Tomorrow as Bright as Day – Chapter 11
Chapter 11
The landline at Cai Ni’s house—her father had once idly counted—received, on average, one call a day. Based on that frequency, he’d chosen the cheapest plan available.
According to the daily average, since the phone had already rung once today, it was unlikely there’d be another call tonight.
But surprisingly, the phone rang again in the evening. Cai Ni rushed to answer, already half sure it was Ming Xi calling to say she’d arrived safely. She clutched the receiver, the word “Ming Xi” almost spilling from her lips—only to hear an elegant male voice on the other end.
When the caller stated his name and identity, Cai Ni almost stuttered.
“Did I… fail the exam?”
Liang Jiancheng hadn’t even thought of that and could only reply, “Sorry, I’m not sure about that… I actually called to ask about something. Do you know where Ming Xi is?”
“Are you looking for her?” Cai Ni asked, her tone lifting slightly, “What’s the matter?”
Liang Jiancheng patiently explained: “The thing is, my father wants to recommend a job for her. ”
Cai Ni was short-sighted and blurted out, “But Ming Xi already found a job.”
Liang Jiancheng; “Oh. Really?”
Cai Ni: “Yes, she left for Haigang early yesterday morning. She won’t be coming back to Yicheng for now.”
Liang Jiancheng felt a mix of helplessness and regret. He had been a step too late last night at Jinxin Winery. Since Ming Xi’s contact number from the school records was no longer valid, he had no choice but to call a classmate’s home phone number instead…
The news was both good and bad. The good thing was that she already had a job and a new way forward.
The bad thing was that he still missed her.
“I see. I won’t bother you further,” Liang Jiancheng hung up the phone.
Cai Ni followed suit. She went into the kitchen—since it was New Year’s Day, both her parents were at home. Because she wanted to eat soy milk and soup dumplings, her mother went out to buy them, while her father was in the kitchen washing last night’s dishes.
“Who’s calling? You sound nervous,” Cai Ni’s father asked.
Cai Ni popped a peanut from the plate on the counter into her mouth and said while chewing, “It was the son of the professor in our school who said he would recommend a job to Ming Xi. But he was too late! Ming Xi already found one herself! Humph, he didn’t help before and now pretends to be kind. .”
Her father suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cai Ni asked.
Cai Ni’s father: “Cai Ni, you’ve got to think before you speak. No matter what you think of him, he’s still the professor’s son. If it wasn’t a good job, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to call. You don’t know Ming Xi’s situation right now—maybe his recommendation would’ve been even better. You know how hard it is to find a decent job these days? Your mother and I have spent so much effort just to help you look for one. You also said before that the professor’s son has a decent status, which means that he’s got connections. Do you know how rare it is for ordinary people like us to meet a benefactor who can help us? It may even change Ming Xi’s destiny for life.”
For the first time, Cai Ni felt like she was getting a real-world lesson from her father—and realized she might’ve just ruined something important for Ming Xi.
“Then what do we do now?! Our phone doesn’t even have caller ID… all because you wanted to save money and didn’t add that feature! Now I can’t even call him back. I should’ve just given him Ming Xi’s number.” Cai Ni was not stupid. After she understood what he meant, she panicked—half blaming her father, half herself.
Cai Ni’s father, wearing an apron, suddenly looked calm and composed. He coughed and said, “Go ahead and redial. I changed our phone plan a few days ago—figured you might get job calls, didn’t want to miss anything.”
“Dad, you’re so wise!” Cai Ni jumped to the phone again. Sure enough, the home phone could check the call log.
She redialed the most recent number. When the line connected, she deliberately affected a slightly aloof tone: “Is this Mr. Liang? “I’ll give you Ming Xi’s cell phone number first…”
—
Yicheng and Haigang weren’t far apart on the map, but the midnight train that Ming Xi boarded still took five or six hours. By the time she arrived in Haigang, it was morning.
She found the address of the Haiou Company. It was right in the heart of Haigang’s commercial district—bright, grand, and surrounded by gleaming high-rises and bustling streets.
Ming Xi walked around the building first, then decided to stay in a small inn hidden two kilometers away, inside a residential block.
There was an Internet cafe called Anteng on the street two hundred meters away from the inn.
After settling her things, Ming Xi went there.
The Internet cafe charges five yuan an hour, with a minimum of two hours. The inn she stayed in was only ten yuan a day.
Nowadays, there were not many Internet cafes in cities. Most of them catered to nearby office workers, offering a place to check information, send emails, or browse the web after work. Anteng Internet Cafe had a relaxed interior, and the front counter sold coffee, drinks, and fruit for an extra fee.
Ming Xi glanced at the price list and nearly gaped like a country bumpkin.
“So expensive…” she almost muttered aloud.
The lady at the counter—a glamorous woman with permed curls—gave her a charming smile.
Ming Xi quickly flattered her: “Boss lady, you’re so pretty.”
The woman smiled back. “Not bad, you’re pretty yourself.”
Ming Xi wasn’t someone who cared much about her looks, but she was happy to be complimented. She took the access card and found her seat.
Next to her sat a teenage boy with headphones on, shouting excitedly: “Kill, kill, kill! ”
Ming Xi looked at his webpage curiously. It was a game page.
She heard from Dezi that the first online game was launched in China two years ago. It was an online game with martial arts theme developed by a Peking University student, where players could take on any hero role and roam freely in a virtual Jianghu…
After hearing about the game design, she secretly exclaimed in her heart!
What kind of genius came up with such a form of entertainment! While she was still reading martial arts novels, others had already turned them into immersive experiences.
Fortunately, Ming Xi knew how to use computer. The year she entered Ming Decheng’s factory, the factory installed their one and only computer. She studied the computer whenever she had nothing to do. Not only did she learn to type, but she also picked up basic office software skills. If Yang Yumei hadn’t been so distrustful of her, she could have taken over the accounting work herself.
Ming Xi wrote down all these skills and strengths on her resume.
The only weak spot in her resume was academic qualifications.
Ming Xi turned on the computer and opened NetEase, the country’s first Chinese-language search engine. The homepage was divided into several sections.
Ming Xi briefly browsed today’s news and entered “Haiou Foreign Trade” into the search engine.
Unfortunately, there was very little information, and she couldn’t tell whether it was true or not.
NetEase offered free email registration, and since it was free, she signed up for one under her English name.
Her English name was Lamia, came from a Greek moon goddess—mysterious and radiant.
After registering the email address, Ming Xi stared at the email page in a daze.
She didn’t even have anyone to write to…
Just then, the phone in her pocket rang, an unfamiliar number. Afraid it was a call about her job interview, she answered immediately.
“Hello, this is Ming Xi. May I ask who’s calling?”
Ming Xi imitated the tone of answering the phone in Hong Kong dramas.
“This is Liang Jiancheng.” The person on the other end of the phone was concise and to the point.
…
Who could have imagined that pie would fall from the sky—not once, but twice?
When Liang Jiancheng explained why he was calling and asked whether she might be interested in a position at his company, Ming Xi went from disbelief to exhilaration.
She coughed twice to calm herself, then replied steadily, “Mr. Liang, here’s the situation. I’ve already interviewed with a trading company, and things look promising—I should start after the New Year holiday. But finding a job is a two-way choice. May I ask what position and salary your company is offering?”
She felt rather proud of how tactfully she’d phrased it—neither too eager nor too distant. Unexpectedly, Liang Jiancheng changed the topic and, in a friendly tone, asked, “Are you in Haigang City right now?”
Ming Xi touched her nose and said, “…Yes.”
“My company is also in Haigang.”
What a coincidence.
“I’m also in a trading company. I have some knowledge of trading companies in Haigang City. Which one did you interview with?”
Ming Xi hesitated, unsure whether to trust him.
As she paused, Liang Jiancheng guessed it himself: “Haiou Foreign Trade?”
Ming Xi: …
The reason Liang Jiancheng guessed it was Haiou Foreign Trade was that during the Yicheng Textile Conference, there were only three foreign trade companies coming from Haigang. The other two were unlikely to hire for the time being, and only Haiou Foreign Trade had been expanding its staff this year.
If his guess was correct, the position Ming Xi could get at Haiou should be assistant foreign trade sales representative.
Then. Liang Jiancheng said something even more coincidental.
“My company is very close to Haiou Foreign Trade, just upstairs. If you’ve already interviewed there, you might as well come up and visit my company too. Job hunting really is a two-way choice, but having more options never hurts.” Liang Jiancheng said sincerely,
His voice was clear and composed, carrying a subtle persuasive warmth.
Ming Xi stared at the email page for a moment before saying, “Mr. Liang, do you have an email address? I’ll send you my resume.”
“Sure. I do.”
Liang Jiancheng quickly recited one, and Ming Xi typed in the “Sender” field one by one: B-y-r-o…
“Mr. Liang, is your English name Byron? Mine’s Lamia. I’ll send you my resume using L’s email address later.” Ming Xi said with a smile.
“Lamia—that’s a beautiful name,” Liang Jiancheng confirmed.
“I picked it up half an hour ago.”
“I’ll wait for your email.”
After hanging up the phone, Ming Xi carefully edited her résumé in the email draft. She saved a backup, then sent it to Liang Jiancheng.
She also saved his number in her contacts.
Liang Jiancheng didn’t seem like a bad person. But for her, the worst thing about him was the irresistible feeling he emanated.
It was easy for ordinary people to fell in love with their savior. But such love often turned them into worshippers—losing their sense of self, their individuality. It was dangerous, unhealthy.
Better to love money than to love a man, Ming Xi thought to herself.
After two hours of surfing the internet, Ming Xi returned the network card to the boss lady, who said to her, “Pretty girl, come here often.”
Ming Xi lingered for a moment, pretending to start a casual chat, “Beautiful boss lady, how did you know I live nearby?”
That mouth of hers was prettier than her face. The woman smiled knowingly. “I didn’t know. But most of the office workers around here come to my place to browse the internet.”
Hearing that, Ming Xi got an idea. The smile at the corner of her lips deepened as she asked, almost pleadingly, “Beautiful, kind-hearted boss lady—can I ask you something? Do you know Haiou Foreign Trade and Xinghai Foreign Trade? Which one’s better?”
Ming Xi’s sweet words pleased the boss lady, who gave her an amused look, “Are you comparing the two companies?”
Ming Xi nodded without hiding anything.
“Well, you’ve come to the right person.” The woman’s tone was casual but not perfunctory. “Haiou’s got strong backing and a wide network of connections. Xinghai—I think that’s a newer company. Not many of their employees come here, so I don’t know much. Only heard one thing.”
Ming Xi’s eyes lit up: “What’s that?”
The woman said it bluntly, without suspense: “The boss is really handsome.”
“…”
Ming Xi was speechless, forcing a helpless smile at the boss lady.
Liang Jiancheng was indeed handsome, but what good was that! The only “advantage” she could think of was that having such a boss might motivate her to show up earliest and leave latest every day. Honestly, that just felt like giving him a bargain deal.
The boss lady was a clever person. Seeing that Ming Xi didn’t understand what she meant, she made it clear: “Sister, I say this because you’re young and beautiful. Of course, the boss’s good looks are important. Working hard’s fine, but sleeping with the boss is a faster route. And if he’s good-looking, you’re not even losing out.”
Ming Xi knew that the more developed a place was, the more open people’s thinking tended to be—but this was too open!
She went from speechless to dumbfounded. What kind of shameless talk was that? She pulled a wry smile and protested, “How could a beautiful sister like you mislead me like this? I’m asking you seriously, and you tease me like that. Do I look like the kind of girl who tries to seduce her boss?”
Ming Xi, not one to offend, would even call her a beautiful sister. But when she spoke seriously, she really meant it; her tone and expression were both earnest, her round eyes staring directly at the woman.
The boss lady laughed even harder, thinking this girl was clever. Her clothes were plain, but there was something lively and spirited about her.
“Oh, don’t get so worked up.” She reached under the counter and pulled out two pieces of imported Russian chocolate. “You can treat it as a joke for now. But wait till you’re in your thirties—you’ll realize this is the truth of the world.”
Ming Xi raised her head slightly and said with unwavering confidence, “By the time I’m thirty, maybe I’ll be the boss myself.”
The boss lady’s face showed admiration, though her words were teasing: “Ambitious! I like that.”
Only then did Ming Xi realize she’d been treated like a kid. The boss lady handed her the chocolates; Ming Xi took both without hesitation and slipped them into her pocket.
“Come back often, and I’ll give you a discount.”
“Thanks!”
Hands in her pockets, Ming Xi stepped out of the internet café and stood by the roadside, gazing toward the broad, glittering heart of Haigang city center.
Big cities really were different from small places like Yicheng. The sidewalks had sleek iron railings; both sides of the streets were lined with flowers of several colors.
Across the wide road were rows of towering buildings. From the revolving doors of the tallest one, men in crisp suits and women in chic, fashionable outfits streamed out—their hairstyles impeccable.
Both Haiou Foreign Trade and Xinghai Foreign Trade were in this building.
Drawing her gaze back, Ming Xi looked again at the women passing by—so many had glossy, permed waves.
The world tended to judge people by appearances, bullying the weak and flattering the strong. A woman’s hairstyle, often enough, reflects her aura.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Ming Xi touched her short hair thoughtfully. Should she also grow it out?
Curly and wavy?