Fu Xiling drove his car all the way to the highest speed limit, and when he got home, he slammed the security door so hard that it shook the entire house. He stood at the entrance for a few minutes, fuming, before turning back out the door to grab the bag of cash from the garage.

Money wasn’t something Fu Xiling cared much about. He had never lacked for it or struggled in life. But that bag of money was the result of Shi Zhi selling the gown.

He recalled the last time Shi Zhi visited his house, when she stood in the living room, carefully inspecting every piece of furniture. They were talking about soda water, and she had said, “If I were as rich as you, I’d cherish my life too.”

When Fu Xiling had first asked around about Shi Zhi at University B, the rumors he heard were mostly the same. They said she was beautiful, and when she first started at the university, many seniors were eager to approach her, but none succeeded in making any progress.

She was said to have a proud personality, like a high-class princess. She preferred being alone, whether in class or at meals. Her family was likely well-off, with relatives doing business in the area, and she got along well with Shen Jia.

In Fu Xiling’s opinion, Shi Zhi didn’t have much money. She just had great taste and could make anything look good. She had put effort into looking good for Shen Jia and understood that “it’s not about how many clothes you have, but about how high-quality they are,” even her little camisoles were from luxury brands.

Good grades, beautiful, mysterious. So, she became the “high-class little princess” in their eyes.

But that was a misjudgment. With her strong, independent ways, how could she be anything like a little princess? Which princess would sell a gown they didn’t like just to return money? She probably couldn’t even be bothered to ask for his bank account details, and simply took a bag full of cash. She had clear boundaries, afraid of owing any favors to others.

Fu Xiling brought the bag of cash back inside, throwing it onto the sofa. The canvas bag was so full that it hit the soft cushions, tilting slightly, and a bundle of cash spilled out, scattering onto the carpet.

Then, a corner of black fabric peeked out.

Fu Xiling pulled out the fabric to take a look.

It was a short-sleeve T-shirt, black, in his size, from the brand he often wore. It was new, with the tags still attached.

A few days ago, his aunt had said that Shi Zhi had taken one of his shirts, and he guessed this was probably her way of returning it to him. Did she really have to be this clear-cut?

Fu Xiling was frustrated, but he actually appreciated Shi Zhi’s straightforwardness. She was decisive and efficient. She had said, “Let’s put an end to the Shen Jia thing,” and no matter how many bottles of wine they drank, she wouldn’t shed a tear for Shen Jia. As a business partner, even knowing Fu Xiling didn’t need the money, she would never take advantage of him.

Fu Xiling changed into the T-shirt, looked at himself in the mirror, and then dialed Shi Zhi’s number: “I need to talk to you about something serious.”

At the bar, the air conditioning was broken, and the place was uncomfortably hot. Shi Zhi’s voice was lazy, tinged with impatience: “If it’s something serious, why didn’t you mention it when we met earlier?”

Fu Xiling ripped the tag off the T-shirt: “There were too many mosquitoes, I was irritated, and I didn’t think of it.”

A few days later, there was a gathering among the younger generation of heirs from various businesses. They would meet a few times a year as a matter of tradition.

This year, it was supposed to be an outdoor event—barbecue, camping, and frisbee. But the weather was too unbearable, and if they were to stay outside, they might need to bring a private doctor along to avoid heatstroke.

Usually, the older generation didn’t interfere with their fun, but this time was an exception. Recently, Fu Xiling’s family and Yao Yao’s family had been trying to get their kids to interact more, so Yao Yao’s mom had contacted Fu Xiling’s mom, and Yao Yao had even called Fu Xiling.

Yao Yao told Fu Xiling that the camping would be too hot, so they wanted to use his family’s hotel rooftop for a pool party instead.

Fu Xiling agreed and then asked Shi Zhi, “Are you coming?”

On the other end of the line, she could vaguely hear Wan Ran humming a song. Without hesitation, Shi Zhi replied, “Tell me the time and place.”

Fu Xiling answered all her questions: “When the time comes, should I come pick you up, or will you come by yourself?”

“I’ll come myself.”

They didn’t contact each other again until the pool party.

On the day of the party, many friends around their age were already there. Fu Xiling didn’t go upstairs and just leaned in the hotel lobby, playing with his phone.

A friend showed up late and saw him: “Hey, Xiling, why are you still here? Aren’t you going up?”

Fu Xiling glanced at the time: “I’m waiting for someone, you guys go ahead.”

The friend laughed: “Heard you’re dating someone, right? Well, wait here, I’m going up to find them.”

Shi Zhi remembered the time they agreed upon and had no habit of being late. But that day was a bit unfortunate.

A troublesome customer showed up at the bar, causing a scene. After drinking three glasses of alcohol, it wasn’t clear if he was drunk or just trying to scam them, but he claimed the drinks weren’t good enough and refused to pay.

That’s what happens in struggling bars. With low prices, it rarely attracts quality customers, and without any security, run-ins with troublemakers are frequent.

The customer’s shouting frightened Ling Ling, whose eyes welled up with tears as she looked like an easy target to bully. These types were always trying to push people around.

Shi Zhi had just changed clothes and was about to leave when she heard the commotion downstairs, the sound of things being smashed. She ran downstairs and saw Old Qian protecting Ling Ling, with a pile of broken glass scattered on the floor.

Wan Ran was recording the incident on her phone. Shi Zhi nodded slightly at Wan Ran, walking past her, and pushed Old Qian aside: “What’s the problem?”

The customer yelled, “What can a girl like you solve? Get your boss!”

Shi Zhi calmly replied, “I am the boss. Talk to me.”

Ling Ling, still sick with a heat-induced cold, was crying and coughing: “Shi Zhi, he drank the alcohol and didn’t want to pay, tried to leave, and when I stopped him, he blamed our drinks…”

“What blame? The drinks are badly made, they could be expired, why should I pay?”

Shi Zhi stayed calm, picking up the bill and glancing at it. She answered slowly: “Three Long Island Iced Teas, the second and third ones were ordered more than twenty minutes apart. If you can’t tell whether a drink is good after tasting it for half an hour, should I have asked you to keep ordering more to keep tasting?”

The customer clearly wasn’t making any valid arguments, just shouting louder. Old Qian’s fists clenched in anger, but Shi Zhi stopped him from intervening.

Shi Zhi was unusually patient that day, answering his questions one by one, almost as if she were the one trying to avoid trouble, asking the scammer how he wanted to resolve the issue.

The customer arrogantly said a long string of things and even tried to demand compensation. Shi Zhi interrupted: “That’s not going to happen.”

The customer got more agitated and threw another glass.

The sound of sirens grew louder in the distance.

Shi Zhi glanced out the window, knowing her delay had worked. Her expression immediately turned cold, and she cast a sharp glance back at the man: “I’ve called the police. You can discuss the rest with them.”

Shi Zhi pushed open the door: “Wan Ran, make sure to show the recording to the police, and give them some cold drinks on the way out. It’s tough for them to be out here in this heat.”

Having resolved the bar’s commotion, Shi Zhi was nearly an hour late for her meeting with Fu Xiling.

She ran all the way to the hotel, not even glancing at the lobby, and happened to catch an elevator going up when someone else used their card to go to the top floor. She didn’t contact Fu Xiling and simply followed.

Upstairs, the party was in full swing. Men and women were lounging in the pool, drinking champagne and chatting. She didn’t see Fu Xiling anywhere.

Shi Zhi sat down, ready to call him, when she overheard someone chatting nearby.

“Yao Yao, I heard you went to Australia?”

“I stayed with my aunt for a few days. You can see how tanned I am now, I’m a few shades darker.”

Shi Zhi turned around and saw Yao Yao for the first time.

Yao Yao was standing at the edge of the pool in a swimsuit, chatting with another girl. They were talking about sunscreen brands, and then moved on to an accident that had happened on the highway recently.

“It was so unlucky, there were hardly any cars on the road, but one ended up scraping me. I was rushing to a dinner, but by the time I got there, it was already over. I heard they even had fireworks, but I missed all of it…”

Yao Yao was quite pretty, with that soft, girlish look. Her large, round eyes still looked cute even after tanning.

This group of people had such a laid-back attitude, and someone remarked, “Look, the sunset!”

Almost everyone turned to look.

The sunset was indeed beautiful, with half the sky a gradient of pink and orange. Several girls raised their phones to take pictures, while Yao Yao looked around: “My phone, where’s my phone? Hey, He Fancheng, did you see my phone?”

Shi Zhi turned her attention back to the phone in her hand and dialed Fu Xiling’s number.

Fu Xiling had been downstairs playing games for a while, and even a staff member had come to ask him to look over some documents. He waited and waited, but still hadn’t seen Shi Zhi.

His phone buzzed once.

A message popped up, and then came the call—it was Shi Zhi.

Fu Xiling answered, already assuming the worst, thinking she might not show up after all.

But Shi Zhi said, “Fu Xiling, where are you?”

Fu Xiling stood up and walked outside: “I’m in the hotel lobby. Have you arrived?”

“I’m by the pool.”

Fu Xiling paused for a moment.

He heard Shi Zhi on the phone: “Forget it, I’ll just come find you downstairs. It’s too hot upstairs.” Without waiting for his response, she hung up.

After hanging up, Fu Xiling realized the text earlier was from his late friend.

The friend had written: “It looks like your girlfriend has arrived.”

Fu Xiling waited for Shi Zhi in the lobby.

The rooftop was packed with younger people having fun at the pool party. The hotel manager was under a lot of pressure, worried about neglecting things, and when he saw Fu Xiling downstairs, he approached him to discuss some catering details.

Fu Xiling and the manager were talking when Fu Xiling caught a glimpse of someone coming out of the elevator.

He thought that, given the weather, Shi Zhi would be wearing her usual camisole and shorts. But she wasn’t.

She was wearing his shirt.

It was the black one she had taken from his place, with only the brand logo and no other designs. It was new, and Fu Xiling had never worn it before.

She had turned it into a dress.

Anyone familiar with Fu Xiling knew his style, so it wasn’t surprising that his friends, having never seen Shi Zhi, would assume she was his girlfriend.

It seemed not only did he know how to make her upset Shen Jia, but Shi Zhi also knew how to claim her territory in front of Yao Yao.

The manager was still talking, but Fu Xiling glanced at Shi Zhi, then turned back to the manager. His attention didn’t stay on the conversation any longer.

Above them, the crystal chandelier in the lobby sparkled with reflections, casting a dazzling effect.

Shi Zhi walked toward him with her long legs.

After finishing the conversation with the manager, Fu Xiling asked Shi Zhi: “Want to have a cold drink before going up?”

The rooftop pool was open-air, without air conditioning, and even though the sun was setting, it was still hot.

Shi Zhi came down to escape the heat, and of course, a cold drink would be perfect.

“Let’s go.”

The pool party on the top floor was full of people in their twenties, drinking and having fun. It was clear that no one would leave without getting drenched.

Fu Xiling looked at Shi Zhi and said, “Do you need me to get you a swimsuit?”

“I have a bikini.”

But Shi Zhi didn’t bring a bag, and the T-shirt didn’t have pockets. She only had her phone in hand.

Fu Xiling asked, puzzled: “Did you bring it?”

The drinks bar played soft, relaxing music.

Shi Zhi held a chilled fruit juice, casually responding, “I’m wearing it.”