{Cool and charming 2}

Shen Qi replayed the video in the private room, his eyes lingering on the screen longer than he’d like to admit. By the time he realized what he was doing, it was already too late. The delicate silhouette of the woman in the video was so familiar, but no matter how much it reminded him of someone from his past, they were now separated by an entire Pacific Ocean, not mere proximity.

Still, Shen Qi felt unsatisfied.

Earlier, he had just closed a deal worth 3 billion dollars, with the settlement made in U.S. dollars, not RMB—a sum unimaginable for the family he had grown up in. But now, the achievement seemed meaningless. His father had passed away and would never witness this success.

And yet, despite his victory, Shen Qi was left feeling hollow. To fill this void, he had accepted Gu Wei’s invitation to join him in a lavish club under the shimmering lights of the city. Here, women made clumsy attempts to get closer to him, using excuses like “I must have walked into the wrong room” or “Could you tell me where the bathroom is?” in hopes of capturing his attention.

But none of it interested Shen Qi.

Gu Wei, ever the perfect host, had pulled every string to cater to Shen Qi’s tastes. He had selected wines from his family’s private collection, wines from various years, hoping to impress. Yet, Shen Qi hadn’t touched his glass. Gu Wei had even gone so far as to invite women who bore a striking resemblance to Cheng Shuangyi, a woman from Shen Qi’s past. The women were voluptuous, their bodies meticulously sculpted, their hair styled in soft, glamorous curls.

But Shen Qi remained indifferent.

What struck Gu Wei most, though, was Shen Qi’s unusual behavior. Normally detached from his phone, Shen Qi was now completely absorbed in it. Curiosity piqued, Gu Wei edged closer, eventually realizing that Shen Qi wasn’t mindlessly scrolling through social media. No, he was watching the same video over and over. The center of the video featured another woman, this one with a tranquil beauty. Her long hair flowed gently behind her, and though she exuded a kind of ethereal grace, there was something grounded and real about her. Her presence seemed almost out of place amid the grandiose setting of the formal event she was attending, as if she were above the pretentiousness surrounding her.

Gu Wei finally understood—this wasn’t just idle distraction. Shen Qi’s mind was elsewhere, tethered to a memory or perhaps to a person long gone, whose influence lingered in ways Gu Wei couldn’t fully grasp.

Gu Wei tried to guess the identity of the woman in the video, but just as he was about to catch a glimpse of her face when she turned, the screen froze.

His phone locked itself.

Shen Qi slowly turned to look at Gu Wei, and that gaze was more cautionary than usual. Gu Wei immediately put on a smile, eager to please. However, before he could fully process who Shen Qi might be interested in, his friends were already making inappropriate suggestions.

“How about I call Cheng Shuangyi over?” one of them piped up.

Immediately, another chimed in, “Yeah, I heard she’s free these days; her schedule isn’t too packed.”

An elbow nudged a buddy nearby, forgetting for a moment that Shen Qi didn’t appreciate such teasing. They hinted outright, “Seems like she’s keeping her schedule clear for someone special.”

Shen Qi remained silent, which his friends interpreted as a silent endorsement of their plans. No matter how hard Gu Wei tried to signal his disapproval, he couldn’t stop the impending farce.

In truth, Shen Qi wasn’t particularly eager to see Cheng Shuangyi.

It didn’t seem to cross his mind; if she wanted to come, he would find it amusing to watch, but if she chose not to, it didn’t matter to him. At least, for now, he wasn’t troubled by that issue; his mind was occupied with other concerns.

Perhaps it was the meddling of too many people around him, or perhaps it was the frequency with which “Cheng Shuangyi” was mentioned that made him think of her. He suspected that this suggestion had the blessing of Cheng Shuangyi herself, or perhaps it was a scheme she had set in motion.

This only fueled his irritation.

Before long, instead of just suggesting her presence, they were outright inviting her.

“Miss Cheng, are you free tonight to join us?” one called out.

On the other end, Cheng Shuangyi first flatly refused, “No way, I can’t let you disrupt my beauty sleep.”

However, after much coaxing, she reluctantly agreed, “Fine, I’ll come for half an hour, but you better open two bottles of Lafite!”

From her first refusal to the latter acceptance, if Shen Qi still couldn’t see through the predictable routine, then everything he had endured in the past few years would have lost its meaning. He could easily discern her high-handedness and that last little flirtation was clearly directed at someone—otherwise, the invitee’s phone wouldn’t have been set to speaker mode. It was obvious that Cheng Shuangyi was fully aware of the arrangement.

Had there been nothing more pressing on his agenda, Shen Qi might have actually considered meeting her. He had no intention of exposing her manipulations directly but would not entertain her theatrics any longer.

However, before he could dwell on this any further, an email pinged in his inbox from a little-known university in New York, containing Dr. Chen’s resume—a recipient of a grant. Shen Qi stood up, uninterested, and said, “I’m going out for some fresh air.”