The Rong Family Mansion.
Rong Che had just escorted the elderly lady upstairs for her afternoon nap when his phone beeped with a text message notification.
When he saw the number, a flash of disgust crossed his eyes.
After a moment’s hesitation, he clicked on it anyway.
But the next second, his expression turned icy, and his piercing gaze fixed intently on the photo the other person had sent.
Two women with rosy cheeks and radiant smiles leaned their heads together and looked at the camera.
The background in the shot is clearly the dining room of the apartment on ChunYuan Road; there are two half-empty red wine glasses on the table.
He had just drunk from that glass last night.
The next few photos are also intimate selfies of the two women looking slightly tipsy—they’re clearly best friends who get along really well.
[So, who’s better-looking—me or your girlfriend?]
[Oh, by the way, she saw the underwear you left on the couch last night. Luckily, I was quick on my feet and didn’t let her figure out it was yours.]
His face was as cold as ice, his eyes as icy as a glacier, and he was gripping his cell phone so tightly it creaked.
This woman……
That’s asking for trouble!
The phone rang with a ringtone reserved for the man. Xia Shan curled her lips and waited more than ten seconds before answering:
“Did you just ignore my warning? Who told you to take Ruan Ruan there? Who the hell are you trying to gross out?”
The man’s hushed voice was laced with seething anger and a chilling tone.
“Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Xia Shan twirled a strand of hair around her fingertip:
“Your girlfriend said she wanted to come help me celebrate my move. We’re best friends—I couldn’t very well stop her from coming, could I?”
“Don’t worry—she didn’t notice a thing.”
“It’s just the marks you left on me last night, and… your underwear.”
Rong Che stood on the courtyard veranda, listening to the woman’s coquettish laughter as she drew out the last syllables; his hair trembled, and the veins on his hand, clenched around the wooden railing, stood out prominently.
Deep down, he was filled with regret; he shouldn’t have let himself be swayed by a moment of weakness and answered that woman’s call last night.
Whenever he thought of Ruan Ruan, who had no idea what was going on, happily posing for a photo with that woman, a wave of intense guilt surged through him, tearing at his heart.
“Last night was the last time. I won’t be going back there anymore. I’m warning you: if you dare say a single word to Ruan Ruan, don’t blame me for being ruthless—I’ll make sure you disappear from Rongcheng forever.”
As soon as the man’s harsh words fell, the call was abruptly cut off.
Xia Shan’s fingers, which had been twisting her hair, paused, and a smile slowly spread across her beautiful face, her eyes filled with sarcasm and a hint of madness.
You want to dump me after you’ve had your fun?
Sure, let’s go all out.
If she can’t have him, neither he nor Ruan Zhi will have it easy.
*
The third-floor balcony.
Ah-Xing stood with his arms crossed, leaning sideways against the railing, watching as Rong Che, his face dark with anger, hurried across the courtyard and drove away.
“Mr Rong, aren’t you really going to do anything about this?”
He turned his gaze to Rong Junheng, who was lying on a lounge chair, enjoying the cool breeze and sipping tea leisurely, and asked curiously.
“How do you handle it? Teach me.”
Rong Junheng lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, set down his teacup, and rubbed his temples.
He’d only been out in the breeze for a little while, but he was already getting a headache.
Back in my youth, I could stand for two days and two nights in the biting cold of a northern winter, yet still feel full of energy.
Hmm, looks like I’m really getting old.
“……”
That stumped Ah-Xing.
Rong Che can’t control his lower body—he can’t very well ask his boss to castrate him, can he?
At the thought of that scene, he couldn’t help but shudder; he clamped his legs together, feeling a sharp pain in his private parts.
“If he can’t even handle a woman, do you really think he’s fit to inherit the Rong family and become the head of the family?”
Rong Junheng pushed himself up, bracing his hands on the armrests, and looked straight at Ah-Xing with his deep, impassive eyes.
Ah-Xing’s expression turned serious; he knew that Rong Sheng was genuinely asking him a question, not posing a rhetorical question.
Without hesitation, he said, “As far as I’m concerned, no one but Mr Rong is worthy.”
Rong Junheng raised an eyebrow slightly; just as he was about to scold him for sucking up again, the other man went on to say:
“But you can’t have any more children, can you? Young Master Che is your only son. No matter how much he disappoints you, you have to help him get back on his feet.”
Ah-Xing frowned, looking deeply worried:
“At least over in Hongcheng, there’s still Miss Mingzhu to rely on, but the Rong family has only this one and only child. We can’t very well expect your third aunt and her husband to give you another little brother, can we?”
“Get lost!”
Rong Junheng patiently waited for him to finish speaking, and was nearly driven to fury.
He can’t have kids, but his parents are both sixty—are they going to have kids now?
After Rong Junheng gave him a fierce glare, Ah-Xing rubbed the tip of his nose and smiled sheepishly:
“Sorry, Mr Rong, you know me—I just speak my mind.”
“If you can’t keep your mouth shut, get it sewn shut. Get to work—keep a close eye on things these next couple of days.”
Rong Junheng snorted coldly and turned to go inside.
Ah-Xing watched his back, stroking his chin as if deep in thought.
Why do I get the feeling that Rong Sheng cares more about that girl than his own son?
Tsk, it seems even the most ruthless tyrants can’t resist a beautiful woman—and Mr Rong is no exception.
*
Ruan Zhi came back from Xia Shan’s apartment after having a few drinks and fell asleep right away.
Feeling dazed, she had a dream.
Once again, she found herself back in that dark, damp cave from when she was twelve.
She curled up on the ground, feeling alternating waves of cold and heat; her feet ached, and her whole body ached.
Just as she was drifting off, thinking she was about to see her deceased parents, someone tapped her awake.
In the dim light, the teenager stood out strikingly in his white casual clothes.
She had seen him before.
My uncle said he was the heir apparent of the Rong family, the sole heir to the most powerful family in Rongcheng.
She had seen him drive away the crowd gathered around him with a cold expression; his eyes held an innate air of arrogance.
But now he frowned, and despite her being covered in mud, he picked her up onto his back and carried her step by step out of the narrow cave.
Lying against his slender yet surprisingly warm back, even in her dazed state she could sense how hard it was for him. She asked him to put her down, but he refused, gritting his teeth as he carried her out, nervously urging her the whole way not to fall asleep.
The moment she saw the light again, she finally couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted completely.
Later, I faintly heard him talking to someone, as if he were recounting how he had saved her.
That deep male voice, which sounded noticeably more mature, paid him a compliment:
“Hmm, you did a great job.”
When she woke up, her mind was still a little foggy.
Strangely enough, she couldn’t remember this at all.
In this dream, however, it appeared so clearly.
That last male voice—if I’m not mistaken—must be Rong Che’s father.
That summer… Did I ever see him?
*
After that day, her life seemed to return to normal.
Rong Che didn’t call her, but he sent her a WeChat message every day, sharing updates on his daily life, mentioning that it was getting colder and colder, and reminding her to stay warm, not to stay up late writing, and to get plenty of rest.
It was as if he were by her side every day, his presence felt so strongly.
It wasn’t until Tuesday night that he called her on a video chat.
It had been a few days since I’d seen him, and his handsome features now bore a hint of weariness; even his beard looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a few days. That face had completely lost its youthful innocence and had matured considerably.
“Ruan Ruan, do you remember that we have a date tomorrow?”
He spoke cautiously, as if afraid that Ruan Zhi would say she had forgotten.
Ruan Zhi felt a pang in her chest and nodded. “Of course I haven’t forgotten—it’s such an important day.”
“So, should I pick you up tomorrow morning? I’ve set aside the whole day for it.”
Looking at the gentle man in the video, whose eyes crinkled with laughter, Ruan Zhi hesitated for a moment before saying:
“Okay, I’ll send you my current address.”
“……”
The smile on Rong Che’s lips gradually faded.
At 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, as soon as Ruan Zhi came downstairs, she felt a cold wind blow in her face; even wrapped in a thick down jacket, she could feel the bone-chilling cold seeping into her body.
Rong Che was leaning against the black Mercedes-Benz G-Class when he heard a noise and looked up. Seeing her running toward him with her neck tucked in, he quickly took off his scarf and wrapped it several times around her neck.
“If you’re going to move out, you should at least find a nice neighborhood. This place is old and run-down—I bet it doesn’t even have a heater—and the people living here are a mixed bunch. How are you supposed to live there? No way. Move out right now. I’ll find you a new place, or you can stay with me for now…”
As Ruan Zhi listened to his discontented muttering, she felt a mix of emotions. She reached up to pull back the scarf covering her mouth and nose, then raised her eyebrows and smiled at him:
“Everyone else is living there just fine, and they have a heater. Why can’t I live there? I’ve been living there for a while now, and it’s been great. Don’t worry—I’m not living there alone; Senior Song Ran is staying with me.”
The name “Song Ran” made Rong Che’s brow furrow even deeper.
But looking at the girl, whose only visible part was her fair little face, her nose had turned red from the cold just while she was speaking.
“Let’s talk about it once we’re in the car.”
He suppressed his mild anger, put his arm around her shoulders, and opened the passenger-side door.
The car had never been turned off, and the warmth lingered inside. Ruan Zhi exhaled, took off her scarf, rolled up her sleeves, and unzipped her down jacket.
Rong Che looked at her with an affectionate expression. Just as he was about to fasten her seatbelt, his gaze happened to fall on her slender left wrist, and his expression suddenly changed.
“That bracelet is really pretty. When did you buy it?”
Ruan Zhi paused for a moment as he took her hand in his and examined it closely.
She replied softly, “Shan Shan bought it for me when she went on a business trip to Beijing with her boyfriend. She and I each got one.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a sharp pinch on her wrist and looked up in surprise.
Rong Che’s slightly lowered eyebrows and eyes were dark and brooding, and the atmosphere around him was extremely tense, as if he were suppressing something.
She called out “Ah-Che” in a trembling voice, but just as he looked up, she clearly saw a flash of ferocity in his light brown eyes that hadn’t yet faded.
For some reason, a strong sense of unease spread through my whole body, and my heart was pounding violently.