In early April, the spring night in northern Beijing still carried a chill. Passersby were bundled up tightly, some even wearing cotton-padded jackets.
Inside Modernista Bar, however, it was a different scene.
The air was filled with an intoxicating, tipsy atmosphere. The alcohol and carbon dioxide continuously raised the temperature, sending waves of heat rushing forward. Dazzling lights swirled among the crowd dancing with abandon, their skin exposed to a high degree.
Outside the private room, a girl stood wearing a beige-white knitted cardigan, her long hair cascading down to her waist, her features strikingly beautiful.
She had just come from the library, and a cool night mist seemed to linger in her hair. She still wore a pair of slender rectangular glasses on the bridge of her nose, giving her an ethereal, intellectual beauty.
“Our Young Master Gu is really something, even managing to win over the department belle of the finance department,” a maliciously teasing voice rang out clearly. “So, how about sharing what it feels like to kiss the department belle?”
Gu Zhiyan paused, tilted his head back, and downed his drink in one gulp, his tone impatient. “It’s nothing special.”
Immediately, a burst of rowdy laughter erupted.
The person clicked his tongue. “All just pretending to be aloof. This bet is really boring.”
Then, as if thinking of something amusing again, his tone regained excitement. “Hey! How about calling her now to pick you up and see if she’ll come?”
“Yeah, yeah, hurry up and call her,” someone else chimed in, egging him on.
“Still stirring things up,” another person laughed. “If the department belle finds out Young Master Gu is fooling around at the bar, she’ll probably break up with him.”
“So what if she breaks up? It was just a bet to see if he could win her over in a month. It’s not like he was serious, right?”
Gu Zhiyan silently swirled his glass, saying nothing.
He had indeed pursued Shen Nanyin because of the bet at first, but after spending this time together, he had long grown accustomed to having her by his side.
Gu Zhiyan hadn’t thought about breaking up with her.
As his thoughts tangled, he inadvertently looked up and saw Shen Nanyin standing at the doorway, though he didn’t know how long she had been there.
His breath hitched slightly, a flicker of panic rising in his heart.
Shen Nanyin walked in, and the private room fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“Do you have anything to explain?”
The girl’s voice was as gentle as water, just like usual, yet utterly indifferent.
He tightened his grip on the glass.
This shouldn’t be happening.
She should be angry, she should question him, not remain so unmoved as she was now.
Gu Zhiyan stared intently at her. “No.”
As if trying to see more emotion on her face.
A faint trace of disappointment flickered in Shen Nanyin’s eyes.
Gu Zhiyan’s heart felt hollow for a moment. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to defend himself.
Shen Nanyin looked at him for a long while, and after confirming he wouldn’t offer any explanation, she spoke calmly.
“I see. Let’s break up.”
With those words, she turned and left cleanly, without the slightest attachment to anything behind her.
The bar environment was stiflingly hot. It hadn’t been long, but she already felt a thin layer of sweat on her back.
Entering the restroom, she took off her glasses and placed them carefully. Cupping her hands, she splashed cold water on her face, and only then did her discomfort begin to fade slightly.
A few months ago, Gu Zhiyan had begun pursuing her.
It wasn’t a grand, public affair, nor did he make things difficult for her. He knew when to advance and when to retreat, always respectful and proper.
After spending some time together, she felt they got along quite pleasantly, so she agreed to be with Gu Zhiyan and approached the relationship with a serious attitude.
Shen Nanyin stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
Shen Dingguo’s most important mission in life was to marry off his burden of a daughter. If he found out she had broken up with Gu Zhiyan…
She sighed softly and had just stepped out of the restroom when her footsteps paused for a moment.
The area outside the women’s restroom was a relatively quiet corridor, but now a tall man stood there.
He was looking down, playing with his phone. His cool, pale skin showed faintly visible veins that extended all the way to his arms, where the contours of his muscles were clearly defined.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, a striking side profile, and a metal ear cuff reflecting a cold gleam.
In front of him, a beautiful girl with bright, vivid features was saying something discontentedly. She swung her bag heavily at him before storming off in anger.
The man remained completely unmoved throughout, as if he were detached from the situation.
It wasn’t until Shen Nanyin appeared that he casually looked up.
The dim surroundings couldn’t hide the impact of his striking features. His narrow, long eyes traced a cool, indifferent curve as he lazily glanced over, detached and weary.
As he moved, a glimpse of a thorny tattoo was revealed on his collarbone.
Lu Jingyan, the eldest son of the Lu family in Jingbei.
Fickle and heartless, wealthy and powerful, he played recklessly, obsessed with seeking thrills and pleasure in life-and-death extremes.
Countless opponents who fell bloodied in endurance matches, top-tier sports cars smashed to pieces on the racetrack—all were merely his trophies.
The Lingyue Group he founded was just like him in business warfare: seizing weaknesses and swiftly crushing opponents, leaving no room for recovery.
As her roommate Liang Wan put it, money was just numbers to people like Lu Jingyan and Gu Zhiyan, so the emptiness in their spirits needed extreme thrills to fill.
So… was that why Gu Zhiyan used bets to enjoy the pleasure of looking down on and toying with others?
She had naively thought he was different from the others.
Shen Nanyin lowered her gaze, avoiding eye contact, and prepared to leave quietly.
But just as she was about to pass by him, a low, lazy voice sounded from the side.
“Heard everything?”
…?
Shen Nanyin paused.
Was… he talking to her?
The next moment, the man confirmed her suspicion.
He straightened up and took a step closer to her.
“Your boyfriend seems all proper on the surface… but behind the scenes, he doesn’t seem like a good person.”
His cool voice carried a meaningful tone.
A faint scent of firwood lingered at the tip of her nose, cool and sharp, yet intensely invasive.
Unaccustomed to being enveloped by a stranger’s presence, Shen Nanyin subtly furrowed her brows.
How did he know…
Suddenly realizing something, Shen Nanyin abruptly looked up.
“Was it you who sent the message?”
Just half an hour earlier, while sitting in the library study room, she had received a message from an unknown contact.
After casually adding the sender, they claimed that Gu Zhiyan’s intentions toward her were impure and told her to come to Modernista to see for herself.
They quickly attached a photo of Gu Zhiyan drinking at the bar along with the private room location.
The Gu Zhiyan Shen Nanyin knew didn’t go to bars, which puzzled her, so she came to see for herself.
Faced with the girl’s question, Lu Jingyan raised an eyebrow, silently confirming it.
Shen Nanyin was speechless for a moment. It was hard for her to imagine the person in front of her typing coldly on his phone screen—
“Sis, I think you should know about this.”
“…Thank you.”
Unable to discern his motives for doing this, Shen Nanyin didn’t want to dwell on it. After a simple thank-you, she turned to leave.
Lu Jingyan didn’t stop her, only watching her retreating figure with an indifferent expression until she disappeared, then sent a message on his phone.
At the bar entrance, a girl’s annoyed voice rang out.
“Hey, are you serious? You ignore me and still expect me to do things for you?”
“Alright, then you have to keep me company…”
It was the girl who had thrown the bag earlier.
Seeing Shen Nanyin, she immediately hung up the phone and ran over to her. “Senior Shen, are you heading back to school?”
Shen Nanyin hummed in acknowledgment, hesitating slightly. “Do you know me?”
A heads-up: The author loves clichés. Some readers might find the first four chapters frustrating—that’s on the author. Things will get better soon, I promise. Feel free to criticize the plot or the author, but please don’t be too hard on the female lead. Thank you very much (hands clasped).