Chapter 1: Nemesis

You are the unexpected stirring of my heart, sudden and complete in its capture.

— Jiang Cheng.

The Imperial Capital, nearing September, was still sweltering. The nights were even more lively, bustling with noise and shimmering neon lights.

“Intoxicated” Music Bar.

The only entertainment venue in the Imperial Capital that required facial and identity verification for entry.

On the second floor, in an open booth near the railing with the best view, sat a group of vibrant and beautiful young men and women. They seemed to be playing some kind of card game, full of passion and constant laughter.

“Haha… Shuyi, you lost! Quick, quick, choose truth or dare?” A pretty girl in a short black dress excitedly snatched the card from Ji Shuyi’s hand, asking about the penalty.

“We finally caught Shuyi! Hurry and pick truth; it’s more fun to peek into her heart.” Before Ji Shuyi could speak, a boy next to her casually raised his chin, teasing.

“You’re going to be disappointed.” Ji Shuyi accepted her loss magnanimously, laughing without a care, “I choose dare.”

Laughable!

She had just witnessed the ‘outrageous’ questions these people were asking.

She couldn’t choose truth. She wanted a dare, which wouldn’t make her do anything illegal or against the rules anyway.

“Then it’s a dare! We’ve been waiting for your dare… Hehe…” Lu Zhixia, who had won against Ji Shuyi, excitedly leaned forward, turning Ji Shuyi’s head to the right, and said impatiently, “See those two handsome guys over there? The one on the left with the buzz cut?”

Ji Shuyi followed the direction Lu Zhixia indicated. Amidst the crowd, she immediately spotted the buzz-cut guy sitting on a high stool with his back to them.

The guy wore a sleeveless black T-shirt and black sweatpants. One hand rested casually and lazily on his neck. Sleeveless tees are an easy item to fail at, and make one seem greasy or sloppy, but the guy in front of her managed to control it perfectly, exuding boldness, untamed freedom, and a hint of aloofness that was difficult to conceal even from just his back view. For some reason, he gave off a not-so-virtuous feeling. He was currently raising his glass and talking to a friend beside him. After Ji Shuyi glanced at him a couple more times, she surprisingly felt a sense of familiarity that deserved to die.

“See him?” Lu Zhixia smiled as Ji Shuyi was dazed, saying, “The dare is to get that guy’s phone number, or WeChat is fine too.”

Lu Zhixia excitedly spoke, and then stood up and wanted to pull up Ji Shuyi and push her over there.

“Are you sure about the buzz cut? He doesn’t look like a good citizen,” Ji Shuyi muttered, frowning slightly as she snapped back to her senses. Her round, bright almond eyes blinked, and she smiled: “How about we change the target?”

“You don’t understand, do you?” Lu Zhixia smiled meaningfully and leaned close to Ji Shuyi’s ear, saying, “Those kinds are more exciting!”

“Oh~~~ I understand, I understand.” Ji Shuyi gave Lu Zhixia, who was currently in excitement, a look as if she saw through everything and didn’t explain it: “Then I’ll try my best! But if I can’t get it, don’t blame me.”

“I promise I won’t blame you; we’re just playing.”

“Okay!”

As Ji Shuyi stood up, she casually adjusted her skirt to prevent any wardrobe mishaps, picked up the wine glass in front of her, and walked towards the target guy.

Today was a party organized by Ji Shuyi and some classmates to commemorate their past high school hardships and welcome the wonderful college life ahead.

Ji Shuyi wore a red spaghetti strap dress, the straps tied into bows on her shoulders. A small diamond and pearl butterfly hairpin adorned her delicate, wavy hair. Her makeup was a slightly sweet and spicy smoky eye. With her fair and radiant skin and long, slender legs in high heels, she attracted quite a few admiring glances with just the few steps she took.

“Hi~ handsome,” Ji Shuyi said with a smile as she approached her target.

Perhaps because he was often approached, the buzz-cut guy didn’t even flinch.

Ji Shuyi thought that since it was just a dare, she just had to do as she was told. Success or failure was not within the scope of consideration. Coincidentally, the friend next to the guy had just left his seat, so she boldly walked forward, stood next to the empty seat, raised the wine glass in her hand, and smiled again, cutting straight to the chase: “Handsome, can I get your contact infor…”

Ji Shuyi froze the instant she clearly saw the guy’s face.

Amidst surprise and awkwardness, she saw Jiang Cheng’s irritating face slowly turn towards her, his eyes containing playful mockery as he lightly raised his eyebrows, his voice clear and nonchalant: “Didn’t hear you, say it again.”

Bang!

In an instant, Ji Shuyi, having fully seen him, trembled as if she had seen a plague-like nemesis, and the wine glass in her hand slipped and fell.

“Jiang… Jiang Cheng!” Ji Shuyi stammered, embarrassed and awkward, “It’s nothing, I mistook you for someone else.”

With that, she turned around and tried to run away.

No wonder she felt a sense of familiarity just now. It turned out to be this nemesis. She only blamed him for covering up his representative tattoo when his hand caressed his neck, which made her not think too much.

“You think you can just run away?” Seeing Ji Shuyi turn to run, Jiang Cheng quickly reached out and grabbed the girl’s shoulders from behind, rudely dragging her back.

“Hey! What are you doing!” Ji Shuyi, who had been pulled back, felt her lower back pressed against the edge of the table. In the next second, Jiang Cheng directly lifted a long leg and propped it against the chair beside her, trapping her between the table and his long leg.

“Jiang Cheng!” Ji Shuyi said, embarrassed and slightly angry, reaching out to push him. “Get your dog paw away! I already said I mistook you for someone else.”

“Oh, you mistook me for someone else,” Jiang Cheng repeated her words with cold arrogance, then slowly turned his gaze to the broken glass and spilled wine on the table, and raised his chin: “Then you have to pay for the damages.”

In embarrassment and resentment, Ji Shuyi followed Jiang Cheng’s gaze and realized that the glass she dropped had shattered their wine bottle.

She pursed her lips, momentarily at a loss.

Oh well, consider it money spent to avoid disaster, but she had never even seen that wine before.

Ji Shuyi immediately asked him, “How much? I’ll pay you double!”

Jiang Cheng looked at the fearless girl, and a hint of dark amusement suddenly added to his playful heart: “Privately brewed, priceless!”

This wine was indeed privately brewed and treasured.

Trapped at the table, Ji Shuyi looked at Jiang Cheng’s mocking eyes, glaring resentfully at the long leg blocking her way. She sullenly clenched her fist, but she knew she was in the wrong since she had broken someone else’s belongings, and she had indeed never seen that wine before, so it should really be privately brewed. Therefore, she tried hard to restrain the agitation in her heart and politely asked with a forced smile, “Then, how does Young Master Jiang want me to compensate?”

Jiang Cheng propped his long leg against the chair, glancing at the girl in front of him with a cold and nonchalant gaze. She looked like a rabbit whose eyes had turned red with anger. He seemed to enjoy seeing her in this ‘infuriated’ state. Thinking this, he wordlessly hooked the corners of his mouth, no one knew what kind of mentality he was in.

“You, you, you… what are you daydreaming about?” Ji Shuyi saw that he hadn’t made a sound for a long time, just staring straight at her with those eyes. Especially just now, when he suddenly smiled, it made her shudder. She hurriedly and vigilantly crossed her arms in front of her chest and rebuked, “I’ll pay what I owe. Don’t even think about any dirty thoughts!”

After saying that, she directly raised her foot and kicked hard at Jiang Cheng’s leg: “Pervert!”

Jiang Cheng nimbly moved the leg on the ground, easily dodging her attack, and ‘tsk’-ed dismissively: “This young master is not interested in your body! Stop fantasizing.”

“Hehe…” Ji Shuyi returned sarcastically with a forced smile: “Likewise. Hurry up and say how you want to handle this. I’m afraid I’ll lose years of my life if I spend another second with you!”

Jiang Cheng lifted his eyelids indifferently as he listened to her, looking at Ji Shuyi, just as he was about to say something, his phone suddenly rang.

As soon as he answered, he heard the guy on the other end shout:

“Cheng-ge, where are you? Hurry up and come, whether I can redeem my car depends on you.”

Jiang Cheng turned around and asked softly, “The venue is set?”

Seeing Jiang Cheng stand up, turn his back to her, and answer the phone, and his long leg finally moved away, Ji Shuyi was secretly delighted and prepared to take the opportunity to slip away. She would send someone over to discuss the compensation with him. She stared at Jiang Cheng answering the phone, aimed for the opportunity, and decisively started to slip away.

“Huh?!”

Ji Shuyi, who had just taken a step, suddenly felt a weight on her waist, and her whole body was suspended in the air.

She saw Jiang Cheng, still on the phone, suddenly reach out, catching her completely off guard, and with one hand around Ji Shuyi’s slender waist, accurately avoid those pieces of broken glass, and lifted her onto the table behind him to sit. Standing on Ji Shuyi’s right side, he stretched his long arm directly over, propping it on the edge of the table on the girl’s left side, once again using only one arm to trap Ji Shuyi sitting on the table.

And he was on the phone the whole time, not even giving Ji Shuyi a glance as he trapped her securely.

“Jiang Cheng! Let me down!”

Ji Shuyi pushed and shoved the person in front of her in exasperation, scolding, “You damn dog, you’re so annoying!”