On Friday morning, Chen Jin had just finished a project briefing. As he walked past the secretarial area, the administrative assistant hurried over.
"Mr. Chen, you have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at nine-thirty."
Chen Jin frowned. "When did I agree to that?"
"A month ago. The hotel belongs to a relative of your friend, Mr. Li Wei."
He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes remained. He could delay the ceremony, but he disliked wasting others' time. And with such a long line of VIPs attending, his presence hardly mattered.
"I'm not going," he said impatiently.
"Then about the lunch meeting…"
"Have Vice President Xiang attend. Anyone can negotiate it."
"And tonight's television interview…"
"What interview? When did I agree to that?"
His irritation sharpened. Why were these meaningless engagements appearing all at once? He was not a celebrity hungry for exposure.
"The program is called The Road of Entrepreneurship," the secretary explained.
Chen Jin let out a cold laugh. "Why would I go? To tell young people that effort alone is not enough, that they need a powerful father and well-greased connections to succeed? Think for a moment. Does someone like me belong on that kind of show? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"T—the director contacted you last month. And I confirmed it afterward."
The secretary was becoming frustrated. Ever since last month, the boss had been unreliable and forgetful, completely unlike his usual self. Something must have happened.
Chen Jin paused.
Last month.
The fourteenth.
That night, Lin Wan vomited all over his bed.
He remembered two calls coming in while he was cleaning the mess. He had been too disgusted to speak and hung up immediately without listening.
He dismissed the confused secretary and returned to his office. The twisting charts on the computer screen irritated him. He spun his chair toward the window and stared at the drifting clouds.
He wondered what kind of person he might have become if he had not chosen business. He once had dreams like everyone else. None involved commerce. Before college, he had even wanted to be an engineer.
So how did he end up here?
When had he begun craving power and money enough to abandon his path and plunge into a world of schemes and blood?
Life was a blank sheet of paper. A few pivotal events left marks. Connect the marks, and a path emerges. Once the direction was set, one could only keep walking.
Like the "moral icons" promoted on television. They had to remain spotless forever. Even a missed bus fare would contradict their image. Being good carried an enormous price.
As the film A World Without Thieves said, being good was never easy. It could strip a person to the bone.
Being bad was simpler. One did not peel off one's own skin. One peeled off someone else's and wore it until it grew thick enough to resist blades and gossip alike.
But villains needed to remain villains. A wicked man doing a good deed would feel out of place.
Chen Jin snorted softly. Something was wrong with him lately. He kept drifting into philosophical nonsense.
A sparrow flew past the window, drawing his attention. It made him think of the little bird at home.
Lin Wan was improving in small ways. She was no longer completely lifeless, though still wooden and quiet. She rarely spoke and never smiled. He realized, to his own shock, that if she argued with him again, it would feel like a blessing. If she shoved him or snapped at him, it would feel like a holiday.
He finally understood something simple and unpleasant. People were naturally perverse. Compared with obedience, he preferred conflict, the tension of clashing wills. When the opponent yielded completely, he felt lonely.
Watching Lin Wan each day felt like watching a film.
A film titled A Woman and Her So-Called Love.
He even wondered what kind of person Wang Xiao had been. What sort of man could inspire such blind devotion?
He had seen the photographs. The young man looked decent enough. If appearance reflected character, perhaps he was not terrible. Yet he was still just an untested boy who appealed to naive young women. Any woman with experience would know that a man like Chen Jin was the real treasure.
So yes, Lin Wan was foolish. A puppet. A silly goose.
But this silly goose was one he refused to release.
As a child, he was obsessed with his toys. He would play with them endlessly, take them apart, examine the structure, then put them back together. Once the mystery faded, so did his interest. He tossed the toys aside and searched for something new.
Lin Wan was similar. Sometimes she was a flower. Sometimes a toy.
He wanted to pry open her mind, remove the tiny chip inside, rewrite her programming, and make her orbit around him. He wanted her eyes to shine with admiration whenever she looked at him.
He did not want to be a spectator in life. He was always the director or the leading man. There was no stage he could not enter and no script he could rewrite.
He turned back to his computer. Closed the charts. Opened Baidu.
His fingers moved on their own. He typed two characters.
(Wanwan)菀菀
The site listed the meaning.
"Wanwan菀菀 : gentle and compliant."
Chen Jin smiled.
So that was it.
This woman had always been destined to yield to him.