Picking Up Trash

As he watched, Jiang Wenzhe's phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from someone with a default gray silhouette avatar:

【Jiang Wenzhe, is this you?】

Jiang Wenzhe's fingertips hovered over the keyboard, having just typed the character "yes" but not yet sent it.

Then another ringtone broke through.

A cheerful, pleasant female voice pierced through the cold electronic screen and hit his eardrums directly: "Jiang Wenzhe! Is this really you too?"

The man's expression softened slightly: "If it's not me, then who? Do you know another Jiang Wenzhe?"

"Hehe," her laughter rang out crisp and bright from her throat, "So that's you—the 'wen' from fragrance, and 'zhe' from plucking flowers."

When Jiang Wenzhe had given Lin Sangyu the phone, he'd specifically set up WeChat for her, added himself as a contact, and saved his number in her contacts list.

With the phone pressed to his ear, Jiang Wenzhe spoke while glancing sideways at the hurried pedestrians on the street: "Guess you're not completely illiterate after all."

Lin Sangyu raised her voice, huffing, "I was never illiterate! When I learned Chinese characters at the orphanage, I studied really hard!"

Jiang Wenzhe said helplessly, "Fine, you're not illiterate, alright?"

"That's more like it," Lin Sangyu said. "Oh, by the way, what does the 'AAA' in front of your name mean?"

Jiang Wenzhe coughed lightly, paused for a few seconds, then replied, "It means 'important.' So that in the future, no matter what problems you have, you'll call me first."

"Oh." Lin Sangyu pretended to understand, drawing out the sound.

The light around them suddenly dimmed as the car slowed and finally stopped in the basement level of the Jianglan Group headquarters building. The driver opened the door and said respectfully, "We've arrived, Mr. Jiang."

"Gotta hang up; I'm going to work now." Jiang Wenzhe said and ended the call without hesitation. The moment he stepped out of the car, he resumed his usual stern, arrogant demeanor.

As soon as Jiang Wenzhe sat down in his office, his executive assistant, Yang Ning, began reporting work efficiently: "Mr. Jiang, here's this quarter's financial report for your review. Also, the preliminary design for the product image you requested two days ago is done, and the file has been sent to you."

"Good," Jiang Wenzhe opened the design draft and began to examine it. "Continue. What's the schedule for this afternoon?"

Yang Ning replied clearly and succinctly: "There are quite a few meetings this afternoon. Since you were away for the past two days, we've accumulated extra departmental report meetings: from 2:00 to 3:30 PM, 4:00 to 5:00, and 5:00 to 6:00."

"Mm, thanks for your hard work," Jiang Wenzhe noted.

"This is my job, it's what I should do," Yang Ning said with a professional smile as she added, "I'll take my leave then."

"Wait," Jiang Wenzhe looked up from his computer, and the pressure in the office dropped noticeably. "Tell them to redo the initial draft—it's not up to standard. The virtual digital human image should be genderless or neutral, and there shouldn't be any extra accessories on the clothing."

"Understood. I'll have them redo it immediately."

Yang Ning left quickly, her palms already slick with sweat. Only after she was out of the office did she let out a long, quiet breath.

Just as his assistant left, a lazy, mischievous voice blasted through the air, growing closer: "Wenzhe, I missed you so much!"

Jiang Wenzhe silently activated the noise-canceling feature on his phone, then asked, "What do you want?"

"I came to praise you."

Jiang Wenzhe: "If you're sick, go get treated."

"I praise you and you're not happy?" Tang Lin stroked his non-existent long white beard, put on a deep tone, and said with exaggerated solemnity, "I praise you for finally not being led astray by beauty—two days! You didn't come to work for two whole days!"

Jiang Wenzhe shot back, "And that's why you're visiting your biggest rival during work hours?"

"Rival?" Tang Lin suddenly burst out laughing uproariously, "Wenzhe, oh Wenzhe, you've finally admitted I'm your opponent."

Jiang Wenzhe's company, Jianglan Zhilian Group, and Tang Lin's company, Shengyi Industrial Group, were both industry-leading giants. However, the two groups had different focuses: Jianglan leaned toward cutting-edge high-tech, while Shengyi delved deep into the physical industrial chain.

The business boundaries of the two groups didn't overlap at all; in fact, they had a natural supply-demand relationship. That's why the two groups had been cooperating for a hundred years.

What they called "rivals" or "opponents" had nothing to do with corporate competition. It was more like a test of wills between two spoiled heirs of their generation.

Of course, the "rival" label was something the outside world had pinned on them.

Jiang Wenzhe closed his files and said, "What's wrong? Did your Miss Huang ignore you again? That must be why you've visited me twice in three days."

"…" The sudden blow hit Tang Lin right in the heart; he was seriously triggered. "The thing I regret most today is coming to see you."

Jiang Wenzhe extended his hand toward the door and said politely, "Take your time leaving. No need to see me off."

*

Lin Sangyu accidentally tapped the video feed on WeChat, and it was like opening the door to a whole new world.

So this was why those people on the street were always staring at their phones—it really was this fun.

Rhythmic music, a dazzling variety of video content, smooth transitions... it was all overwhelming for Lin Sangyu.

Suddenly remembering something, she switched back to the chat window.

【Jiang Wenzhe, how much did this phone cost?】

【Questioning.jpg】

【Kissy kissy.jpg】

The moment his phone vibrated, Jiang Wenzhe saw Lin Sangyu's message.

But he didn't reply immediately. He continued working and waited until he'd finished reviewing the financial reports at hand before calmly opening WeChat.

【Four thousand.】

He deliberately left off the first digit.

【Between a man and a woman, you can't send those kinds of stickers.】

【And you definitely can't kiss.】

He frowned slightly, his fingertip tapping out two more messages in quick succession.

Seeing the messages, Lin Sangyu silently noted in her heart: Men and women really can't kiss.

And she replied: 【OK.jpg】

Then, Lin Sangyu's eyes moved up and saw the big characters "Four thousand."

What?!

That expensive!

Lin Sangyu quickly gave the precious phone a loving pat—it was worth a full eight thousand packets of spicy strips.

Back in the day, there was a small convenience store next to the orphanage, and parents would often bring their kids to buy snacks. It made Lin Sangyu's mouth water just watching them. Every day, she'd stand in the orphanage yard, peering through the rusty fence, trying to catch a whiff of the oily, spicy aroma of those snack strips drifting on the air.

Little Lin Sangyu, of course, had no money to buy spicy strips.

But where there's a will, there's a way. She had picked up a trick from somewhere: you could earn money by picking up trash.

The old folks in the nearby neighborhood started picking up trash at five in the morning, always trying to outdo each other. Even at six years old, little Lin Sangyu already understood the principle of seizing an opportunity before others.

They started at five? Well, she'd start at four in the morning!

The orphanage's rules were pretty loose, and luckily Lin Sangyu's dorm was on the ground floor. At 3:30 AM, she'd quietly get up and slip out of the dormitory through the window. And since she was always malnourished, a weak, skinny thing, she could easily squeeze through the rusty fence—the orphanage's last line of defense—and escape.

She'd drag a burlap sack that was longer than she was, and under the dim yellow streetlights, listening to the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds, she'd walk into the night bathed in moonlight.

With the orphanage as her center, she'd cover a one-kilometer radius. By the time the first light of dawn touched the sky, she'd already be the first customer of the scrap yard.

She kept that routine going until the day she left the orphanage.

Her phone, slightly warm, pressed against her palm, and the warmth spread through her entire body.

Lin Sangyu thought to herself, Jiang Wenzhe is a really good person.

She definitely couldn't let him down.

Starting tomorrow, she had to work hard to earn money and help him pay off his debts.

When Jiang Wenzhe came home at seven in the evening, Lin Sangyu was sitting on the living room sofa watching TV.

"You're finally back!"

The moment she saw the door open, she jumped off the sofa, ran happily to the entrance, wrapped her arms around Jiang Wenzhe's neck, and hung onto his waist with her legs.

Jiang Wenzhe tried to push her off, but she wouldn't budge, so he just let her cling to him like a sloth.

Lin Sangyu chattered nonstop into the man's ear: "I'm telling you, I haven't been playing on my phone all day."

"Mm, impressive," Jiang Wenzhe said casually.

He didn't mention at all that just ten minutes ago, he'd seen her glued to the phone on the security camera.

Lin Sangyu continued to sing her own praises: "You can rest assured leaving the phone in my hands—I'm just that disciplined."

Jiang Wenzhe shook his head helplessly. With one hand holding Lin Sangyu's bottom and the other on the table, he walked into the dining room to pour himself a glass of water.

After drinking it, he asked, "Did you drink any water today?"

Lin Sangyu, buried in the crook of his neck, said, "I drank the soup they brought at lunch and dinner."

"That's not enough. From now on, you need at least three glasses of plain water every day."

With that, Jiang Wenzhe poured a glass for Lin Sangyu using his own cup.

Lin Sangyu took the cup, remembered their earlier conversation on the phone, and innocently—or so she thought—turned the cup so her lips would touch the exact spot where Jiang Wenzhe's lips had been. Then she gulped it all down.

When she finished, Jiang Wenzhe asked with a flat expression, "Are you disgusted by me?"

If anything, he should be the one disgusted—why was she turning up her nose first?

"What?" Lin Sangyu felt the hand under her bum tighten. She stared back at him with wide, bewildered eyes.

"Nothing, my mistake," Jiang Wenzhe looked away, set her down on the dining table, and said evasively, "I'm going to take a shower."

Just as he stepped away, Lin Sangyu grabbed the hem of his shirt: "What about me? Don't you want to bathe me anymore?"

Jiang Wenzhe just stared at her without a word.

Lin Sangyu's eyes drooped, her long lashes lowering as her voice filled with sadness: "Fine. I'll do it myself then."

Jiang Wenzhe looked at her hand, which was about to let go. The muscles in his jaw tightened for a moment before he gritted out, "I'll do it."