The plane arrived in Guangzhou, circling in the sky for a full forty minutes before landing. By the time Ye Meng disembarked, her social media feed was empty. Tai Ming Xiao had completely deleted all thirty-plus posts he had made earlier. So Ye Meng, completely unaware, was ordering a taxi on her phone while dragging her luggage toward the terminal exit.

Ye Meng was attending a blue and white porcelain exhibition in Guangzhou in place of Gou Kai. This business trip was quite last-minute. There hadn’t been time to book a hotel, and all rooms near the exhibition hall were full. Even the small inns nearby were unexpectedly booked solid. The closest available hotel was at least an hour’s drive from the exhibition hall, and from the airport, it would take at least two hours. Once in the taxi, Ye Meng dozed off again, not even removing the neck pillow she was wearing.

She woke up just in time but discovered that Guangzhou’s traffic was completely gridlocked, yet they were only halfway to their destination. What’s more, Guangzhou, which had clear skies earlier, was now being lashed by fierce winds and rain. The downpour was so heavy it seemed to connect heaven and earth, with water flowing like rivers down the car windows. It was the peak of rush hour. In the darkness, the taxi inched forward in the city’s dense traffic flow, with everyone squeezing in at any gap as if rushing to their next rebirth. Sharp honking sounds blared in unison.

“Guangzhou is affected by a thunderstorm cloud system, with heavy to torrential rain across the city… Citizens are advised to take care when traveling.”

The driver lowered the radio volume and complained quietly, “I’ll be finishing my shift at nine again. My wife is going to grumble!”

Ye Meng, who normally enjoyed chatting with drivers, was exceptionally quiet today. The driver could tell that this beautiful woman wasn’t in a good mood—even while sleeping, her brows had been furrowed.

The driver, seemingly near the end of his shift, hummed a tune cheerfully and unhurriedly switched to another radio station playing comic dialogues.

Outside the window, traffic remained at a standstill. The harsh headlights made the world beyond the glass appear as a white blur, like a Van Gogh abstract painting. Neon lights intermingled with headlights, creating a hazy, misty scene that transformed the entire world into something strange and surreal.

Since the day Liang Yun An had told Ye Meng that Li Jin Yu was a witness, her emotions had not found proper release for days. She felt like a pressure cooker being slowly heated, gradually boiling, not knowing when she might explode. She couldn’t locate the source of the heat or how to turn it off. She could only continually douse herself with water, forcibly extinguishing all the fire weighing on her.

She didn’t go back because she feared she might explode without warning. In the heat of the moment, she might go through with the divorce. She didn’t want to make any decisions in this state, because where Li Jin Yu was concerned, she always found it hard to let go.

She could only suppress herself. Yet ridiculously, she found herself wavering. Her love and hate were no longer straightforward, and right and wrong clear. She attempted to muddle through the rest of her life alone. Guilt, attachment, self-loathing, and fear of the future. These emotions intertwined, and accumulated in her chest, making her repeatedly ask herself: Ye Meng, do you want this?

Do you want to abandon your thirty years of beliefs and principles to protect a man who might have concealed the truth about your mother’s death? Do you want to give up on yourself?

Maybe Mother did commit suicide.

A voice deep inside her said.

You just fell in love with him, stop making excuses.

Another mocking voice inside her said.

Mother also used to say that in life you can’t turn back, so you must carefully consider each step forward. Don’t strive to stand out, but do put your heart into everything. …

“Miss, we’ve arrived at Galaxy Hotel,” the driver switched on the “vacant” sign and reminded her.

Ye Meng looked outside and was immediately speechless: “I said Silver Lotus. Lotus like the flower, Silver Lotus.”

The driver made a sound of surprise, as if unable to believe it, and after confirming, realized he had indeed taken her to the wrong place. He immediately shifted the blame: “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

Ye Meng contained her last bit of patience: “I did tell you. You were probably on the phone and not paying attention?”

“You should have opened your navigation app. Now look what’s happened,” the driver continued checking the address while explaining incessantly. “It’s in the opposite direction. Going back will take another hour.”

Ye Meng felt partly responsible, so she held her frustration and looked out the window without further complaint, only saying: “Please drive back. I’ll pay the full fare.”

Unexpectedly, the driver refused: “I’m about to end my shift. You’d better get out and find another taxi.”

When you’re having a bad day, even drinking cold water can get stuck in your teeth. Ye Meng admitted defeat, got out with her luggage, and then waited a full twenty minutes in the pouring rain before finding another taxi.

By the time she reached the hotel, she was soaked through, looking as bedraggled as a drowned chicken.

But it never rains but it pours. Opening her suitcase, Ye Meng discovered that in her morning rush, she had grabbed the wrong one. She had brought the suitcase from her Shanghai business trip a few days ago, which contained only a pile of unwashed clothes. She looked through it but couldn’t find a single wearable item.

She remained quite calm then. Quietly closing the suitcase and pushing it aside, she reclined on the chaise lounge by the window, opened it halfway, and listlessly smoked a cigarette. Her gaze fixed emptily on the floor, seemingly numb to all the chaotic events of the day. Her blood was congealing, the air solidifying.

She felt nothing. After smoking half a pack, she expressionlessly removed her clothes and went to shower.

In the misty bathroom, the glass was foggy, and one could vaguely make out a slender, curvaceous silhouette with waist-length hair. Every part of her body seemed to exude mature elegance, yet also resembled those graceful, innocent girls from manga.

Ye Meng ran the water while using the hotel soap to remove her makeup. She wasn’t sure if it was soap getting into her eyes causing the stinging, or if the accumulated pressure of the past few days had finally broken her.

When the first tear rolled down, she wiped it away indifferently and continued washing her face.

Gradually, the more she wiped, the more tears came, like a broken dam, constantly flowing. She could no longer ignore it. She knew her emotions had reached saturation point. She could no longer hold back and slowly crouched down.

At first, her crying was drowned out by the sound of running water, grieving like an animal’s lament. Later, this sound no longer satisfied the sorrow in her heart. She began to sob loudly, her heart-wrenching cries echoing throughout the bathroom.

It was as if the calm sea surface had suddenly erupted into terrifying waves, pulling her into the boundless ocean. She struggled desperately, screaming—the surging, cold seawater continuously rose past her chest, her neck, her mouth, until that feeling of suffocation gradually submerged her head…

She cried until her voice was hoarse, her throat raw. Finally, she whimpered a few times, sobbing as she gradually stopped, like a lonely and helpless child, her shoulders heaving, staring blankly up at the foggy bathroom ceiling.

So, when people are sad, they need to make some sound. …

Ye Meng silently fell ill in Guangzhou, recovered on her own, and then returned home.

When she went back to Beijing, Ye Meng brought a child with her. An eighteen-year-old boy.

Tai Ming Xiao drove to pick her up, and they were talking on the phone. He hadn’t connected Bluetooth, so the call was on speaker. Li Jin Yu and Gou Kai were in the car.

“Where did you pick him up?”

Ye Meng had just landed and was getting her luggage with the boy. “At Liurong Temple. After praying, I made a wish to do something good. He said he wanted to come to Beijing to find his mother. Check around for information,” then she asked softly, “What’s your mother’s name?”

The boy was quite tall, at least 5’10”. Ye Meng had to look up to talk to him.

He was good-looking, with fair, delicate features, but rather introverted, speaking in a soft voice: “Zhou Qin.”

Tai Ming Xiao spoke without restraint: “You think I’ll take in just anyone?”

Ye Meng seemed to have anticipated this response. Carrying her luggage toward the exit, she hurriedly hung up: “I’ll tell you when I get there.”

Ye Meng easily found where Tai Ming Xiao was picking her up. It was as if he had bought that parking spot; he invariably parked there every time, making it easy to find. She led Zhou Yu toward it.

The underground parking lot was empty. Today she was barefaced, hadn’t changed clothes for two or three days, and had just gotten off the plane. Even her hair was disheveled, with a neck pillow around her neck. Except for her clicking high heels giving her some presence, she looked like a freshly excavated artifact, dusty and disheveled.

With Li Jin Yu absent, she didn’t care how she looked.

Tai Ming Xiao and Gou Kai were leaning against the passenger side chatting. The passenger window was down, but at first, Ye Meng didn’t notice someone was inside, as Gou Kai’s body was blocking most of the window. She could only vaguely see the person’s forehead hair and a hand casually hanging out the window. He was wearing a white shirt, sleeves half-rolled up to his forearms, revealing slender arms. He wore a watch on his wrist, and his distinct knuckles held a half-smoked cigarette, motionless. His posture suggested he was smoking while looking down at his phone.

Ye Meng recognized that smoking posture almost instantly.

Li Jin Yu sat in her car just like that, sometimes with his hand resting on the window edge for ages without taking a drag, dangling outside, and tapping ash while checking his phone. By the time he remembered, it would be half-burned, and he would take one puff before putting it out. So lazy and casual, unlike Gou Kai and Tai Ming Xiao who would eagerly finish a cigarette in a few quick drags.

But Ye Meng quickly dismissed the thought. Upon closer inspection, she figured that unless Li Jin Yu had gone mad, he wouldn’t be wearing a 300,000-yuan watch.

However, the person unexpectedly opened the passenger door and got out. For a moment, Ye Meng thought it was Li Jin Yu’s twin brother until their eyes met. He looked at her meaningfully, and Ye Meng was certain. Who else could it be but that little troublemaker?

Li Jin Yu was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. Only someone who had seen him naked would know that clothes made him look thinner, but his frame wasn’t small. His shoulders were broad and straight, his back thin, his waist narrow, and his collarbones formed a figure eight, creating a deep straight line across his chest. His chest muscles were lean, every inch just right. Dressed in a shirt and trousers, he appeared slender with a clean-cut aura. Replacing his sneakers with pointed leather shoes instantly transformed him into a refined young gentleman. His 6’1″ height dominated both Tai Ming Xiao and Gou Kai, but he leaned lazily against the car door, giving them face.

Li Jin Yu was like a measuring stick. Everything about him was standard. Ordinary good-looking guys suddenly lost their appeal standing next to him, somehow lacking that special something.

The two hadn’t seen each other for over a month. Not seeing him was manageable. But now, seeing that little troublemaker standing vividly before her, clean and neat like a tall white poplar, she realized she had been missing him desperately. Her heart raced wildly, for the first time feeling as if all her internal organs were pounding along with it.

Yet she found this feeling indescribable. How to put it? It was like seeing a flower that had once been rotting in muddy water, washed clean, suddenly sprouting tender green buds, even more noble than expected.

“Damn, you haven’t changed clothes for three days? Why do you look so disheveled?”

Tai Ming Xiao’s words brought her back to reality. Ye Meng suddenly remembered how bedraggled she must look right now, in wrinkled clothes, with a sickly complexion after her illness. She didn’t want Li Jin Yu to see her in such a state, so she kept her head down, hurriedly responded, and told Zhou Yu to get in the car.

On the way, Tai Ming Xiao drove, Li Jin Yu sat in the passenger seat, and Gou Kai, Zhou Yu, and she sat in the back. Ye Meng sat behind Li Jin Yu and could see him in the rearview mirror. His shirt buttons were meticulously fastened, and the scar on his Adam’s apple was still there. This scar was truly remarkable. Before, in Ning Sui, Ye Meng had found it to have a kind of repressed sensuality, but now, it gave off a sense of faint detachment.

Who could have imagined that they had once met in Ning Sui—passionate, sincere, daring to confront each other with true hearts, even willing to bet their lives on each other? The colder the world, the more fervently they had embraced, kissed, and lost themselves in passion to comfort each other.

Tai Ming Xiao briefly introduced them. Li Jin Yu didn’t actively acknowledge her, so Ye Meng remained silent.

“Sweet Simple, this is the beautiful sister I told you about.”

He gave a light “mm” in response.

Tai Ming Xiao turned to Ye Meng with interest: “Remember that childhood friend I told you about? His grandfather just brought him back a few days ago. Let me formally introduce you—Li Jin Yu. The ‘Li’ with the wood radical, the ‘Jin’ with the leather radical, like Jin Dong’s ‘Jin,’ and the ‘Yu’ from the island.”

She found it amusing.

She had heard this name introduced three times, each time from someone else’s mouth—Yang Tian Wei, Liang Yun An, and Tai Ming Xiao.

Looking in the rearview mirror, she also responded with a light “mm.”

Li Jin Yu asked Zhou Yu: “How did you two meet?”

Zhou Yu softly explained how he and Ye Meng had crossed paths.

That day at Liurong Temple, it was pouring rain. Ye Meng had gone to burn incense and ask about fate when she saw Zhou Yu wearing a sign, kneeling on the ground begging, wanting travel money to go to Beijing to find his mother. Others saw that he had hands and feet, and was so young, and thought he must be lazy and unwilling to work, showing no sympathy.

Zhou Yu kept his head down, kneeling without saying a word. When someone threw him money, he would bow. He ignored the mocking and ridiculing glances. Ye Meng knew that nine out of ten beggars were frauds, but she still tossed in a hundred-yuan note. Probably unused to such a large amount, Zhou Yu looked up at her gratefully and gave her a deep bow.

But when she came out after burning incense, the rain had intensified. As Ye Meng walked out of the temple gate, Zhou Yu fainted by the roadside. She immediately called a car to take him to the hospital. The nurse asked if she was a relative. She said no. They asked about the medical bills, and Ye Meng handed over his begging bowl. Besides her hundred-yuan note, there were some scattered ten-yuan bills.

Zhou Yu only had a common cold and fever, but kneeling for too long had caused low blood sugar. Now Ye Meng had taken him to the hospital, and the meager money he had collected all morning was gone. Zhou Yu flushed with anxiety, wanted to go back to kneeling.

Ye Meng sighed helplessly, “Come on, I’ll take you to Beijing.” …

Li Jin Yu turned to ask him: “You have hands and feet. Why not find a job? Construction sites pay daily wages. You could save up travel money in less than two days.”

Ye Meng thought, now you’re talking like you’ve never had troubles. You bought your ticket with my money back then.

“He tried,” Ye Meng interjected. “He’s not very strong and was bullied by the old foremen at the construction sites. He didn’t make much money each day, and there were always fights. If he didn’t participate, he’d get beaten. He had no choice but to leave without getting paid.”

Li Jin Yu finally glanced at her in the rearview mirror and said, “Oh.”

Zhou Yu had a boyish, skinny build like a rack of ribs. Li Jin Yu and the others had men’s physiques—broad shoulders and narrow hips. If Li Jin Yu in Ning Sui had been somewhat gloomy, then Zhou Yu was somewhat effeminate. He also looked feminine.

Zhou Yu was very insecure about his appearance. “My classmates used to call me a sissy and thought I liked men. I got used to being mocked and didn’t care much. Who knew that people at construction sites fight for real? I felt like I would die after one beating. I ran away the next day.”

Ye Meng comforted him: “Don’t mind them. You look very handsome.”

Tai Ming Xiao, while driving, also consoled him, “That’s right, you’re very good-looking, on par with my friend here. This buddy of mine has been handsome since childhood, always the campus heartthrob from elementary school on.” He was referring to Li Jin Yu.

Li Jin Yu looked out the window coldly and said: “Go away.”

Tai Ming Xiao smiled, “So how are you going to arrange for this kid? You two can’t live together, right? A man and a woman—it’s not appropriate.”

“I’m married, what’s there to worry about?” Ye Meng said.

Tai Ming Xiao looked alarmed: “Being married makes it even more worrisome! An eighteen-year-old boy understands everything. When I was eighteen, I already had two girlfriends. And if your jealous husband finds out, won’t he go crazy? It’s not appropriate, not appropriate.”

Gou Kai, who had been silent until now, started again: “I told you that small-town husband of yours isn’t worthy of you.”

Ye Meng: “…”

Li Jin Yu: “…”

After a moment of silence in the car, Ye Meng said to Tai Ming Xiao: “Then he can stay at your place until he finds his mother.”

“No way, I just got a new girlfriend. It would be so inconvenient when, you know, doing things.”

Shameless!

“He can stay with me,” Li Jin Yu said.

Ye Meng looked at him and asked: “Where are you living?”

Tai Ming Xiao immediately explained obligingly: “Fenghuiyuan. His grandfather just gave him a courtyard house worth 20 million. How about that? Tempted? Want to remarry?”

Ye Meng made a scoffing sound.

Li Jin Yu heard the disdain in her tone but said nothing. He turned back to Zhou Yu: “Do you have luggage? If not, I’ll take you shopping later. But first, we need to send this lady home.”

Zhou Yu glanced at Ye Meng, seemingly seeking her approval. Seeing no objection from her, he nodded.

After settling Zhou Yu, the car arrived at her building.

However, just before getting out, Ye Meng learned why Li Jin Yu was in the car today—the three of them were heading to Li Chen’s club and had just come along to pick her up. As Ye Meng got out to retrieve her luggage, Li Jin Yu and Gou Kai got out to smoke. He half-sat against the hood, one hand holding a cigarette, the other his phone, texting someone, while casually chatting with Gou Kai, occasionally laughing lightly.

She had thought he was content with mediocrity. Now she realized that even “content with mediocrity” wasn’t mediocre.

She had always hoped he would come to Beijing to face everything from his past and unlock his heart’s knot. But now, seeing Li Jin Yu in Beijing, Ye Meng felt a sense of detachment, a cold aloofness, as if he stood alone, exuding indifference toward everything.

“Why are you going to see Li Chen at this hour?” Ye Meng asked Tai Ming Xiao, who was helping her with her suitcase in the trunk. “It’s almost nine.”

Tai Ming Xiao slammed the trunk shut with a “bang,” his face excited, eyes gleaming with anticipation: “To race cars, of course. The racing king of Jiu Men Ridge is back. We have to celebrate. Go on up now.”