Ever since Jiang Zhi died, Qi Siyan had suffered from insomnia night after night. The moment he closed his eyes, Jiang Zhi’s smiling face from the past would flood his mind.
Standing on the balcony, Qi Siyan gazed at the gardenia flowers blooming in full in the courtyard. The faint fragrance of the blossoms slipped through the cracks of the window, carried by the wind, and quietly drifted into the room.
Jiang Zhi used to love standing before that patch of gardenias, tilting her head up to smile brilliantly at the man on the bedroom balcony.
The flowers in the courtyard still bloomed in abundance just as they had before, as if someone had been tending to them meticulously all along, as if waiting for someone.
For the past three years, Qi Siyan had often stood here, staring blankly at the gardenias, or lying on the recliner for a brief rest.
Jiang Zhi used to love taking her afternoon naps on that recliner. In these three years, it was only on this chair that he could occasionally get a good night’s sleep.
Qi Siyan lay down, and the wind carried the scent of gardenias across the man’s face, as if kissing its lover.
This time, Qi Siyan’s dream was not of Jiang Zhi playfully acting coy with him, but of Li Zhenmian, who regarded him with cold, hostile eyes.
Late June marked Elder Wen’s seventieth birthday. Yun Shiche called to ask Li Zhenmian whether she wanted to attend Elder Wen’s birthday banquet together.
Li Zhenmian initially wanted to refuse, but Yun Zhi was chattering away on the other end, insisting that Li Zhenmian accompany her. Left with no choice, Li Zhenmian reluctantly agreed.
Yun Zhi dragged Li Zhenmian to pick out evening gowns. Li Zhenmian was utterly disinterested, but Yun Zhi was brimming with excitement, pulling her this way and that to browse and try on dresses.
Li Zhenmian rested her chin on her hand, sitting bored on the sofa as she watched Yun Zhi try on one dress after another.
The glass door of the boutique was pushed open. When Zhao Xinyuan walked in, she immediately noticed Li Zhenmian sitting on the sofa. She stared at that face in disbelief.
Zhao Xinyuan walked over to the sofa. Li Zhenmian looked displeased at the person blocking her view.
“Jiang Zhi, aren’t you dead?” Zhao Xinyuan’s voice was shrill, her tone incredulous.
Great. Another person mistaking her for Jiang Zhi.
“Miss, you have the wrong person.” Li Zhenmian tilted her head to look at her.
Zhao Xinyuan’s expression turned strange. “You’re not Jiang Zhi?”
How could she look so alike? How was that possible?
“Miss, please move aside.” Yun Zhi shoved past Zhao Xinyuan and sat down next to Li Zhenmian.
Zhao Xinyuan stumbled from the push.
Yun Zhi was wearing a white tulle dress. She looped her arm through Li Zhenmian’s.
“This is my sister. Her surname is Li, not Jiang.”
“We still have dresses to try on. Please step aside.”
Yun Zhi gave her no face at all. This woman clearly wasn’t anything good.
Zhao Xinyuan steadied her emotions, a stiff, fake smile plastered on her face.
“My apologies. This young lady looks so much like an old acquaintance of mine.”
A dark glint flashed in Zhao Xinyuan’s eyes, and her hands unconsciously clenched.
Not Jiang Zhi. And yet, there were two people in this world who looked so alike.
If Qi Siyan ever saw her…
No. That couldn’t happen.
Qi Siyan must never see her.
On the day of the banquet, Li Zhenmian did not arrive with Yun Zhi and the others. She came over from her own apartment.
She didn’t have an invitation. Yun Zhi had just messaged saying they would arrive soon, so Li Zhenmian waited outside for them.
When Qi Siyan arrived, he saw Li Zhenmian standing outside the door. He hadn’t expected her to come today.
“Why aren’t you going in?”
Hearing the voice, Li Zhenmian turned around to see Qi Siyan in a black suit, standing behind her with an air of noble aloofness. The distance between them was very close.
She took a step back, creating space between them, and replied flatly.
“Waiting for someone.”
As if seeing through her awkwardness, Qi Siyan said to her, “Come with me.”
Li Zhenmian hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to go in with him.
The evening wind was still a bit chilly. Rather than freeze outside like a human statue, it was better to go in with him.
The moment the two entered the banquet hall, numerous gazes turned toward them. Seeing Qi Siyan bringing a woman with him, everyone’s eyes went wide.
When they got a clear look at the woman’s face, gasps rippled through the crowd, and the entire hall erupted in murmurs.
The woman wore a black floor-length gown. The dark fabric hugged her graceful figure, and the hem swayed elegantly around her ankles with each step.
The hollow-back design revealed a sliver of fair skin, with a single red mole at the center like a stroke of bewitching crimson ink, flickering in and out of view beneath the dazzling lights.
Her face was the size of a palm, with brows like distant mountains, bright and luminous eyes, rosy lips and white teeth. Her bearing was cool and ethereal, untouchable and lofty.
What made people exclaim wasn’t just her stunning face, but a countenance they had once known.
Speculation ran rife among those present. Some said Jiang Zhi had never died—that the two had simply broken up back then and had now reconciled.
Others guessed that this woman was a stand-in Qi Siyan had found, her face surgically altered to resemble Jiang Zhi.
This scene stabbed deeply into Zhao Xinyuan’s heart. Why was this woman entering with Qi Siyan?
How could they possibly know each other…
The jealousy and hatred in Zhao Xinyuan’s eyes toward Li Zhenmian were so thick they threatened to spill over. Her nails had already dug into her flesh.
Everywhere Li Zhenmian passed, curious, appraising gazes followed her. After entering the banquet hall, she immediately separated from Qi Siyan.
Her demeanor made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him.
Qi Siyan let her go as she pleased.
This made the onlookers unable to resist speculating about what the relationship between these two was—they didn’t seem very familiar with each other.
Someone said, “She’s probably trying to use that face to climb up to Qi Siyan. Women these days really will stop at nothing to squeeze into this circle.”
The person beside them chimed in, “Yeah, some young girls are just thinking about how to seduce men.”
“They really think they’re the second Jiang Zhi. Even Jiang Zhi wasn’t recognized by President Qi’s father back then, let alone some stand-in.”
A few socialites from the wealthy circles, thinking themselves above others, looked down on people with disdain.
Little did they know that the ugly faces of their own jealousy were even more revolting.
Li Zhenmian found a corner to stay in, but many eyes still fell on her—curious, jealous, probing, and some men sizing her up with ill intentions.
Qi Siyan walked over toward Ji Yuheng and Jiang Huai.
Ji Yuheng: “Yan-ge, what’s going on here?”
Jiang Huai also looked at Qi Siyan with equal surprise.
Others didn’t know, but as Qi Siyan’s close friends, they knew a thing or two about what happened back then. Jiang Zhi couldn’t possibly have survived—so who was this woman today?
Qi Siyan didn’t speak.
Ji Yuheng: “?”
He tilted his chin slightly toward Su Pei. “Su Pei, you tell us.”
Su Pei: “…”
Young Master Ji, don’t set him up—he still wanted to live.
“That’s Li Zhenmian, Miss Li.”
Su Pei introduced her with a stiff upper lip.
Ji Yuheng: And then? He raised an eyebrow, signaling Su Pei to continue.
Su Pei: “…”
That was all he could say.
Jiang Huai: “Yan-ge, you’re not telling me you found a stand-in, are you?”
Ji Yuheng gave Jiang Huai a thumbs up—you’re the one who dares to say it.
Qi Siyan: “No.”
No one could replace Zhizhi, no matter how similar they looked.
He was just wondering—even if Li Zhenmian and Zhizhi were biological sisters, that mole couldn’t possibly be identical. Was it really just a coincidence?
He thought of that test report, and his gaze darkened. Something was off somewhere.
The others fell silent. If she wasn’t a stand-in, then what was she? They didn’t dare ask further.