Chapter 2

A One-Sided Mirror, The Gamble (1)

In this world, there will always be someone living the life you dream of.

Take Xie Xinqi, for example. She lives the life countless women long for.

At six in the morning, the sunlight paints her castle-like estate in golden hues. Maids milk the plump cows, trot into the kitchen to boil the fresh milk, and prepare additional options like freshly squeezed orange juice and coconut water. These are placed next to the chef’s freshly made English breakfast and brought upstairs. Outside her bedroom door, the housekeeper wheels over seven sets of custom-made dresses, straightening the bows on the garments. Hours later, the person inside the master bedroom wakes up naturally. A delicate voice calls out from behind the door, “Come in.”

The maids file in, and once she picks an outfit with a wave of her hand, they serve her like attendants at Wu Zetian’s imperial court, dressing and grooming her. Once she is fully prepared, she pushes open the balcony window. The servants swiftly set up an easel, paints, a palette, a bucket of water, and a chair before her. She yawns, picks up a paintbrush, glances at the red roses inside the fence below, dips her brush into a heap of bright red paint, adds a few dabs of Mars black and burnt sienna, and, without even using the palette, boldly and freely applies it to the canvas.

When the sun sets, she transforms into a goddess of the night. The moment the door of her luxury car opens and a pair of polished high heels steps onto the red carpet, the cameras start clicking furiously. Surrounded by over a dozen bodyguards in black, her only task is to toss her flowing hair and strike different poses for the cameras. Those who follow her life know she might spend yesterday in the presidential suite of the Burj Al Arab, today test-driving a new luxury sports car in Beverly Hills, and tomorrow taking selfies with Hollywood stars in first class. Anywhere she lingers for even a moment, sons of the upper class deliver three-carat colored diamonds and air-freighted bouquets to her. If she happens to be holding a drink, she’ll pour it over these gifts with little interest before lazily waving them off.

Of course, such scenes only appear on television. Those watching from their couches gape in astonishment as the screens flash silver-white lightning-like shutters, capturing a world entirely different from their own. According to Xiao Lajiao’s commentary, Xie Xinqi’s story is simply, “so damn cool.”

At this moment, Xiao Lajiao repeated that phrase once again, with her legs propped on the coffee table, taking a bite of an apple and spraying crumbs everywhere. “I’m telling you, Weiwei, you’re just like the princess of Xie Real Estate. Born in the same year, same zodiac sign, even working in the same industry. You two must be long-lost twin sisters, separated at birth!”

“Not at all. I’m nothing like her, that delicate gardenia in a golden vase. My ambition is to become a general manager, rise to CEO, marry a tall, rich, and handsome guy, and reach the pinnacle of life.”

“I think you’re headed straight for the pinnacle of insanity.”

Luo Wei nearly threw the sock in her hand at Xiao Lajiao’s head but held back, knowing that using violence against Xiao Lajiao wouldn’t work in her favor. Instead, she smiled shyly and kept humming a tune while washing socks. “Still, it’s not a bad thing that I don’t resemble my parents. If I happen to look like such a gorgeous woman who has everything, I’d say my mom’s temple prayers weren’t in vain.”

“Actually, you do have one thing she doesn’t.” Seeing Luo Wei’s curiosity, Xiao Lajiao deftly flipped over the couch, poked Luo Wei in the stomach, and then pointed at the screen, where the slender-as-a-flash Xie Xinqi was displayed. She stroked her own belly dramatically, collapsing onto the couch like a blob of mud.

“I quit. Goodbye,” Luo Wei said with a twitching smile.

“I think it’s worth mentioning,” Xiao Lajiao said after tossing her apple core aside, peeling a banana, and chomping into it like a monkey, “that you can’t quit unless you actually have a job—assuming your so-called job isn’t being a nanny here for me.”

“I’ve still got a year before I graduate, and I’ve already found a job. What about you? Why are you so hopeless?” she said, gesturing with the banana.

“You’re right; being a courier is indeed a stellar career, complete with socks that can kill with ammonia fumes.” Luo Wei stifled the urge to pinch her nose and tossed Xiao Lajiao’s stinky socks into the washbasin.

Chewing her banana, Xiao Lajiao shrugged and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, so you’re looking down on couriers now? Couriers still earn over 10,000 yuan a month and have toned abs, okay?” She finished her sentence by patting her stomach like a proud mom-to-be.

The mention of “over 10,000 yuan a month” made Luo Wei turn to face her laptop and the resume she’d revised countless times. The bright spring sunshine illuminated the screen, reflecting her face filled with distress—a face that seemed to recreate the Chinese character “囧” in its entirety, starkly contrasting with the cheerful girl in the photo on her resume. She remembered a piece of advice from an alumnus during her university’s orientation week: “Right now, you might feel on top of the world, but when the day comes to write your resume, you’ll realize you have nothing to put down.” Looking back, it felt like a cursed prophecy.

Luo Wei grew up on Beidao Island in Gongzhou. When she was nine, her father was transferred across the sea for work and took her and her mother along, never to return. Over the years, she often missed her hometown, but her parents never spoke of it. Sometimes she couldn’t help but suspect they had fled after racking up a mountain of gambling debts back home. Regardless, after surviving her father’s fascist-like discipline and her mother’s sugar-coated pampering, she finally graduated from university. Defying her parents, she sent resumes to major jewelry companies in Gongzhou, sneaked back to crash at her childhood friend Xiao Lajiao’s rented apartment, and used an interview invitation from a Shanghai company to bluff her parents into thinking she was in Shanghai. As of now, though, her interviews in Gongzhou had all ended in failure.

She couldn’t help but feel that her life was, just a tiny bit, not very successful.  

Admittedly, Luo Wei bore an uncanny resemblance to the ultra-wealthy and glamorous Xie Xinqi and, by all accounts, could be considered a beauty herself. In her first week at university, the class monitor led a group of male students to call her name outside the dormitory, delivering water, medicine, and snacks via intermediaries. She shared everything with her roommates, who envied her endlessly and marveled at the perks of living with a campus beauty. But at the time, she was curled up in the dorm room binge-watching idol dramas, utterly captivated by Naoki Irie and swept into a romantic fantasy, leaving no room in her heart for real-life suitors.  

Throughout her life, boys had either been overly enthusiastic around her or endearingly shy. She had even been invited multiple times to serve as a print model, and these experiences reinforced her understanding that, in the eyes of the average person, she was indeed a pretty girl. Unfortunately, her parents hadn’t managed to bring her into the world a century earlier—back when sheer beauty alone could dictate a woman’s destiny.  

In the modern age, a woman’s worth is composed of a thousand tiny details. Beyond appearance, it includes her job, education, family background, demeanor, conversational style, taste, the places she’s traveled, the books she’s read, the languages she speaks, the knowledge she holds, her ability to plan her life, her vision and decision-making skills, her artistic sensibilities—even a single fashion accessory can make or break her impression. All these countless details must be painstakingly assembled like building blocks throughout one’s life, leaving no room for complacency.  

So, what value could a university graduate with no job prospects—or worse, a pitiful single woman who’s never even been in a relationship—possibly have?  

At this thought, Luo Wei felt the world’s malice closing in on her, clutching her chest in anguish as she cursed her university self for spending so much time holed up in her dorm surfing the web. Back in high school, she had been so driven, a little science whiz. How had she ended up like this in college?  

The world after graduation was nothing like the one she had imagined. Back then, she thought she would create waves upon entering society; in reality, she was just a single drop of water falling into a stormy ocean. Back then, she thought she was capable of anything; now, she realized how incapable she was. Back then, she believed she was skilled in a multitude of arts; now, she realized she only excelled at cooking—and that was only because she was a foodie. Every time she arrived in a new place, the first thing she’d do was research the local cuisine.  

Recently, living with Xiao Lajiao, aside from tweaking her résumé, her culinary skills had improved dramatically. She’d gained ten pounds from being constantly fed chicken, duck, and fish. If she kept this up, she’d transform from a slender little beauty into a “plus-sized social goodwill ambassador.”  

Perhaps if she weren’t so fixated on returning to Gongzhou, so obsessed with her childhood memories, things might have improved by now.

At that thought, Luo Wei shook her head, stopping herself from spiraling further. One must remain positive in life.  

“Vivi, you really don’t need to worry so much. My brother just got back from his overseas tour and is staying at our parents’ house to rest. He has tons of connections, so your job search is on him now,” Xiao Lajiao said, tossing the banana peel in an arc that landed perfectly in the trash can.  

Luo Wei’s heart skipped a beat. She had almost forgotten whose sister Xiao Lajiao was. “No, no, please don’t bother Jianian-ge with something so small. Let him rest.”  

“You’re so heartless! It’s been over ten years since you last saw him. Do you know how much he’s missed you? Before he left for abroad, he mentioned you every single day—I even dreamed of you being nagged back into existence!”  

Her heart skipped another beat. Luo Wei kept her expression composed, her smile blooming like spring: “Haha, time flies. Has he moved back for good?”  

“He has, yeah. He came back last year.” Xiao Lajiao blinked at Luo Wei in confusion. “You don’t have my brother’s contact info?” Seeing Luo Wei shake her head, she pulled out her phone, opened WeChat, and displayed his number, urging Luo Wei to add him.  

Luo Wei found his WeChat account but didn’t send a request. Instead, she browsed through his Moments: He was sitting on a green European meadow under a bright blue sky, wearing a striped knit sweater. The sleeves covered half his hands, and his long fingers were gently teasing a black cat with blue eyes. His slightly disheveled, wavy hair at his temples gave him a touch of softness, and the warmth in his gaze as he looked at the cat was as radiant as the sunlight.  

Thinking about the embarrassing incident from their childhood, Luo Wei felt like a thief and couldn’t let her eyes linger on the photos for too long. She scrolled quickly through his Moments.  

Just then, the doorbell rang. Luo Wei stood up sluggishly to answer, her fingers still swiping through Su Jianian’s Moments. When she opened the door and looked up, she saw the man himself.  

They stared at each other for two seconds. Luo Wei felt her heart stop, but she still managed to pull off a perfectly practiced smile. “Jianian-ge.”  

His gaze shifted to her, as if he had only just casually noticed her. His demeanor was warm and polite. “Luo Wei, long time no see.”  

He had arrived so quickly, giving her no time to mentally prepare. After all, her last memory of him was their conversation on the phone years ago:  

“Jianian-ge, let me introduce you to a girlfriend.”  

“I don’t need you to set me up.”  

“I spend time with this girl every day, so I know her really well. I swear she’s a great girl.”  

“You spend time with her every day? What about when she gets a boyfriend?”  

“Nothing will change. We’ll still hang out together.”  

“So, you’re saying you’ll hang out with her boyfriend every day too and be just as nice to him?”  

“Of course! Why?”  

“Alright. Then I’ll be with her.”  

“Great, great... Wait a minute, what does that mean?”  

Luo Wei could still remember how, when she pretended to be deep in thought, she was actually regretting her actions so much it felt like her guts were twisting. She had only brought up introducing him to a girlfriend as a pretext to draw out information about another boy she liked. But in her muddled panic, she had unwittingly cornered Su Jianian into confessing.  

A flood of guilt drowned her at that moment, but she was still just a child, lacking both the courage to face the truth and the emotional maturity to handle the awkward situation. So she simply vanished from his life.  

Two months later, when she finally worked up the nerve to properly apologize and called him again, he abruptly hung up on her. The following year, he gained international fame after winning a major piano competition. From then on, the only way she could learn about him was through the news, television, or the most official updates online.