Chapter 1
The city of Qinan was shrouded in a persistent drizzle. Though gentle, the rain had been falling for three weeks straight.
Stepping off the international flight, the cold air seeped into her bones. While waiting for her luggage, her assistant muttered in bewilderment, “It’s already early summer, why is it still so cold in Qinan?”
The woman in the red dress beside her, eyes fixed on her phone screen, didn’t react.
Only after retrieving her luggage and heading outside did she calmly reply, “Because of the rain, I suppose.”
“Maybe,” the assistant glanced at her, already feeling chilled. “It’s really cold out here. Shouldn’t we wear a coat?”
“No coat, it’s ugly.”
“…”
“Fine, fine,” the assistant, long accustomed to this, changed the subject. “Be prepared, okay? Don’t answer any questions later, understand?”
Jiang Siyi, sleep-deprived from the night before, didn’t respond, only pulling her mask higher. Her eyelids felt heavy, her expression drowsy.
Seeing her half-dead state, the assistant felt relieved. Because when Jiang Siyi was in a bad mood, no one could get her to speak.
The crowd outside the airport consisted mostly of readers and media. After signing autographs, Jiang Siyi ignored all the media’s questions and interviews.
They were all about her private life. It was good enough that she wasn’t throwing a tantrum.
“Miss Jiang, you mentioned your first love in the preface of your new book. Was she one of the sources of your inspiration?”
Just as she was about to get into the car, amidst the clamor, a reporter from some media outlet threw out this question.
Seeing the person beside her pause, the assistant thought, Uh oh, this isn’t good, and was about to remind her not to speak—
When she heard Jiang Siyi’s voice, calm and unhurried, as if discussing the most ordinary of topics.
“Not one of.”
The crowd behind them instantly erupted, jostling to push forward.
After speaking, Jiang Siyi got into the car, her expression indifferent, and began to doze off as if shutting out the world.
The assistant sighed inwardly and quickly followed suit.
The car door closed, effectively separating them from the chaos. Looking at the person beside her, seemingly asleep, she couldn’t help but say, “You never listen to advice.”
“Sister Lin is right, no one in this world can control you.”
Jiang Siyi remained asleep, motionless, but her mind grew increasingly hazy. She shifted, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, but couldn’t settle down.
“Tell Aunt Lin something for me,” she finally spoke after a long while.
“Tell her what?”
“Tell her I’m not going back to London.”
Like a pebble skipping across a calm lake, a ripple spread through the air.
The assistant’s throat bobbed several times, and in the end, she just sniffed and nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell her.”
The car slowly stopped in front of a traditional Chinese courtyard house. Nestled between mountains and water, with a small stream meandering nearby, it seemed to stretch to the horizon.
“Wow, this house is impressive,” the assistant exclaimed. “Is this the one you bought two years ago?”
Jiang Siyi nodded in affirmation. Getting out of the car, she saw it was only a light rain, so she didn’t bother opening her umbrella and simply walked inside with her luggage.
“My goodness, at least use an umbrella!”
“It’s fine, I won’t die.”
Buying this house had cost Jiang Siyi a large chunk of her savings back then. Yet, she had never lived in it once.
“It’s so clean, not a speck of dust,” the assistant poked her head around, running from the backyard to the front hall, then into the study.
“Yeah, the housekeeper comes to clean every month.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” She finally stopped, sitting down on the sofa to rest. “You’ve been looking forward to returning to China, haven’t you?”
Jiang Siyi didn’t deny it. She first piled her suitcases in the corner, then sat down on the sofa, feeling exhausted.
“So, what are your plans now?”
“I still have to go back to England. My family is there, I have to go back.”
Jiang Siyi stared at the ceiling, blinking slowly after a long moment.
“My plan,” she suddenly smiled, “is to live in seclusion in the mountains.”
That evening, Miss Jiang, who had vowed to live in seclusion, stepped into a bar in her stilettos, her long hair swaying.
She was still wearing the same red dress, vibrant and eye-catching, even more flamboyant than the red wine in the tall glasses.
“A Mojito, please.”
Since it was a lesbian bar, it was full of women. The music was deafening. Jiang Siyi sat alone at the bar, staring blankly at the wooden countertop.
“Excuse me, this Pink Lady is a gift for you from that lady over there.” The bartender was polite, his finger briefly pointing in a direction before quickly retracting.
“Who?”
Jiang Siyi hadn’t seen clearly at all. She frowned and waved her hand. “No thanks, please thank her for me.”
Just as she finished speaking, someone patted her shoulder.
“Hey there, pretty lady, I sent the drink. Why are you alone at a lesbian bar?”
The bartender tactfully left, a smile hidden on his face.
Jiang Siyi took a sip of her Mojito and turned to see a hot girl in a crop top talking to her.
She had been hit on countless times. After so many years, she had become quite adept at it.
Of course, adept at rejecting.
“I’m here to kill time. When dawn breaks, I have to pick up my ex-girlfriend from prison.” Jiang Siyi pushed the Pink Lady towards her. “Want to join me?”
The hot girl was instantly speechless.
She stood there for a moment, then left without taking the drink.
The changing lights of different colors hurt Jiang Siyi’s eyes. She simply closed them, savoring the moment the alcohol reached her brain. After several sips, she opened her eyes, staring at the abandoned drink and murmuring, “What a waste.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a pair of slender hands entered her view like an uninvited guest. The woman picked up the butterfly-shaped glass and drained it in one gulp.
“Pink Lady…” Shen Shiwu placed the glass back on the table with a clink, then chuckled softly. “Quite the connoisseur.”
The moment their eyes met, Jiang Siyi instinctively froze. The loud DJ music filled the air, a lively atmosphere, yet she felt as if she could hear her own heartbeat.
She had imagined the scene of their reunion.
But meeting in a bar wasn’t within the scope of her imagination.
“What, don’t you recognize me?”
The woman didn’t look drastically different from her memory. Her hair was still slightly curled, her features, etched by time, were as picturesque as ever.
But compared to her former gentle demeanor, she now possessed a more aggressive aura.
Jiang Siyi almost lost her grip on the glass.
Under the woman’s gaze, she forced herself to remain calm, wiping away the few drops of spilled alcohol with her fingertips.
However, her seemingly calm composure was as sharp as a thorn in Shen Shiwu’s eyes.
“Jiang Siyi.”
Only after hearing her name did Jiang Siyi finally react.
Her gaze still lingered on the crystal-clear glass in her hand. She spoke without much emotion, “What a coincidence, you’re here for a drink too?”
Shen Shiwu seemed to be amused by her words. She sat down beside her, and if you only looked at her posture, she looked much like she did years ago, sitting at the desk supervising the girl’s homework.
“I’m not here for a drink.” The woman suddenly leaned closer, her long, slender fingers flicking lightly, and the glass in the other person’s hand instantly tipped over onto the table—
“I’m here to take you home.”
Home.
Jiang Siyi’s eyes suddenly welled up.
The liquid in the glass flowed everywhere, about to stain her clothes, but she didn’t move.
She was in a daze, remembering that rainy night four years ago.
Shen Shiwu had also taken her home then.
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