“Let me treat you to a meal! Is that good enough?”

“No way, you call that treating me? It’s basically just eating chili peppers!” William Smith rejected Grace’s suggestion without a second thought. Just thinking about that layer of shiny red chili oil on Grace’s food made him nervous.

“Then come shopping with me this afternoon!”

“Forget it, don’t you have a husband?”

“My husband... isn’t that you, heh...” Grace said, giggling.

“Come on, Jiao’er, your brother here doesn’t even have a girlfriend yet, don’t joke around like that!” William Smith was most afraid of this girl’s unfiltered jokes—when she got worked up, there was nothing she wouldn’t say.

“Hmph, I don’t care, you’re coming with me this afternoon no matter what. If you dare not show up, you’ll bear the consequences!”

“Who are you trying to scare! I’m not going!”

“I’ll tell Sister Helen about that thing you secretly did the other day... just you wait!”

“No... I’ll go, I’ll definitely go, who said I wouldn’t!” As soon as William Smith heard Grace pull out her trump card, his tone immediately softened.

“Three thirty, at the entrance of Yindu, I’ll wait five minutes for you! You can come early, but you’re not allowed to be late!” Grace said smugly and hung up.

……

The second call was to George Clark. Besides trading a few insults and personal jabs, they didn’t have much to say—their relationship was just that close. William Smith was a nostalgic person; if George Clark hadn’t helped him out in the past, the two of them probably wouldn’t be friends now. When George Clark heard that he got beaten up while wearing his uniform, he laughed so hard he couldn’t speak, which annoyed William Smith enough to hang up on him.

The third call was to his boss—more precisely, his lady boss. William Smith didn’t know who really owned Jinxiu Karaoke, but the public face was this woman named Helen Scott. A year ago, when the karaoke bar was renovated and expanded, this lady boss appeared out of nowhere on the stage of Fengcheng, and according to the big shots’ guesses, Jinxiu’s real backer must be a big deal. Ever since William Smith started working at Jinxiu, he’d never seen the police come to check IDs, or the fire department shut them down—troubles that were common in places like karaoke bars. If those things happened often, it wouldn’t be strange, but if they didn’t happen for three or five months, that would be rare. If a whole year went by without a single incident, that would be a miracle—and it was this Helen Scott who made that miracle happen.

“Sister Helen, you wanted to see me!” William Smith said when the call connected. Even after nearly half a year of direct contact with his boss, he still felt a bit nervous.

“Xiaowei, why couldn’t I reach you by phone?” came the gentle, magnetic voice of his lady boss through the receiver.

“I was taking a shower, didn’t hear it!”

“What’s wrong with you, taking a shower in the middle of the day! What happened this morning? The staff on duty at the karaoke said you were taken to the police station!” There was clear concern in her voice.

“Sister Helen, it’s nothing, just a misunderstanding!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Really, it’s nothing, Officer Xiao Liu from the station even drove me back!” William Smith said.

“That’s good. If anything comes up, just call me directly!” said Helen Scott.

“Got it!” William Smith replied.

“Oh, right, come to my office tomorrow and bring this month’s money over!” Helen Scott assigned him a task and hung up.

After hanging up, William Smith stared blankly at his phone for a full two minutes. When it came to this lady boss, he always felt there was more to say. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had a great temperament. Everyone at the karaoke, men and women alike, respected her deeply. In the old days, someone in her position would have been a top madam, smooth and shrewd, but with her, there wasn’t a trace of worldliness—she was all elegance and grace. Sometimes, William Smith would mischievously think that if the boss herself worked the floor, the karaoke’s income would probably double.

For William Smith, who feared neither heaven nor earth and was a headache even for the police, just seeing the lady boss would make him blush—probably out of guilt. Long ago, this extraordinary woman had become the leading lady in William Smith’s dreams, though he never dared say it out loud. Once, while waiting for the boss in her office, he happened to see her red trench coat hanging on the rack. On a whim, he couldn’t resist touching it, and even brought it to his nose to catch a whiff of her scent. He got so excited he nearly drooled, top and bottom. Who could have guessed that Grace would walk in on this embarrassing scene, laughing so hard she nearly collapsed. She blackmailed William Smith for a whole week before agreeing to keep it secret. To this day, that incident remains Grace’s trump card against William Smith.

“Sigh, poverty kills ambition!” William Smith sighed to himself. He’d dreamed countless times of marrying a wife, but even in his dreams, he never dared to marry Helen Scott.

……

That afternoon, William Smith had planned to take a nap, but before three o’clock, the impatient Grace started pestering him, leaving him no choice but to get up and keep the appointment.

It took more than ten minutes by taxi from William Smith’s place in Baishui to the city center. Sitting in the car, William Smith looked out the window. This city felt both familiar and strange to him. The old district that was still there a year ago was almost completely demolished now. Turning from Baishui onto Zezhou Road, a straight avenue ran north to south. The street, wide enough for eight trucks side by side, stretched for five kilometers. Things really were changing fast.