Chapter 3

“I’ve rarely experienced such a passionate summer. It’s so captivating, so radiant, sweeping over me like rich red wine filling my heart.”

–

“I don’t know what the hell I saw in Hong Kong this year; it’s unnaturally hot. I’ve heard that the temperature on the mainland is much cooler, which gives a bit of comfort to Shang Mingbao, who is about to depart. Usually, she would be spending her time in a manor in Northern or Southern Europe to escape the heat. She is not very interested in spending summer camp on the mainland, but she has no choice but to go.

The reason is that a girls’ private school with a long history has partnered with a school across the harbor in Hong Kong to organize a summer camp. Shang Mingbao has been paired up with a high school girl from the mainland. She did not know that her mother, Wen Youyi, was the one sponsoring and organizing the camp, aiming to expose her to real life outside of her usual circle. Much effort was put into arranging and selecting her teammate.

The Bentley had been waiting at the top of the Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong for a long time. The driver waited patiently in the shade, listening to the pleas not far away.

“This has to be brought, Mom, how can I not bring my golf bag?”

The huge black golf bag was almost as tall as she was. The zipper was not completely closed, and the silver-gray carbon shaft heads gleamed under the blazing sun.

Another woman’s voice asked, “You can bring it, but where will you find a golf course?”

“…”

The driver and the female housekeeper exchanged helpless glances, not daring to intervene, choosing instead to observe silently.

The fact that the third miss is going to the mainland without any housekeeper or servants surprised and flustered the entire family. Packing took two weeks. Due to her physical condition, Shang Mingbao has never been able to engage in intense sports, and only golf is something she still has a passion for. Hearing that there are no golf courses there, she looked dejectedly at her golf bag.

“Babe, I hope you understand that you’re going to a summer camp, not a vacation, okay?” Her mother, Wen Youyi, said gently and patiently, “You can’t bring so many things to someone else’s house. You are a guest, and guests should follow the host’s wishes.”

Shang Mingbao is not a spoiled and willful person. After listening to her mother’s gentle persuasion, her resolve to cling to her golf bag gradually softened.

Wen Youyi accompanied her to the car, adjusted her neatly straightened hair behind her ear, and said, “Be well-behaved at someone else’s home, but remember that being happy is the most important. Take good care of yourself, and if there’s anything, call me or Sophie.”

Sophie is Shang Mingbao’s personal housekeeper, who has been with her since she was a toddler. This time, she will accompany her and help her settle in before returning.

Upon hearing this, Sophie replied, assuring Wen Youyi to rest assured. However, inside, she privately lamented how cruel the madam could be to let the third miss leave home alone. Although the third miss had grown up in an ivory tower, who says a person must understand the true nature of the world?

Before getting in the car, Shang Mingbao reluctantly hugged her mother and then proceeded to the port for customs clearance.

If it were in the past, she would have taken a helicopter to Ning City, which was faster. But today, she had to obediently queue at the checkpoint and then take a boat across the sea to land in Ning City. According to Sophie, it was because the port was closer to the destination, and since she was there to experience life, she would no longer be a young lady from the moment she stepped out.

–

As the horizon appeared in view, it revealed lush green hills and rolling terrain. It was around two or three in the afternoon; the sea reflected a harsh white light. Looking back, Hong Kong appeared as a mirage, its contours blurred.

The boat docked, and going through customs was a bit of a scramble. Once outside the hall, the car sent by the Fang family was already waiting. It was an unremarkable black sedan, with only a red flag emblem on the front as a distinguishing feature.

Fang Suining, the daughter of the Fang family and Shang Mingbao’s teammate for this trip was a local of Ning City, seventeen years old, a year older than Shang Mingbao. They had already participated in various interesting activities in Hong Kong for over half a month and got along very well. Fang Suining could not come to pick her up personally because she had an opera class that morning.

The car drove up the mountain, winding in serpentine turns on the mountain road. The warm mountain breeze and the monotonous scenery made one drowsy.

Shang Mingbao rested her head against the rear window, half-asleep, and heard Sophie say, “It’s really far; it’s been an hour and we still haven’t seen any buildings.”

The driver hesitated for a moment but quickly responded with a smile, “I’m really sorry. I thought you knew, but we need to make a detour to pick someone up in the mountains.”

Sophie, initially a bit annoyed, decided not to say anything further, considering it was someone else’s car and driver.

Shang Mingbao, having overheard the conversation, became more alert and asked, “Who are we picking up? What’s he doing in the mountains? Is he lost?”

The driver pondered briefly and answered one of the questions, whether intentionally or not, “He’s probably collecting samples.”

“This time?” Shang Mingbao asked, sipping her water and moistening her lips. “So, he often comes to the mountains?”

“Yes.”

The driver of the red flag car was precise and tight-lipped, saying nothing unnecessary. He did not introduce the person they were picking up or reveal any connection to the Fang family.

After a few more kilometers, the driver made a couple of phone calls to check the directions. When he saw a branch tied with a yellow ribbon, he sighed with relief and told the two passengers in the backseat, “We’ve found him.”

The red flag car turned on its hazard lights and slowed down. Through the windshield, a coin was seen being tossed high into the air, flipping once in the green-tinted sky, and was caught in mid-air by a hand wearing black fingerless gloves.

Hearing the sound of the wheels on the cement road, the gloved person slightly turned his face, his eyes lifting.

He had narrow, slightly slanted eyes with a sharp and indifferent gaze beneath a narrow double eyelid. He wore a loose yet stylish black windbreaker, and a pure black balaclava covered half of his face.

At his feet, on the moss-covered cement shoulder of the road, were two stacks of bundled items, each topped with a grid-patterned pinewood frame. Beside them was a large mountaineering backpack, with a professional moisture-proof mat hanging from the bottom and a down sleeping bag tucked in the top compartment.

Although she didn’t know him, Shang Mingbao opened the car door slightly, preparing to get out and greet him. The driver quickly said, “You don’t need to get out. I’ll help him. It won’t take long.”

After a while, through the open trunk, Shang Mingbao heard the driver greeting the person. He was probably a local from Ning City too, as the driver spoke to him in Cantonese, asking how he had been and if the trip was smooth.

He spoke very little, showing no interest in the two guests in the car.

The driver helped him place his backpack and bundles into the trunk and reported, “The two passengers are Suining’s guests.”

He knew that this person disliked socializing and had happened to cross paths today due to the car’s limited availability.

After a second, the person replied calmly, “I see,” without revealing much.

Shang Mingbao, trying to gauge the driver’s tone and wording, inferred that this person was likely a senior, possibly Fang Suining’s father.

When the person took the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt, Shang Mingbao cheerfully greeted him, “Hello, Uncle.”

“…”

The sudden address as “Uncle” caused a visible pause in the person’s actions.

The driver stifled a chuckle and, catching the subtle glance from the person, wisely kept quiet.

Unaware of any awkwardness, Shang Mingbao continued, “I’m a classmate of Fang Suining. You can call me Mingbao.”

Xiang Feiran had no interest in making others uncomfortable. Since it was just a fleeting acquaintance and they were sharing a ride, he did not correct her and replied calmly, “Hello.”

“I’m here to spend the summer with Suining. I hope I won’t be too much of a bother for the next half month,” Shang Mingbao said, maintaining a polite tone suitable for addressing an elder.

Hearing her repeated “Uncle” with a clear tone, Xiang Feiran’s lips, hidden under the balaclava, lifted slightly: “You won’t be a bother.”

The driver glanced over.

Not a bother? That’s not what you said to your cousin; if memory serves, you said… “Don’t be a nuisance.”

The car fell silent except for the sound of unfastening the Velcro of the gloves. In his efficient movements, Shang Mingbao found a topic and asked, “What is Uncle doing in the mountains?”

Xiang Feiran lowered his eyes and casually replied, “Collecting herbs.”

The driver: “…”

Shang Mingbao believed him and said, “Wow.”

Xiang Feiran silently smiled and stowed his gloves into his backpack. When he pulled down the magic towel and spoke to the driver, Shang Mingbao finally saw his clear and complete profile.

His skin was too pale, so pale that he didn’t look like someone who frequently went to the mountains to collect herbs. So pale that, under black clothing, he seemed like a piece of jade splashed with dark ink.

The fleeting glance was so brief, far from capturing the depth and sharpness of his facial features. Yet, Shang Mingbao suddenly sat upright in the back seat, as if a thread had tightened the nerves in her body.

He doesn’t look like Fang Suining at all… Could it be, not his father, but his uncle?

She inexplicably fell silent, pulling out a handheld gaming console and aimlessly running through maps.

The car was enveloped in a long silence. After a while, Shang Mingbao finally raised her gaze stealthily, glancing over the center console. She only saw Xiang Feiran with his arms wrapped around himself, looking as if he was deeply asleep, his fisherman’s hat pulled down, shielding him from the sunset rays cascading from the windshield.

—

An hour later, the red flag sedan stopped in front of a mountain-side courtyard.

A three-story white building stood in an “L” shape, with a touch of Su-style architecture, but the plain, weathered exterior walls had turned grayish from the rain and wind. The path to the house was paved with blue bricks, with flowerbeds on either side, some flourishing and some already half-dead.

In a corner of the courtyard, under a gray limestone screen wall carved with flowers, birds, insects, and fish, a simple water tank created a mini-ecosystem. Up close, the red and yellow koi, water lilies, and two turtles coexisted harmoniously, with a bunch of white flowers resembling bamboo shoots floating in the water.

Any house would seem insignificant compared to the deep-water bay mansion, but here the atmosphere was rich with life, evoking a rustic charm under the forest breeze and autumn moon, which brightened Shang Mingbao’s mood.

Sophie, with the help of the driver and workers, moved the luggage, leaving only the two of them in the car. Shang Mingbao was unsure whether to say goodbye to the elder in the front seat, as he seemed to be breathing steadily, as if still asleep.

After a couple of seconds, Sophie’s voice penetrated the car window. Shang Mingbao, waking from her daze, hurriedly opened the door and got out.

It was only after she had walked away that Xiang Feiran removed his fisherman’s hat and opened his eyes.

The driver, having witnessed the whole scene, wanted to laugh but dared not. He knew well that this young master was averse to social interactions, but he didn’t expect him to even avoid a teenage girl.

Xiang Feiran, knowing what he was thinking, shot him a blank stare and instructed, “Put the specimens in the observation room. Don’t call me for dinner.”

The driver asked, “Aren’t you going to see Grandpa first?”

Xiang Feiran slung his backpack over one shoulder and stepped onto the ground, “Tell him I’m back. I’ll visit him later.”

—

On one side of the three-story villa, there was a row of single-story houses arranged in a line, perhaps three or four in total. The oak-colored wooden floor of the porch was cleaned by the servants, reflecting the last beautiful orange light of dusk. Xiang Feiran took out his key and unlocked one of the doors, then naturally locked it from the inside.

This was a room just over twenty square meters, filled with stacks of books of various heights. A wide and long desk in the center held a computer, a writing desk, and an easel with a half-finished sketch, surrounded by scattered paint tubes, pens, colored pencils, and ink.

Xiang Feiran threw down his backpack and plugged a card reader into the computer to import photos. As he took off his windbreaker, his black T-shirt was rolled up, revealing a clearly defined section of his waist and abdomen.

The RAW files were huge, with thousands of images, making the import very slow. He sat in the office chair for a while, then walked to the window near the back mountain, cracked it open, and lit a cigarette.

The fact that he smoked was well known among the household staff, but no one dared to inform his grandfather, Xiang Lianqiao. In front of Xiang Lianqiao, he remained the quiet, well-behaved, and refined young man.

At the seldom-visited corner connected to the base of the mountain, a few housekeepers whispered.

“I heard she’s a young lady from Hong Kong.”

“A friend of Suining’s, where did she come from? Why hasn’t she mentioned her before?”

“You don’t know, the person who came with her is her housekeeper. She’s given a lot of instructions, what she can and cannot do.”

“I heard there’s a problem there.” One of the women spoke in a lower voice, pointing to her heart.

Xiang Feiran couldn’t see her gesture and didn’t know what “there” referred to, but he heard another person raise their voice, surprised and sympathetic, “Really? Oh, that’s really quite pitiful…”

He exhaled a puff of smoke, squinted his eyes, and, feeling too lazy to speak, lightly tapped the cigarette on the windowsill. The smell of tobacco and this casual movement drifted out, causing the workers to change their expressions and hurriedly fall silent.

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