Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief and asked why she hadn’t brought her phone when going out. Miao Jing replied indifferently that she had forgotten. As for the college entrance exam scores, she had already checked—653 points, enough to get into a very good university.
“Buying such a small cake to celebrate?” He smiled handsomely. “I’ll have someone bring a big cake over so we can enjoy it properly.”
“No need, it’s too rich. I don’t like it.” Her tone was flat. “This was a free sample from the bakery for showing my college entrance exam results.”
Chen Yi had an idea, thinking of taking her out for a meal to celebrate. But Miao Jing reacted coldly. She unwrapped the cake, took a few bites with a spoon, then lay on her bed, flipping through a college application guidebook.
“Miao Jing, are you listening to me?”
She ignored him completely, pulling the covers over herself for an afternoon nap.
Miao Jing had applied to universities far away. She sent the list to Chen Yi, and as he had hoped, she had chosen distant schools. At the time, Chen Yi was at a business dinner. When he saw the message on his phone, he glanced at it casually, his expression slightly uneasy, a faint shadow in his eyes. But he said nothing, only replying to Miao Jing with one word: “Good.”
After submitting her applications, Miao Jing planned to find a job. While she could apply for student loans to cover tuition, living expenses and travel costs were unavoidable. She found a summer job at an electronics factory on the outskirts of the city, paying 2,500 yuan a month with room and board. Two months of work would be enough. She packed a few clothes and left without saying a word to Chen Yi.
The factory required ten hours of work a day. The tasks were simple, but the shift rotations were exhausting. A few days later, Miao Jing received a call from Chen Yi, asking where she was. She told him she was working. His tone on the phone was harsh, warning that if she ran off without telling him again, he’d give her another beating.
Miao Jing hung up coldly.
Chen Yi found his way to the electronics factory. Frowning at the conditions, he told her to pack up and go back. When she refused, he dragged her into his car, accusing her of being ungrateful and saying he didn’t need the little money she earned. He insisted she go home and stay there.
They started arguing again.
Miao Jing was utterly fed up with this pattern. She didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to live with Chen Yi, didn’t want to spend his money or owe him any more favors. She wanted to live quietly on her own, far away from him. If given another choice, she would have rather followed Wei Mingzhen back then or returned to her hometown—either would have been better than her current life. Staying in Tengcheng was her biggest regret.
“What’s the rush? You’ll be free soon anyway. Once you get your admission letter, you can go wherever you want. No one will bother you.”
“Right, both of us will be free.” Her voice was icy. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to disappear far away. From then on, I won’t get in your way anymore.”
“That’s perfect. I’ve put up with you for years, consider it charity for my own karma. Don’t you dare bother me again. We’re done, clear. You take your sunny path, I’ll cross my single-plank bridge. From now on, don’t say you know me, Chen Yi, and I’ll act like I don’t know you either.”
She stiffened her chin. “Fine.”They exchanged sharp words—he accused her of being cold-hearted and unfeeling, while she condemned him for his wolfish ambition. Their confrontation escalated into a bitter quarrel, pushing them to the brink of cutting ties forever, as if severing all connections would finally bring an end to it all. Both trembled with rage: Miao Jing sat rigidly on the sofa, while Chen Yi stood in the room frowning and smoking fiercely. He answered another call, from some woman or other, and though his face was dark and icy, his tone was effortlessly flirtatious. He chuckled, asking what important clients she had entertained last night, which influential figures from which social circle, and casually, almost mockingly, inquired when she might have time for him.
After hanging up, Chen Yi’s expression grew even more brooding and somber. He flicked the heavy ash from his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of turbid air, and turned to look at Miao Jing. She still held that stubborn, aloof expression, biting her lower lip, her eyes brimming with tears. A single drop escaped as she blinked, silently tracing a path down her cheek.
Chen Yi’s heart ached unbearably. He quietly moved closer to her, finishing the last few drags of his cigarette in heavy silence before stubbing it out. Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest with such force that she was completely enveloped in his embrace.
The intense, masculine scent surrounded her, and his grip on her shoulders was painfully tight. Miao Jing struggled to break free, but he turned her back toward him, his voice low and husky as he called her name, each syllable like smoke coiling into her lungs, sharp and suffocating. Her tears fell uncontrollably, and when he saw them, he reached out tenderly to wipe them away. The cool, delicate moisture dampened his fingertips, and his gaze grew lost in those glistening trails. He bent to kiss the tear stains on her cheek, moving from her jawline to the corner of her eye, his scorching lips pressing against her closed eyelids as he gently tasted her fragile tears.
"Be good, Miao Jing…"
Her shoulders trembled as she wept silently, all the memories of his mistreatment flooding back—how he had never treated her well since childhood, from age eight to eighteen. He had abandoned her time and again, spoken words that wounded her, overlooked her most important days, and remained utterly oblivious to her feelings.
The tears would not stop. His kisses hesitated, then wandered to her lips. Both pairs of lips quivered as he anxiously captured her soft mouth, drawing her lips into his, faintly tinged with tobacco. He tentatively deepened the kiss, sweet and tender, evoking the restless dreams that haunted his nights and the fleeting fantasies that quickened his pulse. His tongue slipped in inadvertently, brushing against her moist, silky tip.
In a moment of clarity amid the dizzying, tingling tremor, Miao Jing fiercely slapped his arms, pinching, scratching, and twisting him. Chen Yi tightly restrained both her arms, pausing the wet, gentle kiss amid the trivial pain. He tucked her tear-streaked face against his neck, his fingers repeatedly stroking her dark hair as his gaze drifted absently ahead, holding her in wordless, heavy silence.
What could he say? That he had realized he loved her, wanted to cherish her, that she mattered deeply, and he wished to keep her by his side to build a family? But he could hardly safeguard himself now, living each day in fear that his secrets would be exposed and a bullet would find his head. Should he explain that he hadn’t meant to treat her this way, that he feared someone might discover he had a sister—a vulnerability? Without armor, how could he remain invulnerable? When had he ever allowed himself tenderness or weakness? He regretted ever intercepting her at school back then; he should have let her go with Wei Mingzhen, taking that money and cutting all ties, ending it once and for all.
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