Chapter 5
After escaping from the Shengting Hotel suite that embarrassing morning, Xia Wan almost fled in a panic, stuffing herself into a high-speed train to a business trip to a neighboring province.
The rapidly receding scenery outside the window blurred into a stream of gray-green lines, a perfect reflection of the swirling thoughts in her head. She leaned back against the cool backrest of her second-class seat, eyes closed, and tried to clear her mind of the chaotic fragments—Jiang Yu's cold gaze, the violent kiss, the lingering aches and pains deep within her body, and the question that lingered like a mantra, "Was it worth it?"
The cries of the child sitting next to her pierced her eardrums, and she frowned, squeezing her eyes tighter. Her slightly raised almond-shaped eyes formed two cold lines as they closed, and beneath her straight nose, her thin lips were pressed into a pale, straight line. Her 168cm height made her feel somewhat cramped in the narrow seat, her thin shoulders slightly hunched inward, exuding a sense of tired aloofness. She traded her off-white linen dress for a dark gray cotton shirt and matching slacks, wrapping her still-aching frame like a thin layer of armor.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a voicemail from my mother. I opened it, and it was a chattering voice with a hint of my hometown accent, simply telling her to eat on time and take care of herself. Finally, she cautiously mentioned, "Wanwan, your Aunt Wang has introduced you to another young man. He's quite good, and he works at our city hospital. What do you think..."
Xia Wan rubbed her brows wearily. Ever since her father passed away from illness while she was in college, her mother had placed all her hopes and worries on her and her younger brother. Her younger brother was still attending university back home, and her mother, alone in their modest home, wished nothing more than to see her eldest daughter, a quiet and always-on-the-go daughter, finally settle down.
"Mom, I'm on a business trip and very busy. Let's talk when I get back." She replied briefly in a voice message, her voice slightly hoarse and tired.
A forensic architectural expert. This is her livelihood, her escape from reality. Like a precision instrument, she surveys cracked, tilted, and collapsed buildings, analyzing the causes of structural damage and determining responsibility. In the cold and clear world of steel and concrete, logic and evidence are the only means of passage, far easier to understand than human nature.
This time, the destination was a small, third-tier city. The client, a local developer, had recently completed several high-rise residential buildings. Shortly before their completion, some owners discovered tiny cracks in the walls, sparking widespread concern and lawsuits. Xia Wan's mission was to investigate the cause of the cracks: foundation sinking? Material issues? Or perhaps flawed construction techniques?
For the next few days, she immersed herself completely in her work. Wearing flat shoes and carrying a heavy tool bag, she climbed up and down dusty scaffolding, burrowed into dark, dank basements, tapped concrete with a rebound hammer, and recorded every trace with a crack gauge, standing in the dusty construction site for most of the day. Sweat soaked her shirt, leaving dark marks on her thin back. She spoke little, concentrating on recording, measuring, and photographing. When she occasionally confirmed a detail with the construction team or supervisor, her voice was cool and calm, and her slightly raised almond-shaped eyes scanned every suspicious corner of the site.
The intense work and physical exhaustion became her best anesthetic. Only in the dead of night, when she returned to her standard room in the express hotel, which smelled faintly of disinfectant, would those deliberately suppressed memories quietly come back.
She would dream of that chaotic night. Jiang Yu's scorching heat, his heavy breathing, the kiss that carried a hint of punishment and plunder, and finally, the defenseless silhouette of his face as he fell into a deep sleep. When she woke, her heart always felt empty, filled with an indescribable shame and a deeper, more terrifying sense of loss.
She also dreamed of her high school days. She dreamed of herself, in her faded school uniform, sitting slightly behind him, carefully shielding her eyes with her textbook. She dreamed of him leaping high to shoot during a basketball game, his sweat glistening in the sun, while she blended in with the crowd, her heart pounding but afraid to shout. She dreamed of him occasionally turning back to ask, "Can I borrow your eraser?" Her fingertips trembled as she offered it, and he simply said, "Thank you," his gaze never lingering on her face for even a second.
She had always known she wasn't pretty. She lacked Lin Wei's sweet smile and petite figure. She was tall and thin, with cold, hard features, especially her almond-shaped eyes, which even looked sharp when she wasn't smiling. She was like a plant growing in a corner, silent and inconspicuous, accustomed to using distance to protect her meager self-esteem. Her love for Jiang Yu was the grandest and most secret fantasy of her impoverished youth, one she never expected to blossom into fruition.
But what was that night? A drunken mistake? A chance vent for his lust? Or was it just pity for her desperate attempt to throw herself into the fire?
Whenever she thought of this, Xia Wan found it difficult to breathe. She shook her head vigorously, turned on her computer, and forced herself to look at the photos of the structural cracks she had taken during the day and analyze the data reports, trying to fill every inch of her brain with cold numbers and clear diagrams of the steel structure.
A week later, the preliminary appraisal report was completed. The cracks were primarily due to minor, non-structural settlement caused by insufficient backfill compaction, coupled with improper construction techniques for some wall plastering. The responsibility lay primarily with the construction company. Upon receiving the report, the developer was visibly relieved and warmly invited Xia Wan to dinner to express their gratitude.
Xia Wan declined. She just wanted to get away as quickly as possible and return to her familiar little apartment where she could hide away completely.
On the return train, she gazed out the window at the gradually familiar city skyline, her heart heavier than when she left. In that city, there were people and things she had deliberately avoided for ten days. Her phone was silent, save for the usual greetings from her mother and brother, and Lin Wei's tentative "Are you okay?"—nothing else.
Not a single word from that person.
This seemed to confirm her worst suspicions—that night, to him, was nothing more than an unexpected, easily dismissible nuisance. He hadn't even bothered to confirm whether she had "dealt with" the problem.
The last glimmer of hope in her heart, a hope she herself was unwilling to admit, was completely extinguished, leaving only cold embarrassment and self-mockery.
Returning to the apartment and opening the door, she was greeted by the long-deserted, dusty air. The small space was neat and deserted, a safe haven she had built herself. She set down her luggage and the first thing she did was rush into the bathroom, turning on the shower, letting the warm water wash away the fatigue of the journey and... certain unremembered memories.
After changing into clean house clothes, she made herself a cup of instant coffee, sat down at her small desk, and opened her work email. She had a backlog of emails from her business trip, and she needed to deal with them quickly.
As her finger slid across the touchpad, an email from a law firm caught her eye. The subject line read: [Urgent Commission Regarding Structural Safety Review of the Old Factory Building at 36 Binhe Road]. 36 Binhe Road… Xia Wan frowned slightly; the address felt familiar. She clicked on the email's body, which contained a concise statement: The factory's property rights were involved in a complex commercial dispute. The opposing lawyer questioned the conclusions regarding the main beam's load-bearing capacity in a previously commissioned appraisal report (report number: JZ-JD-2023-XXX) and requested a re-examination. Attached was a scanned copy of the original report and a summary of the opposing party's concerns.
Xia Wan opened the attached scanned copy of the original report. When she saw the clear signature in the "Appraiser" column at the end of the report, her heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand, and even her breathing stopped for a moment.
Those three powerful and uniquely written characters were - Jiang Yu.
The report was dated six months ago. His top structural consulting firm was the appraisal agency commissioned by the other party in this dispute!
The world seemed to suddenly go silent, leaving only the drumming of her own heartbeat. Almost holding her breath, she quickly flipped through the summary of the opposing lawyer's concerns. The questions centered on the stress calculation model for several key main beams and the determination of the extent of steel corrosion, worded in a professional and pointed manner.
Xia Wan forced herself to calm down and quickly reviewed the original report and the summary of the doubts. From her professional perspective, Jiang Yu's original report contained detailed data and rigorous conclusions. While the other party's doubts addressed a few possible ambiguities, they were not entirely groundless. Further on-site retesting and calculation verification were needed before a final conclusion could be reached.
But that's not the point.
The point is, this case, this case that required her to re-review and directly challenged Jiang Yu's professional conclusion... fell into her hands.
Fate was like a vicious joker. Just when she thought she could completely escape from the vortex, it pushed her back mercilessly, and in a more direct and unavoidable way - on the cold and rational professional battlefield that belonged to their common field.
Her fingertips felt cold as she stared at the familiar, glaring name on the screen. The chaos in the hotel suite that night contrasted horribly with the calm, professional report now on the computer screen. The man whose work, questioned by his peers in his field, needed her to reassess his achievements, and the man who had violently plundered her in lust and then left without a care in the world, tore apart Xia Wan's mind.
She picked up the now slightly cold coffee and took a sip, the bitter taste spreading across her tongue. The confusion and struggle in her slightly raised almond-shaped eyes gradually faded, replaced by a cold, professional focus.
No matter how chaotic her personal relationships, work was work. She needed to return to the dusty and hidden old factory building at 36 Binhe Road, using her instruments, her knowledge, and her judgment to re-measure the steel and iron bones that he had once measured and concluded.
And this means that she and he will inevitably intersect again.
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