Lady's Home

Lady's House

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Jian Dongping last saw Zhou Jin on May 7, 2007.

It was a Friday. He was driving his Beijing Jeep back to Shanghai from the mountains of Zhejiang when he encountered a heavy rain. It was also nearing evening, and the traffic was terrible. Since the place where he was stranded was at least 20 kilometers away from home, he decided to find a place to rest first.

So, once the traffic ahead eased up a bit, he drove off the main road and onto a relatively quiet side street. He stopped in front of a convenience store, bought a steaming cup of instant coffee, and then leisurely sat by the window, enjoying the rain outside. His car was parked brazenly in the rain, and as he was congratulating himself on saving himself a car wash fee, a man suddenly caught his attention. In the downpour, the man, wearing a brown suit, was furtively peering into his car through the window.

Could it be a thief? His heart tightened.

"Hey, is that your car parked outside? Go check it out!" The convenience store clerk seemed to have noticed the man as well, and she nervously reminded him.

Jian Dongping got up, pushed open the door, and went out. His car was about five or six meters away from the convenience store. As he walked out, the automatic glass door of the store still made a loud "ding." He thought that the noise would be enough to alert the audacious thief, but to his surprise, the thief seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, continuing to peer through the car window. "Looks like inexperienced, a first-time offender," Jian Dongping thought. He couldn't help but scrutinize the thief from behind. The suit was too big, making him look small, and the ill-fitting suit was paired with white sneakers. Wearing sneakers was probably for a quick escape after the theft; the shoe size was very small, at least for a man, it was extra small. "Maybe he's a child," Jian Dongping thought, his tension easing slightly. He didn't like fighting; if the other person was just a child driven by greed, he decided to scare him away.

He stepped forward and patted the thief on the shoulder. The man immediately turned around. Although it was nearly 6 p.m. and raining, the outdoor light was very limited, but the white light shining from the convenience store still allowed Jian Dongping to see the person in front of him clearly. The strangely made-up face almost made him take a step back. He hadn't expected that the "thief" with a mustache and dressed in men's clothing was actually Zhou Jin, a columnist under his management.

Jian Dongping manages two sections in the weekly magazine *Xin*, one of which is a travelogue section. Three months ago, Jian Dongping began receiving submissions from Zhou Jin in his email inbox. Zhou Jin's articles are concise, witty, and full of charm, mostly describing her observations and experiences in small inns. In her emails, Zhou Jin introduced herself, saying that since graduating from university, she had been working while traveling throughout the country. Jian Dongping found her writing fluent and her perspective unique, so he invited her to write a column. To date, Zhou Jin's column, "My Small Inn Travelogue," has been published for eight consecutive issues, and the response has been very positive.

"Hi! Editor Jian." She smiled at him casually, and when she saw him staring at her, she gave him a playful push. "Oh dear, look at you, you keep staring at me like that, it makes me feel embarrassed."

It was exactly her usual coquettish tone.

Jian Dongping truly couldn't understand why this woman, who couldn't help but act affectionately towards any man, would wear a fake mustache and this ugly suit, peering at his car in the pouring rain. For a moment, he wondered if he had encountered a mental patient.

"Zhou Jin, what are you up to? I almost didn't recognize you," he said.

She didn't answer him, but looked up at the sky and said, "Oh, the rain is really heavy today. I'm almost soaked to the bone." Then she hurried into the convenience store.

Jian Dongping followed behind.

"You two know each other?" The shop assistant looked at the two of them with suspicion.

“We are friends,” Jian Dongping replied briefly, then returned to his seat to continue drinking his coffee.

Zhou Jin wandered around the convenience store for a while, eventually buying a lollipop with a cat's head on it and two brightly colored ballpoint pens. The purely feminine voice emanating from this male body had probably already confused the clerk, especially since she bought such childish items. This only made the clerk more puzzled, so she was several steps slower in paying, preoccupied with watching Zhou Jin. The latter, however, didn't seem to mind at all, even appearing somewhat smug. Jian Dongping almost suspected that she was deliberately dressed to attract attention.

"Are you going to act in a play or attend a masquerade ball tonight? You look just like Zhou Chong from 'Thunderstorm' right now," he said with a smile, looking her up and down after she sat down next to him.

"Acting?" She smiled. "It's half and half, I guess."

Just as Jian Dongping was about to ask her what she meant by that, she spoke again.

"Editor Jian, could you give me a ride later?" she said.

"No problem, where are you going?"

"Xincheng Road".

"It seems to be not far from here," Jian Dongping thought. If there is no traffic jam, it should only take about 15 minutes to drive there.

"It's not far, but it's inconvenient. I was supposed to just transfer to bus 57 at the same stop, but when I got there I found out the bus stop for 57 had moved. I asked several people and they didn't know where it was. And now it's raining so hard, I can't even get a taxi." She muttered to herself in annoyance, "Why did it have to be today of all days?"

"Looking like that, you're lucky if people don't scare you away when you ask for directions," Jian Dongping thought to himself. Then he thought, "So, she was probably eyeing his car because she wanted him to give her a ride. But how would she know his car?"

"You recognize my car?" Jian Dongping asked.

Yes, I remember your license plate.

However, he only drove her around once.

"You have a really good memory," Jian Dongping said.

“I have a compulsion to memorize numbers,” she said.

Jian Dongping had never heard of this disease before.

"No matter what situation I encounter or who I meet, I force myself to count and then memorize it," she explained with a smile, seeing his puzzled expression.

Could you give me an example?

"The first time I went to the weekly magazine to see you, I took a 5-stop bus ride, walked 4 corners, crossed 2 crossroads, and climbed 10 steps. You were wearing a blue shirt with 15 buttons that day. The ring on your hand had 4 horizontal lines. There were 12 magazines, 14 newspapers, 3 maps, and 14 books on your desk. There were 6 categories of things on your desk. There were 20 tea leaves in your teacup... That's about all I remember."

Jian Dongping was dumbfounded.

“You must have had excellent grades in math, physics, and chemistry when you were in school,” he said.

"No way, I'm not a good student at all." She sighed with a hint of sadness. "This is probably just a kind of mental illness. Actually, there are a lot of things I don't want to remember."

Jian Dongping glanced at her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if his brain were like hers, forced to store so much irrelevant data every day. He thought he might rather have brain surgery than count everything he came across, let alone count things that made him unhappy, especially not just memorize everything he counted. That was indeed a painful skill.

They lingered in the convenience store for a few minutes before leaving.

Jian Dongping drove her through the side streets, and in less than 15 minutes they arrived at the intersection of Xincheng Road and Datong Road.

“This is Xincheng Road. How do I get there?” he asked her.

"Have we arrived at Xincheng Road?" She put her hand on his shoulder and looked out the car window, her voice trembling slightly.

“Yes, we’re here. 15 Xincheng Road is ahead.” Jian Dongping looked at the road sign.

"Just drive a little further. It's... number 45." She hesitated for a moment before saying.

Jian Dongping drove a little further before stopping.

"This is it!" Zhou Jin suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

He discovered that No. 45 Xincheng Road was a winding alley, very deep, with no houses visible from the entrance. Jian Dongping knew that these kinds of alleys were usually interconnected, and if you kept walking, you would find hidden gems hidden inside, including several residential complexes.

Jian Dongping was eager to know why she was so agitated. But he knew she definitely wouldn't tell him. So he decided not to ask anything.

"Ah, so this is where it is." Zhou Jin said, and was about to open the car door when she suddenly turned around and smiled at him. "Thank you, Editor Jian. I'm so grateful to have you here today."

Jian Dongping knew she was smiling seductively at him. If she were dressed as a woman, it would probably be a rather alluring smile, but at this moment, her strange little mustache and wet brown suit made her feminine charm seem terrifying.

"If you want to thank me, submit your manuscript early next week." He avoided her gaze, trying to forget that ugly face.

"Don't worry. I'll submit the manuscript on time," she said in a clear voice. Then, she did something that took him by surprise: she turned

……