After dropping Yulan off, Xi Mingzhou lit a cigarette inside his car. The window was cracked open; a thin trail of smoke spiraled upward, snaking past his cheek before dissipating into the air.
Yet, the words Li Xiwei had spoken earlier refused to fade.
"This is the how many-th girl you’ve found that you’ve molded to look like Zhou Qilan?" she had asked. "Do you have any conscience at all? If you truly can’t forget Lanlan, go to England and find her. What is the point of all this fuss? Do you really think bringing women home is going to provoke her? And this time, you brought back a high school graduate? Who do you think you’re fooling?"
She had added, "I’ve seen this young girl. She’s been through the grind of the real world—soft on the outside, but thorny. She’s not one of those you can just brush off with a bit of cash like the others. If you don't want to get yourself into a mess, break up with her now."
Xi Mingzhou had retorted immediately, "Why do you assume that what I have with little Yulan is the same as the ones before?"
Li Xiwei had sneered, tossing one last remark over her shoulder before she left: "Don't think I don't know that you were the one who arranged for your parents to go away at the last minute this time."
After finishing his cigarette, the restlessness in Xi Mingzhou’s heart hadn't lessened; if anything, it had grown. He toyed with his phone, scrolling through page after page of transfer records on Alipay—all of them were instances where Yulan had sent back the money he had tried to spend on her.
In the year and a half they had been together, Yulan hadn’t spent a single cent of his money. Even back when he was posing as a delivery driver to woo her, she hadn’t let him pay for anything.
The more he thought, the more irritable he felt. Xi Mingzhou slammed his foot on the accelerator and sped home.
As soon as he arrived, he received a call from Yulan. Without a second thought, he muted it.
Yulan listened to the automated voice on the other end repeat itself twice before she finally hung up. She stared out the window at the iconic "big pants" building, lost in thought. She wasn't naive. The moment Xi Mingzhou confessed that his family had a little money, she had prepared herself for the inevitable day he would leave. She had even optimistically told herself that since they hadn’t slept together—having done nothing more than hold hands and share a few light kisses—she would just treat it as paying tuition to learn what a Platonic relationship was.
But when Xi Mingzhou actually said he wanted to introduce her to his parents, Yulan couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. She truly liked him—liked him enough to act demure and reserved in front of his friends, and enough to overlook a great deal of hurt.
But when that hurt piled up, it eventually spilled from her eyes. After he dropped her off at the hotel today, he had taken a call and left just like that. Xi Mingzhou clearly didn't consider her a person of sound mind.
Yulan wiped her tears away haphazardly, forced a smile, and went to open the champagne the hotel had provided. At three thousand a night, she needed to drink enough to make it worth the price.
Two bottles later, she didn't even remember falling asleep.
The next morning, she woke up to a message from Xi Mingzhou. He had sent her a location pin and a sixty-second voice note. Beyond his elaborate efforts to coax her, the gist of it was simple: the restaurant was nearby, and she should head over while he dealt with a traffic jam.
Yulan wasn't one to stand on ceremony. She got ready and headed toward the location. Since there was still time, she decided to taste the milk tea in the capital; even if this relationship didn't work out, it would at least count as market research.
Before she could enter the mall, she saw a blind girl with a guide dog attempting to go inside. Yulan quickly stepped forward to help. Just as they were about to enter, an elderly man in a pink baseball cap nearby started shouting, "Oh my god! Get that dog away! I’m terrified of dogs. How can anyone bring a dog into a public place? What if it scares someone?"
The young girl whispered an explanation, "This is a guide dog, it’s allowed inside."
The old man remained relentless. "If you're blind, you shouldn't be out! A guide dog is still a dog, isn't it? Who knows if it has some infectious disease?"
The man dragged out his words with such vitriol that Yulan’s blood began to boil. She stepped in front of the girl, pointed at the man, and demanded, "If you’re brave enough to walk around without a brain, why shouldn't this young girl be allowed to go out?"
Seeing someone fighting back, the old man shrank for a second, but then, seeing that his opponents were just two young girls—one of whom was blind—he puffed out his chest and roared, "Out-of-towners have no class! Her being blind is her business, but bringing a dog to scare me is her fault. And you, swearing the moment you open your mouth—didn't your parents teach you any manners?"
At the mention of parents, Yulan’s eyes darkened.
She gave the old man a cold, piercing look before speaking. "Your voice is louder than the dog’s bark. How about we call the police to settle this? Let’s see whether it's the working dog that needs to be avoided, or if it's your loud discrimination in a public place that needs a lesson. At your age, it looks like you might just get a few days of free government meals."
Yulan wasn't finished. A crowd had already gathered to watch the commotion, and she called out, "Could someone be kind enough to call the police? Someone is insulting a disabled person in public. We need help protecting our friend’s legal rights."
"Do you need some help?"
The voice that suddenly appeared was crisp and clear, hitting Yulan’s ears and making her spirit jump. She turned to see a stranger walking toward her.
The man wore a black shirt that fit his broad shoulders and tight waist perfectly. His sleeves were rolled up slightly, revealing sturdy forearms, and a low-profile silver watch on his wrist glinted coldly. Gold-rimmed glasses perched on his high, straight nose, and his eyes behind the lenses were calm and composed.
Seeing a man join the fray, the old man turned and scurried away. Several kind bystanders tried to block him, but Yulan finally let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't afraid of the old man showing off any "Chinese martial arts"; she was worried he would lie down on the ground and extort her for a hundred thousand.
With that cleared up, mall security arrived. The young girl thanked Yulan profusely before leaving with the staff.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Yulan thanked the man who had spoken up for them.
"You’ve got a lot of nerve," the man said. "Do you even know what that hat on his head represents?"
Yulan hadn't noticed that the old man had any particular background, but the way this man carried himself—with such natural elegance—made him look like the type of important figure she shouldn't provoke.
Still, she asked obediently, "Does it represent some big shot?"
The man said with a straight face, "Yes, quite big. It’s a gift bag for AIDS awareness."
The smile on Yulan’s face stiffened, but her habit of never showing weakness in front of strangers kicked in.
She blurted out, "I’m not afraid. I’m from the Peking University Health Science Center; I’m an expert at preventative measures."
The man didn't say anything more. He pulled out a pack of medical-grade wet wipes and handed them to her. "Those are part of the preventative measures too."
Yulan stood there, stunned.
She was usually quite good at improvising, but being stared at by a man this handsome had impaired her skills. She took the wipes and fled in a panic.
With all that drama, her plan for market research fell through, and the major milk tea shops were already packed with queues. Yulan felt a pang of envy. The most expensive milk tea at her shop was only eight yuan, while the cheapest one here was eighteen. She couldn't help but sigh at how easy it was to make money in the capital.
At exactly twelve o'clock, Yulan arrived.
It was a Western restaurant.
Xi Mingzhou sent a message: "Tell the waiter to lead you to the Magnolia private room."
Looking at the message, Yulan suppressed her displeasure. She forced a smile and followed the server inside.
As the door pushed open, the smile on Yulan's face froze.
Why was he here?