Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  The cottage looked quite old. Normally people wouldn’t own a property like this, even if they were rich.

  There were rooms available in the cottage. Chen Ying thought Tong Wei would stay in the same room with Wang Yao, but she requested for another room, which slightly surprised Chen Ying.

  Then Wang Yao and Tong Wei spent some time together.

  “How long are you going to stay in Beijing this time?” asked Wang Yao.

  “Probably four days. I’m here for a large exhibition,” said Tong Wei. “Who do you see here? The person must have a special background. Otherwise how would she be able to afford a place like this? And who is Chen Ying?” Tong Wei was smiling, but Wang Yao could sense something in her smile.

  It was understandable that Tong Wei was not sure about Chen Ying, a young woman who stayed in the same household with her boyfriend while she was away.

  “She is employed by the family that invited me here. She is like a housekeeper and tourist guide. She’s in control of my business here,” said Wang Yao.

  “Really? You seemed to be quite close to her,” said Tong Wei.

  “Close? Haha, stop joking!” Wang Yao gently tweaked Tong Wei’s face.

  “Hmmm, you are not allowed to date anyone else!” Tong Wei pouted.

  “I won’t!” Wang Yao held her in his arms. “Would you like to walk around with me during your stay?”


  “Okay,” said Tong Wei.

  The next morning, Wang Yao and Tong Wei had breakfast prepared by Chen Ying. Tong Wei went to meet her colleagues after breakfast.

  “Yo, beautiful, tell us, who is the guy coming with you?” asked several of her colleagues as they saw the luxurious car and Wang Yao.

  “That’s my boyfriend,” said Tong Wei.

  “Boyfriend? Isn’t he in Haiqu? How come he’s here in Beijing? Did he come for you?” asked one of her colleagues.

  “No, he has his own business in Beijing. Well, let’s not talk about him, let’s go to the exhibition,” said Tong Wei.

  Exhibitions didn’t require every single employee to be present. Of course, though, their products would attract more attention if a good-looking girl like Tong Wei was present. Tong Wei worked for a company selling cosmetic products. Her company was a well-known international company. Her colleagues from Beijing and Dao City prepared for the exhibition together. Every year her company sent different employees to the exhibition, which was considered a training opportunity.

  The leader of employees from Dao City was a woman in her 40’s. She looked quite smart. The rest of the employees were young women in their 20’s, just like Tong Wei. The leader of the employees from Beijing was a man in his 30’s. He looked mature and masculine. The two leaders talked to each other briefly before setting up the display desk.

  “Hello, Tong Wei?” Mr. Han, the leader from Beijing, greeted Tong Wei when he was not too busy.

  “Yes, hello, Mr. Han,” said Tong Wei.

  “Are you available to have lunch with me later?” asked Mr. Han with a smile.

  “I’m sorry, I’ve had plans. I’ll have lunch with my colleagues from Dao City today,” said Tong Wei.

  “I see, shame!” said Mr. Han, who was not surprised by being turned down. “Next time.”


  “We’ll see,” said Tong Wei.

  Mr. Hen left after chatting with Tong Wei briefly. Tong Wei’s colleague came along.

  “Hey, did that diamond bachelor invited you for lunch?” asked Tong Wei’s colleague as she lowered her voice.

  “Yes,” said Tong Wei.

  “And you turned him down?” asked her colleague.

  “Of course, I’ve got a boyfriend,” said Tong Wei without hesitation.

  “Just a lunch. I heard that Mr. Han has a few properties in Beijing. He’s also from a decent family. So he’s a true diamond bachelor,” said her colleague.

  “Didn’t you notice his age? I think he’s at least 35,” said Tong Wei.

  “Age is not an issue. Middle-aged men understand women better and are more mature,” said her colleague.

  “Maybe you should chase after him,” joked Tong Wei.

  “You are right, haha,” said her colleague.

  While Tong Wei was talking to her colleague, she received a call from Wang Yao, who wanted to invite her and her colleagues for lunch.

  “Okay, I’ll ask them,” said Tong Wei.

  At the other end of the phone, Wang Yao asked Chen Ying to book a table in a fine-dining restaurant for him.

  Tong Wei and her colleagues went to the restaurant at lunch time.

  “Hey, Tong Wei, your boyfriend is very generous!” said one of her colleagues. Her colleagues could tell from the decoration of the restaurant that the dishes wouldn’t be cheap.

  After they had all entered the private room, Tong Wei introduced Wang Yao to her colleagues. Wang Yao was not talkative. He listened to the conversation between Tong Wei and her colleagues most of the time. The dishes were served at a good pace and were delicious.

  Tong Wei and her colleagues were very happy with the lunch. Her colleagues all thought that Wang Yao was a nice person.

  They went back to the exhibition after lunch. It was the first day of the exhibition, so Tong Wei went with them.

  “I guess your boyfriend is quite wealthy,” said one of Tong Wei’s colleagues.

  “I actually have no idea,” said Tong Wei. She was telling the truth. She had no idea how much money Wang Yao earned and she never asked.

  “Is he going to buy a property in Beijing?” asked Tong Wei’s colleague.

  “Why should he buy a property in Beijing?” said Tong Wei. “The price of properties here is too high, and the air is so polluted here.”


  “But this is Beijing!” said her colleague.

  This was the strongest but most meaningless argument.

  She was right. This was Beijing, the capital city of China.

  “Well, I don’t mind where I live as long as I’m with him,” said Tong Wei with a smile.

  “Yo, my beautiful girl, is it all that you want?” asked her colleague.

  “Yes, anything wrong?” said Tong Wei.

  Actually Tong Wei was a bit worried about her relationship with Wang Yao. The longer she spent with Wang Yao, the less she realized she knew about him. They went to school together. Now he was her boyfriend, but with too many secrets. She didn’t realize that her boyfriend was such a capable young man. She started to doubt weather she was good enough for him.

  “Your girlfriend is excellent!” This was Chen Ying’s comment on Tong Wei. Chen Ying thought Tong Wei was not just a pretty face. She was also nice and smart.

  “Thank you,” said Wang Yao with a smile.

  Tong Wei had always been excellent since junior high school. She was a girl of good manner and performed well academically. She was from a well-educated family and had always been strict to herself. In addition, her work experience of recent years benefited her a lot. Sometimes, as a common saying went, “Travelling brings about far greater benefit than mere book learning.”


  “Don’t forget to invite me to your wedding,” said Chen Ying.

  “Sure,” said Wang Yao. He had always treated Chen Ying as his friend.

  “Are you going to show her around in the next few days?” asked Chen Ying.

  “I still need to see Su Xiaoxue tomorrow, and don’t forget to ask the staff of the mental health facility to keep an eye on your brother, make sure they don’t miss anything.” Wang Yao reminded Chen Ying. He wanted to make sure everything was covered.

  “Okay, I’ll reinforce it with them,” said Chen Ying.

  Wang Yao and Chen Ying went to the city business center in the evening. They also went to Houhai, a popular place for young people. A pretty girl like Tong Wei certainly attracted a lot of attention, attention only. However, two drunk people tried to get phone number from Tong Wei, and they were sorted out by Wang Yao.

  They each suddenly had a belly ache as they passed Wang Yao.

  Ew! What drink did I have? Both of them started to vomit.

  “I think we should go somewhere quiet,” suggested Wang Yao.

  “Okay,” said Tong Wei with a smile. Her smile was as pretty as a flower.

  “When does your exhibition start?” asked Wang Yao.

  “It officially starts from tomorrow morning,” said Tong Wei.

  “Shame I can’t go. I’ve got things to do tomorrow morning,” said Wang Yao.

  “Never mind, we can catch up later,” said Tong Wei, who showed great understanding.

  “Okay, call me if you need me,” said Wang Yao.

  “I will,” said Tong Wei.

  They were having a stroll while talking, and didn’t return to the cottage until 10 pm.

  “Good night,” said Tong Wei.

  “Good night,” said Wang Yao. They went back to their own room.

  Strange couple!

  Chen Ying felt it strange that Wang Yao and Tong Wei went into separate rooms after kissing good-bye. Nowadays young people were no longer old-fashioned. Defacto relationship was quite common. It was uncommon for couples to sleep in separate rooms.

  How can he be so in control of himself when being with such a beautiful girl? Is it because they were in someone else’s house or does he have other reasons?

  Of course, in theory, it had nothing to do with Chen Ying. However, she couldn’t help thinking about it.

  Should I tell Ms. Song about Dr. Wang’s girlfriend?

  Tong Wei got up very early the next morning.