Chapter 1 – Heartbreak

“Scumbag!”

“Wu wu… Obviously I’m richer than her! Truly blind to have found such an old and ugly hag…”

Under the moonlight, a graceful figure on the sofa, cheeks flushed red, drunkenly slid down onto the carpet…

………

Wen Qinghe had lost both her parents since childhood, and grew up pampered under her grandfather’s care.

But right after she finished the college entrance exam, her grandfather suddenly passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Perhaps his illness had long shown signs, but out of concern that she was in the crucial period of her final year of high school, he did not want her to be distracted and silently endured it himself.

In the end, only after she had finished her exam did he collapse, unable to hold on any longer.

This sudden blow caught Wen Qinghe completely off guard. Her grandfather was her only family in this world, and even before passing, he had arranged everything for her.

The family’s listed company was fully entrusted to professional managers, until the day she had the ability to take charge on her own.

There was also a bank card with a balance of over ten digits…

But no matter how much money there was, to her it was just paper.

Her grandfather would never return again…

For two whole months she shut herself indoors, unable to emerge from the grief of losing her loved one.

The butler saw it in his heart, aching with distress. Having watched the young lady grow up since childhood, he had long regarded her as his own granddaughter.

Seeing the young lady so dispirited, drowning in sorrow every day,

he advised her: “The departed cannot return. If the old master saw you so downhearted, he would not rest easy even in the afterlife.”

Thinking of her grandfather, Wen Qinghe pulled herself together, unwilling to let him see her sunk in despair from the heavens above.

Just as the new school term began, she thought going out for a change might do her good. She didn’t have many friends, perhaps at school she could meet new ones and encounter new things.

And so, on the campus of Beijing University, she met Mu Anche, the newly crowned campus heartthrob of the 23rd year.

From the moment she entered university as a freshman, Mu Anche was like a little sun, always by her side, making her laugh, constantly brushing up his presence in front of her.

Having just lost her relative, she could not withstand such warmth and persistence, and thus ended up with him.

For three years together, Mu Anche was always gentle and courteous. She thought that after graduation the two of them could naturally marry.

She did not like doing business, while Mu Anche studied finance. She had even thought that after marriage, she could hand the company over to him.

She would focus on being at home, supporting her husband and raising children.

But she never expected that this man, too, would betray her out of vanity.

After her grandfather’s passing, she was just a lone girl holding billions in assets. The butler grandfather worried that she would be targeted by those with ill intentions,

and thus reminded her that at school she must keep her background hidden.

Therefore, in her three years of study, she always kept a low profile, except that the clothes she wore each season were the fixed deliveries from the family company.

Every time she went to school, she either took the bus or hailed a taxi, never letting the family chauffeur appear at school.

She also never let anyone know that her family lived in a sky-high-priced villa in Beijing’s most coveted district.

Even when dining with Mu Anche, she always went Dutch with him.

But she never expected that right at the entrance of an apartment complex across from the villa district,

she would see Mu Anche passionately kissing a greasy, overweight, middle-aged woman.

In disbelief, she walked over and gave Mu Anche a hard slap, then left alone.

Even looking one more time felt filthy. If he had found someone more beautiful and wealthier than her, she might have respected him as a man.

But this woman was not even worth one of her fingers.

Vulgar clothing, heavy makeup, the only thing that showed she was a rich woman was the gaudy glitter all over her body, utterly like a nouveau riche.

It was a blatant insult to her.

She could not imagine how Mu Anche could even stomach it.

The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t swallow her anger.

Behind her, hurried footsteps caught up, grabbing her hand.

Then Mu Anche’s voice came,

“Hehe, listen to me explain. I love you, but I also want us to have a good future.

With her, it’s just a game. She can save me decades of struggle, so I can use her money to take care of you.

When I’ve accumulated enough wealth, I’ll dump her. Please believe me, alright?”

Wen Qinghe looked at him with utter contempt. Today she finally saw him clearly.

“No need! I—find—you—filthy! We’re breaking up!”

She forcefully pulled her hand away.

Mu Anche’s face flushed red with anger, irritated by her harsh words.

“Don’t be so ungrateful! Do you think you’re such a good woman yourself? Aren’t you just the same, greedy for vanity!”

“When was I ever greedy for vanity?” Wen Qinghe almost laughed in fury at his attempt to shift the blame.

“You clearly come from an ordinary family, yet you wear branded clothes every day, building up the persona of a rich campus belle.

And think—what kind of real young lady splits the bill when eating out? And takes the bus every day…”

“If not for that face of yours, do you think anyone would like a vain woman like you?”

Mu Anche’s tone, as if saying she should feel lucky to have caught his eye, made Wen Qinghe’s heart clench.

“Heh~ Heaven truly has eyes, letting me see your true face today. Mu Anche, I hope you won’t regret this!”

Yet the more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t swallow her anger.

“Do you even realize that today you’ve picked up a sesame seed only to throw away a watermelon? Do you know why I appeared here!”

With that said, she ignored him and walked toward a Rolls-Royce Phantom parked by the roadside.

The young man in a suit beside the car bowed ninety degrees to Wen Qinghe.

“Miss.”

Then, respectfully, he opened the rear door, waiting for Wen Qinghe to get in before circling to the front to drive.

And so, under Mu Anche’s astonished gaze, the car slowly drove into the villa district across the way.

Only after the car was long gone did Mu Anche come back to his senses.

With a face full of regret, he hurried after it. Remembering the words he had just spoken, it was like being slapped hard in the face.

She was actually a wealthy heiress? The rich often had eccentric habits, so her taking the bus all the time wasn’t strange after all.

What exactly had he lost?

When he reached the villa district entrance, he was stopped by security.

Anxious to explain himself to Wen Qinghe, he spoke politely to the guard.

“Hello, the car that just went in belonged to my girlfriend. I made her angry. Could you let me in?”

The guard gave him a look of disdain: “Any random person dares claim to be Miss Wen’s boyfriend? Do you not look in the mirror and see yourself? You’re worthy?”

As if he hadn’t seen Mu Anche earlier mocking Miss Wen for being vain. What a joke—Miss Wen, vain?

A casual fraction of money on one of her cards could feed an ordinary family for several generations…

What he despised most was this type of phoenix man, with nothing to his name yet harboring sky-high ambitions.

If you have nothing, go work hard. But this? Like a toad wanting to eat swan meat—delusional.

……………………………………………

When Wen Qinghe returned, just thinking of that vain scumbag made her nauseous.

Fortunately, she had always been clear-headed, never going beyond holding hands with him, wanting to save the best for after marriage.

Otherwise, if she had… she would feel so disgusted she’d want to shed her own skin…

She was also grateful that in these three years she had not foolishly revealed to him her tens of billions in assets.

Otherwise, what would await her?

Would it be like in the movies—murder, dismemberment, a fall from a building, a car accident—her “accidental death,” and all her assets falling into the hands of that phoenix man?

It hurt…

It hurt so damn much.

Three years of youth, fed to a dog…

……

Under the bright moon, Wen Qinghe held a wine glass, sitting alone on the balcony, drinking with her own shadow.

She did not turn on the lights, letting the cold moonlight spill over her body.

Tonight’s moon was so round, it could not help but remind one of the great talent Su Shi’s verse.

“When will the bright moon appear? Raising my wine, I ask the clear sky.

I wonder, in the heavenly palaces above, what year is this night?”

……

“Should not bear resentment—why then is the moon ever full when people are apart?”

………..

What state of mind had the great talent been in when he composed this poem? People have their sorrows and joys, the moon its waxing and waning—regrets were inevitable.

She had thought she had found her lifelong companion,

but now, once again, she was left alone…

Perhaps it was the alcohol so easily getting to her head. Having recognized that scumbag for what he was, she should have been happy.

Yet she felt instead that her heart was missing a piece, for a moment as if a heavy stone pressed against it.

She shook her head, and that oppressive feeling disappeared again…

Looking at the empty wine glass in her hand, she staggered back to the sofa and poured another drink.

The wine-red liquid slowly flowed into the crystal glass.

Her jade-like beautiful face seemed just like the alluring liquid—irresistibly intoxicating.

With slender fingers holding the stemmed glass, she sipped slowly, cheeks flushed, eyes fixed, her tenderness tinged with charm, and her charm softened with sorrow.

……

On the floor lay several emptied bottles of expensive wine. Moonlight shone bright, the floor-to-ceiling windows wide open, as if tonight’s moonlight favored her especially.

In her drunken dream, she sat on the carpet, leaning against the sofa, her soft hair cascading down, unaware that her whole body was radiating a faint white glow.