The long rainy season had finally ended, yet the sun had not yet had time to scorch the earth dry; the North Island of the Republic of Suman had entered the most pleasant season of the year.
It was three o’clock in the afternoon at the Pei Mansion—the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the National Army.
The sounds of young people frolicking, accompanied by deafening rock music, whipped up a spirited, heated whirlwind in the spacious backyard.
In the pool, by the water’s edge, and amidst the lush gardens, youths in swimwear ran and played, their laughter ringing out with high-pitched, joyful abandon.
They possessed the vigorous bodies of youth and handsome, refined faces; their smiles were innocent and carefree, untouched by the hardships of the world.
If an Eden existed on earth, it would likely look just like this.
The end of the rainy season also marked the end of the academic term.
Hailing from Suman’s prominent political and wealthy dynasties, this group of young people had chosen the Pei estate to host the first pool party of their summer break.
Servants dressed in white shirts and black trousers wove through the guests, carrying trays of drinks.
In Suman, the legal drinking age was twenty-one—yet at least half of this group had not yet reached that age. However, the laws of the outside world never encroached upon this opulent, extravagant estate.
After draining his fifth martini, Lian Yi let out a tipsy belch and fixed his gaze on the young man lounging in the chair next to him.
“So, the old man still didn’t agree in the end?”
The young man next to him replied with a casual, “Mm.”
“The situation is so stable right now, and you’re just heading to Paris—there’s really no need to be so paranoid,” Lian Yi said, picking up a sixth martini from a servant’s tray. “So, you’re just letting it slide?”
“The old man assigned someone else to me,” the young man said with a yawn. “It wouldn’t look good to keep locking horns with an elder over a trifle like this.”
The friends gathered around him chimed in.
“Who did he assign you? Someone prettier than Elena?”
“Elena wasn’t even that good-looking.”
“Just a boring person,” the young man said with a derisive smile. “A minder.”
His friends let out sighs of disappointment.
“But seriously, A-Chen,” Lian Yi said, “what exactly do you see in Elena? She comes from a nobody family and is just a dancer, yet she’s so arrogant, full of rules, and always looks down on people.”
The young man replied, “Long legs and a hot body.”
Lian Yi spat out a mouthful of his drink. His friends burst into laughter.
“As the eldest grandson of the Pei family, he could have any woman he wanted—so why would he care for someone with that kind of look?”
Lian Yi, his eyes hazy with a mild buzz, scanned the poolside before snapping his fingers at a girl in a bikini.
“Amanda, sweetheart. Come here. Show Young Master Pei what a truly exquisite ‘jade peak’ looks like.”
The girl who approached possessed the curvaceous figure of a lingerie model; her skin was a sun-kissed golden honey, and the fabric of her bikini covered little more area than the shadows cast by her own body.
Her hips swayed gently as she sauntered over, prompting a chorus of whistles from the crowd.
“Young Master Pei isn’t in a good mood,” Lian Yi said, gesturing toward his friend. “You’d better take good care of him.”
The girl smiled seductively, tossed back her thick chestnut hair, and sat down with practiced ease, pressing the contours of her body against the young man’s—her touch as gentle as a spring stream.
The young man remained unmoved, his hands clasped behind his head. A pair of oversized sunglasses perched on his straight nose, concealing his expression entirely.
His aloofness didn’t deter Amanda; the gaze she fixed upon him held undisguised, passionate adoration.
Even without the title of Commander-in-Chief Pei’s eldest grandson—or the family’s most favored heir—Pei Jiangchen was handsome enough to rival the sun god Apollo.
He wore nothing but blue-checkered swim trunks, revealing the lean, taut definition of his muscles beneath fair skin. Though his lips and jawline—visible beneath the sunglasses—still held a hint of youthful softness, his well-proportioned, athletic physique was already that of a grown man.
“Jason,” Amanda whispered, pressing closer until her lips brushed his ear, her voice a signature husky murmur. “Who upset you? Let me make you feel better…”
Her hands began to roam with practiced skill, and her full, red lips grazed his cheek.
Pei Jiangchen let out a soft, scoffing huff—a sound that passed for a laugh—offering neither a response nor a rejection. “Forget about Elena, A-Chen.” Lian Yi downed another martini, his speech already slurring slightly. “Once you start university next semester, you’ll be able to get any girl you want. You won’t even have to lift a finger; just fix that seductive gaze of yours on her, and she’ll come right over.”
Pei Jiangchen gave a bored, listless smile. He tilted his head to the side, perhaps because the girl’s kisses were tickling him.
Suddenly, a furious roar erupted, drowning out even the thunderous music.
A tall, burly young man parted the crowd and strode toward Pei Jiangchen, seething with rage.
Amanda’s face drained of color; she tumbled off her lounge chair and scrambled in a panic to hide behind Pei Jiangchen.
But the young man stepped forward, seized Amanda’s hand, and roughly yanked her toward him.
“Jason!” the girl cried out to Pei Jiangchen in terror.
Pei Jiangchen had already sat up, his brows knitting together slightly.
“Bitch!” The young man’s palm struck Amanda’s face with a heavy smack.
The girl screamed as her body was sent reeling—limp as a puppet with severed strings—before crashing into and overturning a coffee table.
“Hey, hey!” Lian Yi staggered to his feet. “Tao Wei, what the hell are you doing? Coming all the way to the Pei estate to smash things up and hit people—who exactly are you gunning for?”
The young man pointed at Amanda, who was sitting on the ground weeping, and roared, “She’s my girl! What the hell were she and Pei Jiangchen doing just now?”
The other young people exchanged uneasy glances, sensing that trouble was brewing.
Although the party guests all hailed from prominent families, the Pei family—the hosts—and the Tao family—who had burst onto the scene with sudden prominence—reigned supreme among them.
One family held sway over the national military, while the other boasted the head of the National Legislative Committee. The scions of such military and political heavyweights were not figures to be trifled with lightly.
Moreover, Pei Jiangchen and Tao Wei were like oil and water; they had clashed since kindergarten. Whether it was fighting over a yogurt drink or a girl, friction was inevitable whenever they crossed paths.
Their most infamous exploit dated back to junior high, when each led a small gang in a chaotic, all-out brawl behind the school playground—an incident that culminated in them setting fire to the sports equipment storage shed.
Unable to tolerate the situation any longer, the adults from both families intervened, laying down a strict rule forbidding the two boys from engaging in physical violence.
Tao Wei was a year older than Pei Jiangchen; things had been much more peaceful in their social circle since he left for university. No one expected the two of them to be at each other’s throats again over something like this.
“What was I thinking!” Lian Yi’s sudden chuckle broke the awkward silence. “It’s my fault—I didn’t realize you and Amanda were already an item. I saw A-Chen was in a bad mood, so we made a bet on who could make him laugh; it just so happened to be Amanda’s turn to tickle him. Right?”