In the ultra-fast lane, the pitch-black sedan blurred like a shadow, pushing the absolute edge of the speed limit.
Once it merged onto the main artery, mandatory traffic control forced the car to slow down. As the vehicle’s momentum eased, Gu Lingyi’s frantic, burning anxiety began to cool, slowly giving way to reason.
The press conference was still underway. On the car’s central display, the newly appointed chairwoman of the board stood out her features looked as though they had been bathed in frost, cool, composed, and unhurried as she explained the new policies and direction of Zhuyu High School to a global audience.
A reporter raised a question: Why refuse admission to students from same-sex marriage families?
Without changing her cadence, Chairwoman Jiang answered with cool patience: “One Yin and one Yang constitute harmony. Life originates from harmony, and growth thrives in balance…”
Gu Lingyi turned off the audio. Her mind was instantly filled with images of Jiang Yanqing from last night.
The fair beauty gently pursed her pink lips, the outer corners of her eyes flushed a pale red as she lay beneath her. The bedside lamp had cast a warm glow over her icy, refined features, illuminating an expression filled with restraint and endearment.
Voice trembling like water running through a cool stream, she had soothed and guided her: “Junior Gu, go a little slower…”
She was a world apart from the cold, detached face currently on the broadcast.
The sedan exited the main road. Gu Lingyi stepped out into the falling sleet, feeling the chill slowly numb her skin.
She tapped on the security booth’s window and asked calmly, “I’m an alumnus. I’d like to visit my alma mater.”
Gu Lingyi returned occasionally, so the regular guards knew her and usually let her pass without hesitation. Today, however, a unfamiliar face stood inside the booth.
Following standard procedure, Gu Lingyi tapped her wrist device and projected her personal credentials across the screen.
After completing the routine check, the guard nodded. “Alright, please hold on moment. I need to report this to my supervisor first.”
Gu Lingyi went back to her car.
The press conference had ended, and the close-up broadcast shifted to a wide shot. Jiang Yanqing, alongside members of the Jiang family, was conversing with executives from the school and the Bureau of Education. The audio was muted.
The sedan had activated its external audio sensors so Gu Lingyi could catch any updates from the security desk immediately.
“Did you log it according to protocol?”
“I did! Her identity is verified too. Alumni usually don’t have any issues coming in, right? Why do we need to forward this to administration?”
“Principal Li isn’t in charge anymore…Chairwoman Jiang is. Every process has to start from scratch. Admin still needs to request approval from Chairwoman Jiang directly, so it’s going to take some time.”
At that precise moment, Gu Lingyi saw an administrative officer step up to Jiang Yanqing on the live monitor screen.
“An alumnus has applied for entry. Chairwoman Jiang, should we handle this under the old system, or enforce the new entry review protocol starting now? The alumnus’s file has been sent to your inbox.”
“Alright, let me take a look.”
Gu Lingyi could read basic lip movements. As Jiang Yanqing lowered her head, Gu Lingyi’s heart slammed into her throat.
Those few seconds stretched on agonizingly long.
The feed was crystal clear. Even from a distance, she could see those indifferent, icy eyes…completely void of emotion.
Her suspended heart wavered on the brink of falling.
“Enforce the new system. Effective immediately.”
“Under the new rules, this Miss Gu’s public records show she triggers items two and three on the restriction list, correct?”
“Mm.”
The woman brushed off the minor administrative task, raised her eyes, and seamlessly resumed her conversation with the education officials as if nothing had happened.
“Huh, the admin approval came back… Wait, why was it denied?” the guard muttered.
“There’s a note at the bottom, let me see… ‘To security personnel: To protect current students, Zhuyu High is not a place just anyone can enter. Detailed requirements have been issued; please read them carefully. Miss Gu triggers items two and three, and her entry application is denied accordingly.'”
The guard carefully read through the restriction list aloud: “…Second: Compromised social reputation. Third: Connection to same-sex marriage or relationships, including individuals who are openly gay or from same-sex marriage families…”
“I’m very sorry, Miss Gu. The school’s regulations have changed, and your entry application has been rejected,” the guard said, jogging over and tapping on the car window.
Gu Lingyi closed her eyes. She couldn’t quite describe the sensation surging through her, only feeling a deep bit of bitterness coat her tongue.
She looked out toward the public road.
The streetlights shone brightly as cars roared past at high speeds orderly, purposeful, and heading toward clear destinations.
Yet, just separated by a single flower bed, the pure black sedan…shut out by Jiang Yanqing and Zhuyu High…sat parked alone by the curb, utterly helpless and lost.
The guard tapped the window again, gently reminding her, “Miss Gu, please clear the area near the school entrance as soon as possible.”
The woman in the driver’s seat let out a soft murmur of assent.
Always casual and unbothered by everything, for the first time in her life, she was completely engulfed in a wave of isolation and powerlessness.
“Chairwoman Jiang!”
The guard turned around, immediately spotted the new leader’s car, and snapped an enthusiastic salute.
The rear window slowly glided down, revealing the cold beauty who had just appeared on the global live stream.
She gave a subtle nod toward the guard. Energized, the guard stomped his feet together and saluted even higher. “Chairwoman Jiang! I was the one who just submitted that entry application to admin!”
He was clearly trying to make a good impression on the big boss.
The leader nodded, her voice crisp and even. “Good work. Keep it up.”
The luxury van merely slowed down without coming to a full stop. As it began to pull away and the window started to roll back up, Gu Lingyi finally caught sight of the woman she had been desperately trying to reach.
Their eyes met.
Gu Lingyi’s desolate eyes instantly lit up…like a ray of primal light breaking through a dark, chaotic universe. Framed by her alluring, fox-like eyes, she looked striking, free, and utterly captivating.
Anyone would be drawn to a beauty like her, stopping in their tracks just to stare.
Gu Lingyi knew her own strengths better than anyone.
She would keep Jiang Yanqing…whatever it took.
Work was work, and personal life was personal life. She could keep them separate.
Her heart surged with emotion, and the word “Senior Jiang”…laden with lingering affection…nearly slipped out involuntarily.
Yet, those obsidian eyes merely rested on her casually, as if only because the van happened to pass by at that specific angle.
In that split second, Gu Lingyi was certain that Jiang Yanqing had seen her.
The legendary high-altitude flower sat with pristine, elegant composure. She didn’t deliberately avert her gaze, nor did the depth of her eyes change in the slightest…it remained cool, detached, and distant.
It was as if she were looking at a complete stranger.
Only when looking at someone unknown would a person carry such a fleeting, indifferent attitude.
Yet Jiang Yanqing was looking at the very person she had been entangled with in passion just last night.
Only hours before, they had shared each other’s warm breath, their smooth, jade-like skin rubbing together in a rising tide of intimacy.
Now, separated by two thin car windows, they were colder and more distant than strangers.
Warm streetlight filtered down, holding them in a quiet gaze across the glass as time itself seemed to freeze.
The heat in Gu Lingyi’s heart withered and turned cold under that unfamiliar, detached gaze. The whisper of “Senior Jiang” that had almost escaped her throat was forced right back down.
Without slowing, the van glided onward, leaving Jiang Yanqing’s icy face as nothing more than a fading phantom before Gu Lingyi’s eyes.
It felt as though all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. Gu Lingyi sank limply against her seat, the tiny, shattered sparks of light in her eyes completely going dark.