These days, Qin Weidong had been spending all his time at the company. His reassignment was proceeding quickly thanks to a word from the higher-ups. First came internal meetings. People in the project department were reluctant to see their leader go, but no one was particularly surprised.
Not after he’d taken down Wanlei, a competing firm, almost overnight—swiftly, cleanly, and without hesitation—forcing half the forces behind it into disciplinary investigation. No one believed a young man could pull that off without backing or leverage.
A few of the younger staff even joked that Qin Weidong was about to rise in the ranks and that he owed them a celebratory dinner.
Qin Weidong agreed.
After all, to them, he was miles better than their former manager Wu, an old conservative hand parachuted in from above. Qin Weidong, being young, brought all the strengths of youth. Unlike Old Wu, who shifted blame at the first sign of trouble and penny-pinched down to the last cent—going so far as to dock their bonuses just to save a bit on taxes—Qin Weidong was decisive and efficient.
If a meeting could be wrapped up in ten minutes, he wouldn’t let it drag to eleven. If he made a call, he took responsibility for it. Even when it came to the technical side of mining operations, he showed surprising expertise. Outsourced firms couldn’t get away with cutting corners. A few mid- and large-scale exploration projects under his management had been praised by headquarters, and as a result, their bonuses this year had more than doubled.
Though many had once thought he was too young and hard to approach because of his quiet nature, working under him for a while had proven that leadership had nothing to do with age.
He was signing his name at the HR office when someone patted him on the back. He turned around—it was Zhang Bin from the resource evaluation department.
Zhang Bin grinned and offered his congratulations. “Weidong, heading to Kunshan soon, huh? You’ll be our boss from now on. No way we’re letting you off without treating us to a meal. We’ve got to celebrate!”
Qin Weidong smiled faintly. “Of course I’ll treat everyone. I’ve gotten a lot of help from you all this past year. I meant to do it last week, actually. I’d ordered two East Star Groupers, but they didn’t arrive—just landed this afternoon. Tonight’s the night, and I hope you’ll honor us with your presence, Brother Bin.”
Zhang Bin chuckled. “You always think of everything. But the drinks are on me, don’t try to fight me for it.”
The project and resource evaluation departments worked closely together, so the two men were quite familiar with each other. Zhang Bin was glad, honestly—at least he hadn’t made things difficult for Qin Weidong like some others had.
Word was, that guy Qin Zijie had secretly colluded with Wanlei around the time of the bidding process, losing the company millions. Now he was the office laughingstock.
Zhang Bin figured Qin Weidong must’ve known all along. He couldn’t have set that trap without being at least partially aware. Whether he’d allowed Qin Zijie to walk into it on purpose—that was anyone’s guess.
This move, Zhang Bin thought, just showed that Qin Weidong was still too young. No matter how useless Qin Zijie might be, he was still from the Qin family.
Now that Qin Zijie had fallen hard and couldn’t even voice a complaint, Zhang Bin wasn’t sure if this promotion had earned Qin Weidong a new enemy.
Still, when it came to matters involving the Qin family, Zhang Bin wisely kept his thoughts to himself.
A junior employee standing at the door called out, “Anyone on the HR department’s list, it’s your turn to donate blood!”
Their state-owned enterprise had annual blood donation quotas, which were divided among subsidiary companies by Kunshan. Having signed his forms, Qin Weidong prepared to head downstairs. Zhang Bin asked, “Why’s someone in your position going down yourself?”
Even with the push for reform across the country, the internal culture of SOEs was slow to change. Blood donations were usually left to the younger staffers—leadership only participated symbolically, if at all.
“They’re all out doing field surveys this week. Some are trying to conceive. Not the best timing.”
“Fair enough. I’ll go down with you then.” Zhang Bin added, “Though I remember they usually do this in August or September—hottest time of year, with banners and loudspeakers blaring. They’d finish with us and head over to the government compound next door. Why so early this year?”
They made their way down, and after donating blood, Qin Weidong spotted Secretary Li from a distance, walking beside Wei Jianghe.
Secretary Li waved him down and came over. Noticing the cotton ball pressed to Qin Weidong’s arm, he said, “I forgot to give you this last time in Director Wei’s office—my oversight. Just wanted to bring it over today.”
Qin Weidong tossed the cotton into a bin and took the file. “Thanks. No need to trouble yourself, really. I could’ve just come by and picked it up.”
Secretary Li smiled and said he just happened to be passing by, then turned and left.
Once he was gone, Qin Weidong opened the folder. It was nothing important—just a few photocopies of invoices.
He went back to the office, filed the documents in a drawer, wrapped up a project audit, and gave a few instructions to Feng Hui. Then he grabbed his car keys and called Fang Li.
Fang Li was bored out of his mind at the hospital. The music shop owner had called him in the morning—his friend had signed a new band and they were coming by tonight. The owner asked if Fang Li wanted to come.
Fang Li had spent the whole afternoon debating. In the end, he texted back saying he’d go. It was getting dark out, so he went down to grab dinner.
At a noisy little restaurant near the hospital, he ordered a bowl of spicy noodles. The place was so loud he didn’t hear his phone ringing—Qin Weidong had called four times.
Picking at his noodles, Fang Li looked up and saw three missed calls flashing on his screen. His head started to ache.
Ever since Qin Weidong had come to the hospital, he had been calling Fang Li every two hours without fail. Like clockwork. Fang Li had no choice but to pick up every time. Sometimes, he really thought Qin Weidong was being way too anxious.
Fang Li answered the call. “Hello?”
“Where are you?”
Just as he expected—he was only thirty minutes late picking up, and now Qin Weidong was in a foul mood.
“Eating. Downstairs from the hospital.”
“The nurse just called me. They were taking your temperature. You weren’t in the room.”
Fang Li slurped his noodles and replied, “No shit. Of course I wasn’t in the room—I came down to eat. I’m not running a fever, so what’s the point of checking my temperature?”
Qin Weidong paused. He held back, deciding not to argue about Fang Li’s attitude—for now.
Fang Li went on between bites, “By the way, I want to go home tonight. You said two days of observation—it’s been three or four now. This hospital stinks. I really don’t want to stay here anymore. I can’t stand it…”
“You need to get over that. If you can’t even stand the smell, how are you going to handle actual surgery?” Qin Weidong frowned.
Fang Li pouted. “So what, if I have some big surgery later, chest cut open, people stitching me up with thread and needles, are you going to do what you’re doing now—leave me here in the hospital all by myself?”
Qin Weidong had no comeback. He had been far too busy lately.
“Of course not.”
“Good.” Fang Li continued, “Because I really don’t want to spend another night here.”
Ever since they were little and inseparable, if Fang Li had brought something up more than once, Qin Weidong had never said no to him.
Qin Weidong had just arrived at the seafood restaurant. He shut the car door. “I had movers come over the last couple days and move everything. Where are you even going to stay if you go home?”
Fang Li scowled. “I still don’t want to stay in the hospital…”
Qin Weidong was tempted to snap at him, but held back. “I don’t have time to pick you up. Just wait at the hospital. I’ll send someone.”
“Send someone to get me?” Fang Li raised his eyebrows. As if that would work—he still needed to go to the music shop!
“No need. I just want to stop by home. My sheet music’s still by the bed. I want to check if the movers lost anything. I’ll go myself. I won’t feel at ease unless I check. I’ll bring it back with me too…”
The hostess led Qin Weidong up to a large private room on the second floor. Zhang Bin and the others had already arrived one after another. Qin Weidong asked, “You really have to go check now?”
Fang Li nodded. “I’m just not at ease—that’s my treasure…!”
Qin Weidong let out a sharp tsk.
Fang Li added, “I’ll just go by myself. Don’t treat me like I’m three. I’ve got money in my pocket—I can take a cab!”
Seeing how insistent he was, Qin Weidong pushed open the door and went inside. “Then take it slow. Call me when you get home. And stay there. I’ll come get you tonight.”
Fang Li let out a breath. “Yeah yeah, I got it. Nag, nag, nag.”
After hanging up, Fang Li finished his noodles, then hailed a cab back home. He grabbed his sheet music, then headed to the music shop.
The shop owner and his friend had just arrived and were sitting inside, drinking tea. When they saw Fang Li, the owner hadn’t even had time to greet or introduce him when someone nearby suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Fang Li?!”
Fang Li looked up in shock at the familiar voice. “Ding Haoyang?!”
Ding Haoyang couldn’t believe he was seeing Fang Li here! He shot up to his feet. “Fang Li! It really is you! What are the odds—we actually ran into each other here in Jinyang!”
Fang Li was equally stunned. He glanced around and saw Yang San, Chen Xin, and Wu Ke sitting on the couch—familiar faces from his old band back in Changding. They looked just as surprised to see him.
The music shop owner asked, “You all know each other?”
“Of course we do!” Ding Haoyang replied happily. He nearly blurted out that Fang Li used to be their lead vocalist, but Wu Ke coughed lightly just in time to stop him.
Only then did Ding Haoyang catch himself. He quickly pulled Fang Li over to sit down.
Yang San said, “Fang Li, you working here now? We thought you moved to Jinyang to make big money.”
Ding Haoyang elbowed him. “Are you brainless or what?”
Yang San muttered to himself—what did he say that was so dumb? Fang Li lowered his voice and asked, “What are you guys doing here?”
Ding Haoyang explained. Turns out, just a few days after Fang Li left, the nightclub manager told them someone from a record label had seen their performance and was interested in them. That’s how they ended up meeting their current manager, Han Jin, and eventually signing with Waves Music. That’s what brought them to Jinyang.
Ding Haoyang sighed. “We really owe our contract to you! When Brother Han was signing us, he kept asking about the girl who sang lead during our performance. We didn’t know what to tell him—just said you went back to your hometown and we didn’t have your contact info. He probably still doesn’t know you’re a guy.”
Fang Li nodded, pulling a few sheets of music from his pocket. “Hello, I wrote these three songs. The lyrics aren’t done yet—I’m not good at that.”
From the moment Fang Li walked in, the agent Han Jin had been watching him closely. He was struck by how delicate the young man’s features were. When Fang Li first entered and looked up, even Han Jin—someone who had seen countless attractive faces in the entertainment industry—had been momentarily stunned by his beauty.
His instincts as a commercial music professional made him even more interested in Fang Li than in the sheet music itself.
He took the compositions and glanced through them. The pages showed many erasures and pencil marks. Some sections of the melody were a bit raw, but with the company’s arrangement, they had real potential.
Han Jin thought for a moment, then set the sheets down and said to Fang Li, “It’s great that you know Ding Haoyang and the others. Our company is Waves Music—I don’t know if you’ve heard of us. We’ve produced albums for quite a few celebrities. We recently signed the band Southeast-Northwest, but we haven’t confirmed a lead vocalist yet. We’re currently in the selection process. I think you’ve got the right look, and you clearly have talent for composing. Why not try out for the position? If you pass, we can sign you right away.”
Ding Haoyang was the first to react.
“Brother Jin! You’ve got a great eye! Fang Li’s singing is amazing! Back in night school, we were in the same dorm—I’ve heard him sing!”
He was genuinely excited. If Fang Li could be their lead singer, it would be perfect. After the incident at the nightclub, Wu Ke had scolded him, and Ding Haoyang had felt guilty ever since.
If Fang Li could stand on stage with them, really stand in the spotlight, it would be the best outcome imaginable.
Han Jin had no objections either. Waves Music was one of the larger music companies in Jinyang. They’d produced records for several stars with good reception. In recent years, they’d begun signing and cultivating their own new artists, and right now, they were in urgent need of fresh talent.
After all, for a talent agency, signing one more person wasn’t a big deal. If even one of them became a hit, it would be a veritable cash cow.
What Han Jin hadn’t expected was that the young man before him actually seemed hesitant.
And Fang Li was indeed hesitating. Selling two songs was one thing—he was willing to write them—but…
Ding Haoyang asked, “Fang Li, this is such a great opportunity. What are you hesitating for? Waves Music worked with the Heihe Band, remember? That song we used to play together, they produced it.”
“But…” Fang Li said uncertainly, “last time I sang at that nightclub, my boy—my friend got really angry. If I go through with the audition, he’ll probably…”
Just thinking about it made Fang Li’s heart skip a beat. Qin Weidong would probably kill him!
Seeing Fang Li falter, Ding Haoyang asked, “Is your friend that guy—what was his name? Qin something? Seriously, why are you so scared of him? Signing with a company is your own decision. So is auditioning. What right does he have to interfere? Last time he didn’t even say a word—he just dragged you away! Even a dad wouldn’t be this controlling!”
Fang Li thought, Qin Weidong is more than just a dad to me. Sometimes, he even felt like he had fewer rights than Qin Weidong’s actual son.
But what could he do? That night, Qin Weidong had looked like he wanted to tear him apart and swallow him whole. Fang Li had no desire to have his legs broken for real.
“Still…”
Han Jin was about to speak again. In his experience, young people in their early twenties—especially those working part-time—were usually easy to sign. Most came from modest backgrounds and held on to dreams of becoming stars. The company didn’t even need to offer much—they’d sign on the dotted line readily enough.
“You’re Fang Li, right? As you can see, your classmates already signed with Waves. That shows how much they trust our company. During the audition process, we provide room and board, plus a stipend. If you get selected, you’ll…”
Before he could finish, Fang Li’s phone rang.
Damn! He forgot to call Qin Weidong back!
“Sorry, I need to take this,” he said hurriedly.
Han Jin’s eyes fell on the phone Fang Li had left on the sofa. He was surprised—phones weren’t cheap these days.
Especially for a kid still working at a music shop. How could he afford something that expensive?
Fang Li stepped out to take the call. Han Jin turned to ask one of the others, “How long has he been working here? Is he supporting himself through school? What’s his family background like?”
The shop owner replied, “He’s been here a while. His family doesn’t seem to be struggling. He’s not flashy, but I’ve never heard him complain about money either. Actually, someone picks him up and drops him off pretty regularly.”
Axolotl Translations 
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