Whether the cracks could be healed, only need time could tell.

The next day, Pei Jingyan drove to pick up Su Qingran and dropped her off at school.

Entering once more, Su Qingran found herself still a bit nervous.

Fortunately, the incident seemed to be known mostly within her own circle, and only a few close friends, including Jiang Chenlin, had been there. They were good friends, so there was no gossiping.

She completed the meeting smoothly and discussed the filming details with her classmates in advance.

However, when she received the list of forum participants, her eyes froze for a moment.

After a list of prominent figures, the school’s student representative was listed: Jiang Chenlin.

*

At that moment, thousands of miles away,

In a foreign land with an unfamiliar language.

Jiang Chenlin, wearing a ski suit, rode a cable car up the snowy mountain.

He’d been skiing since childhood, always on a snowboard. But after being with Su Qingran, who wasn’t skilled at skiing, he started teaching her on skis instead.

He remembered watching her fall into the snow repeatedly, progressing from beginner to intermediate slopes, and eventually gaining the courage to try advanced slopes. But now, without the smiling girl by his side, Jiang Chenlin got off the cable car, looked down at the snow-covered peaks and pine trees, and plunged down.

The cold wind hit him sharply, his nose filled with the scent of ice and snow. His speed increased, passing other skiers, weaving past the trees, racing downhill.

Despite the extreme speed, he found his heart was still calm and empty—a feeling that had lingered ever since he left the engagement banquet.

He’d achieved his revenge and immediately visited his aunt afterward. Since then, he had been constantly on the move.

In recent days, he’d ridden a Harley, gone skydiving, and now he was skiing.

His innately intense and obsessive nature had been released suddenly without restraint.

But despite these adrenaline-pumping activities, he couldn’t find the thrill he once did.

Finally reaching the base of the mountain, he slowed down and stopped.

Then he repeated the mechanical process and lined up again.

He reached the top once more, but this time, he didn’t go down immediately. Nearby, he noticed a couple passing by; the girl’s goggles were askew, and her boyfriend stood in front of her, carefully adjusting them. They went down together, side by side.

At that moment, Jiang Chenlin suddenly felt the walls he’d built for so long collapse.

Almost instinctively, he pulled out his phone, which had been off for a long time, and hurriedly turned it on.
But there was no signal on the mountaintop.

He shoved his phone back into his pocket and slid down the slope, his ski poles scattering snow as he went.

The same wind hit him, and the hollow feeling in his chest seemed to gradually fill with emotions he couldn’t define.

Reaching the bottom of the slope, he almost collapsed into a snowdrift, rolling over twice and laughing softly.

The phone now had a signal.

Many unread messages chimed in before finally quieting down.

Jiang Chenlin didn’t look at any of them. He simply opened the pinned chat.

His last messages with Su Qingran were still from the day of the engagement banquet.

“Chenlin, where are you? The engagement is about to start!”

“Chenlin, please reply as soon as you see this!”

“Did something happen? I’ll manage things here for now; hurry up and come.”

“Are you still coming?”

There were no messages from her after that.

Jiang Chenlin stared blankly at the screen for a while, then typed into the chat, “Qingran, I’m skiing, and suddenly thought of you.”

After typing, he realized he was lying—it wasn’t “suddenly.”

These past days, she had been all he could think about.

In this unfamiliar foreign country, he realized that perhaps, when he first asked her to be his girlfriend, he had mixed intentions.

But over the years, he had already become fully immersed in the role.

Maybe, even before she became his girlfriend, he was already in too deep.

Jiang Chenlin pressed send.

But the next second, he received an alert: “You are not friends with this person. Please send a friend request before you can message them.”

Su Qingran had deleted him.

Jiang Chenlin snapped back to reality.

Of course, with her personality, how could she keep him after being hurt like that?

And how could he be with someone connected to the person responsible for his aunt’s death?

Jiang Chenlin threw his phone into the snow in frustration.

But after the outburst, he only felt more drained. He lay in the snow, watching the sky darken bit by bit as the warmth drained from his body. Just as he was about to go numb, his phone rang.

It was a message from an unknown number: “If you don’t come back soon, your ex-girlfriend and your shares will both belong to Pei Jingyan.”