Sitting in the library, Hongmei suddenly felt something odd. Swinging around, she found the boy at the next table staring directly at her, abandoning his online group chat. In his eyes, she was a woman scouring the net for love, cheeks flushed, eyes distracted. She logged off at once and walked briskly out of the library. The boy caught up with her at the entrance and asked if she wanted some weed, good-quality stuff. So that was the craving he’d suspected her of, and wanted to profit from.

Back at home, Hongmei got a call from her friend Shi Nini saying she had some news. Nini was in the music department. Like Hongmei, she was getting degree after degree, living off scholarship grants. She was five or six years younger than Hongmei and often set her sights on some tycoon or another. As for her ultimate goal, she was very clear: if an average man was interested in her, she’d tell him not to bother—he couldn’t afford her. She had a high-pitched voice, clear and sweet, the sort of unsexy, girlish way of speaking Americans detested. Now, though, it was suddenly deeper and breathier, as if blowing into Hongmei’s ear.

“Guess what,” she said. “I’ve nabbed a thirty-two-year-old millionaire.”

“Well done,” Hongmei replied.

Nini explained that the young millionaire owned a chain of high-end men’s fashion stores. All the tycoons in Europe and America, in the whole world, bought his clothes. He had given Nini a job right away, as a manager at one of his branches. The young millionaire might have been on the cutting edge of fashion, but he liked long-haired Asian girls in jeans. As a result, according to Nini, her roomful of miniskirts that only covered half her ass were now on the scrap heap. She made a fuss about this, her voice rising again. “The last millionaire gave me a set of even, white teeth and paid for all my dental bills. Who knows—maybe this one will help fix my acne?”

Hongmei laughed. Nini didn’t have many good points, but what stood out was her willingness to freely admit to selfishness, vulgarity, and an excessive fondness for money. Anyone who couldn’t handle this knew to stay away or they’d get hurt. She knew she was a joke in many people’s eyes, but she didn’t care.

Hongmei said, “Nini, you’ve called at just the right time.”

Nini immediately replied, “If you’re asking for something, I’ll hang up.”

She ignored the jibe. “Nini, you have to help me with this.”

“Don’t you know me? I’ve never helped anyone before.”

“You have to send an email for me, pretending to be all lonely and hurt.”

“I am hurt,” said Nini sarcastically. “I’ve cried myself to death. Go on, Qiao Hongmei, who do you want me to destroy?”