Ji Qingtang arrived at the airport two hours before the banquet was set to begin and boarded a flight to Germany.
She was rather curious to see the expression on Lu Xingye’s face when he realized she was gone. After all, she had always been the obedient, well-behaved one. With a face mask on, she wondered whether he would swap out the bride on the spot and have Li Shu take her place.
That was something Lu Xingye was very likely to do.
If that happened, then those two—scumbag and homewrecker—deserved to be locked together forever!
When last night’s incident blew up, Ji Qingtang’s father, Ji Chengfu, and her grandfather both called. The former scolded her; the latter showed concern.
Though she felt nothing but contempt for her scumbag father’s words, she handled the call politely enough. After all, she still needed to hold out a little longer, until she could take back what rightfully belonged to her mother.
Then she could be completely free of that family.
After landing, Ji Qingtang went straight to the apartment Xie Yu had arranged for her. The plan to come to Germany had always existed—she had only pushed the date back because of the engagement.
Since she’d come early this time, she might as well treat it as a chance to unwind.
Ji Qingtang wheeled her suitcase into the elevator and up to the apartment. She entered the passcode, the lock beeped in response, and she pushed the door open.
Just as she was about to step inside, something registered, and she turned around. At the other end of the ten-meter-long corridor, outside another door, sat a man—or more precisely, a drunk man with strikingly alluring features.
Shen Qian wore a black windbreaker jacket and loose black sweatpants, a black cap on his head. His head tilted slightly back, eyes closed, leaning against the door behind him.
His Adam’s apple was exposed under the corridor’s motion-sensor light.
In his hand was a liquor bottle. Ji Qingtang narrowed her eyes, feeling as though she’d seen this man somewhere before.
She walked over quietly and stopped beside Shen Qian, frowning—the smell of alcohol on him was overwhelming. Who knew how much he’d drunk?
She reached out and pushed him. No reaction.
Ji Qingtang looked down at that face—the kind of face that stunned anyone who laid eyes on it. She was sure she’d seen it somewhere, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember.
She pushed his shoulder again. Still no response. If it weren’t for his heavy, scorching breath spilling against her neck, she would have thought he had no vital signs at all.
After all, plenty of people drank themselves to death.
She wasn’t the type to meddle in other people’s business. She’d only come over because he looked familiar, and now that she knew he was alive, there was nothing more to it. She was just about to straighten up and turn to leave— when the man sitting on the floor suddenly opened his eyes.
Their gazes met.
Ji Qingtang blinked slowly.
Shen Qian stared fixedly at the girl who had appeared before him. Was this a dream? Even engaged to someone else, she still wouldn’t let him go.
He gave a self-mocking smile.
Ji Qingtang hesitantly stood up, unsure how to handle the situation. Since he was awake, she should leave.
She had just turned when someone grabbed her wrist. Caught off guard, she was pulled back and fell straight into Shen Qian’s arms.
Ji Qingtang: “…”
She was about to speak when Shen Qian’s voice cut her off. “Have you forgotten all about me…”
The struggling Ji Qingtang froze at those words. She was about to say that yes, she really had forgotten him, when Shen Qian spoke again.
“Then why won’t you let me go?” There was bitterness in his voice, and Ji Qingtang realized—these words weren’t meant for her.
She stood up. “You’ve got the wrong person.”
Shen Qian rose unsteadily after her, wrapped his arms around Ji Qingtang from behind, and held her tightly, imprisoning her in his embrace.
She had finally come to his dream once—he couldn’t let her leave so easily.
Now Ji Qingtang was truly provoked. Harassed in a foreign country in the middle of the night, she used all her strength to break free from Shen Qian’s arms. Because she used so much force, and Shen Qian was drunk, he staggered backward several steps and fell to the ground.
Ji Qingtang turned and left, dragging her suitcase back to the apartment, already thinking about moving out tomorrow, silently cursing Xie Yu for finding her such a place—running into a pervert neighbor on her very first night.
When Shen Qian woke the next day, his head was splitting. He got up from the sofa, lowered his head to sniff himself, and wrinkled his nose.
Then he got up to go to the bathroom, but halfway there, he stopped.
He thought back to that dream last night.
That embrace last night—it had felt so real.
Shen Qian lowered his eyes and cursed himself. She was about to get engaged to another man, and here he was, pathetically savoring that dream. How pathetic.
He walked into the bathroom and let the cold water pour over his head, jolting him awake.
He wiped the cold water from his face, tossed his clothes into the laundry basket, put on a pair of loose pants, and came out bare-chested, toweling his hair.
He took out his phone and turned it on—it had shut down at some point without him noticing.
As soon as it powered on, all kinds of notifications popped up.
There were also many missed calls from Xie Yu, which he hadn’t received because the phone was off.
He called back, and the other end picked up quickly.
“Hello.” Shen Qian frowned. It was his first words after the hangover, and his voice was hoarse beyond words, his throat a little sore.
Xie Yu’s voice came through. “Why did it take you so long to answer?”
Shen Qian sat on the sofa, looking at the empty room. “What is it?”
Xie Yu stared at the screen of the computer on his desk, at the news headline in bold black type.
“#Lu and Ji Families’ Engagement: Lu Family’s Eldest Son Caught Cheating the Night Before—Ji Corporation’s Eldest Daughter Flees the Engagement on the Spot?!#”
“Bro, my sister isn’t engaged to Lu Xingye. Right now, she should be living in the apartment across from you.”
Then Xie Yu let out a long, deliberate sigh. “I can only help you this far. The rest is up to you.”
Shen Qian didn’t know when the other end hung up.
His mind was filled with Xie Yu’s words: “My sister isn’t engaged to Lu Xingye.”
Ji Qingtang wasn’t engaged to Lu Xingye…
What did that mean?
Had the engagement banquet been called off?
Then it suddenly hit Shen Qian, and his blood ran cold.
Xie Yu had just said she was living in the apartment across from him.
Which meant last night—it wasn’t a dream?
She had truly appeared in his life.
Once he realized this, Shen Qian abruptly smiled, his eyes brimming with laughter, the corners of his mouth lifting. His already refined features became all the more striking.
Shen Qian tried hard to recall what happened last night. He remembered hugging her from behind, and then being thrown aside.
The reunion hadn’t been all that pleasant, but he was still so happy.
Shen Qian took out his phone and opened the links Xie Yu had forwarded to him. The more he read, the more complicated his expression became.
He had never considered this possibility—Ji Qingtang fleeing her own engagement.
He knew very well how much Ji Qingtang loved Lu Xingye. How could she possibly have fled the engagement?
At the same time, he inwardly scorned Lu Xingye—really, rejecting the bright moon in favor of some wild flower by the roadside.
With a soft scoff, he thought: his rose—Lu Xingye, that man, wasn’t worthy of even touching her.