Chapter 8

What followed in Chi Yi’s life was an endless cycle of humility, towering stacks of IOUs, merciless words on medical reports, and the sight of Li Guifen growing thinner each day, her body withering under the torment of illness.

The only thing that remained unchanged was the love in Li Guifen’s eyes whenever she looked at Chi Yi.

Every time, it was as if she had discovered a treasure—filled with surprise and deep affection.

For this, Chi Yi exhausted all his strength, working desperately to try and save Li Guifen’s life.

But in the end, Chi Yi’s heart stopped beating before Li Guifen’s did—on a chilly autumn morning after a night of rain.

…

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye as Xu Yinghuai slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision gradually sharpened from blurry to clear. In a daze, she almost thought this was just a ridiculous dream.

If life had gone according to its original path, she should have just finished a runway show and be lying on the king-sized bed of a luxury hotel she had carefully chosen.

But then she saw the rusty ceiling light above her head and the exposed, utterly unappealing light bulb.

It was then that Xu Yinghuai realized—the good days of her past life were completely over.

She propped herself up, crossing her legs on the bed, took a deep breath, and turned her head to look outside the window.

The sun had just set, and shades of blue and purple spread across the sky, painting it in a dreamy gradient. The clouds, stubbornly holding onto their lighter hues, layered the sky like an artist’s brushstrokes, creating an eerie, surreal beauty.

Xu Yinghuai felt a sense of emptiness.

She sighed, wiped away the tears on her face, and reached for her phone to check the documents Linda had sent her.

After all, life had to go on.

Although the conditions of this rebirth weren’t ideal…

Xu Yinghuai tried to console herself, but the words got stuck in her throat.

She paused in the middle of unzipping her bag, sighed again, and pulled out her phone. Then she flopped back onto the bed and began reading.

As soon as she unlocked her phone, a new friend request popped up.

She tapped on it and saw the name Chen Xi, with a note attached:

“I’m Ah Rong’s makeup artist. Little sister, add me!”

Xu Yinghuai stared at it for a moment. She was about to accept it but hesitated. If she added him, she’d have to chat with him afterward…

She knew Chen Xi well—an extremely skilled makeup artist but also a talkative gossip lover with an exaggerated personality.

She had seen his behavior in their work chat groups when she once used Zhou Zirong’s phone to send messages on his behalf.

Even if Linda had just sent a serious message detailing important work instructions, Chen Xi could completely ignore it and instead start discussing some unrelated gossip, like which celebrity might be attending tomorrow’s event and who that person had dated in the past…

In short, aside from his makeup skills, nothing about him was reliable.

In the past, she wouldn’t have minded—chatting about random things to pass the time was fine. But today, she had no energy to entertain Chen Xi’s gossip.

She had lost all interest in anyone’s romantic affairs.

So instead of accepting, she exited the request page and opened her chat with Linda.

Linda had sent three documents and a few messages that she hadn’t checked earlier.

[Linda]: Take a look at these tonight. Come in half an hour early tomorrow to sign the contract.
[Linda]: Also, this is the boss’s WeChat. Add him first. Tomorrow, his breakfast is your responsibility, so message him to ask what he wants.

Below that was Zhou Zirong’s WeChat contact card.

His username was simple—the initials of his name: ZZR.

His profile picture was a colorful oil painting, one that Xu Yinghuai recognized instantly.

That painting was created by one of Zhou Zirong’s fans, based on a side-profile photo he had posted on Weibo. The photo itself was something Xu Yinghuai had taken—albeit unwillingly.

It was around a holiday season when her parents, as usual, had bought a bunch of gifts and told her to deliver them to Zhou Zirong.

When she arrived at his place, he happened to be taking pictures.

For some reason, as soon as she set down the gifts, his entire team of assistants suddenly disappeared, leaving him alone. Zhou Zirong, in a hurry to post a picture, shoved his phone into her hands and told her to take one for him.

Annoyed at him, Xu Yinghuai had no intention of doing a good job. She deliberately chose weird angles, capturing his rare double chin and a series of side-eye expressions.

Behind the phone, she was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

Zhou Zirong glanced at her, took the phone, and his expression instantly darkened.

She thought he was mad and would rather face the wrath of his fans than let her take any more pictures.

So she grabbed her bag and prepared to leave.

But before she could take more than a few steps, Zhou Zirong hooked his fingers around the strap of her bag and pulled her back.

Without giving her a chance to refuse, he shoved the phone back into her hands and demanded, “Take them again. The previous ones are unusable.”

Then, as if nothing had happened, he posed for another round of pictures.

Xu Yinghuai mumbled complaints about how picky he was but reluctantly agreed.

“Fine, fine. I’ll take them again. You’re so high-maintenance.” She frowned and waved him off. “Turn around, turn around. I’ll take a back-view shot for you—there’s no way you can look bad from that angle.”

Zhou Zirong complied.

At that moment, Xu Yinghuai had a mischievous idea. She opened WeChat behind his back, intending to transfer all his worst pictures to her own phone and eventually “accidentally” leak them.

But before she could execute her plan, her phone in her bag suddenly rang.

It was her best friend, Mu Xiao, urging her to come out for drinks.

Not wanting to ruin the fun, she abandoned her little scheme, hastily snapped a random picture of Zhou Zirong, tossed his phone onto the couch, and clicked away in her high heels.

And so, the phone captured Zhou Zirong’s side profile as he turned to look at her.

Sharp brows, high nose bridge, fluid jawline, and bright, clear eyes. Behind him, the window framed a mix of dark tree silhouettes and soft evening light, blending into a scene of warm tranquility.

After the photo was posted online, fans compiled similar angles from his past film and TV works, merging iconic elements into a painting. The result went viral.

“So vain.”

Xu Yinghuai stared at the picture, muttered to herself, wrinkled her nose, and decisively tapped the green button to add him as a contact.

The screen quickly shifted to the remarks section.

She paused, glancing at the nickname saved in her phone—“Mu Rongzi Zhou Lunatic.”

After a brief hesitation, she typed “zz”, using the first two letters of his WeChat name as his new contact label.