The First Day
Night gradually deepened as rain fell beyond the windows.
Inside, Ji Chaozhou sat leaning against the sofa with his eyes lowered, not a trace of emotion on his almost unnaturally pale face. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and his long legs rested loosely against the coffee table. He seemed to blend almost completely into the darkness.
A cold, desolate air spread from him, making him resemble a lifeless sculpture of a beautiful man.
The lilies of the valley he had retrieved from the car that afternoon had been placed in a glass vase. They sat alone on the otherwise empty dining table nearby. Their full, creamy-white blossoms drooped slightly, emitting a faint, lustrous glow within the dim room.
Just then, the phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated, its screen lighting up with a glare that was especially harsh in the darkness.
Ji Chaozhou did not move.
A moment later, after the screen had gone dark, it lit up again.
Only after a long time did he reach for the phone and swipe to unlock it. Two people had sent him WeChat messages one after another.
Number Six: ** I’m waiting downstairs.**
Ji Mushan: **Eat your meals on time. Stop treating your health as though it doesn’t matter.**
Ji Chaozhou’s gaze rested quietly on the message from Number Six.
A few days ago, Ji Mushan had somehow obtained his medical examination report and come looking for him. Every word he had said, openly or indirectly, had been intended to make Ji Chaozhou eat on time.
Ji Chaozhou had not listened.
So Ji Mushan had now hired this Number Six to supervise him?
Although Ji Chaozhou had promised Aunt Yun that he would reconcile with Ji Mushan, he had never had much interest in food, even when his stomach protested.
The stabbing pain rising from within his body seemed to make him feel more awake.
…
After returning home, Cheng Liu washed her hair and showered. She casually pulled a clean outfit from a wardrobe filled with clothes that all looked nearly identical.
Seeing that there was still time before the date, she sat down at her computer and began reading the files her executive assistant had sent earlier.
This time, however, she deliberately set an alarm to prevent herself from becoming so absorbed in work that she forgot her date.
She also added her boyfriend’s address to the takeaway app on her phone.
At the time, Cheng Liu felt that she had excellent potential to become a model girlfriend.
At seven forty, Cheng Liu arrived early outside Building Five of Wenxing Residential Community. She sent her boyfriend a message, telling him to come downstairs.
There was no reply for a long time.
It was not until eight o’clock that he finally sent a message.
**I’m not eating. You should go home.**
Sitting inside her car, Cheng Liu stared at the message in confusion.
Only a few days ago, he had complained that she never contacted him. Now that she was back and had deliberately made time for a date, why had his anger not faded in the slightest?
Cheng Liu fell into thought.
Her boyfriend was probably playing a small game of push and pull, pretending to reject her so that she would pursue him more eagerly.
She had often heard her middle-aged business partners complain that their wives or children used such methods to attract their attention.
At the time, Cheng Liu had not been interested in the slightest.
Now that she was experiencing it herself…
Had those business partners actually been showing off?
At that thought, Cheng Liu straightened her back slightly.
She now had a boyfriend too, and an exceptionally handsome one at that.
There was nothing wrong with him being a little wilful.
She would indulge him!
And so, while coaxing her boyfriend through WeChat, Cheng Liu opened an umbrella and stepped out of the car.
Number Six: **Guyu Bistro recently added several new dishes. They’re light and gentle on the stomach, so they should suit you. You should eat at least a little.**
Number Six: **Here are their dishes. [Image.jpg]**
Number Six: **[Image.jpg] × 12**
Models needed to maintain their figures, so he probably could not eat anything greasy or heavily seasoned.
Cheng Liu believed she had considered the matter very thoroughly.
Next, she decided to imitate another tactic that had never failed her middle-aged business partners—complaining about her hardships.
Number Six: **Life isn’t easy for anyone. I hope you can try to understand me a little.**
There were so many employees at her company waiting to be paid. Cheng Liu felt that her boyfriend ought to understand why she had been so busy recently.
However, she would definitely change in the future!
She would spend more time with him.
Upstairs, Ji Chaozhou had not yet put down his phone after replying to the bodyguard when it began vibrating continuously.
He withdrew his hand and opened Number Six’s WeChat conversation, watching as she sent him photograph after photograph of various dishes.
Finally, she sent one more message.
Ji Chaozhou frowned slightly.
He disliked the way her words sounded almost like emotional blackmail.
He stood and switched on the light, then initiated a voice call. He intended to tell Number Six to leave.
What did her difficult life have to do with him?
By then, Ji Chaozhou had already reached the window and looked outside.
The rain was still falling, with no sign of weakening.
The streetlamps downstairs remained lit, but there were few pedestrians nearby. As a result, the person standing beneath a black umbrella and occasionally peering upwards from under its edge was particularly conspicuous.
Although Ji Chaozhou was one floor above her, he could clearly see that her red plaid jacket was old and worn. Her grey sweatpants had faded slightly from repeated washing, and both trouser legs had already been soaked by splashing rainwater.
A long scratch ran across the back of the right hand holding the umbrella.
It had been covered earlier that afternoon, but after the plaster was removed, it was clearly visible beneath the streetlamp in the rain. It had not even scabbed over yet.
She looked bedraggled and impoverished.
Ji Chaozhou remembered that she had still been pulling a suitcase at the airport earlier that day.
Had she accepted Ji Mushan’s assignment immediately after completing her previous job?
His displeasure at being emotionally pressured diminished slightly.
Downstairs, Cheng Liu looked at her phone and saw that her boyfriend was calling her through WeChat. She immediately answered.
When she raised her head, she happened to see Ji Chaozhou at the second-floor window and smiled at him.
“Guyu Bistro isn’t far from here. I’ll bring you back as soon as we finish eating.”
When Cheng Liu wanted to be warm and sincere towards someone, it was difficult for them to dislike her.
This was partly because she had been blessed with an attractive appearance, and partly because winning people over was an essential skill for a businesswoman.
Ji Chaozhou lowered his gaze and stared at the person downstairs for a long time.
In the end, he said nothing and simply ended the call.
Several minutes later, Ji Chaozhou appeared downstairs at the entrance to Unit One of Building Five.
Cheng Liu immediately strode towards him and raised the black umbrella higher, shielding her boyfriend from the wind and rain as she competed to become the perfect girlfriend.
Before he could reach for the door, Cheng Liu opened it first. She held the umbrella above him while he entered the car and even raised her free hand near the roof to prevent him from striking his head.
Perhaps because she had seen hotel doormen perform the same routine so many times, Cheng Liu’s movements were smooth and practised.
The only thing separating her from a professional doorman was a suit.
After closing the passenger door, she hurried around to the left side, opened the driver’s door, folded the black umbrella, and placed it in the door compartment.
She then started the car, turned around, and drove towards Guyu Bistro.
Ji Chaozhou quietly watched the blurred rain outside the window. From time to time, the headlights of passing cars swept across the glass.
After a long while, he turned and looked at Number Six, the bodyguard sitting beside him.
Cheng Liu noticed that her boyfriend was looking at her. She instinctively sat straighter, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel several times.
She felt slightly nervous.
Whenever her dressed-up boyfriend glanced at her with those amber-coloured contact lenses, Cheng Liu’s heart inexplicably skipped several beats.
No wonder those business partners were always buying cosmetics for their wives.
Whether male or female, people really did become far more attractive after putting on makeup.
The bodyguard was nervous.
Ji Chaozhou’s gaze moved downwards.
Now that they were closer than when he had observed her from upstairs, Ji Chaozhou could see her clothing more clearly.
The stitching on her jacket was rough, with loose threads sticking out. Several uneven black marks made with a water-based pen had been carelessly drawn across the cuff.
An adult would not draw such irregular scribbles on the sleeve of their own clothing.
Ji Chaozhou remained silent for a while before suddenly asking, “Do you have a child?”
At that exact moment, the car beside them repeatedly honked at the vehicle ahead.
Cheng Liu did not hear her boyfriend clearly. She only vaguely caught the word “child.”
Her mind automatically completed what he must have said.
Two months earlier, a technology news outlet had published an article about Cheng Liu’s family background. The piece had extensively discussed and analysed how someone from an ordinary family had risen to her present position.
It had also mentioned that, according to an informed source, the Cheng family had three children and that Cheng Liu was the eldest.
Her boyfriend must have read the article and was asking whether there were three children in her family.
A few days ago, Cheng Liu would definitely have disliked her boyfriend prying into her family life.
But now…
Her boyfriend would eventually become family himself. What was wrong with him asking?
Therefore, Cheng Liu nodded solemnly.
“Yes.”
A mother with a child.
Ji Chaozhou withdrew his gaze.
Most of the discomfort caused by her earlier emotional pressure disappeared.
He turned back towards the window and temporarily abandoned the idea of asking Ji Mushan to withdraw the bodyguard.
She would not be guarding him all day and would only appear at scheduled times. As far as Ji Chaozhou was concerned, that would not be particularly troublesome.
…
The two of them arrived at Guyu Bistro.
There was no underground car park, but several parking spaces were available near the entrance.
After parking, Cheng Liu swiftly unfastened her seat belt, grabbed the black umbrella from the bottom of the car door, and hurried around to the passenger side.
She enthusiastically shielded her boyfriend from the wind and rain.
Ji Chaozhou glanced at the rather attentive female bodyguard beside him.
He did not stop her and simply allowed her to hold the umbrella.
The private room had already been reserved. Cheng Liu gave her name upon entering, and a server carrying a lantern led them further inside.
It was a Chinese restaurant. Although its exterior did not appear particularly large, the interior was unexpectedly spacious. There was even an artificial rock garden in the central courtyard.
They passed through a long corridor before finally reaching their private room.
The room was constructed entirely of wood.
One of the carved rosewood windows had been pushed slightly open, allowing the wind to carry in the faint, earthy scent of soil and grass from outside. It was not unpleasant.
Candles illuminated the room from beneath glass covers. Their dim yellow flames flickered gently, lending the space an antique elegance.
Before the server could do so, Cheng Liu hurried forward and pulled out a chair for her boyfriend.
At that moment, her stomach suddenly growled.
She was hungry.
Ji Chaozhou turned his pale yet unmistakably refined face towards the female bodyguard and gave her a brief glance.
“You should sit down too,” he said indifferently.
Cheng Liu froze.
She had already planned to sit down, and her hand had nearly reached the other chair.
However, since the words had come from her beautiful boyfriend, she decided not to contradict him.
One of her business partners had once said that whatever an angry wife said was correct. You must never talk back or defy her, even when her words made no logical sense whatsoever.
All principles were connected.
Applied to her boyfriend, the same reasoning should still hold true.
Cheng Liu pulled over another chair and sat down. She opened the menu on the table and handed it to her boyfriend.
The server standing nearby began introducing Guyu Bistro’s newest dishes.
Ji Chaozhou had little interest in them. He had only come to placate Ji Mushan.
He selected two dishes and then said to Cheng Liu, “You choose.”
Cheng Liu readily accepted the menu, feeling slightly moved.
Although her boyfriend was still angry, he clearly cared about her.
In the end, she ordered five additional dishes.
Cheng Liu normally disliked places such as Guyu Bistro. The dishes were attractive but served in tiny portions.
However, looking at it now, the restaurant’s surroundings suited her boyfriend quite well.
Using the candlelight, Cheng Liu quickly glanced at the man seated beside her.
She did not know what had happened to her boyfriend during the past few months, but his entire bearing had undergone a dramatic transformation.
When they had first started dating six months ago, Cheng Liu vaguely remembered him as an unmistakably fashionable trendsetter. Designer logos had covered him from head to toe, perfectly befitting his profession as a model.
But now…
At that moment, the candlelight fell across her boyfriend’s exquisitely sculpted face. His long, lowered eyelashes concealed his amber eyes and cast a faint shadow over the bridge of his high nose.
Dressed simply in white from head to toe, he looked like a beautiful figure brought to life from a classical painting.
For some reason, Cheng Liu felt that something was slightly strange.
However, she could not identify exactly what was wrong.
She quickly dismissed the feeling.
They had not met for three months. It was only natural for him to have changed.
Besides…
Cheng Liu’s memories of their relationship were not particularly vivid in the first place.
Their dates had consisted of little more than eating together. Her boyfriend would lower his head and play with his phone, while she exchanged messages with her executive assistant and handled work matters.
Once the dishes arrived, Cheng Liu enthusiastically served food onto her boyfriend’s plate.
Every so often, she found herself stunned all over again by his face.
Ji Chaozhou remained completely unaware.
He merely assumed she was fulfilling her responsibility of supervising him while he ate.
“Your phone is vibrating,” Cheng Liu suddenly reminded him.
Ji Chaozhou looked towards his right pocket and took out his phone.
The caller ID read:
**Yun Fei.**
Leave a Reply