Chapter 4.2: Fate

Chapter 4.2: Fate

(translated by peanuts and edited by lidge)

11.25: When she got back to the city, the sky was already dark. Mo Sheng looked at the time on the mobile phone, it seemed like she could only leave tomorrow. She inquired a few hotels in the city, but all answered they were already fully booked. In the end, she found and stayed in an expensive downtown hotel. After taking a bath and drying her clothes, it was still too early to sleep so she got up and went downstairs.

Outside of the hotel is the most bustling place in Y City, Zhen Guan Road. Y City with its picturesque scenery is a little known tourist city. At this time, there were a lot of tourists on Zhen Guan Road. Suddenly, Mo Sheng remembered that the first time she met Yi Chen in Y City was at this busy road.

0.31: At that time, they were already dating. However, when they were going home during their freshman year winter vacation, no matter what, Yi Chen refused to give his home phone number to her. At that moment, she was filled with disappointment and sadness. How could a girlfriend not even know her boyfriend’s home phone number? Before splitting up in the train station, Mo Sheng failed to coax and pester him to get it so she panted with rage, turned around and ran away.

However, she started to regret after running for a few steps. Why be angry? Maybe if she continued to act shamelessly, Yi Chen’s heart would soften. But when she looked back, Yi Chen was no longer at the front of the train station.

After returning home, she began to feel moody, had no appetite to eat anything and did not know what she watched on TV. Later, she also started to indulge in fantasy and would go out every day, thinking she might encounter Yi Chen.

Then, they actually ran into each other.

That day, it was snowing. He and Yi Mei, who she had not known yet, were walking across the street. At that time, she simply did not know how to react. To her surprise, they really ran into each other. In fact, she did not harbor any hope since there were so many people in the city…… the next moment, she dashed across the road at lightning speed, threw herself at him and hugged him ……

It seemed like it was exactly under this tree, that girl wearing a furry white hat was hugging that youngster, who was embarrassed by the ambiguous stares of people passing by, and shouted excitedly: “Yi Chen, I knew I’ll run into you la. I just knew it!”

Mo Sheng closed her eyes.

When the relationship had become a thing of the past, the most painful were the memories, which still felt like they just happened yesterday.

In a hurry, she took out her camera, turned towards the empty space and pressed the shutter.

The photos that were developed were of spacious and empty roads, nobody walked past, just blank space.

2.13: After the holiday, Mo Sheng became more busy at work.

Only Xiao Hong was very free. She had just recently finished a column and was in an idle period. She hanged around Mo Sheng’s office every day, worrying about her marriage prospect.

“Ah Sheng, you cannot afford to waste anymore time like this. You need to know that time is youth and beauty. When you find a man, it is like saving society. In a few more years, it would be too late for the woman and it is like slaughtering the man, furthermore ……” Xiao Hong mysteriously whispered, “It would be in line with the rule of psychology, Ah Sheng, don’t you want to sleep in a man’s warm embrace at night?”

“Xiao Hong, you …… dreamed that kind of dream again yesterday?”

“Sometimes only!” She pretended to be shy, blushed, lowered her head and swayed her body. After a while, she became serious, “Ah Sheng, you finally are back to normal now. Before, you acted like you were about to be robbed.”

Xiao Hong’s ridiculous analogy caused Mo Sheng to laugh.

As long as you don’t think about it, superficial happiness was really very easy. Laughing and joking with colleagues, people would think she was happy. Gradually, she would believe she was happy too.

She did not want to talk about this anymore so Mo Sheng looked at the clock on the wall. It was already ten o’clock, “Come on, let’s go to the meeting.”

Today’s meeting was the quarterly meeting.

The magazine publisher where Mo Sheng worked is quite big. In addition to “Xiu Se (Elegant Color)”, a well-known women’s magazine, the publisher also published a lifestyle weekly magazine. Otherwise, it would not be able to afford to employ two photographers.

“Xiu Se” is considered a popular brand in the women’s magazine market. Sales have always been number one among similar type of magazines. Although sales still remained at number one in the previous quarter, the market share had been decreasing every month.

After the editor gave positive feedback on the quarterly results of various departments, she mentioned the main topic, which would be to add a new column.

“If our magazine wants to distinguish itself, we need to have something different. There are so many similar types of magazines in the market now. Most of the contents are repeated such as beauty, fashion, gourmet, relationship and life. Besides all these, what else can we do?”

The editor looked at everyone and said: “Or I should ask it this way, what else can attract women?”

4.06: “I know.” Xiao Hong raised her hand and said, “Men.”

Everyone immediately started to laugh.

The editor nodded her head earnestly: “Although Xiao Hong usually seems very careless, she is actually very sharp.” The editor no longer kept everyone in suspense and turned on the slides. On the screen was the theme “Elite Men.”

Everyone started to mutter.

“We publish women’s magazines so will it be very strange to write a special topic on men?” A colleague questioned about this.

“I am sure everyone have heard of the old adage “opposites attract”. The men’s magazines use women on their covers, why can’t women’s magazines write about men?” The editor asked in reply.

After everyone discussed for a while, the editor said: “Anyway, market sales is what matters in the end. Hence, let’s temporarily do four specials to assess the responses from readers to decide whether to continue with it. Let’s hear everyone’s opinions.”

“What about the candidates?”

“I have already chosen four candidates. I’ll talk about them now so let me know what everyone thinks.” When the editor clicked the mouse, photographs of four young men appeared on the screen, “Our choice of candidates would not be those beyond our reach such as sons from influential families and highly eligible bachelors but elites from different professions with good reputation. They are young, outstanding men, and the crucial point is they must be handsome and single.”

“Is that the recent award-winning architect?”

“Yes, correct, the one on the left seems very familiar.”

Everyone were pointing here and there. Suddenly, Mo Sheng saw a familiar silhouette at the upper right corner of the screen. How could it be him?

“Hey, isn’t the one in the upper right corner lawyer He Yi Chen, who is a guest host of that TV program ‘Legal Time’?”

“That’s him.” The editor nodded her head, “Those who watch the local channel should know that he is one of the guest hosts since this program has pretty good ratings.”

“I propose to put him in the first special.” Senior staff Li suggested, “He is already on television so he is relatively well-known and can easily become an overnight success.”

“Yes, I think he has won a very high profile major commercial lawsuit in the province recently, very good selling point.” Someone immediately agreed.

“I think being high profile is not the crucial point, the important point is that his appearance is a lot more outstanding compared to the other three. Hence, it should attract the attention of female readers.”

The editor nodded her head: “I think so too.”

“Really, so awesome meh?” Mo Sheng heard the newly hired, fresh graduate Xiao Xu sitting behind her muttered in a low voice.

6.09: “Are you jealous, little kid?” Editor Huang, who sat next to him, laughed and said, “There is no use being jealous since those people may be able to earn more in an hour compared to what we can earn in a month. I have a friend who also works in the legal profession. It is said this lawyer gets as much as this for one case.” Editor Huang put up two fingers.

Xiao Xu guessed: “Twenty thousands?”

He shook his head.

“Don’t tell me two hundred thousands?”

Editor Huang sneered: “Multiply by ten.”

Xiao Xu sucked in a mouthful of cold air and kept quiet.

Basically, the new column was confirmed, but the key question now was who would be in charge as the editor looked around the meeting room: “Who wants to take charge of this new special topic?”

The meeting room was quiet as everyone was a little eager to try, yet they were also a little hesitant so nobody said anything at the moment.

“I will do it.”

The clear-cut and firm voice belonged to a beautiful but cold woman in the magazine publisher called Tao Yi Jing. Pretty face, ideal body and lofty self-esteem, she asserted her wish clearly: “Editor, I would like to do this special topic. The work I’ve on hand is coming to an end so I will have the energy to make an all-out effort. In addition, I have another advantage, which is that I graduated from C University, similar to lawyer He Yi Chen and architect Kang Jia Nian. Thus, I believe we will have something in common to talk about. Moreover, I have met lawyer He Yi Chen once before……”

Met once before? Mo Sheng looked up and coincidentally saw a rare hint of a blush on the face of the beauty who had always been ice cold. She could not help feeling despondent and unexpectedly, a sour feeling bubbled forth in her heart.

“C University graduates, big deal ah.” Mei Jie, who was sitting beside Mo Sheng, muttered resentfully at once. She had always been on bad term with Tao Yi Jing so she encouraged Xiao Hong, “Xiao Hong, why don’t you do it? Why let this type of person show off?”

Perhaps she was too aloof and liked to steal other people’s thunder, Tao Yi Jing was not well liked by colleagues in the office. Many of the colleagues, whether intentionally or unintentionally, isolated her, but Xiao Hong and Mo Sheng never joined in. At the moment, Xiao Hong jokingly declined: “No way, my boyfriend will suspect I want to betray him.” She took a look at the photos of those handsome men, “Hey, why do I feel that handsome guy He look very familiar? Mo Sheng, don‘t you think so?”

Mo Sheng reluctantly smiled: “All the handsome guys in the world look familiar to you.”

While the discussion was happening, the editor already decided on Tao Yi Jing: “Yi Jing, I’ll give this assignment to you, and I believe you will be able to complete it successfully. Haha, I don’t know if this can be considered a honey trap.” The editor started to joke.

Everyone roared in laughter, and a male colleague teased: “If our Tao beauty can get involved with a lawyer, maybe our company can save on lawyer fees in the future.”

8.09: “Ah Sheng …… Ah Sheng?” The editor called her.

“Ah, what?”

“The photography part of this special topic should be quiet relaxing so you allocate some time and try as much as possible to accommodate Yi Jing.”

Mo Sheng was startled, but all of a sudden, she was unable to find a good excuse to decline the job. Hence, she could only nod her head and agree first, then will exchange the assignment privately with Lao Bai later.

It would probably be inappropriate for her to appear in front of him.

Currently, Mo Sheng and Tao Yi Jing were working together on a column called “White-Collar Apartment.” It began with introducing the living environment of single white-collar workers and their views on life. Mo Sheng was responsible for the photography, and Tao Yi Jing was responsible for the writing. After finishing work in the morning, Tao Yi Jing said: “Let’s eat lunch together, but I have an appointment with a friend so you don’t mind, right?”

“Since you are meeting with your friend, I better go back first.” Mo Sheng felt a bit awkward.

“It does not matter. If you go back alone, our transport reimbursement is difficult to calculate.”

Since Tao Yi Jing said it like that, Mo Sheng could only nod her head.

After arriving at the restaurant, she only found out that Tao Yi Jing had an appointment with a person called Ge Li, the hostess of “Legal Time”.

“Senior sister, this is my colleague Zhao Mo Sheng, a photographer. She will be responsible for the photography part of the interview. Ah Sheng, this is my senior sister in the journalism faculty in C University called Ge Li, who is now the hostess of ‘Legal Time’.”

“Hello.” Ge Li nodded her head gracefully.

“Hello.” Mo Sheng returned her greeting. She had the impulse to leave as the world was really small.

Ge Li was a typical office lady with stylish dressing, elegant manner and always smiling politely while talking, just like a hostess. After chatting for a while, they started to talk about the main topic: “Yi Jing, you told me your company wants to interview He Yi Chen?”

Tao Yi Jing nodded her head: “Yes, senior sister, can you pull some strings?”

“Pull strings? Why do you need me to do that since you already know each other, right?”

“But that was a few years ago when we hosted a welcome party together. Then he graduated so he probably cannot even remember my name now.” There was a flash of disappointment in her eyes. Mo Sheng looked at her depressed expression, and her heart was moved.

“You can’t be too sure as normally people have a deeper impression of beautiful women ah.” Ge Li said mischievously.

“Senior sister!” Tao Yi Jing was displeased and asked, “Are you helping or not?”

“I will help.” Ge Li gave an ambiguous smile, “He Yi Chen does not have a girlfriend so you should make good use of this opportunity, don’t let one’s own fertile water flow into others’ fields. This is truly a gold turtle (rich husband). Moreover, I guarantee his character is really good.”

“Senior sister! You shouldn’t talk nonsense in front of my colleague!”

“Okay, I won‘t say anymore.” Ge Li now remembered that there was someone else around, “Miss Zhao, please don’t mind us as we always joke around like this.”

“Ah, it is all right.” Mo Sheng smiled faintly, lowered her head and stirred her coffee.

“Yi Jing, why did your company want to do this special topic?”

“Senior sister, if the magazine introduces a young talent who graduated from a prestigious university with a successful career and handsome appearance, will you buy it to have a look?”

“Of course, I will buy it behind my husband’s back.” Ge Li laughed out loud, “But Yi Jing, according to He Yi Chen’s character, he probably wouldn’t want to appear in a women’s magazine. You may not be aware that I used a lot of effort to invite him to become a guest host.” Suddenly, she paused for a while and was a little hesitant, “But it may not be like that, maybe …… he is willing to stand in a prominent spot.” She said with uncertainty.

10.34: Suddenly, Mo Sheng stopped stirring her coffee. Tao Yi Jing looked at her and asked Ge Li: “Senior sister, then how did you convince him?”

“How ah ……”

Ge Li remembered two years ago when she first met a young lawyer He, who had just made a name for himself in the legal profession. When she suggested to him of her intention to cooperate with him, that young lawyer, who always looked cool-headed, seemed a little distracted. She vaguely heard him ask: “Does this count as standing in a prominent spot?”

Later, once, he asked her about the ratings, which made her feel that this young lawyer was not as reserved and low-key as what others have said. She told him in a relaxed manner that it performed fairly well in comparison with similar programs.

Then, she heard him talking to himself in a low voice: “That means a lot of people are watching ……”

“Yes ah, a lot of people are watching it.” The number of times he repeated this at that time, thinking about it now, maybe this lawyer also liked public attention?

“Maybe he will agree. I will help you to ask him.” In the end, Ge Li said.

They could not get a taxi at the place they ate so they had to walk pass a square. At this time, there were many people in the square, especially many sellers promoting their products.

Tao Yi Jing noticed Mo Sheng had slowed down her pace so she could not help but urged: “Walk faster as it is time to start work soon.”

“Oh.”

Seeing that the expression in her eyes was a bit erratic, Tao Yi Jing could not help but asked: “What are you thinking about?”

“Why?”

“He also asked why.” Mo Sheng smiled sadly, “I replied, since I couldn’t find you, all I could do was stand in an eye-catching spot to let you find me.”

Did Yi Chen make an appearance on television in the hope that she would see him and look for him? This time, the position was reversed and he was the one standing in a prominent spot?

Or she has a vivid imagination?

“Was he someone you liked?” Tao Yi Jing asked.

Mo Sheng did not answer, and a long time later, Tao Yi Jing seemed to hear Mo Sheng said: “…… Someone I like very much.”