Zhou Jingze saw Li Yang’s social media post at eight-ten. He happened to be at his grandfather’s house drinking coconut chicken soup.

He held the soup spoon’s handle, leisurely skimming the oil from the surface while looking at his phone.

“You brat! How many times have I told you not to play with your phone.” His grandfather didn’t hesitate to throw a plastic spoon at him.

His grandmother brought the condiment bottles to the table, and seeing her beloved grandson getting hit, she immediately felt distressed and scolded: “You have the nerve to hit him when you always love reading the newspaper while eating.”

His grandfather looked sheepish and didn’t dare say another word.

Zhou Jingze’s lips curved into a casual smile as his thumb scrolled across the phone screen, browsing through his WeChat moments like a casual observer when his gaze suddenly stopped. Li Yang had posted a group photo.

Xu Sui was at the very edge, apparently eating something when someone called her name. She had just looked up, a tomato held to her mouth, her cheeks puffed up, her quiet eyes showing a hint of confusion.

His grandfather was still talking, coughing seriously twice: “You brat, you’ve always been stubborn, never telling the family anything. That disciplinary violation that grounded you from flying – do you need my help?”

“Grandfather,” Zhou Jingze put down his spoon and stood up, “I’ll drink the soup with you another day. I have something to take care of first.”

Zhou Jingze grabbed his phone and picked up his jacket from the chair back, ready to leave. His grandfather was furious: “You don’t come home for half a month at a time, and now when you finally do, you want to leave suddenly. What could be so urgent?”

“Mm, something urgent.” Zhou Jingze’s tone carried laughter.

Walking to the entrance, Aunt Song hurriedly brought over his forgotten cigarettes and lighter. Taking them, Zhou Jingze remembered something and said to his grandfather:

“You’re already retired – if you meddle in other people’s affairs now, people will gossip. Besides, isn’t this matter under investigation? If you really interfere, I won’t be able to explain myself clearly.”

Moreover, he had his pride.

While waiting for Zhou Jingze to arrive, the women at the party were either spraying perfume on their wrists and necks or touching up their lipstick in mirrors.

Liang Shuang had gone to play in the pool with her new boyfriend, while Xu Sui was seriously eating the fruit in front of her and playing Chinese chess with a gentleman sitting beside her.

Xu Sui played chess seriously, her style matching her personality – slow to warm up, steady type, opening with a flying elephant formation.

When it was her turn, as Xu Sui rested her chin on her hand thinking about her next move, she caught a glimpse of a figure walking in from her peripheral vision.

A black flight jacket, hands hanging at his sides along his trouser seams, prominent wrist bones. From the moment he sat down, the atmosphere began to change dramatically.

The little schemes of several women at the scene were quite obvious – some used the excuse of pouring him drinks to strike up conversations, while others brazenly changed seats. Zhou Jingze sat on the sofa on her side, separated from her by one person’s seat.

Because someone came over to change seats, it got a bit crowded. Xu Sui moved back a little, bringing the chess board back with her. Her expression remained unchanged as she took a sip of wine and pushed a chess piece forward.

She decided to move the horse.

People continued trying to chat with Zhou Jingze, but he remained steady as a rock. No matter what they asked, they couldn’t pry anything out of him. He would respond but you could tell he was being perfunctory.

It seemed he wasn’t interested in any of the women present.

Smart people knew to approach from hobbies and interests. Bai Jiajia propped her chin with her hand, tapping her cheek with her index finger: “Do you like watching ball games?”

Zhou Jingze drank his wine, sparing her a glance, still watertight: “Not bad.”

Bai Jiajia sitting across from him raised an eyebrow, automatically interpreting those two words as liking. Not saying it definitively meant it was “not bad.”

Bai Jiajia talked more, but Zhou Jingze’s face remained unmoved. Maintaining a certain distance from her, he drank his wine, his gaze casually drifting to his left.

When Xu Sui smiled unconsciously at her opponent while playing chess, the man immediately became dazed, his chess-holding hand slowing for a second.

Throughout it all, she didn’t glance toward Zhou Jingze even once, remaining calm and composed.

This scene was fully captured by the man’s eyes. Zhou Jingze’s slender fingers gripped the glass, tightening until his face darkened, as if he wanted to crush the glass. The woman beside him was focused on hooking Zhou Jingze and didn’t notice the change in his expression, asking: “Hey, what are you looking at?”

“Naturally, I’m looking at—” Zhou Jingze drained the wine in his hand in one gulp, setting it on the table like stamping a seal, his Adam’s apple rolling slowly, “my person.”

Those three words nearly blew up the scene.

They were all dying of curiosity about which woman it was. Zhou Jingze had just looked completely disinterested and lazily indifferent, but so quickly, he was interested in some woman at the scene?

Li Yang sat in the center, frustrated to death. Seeing the person he had worked so hard to invite being surrounded by a bunch of women while he could barely get in two sentences – it was truly unspeakable suffering.

Halfway through the chess game, Xu Sui requested a mid-game break to use the restroom. She washed her hands and noticed her lip makeup was a bit smudged, so she took out lipstick from her wallet to touch it up in front of the mirror.

As she was carefully reapplying, a group of women entered the restroom. Seeing Xu Sui inside, they smiled and greeted her, then began chatting as if no one else was there.

“Damn, when he said ‘my person’ those three words just now, I almost died from how sexy his voice was.”

“I’m so curious who he meant. I saw him glance to the left when he said it.”

“Jiajia, wasn’t it you? The left side – wasn’t he looking right at you?”

Bai Jiajia smiled without speaking. Her companion poked her arm: “How did you know he likes watching ball games?”

“That jacket he’s wearing has a small badge on the collar – coincidentally, it’s from a team my brother always talks about.”

Bai Jiajia tilted her head, running her fingers through her long hair, a hint of sweet perfume reaching Xu Sui’s nose.

The one changing earrings in front of the mirror said: “Maybe it was me. I felt like he was looking at me. Time to kick that bastard boyfriend.”

…

Xu Sui finished her lipstick and left, the discussion behind her gradually fading then disappearing. She returned to continue her chess game. Those women came back one after another, sitting in their seats, looking more excited than before.

Xu Sui didn’t care at all about how others were trying to seduce Zhou Jingze or what his response would be. Except for that one glance when he first entered, her attention was entirely focused on the chess board.

She liked to slowly set up the whole game, playing the long game to eventually surround her opponent completely. Her chess partner was a refined-looking man who was about to spread his hands in surrender when—

An oppressive shadow fell over them. Clearly defined knuckles picked up a chess piece – soldier takes middle guard. One move, and all of Xu Sui’s defenses were exposed.

Zhou Jingze suddenly leaned over, causing most people at the scene to shift their attention, making Xu Sui, who had been sitting in the corner, suddenly the center of attention.

Xu Sui looked up, meeting Zhou Jingze’s eyes. He was looking at her, lifting his eyelids, his tone leisurely: “This is called a piercing kill.”

Her heart contracted.

The bespectacled man didn’t sense the undercurrent between the two, still giving Zhou Jingze a thumbs up for advice: “Amazing! Someone as steady as Xu Sui at chess is about to lose to you.”

Zhou Jingze laughed very lightly, dropping a bombshell in front of everyone: “Because I taught her.”

The air stopped flowing. People at the scene exchanged glances, experiencing the emotions of attraction, admiration, and finally heartbreak all within a few short minutes – quite the rollercoaster.

Damn, so when he said “my person” earlier, he meant Xu Sui. So the two had entanglements, even deep intimacy. Bai Jiajia thought this, unable to help feeling a bit sour.

Xu Sui’s expression remained calm as she seriously studied the game before her. It wasn’t hopeless – she moved left one space, turning the situation around. A draw – she didn’t lose.

She spoke slowly, her voice neither loud nor soft, but loud enough for everyone present to hear:

“I haven’t only learned chess from one person.”

Zhou Jingze’s jawline tightened. The casual smile in his eyes disappeared as his gaze fell on her, watching her.

But she wouldn’t even spare him a glance.

At that moment, “pop” – the lights went out, and someone wheeled out a five-layer luxury cake. Li Yang finally became the center of attention. He stood up, shaking the red wine in his hand: “My real birthday has arrived, and I’m actually a bit sad.”

“Sad about what? You get more handsome with age,” someone laughed.

The people by the pool had already changed and come inside. They also stood up, clapping and singing happy birthday to Li Yang. “Pop!” – champagne sprayed out bubbles as confetti and gold flakes fluttered down.

After singing and cutting the birthday cake, someone pressed a button on the wall. Red and green circular lights swept across the room as heavy metal music exploded in their ears.

A group of people screamed and made noise – some dancing, others playing games and drinking.

The party was just beginning.

After drinking a little wine, Xu Sui went outside to get some air and look at the night view. She leaned against the glass window in a daze when Liang Shuang came over and patted her shoulder.

“Finally remembered your friend,” Xu Sui turned to see who it was and smiled.

Liang Shuang was rarely embarrassed, sticking out her tongue: “Hey, you don’t know until you date – turns out little brothers are so clingy.”

“Count your blessings,” Xu Sui pinched her cheek.

“Ugh, those women inside are so thirsty for Zhou Jingze. Their eyes look like they want to strip naked in front of him,” Liang Shuang winked at her teasingly: “Hey, what’s really going on between you and Zhou Jingze? Li Yang was heartbroken – I heard from him about Zhou Jingze throwing you that straight ball just now. He wouldn’t be trying to mess with you again, would he? What are your thoughts now?”

Xu Sui shook her head and smiled: “No thoughts.”

“Alright,” Liang Shuang put her arm around her shoulders and walked inside: “It’s windy out here, let’s go play games inside.”

Xu Sui nodded and went inside with Liang Shuang. From the moment Xu Sui entered, Zhou Jingze kept watching her, his eyes only on her, causing the atmosphere to shift slightly.

“Hey, what are you guys playing?” Liang Shuang pulled Xu Sui to sit down.

Someone answered: “Truth or dare, also called honest game. Want to play?”

Xu Sui nodded. Liang Shuang sat beside her, taking Tan Wei’s hand: “Let’s play, but take it easy – my boyfriend’s here.”

Everyone laughed. Xu Sui bent down, picked up a piece of apple from the table, and slowly bit into it. In the first round, after the bottle spun for more than ten turns, it stopped in front of Bai Jiajia.

The man asking the question happened to be Bai Jiajia’s pursuer. Twisting shyly with a red face, he asked an ambiguous question:

“Have you fallen for any person or thing recently?”

Bai Jiajia tapped the table with her coral-colored nails, not looking at Zhou Jingze, smiling as she answered: “Yes.”

“Manchester United.”

The atmosphere heated up immediately. Someone gasped, unable to help but admire – Bai Jiajia’s move was brilliant, a direct and indirect advance.

Others secretly sighed: Lost, lost, truly couldn’t compete with this little schemer.

Unfortunately, the person in question sat there with an indifferent expression, smoking, giving no reaction whatsoever.

Bai Jiajia was always proactive, the relentlessly pursuing type. The second spin landed on Zhou Jingze. Bai Jiajia looked excited, propping her chin with her hands, her face like a peach blossom:

“I also like Manchester United. Why do you like them?”

Good move – both indirectly declaring this was someone she liked and showing they had common topics. Bai Jiajia blocked several other women’s paths with one stroke.

Zhou Jingze flicked his cigarette ash, slowly speaking: “To be honest, I’m a Neymar fan. He plays for the Brazilian national team, but my ex-girlfriend won a bet against his opponent once and fell for Manchester United—

“So I followed suit.”

This answer indicated Zhou Jingze’s rejection. He spun the bottle himself, starting the next round. Only Bai Jiajia was left looking completely deflated.

The second round began. The bottle spun several times with a “clang” and stopped in front of Liang Shuang. They weren’t polite at all, directly making Liang Shuang and Tan Wei perform a live passionate kiss.

Liang Shuang wasn’t shy at all. The two interlocked fingers and went straight into a French kiss, causing screams all around. Tan Wei blushed: “Even though I’m not famous and few people know me, please don’t take photos, ladies.”

“I already snuck a shot,” Xu Sui smiled, popping a small tomato into her mouth.

“You’re asking for it,” Liang Shuang pretended to hit her.

Xu Sui hadn’t eaten much all evening. After finishing the fruit in front of her, she took a piece of small cake and ate it seriously. When the bottle landed in front of her with a “clang,” everyone looked at her, and she was still a bit dazed.

After realizing, Xu Sui put down the cake, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and smiled: “Truth, then.”

The other person didn’t know Xu Sui well, but Zhou Jingze’s earlier statement made people think the two definitely had history – whether past or present wasn’t clear. They had to rely on truth question cards.

The person drew a card and read the question seriously: “After your first love, how many relationships have you had in total?”

Bai Jiajia helped explain: “If none, just say none.”

It was obviously a very standard question, but Zhou Jingze seemed to finally encounter a topic of interest. He slowly raised his eyelids, looking directly at her, also waiting for her answer.

Xu Sui took a gulp of the strong liquor, her mouth burning from the alcohol. Turning the glass in her hand, she saw reflected in its surface a woman with dark eyes that always carried a smile. She said openly:

“Two.”

As soon as the words fell, the air froze. The person sitting next to Zhou Jingze suddenly felt the air pressure drop dangerously low.

Zhou Jingze’s dark pupils locked onto her, the emotion in his eyes like a beast ready to break free, ready to drown her at any moment.

And Xu Sui never looked at him.

In other words, during these years apart, Xu Sui had been moving forward with her life, working hard, dating seriously. Her world could exist without him.

This segment was quickly glossed over and the game continued. Zhou Jingze drank glass after glass, the light moving elsewhere, his face half-hidden in shadow.

Though his expression couldn’t be seen, everyone nearby could sense his bad mood.

The bottle landed with a “pop” like the slow turning of fate’s wheel, stopping in front of Zhou Jingze. Someone who enjoyed watching drama asked: “Same question as Xu Sui’s earlier – how about it? How many relationships have you had in total?”

The person who knew Zhou Jingze best here, aside from Xu Sui, was Liang Shuang. Asking a playboy this kind of question – what a terrible question. She wouldn’t let him off easy. Liang Shuang picked up the fallen bottle and placed it in front of him, looking at him with a smile, her tone mocking:

“No, let’s add a prefix. In these five or six years, how many relationships has Young Master Zhou had?”

Zhou Jingze’s cigarette glowed red between his fingers, ash falling and burning his palm. He picked up the wine in front of him, tilted his head back and drained it, his voice hoarse the moment he spoke, looking down with a bitter smile:

“Not a single one.”