As the sky darkened, a silver-blue hue lingered with the last traces of the sunset. Neon lights flickered, casting paper-cut-like shadows on the trees and streets.
At the foot of a building in the CBD of Licheng, inside a cafe, classical music played softly while the scent of freshly ground coffee beans floated in the air.
Just after six in the evening, the door pushed open.
Ji Shu had just received a call from Xie Qichen, who sounded particularly urgent. She dropped everything she was doing and came immediately.
She scanned the room with her eyes and soon spotted the man sitting in a corner on a leather sofa.
Dressed in a suit, he exuded a calm and solemn aura. The neon lights from outside slanted down, illuminating half of his sharply defined profile, creating an intensely oppressive presence. His features were strikingly handsome.
Ji Shu turned her head and saw a few women nearby secretly watching him, whispering to each other with dreamy expressions on their faces.
Ji Shu sighed inwardly. Whether in the past or now, Xie Qichen still drew attention wherever he went. No wonder Tan Mo often felt jealous over unexplained things.
She walked over and smiled. “Hi.”
She sat down opposite him. Seeing her, Xie Qichen gestured to a waiter and said to Ji Shu, “Take a look, what would you like to drink?”
“Just a latte, thank you.”
After the waiter left, Ji Shu looked at Xie Qichen.
“Sorry, I was dealing with something at work. Did you wait long?”
He replied warmly, “No, thank you for taking the time to meet me.”
“Actually, I’ve been waiting for your call, wondering when you’d realize something was wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
Ji Shu smiled but didn’t respond directly. “Tonight, I’m mainly here for my best friend. Seeing how upset she’s been lately, it really breaks my heart. I wanted to speak up for her.”
Upon hearing this, Xie Qichen’s heart clenched.
“Has she been… okay these days?”
“What do you think? I’ve never seen her this upset before.”
“…I thought she wouldn’t care at all.”
“Care about you?”
“Do you think Tan Mo doesn’t like you?” Ji Shu asked directly.
Xie Qichen looked straight at her. Ji Shu curled her lips slightly and laughed softly. “Tan Mo doesn’t like you—that’s the biggest joke I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Seeing the tremble in his pupils, Ji Shu felt helpless and surprised. “You really didn’t know? Tan Mo really knows how to hide her feelings.”
Xie Qichen was stunned, his voice hoarse. “…I didn’t know.”
Ji Shu sighed. “Judging by Tan Mo’s personality, if I didn’t speak up for her, she might never tell you how much she likes you her entire life. Last week, I went to her house, and she told me in person. But she’s afraid you don’t like her. She’s afraid your kindness is just out of consideration, so she dares not make it clear, fearing disappointment.”
Hearing this, Xie Qichen’s mind went blank.
“You asked me about last Thursday on the phone, right? Last Thursday morning, I called her, and she was preparing dinner and a cake, busying herself all day. She even got her hand pinched by crab claws while making seafood rice, but she was still very happy because it was for your birthday. You don’t remember this day, but she remembers it more clearly than you do.”
Ji Shu continued with a bitter tone. “She was really looking forward to celebrating your birthday, but that night you went to a classmate reunion. Tan Mo knew the reunion was important to you, so she swallowed her sadness and disappointment alone. Later that night, I took Tan Mo out to relax, and she happened to see you and your classmates finishing the reunion, chatting and laughing. They celebrated your birthday, so she felt what she had prepared for you might not be that important to you after all.”
“That night she was there?! I didn’t even see her.”
“Of course she didn’t dare approach you, because at that moment, Song Ranxia was standing right beside you. Do you know how jealous that silly girl is of Song Ranxia?”
Ji Shu continued. “Tan Mo said that once during high school, near graduation, there was a villa party where she overheard you telling someone you had liked someone for a long time. Tan Mo thought that person was Song Ranxia, so she always felt you had feelings for Song Ranxia back then. That night at the classmate reunion, Song Ranxia came back from abroad, so Tan Mo felt a sense of crisis, thinking she couldn’t compare to Song Ranxia.”
Xie Qichen swallowed hard. “I’ve never compared her to anyone else.”
In his heart, Tan Mo was the best; she didn’t need to be compared to anyone.
“Even though you didn’t compare, for Tan Mo, falling in love with someone makes you feel worried, scared, and insecure. You probably don’t know that since she married you, there have been some rich young women in the circle who have been gossiping behind her back, thinking she married you by climbing up, believing you looked down on her.”
Ji Shu’s nose tingled as she couldn’t help but express the injustice for Tan Mo. “And that day when she went to attend your classmate’s wedding banquet, she heard people discussing that your relationship was just a business marriage without feelings. Now that Song Ranxia is back, they speculated you might fall for Song Ranxia and divorce her. Put yourself in Tan Mo’s shoes, how sad would she feel hearing such words?”
“And that night when she came home for dinner, her parents also brought up the topic to provoke her, as if the whole world believed you would choose Song Ranxia over her. She was so upset that she told her parents about the two-year engagement between you two, trying to act as if she didn’t care.”
Ji Shu sighed. “Do you know, that night after she initiated the annulment of the engagement, she came back crying so hard her whole body was shaking. What she said was the opposite of her true feelings—how could she ever want to divorce you?”
Hearing this, Xie Qichen felt as if his heart had been pierced by a knife.
So that day, driven by emotion, he didn’t ask her a single question further, and he had actually misunderstood her…
Ji Shu looked at Xie Qichen.
“Actually… you really like Tan Mo, right?”
The man was silent for a few seconds before speaking in a husky voice.
“Do you remember when Tan Mo said she overheard me saying I had liked someone for a long time at the villa?”
“That person was her.”
Ji Shu was surprised. “So you already…”
“Yes, I liked her back then, and still do until now.”
Ji Shu was equally shocked.
“I actually had a vague sense of it. That time when you heard she went to Kewu Mountain to find my grandfather, you immediately rushed there. But Tan Mo was always unsure of your feelings, so I also doubted whether I had misjudged. And you only signed a two-year engagement, so even if your feelings for her were obvious, without hearing it from your mouth, her rationality would always stop her from thinking too much.”
Ji Shu felt anxious for them. “You both like each other, how could you end up arguing about divorce that night? If either of you had been honest, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
Xie Qichen lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I didn’t speak up because I was afraid to confirm her feelings, afraid of scaring her and making her run away.”
He always wanted to be in control, to plan everything out, never realizing he had missed the best timing.
“Xie Qichen, I’m more than willing to help you, because that time when my grandfather went missing, you helped our family a lot. So I hope you and Tan Mo can be together happily. Actually, from both your perspectives, you’re not wrong. You both just care for each other too much, leading to your own concerns. But if this continues, you’ll miss each other.”
Ji Shu’s words struck deep into Xie Qichen’s heart.
The man’s eyes felt dry as he thanked her, looked up, and spoke hoarsely.
“Could I trouble you to help me with something?”
“I’m going to find her now.”
–
The new semester registration lasted two days, and today was the second day. At around eight in the morning, Tan Mo finished packing and set off for school.
As a senior in their final half semester, their main tasks at the start of the term were related to graduation, with not much else to do. Of course, the annual grade meeting was an essential event.
In the afternoon, after the meeting ended, there were no further arrangements from the group, so everyone went about their own business.
Tan Mo returned to the dormitory with her roommates and began organizing her desk. Chang Yue saw Tan Mo putting clothes into the wardrobe and looked surprised. “Hey, Mo Mo, aren’t you going to live in the apartment next semester? Or are you moving back into the dorm?”
Tan Mo paused her movements and lowered her lashes. “I’ll stay in the dorm for a while. I’ve moved out of my old apartment and am currently looking for a new one.”
Chang Yue’s face fell slightly. “Oh, I thought you’d stay in the dorm to keep me company.”
“If you want, I can come back more often to keep you company.”
“That’s great! Hehe.”
Chang Yue took some snacks from her desk and distributed them to her roommates. When she reached Tan Mo’s desk, she noticed Tan Mo was putting toiletries and clothes into another suitcase.
“Why are you putting things in instead of taking them out?” Chang Yue asked, puzzled.
“I’m going to Anhui Mountain tomorrow to film a show. I’ll be back in a week.”
The D station’s production team had already booked her flight, which was at 9 a.m. the next day. She had also asked her counselor for leave.
After everything that had happened these days, she wanted to leave Licheng for a while, go somewhere else to relax, and maybe shift her focus.
Chang Yue, after understanding the program, felt excited. “So lucky, a paid trip! I’ll definitely watch the show when it’s out. How about we four go out for dinner tonight? We haven’t had a meal together in a long time. The other two will start their internships in a couple of days, and I’ll be left alone in the dorm again.”
Tan Mo nodded. “Okay, I’ll treat everyone to dinner tonight. You can let them know.”
Tan Mo thought about how this was the last half semester, so they should spend more time together.
“Great, I’ll go tell them.”
Chang Yue went to ask the other two roommates, and they agreed.
So the four of them stayed in the dormitory, organizing and tidying up until it got dark. At around six in the evening, they went downstairs and walked out of the dormitory.
The sun had set, and the sky was a slanting gray-blue. The temperature in Licheng had dropped significantly. Tan Mo was wearing a sweater and a short skirt today, which was a bit thin. A cold gust of wind came, and she instinctively tightened her knit jacket, but still felt a bone-chilling cold seeping through the fabric, deep into her bones.
Tan Mo looked up and saw a couple walking down the road ahead.
The boy quickly took off his jacket and put it on the girl. They looked at each other, looking especially sweet.
Memories flashed back to that evening in the garden, also at dusk. Xie Qichen had wrapped a shawl around her, smiling as he pinned her against his chest, looking down at her with a blushing face.
“Why? Are you hiding from me the moment you see me?”
The sweet memory felt like yesterday, yet in the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
A wave of bitterness spread through her heart again.
Tan Mo tightened her jacket and lowered her slightly teary eyes.
Why did she think of him again…
The other three roommates were chatting and laughing. They turned around and saw that Tan Mo wasn’t listening at all, seemingly unaware that they had stopped, continuing to walk forward alone, her pale face devoid of light.
The three were puzzled. “What’s wrong with her? Does she have something on her mind?”
“I feel like Mo Mo has been gloomy all day, like she’s in a bad mood.”
“Could it be she had a fight with her family, or did something go wrong with her video shooting? Should we go ask her?”
“Forget it, don’t ask. You don’t know Mo Mo’s personality? If she wants to talk, she will. Don’t push her…”
Ten minutes later, the four reached the school gate and took a bus to a nearby student street.
They found a grilled fish restaurant and went into a private room. A waiter brought a menu, and Tan Mo told them to order whatever they liked without hesitation.
After a while, the fragrant grilled fish was served, bubbling with heat. It felt especially warm to eat it in winter.
They chatted while eating, and Tan Mo quietly ate, occasionally opening her phone and scrolling through her moments. She came across a post from Song Ranxia.
In the photo, Song Ranxia was wearing a beautiful champagne-colored evening dress. The background was an elegant Western restaurant. In the picture, she was holding a cake and making a wish, smiling brightly.
The caption she wrote was: “Back in the country. My biggest wish this year is to meet the right person, so that we can grow old together without wasting our years.”
Tan Mo’s gaze lingered on this post, and an uncontrollable thought flashed through her mind—
Would the person accompanying her tonight to celebrate her birthday be Xie Qichen?
Was the person she hoped for… him?
The random thought drifted away, and finally, Tan Mo locked her phone screen and blinked her slightly teary eyes.
Now, no matter what Xie Qichen did, it had nothing to do with her anymore.
Why should she care?
After a while, the waiter opened the door and brought in a dish. Tan Mo suddenly said to the waiter, “Could you bring me two bottles of beer, please?”
The three beside her were stunned. “Mo Mo, you’re going to drink?”
“Yeah… I just feel like drinking.”
Seeing her insistence, the three didn’t stop her. Another roommate said she would drink with her.
The beer was quickly brought over. Tan Mo opened the bottle. As her roommate was about to clink glasses with her, Tan Mo directly tilted her head and took several gulps, quickly finishing almost half the bottle.
The three looked at each other in shock. Chang Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Mo Mo, do you have something on your mind?”
Tan Mo shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll drink by myself.”
Tan Mo tilted her head again and took another big gulp, wanting to numb her mind.
After a while, her phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Ji Shu.
She answered the call, and a laugh came from the other end. “Mo Mo, what are you doing? Have you had dinner yet?”
Tan Mo spoke softly, trying to stay calm.
“Yeah, I’m eating now. How about you?”
“I just got off work at the company. Where are you now? At school?”
“No, I’m at the student street. I’m out having dinner with my roommates tonight.”
Ji Shu asked which store she was at, and after Tan Mo told her, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was thinking about coming to find you, but your place is a bit far from my company. How about we meet another day?”
“Okay.”
Ji Shu said she had something to do and hung up first. Tan Mo continued drinking, one bottle after another.
Alcohol indeed had some effect—it gradually eroded her clarity, and drowsiness crept in. Her thoughts became lighter, as if she were walking on cotton, and she felt relaxed.
One of her roommates was chatting about her new boyfriend during winter break, her tone full of affection. Beside her, Chang Yue instantly became a sour lemon: “Ahh! I’m so jealous! I really want to fall in love now! Oh God, can you give me a guy so I can experience a beautiful romance?”
Sitting at a corner of the round table, Tan Mo heard this, cupped her fluffy face, and softly countered, “Don’t fall in love. Men are nothing.”
“Huh??”
Tan Mo nodded as if agreeing with herself and murmured, “It’s so tiring to like someone. It’s better to stay single. I won’t like anyone anymore. I’m going to stay single forever and never get married again…”
Chang Yue laughed, “What do you mean ‘never get married again’? It sounds like you’ve been married before.”
Another roommate asked, “Momo, did you experience some kind of heartbreak?”
Tan Mo blinked her eyes and nodded pitifully, “Yes, I’ve been through a serious heartbreak…”
“Huh? What happened to you?”
“Anyway, from now on, I’m going to seal my heart with cement, cut off all worldly attachments, and never be moved by love again…”
“?”
Tan Mo leaned on the table, continued drinking, and hummed a song. The three girls looked at each other in confusion, concerned but not knowing how to comfort her.
They continued eating dinner. After a while, Tan Mo suddenly stood up and softly whined, “I need to go out for a bit.”
“Where are you going??”
She obediently replied, “Reporting, I need to go to the restroom. My stomach is full of beer.”
“…”
Chang Yue offered to accompany her, but Tan Mo firmly refused, insisting she wasn’t drunk and walked out of the private room alone.
Still worried, Chang Yue decided to get a drink since they had finished theirs and then go find Tan Mo.
Meanwhile, Tan Mo wandered outside, a bit dazed, and finally found the restroom.
After a while, she came out and started walking back the way she came, not paying attention to where she was going. She accidentally bumped into a guy and staggered backward, muttering, “Who hit me…”
The guy was a local thug. He was about to curse when he looked up and saw how pretty the girl was, his eyes lighting up instantly.
Seeing Tan Mo’s flushed cheeks and drunken state, the thug smiled, “Little girl, are you okay? Feeling alright?”
His voice sounded distant to her ears. Tan Mo leaned against the wall and dazedly shook her head, “I’m fine…”
“You’re drunk and still say you’re fine? Where are your friends? Let me take you to them.”
The guy reached out to support her, but even in her drunken state, Tan Mo sensed danger and pushed him away, “Let me go…”
As she broke free and stepped back, suddenly a hand wrapped around her waist.
The next moment, Tan Mo was firmly pulled into a warm, strong embrace.
The familiar scent of sandalwood instantly filled her nostrils.
The bright white lights of the store illuminated Xie Qichen’s tense, cold facial features. His eyes were sharp, his nose high and straight.
The man held Tan Mo tightly in his arms, looked up at the thug, and his eyes were icy cold: “Want to try touching her again?”
Seeing the man who was a head taller than him, the thug immediately backed down and quickly ran off.
After the guy left, Xie Qichen looked down at the young girl in his arms. Smelling the alcohol on her, he frowned with concern: “You’ve been drinking?”
Just then, Chang Yue came back with the drinks and saw Tan Mo being held by a strange man. She rushed forward immediately: “Who are you! Let go of my roommate!”
The other two roommates from the nearby private room heard the commotion and came out as well. Seeing the scene, they rushed forward too: “Hey, who are you? If you keep holding my roommate, I’m going to call for help!”
The three were angry. Who would have thought someone so refined and handsome could be a thug these days?
Xie Qichen didn’t know them. Upon hearing they were Tan Mo’s roommates, he explained, “I know Tan Mo.”
When the girls heard that Xie Qichen knew Tan Mo’s name, they were shocked: “Who are you?”
The man took out his phone, turned on the screen, and the others saw a photo of Tan Mo and the man in front of them as the wallpaper.
In the photo, Tan Mo was smiling happily, and the two seemed very close.
Xie Qichen mentioned several private details about Tan Mo to prove he really knew her. Finally, considering the girl might be embarrassed, he simply said, “I’m her boyfriend.”
At that moment, Tan Mo, who was being held, felt dizzy. She only smelled a familiar scent, and instinctively wanted to get closer, hugging him: “Hug…”
Seeing this, the three roommates looked at the man they had never seen before, shocked and confused.
Xie Qichen tightened his hold on her, rolled his throat, and huskily asked the three girls, “How much did she drink tonight?”
“Almost three bottles of beer. She should be drunk.”
“Sorry, I need to take her away now.”
The man bent down and gently cupped Tan Mo’s face, softly coaxing her, “Momo, come home with me, okay?”
Tan Mo, drunk and dazed, nodded softly, “Okay…”
So Chang Yue took Tan Mo’s phone and bag, and Xie Qichen thanked her before sweeping the girl into his arms and walking out.
He looked down at the drunken girl, his eyes dark with deep concern and worry.
After leaving the store, Xie Qichen carried Tan Mo to a Rolls-Royce parked by the roadside.
Once inside the car, he said to the driver, “Turn up the temperature inside. Head to Jiayu Tiancheng.”
“Yes.”
Soon, the car started and drove into the night. Ten minutes later, they arrived at Jiayu Tiancheng.
After getting out of the car, the man carried her into a villa that was completely empty.
Inside the living room, he sat on the sofa, holding the girl on his lap, and pulled a blanket over her: “Are you cold? Do you feel unwell?”
Tan Mo’s head felt light, and she obediently shook her head, “Not cold…”
After learning where Tan Mo was from Ji Shu that night, Xie Qichen had come immediately.
Now, under the neon lights coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the man greedily let his gaze fall on the girl he had only dared to look at secretly for the past few days.
It had only been a few days since he last held her, but he felt she had become lighter, her hands and feet cold. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes drooping, and she looked frail and tired.
He reached out to brush aside some loose strands of hair from her face, looking at her, his heart aching with pain: “Why did you drink so much if you can’t handle alcohol? You drank to forget someone?”
The girl’s face was flushed, and she murmured softly, “I drank not because I wanted to… Have you heard of drinking to forget sorrow? I want to forget someone.”
“Forget who?”
Tan Mo lowered her head, “Forget someone I loved very much, but I can only forget for a short time.”
“Why?”
“Because loving someone very much means you can’t forget them. I’m not a goldfish with only a seven-second memory.”
The man’s voice was bitter, “Is that person Xie Qichen?”
Tan Mo paused, her eyes drooping, “Don’t mention him. I finally stopped thinking about him for ten minutes…”
Hearing this, Xie Qichen hugged her tighter, closing his eyes briefly: “I’m sorry, Tan Mo. I should have come to find you earlier.”
Why did he argue with her that night? Why didn’t he tell her his true feelings earlier, letting her be so sad and upset these past few days.
Tan Mo blinked her hazy, drunken eyes, turned her head, and looked around the villa, “It feels so familiar. Where is this?”
The man’s voice was low and hoarse: “Tan Mo, this is our home.”
“Our home…”
Tan Mo looked around and softly murmured, “I remember this place. This is where I lived after marrying Xie Qichen.”
She pointed ahead and introduced to him, “Look over there, that’s my favorite fireplace. It’s really warm to sit by it in winter. Sometimes Xie Qichen would read books with me there. That way is the kitchen. I often cook there, and Xie Qichen would often watch me cook, even if the food was bad he wouldn’t mind. And the backyard outside has so many beautiful flowers. Xie Qichen even installed a swing for me. He said I could play on the swing in the backyard. I didn’t forget. I remember it all…”
Hearing her words, the man looked straight at the girl, his eyes red.
As Tan Mo spoke, her voice grew softer: “Xie Qichen said this was our home, but later we had to separate, so I moved out. This place is no longer my home…”
Xie Qichen looked at her, his voice hoarse to the extreme: “I’m sorry. He was wrong. He shouldn’t have said he wanted to break up with you. How could he bear to leave Tan Mo?”
Tan Mo’s nose twitched, and she lowered her face, “You’re not Xie Qichen. How would you know?”
Xie Qichen cupped her face, making her look into his eyes: “Tan Mo, look clearly at who I am.”
Tan Mo’s gaze fell on his face, and she blinked her eyes: “Xie Qichen…”
He softly responded, and Tan Mo looked at him in confusion, her nose tingling: “Xie Qichen, you lied to me… You clearly said you wanted to cancel our engagement. You don’t like me at all…”
A scorching kiss suddenly fell upon her.
It cut off her words abruptly.
In an instant, the man’s kiss was like a storm, sweeping over Tan Mo, instantly occupying all her consciousness.
The smell of alcohol spread in the air, making them sink deeper into intoxication.
Their breaths intertwined seamlessly between lips and teeth.
The kiss came too suddenly.
Tan Mo felt dizzy, her mind spinning, and she was gently laid back on the sofa. Xie Qichen held her tightly in his arms, his body heat almost melting her.
A few seconds later, Xie Qichen pulled back, looking at the girl’s red, teary eyes like a rabbit’s. His dark eyes burned with heat, and he could no longer control himself as he spoke: “Tan Mo… Can’t you really feel how much I love you?”
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