STT – Chapter 1

by Little Panda

You and Lian Xuan Are Old Acquaintances?

If, many years later, you were to reunite with the person you had secretly loved years ago, what expression would you wear? How would you act?

Would you smile and exchange pleasantries, or would you pretend to be strangers who had never met?

The person you had kept in the deepest corner of your heart all those years ago had, over time, become a sharp needle buried in that same depth. When you least expected it, it would viciously prick you. How much preparation must you make to be able to face her calmly when you meet again?

Lu Zizheng’s experience gave her the answer.

No matter how much preparation you made, all your defenses would instantly crumble the moment you saw her again.

She remembered how she had just smiled, extended her hand toward Lian Xuan, and said, “Hello, President Lian. I look forward to working with you.” Her smile had been polite and courteous; it should have been flawless.

Lian Xuan, however, did not reach out to shake her hand. Instead, she opened her arms, gave her a light hug, and smiled with natural warmth. “Zizheng, we’ve been classmates for years. Even if we haven’t seen each other in a long time, there’s no need to be so distant and formal, is there?”

Lu Zizheng dug her thumbnail hard into the pad of her index finger. It was the only thing stopping her from pushing Lian Xuan away and fleeing in a panic. She took a deep breath, feigned composure, and simply smiled without committing to Lian Xuan’s words.

Just like many years ago, even now, she still couldn’t see through Lian Xuan.

She had never been able to tell how much of Lian Xuan’s smile was genuine, and how much of it was false.

She had been temporarily transferred to Fengshang to act as Lian Xuan’s private translator. She had known well in advance that her direct superior would be Lian Xuan, yet she had ultimately overestimated herself. The moment she laid eyes on Lian Xuan, she realized with a start that her mind was completely thrown into chaos.

Neatly swept-up black hair, flawless makeup, and a polite, sweet smile—yet none of it could entirely mask the faint aloofness around her eyes. Eight years later, Lian Xuan was still beautiful, elegant, and eye-catching. But over the drumming of her own heartbeat, Lu Zizheng looked through the woman before her and saw the Lian Xuan of the past: wearing a white school uniform, her hair in a ponytail, waving goodbye.

**A traditional Chinese track-suit style school uniform**

She was no longer that foolish high school kid who pressed her lips together, accustomed to silence and endurance. And Lian Xuan was certainly no longer that pretty girl who would treat her with gentle, smiling warmth. Lu Zizheng smiled bitterly. Perhaps it was true—time passed, but feelings remained stubbornly stuck in the past.

Sitting in the temporary office Lian Xuan had arranged for her, Lu Zizheng spent the entire afternoon restless. Her temples throbbed; her thoughts drifted aimlessly.

When the end of the workday finally arrived, Lu Zizheng massaged her temples, tidied her desk, and walked out of the office with her bag, feeling a massive sense of relief.

During the evening rush hour, the elevator was packed with people. She barely managed to squeeze in, holding her breath and sucking in her stomach to stand ramrod straight. However, the physical discomfort was clearly nothing compared to her current mental anguish. Standing by the elevator doors, she absentmindedly wondered: if she wasn’t as unbothered as she had originally imagined, should she resign early and return to her agency to wait for the next client?

The moment they reached the ground floor, the daydreaming Lu Zizheng—who was standing right at the front—was shoved out of the elevator by the surging crowd before she could react. She stumbled and nearly fell.

A fair, slender hand suddenly reached out from the side and steadied her arm. A gentle voice asked, “Are you alright?”

Lu Zizheng lifted her head and saw Lian Xuan’s beautiful face right in front of hers, beaming with a smile and eyes full of concern.

Lu Zizheng hurriedly forced herself to stand upright and pulled away from Lian Xuan’s grasp, saying, “I’m fine. Thank you, President Lian.”

The two of them walked shoulder-to-shoulder toward the exit, keeping a moderate distance between them. Lian Xuan glanced sideways at Lu Zizheng and smiled. “Why are you always so distant and polite? I’ll overlook it during working hours, but now that we’re off the clock, you can at least call me by my name.”

Lu Zizheng gave her a brief look, offered a faint smile, and kept walking toward the doors without saying a word.

Why could Lian Xuan act as if nothing had ever happened, while Lu Zizheng had been entirely unable to forget all these years, letting it turn into a nightmare?

Lu Zizheng, your cultivation¹ is simply too shallow, after all.

Reaching the entrance, Lu Zizheng was just about to bid Lian Xuan goodbye when Lian Xuan beat her to it with an invitation. “Zizheng, why don’t we grab dinner together tonight? First, to wash away the dust² and welcome you to the company, and second, to celebrate our reunion after so long. Will you do me the honor?” Her words were just as they had been years ago—polite, appropriate, thorough, and attentive. Years ago, Lu Zizheng had absolutely adored her thoughtfulness. Now, years later, she only felt that it was brimming with hypocritical pleasantries.

Just as she was about to refuse, her phone suddenly rang. She pulled it out; the screen displayed the name “Huaixi.” She gave Lian Xuan an apologetic smile and answered the call. Jiang Huaixi’s habitually cool and aloof voice carried over from the other end of the line: “I’m downstairs at your company. I’m picking you up so we can go see Auntie; she misses you.”

Lu Zizheng had no reason to refuse. She replied with an “okay” and hung up. Then, she smiled at Lian Xuan. “President Lian, I’m sorry. My friend specially came to pick me up from work, so I have plans tonight. You see…”

Lian Xuan put on an understanding look and chuckled. “A boyfriend? Heh, it’s fine. Let’s take a rain check, then.”

Lu Zizheng didn’t bother denying it. She simply smiled, said her goodbyes, and turned to leave.

Exchanging even one more word with Lian Xuan made her feel annoyed and unsettled. Yet she had to force herself to stay entirely alert, putting on the same breezy, carefree smile as the other woman. She only wanted to walk away quickly and drop the forced expression.

She quickly spotted Jiang Huaixi’s familiar black Porsche. Reaching out, she pulled the door open, climbed in, and slumped into the passenger seat like a deflated balloon.

Jiang Huaixi frowned slightly, glancing at her, and said, “Even if you have complete faith in my driving skills, don’t stop me from being a law-abiding citizen. Seatbelt.”

Lu Zizheng rested her head against the back of the seat, her eyes closed, showing zero reaction.

Jiang Huaixi scoffed softly. “You seem to be getting more and more lawless and brazen in my car,” she complained, but she leaned over anyway, her hands moving gently to buckle Lu Zizheng’s seatbelt for her.

Her loose hair brushed gently against Lu Zizheng’s face, carrying Jiang Huaixi’s usual, faint fragrance. Lu Zizheng opened her eyes a fraction. Looking at the soft, fluffy head bowed right in front of her, she felt a sudden urge to reach out and pull her into a hug. But after wrestling to restrain herself, she eventually closed her eyes again.

Having fastened the seatbelt, Jiang Huaixi started the car and smoothly merged onto the road.

Midway through the drive, Jiang Huaixi suddenly asked an offhand question: “You and Lian Xuan are old acquaintances?” Her eyes didn’t even flick toward Lu Zizheng. The question was as casual as asking, “Do you think the cake at such-and-such bakery is any good?”

Lu Zizheng kept her face turned toward the window. She blew a breath against the glass and offered a self-deprecating smile. “Does a past unrequited crush that ended in rejection count?”

The car suddenly accelerated, but the surge lasted only a split second before returning to its usual, steady pace. Jiang Huaixi spoke in her customary tone of calm sarcasm: “With your high standards, I thought the person worthy of your attention hadn’t even been born yet. Still, this is for the best. At the very least, it allows you to calmly examine yourself, realize that your aptitude currently falls short of your tastes, and gives you a reason to keep cultivating.”

Lu Zizheng shot Jiang Huaixi a cold, sidelong glare. “Do you know how to speak like a human being?”

Jiang Huaixi smiled. “Was I not? Then how did you understand me?”

Lu Zizheng didn’t want to talk to her for the time being.

Later in the drive, Jiang Huaixi abruptly pulled over to the side of the road for a moment. Lu Zizheng was baffled. She was just about to nervously ask what was wrong when Jiang Huaixi restarted the car and pulled back onto the road. As she drove, she remarked, “My contact lens felt like it slipped, but once I stopped, it seemed fine.”

Lu Zizheng was highly skeptical. “Since when are you nearsighted?!”

Jiang Huaixi harrumphed coldly. “Since when do you care about my affairs?” She casually rolled down the window, her brow slightly furrowed and her lips pressed together, looking as if it were a genuinely serious matter.

Lu Zizheng sighed, not wanting to bicker with her.

Sometimes, looking at Jiang Huaixi’s beautiful, familiar profile, she would fall into a brief trance.

Wasn’t the course of life a strange and wondrous thing? The person you once loved half to death would one day become a complete stranger, while the person you once hated enough to gnash your teeth at might one day become an indispensable part of your life.

Clearly, Lian Xuan was the former, and Jiang Huaixi was the latter.

The author has something to say:

Don’t ship the wrong CP³ everyone~

I know the pain of shipping the wrong CP T^T

Footnotes

Originally a Daoist or Buddhist concept (dàoxíng) referring to the depth of one's spiritual cultivation. In modern slang, it means one's level of experience, emotional maturity, or ability to keep their composure.
A traditional Chinese idiom (jiē fēng xǐ chén) meaning to host a welcome banquet for a visitor from afar, literally 'to catch the wind and wash away the dust' of their journey.
An abbreviation for 'character pairing' or 'couple.' In Chinese internet slang, 'shipping a CP' means supporting a romantic relationship between two characters.

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STT – Chapter 1

Footnotes

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