Tu Ming was busy with work all day. He only ate a quick lunch.

Lumi asked him again about the hiring situation. He said the job posting was already up, but it wasn’t. He took the opportunity to call Wang Jiexing and postpone their meeting. Wang Jiexing asked him why, and he said he had an emergency to deal with, that it wasn’t a good time to meet yet.

He had to handle Lumi first.

If Wang Jiexing asked him about letting her go at dinner, he would be very passive.

Tu Ming handled everything seamlessly.

He even proactively cue’d the next step during the online meeting with Luke in the afternoon, being even more averse to unnecessary chatter than Luke.

At the end of the meeting, Luke asked him online, “Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Anything at all?”

“Fixing plumbing.”

“Huh?”

Tu Ming chuckled, “Big deal. If the pipes aren’t fixed, the house will collapse. Besides, some of the content was indeed a bit long-winded.”

Luke thought for a moment online and said with a half-smile, “It does need to be fixed.”

“Let’s chat when you get back. I’m leaving work at normal time today. See you.”

Tu Ming put on his coat and walked out of the company. The plumbing and his toolbox were in the trunk, delivered that afternoon. Lumi left work before him, arriving a few minutes earlier. They had only exchanged a few words all day, and she even thought he wouldn’t come.

The doorbell rang while she was changing clothes. She had taken off her blouse and put on a nightgown.  She heard the doorbell and put a shirt over her nightgown.

She opened the door and saw that it was actually Tu Ming.

He was wearing a clean, sharp coat, and he was carrying a toolbox and a bundle of pipes of different lengths and shapes.

The scene was a bit comical. Lumi couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Tu Ming looked down at the things in his hands and shrugged, “I figured you wouldn’t have these tools at home.”

“Why would I have these at home? I don’t know how to use them.” Lumi stepped aside to let him in.  She watched him take off his coat, a well-fitting, high-quality suit jacket. Then he rolled up his sleeves. His movements seemed a bit slower than before.

“How long will it take?” Lumi asked him.

“Three days.”

“That long? The last plumber said it would only take an hour.”

“So your pipes are always leaking.” Tu Ming glanced at her and asked, “Did you eat?”

“I just got home.”

“Me neither. Should I order something? It’s best not to use the plumbing right now.”

“Oh. Go ahead.”

Lumi sat down on the sofa and took out her phone to send a message to Shang Zhi Tao, “Will is playing the big bad wolf.”

“Huh?”

“He really came to my house to fix the plumbing. Not only that, he said it would take three days.”

Shang Zhi Tao sent a string of hahaha’s, then another message, “You two are enough already, just tell each other what’s in your hearts, do what you have to do!”

“No.”

“You?”

Lumi suddenly didn’t feel rushed. She suddenly felt that Tu Ming’s previous suggestion was right. She wanted to slow down and see what his real thoughts were. Would he fix the plumbing every time it broke?

Tu Ming always went off script, he couldn’t be confined to a cliche storyline. His script was custom-made, and Lumi was very curious to see what kind of drama would unfold.  She wouldn’t encounter such interesting things many times in her life. She wanted to put on an act, pretend, and torment him, to see when he would tear off his well-behaved facade. Or maybe he was just being kind.

“Do you want to eat something?” Tu Ming asked her.

“Anything is fine.”

“Cantonese food?”

“Okay.”

Lumi leaned back on the sofa and watched Tu Ming scroll through his phone. The beard he had shaved that morning had grown back a bit, giving him a rare touch of wildness. He ordered food and then went to the kitchen to open his toolbox. The toolbox seemed to be a treasure trove for many men.

Lumi followed him. She saw an amazing toolbox, it really had everything. “Do you have any other strange things at home?” Lumi asked him.

“Besides what?”

Lumi pointed to the toolbox, “Besides this thing.”

“Gas mask? First aid kit? Compressed biscuits? Is that strange?” Tu Ming asked her.

“…”

“You should have these things at home too.” Tu Ming said confidently.

“No, no, no, I don’t need them. Kill me instead.” Lumi was startled by Tu Ming and shook her head repeatedly.

Tu Ming leaned into the cabinet. Hearing Lumi’s refusal, he chuckled. The chuckle was muffled by the cabinet, and it reached Lumi’s ears as a soft, muffled sound.

She stood at the entrance of the kitchen and watched Tu Ming fiddle around, making a racket. He threw out a broken pipe, then a bend. If it weren’t for his curled legs being so attractive, Lumi really wouldn’t want to watch a man fix plumbing.

The food arrived, and they ate face-to-face. There was a smudge of dirt on Tu Ming’s face.

“Why bother doing this yourself?” Lumi couldn’t understand why he didn’t let professionals do professional things.

“It’s probably like you like to do your nails. Or Lego?”

Lumi had a Lego set she had put together at home. Tu Ming had seen it.

“When I did the last renovation, I did the baseboards myself.” Tu Ming took a sip of porridge, “Everyone has their own way of relaxing.”

Lumi nodded and stuffed a shrimp dumpling into her mouth. Her phone rang, it was Wang Jiexing. She answered casually, “What’s up?”

“Will said he had a business engagement today, so he canceled our date. What are you doing? Come out to eat.”

Lumi glanced at Tu Ming. He was eating calmly.

“I’m eating at home, I’m not going out.”

“You’re at home? Perfect, Shang Zhi Tao and I are going to go up and sit for a while.”

“No.” Lumi said suddenly, “I’m not feeling well, don’t come.”

“If you’re not feeling well, open the door! We’ll take care of you!”

Knocking came from the door. Shang Zhi Tao was practically shouting, “Lumi, is anyone home? What’s going on? Open the door!”

Lumi went to open the door. Wang Jiexing saw Tu Ming standing in the living room.

Wang Jiexing let out a “Wow,” pushed Lumi aside, and said with a smile, “So Will’s business engagement was Lumi?”

Tu Ming smiled at him, not seeing any problem with it.

Shang Zhi Tao was a silly one. She stared at Tu Ming for a long time, then blurted out, “Did you two fight? There’s dirt on his face?”

“Will is helping me fix the plumbing! Get your dirty thoughts out of your head!” Lumi saw Shang Zhi Tao’s eyes fall on Tu Ming’s chest and pushed her, “What are you looking at!”

Shang Zhi Tao retracted her gaze, “Hello, were you the one who scared me the other night and kept me up all night? Were you the one who dragged our Lumi out of the nightclub?”

“Shang Zhi Tao.”  Tu Ming called out Shang Zhi Tao’s name. It startled her, “Don’t call me by my name, it’s like our high school teacher!”

Wang Jiexing kept looking at Tu Ming. He felt quite uncomfortable. He had liked Lumi for so long, but now her plumbing was being fixed by her boss. What was going on?

“Lumi, come here.” Wang Jiexing called her, “I have a few questions for you.”

“Okay.” She followed Wang Jiexing to the balcony and pulled the sliding door closed.

“Are you changing jobs because of him?” Wang Jiexing asked Lumi, “Don’t lie to me, I’ve known you for years, tell me the truth.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s at your house fixing your plumbing now. Are you still changing jobs?”

Seeing that Lumi wasn’t saying anything, he nodded, “Forget it, don’t say anything, I understand. You’re completely smitten, aren’t you?”

“Smitten or not, I don’t have any relationship with him right now.”

“What about in the future?”

“Who knows about the future?”

“Okay.” Wang Jiexing looked at Lumi, “You’re just messing with me. I was so happy for days because you were going to come to my company! I was hoping to get lucky and have you as a coworker! But someone beat me to it.”

Wang Jiexing pondered for a moment and then nodded, “Will is good, he’s got a deep mind. I know why he canceled our dinner today.”

“Talk properly, don’t mess around at my house. If it affects the project, I’ll be mad at you too, you’re an adult.”

“You’re already siding with him before anything even happens?”

“I’m reasoning with you! I’m being very reasonable right now.”

“Okay, okay, you’re reasonable, I’m not. You’re killing me, Lumi.”

Wang Jiexing really did light up a cigarette. He lit it.

Lumi stepped back a bit to accompany him while he smoked.

Shang Zhi Tao was sizing up Tu Ming in the living room. She was a little afraid of him, she felt like he was the teacher who made her stand in the corner in school. But then she looked at him again, and she realized that this man’s clean and neat quality was rare in their circle.  She understood a little bit why Lumi had fallen head over heels for him.

She didn’t even go to nightclubs anymore, she really had lost her mind, hadn’t she?

“Ask your question.” Tu Ming found Shang Zhi Tao’s stare amusing, so he said to her.

“I didn’t do anything.” Shang Zhi Tao didn’t dare to speak recklessly, she was afraid Lumi would give her a few more harsh words later.

Wang Jiexing finished his cigarette and came back to ask Tu Ming, “How about coming to our company to discuss the project sometime?”

“Okay, I’ll treat you to dinner.” Tu Ming replied, pointing to the kitchen, “Sit down, I’m going to fix the plumbing.”

“Okay.”

Tu Ming turned and went into the kitchen, then ducked into the cabinet.

The few people in the living room leaned forward to watch him, then looked at Lumi. None of them wanted to leave. They stayed until late at night.

The next day after work, Tu Ming went back.

This time, he brought a set of clothes that were convenient for working. He asked Lumi, “Can I borrow your bathroom to change?”

“The bathroom.”

The bathroom door in Lumi’s house had frosted glass. When Tu Ming changed clothes, you could vaguely see his movements and the outline of his body through the glass door. Lumi looked at him with interest for a while. Before he came out, she sat back down on the sofa, as if she hadn’t just been peeking.

When he crouched down in front of the cabinet, Lumi raised her eyes and glanced at his butt line.

Tu Ming was unaware. He sat cross-legged, assembling the pipes. He wasn’t slow, but he was taking his time, dismantling and assembling things, clearly stalling. He was calculating, he wanted to make some progress so he could come back tomorrow, leaving something unfinished.

He didn’t know what he was doing. This was the first time in his life that he had schemed to come to a woman’s house, stretching an hour-long job into ten hours. Just to spend a little time with her.

When he used to come to Lumi’s house, she had flames burning in her eyes, and he was afraid that she would accidentally set him on fire, burning them both to ashes. Now her eyes were calm, like a deep lake. If you threw a stone into it, there would be a “thump,” but no ripples.

When he asked her to hand him something, their fingertips brushed. She acted like nothing had happened and pulled her hand back. Also, she was wearing a big shirt over her nightgown and pajamas, covering herself up completely.

Tu Ming couldn’t help but ask her, “Isn’t it hot?”

She shook her head, “It’s not hot. A man and a woman alone in a room, I’ll wear more clothes, it’s respectful to you and to myself.”

Tu Ming nodded, “Good.” He saw the fine sweat on Lumi’s nose and finally couldn’t help but bend his index finger and wipe it away for her.

The gesture was a little ambiguous. Lumi took a step back, “What are you doing? Who are you flirting with?”

“Who are you to touch me? You’re a plumber, big deal?”

“Take your clothes off, I think you’re hot.”

“How do I take them off? How much do I take off? Then you’ll say I’m disgusting and deliberately flirting with you, I’m not taking that blame. I’m being reasonable now.” Lumi said one thing after another, she had been waiting for this moment.

Tu Ming finally saw Lumi’s petty side, her innocent petty side.

After three days, Tu Ming had finished remodeling Lumi’s plumbing. He pulled Lumi’s wrist and made her squat down in front of the cabinet with him. He explained to her, “This is where it will be split. Your water purifier will go down this pipe. I looked at it, the previous pipes were prone to clogging because of food scraps, so I ordered a food grinder, it should arrive tomorrow.”

Lumi had been listening attentively to everything he said, but she understood the last sentence. She asked him, “Are you coming back tomorrow?”

“I’ll solve all your problems.”

They were squatting, their heads touching. Lumi heard this sentence and turned her head. She saw a smudge of dirt on his cheek, and her heart skipped a beat.

“Do I have any other problems?” Lumi asked.

“Replace the dishwasher and the smart toilet.”

“Are you going to renovate my house for me?” Lumi asked him, “What are you going to do after that? “

“Oh right, I have a few other houses! You can help me redo them!” He leaned forward and touched his lips to her cheek, a light kiss. Then he chuckled.

Tu Ming’s heart melted.