don’t interfere in my affairs—everything has nothing to do with you, nothing!”
Liu Jun watched as a scalp moved excitedly right under his eyelids, as a small woman in loose-sleeved home robes clenched her fists and kicked him hard. His inner defenses completely collapsed, all principles gone, surrendering to the destructive power of beauty. What about it being late and inconvenient? What about being alone together as a man and a woman? All thrown to the back of his mind. He let Yu Shanshan step on him to her heart’s content, let Yu Shanshan smear tears and snot all over him, his arms even bitten bloody by Yu Shanshan. He could only hold this angry person and apologize repeatedly, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I didn’t do anything with A’San.” Although he truly had nothing to apologize for in his heart, seeing Yu Shanshan’s tears, he could only give in. And he wasn’t Tang Seng either—in all the commotion, the two of them kissed again, intensely, as if making up for the distance of more than half a year.