With the shadows in his heart completely dispelled, Fang Jinshi enjoyed a deep, peaceful night’s sleep.
The following day was the weekend, and the weather was spectacular, with bright, brilliant sunlight.
After breakfast, Fang Jinshi’s older brother, Fang Jinchen, invited him out to get a fresh haircut.
Fang Jinshi was naturally striking, his features perfectly inheriting his father’s sharp handsomeness and his mother’s delicate elegance. With his hair neatly trimmed, his facial contours became much more defined, washing away the lingering traces of his long illness. His face now resembled a radiant, flawless moon—serene, ethereal, and utterly captivating.
As Fang Jinshi stood up from the salon chair, his brother leaned in to brush away a stray strand of hair from his shoulder. “Not bad. You look much more spirited.”
Fang Jinshi knew this was all part of the preparation for the upcoming banquet. As the guest of honor, his wardrobe and styling had to be meticulously curated.
Sure enough, by the time they returned to the Fang estate, Madam Fang had already brought a renowned designer to the house.
The moment she saw his new haircut, her eyes lit up, and she nodded in rapid succession. She immediately pulled him over to the designer to have his measurements taken, ordering a bespoke suit tailored specifically for him.
On the eve of the banquet, the custom suit—having undergone final fittings and alterations—was delivered to Fang Jinshi’s room.
Resting atop the neatly folded garment was a small, square velvet box.
Fang Jinshi’s gaze locked onto it.
Fang Jinchen picked up the box and opened it for him. “A pure white suit is a bit too plain on its own; it needs a touch of contrast. What do you think?”
Looking inside, Fang Jinshi saw a stunning brooch resting against the deep red velvet.
It was crafted from flawless smoky quartz, meticulously shaped into a winter plum blossom. Wisps of translucent amber seemed to float within the pale petals. Though it lacked the vibrant hue of a fresh flower, it possessed an incredibly elegant, understated grace.
His brother was gifting him a plum blossom—a flower famed for defying frost and battling snow.
Fang Jinshi instantly understood the profound meaning behind his brother’s gesture. A soft ripple stirred in his eyes, but his gaze remained resolutely firm. “Thank you, big brother. I love it.”
The winter plum possessed an unyielding spine, refusing to break under the weight of wind and snow. He was exactly the same. Whether it was physical illness or emotional betrayal, nothing could break him.
Having tried on the suit, it was getting late.
Fang Jinshi lay in bed, the small velvet box resting securely on his nightstand.
The room was unlit. The gentle wind occasionally ruffled the curtains, allowing a sliver of soft moonlight to slip inside, tracing the elegant contour of the box.
Pillowing his head on his arm, Fang Jinshi turned his head to look at it. With just a single glance, a profound warmth and a surge of limitless courage flooded his heart.
He thought to himself that he was incredibly fortunate. Coming back to life might not mean a perfectly smooth path ahead, but he was blessed with a family that loved him fiercely.
The following evening, the banquet commenced right on schedule.
The newly redecorated ballroom was a vision of absolute opulence. Magnificent crystal chandeliers cast a brilliant, cool white light, illuminating the space as bright as midday. Long, intricately carved tables were draped in pristine white cloths, featuring towering champagne pyramids that overlooked fine white porcelain vases. Inside the vases, clusters of pink and purple roses bloomed quietly, mirroring the radiant smiles of the arriving guests.
To the melody of a sweeping orchestral performance, the guests conversed in low, elegant tones. The deep laughter of men and the melodic giggles of women merged into a harmonious symphony of high society.
Suddenly, the collective chatter ground to a violent halt.
The guest of honor—Fang Jinshi—was walking down the sweeping spiral staircase.
It was as though every light in the grand ballroom had instantly converged entirely upon him. He effortlessly captivated the attention of every single soul in the room.
He wore an impeccably tailored white suit. Though undeniably slender, he exuded a striking magnetic charm that hovered beautifully between youth and mature masculinity. Coupled with his slightly upturned chin and his naturally proud, regal expression, he looked every bit like a fiercely arrogant prince stepping straight out of a fairy tale.
Those who had secretly arrived hoping to catch a glimpse of a sickly laughingstock found themselves utterly speechless. They even caught themselves holding their breath, terrified of disturbing his presence.
Blending into the crowd of guests, Lin Nuo stared at the scene before him. His heart filled with a swollen, suffocating mixture of intense jealousy and deep envy.
The “White Moonlight” in a man’s heart truly was a radiant moon in the high heavens. Even he found it nearly impossible to look away.
As if sensing Lin Nuo’s heavy gaze, Fang Jinshi suddenly shifted his eyes toward him.
The moment their eyes locked, Lin Nuo flinched violently, as if he had been stung by a venomous scorpion. A thunderous drumbeat seemed to erupt in his chest, leaving him dizzy and lightheaded. In an instant, an overwhelming, inexplicable wave of guilt and inferiority washed over him.
It was only when he sheepishly averted his gaze and his racing heart began to steady that he realized he had no reason to feel guilty at all.
First of all, Fang Jinshi had already broken up with Li Jin and shouldn’t have any further entanglements with them. Secondly, since he had walked through the door, he was a guest; as long as the Fang family cared about their public reputation, they would never openly humiliate him. Most importantly—Li Jin loved him.
He possessed Li Jin’s absolute devotion. What on earth did he have to feel insecure about?
Lin Nuo repeated these assurances to himself over and over. Finally summoning his courage, he resolved to meet Fang Jinshi’s gaze openly, only to find that Fang Jinshi had already looked away.
A sudden sigh of relief escaped him, quickly followed by a profound sense of hollow disappointment.
As it turned out, that proud young master truly didn’t place him in his eyes at all.
Lin Nuo assumed Fang Jinshi was merely being haughty and arrogant, completely unaware that Fang Jinshi’s internal state was anything but calm.
Fang Jinshi kept his face perfectly impassive, his stride elegant and unhurried. However, his older brother, Fang Jinchen, picked up on the subtle shift. Following the trajectory of his brother’s gaze from a moment ago, Fang Jinchen’s expression darkened instantly.
It wasn’t because of Lin Nuo.
Fang Jinchen had seen photos of Lin Nuo before; in fact, the boy’s entire background dossier had been sitting on his office desk for a long time. Yet, seeing him in person, he hadn’t recognized him immediately because his entire focus had been locked onto Li Jin.
Fang Jinchen was acutely aware that in his brother’s messy, dramatic romance, Li Jin was the ultimate culprit—the true puppet master. It was Li Jin who, under the banner of “devotion” and “true love,” had twisted cheating and keeping a substitute into pathetic excuses of “losing control of his heart” and “having no choice.”
A man like that exuded a foul stench even from a distance.
He hadn’t expected this wretched excuse for a man to dare to crawl onto Fang family territory! Especially considering their family had intentionally withheld an invitation from him.
With ice in his eyes, Fang Jinchen summoned the head butler. “Why is Li Jin here?”
Detecting the raw displeasure in the eldest young master’s voice, the butler replied with a strained expression, “The young lady from the maternal side brought him in, sir.”
Hearing the mention of their maternal cousin, Fang Jinchen’s face grew even darker. “Her hands are certainly reaching far into our affairs.”
This cousin was none other than the daughter of Madam Fang’s younger brother. She was younger than Fang Jinchen but a year older than Fang Jinshi. Spoiled since childhood, she was notoriously lawless and reckless.
The butler hadn’t dared to stop her, but Fang Jinchen had no intention of saving her face. He ordered coldly, “Throw him out.”
There was no need to clarify who “him” referred to. That uninvited pest was thoroughly unwelcome in the Fang household.
The butler was more than eager to execute the command, but he hesitated slightly. “Eldest Master, that gentleman has also arrived tonight. If we humiliate Li Jin so flagrantly, I fear it might not look good on our part?”
Fang Jinchen understood the butler’s hesitation. His eyes flickered. While it was true that the Li family had been steadily declining, they still had Gu Tuo standing firmly behind them, a figure that forced everyone to tread with absolute caution.
Speaking of Gu Tuo, he was a titanic figure capable of sending shockwaves through the entire upper crust of Haicheng with a mere flick of his wrist. Even a family as powerful as the Fangs couldn’t easily shake him in the slightest.
Fang Jinchen had no desire to offend him needlessly, but there was absolutely no way he would allow someone to walk through his front doors to disgust his family without striking back. Gritting his teeth, he maintained his firm stance:
“He is not welcome here. Show him the door.”
“This—”
The butler wavered for a moment. Just as he was about to carry out the order, Fang Jinshi called him to a halt.
Fang Jinshi merely shook his head at the butler, keeping his words directed at his older brother. “Big brother, there’s no need for that.”
“Jinshi.”
Fang Jinchen looked at him in stunned disbelief. A man usually so ruthless and decisive in the business world suddenly found himself hesitating, unable to voice the question burning in his throat.
Are you still hung up on Li Jin?
Fang Jinchen desperately wanted to ask, yet he was terrified of tearing open his brother’s healing wounds. Emotionally, he wanted nothing more than to believe his brother had made a clean break; but logically, he couldn’t be entirely certain. Could a brother who had once loved Li Jin so deeply truly let it go so easily?
Reading the conflict in his brother’s eyes, Fang Jinshi felt a complicated wave of emotion. Over the past few years, he had clearly matured immensely, yet in his family’s eyes, he was still treated like a fragile porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch.
After some thought, he realized it was better to let time prove everything.
He offered a calm smile. “Disciplining a nephew on someone else’s behalf is never a good look. Mr. Gu is a man of immense responsibilities; he likely has no idea what kind of disgraceful antics his nephew has been up to. We might as well give him a polite reminder.”
As for the rest, they could simply leave it to Gu Tuo to handle.
A realization dawned upon Fang Jinchen. Seeing the familiar, sharp cleverness shining in his younger brother’s eyes, the massive weight crushing his chest instantly dissolved.
His Jinshi truly, completely did not care anymore.
And as long as Jinshi didn’t care, what reservations did the rest of them have? All they needed to do was stand firmly behind him and let him live exactly as he pleased!