Qiao Yitang didn’t own much. Everything she had fit into two suitcases.
After starting university, she moved out of her uncle’s home and into a dorm. Later, she rented a place of her own.
Then He Jingchuan returned from abroad and bought a small house for her to live in.
At the time, Qiao Yitang didn’t know Shen Keyan existed. She thought she and He Jingchuan would be married soon, and that they would live together before the wedding.
But He Jingchuan had said he wouldn’t touch her before they were married.
Back then, Qiao Yitang had been moved by his pure love and the way he cherished her. Only later did she learn that he’d had someone else by his side all along.
He hadn’t touched her because he was saving himself for Shen Keyan.
……
Since she had decided to break up, Qiao Yitang wasn’t going back.
She packed her things and cleaned the house until it was spotless, leaving no trace behind.
She planned to stay at a hotel for a few days, then find a place to rent as soon as possible.
She had just arrived at the hotel when her friend Song Zhi called.
“Yitang, how did it go when you and He Jingchuan went to pick out a wedding dress the day before yesterday?”
“If you haven’t found one you like, I can recommend another place. It’s my friend’s studio. She just hired a designer who’s returned from abroad. I heard she used to do haute couture for big-name brands…”
Song Zhi rambled on for quite a while before noticing that Qiao Yitang hadn’t said a word.
“What’s wrong? Did He Jingchuan upset you again?”
“I broke up with He Jingchuan,” Qiao Yitang said. “We’re not getting married, so there’s no need to pick out a wedding dress.”
Song Zhi fell silent for a few seconds. “The wedding’s less than a month away, and the invitations have already gone out. You’re joking, right?”
Qiao Yitang’s voice was calm. “I’m not joking.”
Song Zhi said helplessly, “It was that bitch Shen Keyan stirring up trouble again, wasn’t it?”
“It doesn’t have much to do with her,” Qiao Yitang replied. “I’m tired.”
“It’s all that scumbag He Jingchuan’s fault. You have every right to be angry. Don’t you dare back down this time. Wait for him to come apologize.”
Qiao Yitang suddenly let out a self-mocking laugh.
She had sent He Jingchuan a breakup message late the night before last, then deleted him. He still hadn’t contacted her.
It wasn’t the first time she’d threatened to break up with him. No matter how much of a fuss she made, He Jingchuan always responded by giving her the cold shoulder.
Because every time, she couldn’t hold out for more than a few days before going to him herself.
She had lost her parents at eight years old, going from a pampered little princess to an orphan living under someone else’s roof. He Jingchuan had helped her heal from the wounds of her childhood.
After all these years, she simply couldn’t leave him.
Everyone knew how deeply she loved He Jingchuan. They knew she couldn’t live without him.
So even when He Jingchuan no longer loved her, even when Shen Keyan deliberately provoked her time and again, she had put up with it.
No one believed she would really break up with him.
Not even her best friend, Song Zhi, thought she meant it. She assumed Qiao Yitang was just throwing a tantrum.
Only now did Qiao Yitang understand that she had brought all of this upon herself: the way she’d been so careful around He Jingchuan, the way she’d given up all her dignity.
“Song Zhi, I mean it this time. I’m not going to be a fool again.”
Song Zhi was silent for a few seconds, then burst into hearty laughter.
“You’d better mean it!”
“You’ve finally come to your senses! Name one woman in all of Jing City who’s prettier than you. Why waste your life pining after a scumbag like He Jingchuan?”
“I used to hold back when I criticized him because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Now that you’ve finally seen the light, just wait till I see him next time—I’ll give He Jingchuan a tongue-lashing he’ll never forget!”
After laughing her fill, Song Zhi noticed how down Qiao Yitang sounded and hurried to comfort her.
“He’s just one man. He’s not worth getting upset over. Are you at home? I’ll come over and keep you company.”
“I’m not at home.” Qiao Yitang opened her suitcase as she spoke. “That house belongs to He Jingchuan. I don’t want to stay there, so I’m at a hotel now.”
If Qiao Yitang had moved out of He Jingchuan’s house, then she must have made up her mind. Song Zhi was sincerely happy for her.
“Why didn’t you tell me something this important?”
“Don’t stay at a hotel. Just move in with me. My little villa has just been renovated—you can move right in.”
Although Song Zhi was Qiao Yitang’s best friend, Qiao Yitang didn’t think it was polite to impose on someone by moving into their home without warning.
“I took a few days off. I’ll look for a place to rent first.”
“All right.”
Song Zhi knew Qiao Yitang wasn’t the type to impose on others, so she didn’t press her.
It sounded as if Song Zhi was lying in bed; she rolled over. “There’s a new bar on Yong’an Road. I heard all the male models there are gorgeous.”
“Now that you’ve dumped He Jingchuan, it’s time to enjoy yourself. I’ll take you out and show you all the wonderful things the world has to offer!”
Qiao Yitang immediately refused.
But Song Zhi wore her down. After finding out which hotel she was at, she came straight over to drag her out.
She practically hauled Qiao Yitang to the bar.
……
As night deepened, several men in suits sat in one of Blue Dream Club’s private rooms. Smoke drifted from between their fingers.
One of them complained, “We’re supposed to be celebrating Chengyan’s return from abroad. Why pick a place like this? It’s so noisy.”
Several of them weren’t impressed with Blue Dream Club. They thought it wasn’t upscale enough.
A vulgar place for drinking and carousing like this didn’t suit their status.
Gu Shizhou, who had chosen the venue, said, “It just opened. I heard young people like coming here.”
“Listen to you. You make it sound like we’re all old men and Chengyan’s the only young one. He’s thirty, and the oldest person in this room is only thirty-three.”
Gu Shizhou grinned. “Aren’t we old men, though? We should keep up with the young people’s fun if we want to stay young.”
“Besides, Chengyan’s spent a long time abroad, and people there are more open-minded. I saw how lively the dance floor is out there. Why don’t we go have some fun too?”
The others waved him off. “No way. We’d be in the news the next day.”
Everyone in the room was somebody important. How could they risk going out onto the public dance floor?
After a few more jokes, they all turned their attention to the man seated in the middle of the group.
He was the only one there not wearing a suit.
He had on a black jacket, dressed far more casually than the others.
But his face was strikingly handsome and cool.
Every man in the room was good-looking, yet beside the one in the middle, they all paled.
He held a cigarette in his right hand. Its ember flickered in the dim private room.
He let it burn without bringing it to his lips.
Only when it was nearly finished did he casually press it into the ashtray.
Then he leaned back against the sofa, his expression unruffled, a hint of languor in his dark eyes.
Even so relaxed, he couldn’t hide the commanding pressure that radiated from him.
Gu Shizhou asked with a grin, “Chengyan, were you in such a hurry to come back because your Old Master’s about to die, or because the Xie family’s company is about to go bankrupt?”
Xie Chengyan, who had been sitting in the middle without saying a word, gave a soft laugh. He didn’t take his friend’s barbs to heart.
“Neither.”
His voice was low and rich, and a faint, hard-to-detect depth lurked in his eyes.