Fang Peizhi had been eating breakfast peacefully when a Peashooter suddenly attacked him. Hearing a sudden burst of violent coughing, Zhao Buxi looked up and saw Fang Peizhi across the table, one hand braced on its surface and the other covering his mouth, coughing until his face was scarlet.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Fang Peizhi: Drowning.
Never in his life had he imagined he could experience the sensation of drowning in a plate of spaghetti.
Among all the crimes, large and small, around the world, there had never been a recorded case of murder by spaghetti. But the probability of pasta killing someone was not zero.
Fang Peizhi coughed so hard that his face and neck turned as red as a steamed hairy crab. The situation worsened by the second. Zhao Buxi hurriedly got up to fetch a glass of water, thumping his back as hard as he could.
“Quick, drink some water.”
Fang Peizhi raised his head and seized Zhao Buxi’s wrist. For an instant Zhao Buxi felt as if the blood had stopped flowing where he’d been grabbed. The man was strong.
Water was the source of life. Headache? Drink water. Stomachache? Drink water. Whatever hurt, the answer was water.
But for Fang Peizhi, swallowing anything right now was practically a death wish. He hadn’t stopped coughing, and one sip sent him choking again, frightening Zhao Buxi badly.
“Holy shit.”
Certain Fang Peizhi was about to die, he stopped smacking his back and wrapped his arms around the man’s waist to try the Heimlich maneuver.
Zhao Buxi wasn’t short, but Fang Peizhi was a little taller. Zhao Buxi gathered all his strength and tried to lift him, only to discover he could barely budge the man.
It was like trying to lift an enormous python that refused to move.
The power of a man who could eat thirty huge dumplings for breakfast continued to reveal itself.
Sweat broke out on Zhao Buxi’s forehead. “Bend over. I’ll pound it out of you.”
Fang Peizhi bent forward a little, supporting himself on the table with his watch-wearing hand. He looked slim, but when he leaned over his back was as broad as a mountain. Zhao Buxi began pounding hard. Only after a long while did his breathing clear and he finally recover.
The coughing stopped. The two men stood beside the dining table in mutual silence.
What a commotion for so early in the morning.
Zhao Buxi hadn’t expected breakfast to turn into a disaster like this. The man couldn’t even slurp noodles properly.
Fang Peizhi now accepted something Zhao Buxi had said.
Noodles tasted best when you slurped them. Anyone who slurped noodles and decided they didn’t taste good was already dead.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
At least all that trouble might do some good. Given this evil supervisor’s personality, perhaps he’d remember Zhao Buxi saving his life and treat Little Tiger a little better for a while.
Not for very long, though.
Zhao Buxi remembered what a victim on television had said: whatever you did for such a person, he’d take it for granted. He might make grand promises at the time, but as time passed he’d turn his back on you.
Although Fang Peizhi had never particularly liked Zhao Sheng’s brother, the man had just helped him. Once his breathing was completely steady, he said, “Thank you, …Mr. Zhao.”
He wasn’t sure how to address him, so Mr. Zhao would have to do.
Zhao Buxi had always felt a little odd being called mister. “Just use my name, or call me by my English name.”
The mention of his English name immediately cheered him up. He’d come up with it yesterday and was quite pleased with it. “My English name is Morning.”
Fang Peizhi needed a few seconds to process that. “You chose your English name yourself?”
“Yeah. What do you think?”
“It’s good,” Fang Peizhi said dryly. Certainly distinctive.
“Right?” Zhao Buxi said proudly. “I just picked it a couple of days ago. Do you have an English name?”
It was only polite to exchange names.
Fang Peizhi had grown up in Hong Kong, but when he looked at Zhao Buxi, he said, “No.”
He didn’t like his English name, and he didn’t like people addressing him by it.
Zhao Buxi felt a little proud that he had an English name and the other man apparently didn’t.
Having overcome every obstacle to finish breakfast, Zhao Buxi and Fang Peizhi left the apartment one after the other. Sometimes the atmosphere when they were together was so awkward that neither had any idea what to say.
The elevator stopped on the seventh floor. The female teacher from yesterday stepped in wearing a white dress and carrying a canvas bag. Her surname was Qi, and the atmosphere improved as soon as she arrived.
“Mr. Zhao, Professor Fang.”
Running into yesterday’s fellow conspirators so early in the morning made Teacher Qi feel especially close to them.
She’d enjoyed digging wild greens yesterday so much that she still wasn’t over it. She’d eaten plenty of dandelions last night and had enough left for another two or three meals. She was already hoping Zhao Buxi would invite her the next time he went digging.
She entered with a smile and greeted them. “Morning!”
“Morning to you too.”
“Morning.”
She stood between them, chatting first to one and then the other.
“Professor Fang, don’t you have class this morning?”
“I don’t have any classes today.”
“And how’s the job hunt going, Mr. Zhao?”
“Someone’s helping me look. I just got a message saying they’ve found something. I can go for an interview this afternoon.”
“That’s great news. Congratulations!”
Zhao Buxi smiled and rubbed his head. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and next time you find somewhere else on campus to dig up wild greens, let’s go together again.”
Zhao Buxi said, “Sure!”
Fang Peizhi stood beside them without speaking.
The elevator doors opened, and the three walked out of the apartment building. On the lawn, a newly erected sign prohibiting the digging of wild vegetables shone brilliantly in the sunlight.
Zhao Buxi: …
Teacher Qi: …
They parted ways outside the apartment compound. Fang Peizhi went to the parking lot to fetch his car and drove to the company.
He had a business dinner that night.
The employees were surprised to see Fang Peizhi at the office in the daytime. Because of his work and his various side ventures, he rarely stayed in one place for long. Apart from traveling all over on business, he sometimes went to other universities to give public lectures.
His business partner came over carrying some project documents. “Professor, there’s a problem with your Hope Primary School.”
Fang Peizhi took the documents and flipped through them with one hand. “What problem?”
“We can’t secure the land. We can’t build it. They won’t let construction start.”
The Hope Primary School project was registered with the local government, and the local education bureau and charitable-donation organization were helping settle on a site and implement it.
Fang Peizhi went straight to the point. “Who’s stopping construction?”
“The local residents. One holdout household demanded an outrageous price, and the organization agreed because it wanted to get things moving. They told the family not to tell anyone, but the fellow couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Word spread overnight.”
Now neither the households they’d reached agreements with nor those they hadn’t could be brought to an agreement.
When you did charity work personally, nothing good came of it. You were only inviting exhaustion.
“If you ask me, forget building it. Doesn’t look like the locals care that much about sending their children to school.”
Fang Peizhi disagreed. “Have the money recovered from that holdout household. If the others still won’t negotiate, move the site and find somewhere else.”
He took out his phone to contact the person responsible locally, making the decision without hesitation.
His partner complained, “Clearly you still haven’t worked yourself hard enough.”
He was baffled by where Fang Peizhi found all his energy. The man taught classes, worked at the company, and traveled on business.
Put in Beijing terms, his stamina was like visiting the National Museum in the morning, going to the Forbidden City at noon, lining up at an overhyped tourist spot for hotpot lamb, touring the Summer Palace in the afternoon, and ending the day at Shichahai.
Men turned sixty the moment they passed twenty-five, yet this fellow was already past twenty-five and still seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of energy.
Zhao Buxi’s job interview was scheduled for five that afternoon, at an elegant, peaceful, upscale villa complex. A lady stood at the main gate looking expectantly into the distance. Beside her, a bodyguard who also served as her assistant occasionally pretended to look out along with her.
The lady was forty-seven this year, but she was so well maintained that she looked about thirty. Every pearl on the necklace around her neck was perfectly rounded. Seeing no one on the distant horizon, she grew impatient. “Why isn’t he here yet?”
The assistant said, “We arranged for five o’clock. There are still ten minutes.”
The lady touched up her hair. “I suppose I’m a little impatient.”
Soon, on a horizon that had been quiet and offered no interesting new scenery no matter how long one stared, a new figure appeared, one never seen there before.
The newcomer was bright and full of life, running toward them with a smile and waving.
Like a match suddenly struck in the darkness.
“Oh! Here he comes!” The lady lit up with delight, hurriedly adjusted her hair, and waved back toward Zhao Buxi.
Zhao Buxi was applying for a security job. The agency had proved reliable: before a day had passed, it had found him an opening.
From here on, though, the interview would depend on him.
He’d followed his navigation app and taken the bus, only to discover he still had quite a walk after getting off. Afraid of being late, he’d run the rest of the way.
“Hello!” He stopped in front of the two of them, smiling like a big boy. “I’m here for the interview.”
The energy of youth swept over them.
The lady looked him over and was pleased, pleased, extremely pleased. “Why did you run all the way here? Aren’t you hot in this summer weather?”
Zhao Buxi scratched his head and didn’t mention his fear of being late. “Running’s faster.”
Like a little leopard.
The assistant said, “Madam, let’s go inside. It’s hot out here.”
“All right.” The lady invited Zhao Buxi in with them.
The assistant said to him, “Mr. Zhao, we’ll conduct the interview inside.”
This was Zhao Buxi’s first time inside a villa. He smiled at the lady. “Sis, your house is impressive.”
Being called sis startled her. “I’m… I’m already forty-nine! I’m old enough to be your aunt.”
Zhao Buxi took another good look at her. “You look young. You don’t look like an aunt at all. I’ll stick with sis.”
The lady was overjoyed by the compliment. “I really don’t look that old, huh?”
Then she mentioned the villa. “That rascal of a late husband of mine left me this place.”
Her husband had passed away only three months earlier.
“Did you two work together to buy it?”
“Yes. We only bought it a year ago.”
“You were both so capable!” Zhao Buxi marveled. What sort of work allowed someone to buy such a huge house?
Inside the villa, he sat down at a table for the interview.
The assistant held his application documents. “Zhao Erniu. That’s you, Mr. Zhao?”
“That’s right.”
“You’ve applied for a security position. Do you think you can do this job?”
“Of course I can.” Zhao Buxi was full of confidence. Away from home, he couldn’t let himself be timid. If you kept saying you couldn’t do something, you’d never accomplish anything.
“Do you have any particular strengths relevant to the job?”
Zhao Buxi answered as he had at every job interview since childhood. “I can work hard and bear hardship.”
The lady said, “That’s good! People who can endure hardship are resilient.”
She was very pleased with Zhao Buxi. With the boss pleased, the assistant had no reason not to hire him.
The lady said, “I have a business dinner tonight. Come with me.”
Zhao Buxi hadn’t expected to be hired after only a few questions. “Sure!”
His smile was open and unpretentious, and infectious enough to make her happy too. “You two keep talking. I’m going to change.”
After she left, the assistant began explaining his salary and benefits.
Six thousand yuan a month, a thousand-yuan raise after three months, rising to twelve thousand a month after two years, with the five statutory social-insurance benefits.
Zhao Buxi hadn’t expected this job to come with insurance too. Today must truly be his lucky day.
That evening, at the business dinner.
The dinner was booked at Kexiangyuan. When Fang Peizhi arrived, he never imagined he’d run into Zhao Buxi there.
He was standing at the entrance to the private room, plainly on duty.
Zhao Buxi was equally surprised to see Fang Peizhi, but after the absurd day when they’d managed to meet four times despite being strangers, both were remarkably calm this time.
They were practically used to it: Oh. We meet again.
“Professor Fang,” Zhao Buxi greeted him.
Seeing him in work mode, Fang Peizhi asked, “Your new job?”
“Yeah. Someone helped me find some work.”
Fang Peizhi nodded. After a few casual words, he went into the private room.
After the guests exchanged pleasantries, one of the women at the dinner whispered something to her assistant, apparently instructing him to bring the security guard in instead of making him stand outside alone.
When Zhao Buxi entered, the woman’s gaze never left him. The heat of her interest was impossible to miss.
Anyone with eyes could see what was going on.
Fang Peizhi: …
Who the hell had found this job for him?!