When she received this message, Cen Jin was sitting in a nail salon inside a nearby shopping mall.
She had been there for over two hours, watching as her nails were stripped bare before being coated with a new color.
It was a Morandi-inspired green with subtle gradients. It reminded her of the layered peaks shrouded in mist back in Shengzhou – hazy, low in saturation, yet pleasing to the eye.
Her phone lit up. She picked it up with one hand and opened the message from Li Wu.
The words strung together were clearly expressing gratitude, yet they still seemed to carry a hint of unwilling reluctance.
Cen Jin didn’t know where this intuition came from, but it was enough to make her laugh. Her brows lifted slightly as she tapped out three words in reply: "You're welcome."
The shop owner happened to return just then and, seeing her laughing so uninhibitedly, teased, "Chatting with your husband?"
Cen Jin paused, then denied it. "No."
The owner had a striking appearance, though it was clearly enhanced, suggesting she invested heavily in her looks.
Smoothing her nearly waist-length curls, she smoothly continued, "I noticed Mr. Wu didn’t come with you, so I thought he might be making up for it over WeChat."
Cen Jin reined in her smile, trying to sound natural. "He doesn’t have the time."
"True, you’re both so busy. A friend of mine works at a 4A agency too – it’s like she just had a baby, impossible to make plans with."
"Which 4A does she work at?" Cen Jin seized the chance to shift the topic.
"BBDO."
Cen Jin glanced down at her freshly done nails. "That agency... figures."
"Your company isn’t bad either," the owner said, bringing over a fruit platter and setting it beside Cen Jin, urging her to have some. She added casually, "Your hands are so fair – this color really suits you."
"Really?" Cen Jin raised her right hand, examining it closely.
Gradually, her gaze grew unfocused, as if she could see right through her skin into another scene.
She and Wu Fu had met in college, in the same major – the kind of typical long-term couple. Their meeting was cliché, lacking the earth-shattering, unforgettable drama of romance films. It was just ordinary campus life: she joined the external relations department, and Wu Fu was the head. Their daily interactions were typical of a superior and subordinate – assigning tasks, getting things done. They’d chat a bit more during downtime, not exactly flirtatious, but with a subtle back-and-forth undertone of pink tension. Neither ever took the initiative to pierce that thin veil. Until one evening, Wu Fu suddenly called her and asked her out.
Wu Fu was handsome, but his words were steady and decisive, brimming with confidence. He said, "If I don’t confess to you before graduation, I might regret it for life. Because you like me too."
The wind was strong on the field that day, rustling the grass, billowing the man’s shirt.
Cen Jin’s heart became a kite, effortlessly lifted high, then transformed into a star, twinkling brightly.
She felt like she was in a scene from a Japanese anime – her heart racing wildly, her mind slightly dazed. Pointing at him, torn between crying and laughing, her expression out of control: "Did you change into that white shirt on purpose?" I remember you weren’t wearing that this morning."
Her gesture then was less pointing and more like poking his chest from a distance, carrying a uniquely girlish playfulness and feigned annoyance.
Wu Fu laughed too. "It feels more formal this way."
"Do we have to make it so grand? Is this a proposal?" Cen Jin, having gained the upper hand, pretended to complain.
Wu Fu looked straight into her eyes. "If that’s how you want to interpret it, I don’t mind."
Pfft, she scoffed.
But he remained earnest. "Do you like it?""I like it," she said, her voice choked with emotion. "I like it so much I want to hug you."
The next moment, Wu Fu pulled her into his embrace.
How naive to think this moment could last forever.
After leaving the mall, Cen Jin sat motionless in her car for a long time, feeling utterly lost about where to go.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel as she watched vehicles come and go outside, until finally the spaces around her stood empty.
The world seemed to have shrunk to just her alone. A sense of abandonment buried her like collapsing rocks - suffocating, inescapable.
Unconsciously, her eyes filled with tears. Before they could fall, Cen Jin quickly wiped them away with her fingertips and drove off.
Back home, Cen Jin took a thorough shower before retreating to her bedroom.
She lit a scented candle by the bedside and sat in complete silence.
Before sleeping, she remembered tomorrow would be Li Wu's first day in class and pulled out her phone to check messages.
Their conversation had ended with his "You're welcome" - the boy hadn't replied further.
Her fingers hesitated over the keyboard, deleting and rewriting, never satisfied with her words. After a long while, she finally sent:
"Don't be late for class tomorrow. What time does it start?"
This time Li Wu replied quickly: Seven.
Cen Jin continued: Have you had dinner?
Li Wu: Yes.
Cen Jin: At the cafeteria?
Li Wu: Mm.
Cen Jin: With your roommate?
Li Wu: Mm.
Cen Jin: How's your roommate?
Li Wu: Pretty good.
Cen Jin couldn't think of anything else to ask: Rest early.
Li Wu: Okay.
The surroundings grew quiet again, like a deep valley, like stagnant water.
That emptiness returned. Cen Jin curled her legs, leaning against the headboard, feeling pushed to the margins of a page, no longer part of the text. She sadly realized that when she stopped playing certain roles, when she wasn't needed, she became transparent, invisible, ceasing to exist - no different from the walking dead.
Fortunately, she'd return to work tomorrow.
Unfortunately, she'd have to see Wu Fu again.
Like a white snake gravely wounded, the woman slipped under the covers and wrapped herself tightly.
—
The next morning, Cen Jin rose early and carefully applied her makeup before the mirror.
Before leaving, she spent considerable time getting ready, spritzing perfume on her wrists, ensuring every detail was perfect before stepping out.
That same morning, Li Wu finished washing up and, under Cheng Rui's guidance, packed his required textbooks into his backpack.
His roommates tugged at each other, racing toward the cafeteria like competitors. Li Wu followed at a leisurely pace, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Wait for Li Wu," Cheng Rui turned back. "He's new - where's your hospitality?"
Ran Feichi also glanced back, wagging his student ID card between his fingers with a playful grin: "Fine! Last one pays!"
Li Wu's expression stiffened before he quickened his pace to catch up.
The young men's laughter rang clear as morning air, bright as the rising sun.
After breakfast, Li Wu parted ways with his roommates and went to the office early as his homeroom teacher had instructed yesterday.
The teacher had just arrived, returning to her desk with a cup of water before she'd even sat down.
She blew away the steam, took a sip, then set down her thermos: "We have English morning reading today. I'll take you to class first so you can introduce yourself."
Li Wu stood beside the desk with his hands at his sides and nodded.
The teacher studied him for a moment: "I heard you're good at physics?"
Li Wu recalled what Cen Jin had said: "Not bad."
The teacher asked: "What scores do you usually get?"
Li Wu replied: "Above one forty.""Not bad!" The woman's attitude shifted to one of newfound respect. "Where did you leave off in your studies?"
"Steady current."
The homeroom teacher pursed her lips: "You've missed some classes compared to us. Will that be a problem?"
Li Wu said: "I'll do my best to catch up."
"Alright," the homeroom teacher screwed the cap back on her cup: "If you're falling behind in physics, other subjects might be similar. If it gets difficult, you must tell me. Don't stubbornly struggle through it alone."
Li Wu nodded: "Okay."
"Come on, let me introduce you to your new classmates."
Following the homeroom teacher quickly downstairs, the sound of reading came from the corridor - uneven and somewhat chaotic.
Students whispering by the window seats hurriedly picked up their books and pretended to study seriously when they saw someone passing by.
Li Wu's gaze swept over them, his heartbeat unconsciously quickening.
Stopping at Class (10)'s door, the noise inside gradually ceased as dozens of pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward them.
Seeing this, the English teacher tossed out "What's so interesting? Get back to memorizing!" before coming to the door to inquire about the situation.
The English teacher was a man in his early thirties, wearing frameless glasses with a refined and pale complexion.
"This child is a transfer student. I won't take much of your time," the homeroom teacher said concisely: "Just let him introduce himself."
The English teacher nodded and motioned for Li Wu to enter the classroom.
The homeroom teacher followed him in, and the class quieted down again.
Li Wu's throat felt tight, his eyelids slightly lowered. Being new here, he couldn't help but feel nervous, finding it difficult to directly meet all the unfamiliar faces below. Especially since they were all staring at him, their scrutinizing gazes scanning him from head to toe like laser beams.
The homeroom teacher announced: "This is our new classmate, transferred from Nongxi High School." She gestured to Li Wu: "The rest is for you to tell your classmates."
Li Wu curled his hand into a fist, his voice unsteady: "I am..."
"Handsome guy!" Cheng Rui interrupted rapidly.
Scattered laughter broke out in the classroom, particularly among the girls.
"Cheng Rui, come up here. You can be his spokesperson. I'm giving you the opportunity, come on." The homeroom teacher said with a half-smile, beckoning him with a hooked finger.
Cheng Rui shut his mouth tightly and retracted his head like a whacked mole.
Thanks to this interruption, Li Wu's anxiety lessened considerably. Feeling more at ease, he briefly stated his name: "My name is Li Wu."
"Li as in the character for plum, Wu as in fog."
"I hope we can get along well in the future."
Thunderous applause washed over him like a tidal wave.
Li Wu felt he had been accepted.
Noting his height, the homeroom teacher temporarily assigned him an empty seat in the back row. He was alone, sitting by the wall.
Two boys in the front row were quite curious about him, watching him until he took his seat.
Before Li Wu could take out his English textbook, one of them couldn't wait to strike up a conversation: "Hey!"
Li Wu stopped and looked at him.
"Where's Nongxi?" he asked quietly.
Li Wu paused for two seconds: "In Shengzhou."
The boy said "Oh," seemingly uninterested, then immediately shifted his gaze to Li Wu's chest: "Do you like Royal Horse?"
"..." Li Wu was speechless.
This sentence seemed to be some kind of secret code among boys in this school - if you knew nothing about it, you couldn't pass the organization's screening.
Fortunately, the teacher came down to patrol, and his deskmate tapped his arm as a reminder. Only then did the boy turn back, putting on an act of reading aloud with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Li Wu glanced down at the prominent golden team emblem on his clothes, reminding himself silently: After finishing homework today, I must thoroughly research Royal Horse's background, history, and player achievements.Some racked their brains trying to fit in, while others, tired of playing truant, voluntarily returned to the fold.
A little past nine, Cen Jin arrived at the office. She wore a solid-colored maxi dress under a casual blazer, a saddle bag slung at her side—a look that was both sharp and slightly nonchalant.
Her hands were tucked into her pockets, her expression placid. But only she knew how much that outfit had tormented her all morning, nearly driving her insane.
She had also applied a particularly vibrant lipstick, all to prove to Wu Fu that she had risen from the ashes, that she was in peak condition—even if it was all a facade, a forced front.
So, there was no such thing as nonchalance; behind it all lay painstaking effort.
Unfortunately, as soon as she stepped into the department and saw that nearly half the team was missing, she knew Wu Fu had once again led the troops in a grand campaign to a pitch meeting. They probably wouldn’t be back until the afternoon.
It felt like firing bullets into cotton—Cen Jin’s emotions were a tangled mess. She returned to her desk, booted up her computer, and started catching up on the group chat in the work WeChat.
After scrolling through just a few pages, a throbbing pain began to pulse at her temples.
She took a screenshot and tossed it into the group, asking: "Did they end up going with the first draft after all? Seriously?"
In their line of work, maintaining a good temper was nothing short of a fantasy.
A designer replied in the chat: "Tell me about it. I’m sick of all the revisions."
He added: "At first, they even questioned why they had to pay extra for using the original version. Luckily, Kiki went back and forth with them day and night until they finally coughed up the fee."
Cen Jin said: "Well, that’s something at least. At least the revisions weren’t for nothing."
After fetching a cup of coffee, Cen Jin noticed Kiki wasn’t at her desk and seized the chance to ask: "Where’s Kiki and the others?"
The designer replied: "Where else? They went to Pinyou with your husband."
The once-familiar term now felt like two foreign words. Cen Jin ignored it and focused on the key point: "The yogurt project?"
Designer: "Yeah, they left first thing in the morning. The boss went too, and they even got a fully blacked-out business van—looked like they were about to rob a bank."
Cen Jin replied with a "laughing" emoji, but her face quickly fell.
Pinyou was a well-known domestic dairy company, preparing to launch a new boxed yogurt that was zero-fat, sugar-free, and came with a side of grain cereal. Late last month, the company had thrown itself into winning this project, working at a frenzied pace. At the same time, Cen Jin was dealing with her impending divorce, yet she gritted her teeth and helped brainstorm proposals. Only after the initial framework was set and everyone felt confident about securing the project did she dare to take a leave of absence, temporarily handing over her work to a colleague.
And now, after just a few days away, she had become an outsider—abandoned mid-stream by the team, selectively ignored upon her return to work today, with no thought given to saving her a spot.
It had to be said, Wu Fu was truly ruthless.
Others might act that way, but even him? So heartless.
With no outlet for her anger, Cen Jin sat there in a daze for a while before realizing that stewing in silence was useless—it would only increase her chances of developing breast tumors. So she shifted her attention, scrolling through Weibo and watching videos until noon, when she finally went down alone to grab lunch.
Their office building was located in the city center, the most bustling area—a true concrete jungle where skyscrapers stood row upon row, and restaurants were as numerous as the hairs on an ox.
Exiting the building and turning down a couple of alleys, Cen Jin arrived at the Japanese restaurant she frequented.
To be precise, it was the Japanese restaurant she and Wu Fu used to frequent.
Their tastes aligned perfectly; they had never disagreed about food.
Cen Jin preferred the seat against the wall on the second floor and headed there out of habit. But as she stepped onto the final stair, she suddenly froze.A familiar figure came into view. He was sitting cross-legged behind the dining table, chatting and laughing with the woman opposite him, his shirt forming relaxed creases over his shoulder blades.
Cen Jin recognized that woman.
She was also smiling, her eyes sparkling, the adoration in her gaze impossible to conceal.
It just wasn't her anymore. That was all.
Cen Jin stood expressionless for a moment before walking toward them.
Without looking directly, even with just her peripheral vision, she could feel the woman's gaze shift to her, followed by the man's, moving from her feet upward.
Their cheerful conversation came to an abrupt halt.
Before Cen Jin could discern the emotions in their expressions, she found herself involuntarily bypassing Wu Fu and sitting directly at the same table, right across from him, next to the woman.
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