Chapter 1

Translator: Larbre Studio

Editor: Larbre Studio

On that summer day, the sun was scorching, and few pedestrians were in the streets. Even if some could be seen now and then, they hurried past.

Outside a Western restaurant in the downtown area of Jing, a bus slowly pulled over at the platform. The door opened, and a girl got off. She had an oval face and curved eyebrows; her clear and clean eyes, with the long eyelashes quivering gently, were especially unforgettable at first sight.

The girl had delicate facial features and fair skin, and her long hair was tied into a ponytail, leaving her elegant and white neck visible. She wore a casual white attire with short sleeves—full of youth. Her traits seemed to be overflowing with collagen and was accompanied by a pair of smiling eyes that were beautiful beyond words. However, at that moment, all that could be read on her face was a sense of calmness. 

Once off the bus, she headed straight to the Western restaurant despite the heatwave—she didn’t seem to feel anything at all.

At the entrance, she was spotted by a girl in a pink dress, whose eyes lit up as she rushed toward her.

“Qinglan, here you are! I thought you had stood me up.”

Shen Qinglan moved her body slightly so that the girl failed to embrace her. She was not surprised, and soon straightened herself up—she had obviously anticipated it.

“Sorry. I got delayed when I was about to leave,” Shen Qinglan said calmly, her voice clean and pleasant to her ears.

Yu Xiaoxuan waved her hands quickly, “It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. You managed to come anyway, that’s great. I’m only twenty-one years old—I’m still young, but my mom wanted me to come to this blind date. Is she afraid that I won’t be able to get married? It’s good to have you with me, I definitely wouldn’t have come otherwise.”

While chatting and talking, she followed Shen Qinglan into the Western restaurant.

“Where do you think that man is? How can we find him? Why couldn’t he choose a smaller place? How can I spot him in such a big restaurant?” Yu Xiaoxuan looked around and mumbled, as they entered the Western restaurant.

Shen Qinglan seemed to be used to Yu Xiaoxuan acting like that. She simply ignored her chatter. She looked around and suddenly her eyes were caught by something. She went straight in that direction.

Yu Xiaoxuan was still mumbling. She turned around, only to find that Shen Qinglan had gone away. She hurried over.

Halfway, Shen Qinglan casually glanced to the side and met a pair of unfathomably deep eyes. She quickly drew her gaze back, as if nothing had happened, and walked over.

In the middle of the restaurant sat a man in a suit, who constantly looked at his watch with apparent impatience.

As he looked like he was pondering whether to leave, a shadow stopped in front of him.

The man subconsciously raised his head and was met with a delicate face, beautiful eyebrows and eyes. He stared at her, eyes full of amazement and surprise.

“Wei Lin?” Shen Qinglan asked lightly.

The impatience on the man’s face was then replaced by a wide smile, “Yes, I’m Wei Lin. You must be Miss Yu. Nice to meet you!” He reached out his right hand as he spoke, ready to shake hands with her. 

Shen Qinglan, however, didn’t reach out her own hand but leaned slightly to the side, pointed to Yu Xiaoxuan behind her and said, “You’ve got it wrong. That’s Yu Xiaoxuan, I’m just her friend.”

Wei Lin was somewhat embarrassed. When he turned to look at Yu Xiaoxuan, a quite ordinary-looking girl in a pink dress, his smile faded a little.

“Hello, Miss Yu.” Instead of shaking hands with her, he simply gave a polite smile.

“How to address you, my lady?” Wei Lin’s eyes were fixed on Shen Qinglan, not even trying to disguise his amazement.

Shen Qinglan looked calm. “Just call me Miss Shen.”

Perceiving Shen Qinglan’s indifference, Wei Lin did not insist any further.

“The sirloin steak in this restaurant is very good. Would you like to have a try?” Wei Lin took the menu and asked Yu Xiaoxuan and Shen Qinglan for advice.

“We are not picky about food. You just order.” Knowing that Shen Qinglan didn’t like the situation, Yu Xiaoxuan volunteered to take the initiative to respond.

Smiling, Wei Lin did not argue and ordered.

“I heard that Miss Yu is still a student?” Wei Lin asked first. Although he was asking Yu Xiaoxuan, he still glanced at Shen Qinglan out of the corner of his eyes. 

He was a senior white-collar with a good income. He looked handsome and came from a wealthy family—naturally, he always had female friends around him. He had seen many beautiful women before, but that was the first time he had seen one as beautiful as Shen Qinglan. In addition, her calmness and indifference toward him instinctively aroused his interest.

“Yes.” Yu Xiaoxuan replied faintly. She didn’t get a good feeling from the man; if it hadn’t been for her mother, who had forced her to attend, she wouldn’t have gone at all.

“Miss Shen and Miss Yu are from the same school?”

“Yes, she is my classmate.” Yu Xiaoxuan didn’t say that they were roommates, because she had noticed that Wei Lin was interested in Qinglan. Although he had been talking to her, in reality he was constantly asking for information on Qinglan.

She knew that Qinglan was the most impatient with that kind of man—she felt a little guilty for asking her to come along.

Shen Qinglan simply drank the orange juice in front of her. Feeling the undisguised, aggressive eyes on her from across the table, she kept touching the thin glass with her slender fingers: it was what she did when she was impatient.

However, she didn’t notice that the two men sitting diagonally across from them were talking about her.

One of the men looked truly evil. Under the sword-like brows was a pair of amorous eyes, full of unruly feelings. He also had a ruby piercing on his ear, which added an even greater sense of evilness to his facial features.

The other man was of great stature, with bronze complexion, clear and profound facial features as well as sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes—he looked tough.

The two men had completely different temperaments, but they were equally attractive.

“I didn’t expect to see the second daughter of the Shen family here.” The evil-looking man stared at Shen Qinglan’s back passing by.

“You know her?” Asked the other man, Fu Hengyi. His voice was low and magnetic, quite pleasant to the ears.

“You know her, too.” Han Yi said, “She is Shen Junyu’s younger sister, who always followed us when she was a little kid.”

Fu Hengyi frowned, then suddenly realized that it was her.

A flash of light passed through his eyes—he did not expect the little fat kid to have grown into such a girl. Staring carefully, he found that there were incomprehensible feelings hidden in her eyes.

The Fu and Shen families had been friends for generations: he certainly knew them well.

Shen Qinglan had been kidnapped by traffickers at the age of five and had gone missing for many years. It was not until eleven years later that she was found and brought back.

“You seldom come back home, even during holidays, and this Miss Shen keeps low-key and rarely appears in public. It’s understandable that you didn’t recognize her at first sight. There is a rumor that Miss Shen led a wandering life at a young age and was not given any education, so the Shen family won’t let her appear in front of others. People only know the eldest Miss of the family but have no knowledge of this younger one. Today it seems that the rumor does not make any sense though,” Han Yi said carelessly.

He had seen and met countless people. Although he was amazed at Shen Qinglan’s look, he actually liked enchantingly sexy women. As for those who were cold and indifferent like Shen Qinglan, he had no interest in. Moreover, he could not provoke the Shen family at will.

“You said it was a rumor, too.” Fu Hengyi said lightly. His eyes were fixed on Shen Qinglan’s straight back and then moved away a moment later.

Han Yi raised his eyebrows upon hearing that. He cast a look at Fu Hengyi with some kind of interest, “Are you interested in this one?”

Fu Hengyi gave him a faint look with an implied warning, “If I remember correctly, she is only twenty-one years old this year.” 

The implication was that she was a young girl. After all, he would turn thirty-one soon.

Han Yi didn’t pay attention to his warning at all and joked, “Don’t you know that the most popular trend nowadays is Uncle with Lori?” That Lori was a little cold, though.

Fu Hengyi ignored Han Yi’s teasing and said casually, “Last night, I had a call with my aunt. She is very concerned about your marriage situation and she is planning to introduce you to some famous ladies.”

“Big bro, I know I am wrong. I won’t say another word.” Han Yi begged for mercy. To him, a playboy, marriage was a cage that he would try his best to avoid. Even talking about it upset him.

—-

Shen Qinglan felt eyes fixed on her back from time to time, but she did not care—there was no malice in it.

“Where is Miss Shen from?” Not satisfied with the information provided by Yu Xiaoxuan, Wei Lin then asked directly.

“Native of Jing.” Shen Qinglan’s tone was light.

“That’s a coincidence, I’m a native, too. We can go out to have more fun when we are free? We happen to have a party this weekend. If you have time, you might as well come over.” Wei Lin showed a smile that he believed was fitting for a gentleman: he had presented the invitation with some kind of flirtation.

Shen Qinglan glanced at him lightly with a calm expression and didn’t answer.

“Miss Shen doesn’t give me the pleasure?” Receiving no answer from her, Wei Lin looked slightly unhappy. He liked beauty and conquering it, but he didn’t like it when beauties didn’t pay attention to him.

Though Yu Xiaoxuan was a funny girl, she was not a fool after all. When she noticed the flirtation in Wei Lin’s teasing eyes, her look changed slightly. What was wrong with her mother’s judgment? She even dared to let her meet such a guy!

Just as she was about to satirize him, a hand grasped hers under the table. The cool hand gently pressed it, instantly extinguishing the angry fire in her heart.

Yu Xiaoxuan was relieved. How could she forget that although Qinglan was calm, she was not easygoing? She had asked for her company to the blind date so that she could pretend not to be afraid.

“My senior family member is ill and in the hospital. I’m going to take care of him at the weekend. Thank you for your kindness.” Shen Qinglan spoke lightly with the same indifference.

Since she had said that the elder was in hospital, whether it was an excuse or not, Wei Lin couldn’t make Shen Qinglan go to the party regardless. However, he simply didn’t want to give up.

“Miss Shen, please leave your contact number, it will be convenient for me to contact you. We often go out for self-driving tours on weekends. Miss Shen can join us when she is available. I have a car so that I can take you with me.”

A touch of impatience flashed through Shen Qinglan’s eyes, but it was too fast to catch. “It seems that Mr. Wei doesn’t work as much as he has claimed.”

Although the tone was calm, Wei Lin still heard the irony in Shen Qinglan’s words. He had indeed said that he was busy at work and often worked overtime, and that he rarely had time to get together; Shen Qinglan was obviously suggesting that he was lying. 

Wei Lin’s warm and gentle look finally changed.