"I'm not washing the dishes." Even though my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, I remember clearly saying this before lying down.
I started running a fever in the middle of the night, my body alternating between chills and fever. I vaguely felt someone pouring medicine into my mouth, someone tucking blankets over me. I wanted to say thank you, but I felt too weak to even open my mouth. All I wanted to do was sleep, but my sleep was restless, constantly waking up startled, thinking it was time to get up for a meeting. I tossed and turned like this until, just before dawn, I finally broke out in a cold sweat, feeling much better and starting to wake up. Smelling a sour odor from myself, all I wanted was a hot shower. When I crawled out from under the blankets, I saw someone asleep beside the bed.
Could it be a "plague god"? Was it him who took care of me all night? Thinking back to last night, he was the last person I saw before falling asleep. Who else could it be but him?! Thinking of this, my heart suddenly started pounding wildly for no reason.
Afraid of waking him, I moved as quietly as possible towards the bed. Just as I reached it, my left elbow slipped, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the floor with a thud. Although the thick carpet prevented me from falling, it startled him awake. "What happened?" he asked, quickly sitting up. Wait a minute, why was "Plague God" so much shorter? And why was he wearing his hair in a bun? Ah, I realized then that there was no "Plague God" at all; it was a hotel nurse in uniform. Apparently, "Plague God" had seen my fever rising and had called a doctor from the hotel's medical department. The doctor examined me and said there was nothing seriously wrong, prescribing fever reducers. But "Plague God" wasn't reassured and had specifically hired a nurse to look after me.
"How much for tonight?" I couldn't help but ask the pretty young nurse. After she gave me a price, I almost fainted again. I should have just dismissed her and had the company add half of the cost to my salary! Wait, what if that "plague god" adds this to my travel expenses and deducts it from my salary month by month? No way! I made a decision almost immediately: from now on, I would impress him with my diligent work performance, minimize the possibility of deducting my salary, and ultimately make him give up on his plan to settle scores later!
Ignoring the protests of the nurse named Lin Yirou, I enjoyed a half-hour hot bath in the bathroom, changed into clean clothes, and apart from a slightly pale face and slightly weak legs, I really didn't look like a patient at all. Stepping out of the bathroom, seeing Lin Yirou's troubled expression, I felt a pang of guilt. Although I knew she was just a service I'd paid a high price for, I was incredibly moved by the thought of her tirelessly caring for me all night. After searching through my meager belongings for a while, I actually found an unopened silk scarf! I'd tricked Xia Mengmeng into cutting out prints from four issues of her fashion magazine in exchange, intending to use it to impress her this time, but giving it to this lovely girl in front of me felt like a perfect match. I shoved the scarf into her hands, saying, "Don't mind it, I just want to thank you."
"No, no, the hotel has rules. If the restaurant finds out I took your things, they'll fire me." Lin Yirou shook her head and refused to take them back.
"If you don't accept it, I'll go to customer service and point you out, saying your service attitude is poor and your professional skills are lacking!"
Lin Yirou had clearly never seen someone as wild as me before, and she was so frightened that she almost cried. She had no choice but to carefully fold the scarf and put it into her uniform pocket.
"Alright, you can sleep on that bed for a while. I need to look at some documents. You can go out at nine o'clock in the morning. Anyway, it's counted as part of your nursing hours." I pointed to another bed in the room that no one had slept on.
She was about to reiterate the hotel rules when I shoved her onto the bed without warning, adding a few threats. She had no choice but to lie down. And she was indeed exhausted; she fell asleep before I could even count to five.
It was eight o'clock in the morning in Shanghai when I rang the doorbell of the "plague god's" room. I saw that he looked surprised when he saw me, and I was extremely proud: "MORRNING CALL SERVES, SIR".
"What are you doing?"
"Please get up and have breakfast, and while you're at it, prepare your negotiation materials."
"Nonsense!" *Bang!* The door slammed shut in front of me. Before I could even react, the door opened again, revealing his face, which was barely containing his anger: "You don't need to participate in the negotiations today. Don't do anything, go back to your room and sleep! You've been bothering me all night, haven't you had enough yet?" *Bang!* That door was even more unlucky than me as he slammed it shut.
I'm almost certain, with despair, that he'll not only deduct last night's nursing care fee from my hard-earned money, but he might even deduct today's wages! It seems there's no chance this fever will be counted as a work injury. That won't do! Last night's five-star nursing care fee was already enough to wipe out my savings plan for this month; if he deducts my wages too, I'll just want to die.
Regardless of the consequences, even knowing that angering him would lead to dire consequences, I couldn't just stand by and let him find a reason to deduct my wages. "Ding-dong, ding-dong." I rang the doorbell while desperately suppressing the growing sense of foreboding in my heart.
"What exactly do you want?" Judging from his expression, if he had nail clippers, he could easily kill me.
“I think about it, I work on it, I do it,” I said, looking into his eyes and emphasizing each word.
"But your physical and mental state isn't suitable for high-pressure work today." I don't know if it was the sincerity in my eyes that started to move him a little, but his tone softened.
"Who says I can't? Now, even without breakfast, I can do forty-five sit-ups and run 60 meters in just nine and a half seconds. I can recite Qin Guan's 'The Magpie Bridge Fairy' once forwards and twice backwards. If you can't, listen to this: 'The clouds weave patterns, the stars convey sorrow, the Milky Way stretches far and wide...'"
"Fine, fine," he said, probably afraid that I would actually lie down in the hotel corridor and do sit-ups. He quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, I give up. See you at the restaurant in ten minutes. Remember to bring your analysis of the consumption trends of the mainland middle class."
The negotiations that day proceeded at a slow pace. The "plague god" seemed to deliberately gloss over many key issues, avoiding in-depth discussions. The conversation revolved primarily around macro-market analysis, turning the negotiations into a seminar on the future of China's mobile phone market. As a result, I hardly had to do any work, and even Peter felt quite relaxed. I presumptuously thought he was intentionally trying to keep me from getting too tired, and a few times when our eyes met, it warmed my heart.
The negotiations over the next few days actually went quite smoothly, just as the "Plague God" had predicted. Peter and I, and the "Plague God" himself, grew increasingly tacitly in understanding. In particular, the "Plague God" no longer seemed distant and cold to me; although he remained taciturn, some things had changed in my eyes. The only thing that bothered me was Peter's attitude, which underwent a dramatic shift the day after I developed a fever—he stopped talking to me about anything except work. He still did the same small things as pulling out chairs and opening car doors, but I could clearly feel the distance he was deliberately creating. Although his previous attentiveness was much more unbearable compared to this, the sudden drop in treatment helped me adjust my mindset. Who says a man's attentiveness is a woman's deep-sea fish oil?
On the fourth day, the proud Belgians reached out to the "plague god" and said they hoped for a pleasant cooperation next year.
As we got into the car, Peter and I both let out a breath. Our synchronized movements even amused the driver, and the strange atmosphere that had been bothering us for the past few days seemed to vanish completely. "Plague God" suggested taking us out to relax that evening, and I immediately offered to bring another friend. "Plague God" seemed to be in a good mood and didn't object.
When Lin Yirou arrived at the bar called "Heaven on Earth" on Yan'an Road after get off work, her face was flushed, and the silk scarf I had given her was tied around her neck. I love that about Shanghai girls; they pay special attention to these little gestures. Seeing my gesturing and gesturing, she burst out laughing. But when she glanced at the group of people around me, her face turned bright red, her shy expression leaving me speechless. She didn't seem to frequent places like this; she sat down at the table with her head down, saying nothing more. "Plague God," aside from a polite nod when I introduced them, just coolly drank his drink, occasionally asking a few questions about Shanghai customs and traditions, but then remained silent. Peter and several other male Shanghai colleagues, however, were clearly very interested in Lin Yirou, their eyes constantly darting to the side, trying to strike up a conversation, but with "Plague God" sitting there so imposingly, they didn't dare to be presumptuous. I didn't want to turn my last night in Shanghai into a game of counting wooden figures. Besides, a brilliant idea struck me: the pairing of Peter and Lin Yirou would be quite fun. So I turned to the "Plague God" and asked, "General Manager, may I have this dance?"
“Some things are meant for men,” the “Plague God” said, standing up, bowing slightly to me, and extending his right hand. If another man did this in a crowded bar, it would definitely make anyone nauseous for three days. But the “Plague God” did it with such confidence and fluidity, it was utterly pleasing to the eye.
On the dance floor, I swayed haphazardly to the music, my eyes scanning PTER and Lin Yirou like a searchlight in the dark. I didn't hear what "Plague God" said to me. "Hey, miss, can you concentrate?" "Plague God" sounded a little annoyed.
"How can I hear the music so loudly?" I made up some excuse, but my eyes betrayed my lack of attention.
"Don't even think about it." He casually exposed my scheme.
"What did I have in mind?" I asked, though I felt a little guilty, but I kept being stubborn.
"They're not a good match." He remained nonchalant.
"Why?" The words had barely left my mouth when I realized I had betrayed myself.
"God is truly blessed to have such a slow-witted genius like you as my assistant."
"Me, slow-witted? You're the one who's a pighead. A self-righteous pighead!" Out of a sense of responsibility for my job, I could only curse inwardly, without uttering a sound.
Just then, the music suddenly switched to blues. I turned to run away; someone must be messing with me. Aside from being able to wiggle my lower body to the beat of music, I know absolutely nothing about dancing. And being ridiculed for my lack of rhythm since childhood is still a sore point for me. Ballroom dancing would only make me look foolish.
Before I could even think of an excuse to slip away, my left hand was grabbed by this "plague god." Only when we stood face-to-face did I realize for the first time that I was barely up to his chest. My scalp tingled, and I gripped his shoulder, clumsily starting to follow him around the dance floor. I tried my best to match his steps, but it seemed I could never quite hit the beat. I had no idea whether he was dancing well or not; all my energy was focused on how to avoid stepping on his feet too much. But things didn't go as planned. His shoes would mysteriously appear under my feet repeatedly, and I couldn't even step on them lightly. In less than a minute, not only were my own palms soaked with sweat, but his right hand and left shoulder were also steaming hot.
I was so embarrassed that I wanted to disappear, and repeatedly saying "I'm sorry" became the only thing I could do.
"Li Hao!" His shout almost instantly broke my already tense nerves.
"I'm sorry!" My voice was just as loud as his, which made everyone around us look at us.
“From now on, if you step on my foot again, I’ll have HR deduct ten yuan from your salary!” He didn’t seem to be joking.
“Then let’s not jump.” I turned to leave, but he grabbed me and said without any mercy, “Giving up halfway violates Article 2, Section 4 of the company’s employee handbook. For three consecutive months, you will only receive 50% of your salary!”
This time, I lifted my heels to reduce the effect of gravity on my movement, hoping to feel lighter. However, reality quickly proved that my application of basic physics failed miserably. This time, instead of saying sorry, I heard only: "10 yuan, 20 yuan... 50 yuan, God!" I almost cried, not for his shoes, but for my salary.
Strangely, he seemed quite happy and enjoying himself. I snapped, "Damn it, if you deduct another 10 yuan, I'll quit!"
He stopped, amused. "You have absolutely no sense of rhythm. No way, I'm going to cure you of this tonight." Without waiting for a reply, he gestured for me to put my feet on his leather shoes. Although I only weigh forty kilograms, the weight on his feet wasn't light, and although I'd stomped on his shoes countless times, they were clearly expensive. But he didn't seem to be joking. I was just looking down at his shoes, trying to figure out where to put my feet, when he reached out and wrapped his arms around my waist. I lost my balance and was pulled into his embrace. Although this wasn't the first time I'd been so close to him, this time I didn't have to use being sick as an excuse, and even though I'm usually shameless, my face still burned. This unprecedented way of dancing made me completely surrender myself to him, letting him control me here and there on the dance floor. My mind went blank, all thoughts vanished, and all I knew was that I trusted his control and enjoyed this feeling of being an idiot. At this moment, the whole world seemed to consist only of this broad and warm chest I was currently leaning against… For the first time, I truly saw that I had unknowingly thrown myself into a state of deep affection for him. This thought jolted me awake, making me realize that the distance between us had long since crossed the safety line. From the very first moment I admired him, I had fallen headlong into the emotional trap I had dug myself. No, I had to stop. My body stiffened with my thoughts, enough for him to notice something amiss:
"What's wrong?" he asked me, stopping in his tracks.
I couldn't maintain my previous carefree attitude anymore. Regardless of whether he could tell or not, I lowered my head, pushed him away, and said, "I'm tired."
"Then go back and rest." With that, he led the way out in his usual style, without even glancing at me again. And I felt my heart sinking into an unfathomable depth.
Back in my seat, though my mind was in turmoil, I still couldn't help but notice Peter's radiant face, while Lin Yirou's expression was rather strange. I didn't know what had happened between them, and I had no interest in thinking about it; all I wanted was to figure out how to pull myself out of this terrible unrequited love.