The following week, Li Wu focused on preparing for final exams while Cen Jin dedicated herself to PINA Cosmetics' new project.
After finalizing the brief for the New Year gift set, her team threw themselves into intense preparations.
On Thursday afternoon, Cen Jin visited the photoshoot studio. There, she met her client contact—Song Ci in person for the first time.
The woman had short hair, cool pale skin, and light makeup, exuding an overall "asexual" beauty that largely matched Cen Jin's expectations.
However, there was an unexpected twist: they were wearing identical coats from the same brand.
Slightly embarrassed, Cen Jin found an excuse to remove her coat within minutes of their meeting to avoid making the client uncomfortable.
Song Ci didn't seem bothered. Noticing the gesture, she commented mildly, "Nice coat."
The awkwardness instantly dissipated, and Cen Jin smiled faintly.
The studio was shooting materials for Weibo splash screen posters and WeChat promotional H5s. Lu Qiqi had come along with Cen Jin. As the creative team leader for the project—and a fan of PINA Cosmetics' latest endorser—her visit carried a hint of personal agenda.
The three women stood side by side, watching the popular actor Meng Xizhou strike practiced, alluring poses in the studio.
With his exceptional looks and strong camera presence, his perfectly proportioned face appeared flawless from every angle.
Lu Qiqi looked mesmerized, showering him with endless compliments.
Song Ci, accustomed to such scenes, suddenly tilted her chin toward Cen Jin midway: "Cen Jin, don't you think Meng Xizhou's eyes and brows resemble your boyfriend's?"
Cen Jin was slightly surprised—she hadn't expected this type of client to pay attention to "romantic gossip" on social media. After a brief pause, she replied, "He's more handsome than my boyfriend."
Song Ci said, "But your boyfriend's features seem cleaner. What does he do?"
Cen Jin answered, "He's still a student, studying physics at F University."
Song Ci made a regretful "ah" sound: "I thought he might be a model. I wanted to recruit him for our company's shoots."
Cen Jin chuckled and shook her head: "No, he's just an ordinary person."
After completing a set of photos, Meng Xizhou took a break to drink water while the women went to review the unedited shots with the photographer.
During this time, Cen Jin paid special attention to Meng Xizhou's eyes and brows. They did share some resemblance with Li Wu's—both had thick eyebrows and large eyes, naturally forming attractive eye smiles without exaggerated expressions. However, Li Wu's pupils held a clearer brightness.
After preliminary photo selections, the coffee ordered by the artist's assistant arrived. Song Ci brought a cup to Cen Jin. Once she accepted it, Song Ci smiled and asked, "Cen Jin, could you join me for a sit-down after we wrap up here?" Cen Jin raised an eyebrow and nodded.
After the shoot concluded, the two found the nearest café.
Once their drinks were served, Song Ci came straight to the point: "Do you know my ex-husband?"
Cen Jin froze, mentally scanning her social connections: "Who?"
"Zhou Suian," Song Ci calmly dropped a sugar cube into her cup. "I saw him in your likes the other day. How do you know him?"
After a moment's recollection, Cen Jin remembered Zhou Suian had indeed appeared in her public activity feed. But her impression of him remained unchanged and unimproved. She simply answered, "Because of a copyright infringement issue with an ad video clip."
Song Ci asked, "Was it resolved?"
"I suppose so.""That's good," Song Ci cupped her coffee cup with both hands: "Zhou Suian is a madman, stay away from him."
The world was actually this small. Cen Jin realized belatedly: "So you're his ex-wife?"
Song Ci nodded, understanding in her eyes: "It seems you've already heard about me?"
"Yes..." Cen Jin hesitated slightly but still wanted to hear what she had to say: "Did you also work in advertising before?"Song Ci said: 'Yes, I was at Hengmei before, only came to PINA the year before last.'""
She continued talking about her ex-husband: "Zhou Suian is sensitive, suspicious, scheming, emotionally unstable, like someone with manic depression, and it got worse after marriage. He couldn't stand any males around me, would hire people to follow me, install devices in my car. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to divorce. It took a long legal battle to finally break free. He orchestrated an elaborate show, putting himself completely in the victim's position - that's the version of the story you and everyone else heard, where I played the villain who betrayed the marriage and paid a heavy price for it."
"These past few years he's leveraged his personal advantages to become a KOL, not just to satisfy his histrionic personality, but also to infiltrate my industry and spread our 'past' into my work, trying to break me down like a virus. Every girlfriend he's had since our divorce has been from our industry. I'm worried you might become one of them too. Though I'm not sure what his exact motives are, one thing is certain - he's an absolute psychopath."
Cen Jin felt a chill down her spine, momentarily unable to discern truth from falsehood, so she simply continued the conversation: "I haven't gotten close to him because he gave me an uncomfortable feeling from the start."
"Wise judgment," Song Ci's voice became more distant and slower: "People like this should be cut off completely, but to see our child, I have to keep his contact information."
She took two small sips of coffee and looked at Cen Jin again, her face like a calm lake after countless ships have passed: "Let's stop here. I need to return to the company soon. Will you stay a while longer or...?"
Cen Jin was taken aback, then shook her head with a faint smile: "I'll head back too."
―
Back at the company, Song Ci's warning still echoed in her ears. Cen Jin messaged Li Wu on WeChat: When you returned the coat to Zhou Suian last week, did he say anything else to you?
The honest errand boy Li Wu confessed: He did.
Cen Jin asked: What?
Li Wu replied: He asked what happened to his specimen.
Only then did Cen Jin remember the specimen card she had thrown in the trash in anger: Why didn't you tell me?
Li Wu: I guessed you wouldn't keep something like that, and I was afraid you'd think I was being petty again.
His pitiful tone made her both annoyed and amused: I did throw it away, that very night, because I hated it so much.
Cen Jin asked: How did you answer him?
Li Wu said: I told him I threw it away.
Cen Jin's eyes curved into a smile: Seems we had the same idea. Did he demand compensation from you?
Li Wu: No, he didn't say anything else, just said thank you for your cigarettes.
Cen Jin replied with "Okay" and fell into deep thought.
That night, she discussed the final presentation plan for the Weibo splash screen with Song Ci for over an hour.
At the end of their conversation, Cen Jin couldn't help asking: Do you know about Smiling Michelia?
Song Ci said: Yes, it's a type of flower, right?
Cen Jin: Yes.Song Ci said, "From pursuing me to during our relationship, Zhou Suian secretly made specimens of a hundred types of white flowers and gave them to me when he proposed, saying they symbolized eternal marital bliss. I remember one of them was Smiling Michelia."
So that's how it was.
While suddenly enlightened, Cen Jin also felt a chill down her spine: "After the divorce, has he been looking for women similar to your type?"
Song Ci responded indifferently, "It seems so."
Cen Jin shuddered, "He seems like an obsessive."
Song Ci replied, "He is an obsessive. When I was determined to divorce, he set up a scheme to frame me for having an affair, even stooping so low to tarnish my reputation. In the end, our daughter was granted to him, becoming a tool to control me."
Cen Jin asked, "How long have you been divorced?"
Song Ci said, "Three years."
Cen Jin paused, "I've also been divorced for three years."
Song Ci: "Really? I had no idea you were divorced. It doesn't show."
Feeling a sense of camaraderie, Cen Jin asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Song Ci said, "No need. For the first two years, I kept trying—thinking about how to gather public support, how to retaliate and ruin Zhou Suian, how to appeal to regain custody of my child. But later I realized that when you're fully focused on moving upward, you have no time to look back at the foot of the mountain. Some men are nothing but burdens, like Zhou Suian, and like Yi Hao from your company. All these years, it's Zhou Suian who has been living in the abyss, not me. He will forever be hypocritical and constrained, while I am straightforward and clear-minded. He is more pitiable than I am. Now, I'm just grateful I got rid of him in time. Only in his self-deceiving world am I the 'adulterous ex-wife,' but back at work, I am Song Ci, a capable version of myself."
Cen Jin felt a lump in her throat and didn't type for a long while.
Song Ci said, "Don't pity me. Next year, I'm starting my own business. I can't let the resources I've gathered over these years go to waste."
Cen Jin exclaimed in surprise, "I'm planning to start a company too."
Song Ci seemed intrigued, "What are your plans?"
Cen Jin replied, "A Creative Boutique or an MCN. I've put my former marital home up for sale and plan to buy or rent office space on Nanhuai Road to register the company once it sells. I switched from ACD to AM to secure clients."
Song Ci: "So you were in creative before, no wonder you have such sharp instincts."
Her affirmation made Cen Jin smile, "I've only been in this role for less than half a year, so I still have a lot to learn."
The sudden heart-to-heart conversation lifted the spirits of these two women, who shared similar hardships and interests.
Song Ci half-jokingly suggested, "Maybe we can start a company together someday."
Cen Jin's eyes widened slightly, "Really?"
Song Ci: "Perhaps."
Cen Jin smiled, "Yeah, perhaps."
Song Ci said, "How about we meet for coffee next week? We can talk more?"
They hit it off immediately, and Cen Jin agreed with a smile, "I'd love to."
That night, Cen Jin couldn't sleep.
Song Ci's story with Zhou Suian struck her like a summer thunderclap, exploding in her mind and keeping her awake, extending to her own situation with Li Wu.
She couldn't help but wonder: if she had ignored or neglected things earlier and hadn't addressed them in time, would Li Wu have become increasingly obsessive too? Cen Jin had no way of knowing, but she felt a lingering fear and gratitude that everything now was for the best.
—
On January 10th, F University started its winter break. Li Wu packed his bags and returned home, but he didn't idle away. Instead, he found a part-time job as a one-on-one tutor for all subjects in the same neighborhood.The tutoring student was a middle school freshman boy who stood just half a head shorter than Li Wu, yet his personality remained childish and stubborn, with abysmal grades. He had managed to drive away every tutor with his antics, leaving his parents at their wits' end. Their only recourse was to repeatedly raise the pay to lure new tutors into the trap.
Li Wu belonged to the type who would chase money through any challenge. At first, the boy, thinking Li Wu looked young and easy to bully, complained to his parents that he seemed unreliable. He threw a tantrum at home, attempting to drive him away.
But Li Wu stood firm and said, "Pick something you're best at and test me. If I can beat you, you'll listen to my lessons seriously."
Spurred by a competitive urge, the boy immediately challenged him to Sudoku and Rubik's Cube contests, only to be utterly crushed. Convinced and impressed, the boy finally agreed to call him "Teacher Li."
In the evening, after leaving the student's home, Li Wu went to the supermarket to buy some ingredients and snacks, planning to cook dinner and wait for Cen Jin to return.
Just as he finished rinsing the rice and set it to cook, the door at home sounded. Li Wu turned to see Cen Jin returning, looking travel-worn.
Li Wu raised an eyebrow, wiped his hands, and went to greet her: "You're back early today."
Cen Jin unwound her scarf and exhaled softly: "Someone's coming over for dinner later."
Li Wu took the scarf from her and hung it up: "Who?"
Cen Jin smiled mysteriously: "A new friend of mine."
Li Wu restrained himself from blurting out the question about the person's gender.
Feigning puzzlement, Cen Jin asked: "Aren't you going to ask if it's a man or a woman?"
Li Wu immediately replied: "Man or woman?"
"It's a woman, a pretty older sister." Cen Jin changed into slippers, straightened up, and headed toward the kitchen: "Are you cooking? I'll help you."
Li Wu followed closely behind and reminded her softly: "You forgot something."
Cen Jin stopped and looked back: "What is it?"
"Hug me." He said it without a hint of embarrassment, though his ears tinged slightly red.
Cen Jin shot him a sidelong glance: "Hah, I thought it was something important."
She started walking again, but after just two steps, she suddenly halted like in a P.E. class, pivoted 180 degrees on her toes, and plunged straight into his arms.
Li Wu was momentarily stunned, then caught her and held her tightly.
Cen Jin wrapped her arms around his waist: "How was your day? Did that tutoring kid give you a hard time?"
"He did."
"Oh?" Cen Jin perked up: "How? Tell me so I can enjoy it."
Li Wu's voice held a laugh: "He kept asking, 'Teacher, how did you get so handsome?'"
"Conceited." Cen Jin punched him lightly on the back.
Li Wu chuckled, then forced a serious expression, looking down to meet her gaze: "And you? How was your day? Did you run into anyone or anything unpleasant at work?"
"Too many things," Cen Jin sighed, leaning her head against his chest before pursing her lips: "It's just so cold outside that my lips are a bit stiff now. I can't talk properly and urgently need little brother to thaw them artificially."
Li Wu understood immediately, lowered his head, and captured her lips in a deep kiss.
Their lips and tongues intertwined as they held each other tighter, only breaking for air before switching to a gentler kiss, like two birds pecking at food. They laughed while gazing at each other, but remembering they had a guest coming soon, they could only cling to each other reluctantly, soothing their overheated emotions and body temperature.
Cen Jin went to the bedroom to remove her makeup and change clothes, while Li Wu returned to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.
Freed from the day's cosmetic mask, Cen Jin felt refreshed. She walked out, twisting her hair into a bun as she went.The moment her gaze touched the window, Cen Jin froze in surprise. It was actually snowing outside—the first snow of the season. Carried by the wind, it drifted like pure white blossoms floating between heaven and earth.
She called out loudly for Li Wu to come see. The young man hurried over, and after standing side by side for a while, he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
The room was as warm as spring. Nestled together, they remained silent and too content to move. The window became a frame—one couldn't tell whether the snow was in the painting while they watched it, or they were in the painting while the snow watched them.
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