Chapter 43: Not Everyone Can Be Called an Artist

These urban love rules, cloaked in the guise of “becoming a better version of yourself,” still fundamentally promote male superiority and female inferiority. They teach girls to trade their youth, bodies, and appearances for status—new-age patriarchy.

Jian Zhaowen’s head was spinning, and he ended up sleeping until four o’clock. He was startled awake by the continuous sound of dominoes falling. Yu Zhimei hadn’t waited for him; she had already started enjoying the pleasure of watching the dominoes fall on her own. After this round finished smoothly, Jian Zhaowen sat up groggily, his eyes widening, and his voice hoarse with frustration: “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“Because… we have to check out at four.”

He checked his phone—it was 3:45. There was still a large pile of dominoes on the floor. Jian Zhaowen was a bit confused: “What were you doing earlier?”

“I fell asleep. I’ve been working overtime like crazy recently.”

“So… did we really just sleep in the suite all day?”

“Yes.”

“What a waste.”

Yu Zhimei clicked her tongue: “And you say you had no ulterior motives.”

“Hey, don’t act so innocent. You think I didn’t see the sexy lingerie in your bag?” Jian Zhaowen poked his head out from the bathroom, flashing a row of white teeth: “Or… should we now?”

“You’ve got ten minutes, and you still need to clean up the dominoes.”

“Ten minutes is enough.”

“…”

“I’m joking. A person of integrity doesn’t accept charity. Let’s go to the lounge to check out. We can take our time cleaning up.” Jian Zhaowen took off his T-shirt, bare-chested as he turned away from Yu Zhimei to put on a black T-shirt. He felt the room grow quiet. Yu Zhimei sat on the floor, looking at the dominoes that spelled out “stay by my side”: “No, I can’t bear to ruin it.”

“There will be more chances in the future. With my brains, I can come up with a hundred tricks like this for you.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Jian Zhaowen kissed her ear: “Besides, the dominoes are still here. We can set them up at home. Just make the pattern smaller.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s what I should do because I like you.” Jian Zhaowen’s face was red when Yu Zhimei suddenly hugged him and kissed his lips. The kiss wasn’t urgent or anxious—it was light, like a breeze brushing against his body, carrying her scent, which was exactly the same as his. Living together, using the same shower gel and shampoo, Jian Zhaowen felt like he was smelling himself.

Thinking about this, he stepped back a little, contemplating that checking out a little later wouldn’t matter. But before he could steady himself, Yu Zhimei accidentally stepped on the dominoes. Trying to jump over the pattern without ruining it, she tripped over her own feet, instantly scattering a large portion of the dominoes. Jian Zhaowen turned around, his face pale.

“You’re not very stable on your feet.” Yu Zhimei threw back the first line he’d said to her when they met.

“...What’s so funny? Start packing up. We’ve got three minutes left.”

As dusk fell, it was rare for everyone to gather again. Shi Rui appeared at Miaolin Dessert Shop for the first time after the New Year. She had lost a lot of weight since the end of the year, fully embodying the look of a literary young woman weighing eighty or ninety pounds. Her waist-length black hair and red lipstick gave her an eye-catching appearance. She joked that losing weight was because her parents had complained she was too fat to marry and refused to feed her dinner, so she came back to Shanghai hungry and gradually adjusted her eating habits. She only ordered a bowl of brown sugar ice jelly.

He Jie had updated the menu. All the quirky desserts were gone, replaced by lotus seed soup, coconut red bean cakes, durian pancakes—all standard dessert shop items. However, there were many more cocktails, finally giving the place a proper business vibe. Not only that, but He Jie no longer offered discounts and insisted they pay for drinks, encouraging them to get membership cards. Little Ma pulled out a calculator, made some calculations, and frowned: “He Jie, why are you suddenly being so meticulous? This membership card starts at 200 yuan, with a maximum of 10,000 yuan. Is your husband not giving you money?”

“I want to work hard, earn more money, and make Miaolin Dessert Shop profitable. In the past, I used to give you freebies all the time—I was practically a living Bodhisattva. Those days are over. Ma Minmin, bring your blind dates here in the future. Keep the business within the family!”

“Then shouldn’t you give me a discount?”

“Of course not. If I help you secure a marriage, I’ll take a commission.”

“He Jie, that’s unfair. You opened a dessert shop in a historic house in Xintiandi, with a big motorcycle parked in the backyard, spending more than you earn. You’re not short on money, so why are you suddenly being so stingy?”

“We’re running a proper business now. Without friendship, there’s no friends-and-family discount. Understand? Ma Minmin, are you going to get a membership card or not?”

“No friendship? Oh—I don’t have any money.”

“Then what about those new shoes on your feet?”

“You mean these?” Little Ma lifted his foot to show off his white sneakers, his body unusually flexible: “Alexander Wang, newly bought. Aren’t they cool? Plus, they add height—I’m officially 172 cm now.”

Jian Zhaowen looked at him disdainfully: “Little Ma, those white sneakers are Alexander McQueen.”

“Who cares what it’s called? The name sounds so similar, how am I supposed to remember? Don’t show off your knowledge. Do you think landlords with no education aren’t rich? He Jie, why are you smiling at your phone? Are you feeling romantic?”

After twirling around in a soft dress, He Jie seemed different somehow. More accurately, the shyness and charm on her face were entirely new, and even her clothes seemed brighter, making one think she was in love at first glance. Recently, He Jie hadn’t been seen bringing men to the attic for secret meetings, nor had she mentioned Gao Yuan. This change was truly puzzling. But she wasn’t planning to tell anyone, instead focusing seriously on her business. Before leaving, she shifted the topic to Shi Rui: “She has a boyfriend now.”

“Really? She found a boyfriend?” Little Ma raised an eyebrow: “But looking at her now, dressed like Nie Xiaoqian, it’s not surprising she’s no longer single. Is your boyfriend a wandering poet?”

“No, he’s a creative boy.”

“Really? How old is he?”

“He’s about the same age as Brother Zhaowen, twenty-eight. He writes novels and screenplays, but he’s a late bloomer. He hasn’t written anything substantial yet.”

“Shi Rui, this doesn’t seem reliable. Bring him over so we can evaluate if he’s marriage material.”

“It’s still uncertain. I’m not in a rush to introduce him.” Shi Rui glanced at Yu Zhimei: “Considering what happened with Douyu, I’ve decided not to introduce him to my friends for now. We’ll just meet at hotels.”

Her words sounded very open-minded. Yu Zhimei wasn’t angry at Shi Rui for saying such things; she just felt sorry for her. These dating experiences were hard-earned lessons learned through real-life setbacks. On her way to the restroom, Yu Zhimei ran into Shi Rui and asked in a low voice: “When we went to Bihu Tiandi a while ago, did you go out with any boys you met there?”

“I went out. Zhimei, I know what you’re trying to say, but I don’t regret it. Thinking about how my ‘first time’ was with a flirtatious second-generation rich kid, at least I won’t feel too embarrassed if I ever have to talk about it. Can we stop talking about this?”

“This isn’t any different from before. Both times, you were deceived.”

“Before? There was no before.” Shi Rui forced a smile: “My first love was a prince-and-Cinderella story, Sister Zhimei. If anyone asks, just say that.”

Covering up her unpleasant sexual experience with a night of passion with a wealthy heir was Shi Rui’s way of forcibly rewriting her painful memories. Even though Yu Zhimei understood this, she couldn’t be happy for her. Shi Rui was a well-behaved girl who had grown up under strict parental control in another city. Once in the big city, she was treated as ordinary, lacking the so-called means to subdue men, and resorted to self-deception to maintain appearances. Yu Zhimei hated these urban love rules, cloaked in the guise of “becoming a better version of yourself,” but fundamentally promoting male superiority and female inferiority. They taught girls to trade their youth, bodies, and beauty for status—modern-day patriarchy. It seemed that the younger a girl became aware of these rules, the smoother her life would be. These ideas were prominently featured in bestsellers at bookstores, articles with over 100,000 views on public accounts, and spiritual courses costing thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. For girls seeking romance, this was the first thing they encountered—a supposedly “free” path to financial independence. No one told them there were other ways to achieve freedom. Exploitation never stopped.

Leaving the restroom, Little Ma was still asking Shi Rui about her boyfriend’s background and what he wrote, carefully searching online. Surprisingly, he was an avid reader, having read many early novels from Qidian and even spent money supporting authors. Finding Shi Rui’s boyfriend’s novel, Little Ma furrowed his brows: “It’s all about ‘me, me, me.’ So pretentious, boring. And calling it pure literature? These days, if you can’t write well, can you just claim to be noble serious literature?”

Shi Rui’s face turned awkward: “He’s destined to become a great writer. Don’t talk like that.”

“Oh, I’m just speaking the truth. Men with no house, no money, and pursuing literature—only someone as naive as you would find that noble. Do you know why there’s no rock music in Shanghai? Because Shanghai women don’t support men.”

“I’m willing to support him for a while. Now that I’ve secured a full-time job, I earn over six thousand a month.”

“Be careful. He might start crying halfway through sex, and you’ll have to wipe his tears if he doesn’t feel satisfied.”

“Brother Ma, drink up and talk less.” Jian Zhaowen exchanged a glance with Yu Zhimei, who also chimed in: “Don’t discourage her. Love is a personal experience. If she decides to give up, it should be when she no longer likes him herself. Shi Rui, do you have any photos we can see?”

The phone was passed around. He wore glasses, looked somewhat frail but handsome in a literary way. Little Ma chewed on a toothpick: “Looks like he can’t perform more than once a month.”

Shi Rui couldn’t hold back: “You make it sound like you’re so good.”

“Of course I am. When I ask girls out, I can date two in a row. Shi Rui, blunt words but true meaning—if you’re marrying a man, there are only two things that matter: a strong back and a thick wallet.”

“I’m content with a boyfriend who writes poetry for me.” Shi Rui pulled up chat records, smiling happily at the screen filled with green dialogues.

When they returned home that night, Yu Zhimei suddenly knocked on Jian Zhaowen’s door, holding Lulu in her left arm and a bottle of vodka in her right hand. Jian Zhaowen was frantically working on his computer, chatting casually with Yu Zhimei. Yu Zhimei went up to the loft and then came down: “Are you not sleeping on a mattress anymore?”

“No time to go pick one out. I don’t even have time to check my phone. Going out with you was my longest break recently.”

“Oh.” Yu Zhimei quietly noted this in her mind, watching Lulu sniff around the room. Lulu seemed to recognize that this was Jian Zhaowen’s territory, but the scent was similar to home, so he showed no signs of discomfort. Jian Zhaowen’s voice remained crisp, with his Beijing accent intact: “The first thing I did when I got home was check Shi Rui’s boyfriend’s phone number to see if he was on the blacklist of Day & Night.”

Yu Zhimei smiled: “Not everyone is that unlucky. It seems she’s actually enjoying this relationship—being actively pursued and receiving poetry. Maybe she’s never experienced that before.”

“Although Little Ma is vulgar, he understands the principles well.”

“What about you? Do you understand?”

“Shi Rui is a girl without standout qualities. Her parents demanded she excel in every aspect, but nothing about her stands out. That’s probably the real reason her relationships haven’t been happy. I suspect this so-called writer just needs someone to praise his literary talent and doesn’t genuinely see her as a muse. That’s quite cruel.”

“...You understand even more than Little Ma.”

“I just think... it’s hard to define who qualifies as an artist. Calling someone by that name often feels like describing a failure. Speaking of which—” Jian Zhaowen swirled his glass of alcohol: “I had a dream while sleeping at the hotel. We moved into an old apartment on Hengshan Road. Three huge iron-grated steel windows, walls and ceilings painted white, sunlight flowing throughout the room. The wooden floors creaked, and the bathroom had mosaic-tiled floors. You bought a green velvet sofa and laid down a beige carpet. We sat by the window, watching banyan trees and young people taking photos. I don’t know where I saw it, but this scene appeared in my dream. For the first time in my life, I really wanted to buy a house in Shanghai.”

Without a Shanghai hukou, and the building being a protected structure, Yu Zhimei leaned against the floor, avoiding such discouraging talk: “Imagining it does sound enchanting. The charm and stories of old Shanghai are all contained in houses like these. Downstairs from Changde Apartment is Eddington Bookstore, with various editions of Zhang Ailing’s works.”

“So living in an old house isn’t entirely bad. The first time I entered this house, I wanted to move out the next day. Now, I’ve started to like this old but flavorful atmosphere. Perhaps human warmth is the root of becoming an artist.” Jian Zhaowen played Moon River and turned his head from the monitor to look at her: “What about you? Did you dream of anything?”

Yu Zhimei knew he wanted to flirt a little: “Of course. I dreamed you kicked over the dominoes again.”

“...Shut up.”

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P.S.: Today’s update isn’t too late~ The third segment is almost over. If you like it, feel free to add it to your bookshelf. If possible, please vote for recommendations so more people can discover The First Word . I’ll wait for everyone to chat today!