Yu Shixuan wore a cream-white coat, her hair covered with snow, as if she were a person carved from ice and jade.

“Why did you come?”

I charged over like a cannonball, rapidly unwrapping my scarf as I went.

I bundled her up tightly, leaving only her eyes exposed. She spoke with a cold tremor: “Can’t I come?”

“Yes, yes, yes, of course you can. Why didn’t you knock on the door?”

I held her and rubbed her to warm her up, turning back to introduce Zhou Ting: “This is my friend, this is my high school classmate.”

When Zhou Ting saw her, he froze for a moment. Yu Shixuan possessed a kind of beauty that was somewhat transcendent of everyday life—impossible for anyone to ignore.

However, he quickly said: “Hello, well… I’ll be going then.”

“Mm, see you later.”

I pulled Yu Shixuan into the room. While she was taking a hot shower, I cooked a bowl of hot noodle soup.

Since I’d brought Grandma back to the Northeast from Beijing, we hadn’t seen each other again.

I had no interest in chatting with people, and she certainly wouldn’t lower herself to make small talk with me. Gradually, we’d lost contact.

This really wasn’t that big a deal—I had over three thousand people on WeChat, far too many of these phase-based friendships.

So the fact that she came to find me was extremely unexpected.

She wore my pajamas, slowly and methodically sipping soup with a spoon, a poor southern child frozen silly.

“What made you think of coming to find me?”

She didn’t answer, but instead said: “Your taste has really gotten terrible.”

I was stunned for a moment before realizing she was referring to Zhou Ting.

“Don’t imagine things. I just went on a blind date and discovered it was a high school classmate,” I said.

“And then marriage, having your first baby, second baby, half your energy devoted to serving the kids—their pooping, eating, going to school… the other half spent fighting with your mother-in-law. Your only hope in life being that your husband’s performance is a bit better, so he doesn’t have to finish hastily in bed…” She sighed softly: “What an interesting life.”

My face still wore a smile as I said: “I didn’t provoke you, did I?”

“I’m just feeling surprised. When you left S Construction, I thought you’d live some kind of idyllic, otherworldly life. But instead you’re at a messy company, slacking off more and more each day. I’ve been to your construction site—it’s completely rotten…”

That sentence was like a slap in the face, struck hard against me.

My construction sites had always been known for being well-organized, but this project was indeed completely rotten. Every aspect was just making do to pass inspections.

“Princess!” I interrupted her, saying: “I’m not like you. I’m naturally lazy and sloppy. I can’t strictly demand of myself at all times. We poor people all live by making do like this—so what?”

“But you weren’t like this before!”

“Before.” I sneered: “Before, I always felt that if I just worked a bit harder, I could succeed. But you saw the result—Old Feng worked himself to death, and they still discarded him just like that!”

She stopped talking, quietly looking at me, her face snow-white, her black hair wet.

“And me? My family doesn’t want me, my boyfriend doesn’t want me, my own life doesn’t want me. I just gritted my teeth and climbed upward, but what could I get in the end! Who treated me like a person?” I leaned back, sneering: “Might as well slack off—at least I’ll live more comfortably.”

The room fell into a deathly silence. I suddenly regretted it—why was I yelling at her? She’d come all this way to see me, and I was just dumping my bellyful of resentment on her.

But apologizing now would be a bit awkward too.

“Don’t wash the bowl, just leave it in the sink. Come sleep when you’re done eating.”

I dropped that stiff sentence and went back to the bedroom.

I pretended to face away and play with my phone, but actually my ears were pricked up like a live donkey’s, carefully listening to the movements in the dining room.

I was genuinely afraid the young lady would throw a tantrum and storm out the door.

She’d become the first southern little potato to freeze to death.

But she didn’t leave. She even rustled about washing the dishes, then went to brush her teeth and do her skincare.

Finally, she walked into the bedroom.

Only one dim lamp was on in the room. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, feeling the bed beside me sink down. The scent on her body smelled as pleasant as a sweet, plump pomelo.

She lay down behind me.

After a moment of silence, she said: “Are you still asking that question from earlier?”

“What question?”

“You asked why I came to find you.”

“Oh, why?”

She gently embraced me from behind, saying softly: “Because I missed you.”

I felt like a fierce little milk cat had gently nuzzled me—my heart was both flustered and sweet.

I could only turn around and say: “Then stay a few more days.”

She looked at me quietly. Under the warm yellow light, those eyes were crystal clear—she looked even more like a cat.

She asked me softly: “Dongxue, how much money do you have left?”

“Around two million or so, why?”

She nodded, her lips parting gently: “I also sold my house.”

“Ah, you also sold… what!”

The tender atmosphere vanished completely. I practically bounced up from the bed!

“You sold your house recently? Has water gotten into your brain?”

She ignored what I said and instead continued: “You remember that villa complex I designed, now called Gentle Breeze Meadow Homestay. My father helped me apply for an international architecture award for it.”

“And then?”

“I want to establish an architecture firm. Together—I’ll design, you’ll do construction.”

I was dumbstruck, saying: “You’ve really gone crazy. Do you know how bad the market is right now?”

“But I’ve already received my first project, right here.” She said: “Do you know what internet-famous architecture is?”

“The literal meaning? Like Aranya?”

“Right. An architectural design that’s literary enough with a good enough concept can bring enormous traffic to a location. It’s worth investing in, and Gentle Breeze Meadow’s success proves I have this capability.”

I thought about it—indeed, whether Yu Shixuan was excellent enough as an architect was debatable, but her works truly had a unique aesthetic quality, dreamy enough and imaginative enough.

“You might not know, but Vegetable Market Street is about to undergo renovation. Nanbei University will establish a branch here. Their president really likes my work, and the new library will very likely be entrusted to me to design.”

Vegetable Market Street… wasn’t that where I grew up? A university would be built there?

“If this project succeeds, rural construction, old residential building renovation… there will be many similar projects coming to me. I must find a project manager who can perfectly execute my blueprints. It can only be you.”

I was a bit dazed from the information overload, instinctively refusing: “I can help you manage the construction site, but opening a company together—let’s forget about that…”

In this market climate, I really didn’t have any entrepreneurial ambition.

Moreover, it sounded like the company’s core competitiveness would be her designs. The construction team would be dispensable. Working under her—what difference would that be from being Deputy General Manager under Mr. Wang?

Opening a company with a friend was troublesome and harmful to the relationship.

“Not just the construction site—we’d be partners opening a company together, equal status, splitting profits fifty-fifty.” She said: “To be frank, neither of us individually has the capability to open a company. You don’t have resources, and I don’t know how to deal with clients or manage company personnel. If we combine forces…”

I interrupted her: “Princess, I’m not like you.”

Even if she failed, her father wouldn’t let her become homeless. But me—I didn’t have a family member who could catch me if I fell, nor did I have that much trial-and-error capital. Entrepreneurial failure for me wouldn’t be “ah, I didn’t do one thing well.”

It would be complete financial ruin, utter defeat.

I couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

She looked at me, the flush on her face slowly fading. She said: “Okay, I understand.”

That night, we slept back-to-back. Neither of us fell asleep.

The dim little lamp glowed faintly.

I heard her extremely soft voice: “Actually, you like building houses.”

I didn’t speak.

“You also like ‘working hard.'”

“You just hate being used, being manipulated, being… looked down upon.”