Chapter 19

Looking for someone with 100% compatibility—are we talking about organ transplant donors?

Gu Yi was still in a deep sleep when her phone buzzed a few times, and she received a WeChat message from her mom: “Sweetie, mom loves you!”

She never turned on Do Not Disturb. Her mom would drunkenly call late at night to complain, and Gu Yi had to make sure she answered promptly. Recently, things had been too peaceful, which felt strange, and sure enough, there was a drunk message. At 3 a.m., her mom was still loud: “Sweetie! You’ve got your wings now and haven’t called me in a month! Did your company send you to do pyramid schemes?”

Her mom’s voice was loud. How many dishes had she drunk to get like this? Gu Yi fumbled in the dark for her earphones: “Is the house renovation done?”

“Almost. The wall builder didn’t work properly, so I yelled at him, told him to finish quickly. I had a drink with him, and now he calls me ‘sister’—wants to be sworn brothers.”

Unable to find her earphones, Gu Yi retreated to the bathroom: “What about Uncle Yun?”

Uncle Yun’s real name was He Yunjun, her mom’s boyfriend from her late forties, and they were deeply in love. When they were together, they were all sweet and affectionate, but when they disagreed, they would fight. However, compared to her father, Uncle Yun didn’t throw things around, and occasionally, when her mom was being unreasonable, he would try to reason with her. To sum it up in one sentence: they were both bombs with high ignition points. Her mom’s taste in men had always been terrible, and Gu Yi was curious if she had inherited the same bad judgment.

“He’s unreliable. Nearly sixty, and still going to dance halls for the elderly. His bones are going to shatter from all that dancing.” On the other end, it seemed like he sneezed: “The laundromat’s not making much money, and I was thinking of quitting next year, maybe going on a trip.”

Gu Yi could tell something was wrong: “You two fought again, didn’t you?”

“He? He’s not even worth it. I could chop him up and use him for dumpling filling.”

“Let me see the video.”

“Video? It’s the middle of the night, what video are you talking about? I’m sleepy, go to bed too.”

With that, her mom hung up. Gu Yi sat on the bathroom floor in the dark. According to usual habits, when her mom had free time, she’d always video call to show off something—brightly colored clothes she bought, some DIY crafts she made, or sometimes scold her for not eating properly or not buying milk with enough calcium. But suddenly hanging up like that meant they probably fought.

She called back: “Mom, did you fight with Uncle Yun?”

“No. I just suddenly realized I’m fifty, haven’t left you anything, and felt a little sad.”

“You’ve already left me priceless treasures, like your hardworking spirit and self-respect. Thanks to you, I’m poor, unlucky, and still single.”

“Men are all useless. A woman who can do everything isn’t worth cherishing. Little bunny, you’re the best in my heart. No one is good enough for you. Just come home, we can live together.”

Gu Yi spent a long time coaxing her mom, who was like a big kid, back to sleep. After that, she found herself unable to sleep. She wrapped herself in a blanket on the sofa, thinking that her mom must have drunk too much and called to make sure her daughter was safe, probably frightened of nightmares. When she heard Gu Yi full of energy, she was probably reassured. Her mom’s nightmare content hadn’t changed since Gu Yi was seven, when her dad, who didn’t get custody, kept trying to take her to a bigger house, even though it was because he couldn’t control his infidelity that her mom asked for a divorce…

“Can’t sleep?”

Gu Yi was startled, jumping up in shock: “Damn! Why didn’t you turn on the lights!”

Liang Daiwen was kneeling behind the back of the sofa, only his eyes and nose visible: “I thought you’d fall asleep after making that call. But it sounds like you’re still awake.”

“Promise me you’ll turn on the lights next time, okay?” Gu Yi pulled the blanket higher in the dark, realizing she wasn’t wearing a bra under her T-shirt: “Did I wake you?”

“It’s fine, I just heard a sound and thought you were having a nightmare.”

“Stop being so considerate.” Gu Yi sighed: “It’s just my mom. She drank too much. My parents divorced when I was young, and she raised me alone. Occasionally, she drinks too much and can’t control it.”

“Is it serious?”

“Not really. She’s just a straightforward person—drinks, eats, fights. She doesn’t really care about the rules of society.”

“Fighting? She’s pretty violent.”

“Of course. My mom used to work in a factory. When I was little, I sat outside the workshop waiting for her, and an old pervert came to touch me. My mom grabbed a saw and stabbed his leg right there. Blood sprayed everywhere, and she was taken to the police station with the weapon. I was taken away by my kindergarten teacher, blindfolded, but I saw everything. I swore that when I grew up, I’d protect my mom, save money to support her, and never risk my life for anything. She thinks she passed on bad traits to me.” Gu Yi’s eyes shone brightly as she continued, “I have a savings account, and I never touch it. You always listen to my stand-up, and you know all about my troubles. I don’t mind sharing a bit of my ‘family background’ with you.”

“So, you’re staying here temporarily because you’re short on money?”

Liang Daiwen maintained his usual unreadable expression: “Just say it. No need to pretend you’re staying here for treatment.”

“Are you being sincere or just pretending?”

Liang Daiwen didn’t respond.

“You’ve improved. Now you’re being passive-aggressive. Should I praise your learning ability?”

“No need.”

Gu Yi was actually feeling sleepy now, no one could stay awake at 3 a.m. continuously: “I’ve always liked picking out stars. From my first love, who was the popular basketball captain, to the student council president I admired in university, to the young entrepreneur I met later... But I’m not bragging, they still message me sometimes, testing to see how I’m doing. It’s hard to pursue me. If you’re lucky enough to have me offer you treatment, it’s like you won the lottery.”

“What do all these people you liked have in common?”

“Who says I like you?” Gu Yi forced herself to stay awake. “You all are complex, hard-to-piece puzzles. You look perfect, but you’re actually missing a piece... My eye for detail is really good. I can spot these perfect but imperfect people in a heartbeat.”

When Gu Yi woke up, she had already forgotten about the matter. After punching in at the office, she went straight to the editorial meeting. Pony, who was on marriage leave, came back and handed out a box of chocolates to everyone. She also proposed a topic about love that directly challenged Gu Yi’s long-form comic idea. The two topics had entirely different approaches, and naturally, they were in direct competition.

Gu Yi had originally planned the topic: “In 2018, will financially struggling young people still choose love above all else?” The target audience was young people who yearn for love, including those who couldn’t find a job, those who were still living off their parents after graduation, women who had children but felt empty after spending all their savings on marriage, highly educated individuals stuck with low-paying jobs and unable to break into big cities, and office workers who are exhausted but live fulfilling lives, simply focusing on parties and fast-food relationships in the face of rising housing prices. However, Pony’s topic was directly at odds with this, as she had just married her husband who lived in the heart of Shanghai. She had heard they were moving to a place near Dajie, where she and her in-laws were living in a 30-square-meter apartment, but Pony herself came from a small town in Jiangsu, and was physically attractive, which could be considered a “successful match.” Her topic was very straightforward: “Love, in the end, is about compatibility—whether it’s zodiac signs, blood types, or personalities and temperaments. Only when both sides are compatible, can love last.”

Gu Yi shook her head as she sat on her chair: “If you’re looking for a 100% compatible person, are you trying to find an organ transplant donor?”

Pony responded, “What I mean is that times have changed. Equality and balance are what modern urbanites look for in love.”

“That’s because humans have evolved and learned how to talk about emotions based on equality. But to put it as precise calculation? That’s turning relationships into statistics.”

“So, what do you think love is?”

“Can’t really explain it, but once you accept it, nothing else matters. You’re willing to dive into the complexity of human nature and the secular world to fight for a simple emotion—this is love,” Gu Yi said, her reflection on the black screen of the computer. She wasn’t particularly happy and, for some reason, thought of Liang Daiwen, but quickly snapped out of it. “I understand that for a feature, we should adopt a more mainstream view that encourages readers to share, and that teaching women to be more independent and cautious about choosing a partner is valid. But if we only send out such a one-sided message, they might give up on love early on, thinking it’s not balanced enough. For example, if Rose in Titanic had thought when she saw Jack, ‘Where did this poor guy come from? He doesn’t even have a logo on his clothes,’ the movie would have ended in ten minutes.”

The people in the meeting room laughed. Jacqueline, sitting at the cold end of the table, tapped her pen on the table: “Let’s go with Pony’s approach for now. Gu Yi, stay behind.”

Losing the competition for the topic was normal; there would always be another chance. Gu Yi sighed inwardly, believing that Jacqueline, with her “balanced” view of the independent woman, was probably similar, given that she had reached her position without being married. As everyone else left the office, Gu Yi became curious about Jacqueline’s mindset when it came to dating young men—was she using experience and money to match with youth, or was she defying convention and seeking “true love”?

Jacqueline, dressed in black, was constantly receiving phone notifications, busy. Her words grew cold in the cold office: “After working in new media for so long, don’t you know that topics need to cater to the audience?”

“But a while ago, you told me to write something new.”

“You just said something that half the people in the meeting didn’t understand. How will the readers understand? Anything that requires a second thought has no spreadability.”

Gu Yi understood the meaning behind Jacqueline’s words. The average reader wouldn’t view “balance” as a way to reconsider their personal needs; instead, they might directly see the media encouraging everyone to blindly pursue love, causing a storm in the comments section. What Jacqueline wanted was to maintain quality while reaching as many readers as possible, avoiding issues like class or politics; hot topics and sharp questions could generate buzz, but there was no need. People could get involved in hot topics and arguments over idols and breakup dramas, but broad, vague topics like love just didn’t excite them.

“Didn’t realize you were so sharp-tongued.”

Gu Yi thought to herself, it wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed; it was that she couldn’t let Jacqueline figure it out—if she knew about her stand-up comedy, that’d be a disaster. She pretended to be weak: “I’m just reflecting on myself...”

“Do you really think you understand?”

Gu Yi was caught off guard by this rhetorical question. As a 26-year-old living in a rented apartment with barely enough to make ends meet, her perspective was indeed limited. She then retorted, “I really don’t understand.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“I want... to raise my salary. Poverty makes me short-sighted.”

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Gu Yi held her breath, staring at Jacqueline, her eyes full of pity, but Jacqueline wasn’t buying it: “Show me some results. If you keep talking nonsense in meetings while having your pay docked, how do you expect a raise? You do have a different kind of romance, so think about how to use it for the company. Give me more topic ideas and leave now.”

As she walked out of the meeting room, Gu Yi still couldn’t shake the confusion. Was Jacqueline trying to mentor her? This opportunity couldn’t be missed!

To prove herself to Jacqueline, Gu Yi stopped going to ounce and stayed late in the office. Every night, she came up with three topic ideas to send to Jacqueline, only for them to be ruthlessly rejected, with the occasional one making it through. Jacqueline often took calls in her small office while Gu Yi worked outside, writing articles. When she couldn’t stay awake any longer, she’d head home, but Jacqueline was still there. Weren’t the rumors about her having a young boyfriend true? How could someone like her, a workaholic, have a boyfriend?

An intern secretly messaged her: “Lindsey, don’t learn from the big boss. She’s a workaholic control freak. Do you want to become a woman who devotes herself to work?”

Jacqueline’s office was almost never heated in winter. A woman who could endure the cold seemed to enjoy the clarity that came from being frozen. Still, there was something that touched Gu Yi—two women, with no personal connection outside work, yet it felt like they shared some secret in the office, working late with the lights on, together in the endless grind.

When she got home, Gu Yi saw Liang Daiwen sitting on the couch, and a sense of warmth filled her heart. Even though he wasn’t her lover, just having someone there made the exhaustion of the day feel better. Liang Daiwen said, “Let’s go, follow me to the bedroom.”

Gu Yi immediately perked up. “Huh?”

“I want to show you something.”

“Liang Daiwen, don’t tempt me into the bedroom! Let me tell you, I won’t fall for it. Is it because you’ve noticed I have a big chest and long legs? Let me tell you, I’m not that kind of person who loves indulgence and reckless behavior. I don’t rely on that to pay rent!”

The man, unable to tolerate it anymore, pointed to the bed. “Who told you to lie on the bed? Go under the bed.”

“Huh?”

“Just crawl in. It’s clean; I had the maid clean it thoroughly.”

Gu Yi bent down, hesitantly looking at Liang Daiwen. “What’s this new play? Are you trying a new method to mess with me? Liang Daiwen, if you dare to violate me, I’ll fight you.”

Liang Daiwen’s tone left no room for refusal. “Hurry up and crawl in.”

Before she could settle in, Liang Daiwen turned off the lights. Gu Yi’s back brushed against something — what was stuck to the bedboard? When she turned her head, the dim light startled her. In front of her were glowing little stars, similar to the glow-in-the-dark straws she used to play with as a child. Tiny little stars, one by one, covered the entire underside of the bed. Her face and hands seemed to be bathed in this glow. Liang Daiwen also crawled onto the floor beside her and lay down, not too close, just calmly propping his hand behind his head. Gu Yi opened her mouth wide. “How did you think of this…”

“Stars and moons glow, do you know why?”

“Isn’t it because of the movement of celestial bodies?”

“I don’t dream now, but I used to. Back then, I firmly believed that stars didn’t shine, and I often argued with other kids about it. I dreamt of many scattered stars on the moon, and children in white glowing dresses holding brooms, sweeping the moon, listening to instructions, spreading the stars out or sweeping them into the shape of a crescent. That’s why the moon has its phases. Actually, it’s many children with romantic hearts desperately sweeping the stars. Some will grow up and leave, and new children will arrive with their brooms. That’s why I loved looking at the moon when I was a kid… I remembered it last time I went to Disneyland, and I felt bad that night, so I wanted to share this dream with you. Ordinary people can see the stars, but it’s not because the stars are shining. It’s because girls with dreams are constantly waving their brooms. But — it’s enough to see, you can go out now. It’s cold on the floor.”

Who would care about the cold at this time? Gu Yi stared at the stars, unwilling to climb out, and caught Liang Daiwen who was trying to leave. “Did you make these yourself?”

“I bought them. But I stuck them on myself.”

“Is this to cheer me up?”

“I don’t know. I just remembered a dream and wanted to share it with you.”

Was this a scene that could appear in a low-tier youth film? If it were a normal boy, she would definitely find it vulgar, old-fashioned, and pretentious. But the one lying next to her was Liang Daiwen, who rarely expressed any emotions. Maybe the aliens had received the human signal of desperate affection and weakly responded. And—sweeping stars like in a fairy tale? That’s too romantic...

“Liang Daiwen.”

“Mm.”

“So, you were a very romantic person when you used to dream.”

“It seems so.”

She really wanted to ask what had made him become the person he was now, someone with no feelings. But she decided to wait; it wasn’t the right time. However, in this situation, she couldn’t help but feel greedy... For example, Liang Daiwen could take the initiative to hug her, or maybe, without realizing it, want to touch her first.

Thinking of this, she slowly shifted her body, her arm brushing against Liang Daiwen’s. It was warm. So close, and under the bed, such a romantic scene—what normal man wouldn’t at least hold hands or kiss?

Suddenly, Liang Daiwen said, “It’s really hot. Did we set the air conditioner too high?”

He said this and climbed out, leaving Gu Yi alone under the bed, staring at the stars in a daze. But the strange feeling grew inside her. If it had been the usual Liang Daiwen, she probably wouldn’t have felt any desire. But this tiny bit of shining response from him had sparked new ambitions in her. Since she had to touch hidden desires to get what she wanted, she decided to go for it. Her next goal was for Liang Daiwen to hug her, in any way possible. Physical contact—there must be a chemical reaction. After experiencing her fear of heights last time, she never wanted to go back to that nightmare of being off the ground. As long as she could stand on solid ground, that would be fine. With that thought, she sent a message to Yu Dule: “I have a request.” Yu Dule replied immediately: “No problem.”

Not long after, Yu Dule posted a message in the five-person group: “Want to play an escape room?”