一 言 为 重 ( yī yán wéi zhòng )
= each word carries weight / a promise must be kept
- Chinese Proverb
M A - Q I N G S H A N
It was not unusual for Ma Qingshan, our strong female character, to work late. Recently building her own company upon completing her master's degree at the mere age of twenty-two, she had been working harder than anyone else who was blessed with the same family background and fortune. The company was only two years old and although her father had always offered financially, her answer had always been the same as ever. She wanted to prove that gender had nothing to do with someone's success. As long as one worked hard, dedicated her time and energy, and refused to give up, nothing was impossible. Most females in her family took up any executive positions in the family's business, it was nepotism at its best yet Qingshan wanted none of it.
This week she had nothing particular to rush home for. It did not really matter that it was nearly ten o'clock on Monday evening when she let herself in the small flat that she had rented in downtown Shanghai. Different than her relatives who owned expensive, luxurious apartments, townhouses, or even their very own mansions, Qingshan lived modestly. After all, there were six months left before she was officially paid back all the money her father had lent her. In all honesty, the old man would happily erase such debt or considered it paid, but his strong-willed daughter simply would not have it — she even vowed to severe family ties should her dad refuse to accept the money.
Qingshan put her briefcase on the dining table and in two long strides, she brought herself down on the couch, leaning her back against the rather tough material. She hissed in pain and wished she had been more gentle. Her thought drifted to here and there, mostly to the company business strategies and the meeting with the executives tomorrow morning.
Common people — especially those who had enjoyed romance novels and movies, would assume that being a CEO was not a tiring job. After all, those characters and actors had made it seem easy by traveling to exotic places, dinner meetings in Michelin restaurants, flying in private jets, and enjoying fancy parties like no other. We had seen it all in pages of books and in movies such as Crazy Rich Asians. Perhaps it was easier being a CEO of a multimillionaire company but it certainly was not easy being a CEO of a growing company like hers.
Then after her mind had exhausted her enough had she thought about something else. Or to be exact, a certain someone. Chen Haoran was his name. Both of them had gone out for about seven months now and she had grown to like him that she had begun to ponder occasionally about introducing him to her parents and taking the risk of everything falling apart. Not because her parents were being difficult when it came to her love life.
Qingshan shook the thought away. Perhaps now was not the right time. To introduce Haoran to her parents would be like confirming their relationship and making commitments. With her company not being stable yet, she simply could not afford to divide her attention.
In an effort to distract her mind, she turned on the television only to turn it off again once a sight of a couple kissing each other passionately flashed on the screen. That was one thing she could not give to Haoran. A kiss. She did not mind holding hands but she could not give him a kiss.
It was a simple thing, some people would even say that it was just a small token of affection yet she could not do it. And now Chen Haoran had grown weary of her backing off every time the amorous side of his nature reared its head. He wanted that commitment from her. And she, well, perhaps she was just being just a tiny bit stubborn. Hadn't Haoran proved himself? He was sincere. It was her and her alone that he wanted. He had said so numerous times. Perhaps he had been right, maybe she was being just a little bit old-fashioned.
Maybe. Still, Qingshan could not do it. Especially since she had never kissed anyone before and her pride would never allow her to look like a fool who did not know what to do. She was debating whether to turn on the television and gain more insight into the art of kissing when her phone rang.
Qingshan hurriedly answered it. "Hello?" she inquired brightly. It was indeed Haoran.
"Qingshan, um," he began, though not cheerfully, not in his usual sunny tone. She was eager to talk to him, to ask how he had been, how was work — she thought they knew each other well enough by now for her to ask when was she going to see him again.
But something was not right! Instead of sounding eager to talk to her, Haoran sounded reluctant to talk to her at all as he had said nothing after that.
"What is wrong?" Qingshan asked again, ready to help, wanting to help if he had a problem.
"I have, um, I have been putting off making this call," he finally confessed and sounded so much as if he would by far prefer to be talking to anybody else but her that, as shaken as she was suddenly feeling, Qingshan felt her pride spring urgently into life.
She and Haoran had spent some very good times together, but if his silence this past fortnight—no matter how busy he had been — meant he had gone off the idea of her and commitment, then she was not about to let him think she would be broken-hearted if he had rung to say that this was a time for them to go their own, separate way.
"Let me make it easy for you," Qingshan answered lightly, keeping her emotion in check. "While I have truly enjoyed the good times we have shared together, your absence this past couple of weeks, with you being in Hongkong and me being in Shanghai, has shown me that, well, to be frank, I am not ready to make the commitment. In fact," she hurried on, pride to the fore, "I have come to the conclusion that it would be better if we did not see each other again. I am breaking up with you, Haoran."
There! She had said it.
Qingshan leaned against the back of her couch, her tense shoulders began to relax. Yet it was only short-lived.
"Well…" Haoran still seemed stuck for words. "Actually, Qingshan, the reason I was calling you right now was to—er—um…" She waited. She still liked Haoran, was still fond of him, but if he was not calling to say it has been nice knowing you, then she had not the slightest idea what his fourteen days of silence or his statement, 'I have been putting off making this call' was all about.
"The thing is…" Haoran seemed to pull himself together as he began to explain "I did not go to Hongkong."
"What? Then where are you?"
A moment of silence before he provided an answer. "Shanghai."
"You are home?" Qingshan questioned, still could not believe what she had heard. Haoran was still looking at the new deal for his company in Hongkong, right? Or perhaps he had gone back home early. "So you are back from Hongkong?"
There was a tense silence from the other end. Then, to her surprise, Haoran confessed, "I did not go to Hongkong."