The low, hoarse male voice fell from above her head, “You woke me up.”
Jiang Man felt a pang of frustration in her chest and could not help but retort with a barbed tone.
“My apologies,” she curled her lips, replying sarcastically, “for disturbing your rest, Mr. Qi.”
A trace of a smile passed across Qi Zhicheng’s lips, and his fingers tightened slightly around her wrist, “You were worried that I would be cold, weren’t you?”
“Not at all.”
“I was dreaming just now.”
“Oh,” she replied coldly.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what I dreamed about?”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“But I dreamed that you were going to leave me,” his voice dropped lower, speaking as if to himself, “I panicked, so I woke up.”
“And then, the moment I opened my eyes, I saw you.”
“It’s a good thing you are still by my side.”
“Manman, tell me, you won’t leave me, right?”
His voice was lower than usual due to the alcohol, carrying a hint of laziness.
The intimate, low murmur fell right by her ear.
She turned her head away, avoiding his breath which was far too close, “You’re drunk.”
“Manman, do you really not want to see me that much?”
“Let me go,” she tried to struggle, her hand pressing against his chest, “I’m going back to sleep.”
He did not let go, “Do you hate me?”
Jiang Man’s eyelashes fluttered.
“Tell me, do you hate me?” He refused to let her off, asking with stubborn persistence, his alcohol-scented breath winding around the side of her ear.
“I don’t,” she finally murmured in a small voice.
“If you don’t, then why ignore me and refuse to speak to me?”
He leaned in closer, narrowing the distance between them even further.
The two of them remained sank into the soft sofa in such an incredibly intimate posture.
The scent of cedar wood on the man was very faint, yet it was exceptionally aggressive, surging forward fiercely to surround her inch by inch.
“When did I ever not speak to you,” she murmured with a lack of confidence, her breathing slightly constricted, “Don’t be so sensitive.”
“Then lift your head and look at me.”
Jiang Man pressed her lips tightly together, stubbornly refusing to move.
“Why won’t you look at me?” Qi Zhicheng lightly squeezed her wrist.
Under his repeated questioning, Jiang Man took a soft breath and finally raised her head, meeting his gaze.
In truth, Qi Zhicheng had very beautiful eyes.
However, those good-looking eyes always carried an extreme coldness when they swept over someone casually. It did not give off a warm impression, and looking closely at them would instill an intimidating pressure.
At this moment, those deep eyes were completely devoid of ripples, and her reflection was mirrored clearly in his dark pupils.
“Manman,” his breath drew near her, laced with a faint scent of wine, “how much longer are we going to stay in this cold war? Give me a time limit. Even if it’s a week or a month, I will wait.”
The air seemed to stretch out an ambiguous thread.
Just as this thread was growing longer and longer, the servant’s voice sounded from the doorway, “Sir, the hangover soup is ready.”
That invisible thread snapped in an instant.
As if she had been burned, Jiang Man abruptly stood up from Qi Zhicheng’s lap and walked quickly to the adjacent single sofa to sit down.
The servant came in carrying the hangover soup and froze slightly upon seeing Jiang Man, “Ma’am.”
Jiang Man gave a vague response and picked up a throw pillow, hugging it tightly in her arms.
On the other side, Qi Zhicheng also reined in his emotions, sitting up straight and smoothing out his slightly wrinkled shirt.
Jiang Man caught sight of his suit trousers, which had a few unnoticeable creases on them.
They had been pressed into the fabric when she was sitting on his lap just now.
The servant placed the hangover soup on the low table. Qi Zhicheng did not drink it immediately, instead getting up to walk toward the foyer on the other side. When he returned, he held a folder in his hand.
“Take a look at this.”
Jiang Man raised her eyes to him in confusion, hesitantly reaching out to take it and flip it open.
This was the charter of a charitable art foundation, detailing the outline of its first phase of funding plans.
Qi Zhicheng sat back down on the sofa.
“I know you have always cared deeply about those children who are talented but are forced to give up their dreams due to difficult family circumstances.”
“The target of this art fund is precisely those art students from impoverished families, and a professional team will handle its operations in the future.”
“I hope it can truly help those children, so they don’t have to give up their dreams because of financial issues.”
He gazed at Jiang Man’s focused profile as she looked down to read through it, his eyes falling on her slightly fluttering eyelashes.
Those documents recorded the photographs of those children and their impoverished family backgrounds, all of which he had reviewed once beforehand.
To him, it was merely a pile of boring data and symbols.
He could not even remember the name of a single child among them.
When she raised her eyes again, those beautiful eyes carried the touch of emotion and softness that he had fully expected.
“When did you do all of this?” Jiang Man closed the file and looked up to ask him.
“It has been in preparation for a while, and it was only completely finalized recently.”
“Those children will definitely be very happy,” Jiang Man’s tone softened, “Anyway, thank you on behalf of those children.”
An undercurrent of dark pleasure welled up in his heart. Qi Zhicheng deliberately displayed an empathy that resonated with her, his tone calm, “I know I used the wrong methods for some things. But Manman, I want you to see that I have been working hard to draw closer to the art and the stage that you cherish.”
Jiang Man remained silent.
Her long eyelashes drooped, casting a small shadow beneath her eyes.
After a long while, she pushed the bowl of hangover soup in front of him, saying softly, “If you don’t drink it soon, the soup will get cold.”
Qi Zhicheng took it.
The spoon stirred the liquid in the bowl in an unhurried manner, and he used the corner of his eye to size her up surreptitiously.
At this moment, Jiang Man was leaning slightly to the side, looking down through the information of those funded individuals, the defensiveness in her eyes entirely gone.
The corner of Qi Zhicheng’s lips hooked up slightly.
Manman, look at you, you are always so easily softened.
He scooped up a spoonful of soup and put it into his mouth.
The hangover soup, brewed from kudzu root and honey, carried a faint sweetness, lifting his mood slightly.
After finishing the last sip of the soup, he methodically placed the bowl back onto the coffee table.
Jiang Man looked up from the pile of documents, “Do you want more? Should I scoop another bowl for you?”
“No need,” he smiled and shook his head.
In reality, he did not need to sober up at all.
An appropriate amount of alcohol could put him into his optimal state.
He enjoyed this slightly tipsy condition, which allowed him to perfectly navigate the boundary between rationality and madness.
Jiang Man asked casually, “Does it taste good?”
“The taste is very good,” he looked at her, smiling, “Thank you, Manman.”
Jiang Man felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze and looked away, “Emily made it, why are you thanking me?”
“Then I will thank Emily properly tomorrow.”
“You can give her a raise, that’s better than any expression of gratitude.”
Qi Zhicheng let out a brief laugh, “By the way, I received an email from Bernard in New York last night. Did you see it?”
“An email?” She was slightly startled, “No, what’s wrong?”
“He is getting married.”
Bernard was a mutual friend of theirs in New York. Back then, it was precisely because of the storm-chasing group he organized that Jiang Man was able to meet Qi Zhicheng.
She had previously seen the photo of the proposal scene Bernard posted on Instagram, but she had not expected the wedding news to arrive so quickly.
Teterboro Airport, United States.
The airplane tires made a dull thudting sound as they made contact with the runway. Jiang Man, who had been resting with her eyes closed the entire time, slowly opened them, tossed aside the cashmere blanket on her body, and looked out from the cabin window.
In the distance, a Gulfstream private jet had just finished landing, and the ground crew was methodially guiding it toward its parking spot.
Unlike the noise and crowding of ordinary civil aviation airports, as one of the busiest dedicated private airports in the United States, this place offered an open view. The low terminal building had clean lines, and its limited exits connected directly to independent parking bays, providing exceptional privacy.
The cabin door opened, and the foot of the airlocked stairs met the asphalt apron of the FBO.
A black business van was already waiting quietly by the side.
After the long flight, Jiang Man’s face looked exhausted, a faint trace of tiredness lingering under her eyes.
Walking to the side of the vehicle, Qi Zhicheng pulled open the car door, his palm shielding the upper edge of the door frame, “It’s about a forty-minute drive to Bernard’s place, you can sleep a bit longer.”
Jiang Man shook her head, her mind feeling a bit groggy, “I slept too much, my head hurts a little.”
Qi Zhicheng walked around to the other side to get into the car, “You were sleeping the entire time during the second half of the flight. However, there was intermittent turbulence throughout, and I saw you frowning during those bumps, so you didn’t sleep peacefully.”
He signaled the driver to turn up the temperature inside the car, “Do you want some water?”
“No,” Jiang Man leaned against the headrest, “I’m just a bit tired.”
Qi Zhicheng gently draped the blanket over her lap and pulled out a cashmere cushion, “Leaning against this will be more comfortable.”
Jiang Man felt that he always seemed to notice those minute details that even she herself overlooked.
That meticulous thoughtfulness almost permeated every single aspect of her life.
The scenery outside the car window slowly receded.
The road wound along the west bank of the Hudson River, and the Manhattan skyline on the opposite bank gleamed with lights in the twilight.
Jiang Man looked at the brilliant neon lights in the distance and asked softly, “After we got married, did we live there?”
“Yes, in Midtown Manhattan,” Qi Zhicheng said, “That apartment located on Fifth Avenue is where we usually stayed after our marriage.”
Jiang Man felt a burst of trance.
She tried to recall that home in her mind.
The arrangement of the living room, the color tones of the bedroom, but apart from a blurry halo of light, she could not remember anything at all.
Although the doctor had said at the time that her amnesia would not cause any impact on her body and she would slowly remember over time, several months had already passed now. The memory of those lost four years had still not recovered, and she still remembered nothing.
There was not even a single fragmented thread of blurry memory.
Thinking up to this point, Jiang Man could not help but feel downcast again, “What should I do, I still can’t think of anything. The apartment you mentioned, I have absolutely no impression of that place.”
Qi Zhicheng’s gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, his voice remaining gentle throughout, “It doesn’t matter, we can take our time. After Bernard’s wedding is over, if you are willing, I can take you over there to have a look around.”
The forty-minute car ride threw the lights of Manhattan far behind them.
The car slowly drove into a tranquil private driveway, and Bernard’s villa glowed with warm light in the twilight.
The moment the car came to a steady halt, Bernard strode out from the porch to welcome them.
He was not much different from how he looked in Jiang Man’s memory.
He still maintained his characteristically lean and vigorous build, standing tall. Apart from a few more noticeable lines at the corners of his eyes, one could not tell at all that he was a man approaching fifty years of age.
Before the two of them could fully step out of the car, Bernard opened his arms, “Zane! Mandy!” he said as he walked down the steps, “You’ve finally arrived, was the journey smooth?”
“Everything was fine,” Qi Zhicheng embraced him, “Bernard, you look in such good spirits it seems as if you’ve already returned from your honeymoon.”
The doctor burst into laughter upon hearing this, “I just hope I won’t be so nervous during the wedding that I exhaust this little bit of spirit I have right now.”
Having said that, his gaze turned toward Jiang Man on the other side, the smile in his eyes growing warmer, “Mandy, it has been a long time, you look even more beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Jiang Man responded with a smile, “Bernard, congratulations to you.”
Bernard stepped aside to let them into the house.
The interior decoration style of the villa fitted his personal temperament perfectly, an old-school solid wood style with walls lined with books, and a small meteorological observation station set up in the backyard to record local climate data.
“Make yourselves at home,” Bernard greeted them warmly, leading them toward a comfortable set of oversized sofas in the living room, “What would you like to drink? I have some quite good Macallan here. Mandy, I recall you don’t seem to like alcohol, would you like a glass of juice?”
Jiang Man said, “Anything is fine, thank you.”
Qi Zhicheng naturally sat down by her side, asking with concern, “Are you cold? Does your head still hurt?”
She shook her head.
Bernard expertly poured the liquor, then poured a glass of juice for Jiang Man, “Mandy, I heard you experienced an accident a while back, how is your body recovering?”
Jiang Man tried her best to sound lighthearted, “I’m already fine, it’s just that I still can’t recall some memories.”
He pondered for a brief moment, walked over to a solid wood bookcase against the wall, opened one of the drawers, and began rummaging through it.
Before long, he came over holding a photo album, “Take a look at this, do you still remember?”
She flipped open the album.
Inside were some photographs taken four years ago when they were chasing storms together.
The very first photograph in the album was a large group photo.
In the picture, the vast, boundless plains stretched out toward the horizon. The doctor stood in the center, with Qi Zhicheng and Jiang Man standing side by side next to him.
She wore a simple black windbreaker, her long hair slightly disheveled by the wind, the corners of her mouth tilted up slightly as she smiled faintly at the camera.
By her side, Qi Zhicheng wore a clean-cut outdoor outfit, standing tall and straight, his gaze slightly raised to look directly into the lens, brimming with high spirits.
Bernard introduced, “This was the group photo we took together after we successfully intercepted that supercell that time, do you still have an impression of it?”
Jiang Man did not remember.
She had previously heard Qi Zhicheng mention that they met during a storm-chasing trip, but she could not recall any of the details.
Bernard comforted her, “It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember, we can slowly find the memories back.”
His gaze shifted between the two of them, and he subsequently sighed with emotion, “However, I really didn’t expect that storm-chasing trip to unexpectedly bring about such a wonderful marriage.”
“To be honest, Mandy, before he met you, this group of friends of ours discussed him quite a lot in private. Back then, there was not a single female around Zane, and he remained completely indifferent to any advances. We almost thought he was not interested in women, and even thought he was a staunch practitioner of celibacy.”
“Mandy, I can tell, Zane is deeply in love with you.”
Jiang Man’s face grew slightly flushed.
She lowered her head to take small sips of her juice, suppressing the flurry in her heart at this moment.
Glancing at the man beside her, he showed no reaction whatsoever, nor did he refute Bernard’s teasing words, merely turning through those photographs in an unhurried manner.
The album recorded many segments from that storm-chasing trip, including landscape shots and daily life pictures of the team, filled with the flavor of daily life.
Qi Zhicheng turned through that photo album, finding it quite interesting to look at it once more.
Flipping past those landscape and scenery photos, whenever Jiang Man’s figure appeared, he would always linger a bit longer, even if it was just half a face exposed at the edge of the photo, or a tiny, blurred silhouette.
Qi Zhicheng’s finger stopped as he turned the page.
He did not know which camp it was taken at, but in the photo, Jiang Man was sitting on a tiny folding stool, holding a small plate in her hand, taking small bites of sliced fried eggs and bacon, looking exceptionally well-behaved.
He continued to flip through.
In this photograph, he was lowering his head to inspect the tires of an off-road vehicle, and she stood quietly beside him, holding a bottle of mineral water in her hand, clearly preparing to hand it to him.
There was a photo captured in a sudden downpour, the lens wet from the rain, making the image a bit blurry. Jiang Man was drenched through, her face and body covered in rainwater, her wet hair clinging to the side of her face and neck, her beautiful small face crinkling with a look of complete unhappiness.
Seeing this, Qi Zhicheng unconsciously curled the corners of his lips up slightly.
In truth, after that storm-chasing trip concluded, he immediately threw himself into his work, and his busy schedule caused him to cast everything that happened in South Dakota to the back of his mind.
If it had not been for his friend’s phone call that day, he would not have recalled a person like Jiang Man for quite some time.
“Bernard’s ENSO research project won an award, and he’s planning to hold a celebration party, are you going together?”
When he received his friend’s call, he was busy with the acquisition of AMEN. As an investment bank that had stood in the United States for nearly a century, AMEN possessed high brand recognition, and acquiring it would help Qiheng swiftly open up the US financial market, elevating its visibility and influence.
Therefore, this hard bone of AMEN had to be chewed down.
Working consecutively for two months, he truly did not have any spare energy to participate in noisy parties.
“Not going, no time,” he flipped through the documents in his hand, “Convey my congratulations to Bernard on my behalf.”
“Are you really not going? I heard Mandy will also participate, aren’t you going to see her?”
“Who is Mandy?”
“No way, you forgot her that quickly? Didn’t you two have a quite good chat when we chased storms together last time?”
Qi Zhicheng’s movement of flipping through the documents paused.
A beautiful, fair face slowly surfaced in his mind, along with that waist that he had lightly clasped in the darkness.
He unconsciously rubbed his fingertips, which seemed to grow slightly warm again.
The celebration party was held in a pool villa. Beside the massive swimming pool, towers of champagne glasses were stacked neatly, the greenery and flowers were arranged in an orderly fashion, and an orchestra was performing passionately.
Qi Zhicheng spotted Jiang Man in the crowd with a single glance.
She wore a red gown tonight, exposing the beautiful butterfly bones on her back. Her figure was slender and elegant, and her shoulder and neck lines were excellent. The thin red shoulder straps fell, complementing her complexion to look even fairer.
The collision of pure, cool white and high-saturation red gave off a sense of extreme aesthetic beauty.
“Mandy.”
She was slightly surprised, “Zane! You’re here too.”
Qi Zhicheng smiled slightly, “I am very glad you haven’t forgotten my name.”
Seemingly recalling the misunderstanding of calling his name wrongly last time, she scratched her head with some embarrassment, “Of course I won’t forget it again.”
“Your dress matches the color of these roses very well,” he glanced at the flowers covering the venue, giving his praise without stint, “Very beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Miss Jiang seems to like red very much.”
“Yes, I like red.”
“Therefore, your gaze has been lingering on the red roses the entire time, while you’ve barely appreciated the other colors of roses beside them.”
“The red roses here are very beautiful. Perhaps many people might find red roses tacky, but I find them bold, unbridled, passionate, and eye-catching instead,” she smiled and said, “I once saw a type of red rose in Ecuador’s flower museum. The shape of its petals was very unique, resembling the wings of a butterfly. It also had a beautiful name called ‘Muse’.”
“Muse, it does sound very special,” Qi Zhicheng paused slightly, “I guess the person who named it must have thought of his muse at that time.”
She nodded in agreement, “Only, that is a variety specifically cultivated by the local flower association, and it can only be found in Ecuador.”
“I can tell Miss Jiang likes roses very much,” he issued an invitation at the appropriate time, “I know of a garden restaurant that is quite good. It changes its decoration style with different flowers as themes every day. Would you like to try it together this weekend?”
“I’m so sorry, I have a performance at the Lincoln Center this weekend.”
He naturally heard the polite refusal in her words.
Reasonably speaking, after encountering a refusal, he should have stopped there like a gentleman to avoid causing distress to the lady with further invitations.
However, this time, he chose not to do that.
“Then tomorrow?”
“I have things to do tomorrow too.”
“What about the day after tomorrow?”
He continued to invite her, resulting in another expected refusal.
“I have to rehearse for the public performance this weekend during these few days, I truly have no time, I’m really sorry.”
“Then I can wait until your performance finishes,” he explained with a smile, “That restaurant is right in Midtown Manhattan, very close to the theater, just a few blocks away.”
“Apologies, I will be very tired after the performance finishes, I only want to go back and rest, so I won’t go for dinner.”
She issued a polite invitation out of courtesy, “However, if you have time, you can come to watch my performance.”
Amidst the swaying light and shadows, the girl’s smile was gentle and charming, so beautiful that it caused him to daze slightly.
Qi Zhicheng observed her for a moment, and after a long while, said a quiet “Okay”.
On the day of the performance, he arrived as promised and presented a bouquet of red roses.
When she saw him backstage, Jiang Man was visibly startled for a moment, “I didn’t expect you to come, Bernard said your work is very busy.”
“Since it’s Miss Jiang’s invitation, I naturally had to come,” he handed the bouquet of roses to her, “Wishing you a successful performance today.”
The roses, flown in via a special charter plane from Ecuador, still had unevaporated dewdrops remaining on their petals. The uniquely shaped red petals overlapped layer upon layer, resembling butterflies poised to flap their wings.
“Is this, Muse?”
Jiang Man opened her eyes wide in surprise, her face full of disbelief.
“From the moment it left the soil to the moment it was packaged into a bouquet and reached your hands, it took less than twelve hours, preserving the most beautiful state of Muse.”
“This is far too precious,” her fingers gently brushed the petals, and she raised her head to thank him sincerely, “Thank you, the flowers are very beautiful, I like them very much.”
That night, the play performed at the Lincoln Center was La Sylphide, choreographed and directed by Augustine. This was a highly representative romantic ballet production, and it was also the pioneering work of white ballet.
In the play, the male protagonist, James, fell in love with a sylph who descended into the forest.
In order to keep the sylph by his side, he did not hesitate to use a long gauze scarf to bind the sylph’s wings. As a result, the sylph’s wings fell off, and she died immediately.
On the stage, the girl danced gracefully in a white gauze dress, interpreting the agility of the sylph to the absolute fullest.
Spinning, leaping, and jumping, every single movement of her dance easily stirred up a tumultuous storm in his heart.
The light from the relief painted glass lamps shifted, brightening and dimming.
On that day, upon the stage flashing with light and shadow, he saw his sylph.
He suddenly understood the male protagonist of the play, James.
A beautiful sylph, he naturally wanted to possess her exclusively too.
To hide her away, bind her by his side, and claim her as his own.
Even if it meant resorting to despicable means.
However, if the sylph lost her wings, she would no longer be complete. She would be sorrowful, and she would also die.
If he were James,
He certainly would not stop her from flying.
He would use a fine thread to tie around her ankle, while the other end of the thread would be held firmly in his hand.
No matter how high or how far she flew, there would always be a thread controlling the trajectory of her flight.
With just a gentle tug, she would fly right back to his side.