The train roared into the station.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and tousled my messy hair, then saw a young man at the exit looking at me.

He was tall and sturdy, wearing a white hoodie under a down jacket. His hairstyle was refined, the type who would get hit on by many gay men walking around campus.

He smiled at me, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

His smile made my skin crawl, and I couldn’t help patting down my hair that had stuck up from sleeping.

“You’re Dongxue-jie, right?” he said. “I’m CEO Shen’s assistant. She sent me to pick you up.”

“Ah, yes yes yes, how thoughtful… I, I completely didn’t expect this.”

CEO Shen was the owner of a subcontracting company I had worked with many years ago. Because we were both from Northeast China, we got along well. I happened to be coming to Fengshi, so we chatted a bit, but we didn’t even discuss train schedules.

I completely didn’t expect that she would actually send someone to pick me up.

The young man said, “There are only a few trains a day, so I just waited here the whole time.” He led me to a Maserati and smiled handsomely yet honestly: “Just call me Gu Hai.”

Gu Hai led me to a restaurant that looked high-end at first glance. Opening the private room door, CEO Shen opened her arms to greet me: “Oh, our beautiful Miss Ren is here!”

She still looked the same as back then—short, crisp hair, skin that creamy white from being saturated with cosmetics. Through extremely thick false eyelashes, she looked like she was wearing heavy makeup even barefaced.

“Shen-jie, you startled me. Why are you being so polite?”

When we worked together back then, it had been quite pleasant. Her husband’s family had some background, but he spoke and acted with a certain reckless boldness, not thinking things through. She, on the surface, was that kind of uninhibited Northeast woman, but actually had finesse within her roughness, smoothing over the mistakes her husband made without leaving a trace.

I quite admired her, but that was all. In my heart, I understood that our friendship was between her and Director Ren of S Construction, and had nothing to do with Ren Dongxue herself.

I didn’t understand what such a grand reception was for now.

“I just get along with you. What, now that you’ve left S Construction, we can’t even be sisters anymore?”

“That’s impossible.” I poured a glass of wine, using my expression to complete a dramatic performance of “Oh my god, what are you saying, sister!”

She smiled ambiguously. “You’re just too prideful. I heard you even worked at Xinsheng. That Old Wang…” She swallowed the rest of her sentence and just said, “Why didn’t you come find us earlier!”

“Ha, I just thought I’d find a random job at home. Look, when I really have difficulties, I still have to trouble all the big brothers and sisters.”

Having stayed at S Construction for so many years, of course I had accumulated quite a bit of “connections,” and we called each other brothers back then. But after leaving, I didn’t contact a single one—I wasn’t sincere myself, so why would I expect anyone to truly help me in my time of need?

Sister Shen continued, “In this environment, if someone else wanted to start a construction company, I’d definitely say isn’t that asking for death! But having said that, no matter when, there are always people who can make money. As long as there’s one, it has to be you!”

I was truly flattered and hurriedly clinked glasses with her, saying “I wouldn’t dare” several times. “But I’ll advise you, it’s best to acquire an existing construction company. First, those qualifications are quite difficult to obtain. If you register from scratch, you won’t have enough time. Second, many projects require companies to have been established for a certain number of years. Acquiring one would be more convenient.”

I had actually thought about this, but didn’t have any suitable resources.

“I can’t help you much elsewhere, but in Fengshi, I can still make some connections for you.” She said, “The second thing, I also advise you to try to establish the company in Fengshi. Your hometown is too small, can’t sustain you for many years. Fengshi has a good geographical location. You can take on projects from all three northeastern provinces and even the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It’s also convenient for recruiting workers.”

This was true. Although the South-North University project was indeed more convenient near my hometown, we’re not only doing one deal in this lifetime. Fengshi was indeed a better choice than my hometown.

“Thank you, Shen-jie. I don’t even know what to say.”

This sentence was truly from the bottom of my heart.

“What’s there to thank!” She said, “Back then our company was in such bad shape, couldn’t pay wages for three months. The drivers were ready to eat me alive. It was you who settled the payment in advance that we pulled through. I’ll remember your kindness for a lifetime.”

“Isn’t that what I should have done?”

Mainly, at that time I was constantly pushing for progress. Afraid of causing backlash from the workers, I’d rather pay out of my own pocket than fail to distribute wages on time.

“If you weren’t starting your own company, I’d already thought of having you come work with me, I’d give you shares.” She said, then laughed, “That Mr. Wang at Xinsheng is a complete three-gun idiot. He has a real Buddha at home but goes everywhere burning incense. I heard after you left, he hired four people to replace your work.”

I smiled without speaking.

She continued, “Starting your own business is pretty good too. Our family does transportation. In the future when you have work, remember to find your sister.”

“You’re overestimating me too much. How could my small workshop afford you!”

“Even if you can’t afford it, you still have to hire me!” Her laughter was hearty: “Who told me to bet with my husband? I’m betting on you, Director Ren, that you won’t remain an ordinary person in the future!”

I also laughed, bitterly.

From here on, everything rushed wildly in an absurd direction.

Because it was right before the New Year, everyone was rushing to meet deadlines. What should have been me running around disheveled to inspect sites everywhere turned into sitting in Sister Shen’s luxury car, rushing from one banquet to another.

“This is my real sister, wants to do some business here. All you big brothers must help out.” Her boldness carried a hint of unreasonable coquettishness. Older men ate this up the most.

“Of course, we’re all family. Besides, business isn’t easy. We should help each other.”

These construction bosses all gave her a lot of face. Everyone who should come came, and they spoke very sincerely. There was quite a bit of drinking, but that happened to be my strong suit.

I immediately stood up: “For those words, I have to drink a full glass. You drink as you please.”

“Don’t force it down! We’re doing serious business here!” She rolled her eyes, causing a burst of laughter.

I had also joked around at drinking parties for many years, but my main identity was still that of a genderless eunuch. Sister Shen, on the other hand, brought feminine charm to its extreme. She was coquettish, pretended anger, and every glance carried ambiguity.

Yet no one could take the slightest advantage of her.

I definitely couldn’t do this. If I once started falling, it would be an endless descent into the abyss.

On the third day, when I was about to collapse from drinking, a construction company boss said he could establish a branch company for me to acquire. This way, I could get the qualifications I wanted at the lowest price.

Another company provided a good location.

Sister Shen said, “I’m just making connections. You need to go inspect everything yourself.”

Of course. Honestly, my head was still spinning. I couldn’t believe everything was going so smoothly.

All these banquets had invited some young girls as companions, but after a few rounds of drinks, those bosses still started getting handsy.

—Not toward me, of course. Sister Shen pushed and shoved, but ultimately was still forced to drink quite a bit.

I thought of her husband, a burly man with a big gold chain, smoking twenty-four hours a day, always saying “my wife” in conversation.

If he saw this scene, he should be angry enough to flip the table.

I was just about to stand up to help Sister Shen block drinks when that Gu Hai stood up, gently took away her wine glass, and said, “CEO Shen, you’ve had a cold recently. Don’t drink too much.”

Sister Shen’s willow-leaf eyebrows shot up: “Is it your turn to control me? Get lost!”

Gu Hai still insisted on switching her wine for a beverage, drawing dissatisfied protests from all the bosses.

Sister Shen leaned back in her chair, drunk with her whole face flushed red, smiling sweetly: “He’s a kid from our company. My husband sent him to watch over me. No choice, hehehe—”

And the next moment, in the back seat of Sister Shen’s Maserati, she sat on Gu Hai’s lap, kissing passionately and utterly lost in it.

The driver was accustomed to this, eyes straight ahead. While I, in the passenger seat, was dumbstruck.

Wait, wasn’t he sent by her husband to watch over her?

“Idiot, you believe everything you’re told.” She wiped her smeared lipstick, languidly whispering in my ear, “Sports university, sophomore year. Those abs pressed against you, don’t even mention how exciting it is.”

“Ah, I see, hahaha.” I laughed dryly.

She giggled: “You’re probably wondering about my husband, right? He knows. He plays his games, I play mine.”

Playing this wild?

“By the way.” She leaned toward the front seat, giggling, “You don’t still like that little guy from the architectural institute, do you?”

The matter between me and Cheng Xia had spread in particularly outrageous ways back then.

I smiled without picking up the thread.

“Gu Hai, don’t you have any handsome classmates? Call one over. Your Dongxue-jie likes the scholarly type.”

That’s really not necessary!

Gu Hai actually started thinking about it, saying, “I actually do know one, from the Agricultural University. He’s a top student. Just short on money—”

“That’s perfect then, let’s play together.”

I practically jumped up: “No no no, I need to go back to the hotel to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow!”

“No way!” She was truly drunk, petulantly saying, “You must keep me company—”

The car drove to a private club. The two of us went to bathe, get massages, and sober up. When we came out, Gu Hai and that legendary top student were actually waiting there.

This was truly the most absurd scene I’d ever witnessed in my life.

That top student had crisp short hair, frameless glasses, and wore a light-colored shirt. His scholarly air combined with an overwhelming youthful aura, under the ambiguous lighting, had a flavor that was both pure and depraved.

“Is he your type? All these years, you haven’t had a man around you, right?” Sister Shen moved close to my eyes, laughing wantonly, “I can tell at a glance.”

I couldn’t quite handle it and could only laugh dryly: “Jie, stop teasing me.”

She leaned on my shoulder laughing: “You, don’t think so much. Just treat this trip as relaxation. However men enjoy themselves, that’s how we’ll enjoy ourselves.”

“This, uh, I… I’m the frigid type.”

This was true. My limited experience was all with Cheng Xia. Back then, he deliberately wanted to make me lose control, using all kinds of methods, forcing me to say intimate words. But I hated that feeling of being completely controlled by someone, so I wasn’t enthusiastic about it.

However, that was already three years ago. Those images flashed by, making me feel a bit hot and also a bit uncomfortable.

That top student sat down beside me at the right moment, saying, “Jie, what would you like to drink?”

Sister Shen gave me a look, then turned to go to Gu Hai’s side, and soon came sounds that made one’s face flush and heart race.

Since she wasn’t done, I was too embarrassed to leave. I could only drink and chat with this boy who I didn’t know was a real or fake top student.

I asked, “What’s your major?”

“I study landscape architecture.”

Huh? Still related to construction.

I was somewhat shocked and asked again, “So what was your gaokao score?”

“Six hundred seventeen.”

Having just drunk baijiu and beer, then red wine, I also felt drunk. In my drunken haze, the young man before me seemed to transform into Cheng Xia when he first started university, the way he walked toward me from under the green shade of the university campus—clean, bright, carrying the spirited air of youth.

—The Cheng Xia I loved most, the Cheng Xia I never had.

I propped up my head looking at the young man before me, asking softly, “So, what can you do?”

The young man’s jade-like cheeks flushed crimson. He said in a small voice, “Jie, I can do anything.”

“Ah, that’s… pretty good.”

I rubbed my throbbing temples, took my phone and placed it in front of him, saying, “Take a look at this. Based on this library’s layout, how would you do the landscaping?”