Jiang Siya reached across the table and took Yang Zhiyan’s hand. Her hand was smaller than Zhiyan’s, soft and chubby, radiating a comforting warmth.
“Zhiyan, I’ve told you this so many times,” Jiang Siya said, her voice slowing. “If someone doesn’t love you, then you don’t have to love them either. Don’t chain yourself down just because you’re related by blood.”
Yang Zhiyan looked at the hand holding hers. Siya had recently gotten her nails done—a pale lavender polish with two tiny rhinestones that sparkled under the lights.
“I used to think you were wrong,” Yang Zhiyan said.
“And now?”
“Now…” She paused to think. “I think you were right.”
Jiang Siya gave her a gentle pat before lifting her teacup toward her.
“Then here’s to your overdue awakening. Cheers.”
Their teacups clinked together with a crisp, pleasant chime.
The dishes arrived quickly.
The crispy roast goose was still sizzling when it was served. Its skin was a glossy deep brown, shatteringly crisp like potato chips, while the meat underneath was so tender it practically melted on the tongue.
The steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce came in a small bamboo basket. The savory fermented black bean flavor had seeped deep into the meat, and the tiny bit of tendon clinging to the bone was the best part—chewy and wonderfully satisfying.
The crystal shrimp dumplings had wrappers so thin they were almost transparent, revealing the pink shrimp inside. One bite, and the rich juices burst across the palate.
Yang Zhiyan ate with genuine satisfaction.
It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a proper meal out.
The last time had been a month ago, when Teacher Mu had treated her to beef noodles at a small restaurant near the studio. The two of them had each finished an entire bowl—even the broth.
“Good?” Jiang Siya asked, placing a baked barbecued pork pastry into her bowl.
“It’s delicious.”
Yang Zhiyan took a bite. It was unbelievably good.
“Then eat more.”
Siya added another shrimp dumpling to her bowl.
“Your waist is so tiny it’s like a sheet of paper. A strong breeze could blow you over.”
Yang Zhiyan instinctively glanced down at her waist.
The qipao she wore today accentuated her figure beautifully. Teacher Mu had once told her that her waist was one of her greatest features and that she should stop hiding herself in loose linen clothes.
She had deliberately chosen this dress today. Before leaving home, she’d hesitated, worried that it might show off her figure too much. But then she’d thought:
I’m dressing for myself. Why should I care what anyone else thinks?
“Oh, right.” Jiang Siya spoke with a shrimp dumpling still in her mouth, making her words slightly muffled. “Didn’t you say some guy added you on WeChat? What’s the story there?”
Yang Zhiyan paused mid-bite.
“Just… a customer.”
“What kind of customer?”
“He’s…” She searched for the right words.
Calling him handsome felt too shallow.
Saying he looked good wasn’t enough.
Finally she said, “Very… upright-looking. He has great presence. The kind of person who looks like he’s in a leadership position.”
“A leader?” Jiang Siya’s eyes lit up. “How high up?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“You idiot! You didn’t ask? What if he’s a big catch?”
“What big catch?” Yang Zhiyan picked up some baby bok choy. “He just wanted to have a qipao custom-made as a birthday gift for his mother. Besides, he seems so mature and steady. I’m a hundred percent sure he’s married.”
“Married? Never mind then.”
She paused before adding seriously,
“But Zhiyan… you need to be careful.”
“Careful about what?”
Jiang Siya put down her chopsticks and looked at her solemnly.
“A man adds you on WeChat, claiming it’s because he wants to make a qipao for his mother…”
“You actually believe that?”
Yang Zhiyan blinked in surprise.
“Then… what else could it be?” she asked.
Jiang Siya didn’t answer immediately. She took another sip of tea before setting her cup down. Such an innocent little fool, she thought.
She pointed at the pork pastry in front of Yang Zhiyan with her chopsticks.
“Be careful you don’t end up becoming the other woman.”
“…”
On the second floor of the restaurant, in a private dining room at the end of the hallway, the dinner gathering had just ended.
The door opened.
Qin Yuzheng was the first to step out.
Tonight he wore a white dress shirt beneath a black casual blazer.
His hair was slightly messier than usual. During dinner, he’d unconsciously run his fingers through it several times without realizing it.
He stood in the hallway while the private room door remained slightly ajar behind him. A narrow beam of warm golden light spilled through the opening, falling across his shoulders like a slender river of light.
He had drunk a little tonight—not much, but enough to leave the rims of his ears faintly red.
He rarely drank. Today’s exception was because Liu Minlan had come from Beijing, and it wasn’t often that the group managed to get together.
The others gradually emerged from the room.
The second was Mu Cheng.
Two years younger than Qin Yuzheng, his family’s business empire was enormous. Several publicly listed companies in Haicheng had his family’s influence behind the scenes.
He wore a navy-blue suit without a tie. Two buttons at the collar of his shirt were undone, exposing a small stretch of skin beneath his collarbone.
He held his phone in one hand, rapidly replying to messages, his thumb flying across the screen without ever looking up.
Then came Zhou Zhanyu.
He wasn’t very talkative, but among them he had the best physique. A former soldier who now ran a security company, he still carried himself with impeccable military posture.
He wore a black polo shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, revealing well-defined muscles. Prominent veins ran from the back of his hands beneath his sleeves.
The last to emerge was Liu Minlan.
He wore a perpetual smile, with narrow eyes and lips that always curled upward slightly, earning him a reputation in political circles as a smiling tiger.
He worked at a ministry in Beijing, making him something of a colleague to Qin Yuzheng. Their families had been close friends for generations, dating back to their grandfathers.
When Liu Minlan came out, he was still holding half a cup of tea.
He didn’t leave immediately.
Instead, he leaned against the hallway wall, leisurely finished the tea, then placed the cup on the windowsill.
“Ah Zheng,” he called, “want to come over for a drink tonight? Old Zhou has a winery and a private club. They just got in a shipment of New World wines. I haven’t tasted them yet.”
Qin Yuzheng was just about to answer when something caught the corner of his eye.
At the end of the hallway was the second-floor railing.
Beyond it lay the restaurant’s first-floor dining hall.
Through the gaps in the railing, he could see the white tablecloths, the warm amber lighting, and the diners seated by the windows.
His gaze settled on the table nearest the window.
The woman seated there had her profile turned toward him as she quietly ate.
She wore an ivory qipao, her hair loosely pinned up with a hairpin.
Across from her sat a round-faced young woman who chatted nonstop between bites.
Qin Yuzheng stopped in his tracks, as though his feet had been nailed to the carpet.
Mu Cheng walked past him, then realized he wasn’t following.
He turned around.
“Ah Zheng?”
Qin Yuzheng didn’t respond.
Standing beside the railing, he rested one hand on it, his fingers unconsciously tightening.
The light from the dining hall below rose to illuminate half of his face, while the other half remained hidden in the shadow of the corridor pillar.
He watched the woman eating below.
His gaze was as calm as deep water…
Yet beneath that tranquil surface, something was quietly churning.
Liu Minlan was the first to notice something was off.
That look in Qin Yuzheng’s eyes…
There was unmistakable longing in it.
And just as unmistakably, determination.
Following his line of sight, Liu Minlan looked downstairs.
Near the window on the first floor sat two young women having dinner.
The round-faced one was talking animatedly, her mouth never stopping.
The other listened quietly, giving only the occasional small nod.
Liu Minlan let his gaze linger briefly on the woman in profile.
Then he walked over to Qin Yuzheng’s side and casually patted him on the shoulder.