Xia Wan was caught off guard.

Her mind quickly formed a judgment about Nan Chu — this young woman was not as easy to deal with as she appeared on the surface.

Nan Chu was someone who operated by planning. Faced with a rival who had appeared without warning, Xia Wan needed time to think. When the haze of smoke finally thinned, Nan Chu’s face became clearer.

Nan Chu did not have an aggressive appearance.

Many female celebrities in the entertainment industry had an aggressive quality to their looks — especially once they put on makeup — yet their personalities turned out to be every kind of sweet and simple. Nan Chu was precisely the opposite. Her brows and eyes were soft, her skin fine and delicate, her face slightly round, her contours gentle and curved. She possessed a kind of understated beauty, and that sharp edge of hers only emerged when she was putting someone in their place.

Such as just now —

Even through the hazy white smoke, Xia Wan had felt the look Nan Chu had given her.

Like a hunter — that flash of cold gleam in the instant a predator spots its prey.

Composed. Crafty. Utterly determined to win.

“When did the two of you meet?” the captivating beauty spoke up.

“Two years ago.”

Xia Wan did not hide it — in fact, there was even a faint trace of satisfaction in her tone.

Nan Chu may have been beautiful, with a fine figure, but at least in terms of time, she had won.

She had come first.

A moment of silence.

Xia Wan watched Nan Chu’s expression. She was leaning against the vanity counter with easy composure, her slender fingertips holding a cigarette, her brows and eyes docile, the corners of her mouth carrying a faint, barely-there smile the entire time.

A shout came from outside the door: “Have you two fallen in?!”

It was Lin Qi.

Nan Chu took one last drag, stubbed out the cigarette, pressing it out on the edge of the washbasin and tossing it into the nearby rubbish bin, then turned around to wash her hands. Looking at Xia Wan through the mirror, she said, “Dr. Xia, I have known him since I was sixteen.”

She pulled a paper towel, wiped her hands clean, and walked out.

The person left behind felt as though she had been struck by lightning.

……

The moment Nan Chu walked out, she saw two people standing at the door.

Lin Luxiao had his arms crossed, leaning against the wall with one foot hooked back, glancing sideways toward her before quickly looking away.

Lin Qi leapt over to her in a single bound, like a little monkey, sniffing around her left and right. “Craving a cigarette again?”

Nan Chu pushed him away. Her tone was impatient: “You manage even more than Shen Guanzong.”

Lin Qi kept pace with her, chattering in her ear: “What did I tell you last time in Milan — have you forgotten again?! Your health is poor and you’re still smoking!”

Nan Chu frowned. “……”

“You’re a girl! What do you have to be so stressed about?!”

“……”

“Were you looking at Weibo again?”

“No.”

“Whatever those people say, just let them say it. Is it worth making yourself miserable over that? Hurry up and quit smoking for me!”

Nan Chu was almost tempted to find a plastic bag and seal his mouth shut. “Did Shen Guanzong possess you or something?!”

Lin Qi was utterly exasperated with her. He pinched her arm. “If you don’t quit, I won’t let you eat my birthday cake!”

Lin Qi was absolutely devoted to cakes. The people he allowed to eat his cakes were few — Nan Chu was one of them.

But being a boy, he had no sense of restraint, and pinched her again. “Are you going to quit or not?!”

Nan Chu knocked his hand away, her expression darkening.

Lin Qi knew Nan Chu well. She was easy-going most of the time and would agree to almost anything, rarely getting angry. But if you truly managed to anger her, she would unlock her cold-shoulder mode and you would not be able to find her for half a month.

The young man was entirely cowed, and muttered: “What are you being fierce for.”

Xia Wan followed behind and came out.

Lin Qi and Nan Chu walked ahead. Lin Luxiao strolled leisurely at the back with his hands in his pockets. He was tall, taller than either of the two ahead, his silhouette straight-backed, his legs long — not slender, but not bulky either — the black trousers fitting his proportions evenly, powerful but not heavy.

While Lin Qi was talking to Nan Chu, Lin Luxiao’s gaze was faint, a slight curve at the corner of his mouth.

Xia Wan quickly caught up and called to him softly: “Lin Luxiao.”

He replied absently, “Mm.”

“Did you know Nan Chu before?”

As she spoke, Xia Wan watched him with her peripheral vision, carefully observing his expression.

Lin Luxiao kept his head slightly down. At her words, the smile at the corner of his mouth faded and slowly disappeared. He gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement.

“How did you meet?”

“An accident.”

Lin Luxiao was clearly unwilling to say much more.

“Oh.” Xia Wan sighed.

Lin Luxiao glanced at her. “What did she say to you?”

Xia Wan smiled lightly. “The way she spoke, it sounded rather ambiguous. I thought the two of you were…”

She left the sentence half-finished on purpose, stealing a glance at him from the corner of her eye.

Lin Luxiao let out a mocking laugh.

Xia Wan continued: “She really is very beautiful — it’s just that she smokes. If you’re close with her, you should say something to her. Smoking is bad for the health.”

“We’re not that close.”

“Oh.”

The four of them returned to the private room.

They lit the candles, cut the cake, smeared the rest on Lin Qi’s face, and then, all done, got ready to pack up and go home.

Xia Wan asked Lin Luxiao: “Did you drive here? If not, shall I give you a ride?”

Lin Qi, who was about to head to the bathroom to wash his face, overheard, and said: “Xia-jie, you go your own way. I’ve already called a driver to come for me.”

Xia Wan then looked toward Nan Chu: “Miss Nan, shall I give you a lift?”

Before Nan Chu could speak, Lin Qi chimed in again: “I called a driver to come for her too.”

“……”

After Xia Wan left.

Lin Qi went to the bathroom to wash his face.

Outside, the sky was gradually darkening. A thin sliver of a clear moon hung at the edge of the sky.

Outside, neon lights flickered. On the other side of the hotel lay Beixin’s Lin River — a waterway with a hundred years of history. On the river, fishing boats of various sizes bobbed about, and on both banks hung lanterns of seven colours, their reflections shimmering alone on the water’s surface.

Only two people remained in the private room, sitting across from each other.

It suddenly grew quiet, the two of them just staring at each other like that — the atmosphere, how to put it —

Was a little peculiar.

Lin Luxiao was leaning back in the chair, his legs sprawled open, head lowered, a lighter spinning back and forth between his fingertips.

Nan Chu cut a slice of cake and asked him: “Do you want some more? You didn’t have even one piece earlier.”

Lin Luxiao, as always, did not like sweets. Without even lifting his head, he refused directly: “No.”

Nan Chu nodded and withdrew, placing it in front of herself to eat.

“What date is your birthday?” Nan Chu speared a small piece, biting on the fork, watching him.

Lin Luxiao said nothing.

“Surely that’s not classified information too?”

Lin Luxiao put away the lighter, tucking it into his trouser pocket, and lifted his head to look at her: “August 9th.”

Nan Chu counted the days. “That’s next month then?”

“Mm.” Lin Luxiao got his words in first: “But I don’t celebrate birthdays.”

“I didn’t say I was going to celebrate it for you.” Nan Chu winked at him.

“……”

You see, you shouldn’t have opened your mouth — you can’t out-talk her.

Having arrived at this conclusion, Lin Luxiao decided not to respond to her any further. He gave a sardonic curl of his lips, then reached for the cigarette pack on the table, placed one directly between his lips, fished out the lighter from his pocket again, cupped his hand loosely around the flame, and gave Nan Chu a glance — as if seeking her permission.

Nan Chu made a gesture that said, “Please, go ahead.”

The lighter flared to life in an instant. The tip of the cigarette caught and lit. Lin Luxiao took a deep drag, exhaling smoke, then tossed the lighter onto the table and turned his gaze toward the window.

Nan Chu leaned over her cake and watched him.

There were many young, fresh-faced, handsome men in the entertainment industry — but none of them could hold a candle to him when it came to being worth looking at for a long time.

Lin Luxiao’s features were sharp-lined and well-defined. When he smoked, his brow furrowed slightly. Broad shoulders and narrow hips; he did not work out, yet he had good muscle. Leaning back against the chair with a curved spine, abdomen bent, his T-shirt pressed against him, one could faintly make out the lines of his abdominal muscles — though not prominently.

The scenery beneath a lifted hem would certainly be quite a sight.

The grey-white smoke was like a screen between them.

Nan Chu had an idea.

She reached out and grabbed a handful of cream, then bolted upright and leaned forward across the table — just one table’s width away — and stretched her hand toward Lin Luxiao’s face to smear it on him.

Lin Luxiao reacted quickly. His peripheral vision caught something rushing toward him, and by reflex he grabbed it.

It was a woman’s hand.

Soft and delicate. Cool and slender.

His first thought: it was so small. Use a little force, and it seemed like it could be snapped in two.

The man’s palm was broad and warm, with a slight roughness.

The woman’s wrist was fine and slender, and a little smooth.

Two people, two different trains of thought.

“What are you doing?”

Lin Luxiao’s voice was a little hoarse.

Nan Chu looked at his expression and kept feeling that at any second he was going to pick up the entire cake plate and upend it onto her head. “Smearing cake is tradition — it’s a blessing from the birthday person.”

“Keep making things up.”

Lin Luxiao held her wrist and looked at her with mocking eyes.

Nan Chu boldly stretched her hand forward a little further. “Try it?”

The grip on her wrist tightened.

Lin Luxiao tugged her wrist to one side, his voice flat: “Nothing better to do?”

Nan Chu was pulled straight over toward him, bending at the waist, leaning forward. Her collar fell open slightly. She was very slim, her fine collarbone giving way downward to the graceful curve of a woman’s figure.

Nan Chu’s everyday lingerie was mostly bold in style — tied, lace, push-up…

But by sheer coincidence, today she had come prepared to climb Jiu Blind Mountain, so she’d worn a sports bra.

Everything had been flattened out.

Nan Chu instinctively covered her neckline.

Lin Luxiao raised an eyebrow lightly, his disdainful expression as if to say —

Is there anything there for me to see?

Of course Nan Chu was not covering herself because she feared being seen. If she’d worn a seductive bra today, she probably would have let him have a good look.

“What kind of face is that?” Nan Chu said.

“Nothing.”

He let go of her hand and leaned back into his chair, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“Coward.”

“……”

“Look all you want.”

“……”

Lin Luxiao slanted a look at her. “Fine, I already looked.”

“……”

Lin Luxiao exhaled a breath and gave a light snort: “I thought you were still sixteen.”

“……”

The righteous and upstanding way you’re saying that is really something.