"Why don't you talk to me, and see if I…"
The two who returned to the dormitory were still shaken.
He Shuxia came carrying fruit to apologize, but was turned away at the door by Lu Qi.
"She wasn't apologizing sincerely—she's just too scared, and her conscience is bothering her."
He Cheng still felt sorry for Lu Qi. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't provoked Liang Jiahao, you wouldn't have had to go through such an awful experience today."
"If you say that, then I should apologize too—I'm the one who dragged you to the equestrian center. Come on, let's stop apologizing to each other. It's not our fault anyway." Lu Qi hugged her again, taking two deep breaths into the hollow of her shoulder.
"But seriously, you really impressed me today! What Mr. Zong said was right too—he hoped those golden qualities of yours would show up in a classroom or an open field. Ugh, he really knows how to talk!"
Lu Qi felt like she'd survived a close call.
She called her parents, tearfully recounting what had happened that day. Her parents were both frightened and scolded her for running around, telling her to stay put at school.
He Cheng's only family was her grandmother, and she didn't want to worry her. Besides, telling her wouldn't change anything, so she didn't mention it—today was just a rare occurrence anyway.
She called to ask about her grandmother's health and what she'd been up to lately.
Her second uncle's daughter, her cousin He Shan, was also at home. He Cheng had never had a good impression of this cousin and couldn't bring herself to like her.
Previously, He Shan had run up debts and secretly taken the gold ring and gold earrings that Grandfather had left for Grandmother, pawning them for three thousand yuan. Who knew what she was visiting Grandmother for this time.
Grandmother happily said He Shan had gotten a boyfriend—extremely wealthy, and willing to spend lavishly on her.
He Shan had given Grandmother ten thousand yuan to pay off her debts.
Something about it sounded unreliable, and He Cheng frowned.
What man would be willing to pay off his girlfriend's grandmother's debts? Besides, her second uncle's wife had never been generous with money. At best, she didn't stir up trouble between mother and son—there was no way she'd have money to give Grandmother, let alone agree to let her daughter help pay off Grandmother's debts.
More importantly, He Cheng didn't want her family's affairs to be handled by someone else. Such a huge favor was more than she could bear.
Grandmother was sixty-four this year, and her health wasn't the strongest among her peers. She had worked herself too hard—in her early years, she had to ride her bicycle to the textile mill in town before dawn every day. Even so, life had remained destitute.
Years ago, when her eldest uncle wanted to go into business and asked Father to co-sign as guarantor, Father refused. In the end, Grandmother stepped in as guarantor. After her eldest uncle disappeared, the court enforced the judgment against Grandmother, and the entire five hundred thousand yuan debt fell on her shoulders.
When Father was alive, he served as secretary to the mayor of Xizhou City, earning an ordinary civil servant's salary. He could barely manage the debt payments each month. After Father passed away, Grandmother sold the house and family assets to repay the debt, but still owed over three hundred thousand. In the end, the two of them had nowhere to live and had to move into a house that one of Grandmother's relatives had abandoned.
Behind the house was a mountain covered with pomelo trees. In good years, they could earn over ten thousand annually; in bad years, only five or six thousand.
But all that money had to go toward the debt.
Grandmother still owed over two hundred thousand.
When Grandmother first learned that the money from her sponsor still had over a hundred thousand left, she'd considered using it too, but in the end, she let He Cheng keep it for herself.
When He Cheng arrived in Hong Kong, she returned it to Zong Xubai.
It needed to be repaid eventually.
The money she'd used over the years would also need to be repaid someday.
This past August, she'd also learned a shocking piece of news: because Grandmother had gotten an IUD in her youth and never had it removed, her hormone levels had decreased, her uterus had atrophied, and the IUD had become embedded in the uterine wall. She'd gone to the hospital feeling unwell and was diagnosed with cervical cancer stage 1B1.
The doctor said she needed a hysterectomy, but Grandmother adamantly refused to spend the money and kept putting it off.
He Cheng had tried to persuade her many times without success—it had become a constant worry weighing on her heart.
At this moment, on the screen, Grandmother's wrinkled face beamed with joy, thoroughly delighted by He Shan's flattery, praising her for being capable and finding such a good man.
Then she smiled at He Cheng, gently asking about her eating and drinking, fretting that she seemed to have gotten thinner.
Listening to Grandmother talk about the trivialities of daily life, He Cheng's hollow heart slowly filled back up. She couldn't bring herself to badmouth He Shan and her boyfriend to Grandmother's face, so she didn't bring it up again.
Ye Yanzhi had a tutoring session tonight, and normally he wouldn't be free to video chat until after nine. However, the student's family had invited him out for a late-night snack, so he probably wouldn't be available until after ten.
He Cheng came out of the shower, dried her hair, and sat at her desk reading for a while. A familiar ringtone cut through the silence. She picked up her phone and swiped to answer: "Done with your late-night snack?"
On the video, a face with indistinct surroundings but exceptionally striking features made the smile on her lips freeze.
A short, startled shriek echoed in the room. The phone was tossed onto the desk, the camera pointing at the ceiling.
As He Cheng was still recovering from her shock, a low, magnetic, harmless voice of concern came through the video.
"What's the matter—did I scare you?"
He Cheng covered her face, calming her startled heart.
She'd had Zong Xubai on WeChat for several days now. The two had only exchanged a couple of words the moment they added each other. After that, his chat window sank lower and lower in her list, until she'd almost forgotten he was on her WeChat at all.
Just moments ago, she thought it was Ye Yanzhi calling, so she answered without checking. Who would have guessed that Zong Xubai's face would appear on the video call?
It was both absurd and startling.
He Cheng awkwardly picked up the phone again to continue the video call.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."
He was probably in a car.
The dim light cast a warm, amber glow across his features.
Hearing the word "you," his brows furrowed slightly.
"Who did you think it was?"
He Cheng answered honestly, "I thought it was my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Zong Xubai let out a light laugh, a trace of barely perceptible mockery at the corner of his lips. He pushed up his glasses and looked back at the camera, his dark eyes like deep, still night fog.
"Did he give you this too? You didn't even notice it fell off. Seems like you don't care much about him."
A woven red string appeared on the screen, held between his long fingers.
He Cheng touched her neck—it was empty. She really had been too shaken by the incident at the stables to notice when the red string necklace had fallen off.
So Zong Xubai had video-called her just to return the red string?
The woven red string necklace itself wasn't worth much, but the copper coin pendant engraved with "Qianlong Tongbao" was a gift from Ye Yanzhi, said to have been passed down from his grandfather, meant to ward off disasters and evil.
"Come out and get it. I'm downstairs at your dorm."
He was brief and to the point.
The sedan was indeed parked quietly in the endless darkness.
He Cheng opened the car door. Zong Xubai was leaning back in his seat with his legs crossed, eyes closed in rest. The warm light from above fell on his straight nose, carving a sharp golden line—half his face clearly illuminated, the other half sinking into serene shadow.
Hearing the sound, he slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at her.
Her long hair cascaded over her chest, making her face look even paler. Her clear, bright eyes looked over as she politely said, "Mr. Zong."
Zong Xubai didn't respond.
The two faced each other in silence.
He sat inside, she stood outside, with a seat between them. He wouldn't deign to hand her the red string, and her arm wasn't long enough, so she had no choice but to get into the car.
"Close the door. It's hot."
"I'll just grab the red string and head back to the dorm." He Cheng's gaze was fixed on his fingers.
A thin red string was loosely held between his well-defined fingers, the Qianlong Tongbao copper coin hanging lifelessly against his pristine white suit pants.
The striking red against the cold white clashed like a vivid, dramatic painting.
Zong Xubai noticed her eagerness to leave and drawled, "Treating me like a delivery boy? Grab the item and go."
"No, that's not it." He Cheng protested weakly. She was just thinking it was almost 10 PM and she'd promised Ye Yanzhi a video call.
Taking the necklace and leaving immediately would indeed make it seem like she was treating Zong Xubai as a delivery boy. A man of his status wouldn't tolerate being treated that way.
She closed the car door and sat down in the small space.
A faint scent of agarwood cigarette smoke lingered in the car—not unpleasant, and she could even imagine his recent time in the vehicle, perhaps silently smoking many cigarettes.
That's why the smoke smell wouldn't dissipate even with the wind.
She couldn't picture what he looked like smoking. She'd never seen it.
No wonder he seemed to be in a bad mood.
Seeing her sit down, he curled his lips in satisfaction.
"It really was from him?"
He lifted the red string with his index finger, examining it like some curious trinket while making casual conversation.
Even without him naming anyone, He Cheng knew "him" referred to her boyfriend Ye Yanzhi.
"Yes."
He smiled meaningfully again. "Few girls wear ancient coins. This isn't even genuine. If you like them, I'll give you a real one someday."
Qianlong Tongbao, mountain-character Long, a copper coin—how much could it be worth?
Fake or not, He Cheng didn't have a hierarchy of authenticity. It was a gift from her boyfriend, and the thought was what mattered. His blunt remark didn't shame or offend her. He was well-traveled and knowledgeable, so of course he could spot a fake at a glance—perhaps it was a well-meaning reminder.
She wasn't interested in his "genuine ancient coin" either.
She countered softly, "My boyfriend and I are both students. Gifts matter for the sentiment, not whether they're authentic. You don't need to give me a real one—authenticity doesn't matter to me."
Zong Xubai looked at her deeply. She was defending her boyfriend through and through—authenticity didn't matter, who gave it did.
He let out a light scoff from his nose. "Students express affection with more than just small gifts and saying 'I miss you' out loud."
He lectured with extreme rationality: "Sweet talk is the cheapest trick in love. When choosing a man, look at his power and money."
Hearing him say this, it was clear he'd overheard the latter half of her conversation with Ye Yanzhi in the car earlier.
If he hadn't brought it up, she could have pretended nothing happened. But now that he mentioned it, she felt embarrassed, her face flushing with heat. Still, she explained patiently, "That's just how couples interact. Surely Mr. Zong would give his girlfriend gifts and say sweet things to her when in a relationship?"
Zong Xubai lazily tilted his head back, eyeing her with interest, his pupils focused like a net slowly spreading under the night sky, every thread woven with patience.
He said nonchalantly, "Never been in a relationship."
"How about you try dating me, and see if I'm like that?"
He Cheng froze, staring at him blankly.
A man as handsome and wealthy as him, who had never been in a relationship—how rare.
He Cheng realized she had overstepped and quickly said, "I didn't know Mr. Zong had never been in a relationship. That was presumptuous of me. I apologize."
He ignored the latter part of her sentence.
First, she didn't take it seriously, thinking he was just a little irritated and had spoken without restraint in the heat of the moment.
Second, she genuinely didn't know how to respond—he clearly knew she had a boyfriend.
Zong Xubai's gaze settled on her face. Her clear, apologetic eyes seemed to glow, shimmering with moisture, as if all the starlight in the world had gathered in her pupils.
Her T-shirt collar hung loose and slouched. Under the amber light, her fair skin was bathed in a thin layer of gilded gold. Her collarbones were like the ribs of a fan—extremely thin, with delicate, fragile skin stretched over them.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at her long, bare neck. Suddenly, he sprang up from the backrest, his upper body leaning straight toward her, the leather seat emitting a faint rustling sound.
A flash of white suddenly rushed toward her. He Cheng was startled and instinctively recoiled. With a thud, her back pressed hard against the car door. She let out a brief gasp, her hands reflexively bracing against his broad shoulders.
Her eyes went wide, staring in disbelief at the suddenly magnified handsome face before her.
He lowered his lashes. Through the thin fabric of her clothes, her slender, pale arms pressed firmly against his collarbones on either side, as if guarding against him. The soft fabric sank into her palms as she yanked outward with all her might.
Two buttons on his shirt actually popped off.
He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. When he lifted his eyelids, a dense mist had gathered in his eyes.
In just a few seconds, He Cheng's entire back scraped against the car door. The hard surface dug into her shoulder blades, sending faint waves of pain through her.
Her heart pounded in her throat as she instinctively pressed her legs together in panic.
As he leaned forward, the amber light above was half-blocked by his silhouette. The remaining light split over the top of his head, casting a gilded sheen over his dark, stiff hair.
A faint scent of perilla and sandalwood invaded her senses with force.
It was his scent.
She held her breath, her hands tightly clutching the fabric at his shoulders and neck, crumpling it in her palms.
In truth, his face wasn't that close. It was just that he had leaned over so suddenly, catching her completely off guard.
She calmed herself and said in a stiff tone, "Mr. Zong, what… what are you doing?"
Zong Xubai's neck was taut, his silk shirt collar scraping against the back of his neck, leaving red marks in places unseen.
"That's what I should be asking you."
His long lashes lowered, his gaze fixing on the fabric she had pulled taut. She was gripping it so tightly that a large expanse of his clearly defined chest was exposed.
A slight curve lifted the corner of his lips, his voice carrying a hint of mischief. "I'm not that eager either."
He Cheng followed his gaze, and her pupils suddenly dilated. The accidental exposure made her skin flush with heat. She turned her face away and closed her eyes.
But her palms remained motionless.
His dark eyes held a glint of amusement. "Still holding on?"
He Cheng realized she was gripping too tightly—as if she were trying to pull him closer for a kiss. But she had meant to push him away!
She had been so unprepared for his approach, so caught up in treating him like a threat, that she hadn't realized the direction of her force had long since changed.
She released her grip abruptly. Her palms were sticky with fine sweat.
Zong Xubai didn't seem to mind at all. He raised his arm, his long, well-defined fingers lifting the red cord, spreading it into a semicircle. The copper coin pendant dangled between them.
He moved to put it around her neck with practiced ease.
As if he were the one who had given her the necklace in the first place.
He held the right to put it on her.
The sponsor's matter-of-fact action made He Cheng's breath catch. Her shoulders pressed tightly against the car door, her neck stiff, her brows furrowed in the quiet atmosphere.
She didn't understand. Who would put a necklace on someone so forcefully like this?
They weren't close enough for such an intimate gesture.
"Lift your head a little."
His tone was gentle and casual, yet carried an undeniable authority and command.
He Cheng didn't move. The car door felt like her protective wall. She rejected his well-meaning contact with her entire body. Summoning her courage, she reached out and snatched the red cord directly from his hand. His hand was suddenly empty.
She clutched the red cord in her palm, the round copper coin pressing against the lines of her hand. She said stubbornly, "I'll put it on myself when I get back."
Putting jewelry on someone was an intimate act. Aside from her grandmother and close female friends, the only man who had ever put something on her was Ye Yanzhi.
He wasn't the right person to do this for her.
The necklace had an ordinary adjustable clasp, but the loop was a bit loose—a slight tug would make it fall off. It had slipped off twice before.
She always took it off before showering. It was a bit troublesome, but she had gotten used to it.
Zong Xubai's dark eyes locked onto her. She seemed frightened by his proximity, the back of her neck pressed hard against the car door, strands of hair arching over her cheeks, trembling messily with each breath.
His gaze swept over her pale face. He curved his lips in a faint smile that didn't reach his eyes, and asked softly, "It's just putting on a necklace. Why are you this scared?"
"Are you afraid your boyfriend will find out you've been in contact with me?"
"Then when you tore my clothes, wouldn't he be jealous too?"
His words were a bit too blunt.
He Cheng's shoulders stiffened. She stared back at him without moving, a chill running down her spine.