Chapter 2 Humility

Xia Qingwan stayed in the old house for one night. The next morning, she had breakfast with her grandmother and then went back to school.

On the way, she sent a message to her cousin Xia Mingzhou, saying that her grandmother had something for her to pass on, so she asked him to meet her.

Upon closer examination, the item to be handed over was actually intended for her uncle, Xia Changping, but Xia Changping had not returned to the old house for a long time and had almost no contact with the old lady.

Xia Mingzhou called her back.

In the evening, Xia Mingzhou often went to the club in Beiguanfang Hutong, and Xia Qingwan happened to be attending a lecture held by a nearby bookstore, so the two cousins ​​agreed to meet at the club in the evening.

After the lecture, at around nine o'clock, Xia Qingwan packed her bag and walked towards the club deep in the alley.

These were originally residential houses. One of the courtyard houses was bought by a prominent figure and converted into a private club, exclusively for the young men from Beijing to relax and unwind. Xia Qingwan had visited once with her cousin.

After passing through the second gate, there is a square courtyard with winding paths and corridors. The Taihu stones are finely carved with an axe, casting dark shadows in the dim tones after sunset.

The second courtyard was silent and inconspicuous. Walking further in and passing through a door with hanging flowers, one could hear voices.

Several girls dressed in jewels were standing under the porch, smoking and flirting.

"Mr. Ye is here, did you see him?"

"I saw him," one of them said. "My second brother was talking to him when I came out."

Another short-haired man laughed and said, "Mr. Ye has been sent down to the countryside for the past two years. I think you guys miss him more than his parents do."

This made several young ladies laugh. "Who made him so good-looking? Look at his figure, wow."

"He's so well-off, but not only does he not have a serious girlfriend, he doesn't even have a little one," the girl pointed at her pinky finger, "I haven't heard he keeps one. Hey, do you think he's a true gentleman or just a prude?"

"I think he has high standards."

Xia Qingwan walked around to the corridor.

Several girls saw her, but only the short-haired girl smiled and spoke to her, "Qingwan."

"Sister Xiangyu."

Xia Qingwan greeted her with a slight smile.

The short-haired girl was named Lin Xiangyu, and she was Xia Mingzhou's girlfriend. Lin Xiangyu was also a junior at Peking University, majoring in sociology, two years ahead of Xia Qingwan, who was majoring in Chinese Language and Literature.

"Why are you here? Looking for your brother?"

The Xia family patriarch's generation was once very powerful, and thus had some connection with the families of these young ladies. However, this circle is known for its sycophancy and oppression. After the decline of Xia Xili's generation, by the time of Xia Qingwan's generation, they were no longer even considered peripheral figures in the circle.

Her cousin could only curry favor with the superiors in the private club of Mr. Yunji.

"Hmm, is he inside?"

"In the main hall, talking to someone."

"Then I'll go first."

After passing the smoking area and going further in, you can see the brightly lit main hall from afar. There are people bustling inside, low conversations, laughter of men and women, accompanied by the clinking of cups. It is truly a bustling scene of singing and dancing.

She stood at the door and looked inside through a screen with a pattern of birds paying homage to the phoenix.

Instead of seeing her cousin Xia Mingzhou, she saw an unrelated person.

To be honest, before she heard the conversation between that group of socialites and young ladies, she had never seen Mr. Ye. Her life was very routine and she had no personal connections with anyone in the circle. She had never even heard of this person before and had no way of recognizing him.

Before him, under the dazzling crystal chandelier, a tall and composed man listened to his companion with his head slightly lowered, his every move exuding a noble and refined demeanor.

Among this crowd of people dressed in gold and jade, he can still stand out so clearly. It must be Mr. Ye.

Only with such a handsome appearance, broad shoulders and long legs, and a good figure, can he deserve such praises from socialites.

No wonder the young ladies gossiped about whether he was a true gentleman or just pretending to be virtuous—such an unparalleled man, yet there was no hint of romance in his eyes, only aloof solitude.

After looking around and not seeing his cousin Xia Mingzhou, Xia Qingwan went out and sent him a message saying that he had arrived.

Xia Mingzhou replied and asked to wait for him for five minutes.

Xia Qingwan sat down on a bench in the corridor and memorized a few famous ancient literature questions while waiting.

I tilted my head inadvertently and caught a whiff of fragrance at the tip of my nose.

After living in Shangjing for two years, she could distinguish that this was the fragrance of the crabapple tree.

At the end of April, the crabapple trees were in full bloom. Even Su Shi would burn tall candles to illuminate his red makeup late at night. How could a flower-loving woman like her not wander to seek out the fragrance of these blossoms on such a beautiful night? Waiting in vain, she simply walked a few steps deeper into the courtyard, skirting a thick cypress tree, and indeed, she found a crabapple tree quietly in full bloom in the night.

Standing on tiptoe under the tree, I looked up and smelled the flowers carefully, but the fragrance was not so obvious.

The crabapple tree is so elusive.

Xia Qingwan used her hands as a fan, blowing the fragrance towards her nose.

Ye Peixiu, who was talking to someone by the window in the main hall, glanced out and saw this scene.

The slender girl stood under the tree, concentrating her whole body and soul on sniffing the crabapple tree in the dim night.

The quiet and distant atmosphere enveloped him in an instant. The clinking of glasses in the room seemed to fade away, and the surroundings became silent, like the fade-out effect in a movie.

About three to five seconds later, Ye Peixiu looked away. Just then, Sheng Junchi came over and clinked glasses with him, dismissing the person who had been talking to him with a few words.

Ye Peixiu raised his wrist to check his watch and said, "I'm leaving now."

"I figured you were going to leave too," Sheng Junchi leaned over to him and said with a low laugh, "You've been missing these days on sick leave since you returned to Beijing. Those guys finally caught you at my birthday party, and they're all so anxious they're almost seeing fire."

"Old Qiao can't handle it himself," Ye Peixiu put the untouched wine glass back on the table and chuckled, "Throw this hot potato to me."

Ye Peixiu had just been transferred back to Beijing from his local post at the beginning of the month. He had been busy with a recent performance report and meeting, and would start his new position next week. The newly acquired group was plagued by factional strife, and after being singled out for criticism at the annual meeting, General Manager Qiao resigned and recommended Ye Peixiu to take over.

“I think,” Sheng Junchi said meaningfully, “Old Qiao wouldn’t dare to make decisions for you on his own. It’s probably your old man who gave the order.”

Ye Peixiu knew perfectly well what was going on, but he didn't say anything. He exchanged a knowing glance with Sheng Junchi, and neither of them spoke.

-

Xia Qingwan gave Xia Mingzhou a small suitcase, which, according to her grandmother, contained an authentic work by a scholar from the Qing Dynasty.

This precious item was acquired by Mr. Xia by chance some years ago and has been kept in the safe of his old house ever since.

Not long ago, Xia Mingzhou went back to the old house to visit his grandmother and mentioned casually that his father was going to entertain a distinguished person who was very interested in this scholar. It would be great if he could borrow such an item and put it in the house to liven up the occasion.

At that time, the old lady remained calm and did not respond. A few days later, she finally asked Xia Qingwan to deliver the things.

"Thank you for making this trip," Xia Mingzhou said, jogging over. "Did Grandma say anything?"

"They only said to return it after use, nothing else."

“Okay, I’ll take her back to the old house then.” After saying that, Xia Mingzhou looked at her silently for a moment, then suddenly smiled and asked, “Have you seen your sister-in-law?”

Xia Mingzhou pursued Lin Xiangyu for a long time and finally got her last year. From then on, he would tell everyone, "This is my wife, call her sister-in-law."

I heard from my grandmother that Xia Mingzhou has been a lawless bully since he was a child. He is fearless and a complete thorny boy. But when it comes to Lin Xiangyu, he always shows a bit of love-brained naivety.

Therefore, Xia Qingwan couldn't help laughing, "I saw it."

"She matched this outfit for me today. Doesn't it look good?"

Xia Mingzhou raised his hand to show his cufflinks.

Xia Qingwan took a closer look. It was a common chain cufflink. The strange thing was that the decorative part was in the shape of bamboo joints, which gave it a feeling of gentle breeze, thin moon and the faint roar of a dragon.

"It looks good. My sister-in-law has good taste and is very stylish."

Xia Mingzhou smiled brightly. "Your sister-in-law always says that I don't have any of the Xia family's scholarly spirit. She also says that if I want to deal with those people in there," he said, raising his chin toward the main hall, "I have to pay attention to the details and show some elegance to make them respect me."

Xia Mingzhou, a recent college graduate, joined his father, Xia Changping, at a group company. He was constantly being coached by his father to build connections and sway his way through the industry. While a successful young master outside of society, he became a sycophant to the wealthy and powerful in the capital's elite circles. Xia Mingzhou couldn't stand this, initially reluctant, but then, seemingly inspired by someone, he humbled himself and took a down-to-earth approach.

"Sister-in-law is your military advisor now."

Xia Qingwan said with a smile.

She had no connection with the people and social circle in the main hall, so she didn't continue the conversation. She glanced at the time on her phone and said, "Brother, I have to go back to my dorm. I'll be going now if there's nothing else."

Although the old house is not far from Peking University, when she enrolled last year, her grandmother, Xia Huiqing, still made her apply for accommodation. She said that firstly, she didn't want her to waste time traveling back and forth, and secondly, living with her classmates would help her learn how to conduct herself and cultivate a united, serious, and lively demeanor.

But in fact, the old lady overlooked the fact that the relationship between students today is no longer the same as it was when she was young, when classmates would become lifelong friends and support each other. Now, the friendship between classmates has long been extremely alienated. Secondly, since her parents passed away until she was taken back to Beijing, Xia Qingwan had been fostered in the home of her teacher. From elementary school to high school, she changed foster families three times and had always lived a cautious life under the care of others. Now that she was finally taken back to Beijing, what she needed most was the warmth of her family.

But Xia Qingwan didn't say much about grandma's arrangement.

She understood all too well that for her grandmother, strictly raising her granddaughter was clearly more important than comforting her orphaned granddaughter.

Xia Qingwan was strong-willed by nature and was unwilling to show any sign of weakness or need for tenderness under such strict demands from her elders.

"Okay, okay," Xia Mingzhou said, still smiling, "You go ahead."

Xia Qingwan left from the other side of the corridor. After taking a few steps, he couldn't help but look back at the brightly lit main hall.

I wonder if Mr. Ye is still around?

He turned his head, but didn't stop walking. Before he knew it, he almost bumped into someone.

She turned around and was about to say sorry, but when she raised her eyes, she was slightly stunned.

The tall man in a suit and tie in front of him was Mr. Ye who was in the main hall just now.

At this moment, she inexplicably smelled the long and elusive fragrance of the crabapple tree again.

Mr. Ye looked down at her, politely turned slightly to the side, and asked her to go first.

As luck would have it, she had already taken a step back and turned to the side.

The corridor was wide enough for two people to pass side by side at the same time, but the two people inexplicably gave way to each other.

It's stuck there.

In the dimly lit corridor, they looked at each other silently for a few seconds. Finally, Xia Qingwan nodded politely and walked over first.

It was not until she passed through the hanging flower gate, walked through the second courtyard and arrived at the front yard that her pace relaxed slightly.

Deep in the alley, everything was silent, and she noticed her heart beating rapidly.

It's really strange. When I think about it carefully, the two of them didn't speak from beginning to end.

They stared at each other for so long.