When Zhang Chang announced their breakup, Duo Duo trembled with rage: “Give me the watermelon seeds, and I’ll leave right away!”
This marked Duo Duo’s second heartbreak in her life. The first had occurred back in high school. She had harbored a crush on a handsome senior a grade above her. Summoning her courage, she confessed her feelings, only to be gently rebuffed: “We’re still young; studies come first.”
That handsome senior later went straight to the United States for his studies. Even years later, whenever Duo Duo thought of him, she couldn’t help but feel it was like tasting freshly picked bayberries in May—sweet, yet unmistakably sour.
Duo Duo was a dutiful girl. When her senior said, “Studies come first,” she took it to heart and focused entirely on academics. During her university years, her parents advised her not to date, reasoning that boys her age weren’t reliable and would likely break up after graduation. Obedient as ever, Duo Duo refrained from dating in college. By the time she completed her master’s degree and stepped into the workforce, she looked back and realized that, in over twenty years, the only romantic experience she had was her unrequited high school crush.
In her company, despite being in a male-dominated environment, Duo Duo’s reserved personality set her apart. Beyond her diligence, she lacked notable traits. She was a down-to-earth engineering girl, accustomed to projects and experiments from her undergraduate to her direct-admission graduate studies. She meticulously completed every task assigned by her supervisors. When the company hired her as an assistant to a senior engineer, the engineer initially expressed some reluctance—how could a delicate girl be expected to handle demanding tasks? Yet within a year, he became utterly reliant on her. Even when he decided to switch jobs, he tried to persuade Duo Duo to join him, but she politely declined.
Her parents had helped her purchase a small apartment close to the company—a mere ten-minute walk away. Duo Duo cherished her extra morning sleep. She couldn’t imagine the drudgery of commuting across half the city and changing subway lines twice, no matter how high the salary offered. To her, that kind of lifestyle lacked happiness.
Duo Duo didn’t switch jobs but instead got a promotion. When the technical director’s secretary left for maternity leave to have a “crisis baby” (a baby conceived after some difficulty or delay), the HR manager prepared a shortlist of candidates. The director rejected it outright and personally designated Duo Duo for the role. Overnight, she moved from her cubicle on the 23rd floor to a prime office space on the 25th floor.
Duo Duo loved the 25th floor. This was where the company’s executives worked. The tea in the pantry was Darjeeling, the hand soap in the restroom was from L’Occitane, and even the view from the corridor windows offered serene sights of the city’s oldest architecture. Towering French sycamores shaded rows of villas, and the city’s once-bustling glory now exuded an innate, time-worn elegance.
Although Duo Duo had always studied engineering, she possessed a quiet yet meticulous femininity. She approached secretarial work with the same precision she applied to project management. Coupled with her professional technical background, she earned high praise from the technical director.
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