The afternoon in Beicheng brought the first signs of melting snow. The streets were wet and glistening, reflecting the grayish-white sky.
Traffic was heavy. A black Maybach wove smoothly through the river of cars, with the bustling central business district passing by outside the window.
The interior of the car was quiet. Jiang Man turned her head toward the window, watching the rapidly passing streetscape in silence.
Qi Zhicheng held the steering wheel, his gaze occasionally shifting from the road conditions to her expressionless face.
When the red light at the intersection lit up, he stepped on the brakes and turned to look at her.
“Should I take you back to the art center?”
Jiang Man’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. She slowly shook her head, her voice so hoarse it was barely audible, “I don’t want to go.”
Qi Zhicheng was not surprised by her refusal. As the green light flashed, the car drove off again. “Then I will take you back to the hotel.”
They remained speechless the entire way.
The Maybach stopped at the entrance of the hotel. Jiang Man pushed open the car door and walked straight inside.
Qi Zhicheng tossed the keys to the valet and followed closely behind her.
Returning to the room without a word, Jiang Man threw herself onto the bed, pulling the duvet over her head to cover herself completely from head to toe.
Qi Zhicheng sat at the edge of the bed and reached out, intending to pull the duvet away.
He gave it a tug, but it did not budge.
The person inside was gripping the blanket very tightly.
“Manman, don’t be like this.”
Qi Zhicheng sighed softly. Applying a bit more force, he pulled the duvet down from her head.
What met his eyes was a face drenched in tears.
Her eyelashes were soaked, and tears hung from the corners of her eyes.
Jiang Man did not want him to see her current state. The moment the duvet was pulled away, she raised her arm to cover her eyes, hiding her present wretchedness.
“Why are you crying?”
Jiang Man continued to stay silent, her lips pressed tightly together.
“Why, why did I lose my memory?”
“Why did everything change the moment I woke up? What exactly happened during those extra four years? Why did so many people point fingers at me and say I don’t know how to dance the moment I woke up?”
Her words were cut short by her sobbing. An unprecedented sense of sorrow and helplessness completely overwhelmed her.
Qi Zhicheng saw a line of tears slip from the corner of her eye beneath her arm.
His hand inside his overcoat clenched into a fist, inch by inch.
He felt annoyed.
His heart throbbed with a dull ache.
It felt incredibly uncomfortable.
Qi Zhicheng raised his hand.
The veins on the back of his hand were taut, and his fingers were trembling slightly, a tremor he had not even noticed himself.
Expressionless, he drew his hand back, lowered his head, and let his gaze fall on Jiang Man’s arm, which was covering her eyes.
That fair arm was flushed with a faint pink from her crying.
“Manman, look at me.”
He slowly pulled her arm away from her face, revealing a pair of eyes completely drenched in tears.
As her arm fell, the bright light left Jiang Man’s sorrow with nowhere to hide. Her emotions suddenly burst through the dam at this moment, and her whole body shook with tears.
“But I clearly remember it wasn’t like this before. I clearly won so many awards. I used to be the teacher’s pride.”
“Was that applause and those flowers all fake? Why did it turn out like this?”
Those beautiful eyes were very red, the place he used to love to kiss the most.
Every time her wet eyelashes trembled, a teardrop rolled from the corner of her eye, sliding down her cheek.
She looked pitiful, fragile, and yet so beautiful.
Qi Zhicheng’s Adam’s apple rolled. He leaned forward and gathered her into his arms.
His arms tightened.
Jiang Man heard the violent thumping of his heart inside his chest.
Leaning against his chest, she instinctively clutched his shirt tightly as her tears fell.
“I just wanted to prove it to those people. I wanted to tell them that I am not bad, and I wanted to find the self that I lost. I thought that as long as I worked hard enough, I would definitely be able to.”
She cried intermittently, speaking incoherently, “But now, what should I do now? How else can I prove myself?”
Qi Zhicheng listened silently to her murmurs.
Slowly tightening his embrace, he held her even closer.
With his lips gently pressing against her hair, Qi Zhicheng comforted her in a low voice, “You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Your value has never needed to be defined by a medal, or by the recognition of those insignificant people.”
His chin rested against the top of her head.
The fabric of his shirt at his chest was quickly soaked by her tears.
That scorching temperature felt as if it was about to burn his skin.
“During my time in New York, I saw too many dirty deals.”
“The former Salomon Brothers, the undisputed kings of Wall Street securities in the last century, prided themselves on being the clean stream of Wall Street, never engaging in insider trading,” Qi Zhicheng sneered softly, “What a noble character.”
His fingers stroked her hair one section at a time. His movements were gentle, but his eyes were filled with coldness.
“But Manman, when you are born in the mud, how can you not get muddy?”
“Later, Salomon Brothers fell over the very reputation they valued most due to illegal operations, how ironic.”
He spoke in a low voice, using the law of the jungle from his world to comfort her.
“If you can’t change the environment, then adapt to it.”
“You will find that the muddy water you are in will slowly settle and separate over time.”
“The mud and sand will sink to the bottom, and the clear water floating to the top will be able to see the light.”
On the night of the finals, at seven o’clock in the evening.
The interior of the Beicheng Theater was packed to capacity.
This competition was broadcast simultaneously by multiple platforms, gathering major domestic mainstream media, critics, and titans of the dance world.
For the final dance tonight, Jiang Man chose a segment from the classic ballet production, The Red Shoes.
This scene told the story of the female protagonist, Victoria, who put on a pair of magical red shoes. She was controlled by them, forced to keep dancing against her will, and ultimately danced wildly to her death in fear and despair.
Jiang Man wore a red dress, the rich crimson skirt spinning gracefully along with her movements.
In truth, the current her was no different from Victoria.
This game, determined by capital, simply could not be stopped.
She had no choice but to keep dancing until she exhausted her last bit of strength.
The night was already late when the award ceremony began.
At the scene, countless spotlights flashed incessantly, making it almost impossible for Jiang Man to open her eyes.
The audience below was a dark mass of people, and the crystal trophy landed in her hands without any surprise.
“Thank you to the judging committee for awarding me this supreme honor. I once thought that standing here at this moment would be the place closest to the sun after standing on my tiptoes countless times. I thought that by standing here, I could be illuminated by the light and be seen by everyone.”
“But just last night, I learned that this trophy in my hand did not originate from my dancing, but from a transaction outside the venue.”
She stood before the microphone, filled with the sharp edge and brilliance of a dancer.
“I have always felt that ballet is pure and beautiful. This trophy shouldn’t have the slightest bit of impurity, and I cannot accept it with a clear conscience.”
Jiang Man placed the trophy back onto the podium.
“In this world, there might really be shady corners that the sunlight cannot reach, and there might be rules that we are powerless against, but at the very least, I can choose which side I stand on.”
“I believe that one day, when I try my hardest to stand on my tiptoes to get closer to the sun, the whole world won’t be able to block my sunlight.”
“From now on, the only things I pick up will be those obtained through real ability.”
The deep winter in Huaicheng brought a bone-chilling damp cold.
The tree branches were soaked by rain and snow, and the vegetation in the courtyard of Song Garden was covered with a layer of white frost.
The window grids of the villa revealed a warm light, forming a sharp contrast with the heavy atmosphere inside the second-floor study.
The cool-toned study had its door tightly shut.
Qi Zhicheng sat behind the office desk, and Jiang Man sat directly opposite him, with a black office desk separating the two of them.
Jiang Man quietly raised her eyes to glance at the man opposite her.
He didn’t speak. Dressed in a formal suit and gold-rimmed glasses, just sitting there gave off a naturally imposing pressure.
Since returning from the competition in Beicheng, a bizarre silence had fallen between the two of them.
Sitting at opposite ends of the dining table in the dining room, they could finish a meal quietly without a single word of conversation throughout the entire process.
Sometimes when they met on the stairs, they would pass each other without a sound, as if they hadn’t seen each other.
Over the past few days, Qi Zhicheng had sent over quite a lot of jewelry. She had the servants organize and store them in the vault, without even opening the boxes, letting those expensive stones gather dust in the jewelry cabinet.
This state of affairs lasted for a whole week, until ten minutes ago.
Ten minutes ago, she took the indoor elevator, preparing to return to her room to rest.
When the elevator doors opened, she saw Qi Zhicheng standing at the entrance, seemingly about to go downstairs. Just like before, she lowered her eyes, intending to brush past him.
The moment she stepped out of the elevator, her wrist was grabbed in the next second.
“Let’s talk.”
She was brought to the study by him, sitting opposite each other.
The atmosphere resembled a formal business negotiation venue.
“Take a look.” Qi Zhicheng gently pushed a document in front of Jiang Man, his entire being carrying the sharpness of a commercial negotiation.
Jiang Man opened the document in confusion. As she read through it, the expression on her face transitioned from shock to disbelief.
This was a betting agreement.
The agreement clearly stated that he would not interfere with her career for any reason. If there were any direct or indirect acts of interference, more than half of the assets under his name would automatically be transferred to her name.
“What do you mean by this?” Jiang Man was a bit incoherent from the shock.
Qi Zhicheng explained calmly.
“Just as you see, I will no longer interfere with your stage.”
“I don’t know how to make you believe me, so I can only use a businessman’s method to express my sincerity.”
He flipped open the document, displaying one of the pages before Jiang Man’s eyes.
His finger tapped on a few of the clauses inside.
“It is written very clearly here. As the investor of the dance troupe, I will completely respect the decisions of the troupe’s artistic director and choreographer in the future. I will not voice any opinions or exert any pressure on the casting of any actors.”
Jiang Man lifted her eyelids, quietly taking another look at him.
In her heart, she wondered if he had gone crazy from some stimulus.
This agreement tilted toward her unconditionally.
The agreement mentioned that once the facts were established, the asset transfer process would be activated automatically, without needing to go through a separate lawsuit.
This was equivalent to an irreversible self-destruction program.
He had proactively created a mechanism to destroy himself, and the trigger that could easily kill him had been placed into Jiang Man’s hands by his own doing.
During the gap in Jiang Man’s silence, Qi Zhicheng had already picked up a pen, signed his name on his copy, and then pushed it over to her.
“Once you sign your name, this agreement will take effect immediately.”
Jiang Man saw that his name was already signed on the document, the handwriting sharp and powerful, penetrating the paper.
The huge amount of money involved under this signature was enough to make anyone jump in fright on any commercial negotiation table.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she raised her head again, looking at the man across the table.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the legal validity of this agreement. Quite the contrary, she knew that with Qi Zhicheng’s style of doing things, this agreement was bound to be flawless, and once signed, it would be extremely binding.
Only, was there really a need for this?
On the matter of not interfering with her stage, wasn’t it something that could be easily resolved just by him nodding his head and managing himself?
Why go through such a huge ordeal, employing a team of lawyers, and even drafting such a massive betting agreement.
This feeling was like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, full of might, but looking awkward no matter how one viewed it.
Jiang Man placed the document back on the table and pushed it back to his side.
“Qi Zhicheng,” she closed her eyes and opened them again, feeling a bit helpless, “Have you been doing too many acquisitions lately, so you want to sign an agreement for everything you do?”
“Manman.” He frowned.
“I don’t need you to guarantee it in this way. You just need to remember what you said today, and then keep your promise.”
“This document is better left for your business partners.” She stood up, tidying the long hair falling by her cheek, “It’s very late, I’m going back to sleep.”
After that day, Jiang Man rarely saw Qi Zhicheng.
He seemed to have started a very important project and was extremely busy. There were several times when she woke up in the middle of the night, only to see Qi Zhicheng’s car slowly driving into the villa in the dead of night.
The snow outside was falling heavily, grains of snow hitting the glass continuously.
Even with the twenty-four-hour constant temperature heating turned on, one could still feel the chill from outdoors.
The night light was on in the room. Jiang Man sat up from the duvet, her throat very dry.
The water glass at the head of the bed was empty, so she had no choice but to get up and go downstairs.
At two o’clock in the morning, the villa was very quiet.
Taking the elevator to the first floor, the lights in the central parlor were actually on.
Jiang Man felt slightly puzzled and walked over there along the carpet.
Before she even reached the doorway, she saw a familiar figure. The tall man was leaning against the main sofa, his body sunk deep into the wide couch.
Qi Zhicheng had his eyes closed, his head tilted back slightly, resting against the wide backrest of the sofa, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
His posture carried a relaxation that was rare on ordinary days, clearly covered by a layer of exhaustion.
His shirt, which was usually so neat, was somewhat wrinkled at this moment. His tie had been pulled loose by him, and the top two buttons were unbuttoned.
A faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air.
Jiang Man glanced in the direction of the kitchen. The servant was working quietly inside, likely cooking hangover soup.
Heavy snow was drifting outside the window.
Jiang Man glanced at the icy world outside, and then looked at the man on the sofa who was only wearing a thin shirt.
In the end, she still walked to the side of another sofa, picked up that cashmere blanket, unfolded it, and placed it over him with light movements.
The blanket had just touched his arm.
The man’s originally closed eyes slowly opened.
The gazes of the two people collided unexpectedly.
Jiang Man’s movements froze instantly, her hand still clutching a corner of the blanket.
She instinctively wanted to step back, but before she could straighten her body, her wrist was grabbed by the man’s dry and warm palm.
Jiang Man failed to stand firmly for a moment, her body leaning forward uncontrollably.
In the next second, she fell directly onto the man’s lap.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat.
The man’s Adam’s apple was close at hand, rising and falling slightly with his breathing. Her eyelashes trembled gently, and at that intimate distance, it felt as if a slight movement would brush against his neck.
She had never been in such close proximity to Qi Zhicheng before.
Realizing that the current posture was far too intimate, Jiang Man pressed both hands against his chest, wanting to get up immediately.
The man’s deep voice pressed down from above her head.
“You woke me up.”