Chapter 92
The morning passed by. Mu Hanxia went home, showered, and arrived at the office relatively early, long before it was time to go to work. From afar she saw the closed door of Lu Zhang’s office but the light was still on inside.
This was a rare thing. Lu Zhang never arrived early.
She walked over and pushed the door open, and there indeed was Mr. Lu sitting behind his computer with a bored look on his face. When he saw her, his eyes lit up instantly and then he smiled.
“Yeah, isn’t this the Master? Making waves to come back.”
He smiled so happily that Mu Hanxia’s heart warmed, but she said lightly, “What nonsense, go away, I had something to do. Why have you arrived so early and become diligent in my absence? I am very pleased.”
Lu Zhang replied with a carefree smile, “Oh, this young master has always done as he pleases, he can work whenever he wants. What’s wrong with coming to work at midnight? Diligent? Sorry, I haven’t grown that nerve yet.”
Mu Hanxia was amused by him yet again and turned around to go back to her office, but Lu Zhang called out to her, “Wait.”
She looked at him. “What else is going on?”
Lu Zhang asked, “You went to Jiangcheng, who did you meet? You were gone for so many days.”
“An old friend.”
“Oh…” Lu Zhang said lazily, “A man? Is it the assistant you’re arranging?”
“No, a woman.” Mu Hanxia answered briskly.
Lu Zhang smiled at that, stretched his back and sat up straight as if he was instantly refreshed. “A female is good. Master, you didn’t tell me earlier, hey, is she pretty? Is she prettier than you?”
Seeing how serious his words were, Mu Hanxia instantly turned around and walked away.
In the morning, Mu Hanxia took Lu Zhang on a tour of the venue to check on the final preparations for Yuejia Mall. Today, he actually behaved extraordinarily well, following her closely all the way and even taking the initiative to ask some questions. She patiently taught him, and the two spent the morning together in a cordial manner.
By noon, Feng Nan booked a restaurant for both of them. It was a very elegant and chic place nearby. He(FN) didn’t try to be too obvious, and although he booked a small private room for couples, he didn’t put roses and candles but decorated it plainly and comfortably.
So when Mu Hanxia walked in, she only felt very relaxed and didn’t notice anything strange. The first time she saw the red couple’s sofa and the romantic decoration, she swept a glance at Feng Nan, smiled and did not say anything. He knew he had done the right thing.
The small private room had an entire wall made of glass, overlooking a wide view of Beijing city. It was late afternoon and the sun covered the earth, bathing the endless buildings. Somewhat stunned by the nice view, Mu Hanxia stepped towards the window and pressed her hand against the glass, gazing out.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
Lu Zhang came up behind her and pressed one hand against the wall next to her hand on the glass. One more step forward and he could take her in his arms. Smelling the faint scent of her perfume, his heart raced, he was excited and nervous. He had never chased a woman older than himself, or a master, and just felt his whole brain reeling.
Mu Hanxia was so preoccupied that she failed to notice.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered above her head. “Master, there are many more beautiful places in Beijing city, I will take you to see them later,” he said sincerely, calling her Master again.
Not noticing the difference, Mu Hanxia smiled and replied, “Okay, thanks a lot.”
Feng Nan watched the two of them- the woman was beautiful and elegant, and the man handsome and arrogant, standing together, they looked like a well-matched couple. He looked at Lu Zhang’s hand, which was moving but did not dare to go forward, and felt deeply that if he stayed here any longer, the man might fire him. So, he wordlessly retreated and closed the door behind him.
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Mu Hanxia turned her head back. Lu Zhang moved quickly and put his hand down, acting like nothing had happened.
“Sit down and eat.”
Mu Hanxia glanced at the door. “Where’s Feng Nan?”
Lu Zhang picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of food, saying, “That kid has a bunch of chores, don’t mind him, let’s eat.”
Mu Hanxia sat down, looked at the food and said, “Why come to such a fancy place for lunch? You can eat whatever you like.”
Lu Zhang replied, “How can I be casual when it comes to my young master’s lunch? Hey, first of all, let’s go to a Japanese restaurant for lunch tomorrow. There’s a place that has sushi that I really like. I think you’ll definitely like it too.”
Mu Hanxia was a little helpless and didn’t bother to talk to him.
Halfway through eating, Mu Hanxia’s phone rang. She glanced at Lu Zhang across the table and walked to the window before picking it up.
Lu Zhang was eating with his head down, but his eyes were fixed on her.
Mu Hanxia: “Hello?”
Lin Mochen’s voice emerged from the other end.
- “Hello.”
Mu Hanxia smiled faintly. “What’s up?”
- “Have you eaten?”
“Eating now.”
Both of them were quiet for a moment, then he said…
- “I’m eating too, with a group of investment managers. It’s very boring. Are you free tonight? I’ll pick you up for dinner.”
“Not tonight,” Mu Hanxia replied, “I have something to do.”
- “Okay. Some other time, then.”
“Okay.”
- “Hanxia …,” he said, “I miss you.”
Mu Hanxia gave a soft “mmm”.
When she hung up the phone, she turned around and saw Lu Zhang looking at her with eyes as wide as copper bells.
“Why are you looking at me?” She sat down and continued eating.
Lu Zhang said, “Who’s calling? Master is smiling so gently.”
“A friend.”
Lu Zhang ate in silence for a few bites, then suddenly smiled and said, “Hey, Master, I know a little restaurant in Sanlitun that’s especially good, can we go there to eat after work tonight?”
Without raising her head, Mu Hanxia replied, “No, I have something to do tonight.”
“What is it?”
“I’m going to pick up a friend, He Jing. The one who is coming to be my assistant.”
Lu Zhang drifted off. “Oh….”
—
After waiting for a few days but not meeting her at night, Lu Zhang was a bit frustrated. He went out to eat with some friends, and halfway through the meal, he ran off again without saying a word.
It was after nine at night, and he was driving alone, unaware that he had arrived at the neighbourhood where Mu Hanxia lived. He was now also a bit chagrined, had he known … He would have told Feng Nan to rent her house closer to his place… No, it would have been better to give her one of his houses to live in. Since he had many houses, it would have been just perfect.
The car stopped not far from her house. He looked up at her house and saw that the lights were on. Somehow, he felt a warmth in his heart. What the h*ll, he even suspected that he had Oedipus Complex…1This hails from Greek mythology where Oedipu, Greek king of Thebes, accidentally falls in love with his own mother.Interested peeps can check the link He looked down and lit a cigarette, rolled down the window and slowly bit into it, without realizing. He glanced ahead and saw a Cayenne parked a short distance away, on the other side of the road.
He recognised this car.
He stared coldly, tsk … Old rascal, is he out again to make trouble?
After a few minutes, he actually saw Lin Mochen get out of the car. Lu Zhang had to admit that this thirty-year-old man had a good complexion and could dress well. With a simple black coat, he looked slender and straight exuding an extraordinary air.
He did not head up. Instead, leaning on the side of the car, he lit a cigarette, raised his head and slowly smoked, gazing at Mu Hanxia’s window.
As Lu Zhang watched, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his heart. It was an indescribable feeling. Seeing with his own eyes a man who was a legend in the mall, a man who even his father had to respect, yet he was like him, watching out for this woman downstairs. And Lu Zhang had felt that the entanglement between those two people was something that he, a man who came later, and several years younger than them, could never have fathomed or intervened in.
Lu Zhang finished the last puff of his cigarette and stubbed it heavily in the ashtray. He raised his eyes still staring at Lin Mochen.
At that moment, the door of the building was pushed open and Mu Hanxia walked out.
Lu Zhang’s heart fluttered and he stared at her for an instant. However, she did not notice his car and only looked at Lin Mochen before smiling faintly. Lin Mochen greeted her and handed her the bag of cherries in his hand.
When Lu Zhang saw the cherries, he cursed in his heart and said “shit”.
Then they said something after which Mu Hanxia took the cherries and turned around to head upstairs. But Lin Mochen took her hand and pulled her back shamelessly. He then kept holding her hand without letting go, and Mu Hanxia’s face, which had always been calm in front of him, Lu Zhang, actually flushed a little. And although she didn’t get closer to him, she didn’t struggle either.
Unable to take it anymore, with a cold face, he took out his mobile phone and dialed her number. He saw her letting go of Lin Machen’s hand and picking up the phone.
- “Hello? Lu Zhang.”
He exhaled slightly and smiled in a self-effacing tone. “Master, it’s urgent.”
- “What’s the urgent matter?”
She glanced at Lin Mochen before finally turning around and walking into the building.
Lu Zhang’s brain was spinning fast and said, “Oh, it’s just a few questions we looked at on our rounds today. Well, I don’t understand some parts of it, one is—”
Seeing that she had walked into the lift, out of sight, Lu Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. Then, blurting a few words haphazardly, he found the reason to hang up the phone. He was so relieved when Mu Hanxia even scolded him for being “stupid”.
Yes, he was just brainless now, wasn’t he?
When Lu Zhang raised his head again, he saw that Lin Mochen, who had remained in the same place, had also turned around. He looked at him steadfastly.
Lin Mochen seemed to have sensed something and raised his eyes to find him some ten metres away.
The two men looked at each other for a moment.
Lu Zhang’s face was expressionless. But Lin Mochen suddenly smiled, stopped looking at him, and got into the car.
Lu Zhang sat where he was, watching him reverse, turn around, and then drive over.
Lin Mochen’s eyes kept looking ahead and did not even glance at Lu Zhang. When the two cars passed each other, a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Lin Mochen’s mouth, but the side of his face remained expressionless.
However, Lu Zhang felt that he had never seen a man’s eyes as cold as Lin Mochen’s.
Lin Mochen drove off in his car.
The man had done nothing, but Lu Zhang felt that his lungs were about to explode.
This novel is soooo close to the end—I hope we haven’t forgotten this gem and will get a complete translation soon 🙏🥹
Thanks a lot to all the the translation teams that translated this novel. You all are well appreciated from the bottom of my heart. God bless all of you. Keep up the good works.
Thanks a ton for the support, really means a lot. It’s cos of readers like you we feel motivated to bring quality stuff… but should we falter, please be kind to us. God bless you too, thanks again.
Dear Translation Team,
Thank you for posting this new chapter, and for bring an end to my torture. I have been dying to read the verbal exchange between Lin Mo Chen and Mu Han Xia since this is a pivotal chapter, and the machine-translation site on the web does not do a good at all. Having said that, I realized how important your translation team is to us English readers because there is NO English edition of Ding Mo’s book. I’ve looked 🙁 But if I am wrong, please slap me with the correct website and I humbly “thank you”.
A most humble thank you to you too!!! This support is like chicken blood to us. We are Ding Mo fans ourselves so will try and bring as many books of hers as possible. In the mean while, pls do puruse her compilation of shorts: https://whimsicalreads.com/series/three-short-stories/
Should you have a book you’d like to read, let us know we will be more than happy to translate it… after all, we are first readers too!
Dear Translation team, thank you for doing a great job translating this beautiful story about love and the struggles in life. I’ve come to cherish these two main characters-Lin MoChen and Mu HanXia and I hope that you will continues to tell us their story. This is perhaps one of my favorite novels from Ding Mo and I really hope (pray) that you will finish translating this novel. Thank you.
Hey Chezzie,
Thanks a ton for your support!!! <3
Hello Reader,
Thank you for being here and all the support. It means a lot. And if you’ve made the extra effort to leave a comment, thank you again for it shows you care.
‘Don’t Turn From Summer’ got off to a rough start, and we are here making amends. After all, few have never faltered. That said, WR does not wish to make any excuses and takes full responsibility for quality and is in the process of righting it as we speak. The current chapter being one such attempt.
Each one is different as is their take on things. While we will love the work of the previous TL, we are well aware in the difference between our styles. So, while comparisons are inevitable, we implore you not to judge us too harshly for we too are striving to bring forth the best rendition of one of our favorite authors. But rest assured, you will have a good time reading it.
Disappointed!! What happened to the translation quality??? The previous translator had done such an amazing job and now what we have is just a poorly translated work!!! Look, I’m not trying to be mean, but this story is amazing, it has a certain depth to it. so please, please dont destroy it with lousy translations. If you cant hold a candle to the story then please drop it, someone else might be willing to translate better. I love this story, I am a huge fan of it and when i saw the update i was over the moon but what i got was an utter disappointment with poor translation. So please if you think you can’t do a better job or at least as good as the previous translator then please drop it so that someone will have a shot at it but please DO NOT destroy the story and take away its joy of reading with half-assed and lousy translations!!!
Tannie Bear, thank you. We hear you. As readers first and a translation site later, we understand where you’re coming from and appreciate your candidness. Only a good friend will tell you when your face is looking dirty, so sorry and thank you again. We think we deserve a chance at it, so please humor us while we right the wrong.