“Baby… can I?”
A soft ribbon covered Shi Ying’s eyes. A scorching, rough palm slowly traced along her back as the man embraced her from behind, pressing kisses to her flushed cheeks.
Her mind had already gone blank. A faint mist gathered in her eyes, dampening the white ribbon over them.
The man let out a low chuckle, amusement curling at the edge of his voice.
“You’re still this shy.”
As his words fell, Shi Ying was pushed onto the soft bed. Instinctively, she tried to retreat, but the man caught her ankle and pulled her back, stopping her escape.
His tall, solid body pressed over hers, making even breathing difficult. Reflexively, she lifted her hands to push against his shoulders.
The next second, burning lips landed on the cool, delicate skin of her neck. The slow, lingering kisses left her entire body weak and limp.
The heavy scent of alcohol mingled with the man’s scorching presence, making Shi Ying tremble uncontrollably.
“D-Don’t… don’t do this…”
Before she could say another word, his hand slid up to cradle the back of her neck, and a searing kiss descended onto her lips.
The instant their lips met, Shi Ying’s eyes widened in shock.
All the air in her lungs vanished. Her mind went completely blank, and the only thing she could hear was her own frantic heartbeat pounding beside her ears, leaving her body numb and tingling.
A deafening crash suddenly exploded outside.
Wind and rain battered the windows as thunder rolled across the sky. A flash of lightning illuminated the man’s flushed face.
…
“Ah!”
Shi Ying jolted awake from the dream, her face burning red.
Her body felt hot and damp. The thin nightdress clung uncomfortably to her sweat-soaked back.
Unable to fall asleep again, she sat up and viciously ruffled her messy hair.
“I’ve only been single for twenty years. How could I dream about something like that?!”
She shook her head hard, trying to throw those unhealthy thoughts out of her mind.
A cool breeze drifted through the half-open window, finally easing the heat on her face.
Since she couldn’t sleep anymore, Shi Ying picked up her phone and glanced at the time.
Seven o’clock sharp.
But it wasn’t real-world time.
It was the time inside the virtual world.
This was already her third day since transmigrating here.
In Huaguo in the year 2050, time-space travel had long become completely ordinary.
The Time-Space Administration managed countless small worlds contained within books. As long as people lay inside hibernation pods, they could enter those worlds as consciousnesses, experiencing entirely different lives and landscapes through all five senses—just like playing a fully immersive holographic game.
The technology exploded in popularity almost overnight, and eventually the Time-Space Administration divided its services into two categories: gaming and missions.
The gaming section, as the name implied, provided transmigration game services. Every novel world functioned like a separate dungeon, where players could romance handsome men and build successful careers.
The mission section, meanwhile, required players to complete specific objectives.
The Administration offered generous rewards to anyone willing to undertake missions in these small worlds. Complete the mission successfully, and the payout would be substantial.
Shi Ying needed money.
That was why she signed up for a romance mission.
She vaguely remembered trying the technology a few years ago when it had first been released, though most of those memories had long faded.
This time, her identity inside the virtual world was that of a newly graduated university student.
Her mission target was Shang Yu, the nephew of the president of Shang Corporation.
And today, she was heading to Shang Corporation for an interview.
The first step in winning over the male lead was naturally creating opportunities for chance encounters.
And where better for stories to unfold than the office?
Pushing that strange dream to the back of her mind, Shi Ying got out of bed and pulled open the curtains.
The city she lived in within this virtual world was called Jiangcheng.
Jiangcheng’s winters were gloomy and overcast, the sky stained with a lifeless gray that made people feel depressed for no reason at all.
Completely unlike Yun City in the real world, where warm spring weather lasted all year round.
***
That afternoon, after leaving Shang Corporation’s building, Shi Ying stretched lazily near the entrance.
For the past three days since arriving here, she had crammed professional knowledge day and night just for this interview.
The conversation had gone fairly smoothly. Regardless of the outcome, it was finally over.
Hopefully, she could start work as soon as possible.
And if not…
Then she would… figure something else out!
Shi Ying skipped happily away from the office building, her ponytail swaying cheerfully behind her.
On her way home, while passing through the pavilion in the middle of the park lake, snow suddenly began drifting down from the sky.
The snowflakes fluttered through the air like powdered sugar sprinkled over a cake, quickly coating the ground in a thin layer of white.
Excited, Shi Ying stretched out her hand to catch them.
She had grown up in the south in the real world and had never seen such heavy snowfall before.
The pavilion sat surrounded by water on all sides, connected to shore by a wooden bridge. The lake had frozen over, hidden beneath layers of white snow. Shi Ying leaned against the railing, admiring the scenery for a long while.
The wind and snow gradually grew heavier.
The flowering trees beside the pavilion swayed beneath the icy gusts, scattering snowflakes into her collar.
Shi Ying shivered and instinctively tucked in her neck.
But just as she stepped out of the pavilion, she nearly collided with a man standing on the bridge.
Startled, she hurriedly stepped back.
“Sorry.”
She lifted her head.
Amid the endless snowfall, the man stood there in a black overcoat. His features were cold and sharp, his tall figure bathed in the dim golden glow of dusk, like a frost-covered pine standing alone in a barren wilderness.
Snow rested upon his broad shoulders and short black hair.
His gaze was fixed firmly on her.
Sticky.
Obsessive.
And tinged with disbelief.
Mom! I really ran into a psycho!
Goosebumps instantly rose across Shi Ying’s skin beneath his stare. She quickly wrapped her cotton coat tighter around herself and hurried past him.
The wooden bridge was narrow.
As they brushed shoulders, Shang Chenyan unconsciously reached out a hand.
The ends of the girl’s windblown hair lightly grazed his fingertips.
His entire body stiffened.
His feet felt nailed to the bridge.
He didn’t dare move even slightly. All he could do was watch as her figure slowly disappeared into the endless curtain of falling snow.
***
After returning home, Shi Ying hastily dealt with dinner before searching online for information about Shang Yu.
The Shang family was one of Jiangcheng’s top elite families.
The current acting president of Shang Corporation was Old Master Shang’s youngest son, while Shang Yu was Old Master Shang’s grandson, currently studying at Jiangcheng University while interning at the family company.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much information available online.
After searching for ages, Shi Ying still failed to find anything particularly useful.
Just as she was about to shut down her computer, her eyes caught a photograph in the corner of the webpage.
It was a side-profile shot taken during an interview with Shang Corporation’s president—Shang Chenyan.
Shi Ying tilted her head and stared at it for a long moment.
For some reason, he looked strangely familiar.
Just as she was lost in thought, her phone suddenly rang.
“Miss Shi Ying?”
“Yes, speaking. May I ask who this is?”
“I’m the director of the design department at Shang Corporation. We spoke earlier today.”
Shi Ying immediately tightened her grip on the phone.
Sure enough, the next second, the voice on the other end continued:
“Congratulations. You’ve successfully passed the interview. Please come tomorrow to complete your onboarding procedures.”
Shi Ying nearly jumped up in excitement.
She was one step closer to that one-million reward!
“I’ll definitely be there on time!”
To celebrate, Shi Ying went downstairs to buy snacks.
But while carrying the bag home, the sudden blast of a car horn startled her badly.
Shi Ying glanced at the black car parked by the roadside and muttered under her breath,
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Sorry, President Shang.”
Inside the car, Jiang Wen hurriedly withdrew his hand from the horn, cold sweat covering his forehead.
That girl from earlier…
She looked so much like Madam…
But Madam had disappeared five years ago.
Disappeared.
Not dead.
As though she had never existed in this world at all.
After that incident, President Shang had nearly gone insane.
Jiang Wen glanced at the man seated in the back through the rearview mirror.
The lights inside the car were off. Dim yellow streetlights reflected faintly across the man’s face, revealing no trace of emotion.
Yet Jiang Wen could clearly feel it.
The moment that girl appeared, it was as if the entire world had fallen silent.
Shang Chenyan’s gaze remained fixed on her figure through the car window.
The blurred streetlights stretched her shadow long across the ground until it gradually overlapped with memories from the past.
As though an entire lifetime had gone by.