Chapter 8: Mu Ran

In the end, Su Yu led the reeking President Chen to the model unit.

There were other clients inside viewing the property. President Chen's impossible-to-ignore alcohol fumes drew immediate frowns.

Back at the sales center to calculate pricing, President Chen— emboldened by the drink—started making moves on Su Yu.

He stared at her openly. At one point, his hand reached out. But Su Yu dodged each attempt with practiced grace.

She excused herself to grab the card reader from the front desk. Standing at the counter, filling out paperwork, she vented to Chu Yao in a low voice. "I don't know how much President Chen had, but when we were at the model unit, he grabbed my ass. Fucking disgusting."

Su Yu's face was pure revulsion.

The memory of that brush in the elevator hit her again.

Chu Yao leaned in close, whispering. "If it's too much, I can send Little Zhao to handle the paperwork instead."

She was worried about Su Yu.

"No need. I've got this. He's not walking out that door today without paying." Su Yu turned her down.

She finished the form. "Yao-jie, hand me the card reader."

Chu Yao retrieved it from the shelf behind her and passed it over. "Be careful."

"You don't trust me?" Su Yu laughed.

Su Yu had President Chen sign the completed form. She reminded him, "President Chen, this discount rate requires full payment upfront. I've spoken to my manager about your situation. If you complete the payment by month's end, the 15% discount still applies."

As a connected client, he'd been given 15% off instead of the standard 10%.

President Chen reviewed the form and nodded.

He stood. "I didn't get a good look at the layout earlier. Take me through it again."

"..." Su Yu was speechless.

But she smiled and said, patiently, "Of course."

Fuck.

Su Yu cursed internally.

After seeing President Chen off, Su Yu's shift happened to be over.

She said goodbye to Chu Yao and left the office early.

The moment she sank into the driver's seat, Su Yu exhaled like she'd been holding her breath for hours.

Sales was like this. Every day brought a different client—some normal, some bizarre.

She was used to dealing with men like President Chen. But the disgust never faded.

Some clients even tried to sext her over WeChat after buying a place.

Irritated, Su Yu opened her bag to grab her setting powder. She'd been running nonstop all day—she could feel the shine forming on her nose.

Pulling out the powder compact, something else came with it.

A slip of paper.

One line, written in a bold hand:

"If you want to continue, find me."

Below it—a string of digits. A phone number.

Su Yu stared at the note. The man from the hotel materialized in her mind.

His words surfaced with him: "I want to keep sleeping with you."

Su Yu's eyes darkened.

They'd slept together twice. She still didn't know his name.

But he seemed to know hers.

In this fast-food era, love was a luxury. She and that man probably had zero chance of becoming anything.

Let alone "continuing."

Su Yu had always felt that love in this age was cheap. People met someone on Monday, dated them on Wednesday, and announced to the world that they were truly, deeply in love. Then the novelty would fade and they'd pivot to the next person—light as a cloud, as if nothing had ever happened.

But she had to admit: novelty was the accelerant that lit the spark between two people.

When things were heating up between her and Shen Yan, she hadn't felt anything profound.

If anything, it felt like she was scratching an itch.

Su Yu shook her head, scattering the messy thoughts.

She tossed the note back into her bag.

Seatbelt on. Flats swapped in. Foot on the gas. Gone.

Back at her apartment, a car was just pulling out—leaving one spot open.

Parking at her building was first-come, first-served. Limited spaces.

She'd gotten off early for once. Tonight, she was doing a full skincare routine.

Su Yu had barely sat down after her shower when her best friend's call came through.

She swiped to answer.

"Su Yu! Where are you? Off work? I just landed in Haicheng."

Mu Ran's voice was tinged with exhaustion.

"Just showered."

The other end perked up instantly. "So you're off! Come eat BBQ with me. No refusals. It's decided."

"..." Su Yu.

She was about to decline, but Mu Ran added: "I'm starving. And I haven't seen you in forever."

The rejection on the tip of Su Yu's tongue morphed into: "Send me the address."

"OK!" Mu Ran hung up, delighted.

The location pin arrived seconds later.

Su Yu sighed, got up, did light makeup, changed, grabbed her jacket, bag, and keys, and headed out.

When she reached the BBQ joint, she spotted Mu Ran at the far corner table from a distance.

The moment they saw each other, Mu Ran launched into complaints. "What took you so long? I've been waiting almost twenty minutes."

"You picked a place that's not exactly close to mine." Su Yu pulled out a chair and sat.

"I already ordered. All your favorites." Mu Ran slid the order slip over with a grin.

Su Yu glanced at it and looked away.

She looked up at Mu Ran. "How long are you staying this time?"

Mu Ran took a sip of water. "Two days off. My flight happened to route through Haicheng."

In truth, Mu Ran had specifically swapped flights with a crew member. She'd wanted to get back to Haicheng sooner to see Su Yu.

By her count, it had been over a month since they'd last been in the same city.

They chatted for a while. The skewers arrived.

Mu Ran picked up a grilled wing and took a bite. "How about you? How's sales been?"

"Steady. But the project's running low on units. Maybe two more weeks of inventory, tops."

"So you'll be idle for a while after that?"

"Not necessarily. There's still the handover phase."

After a project sold out, management would keep a few people on to process the property handovers. A top seller like Su Yu would always be retained.

Su Yu set down her beer and started teasing. "Still the same guy from last time, or someone new?"

Mu Ran cycled through boyfriends the way other people cycled through outfits.

Mu Ran thought about it. "Which one are you talking about?"

She couldn't remember who last time's had been. She'd been through three this month alone.

"The one surnamed Zhou."

"Oh~" Mu Ran drew out the syllable. She remembered now. "You mean Zhou Wenhao. We broke up last month. His farts were too smelly. I didn't like it."

Su Yu: "..."

Every time Mu Ran broke up with someone, she had a new and bizarre reason.