Early the next morning, Pei Huaijin opened his eyes.
She lay curled up in his arms, a small bundle with her face buried against his chest, traces of dried tears still clinging to her lashes. She was sleeping deeply, her breathing heavy, as if utterly exhausted.
Pei Huaijin watched her for a long time.
Then he gently withdrew his arm and got out of bed.
He pulled a notepad and pen from his suit pocket and wrote a few lines. Then he took a card from his wallet and placed it beneath the note.
After dressing, he stood by the bed and glanced at her once more.
Morning light filtered through the gap in the curtains, falling across her face. She slept so peacefully, nothing like the bold woman from the night before.
He averted his gaze, turned, and left.
The hallway was quiet, filled only with the sound of his footsteps, growing fainter and fainter with each step.
—End of memory
Shen Qingyu opened her eyes, stared at the ceiling, and slowly let out a breath.
She, Shen Qingyu—a well-behaved girl who had barely uttered a curse word in her twenty-six years, a Stanford law doctorate, the eldest daughter of the Shen family in Jingbei—had actually had a one-night stand with a stranger?!
“Insane,” she whispered. “Shen Qingyu, you’ve truly lost your mind.”
She lay back down, pulled the covers over her head, and wrapped herself completely in darkness.
In the darkness, the scent of cedarwood drifted into her nostrils again.
It was what he had left behind.
She abruptly threw off the covers and turned to look at the nightstand.
On the nightstand lay a note, and beneath it, a black card.
She reached over and picked them up.
The handwriting on the note was elegant—a practiced running script, clean and precise, without a single unnecessary stroke.
“Room fee is paid through tonight. You can rest well. The card contains five million. The password is the last six digits of the card number. Let’s pretend last night never happened.”
Shen Qingyu stared at the words for a long time.
Then she set the note back down and picked up the card again.
It was black, with a metallic texture. She recognized the embossed gold lettering in the upper left corner—it was an anonymous black card from a domestic bank, with a minimum limit of five million.
Five million.
One night with her was worth five million.
Shen Qingyu tossed the card back onto the nightstand, leaned against the headboard, and closed her eyes.
Five million.
Her father’s law firm handled billions in annual turnover. Her mother’s legal fees for a single case often exceeded that amount. Having grown up in such an environment, five million wasn’t a significant sum to her.
Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Shen Qingyu sat up abruptly, pulling the covers up to her neck, her eyes fixed warily on the door.
“Hotel service. May I come in, ma’am?”
“Oh, yes.”
The door opened, and a woman in hotel uniform entered, offering a standard professional smile.
“Good morning, ma’am. I’m here to deliver your breakfast, as requested by a gentleman.”
She wheeled in a cart laden with congee, side dishes, fried eggs, toast, and a steaming cup of honey water.
“This was specially prepared by that gentleman,” she said, placing the honey water on the nightstand.
Shen Qingyu stared at the cup of honey water, momentarily stunned.
“Did he say anything else?”
“No,” the server replied with a smile, shaking her head. “Only that you should rest well.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The door closed, and the room fell silent once more.
Shen Qingyu sat on the bed, gazing at the cup of honey water, the breakfast spread, the note, and the black card beside it.
Sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a long strip of light across the carpet.
Outside the window, the faint sounds of the city’s hustle and bustle drifted in—the noise of cars and people, distant, as if from another world.
Suddenly, she remembered something more important.
“Qingyu, you need to book a flight back home right away.” Her mother’s voice in yesterday’s video call had been uncharacteristically gentle. “Pei Huaijin from the Pei family is only four years older than you and is already the CEO of the Pei Group. His grandfather and your grandfather were old comrades-in-arms, and I’ve been friends with his mother for decades. We know their family inside and out.”
“Mom,” Shen Qingyu had tried to reason at the time, “we’re living in a new era now. You studied law—isn’t it inappropriate for you to so blatantly interfere with my freedom to choose who I marry?”
“I’m doing this for your own good,” her mother said earnestly. “Pei Huaijin is known as the Crown Prince of Jingbei. The Pei Group, founded by his father, practically holds the economic lifeline of Jingbei. Of course, our family isn’t lacking either. Their family is interested in our resources and connections, which is why they proposed the marriage. Just come back and meet him, give it a try. If you really don’t like him, I won’t force you.”
“I’m not coming back.”
“Then I’ll cut off your allowance.”
“…”
“Don’t even think about buying any more bags, jewelry, or limited-edition clothes.”
“…”
“Qingyu? Is the signal bad? Hello?”
Shen Qingyu forced a perfectly polite, fake smile into the video call. “Fine, fine, I’ll come back. I’ll book a flight right now, okay?”
She booked a flight back home for three days later. She was going back to meet this so-called Crown Prince of the Pei family, the man her mother called “the most eligible bachelor in Jingbei.”
Shen Qingyu picked up the glass of honey water and took a sip.
It was sweet and delicious, just the right temperature.
Leaning against the headboard, she slowly finished the glass.
Suddenly remembering something, she opened her phone and pulled up the photo her mother had sent her.
The photo looked formal, as if it had been taken from a financial magazine—Pei Huaijin wore a black suit, his eyes cold as he stared into the camera. His jawline was sharp, his thin lips slightly pressed together, making him look utterly unapproachable.
So this was Pei Huaijin. Shen Qingyu stared at his face for a few seconds.
He was indeed good-looking.
But why did he look so familiar…
She zoomed in on the photo, focusing on his eyes.
They were icy and distant.
Shen Qingyu suddenly paused, staring at Pei Huaijin in the photo for a long time.
Those eyes, that cold demeanor, reminded her of the man from last night…
She frowned, trying to recall, but her mind felt foggy, unable to grasp anything clearly. She couldn’t remember the man’s face at all—thanks to the alcohol.
She shook her head vigorously.
What was she thinking?
There was no way the man from last night could be Pei Huaijin. Pei Huaijin was in Jingbei, living his life as the Crown Prince. Why would he appear in a bar in San Francisco? Why would he just happen to save her? Why would he and she—
But then Shen Qingyu suddenly remembered the faint hint of a Jingbei accent in the man’s voice last night.
A Jingbei accent.
From Jingbei.
And his clothes had clearly been expensive.
Even the watch on his wrist could have bought a small apartment.
And that aura about him—cold, distant—somehow matched the man in the photo perfectly.
And he had casually offered five million, an amount ordinary people couldn’t possibly produce.
Shen Qingyu stared at her phone screen, her heart skipping a beat.
Then she shook her head again.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Even if that man was also from Jingbei, even if he was also wealthy, even if his demeanor seemed quite similar to Pei Huaijin’s—it still couldn’t be him. There were plenty of people like that in Jingbei.
Besides, what were the odds of such a coincidence in the world?
She had a one-night stand with a stranger, and that man just happened to be the marriage partner her mother had arranged for her?
That was the kind of plot you’d only find in novels.
In real life, the probability of such a coincidence was lower than winning the lottery.
Shen Qingyu placed her phone face down on the bed and rubbed her temples hard.
Stop thinking about it. How could something straight out of a novel happen to her?
Shen Qingyu rubbed her face vigorously again, telling herself inwardly, “Wake up, Shen Qingyu. What happened last night is over. That man gave you money, left a message, and it’s settled.”
She couldn’t think about him anymore, couldn’t dwell on what he looked like, and absolutely must not associate him with Pei Huaijin.