Stop thinking about it.
She got out of bed and walked barefoot into the bathroom. The person in the mirror looked disheveled—her hair was a mess, her eyes were slightly swollen, a small piece of skin on her lip was broken, and the marks on her body were particularly noticeable under the light.
Staring at her reflection, she suddenly remembered the things she had said last night, things only a madwoman would say.
Shen Qingyu covered her face. Ahhh!
As hot water poured down from the showerhead, she stood under the stream with her eyes closed, trying not to think about anything.
But some images still uncontrollably surfaced.
His hands.
His lips.
His voice.
Shen Qingyu turned the water temperature down a bit.
When the cold water hit her, those images finally faded a little.
After finishing her shower, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe and stood by the window.
The sweetness of the honey water still lingered on her tongue, masking the bitterness of the hangover.
Outside the window, the California sun was just right.
She picked up her phone from the nightstand, unlocked it, opened WeChat, and sent a message to her best friend, Xu Yunshu.
[Yunshu, I’m returning to China in three days.]
Xu Yunshu was her high school classmate and had been her closest friend all these years. In high school, they were both famously top students, and they were both admitted to Jing University together. Xu Yunshu’s parents were both professors at Jing University, and her family was well-off. Now, Xu Yunshu also stayed at Jing University as an administrative staff member.
The message was sent, and the reply came almost instantly.
Xu Yunshu: [You’re finally coming back to keep me company!]
Shen Qingyu: [Sigh, my mom is forcing me to return for an arranged marriage.]
Xu Yunshu: [Auntie is forcing you into an arranged marriage??]
Before Shen Qingyu could reply, Xu Yunshu’s voice call came through.
She answered it.
“Your mom—Auntie is serious?”
“Dead serious.” Shen Qingyu leaned against the window. “She said the other party is the son of a good friend from her youth and wants me to come back and meet him first. I said I wouldn’t return, and she threatened to cut off my allowance. No more bags, jewelry, or limited-edition clothes for me.”
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the line.
“Then you really have to go back.” Xu Yunshu’s tone suddenly turned unusually serious. “Those things are your lifeblood.”
“Xu Yunshu.”
“Hehe, okay, serious talk now. Who is the other party? What’s his background? Someone Auntie approves of must be extraordinary, right?”
“Pei Huaijin. Ever heard of him?”
“What?! Pei Huaijin?! Of course I know him! The famous CEO of the Pei Group, the crown prince of Jingbei.” Xu Yunshu’s voice was tinged with excitement. “Do you know how many socialites and heiresses in Jingbei want to marry him? Everyone says he’s the most eligible bachelor in Jingbei.”
Shen Qingyu: “You sound just like my mom…”
Xu Yunshu, observing her tone, suddenly switched to a softer, more earnest voice: “Hey, Qingyu, I know you don’t want an arranged marriage, but Pei Huaijin—aside from being indifferent to women—has a really good reputation.”
“Indifferent to women?” Shen Qingyu repeated the phrase.
“Yes, indifferent to women. It’s said he’s never been in a relationship and doesn’t even have any ambiguous connections around him. Everyone around him knows he’s disciplined and focused solely on work. Do you know what that means?”
“What does it mean?”
“It means he’s clean! You’ve never been in a relationship either, and you don’t have any ambiguous connections around you. You two are like blank sheets of paper matching each other.”
Shen Qingyu didn’t respond.
Xu Yunshu grinned, “Anyway, just listen to your aunt and meet him once. Have a meal, and if you don’t like him, just forget it. Would your mom really tie you up and send you to the Pei family? Your dad would be the first to object.”
“Mhm.”
“Oh right,” Xu Yunshu suddenly remembered something, her expression turning mischievous. “You said Pei Huaijin keeps his distance from women. Could it be that he has… issues in that area?”
“…I don’t know,” Shen Qingyu said, her voice a bit dry. “It’s none of my business.”
“How is it none of your business? If you really end up marrying him in the future…” Xu Yunshu continued.
“Ah, isn’t it late over there? You should get some sleep. I won’t keep you,” Shen Qingyu interrupted her.
“Alright, alright. Then I’ll pick you up at the airport in three days. Send me your flight number, and I’ll hold up a big sign that says ‘Welcome Dr. Shen’s Glorious Return Home’—”
Shen Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh. “No need to trouble yourself. My mom said she’ll pick me up.”
“Fine then. I won’t get to see you right away,” Xu Yunshu’s tone carried a hint of regret. “Once you’re home and adjusted to the time difference, we’ll have a proper get-together!”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye!”
.
Three days later, San Francisco International Airport.
Shen Qingyu sat in the first-class lounge, holding a half-finished cup of coffee, her eyes fixed on the planes taking off and landing outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
She thought she had already processed what happened that night.
She defined that night as a “moment of impulse.”
The only loss of control in her twenty-six years.
It was over, turned the page, and it wouldn’t happen again.
When the boarding announcement sounded, she stood up, picked up her bag, and walked toward the gate.
The first-class seat was spacious. The flight attendant offered champagne, but she declined, asking for a glass of warm water instead. As the plane took off, she looked out the window, watching the lights of San Francisco grow farther and smaller until they disappeared beneath the clouds.
Then she put on her eye mask and fell asleep.
When she woke up, she had arrived.
Fourteen hours later, the plane landed at Jingbei International Airport.
As Shen Qingyu walked out, she spotted her mother at a glance.
Manlin Jiang stood at the front of the crowd, wearing a finely tailored gray coat, an Hermès scarf around her neck, holding a small sign that read, “Welcome Home, My Precious Daughter.”
Shen Qingyu paused for a moment.
Holding that sign was probably the most out-of-character thing her mother had ever done—a senior partner at Jingbei’s largest law firm, the renowned “Lawyer Jiang” in the industry, holding up a sign like a fan waiting for a celebrity.
Her mother’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw her.
“Qingyu!”
Manlin Jiang shoved the sign aside and hurried over, wrapping her in a tight hug.
“You’re finally back in the country. I’ve missed you so much!”
Shen Qingyu was hugged so tightly she could barely breathe, but she didn’t pull away. She caught the familiar scent of her mother’s perfume, the same one she had used before Shen Qingyu left the country—warm and comforting, a signal of home.
“Mom,” she mumbled.
Manlin Jiang released her, looking her up and down, her brows furrowing.
“Look at you, you’ve lost so much weight!” Her mother pinched her arm, her voice filled with concern. “Couldn’t get used to the food there, could you? I told you to come back sooner, but you insisted on staying there…”
“Mom, I haven’t lost weight…”
“Still haven’t lost weight? Your face has already slimmed down a whole size!” Manlin Jiang ignored her protests, taking her hand and leading her outside. “Come on, let’s go home with Mom and have a proper meal.”
Shen Qingyu was pulled along, her suitcase taken by the driver.
“I had Aunt Liu prepare lots of your favorite home-cooked dishes,” her mother continued, her voice filled with unconcealed joy. “There’s sweet and sour pork ribs, garlic vermicelli shrimp, steamed hairy crab, and that corn and pork rib soup you loved most as a child. Aunt Liu went to the market early this morning to buy fresh corn—it’s so sweet.”
Listening to this, Shen Qingyu suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
During all those years abroad, she rarely thought of home. Not because she didn’t want to, but because there was no time. Coursework, papers, internships—one thing after another kept her constantly busy. Occasionally during rare moments of leisure, she would think of home-cooked meals, but it was just a passing thought.
She thought she had grown accustomed to it.
But now, hearing her mother chattering on about those familiar dishes, that warm, homely feeling suddenly washed over her.
“Oh, right, your dad couldn’t get away today because of a case. He’ll be back tonight,” her mother said. “He told me to tell you he’s treating you to dinner at your favorite Japanese restaurant tonight.”
“There’s no need to go through all that trouble…”
“What trouble?” her mother said with a smile. “You haven’t been back for so long. Your dad misses you terribly—he just won’t say it out loud. Let him treat you; he’ll be happy to.”
Shen Qingyu smiled slightly.
Stepping out of the terminal, a blast of cold air hit her face. November in Jingbei was much colder than San Francisco. The coat she was wearing clearly wasn’t thick enough, and a gust of wind made her shiver.
Her mother noticed immediately, unwrapping her own scarf and wrapping it around Shen Qingyu’s neck.
“I told you to wear more when you came. Look at you, dressed so lightly!” her mother chided while tying the scarf. “Jingbei isn’t as warm as San Francisco. This season is when you’re most likely to catch a cold. I’ll buy you a few more thick clothes later…”
Shen Qingyu looked down at her mother’s hands. They were well-maintained, but there were still fine lines around the knuckles—marks left from years of holding pens and typing on keyboards.
The scarf still carried her mother’s warmth, snug against her neck.
“Let’s go, the car is over there,” her mother said, finishing with the scarf and leading her forward. “Aunt Liu said she’s preparing a whole table of dishes today to properly welcome you home.”
Listening to this, Shen Qingyu couldn’t help but smile.
As she got into the car, she glanced back at the terminal.
The massive glass curtain wall reflected Jingbei’s gray-blue sky. An airplane soared overhead, trailing a long contrail.
Jingbei. She was home.
Shen Qingyu turned her gaze away and settled into the car.
The car slowly pulled away from the airport, merging into Jingbei’s traffic.
Her mother continued chattering beside her—about new restaurants that had recently opened in Jingbei, how Aunt Liu had been feeding a stray cat, how her father had taken on a big case recently and was barely home…
Shen Qingyu leaned back in her seat, watching the familiar streets pass by outside the window. She was truly home.
She closed her eyes, and suddenly, the man from that night flashed through her mind.
Shen Qingyu’s eyes snapped open. Why was she thinking about him again? Don’t think about it!
She told herself it was already in the past.
The car headed toward the city center, in the direction of home.