Chapter 3

According to the storybook, in this world, the male protagonist Jiang Duo and the female protagonist Su Zijin were destined to encounter each other in countless ways. Even when Jiang Duo got into a car accident on an extremely remote road in the outskirts, Su Zijin happened to be the first person to discover him and promptly took him to the hospital. However, as was always the case in romance stories, the relationship between the male and female protagonists was filled with twists and turns. The original Shen Ci could be considered the first obstacle standing in their way. After taking Jiang Duo to a hospital in the suburbs by taxi, Su Zijin stayed by his side and carefully cared for him for an entire day. Coincidentally, the original Shen Ci happened to be staying at her grandmother’s house in the suburbs that day. When she went to the hospital to pick up some medicine, she encountered Su Zijin at the service counter, where the latter was worrying over the exorbitant hospital fees. The original Shen Ci had been one year ahead of Su Zijin in high school. Su Zijin recognized her and, with a flushed face, asked to borrow some money. From Su Zijin’s scattered words, the original Shen Ci learned that the injured man had been driving a sports car. She went to the ward to take a look and immediately recognized Jiang Duo’s prominent identity. She then lied that she was a relative of Jiang Duo. Not only did she offer to pay the medical expenses in advance, but she also promised Su Zijin that she would contact Jiang Duo’s family and told her to go home and rest first. When Jiang Duo’s family arrived at the hospital, the original Shen Ci took all the credit for herself, claiming that she had been the one who took him to the hospital and cared for him throughout the entire day. By the time Su Zijin returned to the hospital the next day to visit him, Jiang Duo had already been transferred to another hospital by his family. The storybook barely described the original Shen Ci. It only mentioned that she repeatedly caused trouble in her attempts to gain a foothold in high society, making Jiang Duo dislike her more and more. Eventually, the original Shen Ci dropped out of school. Because she had offended the Jiang family, her father’s business also suffered a devastating blow. After the company went bankrupt, he was left with enormous debts. To prevent her from causing any more trouble, Shen’s father took the original Shen Ci away from the city, and they disappeared without a trace… Warm spring water covered Shen Ci’s shoulders as white steam rose into the air and condensed into tiny droplets against the dark stone walls. Her back rested against the rocks, warmed by the hot spring. Alternating sensations of heat and coolness seeped into her skin. She raised a hand and pressed her fingertips against her temple, rubbing it twice in frustration. Jiang Duo was the heir to a powerful conglomerate in the capital. He was still in university, with a handsome and gentle appearance, but in reality, he rarely showed his emotions. His methods were ruthless, and with a few seemingly casual moves, he could completely cut off another person’s path forward. He was someone she absolutely could not afford to offend. The original Shen Ci had been dating him for more than a month. Although they had never even held hands, she had already gained plenty of material benefits from the relationship. Confessing everything now was clearly impossible. Tonight, the original Shen Ci had planned to take things further with Jiang Duo, making the second step down her path to destruction. Fortunately, all that had happened so far was that she had touched his leg… But for conservative Shen Ci, even that had been an earth-shattering act. The sensation lingered in her mind, refusing to disappear. The steam from the hot spring swirled around her like mist. The moment Shen Ci stepped out of the pool, a chill swept over her entire body. She looked down, and her pupils suddenly contracted. What… what was this?! Two pieces of thin, crimson fabric barely covered her chest, while her waist was completely exposed. A thin strap looped around the back of her neck, looking as though a gentle tug would make the whole thing fall apart. And the bottom… Shen Ci’s face instantly caught fire. The shorts were so short they barely covered her thighs, leaving her two long, smooth legs completely exposed to the air. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, her fingertips digging into her palms as her heart pounded so violently it felt as though it might burst from her chest. Images of being stuffed into a pig cage and drowned in a pond flashed through her mind. Cold sweat mixed with the hot spring water as it slid down her temples. This was a different world. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The original owner’s memories surged through her mind like a tide: bikini, swimsuit, beach, normal clothing… Each of these unfamiliar words felt almost painfully shocking to her. Shen Ci bit the tip of her tongue, using the pain to force herself to calm down. There were no strict rules of propriety here, no rigid separation between men and women. Women could walk through the streets with their arms exposed without anyone even batting an eye. “Get used to it… I have to get used to it.” She muttered hoarsely to herself, her fingernails leaving crescent-shaped marks in her palm. Relying on the fragments of the original owner’s memories, she followed the sandalwood corridor until she found the women’s changing room. When she pushed open the door, she saw rows of sauna outfits hanging beneath warm yellow lights—short-sleeved tops paired with shorts. Shen Ci practically trembled as she put one on. The soft fabric wrapped around her skin, finally covering most of her exposed body. She let out a long sigh of relief, yet still felt uneasy. Her eyes fell on the neatly folded plain white bath towels beside the wall. Shen Ci picked one up and solemnly draped it over her shoulders, wrapping it securely across her chest as though it were the last of her dignity and the only armor she had left. Her pale face was reflected clearly in the mirror. Her makeup was heavier than she was accustomed to, but her features were exactly the same as before. The door to the private card room was silently pushed open by a waiter. The room was dimly lit. In the center stood a card table covered with a dark green velvet cloth. Four young men sat around it, their expressions ranging from lazy to sharp. Shen Ci immediately spotted Jiang Duo. He was sitting in the shadows, casually rolling a playing card between his fingers. The sharp lines of his side profile looked as though they had been carved with a knife. A woman was leaning against each side of the card table. The woman on the left was practically nestled in the arms of the man beside her, her manicured fingers resting lazily on her boyfriend’s shoulder. The woman on the right was even bolder. Her red lips were pressed close to the man’s ear, her breath fragrant as she laughed coquettishly. Shen Ci lowered her eyelashes. She wanted to go home. But everyone around the table was focused on the game. Walking over to say goodbye without warning and interrupting their game would be terribly impolite. She could not bring herself to do such a thing. Shen Ci silently retreated to a corner and sat down on a single-person sofa. The bath towel remained draped over her shoulders. She instinctively pulled it tighter, her fingers gripping the soft fabric as though she were holding on to the last bit of security she had. Her legs were neatly crossed beneath the short sauna shorts, her back straight as a pine tree. The dignified bearing instilled in her through more than twenty years of sheltered upbringing had become deeply ingrained in her bones. She was as quiet as a shadow. She did not look around. She did not speak. She did not approach anyone. It was as though an invisible river separated her from the lively scene around the table. Yet precisely because of this quietness and sense of being out of place, she stood out like a drop of ink falling into clear water, spreading rapidly and impossible to ignore. “Young Master Jiang,” the woman on the left suddenly raised her head and looked across the card table toward the corner. “Who is that?” The conversation around the table grew quieter. The woman on the right also turned her head, her red lips parting slightly as surprise flashed through her eyes. Which woman in this room wasn't practically clinging to the man beside her? Yet this one had curled up alone in the shadows as though the people around the card table were some terrifying beasts. Jiang Duo raised his eyelids slightly. Following everyone’s gaze, he looked toward the farthest sofa and saw Shen Ci sitting there, a plain white bath towel wrapped around her slender shoulders. A portion of her arms was exposed beneath the short sleeves, yet there was not the slightest hint of flirtatiousness about her. Instead, she looked like a jade statue that had accidentally wandered into a place of indulgence—cold, distant, and untouchable. She had not even looked at him. Her gaze was lowered, resting on her intertwined fingers as though all the extravagance in the room had nothing to do with her. The ordinary sauna outfit looked strangely refined on her, giving her an inexplicable air of nobility. Jiang Duo’s fingers paused slightly around the card. Just moments ago in the hot spring, she had boldly tried to seduce him. He simply hadn't expected her to stop on her own before he became angry. He had thought it was another one of those coy games of pretending to refuse while secretly inviting him closer. But now that he was seeing her like this with his own eyes, he sensed something different. Those eyes were far too quiet. It wasn't the affected aloofness of someone pretending to be above worldly desires. It was a genuine, almost desolate coldness, as though all the bustle of the world had already been reduced to ashes. “My girlfriend,” he said quietly, withdrawing his gaze and placing his card face down on the table. The entire room fell silent for a moment.