Chapter 10

Cheng Li hadn’t received a reply from Rong Qi even after she got home.

Did he go to bed this early?

Impossible. People in the tech industry don’t sleep before 10 p.m., do they?

Or perhaps he saw it and just didn’t bother replying?

Cheng Li was particularly worried about the latter. After all, her college friend had sent her a bunch of photos of supermoons, and this one was the one she had painstakingly selected as the best.

The roundness, the purity of the white—it was practically perfect.

He didn’t like even this beautiful white moon?

As Cheng Li stared at their chat window, she suddenly noticed Rong Qi’s name at the top change to: “Typing…”

He saw it. He saw it!

Cheng Li immediately sat up on her bed, gripping her phone with both hands, waiting for Rong Qi’s message to come through.

But she waited for nearly a minute, watching his status toggle between “Typing…” and back to his name. Over and over.

What on earth was he doing?

Finally, Cheng Li decided not to wait any longer. Opportunity favors the prepared—sometimes you have to take the initiative.

Cheng Li: [I specifically chose the most beautiful supermoon photo.]

Cheng Li: [Do you like it?]

This time, he finally gave a response.

Rong Qi: [Mm.]

Ah.

That reaction was so cold it left her at a loss.

Fortunately, Rong Qi followed up shortly after.

Rong Qi: [Did you take this photo?]

Cheng Li: [Of course not. I don’t have that kind of skill.]

Cheng Li: [A college friend of mine took it. He’s a photography enthusiast, just like you.]

Then silence again.

Cheng Li glanced at the time—nearly 11 p.m. He probably wouldn’t reply anymore, right?

Just as she was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep, her phone vibrated twice.

Rong Qi: [If it’s a gift for me, shouldn’t it be more sincere?]

Lying in bed, Cheng Li held her phone and stared at his words, momentarily dazed.

Her phone slipped from her hands and smacked her right in the face.

The pain brought tears to her eyes, almost making her cry on the spot.

But she sat up, rereading his message, thinking it over carefully.

Sincere?

Was he implying she lacked sincerity because she sent someone else’s photo?

Alright, she got it.

Cheng Li immediately got out of bed and walked to the window. But when she saw the crescent moon hanging in the sky, she was at a loss.

Not her luck—it wasn’t even a full moon.

As she mulled over how to respond, she suddenly remembered her trip to Tibet with Meng Yuange.

They had taken tons of photos of the night sky back then.

She got up to retrieve her laptop. Since her phone didn’t have enough storage, she’d transferred a lot of photos to her computer.

After pulling up the folder from the Tibet trip, Cheng Li browsed through it.

To her surprise, there was a suitable photo.

It was a shot of her standing on a mountain, her hands raised as if holding the moon. The photo used perspective to create the illusion of her cradling the glowing moon in her hands.

Meng Yuange had taken it, and the two of them had been awed by the beauty of the plateau’s starry skies and bright moon.

Cheng Li cropped herself out of the photo, leaving only the pristine white moon against the sky.

Satisfied, she sent the edited image, confident this time it would suffice.

Rong Qi’s reply came quickly.

Rong Qi: [What’s beneath the moon?]

Cheng Li squinted at the photo and blinked. How did he even notice that? Was this man equipped with 24-karat laser eyes?

Despite how carefully she’d cropped it, he still picked up on something off.

Cheng Li: [It’s my hand. Originally, it was a photo of me holding the moon.”

Cheng Li: [It’s one of those trendy forced-perspective shots.]

Surely Rong Qi knew about those, right?

Rong Qi: [Send me the original.]

When Cheng Li saw this message, she admitted she was more stunned than before.

Good thing she was sitting down with her phone this time, or she’d have dropped it on her face again.

She mulled over the meaning behind his request.

He knew the original photo had her in it, yet he insisted on seeing it…

Could it be that he actually wanted a picture of her?

Rong Qi: [The cropping is off at the edges.]

Rong Qi: [It’s visually annoying.]

Cheng Li: “…”

Oh. She was overthinking it.

The guy was just having a perfectionist meltdown.

Without hesitation, she sent the original photo over and let him crop it himself.

Rong Qi had just returned home. He didn’t live with his grandparents but stayed alone in a luxury apartment close to the company.

As he sipped water, he opened the photo Cheng Li sent.

In the picture, she wore a pure white coat, with a scarf wrapped snugly under her chin, exuding warmth and comfort.

Her radiant smile was particularly captivating.

With both hands raised toward the night sky, the bright moon seemed to rest lightly in her palms.

And at this moment, as he held his phone, it felt as though she had fallen right into his grasp.

*

She had hoped that the recent dinner might be an opportunity to bridge the gap between them.

However, Rong Qi didn’t show up around the villa for an entire week afterward.

Cheng Li didn’t dare to ask him about it on WeChat. After all, she wasn’t even officially a blind date partner, let alone someone close enough to inquire about his schedule casually.

Taking advantage of Mrs. Ling’s student gifting her a box of pomegranates, Cheng Li decided to re-gift them to Grandma Xiang and Grandpa Rong.

That’s when she found out that Rong Qi had left for Beijing the previous week and hadn’t returned to Shanghai yet.

It made sense, given his career. How could he possibly indulge in emotions?

Besides, there wasn’t even a relationship between them to begin with.

Cheng Li dropped the idea entirely and went out for dinner with Meng Yuange over the weekend.

“Why are you so down?” Meng Yuange asked, noticing her demeanor.

“If your job felt like going to a funeral every day, you’d probably look even worse than me,” Cheng Li replied.

Meng Yuange suddenly remembered. “Your company is still negotiating a deal with Xu Jiheng’s company?”

“Yeah, we had another meeting yesterday,” Cheng Li said, her voice laced with disdain as she recalled sitting across from Xu Jiheng. “Everyone in that conference room knew what happened between us, but they all acted like nothing had ever occurred.”

Of course, it didn’t involve them. They weren’t the ones betrayed.

“That’s so messed up,” Meng Yuange muttered.

Cheng Li sighed. No kidding.

“I can’t take this anymore. Next week, we’re finding you an insanely hot guy to show off at work. At least we can save face, even if we lost ground before. Let’s pick ourselves back up now.”

As she spoke, Meng Yuange started pulling out her phone.

“I’ve got connections,” she muttered. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No need,” Cheng Li said, declining her enthusiasm.

Thinking Cheng Li was too shy, Meng Yuange tried to persuade her. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you someone tall and handsome. If worst comes to worst, we’ll just hire someone to pretend. Otherwise, you’ll keep running into Xu Jiheng, and he might think you’re still hung up on him because you’re not dating anyone new.”

After all, a lot of guys are like that—ordinary yet ridiculously self-assured.

They assume that if their ex doesn’t move on quickly, it’s because she can’t get over them.

Finally, Cheng Li admitted, “Actually, I do have someone in mind.”

“Who?”

Cheng Li hesitated to tell the full truth. She didn’t want Meng Yuange getting so excited that she dragged her to find Rong Qi.

So she casually said, “Someone who could easily overshadow Xu Jiheng in every way, like you mentioned.”

“Someone like Rong Qi?” Meng Yuange asked, narrowing her eyes.

Cheng Li: “…”

She took a sip of water, evading the question. “Something like that.”

“Then what’s the holdup?” Meng Yuange asked, her tone righteous. “Hesitating for even a second is disrespectful to him. Do you think men like that are everywhere? You could maybe find a three-legged toad, but men like him? That’s like winning the lottery.”

Cheng Li remained silent.

Meng Yuange pressed further. “Okay, let’s put it this way. Five million yuan or Rong Qi—who would you choose?”

Rong Qi.

Cheng Li thought without hesitation.

“Now think about how rare it is for an ordinary person to win five million. If you meet someone like Rong Qi, take my advice and don’t let him slip away.”

“But wouldn’t it be unfair to him if I pursued him just to spite Xu Jiheng?”

Meng Yuange turned her head, looking at Cheng Li as if she had heard something absurd.

“Cheng Li, look at yourself in the mirror for me,” she said, sounding deeply pained. “Do you know what you are?”

“What?”

“You’re a highly educated beauty. Smart, successful, and gorgeous. Even if you have a tiny bit of selfishness, so what? Relationships are inherently about getting something out of them.

“All you’re doing is pursuing something a little unconventional.”

Cheng Li stared at her and said, “Now I finally understand how fans put stars on a pedestal.”

It was the same way Meng Yuange was treating her now.

Even if Cheng Li had ulterior motives, Meng Yuange would come up with a thousand reasons to encourage her to go for it.

Unfazed, Meng Yuange grinned. “I’ll always back you up, no matter what.”

*

“Want to grab something to eat?” Jiang Zhe asked Rong Qi.

Rong Qi rubbed his temples. He had landed at Pudong Airport at 6 p.m. and come straight here to discuss a corporate acquisition.

The business partner had just been sent off, giving him a moment to catch his breath.

He had been swamped in Beijing recently and came back today only to dive straight into negotiations.

“I really think you should eat something. You haven’t had a bite since getting off the plane,” Jiang Zhe said.

Rong Qi gave him a glance. “Not hungry.”

Seeing he couldn’t persuade him, Jiang Zhe dropped the subject as the two walked out.

At the clubhouse entrance, as they waited for their car, a couple emerged from the building.

“Mr. Jiang,” the man greeted Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe turned around, recognizing the man as vaguely familiar.

The man smiled. “I’m Xu Jiheng from Zhuo Lian Capital. We met before with our general manager.”

“Oh, right,” Jiang Zhe said, realizing. “Hello.”

In truth, he had no memory of meeting Xu Jiheng, though he did remember the general manager from Zhuolian.

Noticing the woman beside Xu Jiheng, Jiang Zhe added politely, “Out with your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Xu Jiheng replied with a broad smile—until his gaze shifted to the man beside Jiang Zhe.

He suddenly widened his eyes. There had long been rumors in the industry that Jiang Zhe from Junyue Capital had deep ties with the two founders of Qiyu Technology. It was Jiang Zhe’s successful investment in Qiyu Technology that had catapulted him to prominence in the investment banking world.

He hadn’t expected to meet Rong Qi himself today.

As someone in the financial sector, Xu Jiheng was intimately familiar with Rong Qi’s impressive resume as a rising star in the tech industry.

The investment banks that had initially funded Qiyu Technology had immortalized the project as a textbook example of a successful deal.

If Xu Jiheng could encounter a startup with the potential of Qiyu Technology during its angel investment stage, he was confident he could secure a managing director position without issue.

Jiang Zhe, however, noticed the fervent admiration in Xu Jiheng’s eyes as he looked at Rong Qi.

But Jiang Zhe had no intention of making introductions—after all, not just anyone could meet Rong Qi.

Meanwhile, Rong Qi, who had been preoccupied with his phone, only raised his head when their car arrived.

He turned to Jiang Zhe beside him and said, “Let’s go.”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted slightly to the side, toward Xu Jiheng.

Rong Qi stopped in his tracks, his eyes landing on Xu Jiheng’s face.

Then, his gaze slowly moved to the woman standing next to Xu Jiheng—Wang Shuyan.

Wang Shuyan had already noticed Rong Qi standing nearby. She had to admit, she’d thought Xu Jiheng was already quite striking, but compared to the man in front of her, the gap was significant.

When she realized Rong Qi was staring straight at her, a sense of pride rose within her.

After all, being noticed by such an outstanding man was more than enough to stroke her vanity.

Unable to resist, she reached up and casually tucked her long hair behind her ear.

But soon, the atmosphere around them shifted.

Everyone began to sense that something was off—Rong Qi’s gaze lingered on the two of them far too long.

“The car’s here,” Jiang Zhe coughed lightly to remind him.

Only then did Rong Qi avert his eyes, though before leaving, he cast one last glance at Xu Jiheng.

His eyes brimmed with an air of scrutiny.

Once Jiang Zhe got into the car, he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know that Xu Jiheng and his girlfriend?”

Rong Qi remained silent.

Since childhood, he had been precociously intelligent, with an exceptional memory. He rarely forgot anyone he had met, let alone her ex-boyfriend.

It was through Cheng Li’s social media posts that he had first seen a photo of Xu Jiheng.

He hadn’t expected their first real meeting would take place here.

Thinking of the woman standing beside Xu Jiheng, Rong Qi could already guess what had happened.

“Looks impressive but isn’t worth a damn.”

Suddenly, a low and scornful remark broke the silence in the car.