Chapter Sixty – Alone

When Yishu got up, she saw a note on the dining table alongside a sandwich and a glass of milk. She had originally planned to wake up at six to share one last breakfast with him, but her greed for ten more minutes of sleep had pulled her back under.

Xu Shixi’s specialty for breakfast was sandwiches—nothing more. He could name all the classic foods of old Beijing, but as for making them, that was another story.

After finishing her breakfast, Yishu stepped onto the balcony to take in the day. Sure enough, the sky was clear, the air was crisp—an autumn day as bright as polished jade. She found herself almost looking forward to Xu Shixi’s upcoming journey.

Guo Yamei still hadn’t arrived at the shop by ten past nine. Yishu began to feel uneasy. What had happened yesterday when she left work an hour early? Surely it couldn’t be—no, that was too much. Even if there had been past grievances between them, to imagine something life-or-death was simply excessive.

At half past nine, a merchant from another province came in to buy a catalog. The leaders still hadn’t come to a decision about hiring an in-house designer. Each had their own opinion, and so the plan was stalled. Curtains, after all, weren’t like clothing; there was no need to launch new styles every season. Updating once every year or two was enough—keeping what sold well, dropping what didn’t.

Yishu took an untouched catalog from the bottom drawer of the desk and handed it to the customer, adding his contact information to her records. In just a few words, she learned he was an interior designer who had recently taken on several apartments and villas. Because the projects were on a tight schedule, he’d come all the way by high-speed rail to the textile city to choose in person.

Afterward, Yishu added him on WeChat—much easier for future contact.

When the customer left, Yishu glanced at the time: 9:55. She decided to wait until ten. She opened her phone’s contact list, searching for Guo Yamei’s number. Ever since Guo Yamei had deleted her on WeChat, they had lost all communication.

Yishu was a person who clung to principles. If someone deleted her so mercilessly, why should she lower herself to add them back? Besides, if the other party refused again, who could bear such humiliation twice?

Ten minutes later, Guo Yamei finally answered. Her voice was weary, faintly surprised, with the distant rustle of noise behind her.

She said little—just that she’d be taking the day off.

Both women paused for a few seconds before Guo Yamei hung up.

Yishu was amazed that she’d managed to convince Supervisor Liu to grant her a day off, and admired her skill. But she was also deeply annoyed that she hadn’t been informed in advance. Even a simple text would have sufficed. Was she really so stingy as to save a few cents, or was there some other reason?

Just as expected, the number of customers from morning until night could be counted on two hands, and the actual orders on one.

Liu Hanzhang relayed the leadership’s directives to Yishu in a long, earnest, and predictable speech. Yishu placed her phone on the desk, waiting to see how long the lecture would last.

“Are you even listening?” Liu Hanzhang roared when she didn’t get the expected “mm-hmm” or “okay” from Yishu.

Startled, Yishu snatched up the phone, shifting her tone and energy in a heartbeat. “I am listening, Supervisor Liu.” What she actually feared was Liu Hanzhang suddenly demanding, “Now repeat what I just said.” That would be true disaster.

To Yishu, the National Day holiday was no different from any other day. The sun rose and set; she left early and returned late. Only Yuyang Road seemed wider now—as if it had doubled in width. In reality, it was just the absence of private cars creating the illusion.

Everywhere were slogans celebrating the festival, as if one couldn’t truly mark the holiday without such reminders.

After alighting, Yishu walked straight into Fuyuan. She glanced from afar at the market stalls by the resettlement apartments, now neatly hidden by a row of trees. Through the gaps, she saw there weren’t many people gathered there.

She washed a small cup of rice, poured it into the cooker, and set yesterday’s leftovers from the fridge in the steamer. Meals for one really were simple affairs.

At two in the afternoon, Xu Shixi called to say he’d arrived at Xiamen North Station, and the group was heading for the hotel. By now, he was probably enjoying some gourmet meal in a luxury hotel.

Yan Lu and Lu Xugao had to finish delivering the orders they’d taken in late September before they could spare two or three days. Now, with all their focus on their new venture, it seemed they’d set aside all play.

When Yishu called Yan Lu, she could hear her eating and typing at the same time—probably printing waybills or handling tricky orders. Her enthusiasm for work was nothing like when she’d been a customer service rep at Kaisheng. Yishu felt she’d chosen a poor time to call, so she ended the conversation quickly.

When she phoned Yihui, he told her he was working a part-time job at the shop and couldn’t manage both at once. Early evening was the busiest time, with wave after wave of customers pouring in like a waterfall cascading endlessly off a cliff.

Since entering university, Yihui hadn’t asked Yishu for a single cent. In fact, he’d rarely asked even in high school. Underage, he couldn’t get a job, and with only a day and a half off per week, there was no time for it anyway, so he’d given up the idea. If Yishu sent him money, he’d return it the next day, sometimes with a few hundred more than before. When she asked why, he’d say it was from hard work and thrift. Each call carried the same weary tone, but in his fatigue was a quiet joy, as if climbing a terrace in spring.

Yishu’s relationship with her brother was polite to the point of formality. She rarely joked with him, and if she did, he’d just laugh and let it pass. Over time, their conversations became nothing but expressions of care. She remembered, just before he left, half-joking that he could find a girlfriend at university—maybe even marry right after graduation. To her surprise, Yihui replied with words that still left her puzzled: he said he didn’t like women.

Yishu had stared at him, eyes wide. He wasn’t one for words, but she couldn’t recall him ever lying. So, was he telling the truth? And if so, then who did he like? She hadn’t time to delve further; the next morning, Yihui had left home. That strange riddle became just another unsolved question, lost among many others.

Yishu sat on the sofa watching the latest popular anthology drama, “Twelve Floors,” composed of twelve distinct short stories depicting the values of love across different eras and groups. The show was breaking records everywhere, topping TV ratings in prime time and surpassing a hundred million online views in days.

At some point, she drifted off to sleep. In a half-dream, she felt a pair of warm, strong hands lifting her, carrying her toward the bedroom—like floating on a bed of soft cotton, scattered with white jasmine petals, hovering between reality and fantasy.

Yishu tried to break through the weight pressing on her eyelids. Fighting oneself, she thought, was the hardest battle in the world. She stopped struggling, letting sleep sweep over her, and drifted into deep slumber. For some reason, she felt no worry about the person who carried her to bed. The familiarity of their presence and scent melted away her defenses.

“How—” When Yishu awoke the next morning and saw Xu Shixi in the kitchen, she asked in surprise, “You’re back?”

“Hurry up and get washed,” he replied, busy with his tasks but looking up to add, “Eat, and I’ll drive you to work.”

Yishu scratched her tangled hair, her mind a blank. Had his trip to Fujian been nothing but a dream? And what about the embrace last night—how had that happened?

In the mirror, she saw the heavy shadows beneath her eyes and the slight puffiness in her face. With a sigh, she squeezed out some cleanser, lathered it with water, and washed away her fatigue. One must always meet life in the best possible state.

Especially, she thought, with him by her side.