Chapter 44

As she watched him leave, a sharp pang suddenly surged from her heart.

It felt as though she had done something wrong. Her dilated pupils took a while to focus, and Shang Mingbao opened her mouth, whispering, “Feiran—” but before she could regain her voice, someone grabbed her arm.
Wu Baiyan grasped her arm, signaling her with his eyes. He brushed off her ring from her finger, causing it to fall to the ground. It seemed he was trying to divert everyone’s attention. He bent down to pick it up, and with a faint smile, he raised his voice slightly, saying, “How did the ring fall off? My fault—I should have measured your size before giving you a surprise.”

Shang Mingbao was held in place by him, her anxiety gradually turning into a blank, foggy haze. She didn’t see Wu Baiyan’s reaction after the pause in Xiang Feiran’s back.

She wasn’t oblivious to the ring—it was the only accessory on her right hand, drawing all the attention. It shone brightly on her hand, adding flair to her every movement.

During their kiss, he had held her right hand, tracing the ring’s surface with his fingers, filled with affection for her.

Shang Mingbao was restless in her seat. She was so disoriented that Wen Youyi privately asked if she was feeling unwell. Shang Mingbao, pale-faced and forcing a smile, said she might have caught a cold.

Although it wasn’t proper etiquette at the table, she immediately pulled out her phone and messaged Xiang Feiran.

Her palms were sweating, making it hard to hold the phone. With no time to think carefully, she typed quickly, sending message after message:

【Feiran, brother, I did it on purpose just now】

【Otherwise】

Before she could fully explain, Xiang Feiran replied with a simple: 【Got it】

Shang Mingbao was stunned, staring blankly at her phone, seemingly surprised by his response.

After a while, she typed with icy fingers: 【Are you okay? I thought you were angry…】

Xiang Feiran’s reply was still brief: 【No】

Worried she might overthink and affect her social interaction, he added: 【Really】

Continuing the conversation would be impolite, so under Wen Youyi’s reminder to put away her phone, Shang Mingbao had to comply.

When she looked up, she saw Wu Baiyan sitting opposite her with a somewhat mocking expression, though his demeanor was cold.

Shang Mingbao awkwardly ignored his gaze and put on a perfect, sweet appearance with great effort.

Mrs. Wu mentioned the earlier scene to Mr. Wu and apologized again to Wen Youyi and Shang Yuye: “It’s really unfortunate. He is a guest of my husband and wasn’t supposed to be here at this time.”

Wu Land valued Xiang Feiran much more than Mrs. Wu did, as his father, Xiang Weishan, was at the peak of his career, and Wu Land was preparing to invest based on his team’s advice. The rise of the biomedicine industry in China was closely tied to policies. Wu Land had heard that the Shang family was preparing to expand this business in the mainland, so he took the opportunity to introduce Shang Yuye: “This is the grandson of former Ambassador Xiang Lianqiao, the son of Xiang Weishan, the founder of ‘Weishan Life,’ now pursuing a Ph.D. in botany at Columbia University. A rare talent.”

Mrs. Wu was shocked and wanted to kick him under the table.

Heavens! Shang Yuye’s eligible daughter was right there! Why mention someone else’s outstanding youth?

Wu Land completely missed his wife’s signals and continued to enthusiastically praise Xiang Feiran to Shang Yuye.

Shang Mingbao listened intently and noted the key term “Weishan Life.” It sounded like his father was quite impressive. She recalled seeing them arguing before; the man had arrived in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and his words and demeanor were condescending and impatient, belittling Xiang Feiran’s ambitions.

“So it’s him?”

Lost in thought, she heard Wen Youyi’s remark.

Shang Mingbao’s heart sank, and her face turned pale.

Shang Yuye frowned in confusion, and Wen Youyi explained, “Did you forget? Mingbao spent a summer vacation in the mainland when she was sixteen, and she was with the granddaughter of Ambassador Xiang.”

Mrs. Wu had not anticipated this context and turned her gaze to Shang Mingbao along with Wen Youyi, asking, “Babe, didn’t you recognize him just now?”

“No, no,” Shang Mingbao said, pretending to be calm, shaking her head, “During the summer camp, I was only with Ning—Ambassador Xiang’s granddaughter, and didn’t meet anyone else.”

This was reasonable because, unless someone was very familiar with the details, who would think that Xiang Feiran lived with his grandfather? The chance of running into him in just fifteen days was very low—purely a matter of chance.

Shang Mingbao knew she wasn’t good at lying, so she lowered her head, casually cutting the cod in her plate, and murmured, “You all kept it from me. I didn’t know that grandpa was such an impressive diplomat.”

Wen Youyi smiled, “The identity of Ning’s grandpa has nothing to do with your friendship.”

However, Wen Youyi wasn’t very familiar with the Xiang family. Xiang Lianqiao was a friend of Shang Boying, and Mingbao’s summer camp experience was facilitated by Shang Boying. With the elder’s passing, the interactions had diminished to mere formalities during holidays.

If Xiang Lianqiao had introduced Xiang Weishan to Shang Yuye, their relationship could have been maintained. But since Xiang Lianqiao hadn’t done so, it showed his integrity.

“Xiang Feiran seems quite nice,” Shang Mingbao said, chewing the cod and swallowing it along with her heartbeat, “He looks so young.”

Mrs. Wu answered voluntarily this time, “He’s five years older than you.”

She immediately felt regretful. It was too obvious to compare Shang Mingbao with him, making her seem too eager.

Shang Mingbao nodded slowly, appearing thoughtful, and looked at Wen Youyi: “He’s about the same age as my second sister, just a little younger. Mom, should we introduce him to my second sister? Ph.D. to Ph.D., they should get along well. My second sister always says their lab has all kinds of people, but Doctor Xiang is quite good-looking.”

Wu Baiyan listened for a while, silently sneering and showing a mocking expression.

If Wen Youyi thought it was a good idea, or worth considering, it meant Xiang Feiran’s status was acceptable… Then she could reveal her cards and have her second sister at the main table during the wedding!

Oh, he’s an anti-marriage advocate. She had forgotten that.

Her jumbled thoughts came to a halt when Wen Youyi grasped her hand.

“Silly child,” Wen Youyi said with a gentle smile, but her gaze was calm and pointed, “At nineteen, why are you still so naïve?”

Shang Mingbao mechanically pressed her lips together, “I was just speaking casually…”

Mrs. Wu and Wu Land both smiled to diffuse the situation, just as the servant brought out the first hot dish of the evening. Shang Mingbao unfolded her napkin, using the act of wiping her mouth to smooth out her stiff, frozen smile.

The dinner was exhausting in a way she had never experienced before.

She had checked her phone many times, secretly, but Xiang Feiran hadn’t contacted her.

He was determined to give her an undisturbed, pleasant evening.

After the meal, Wu Land invited them to his wine cellar.

He praised the two bottles of wine Shang Mingbao had given to Wu Baiyan and mentioned that he happened to have a collection from the same vintage but from another winery, making it a perfect opportunity to compare the different flavors.

Shang Mingbao, exhausted and struggling to keep up, wore a vague and stiff smile, like melted wax on her face. At this point, Wu Baiyan, showing his spoiled side, casually said, “You all enjoy yourselves; this show is too dull. Babe and I are going out for some fresh air.”

Mrs. Wu scolded him under her breath for his lack of decorum, while Wen Youyi laughed and defused the situation, “At eighteen or nineteen, they might find us boring. Let them go.”

Wu Baiyan, acting as a gentleman, draped his suit jacket over Shang Mingbao’s shoulders and whispered in her ear, “Don’t refuse, I’ll take you out.”

He then smiled, “Uncle, Auntie, I’ll bring her back later.”

As soon as they left the wine cellar, Shang Mingbao eagerly fumbled with her evening bag.

From her distracted state before checking her phone to her anxious anticipation while retrieving it, and finally to the disappointment and confusion when the outcome was revealed, her emotions were laid bare to Wu Baiyan.

He snatched the phone from her hand, “Shang Mingbao, do you really like him that much?”

“Give it back,” Shang Mingbao glared at him coldly.

Unable to tolerate her adversarial gaze, Wu Baiyan, rolling his eyes, returned the phone with a nonchalant smile, “Don’t look at me like that. I haven’t separated you two.”

At eighteen, with a heart full of passion, he was willing to accommodate her.

He asked the servant to get the car keys and helped Shang Mingbao into her coat, “Let’s go. Where do you want to go?”

Shang Mingbao remained silent.

Wu Baiyan felt as though the spring of his patience had reached its limit. He took a deep breath and nodded, “Shall I take you to see him?”

Since she had used Wu Baiyan as an excuse to leave, she couldn’t use her own car; it would be difficult to explain otherwise. Given the circumstances, she had no choice but to get into Wu Baiyan’s car.

Once in the sports car, Wu Baiyan pulled out a cigarette and mumbled around it, “Address.”

Shang Mingbao didn’t know where Xiang Feiran was; she could only intuitively give the address of West 56th Street.

Perhaps he was in a bad mood and might be there… She held onto a slim hope, hoping he might be waiting for her.

The headlights cut through the night as they drove south on Lexington Avenue.

While waiting at a red light, Wu Baiyan flicked ash from the cigarette at the car’s ashtray and said, “Do you know why your mother thinks Xiang Feiran isn’t suitable?”

Shang Mingbao coldly replied, “I don’t know and don’t want to know.”

“I’ll tell you,” Wu Baiyan pressed the accelerator, his disdain swallowed by the roar of the twelve-cylinder engine.

“Because at your family’s level, the risk of political and business marriages far outweighs the benefits. Understand? The helm of your family’s big ship—your father, your elder brother, your mother—none of them are less cautious than you. To maintain relationships with those above, they have a hundred ways that are safer and more agile than marriage. What if Xiang Lianqiao’s team isn’t right?” Wu Baiyan smirked, “Have you thought about that?”

Shang Mingbao was startled, looking at Wu Baiyan with near-stranger-like eyes.

“Babe, your family is solid, that’s the highest wisdom passed down from your parents. Maintaining that is enough; digging deeper is risky,” Wu Baiyan said, shifting from his earlier sharpness to a more nonchalant tone. “It’s just a game.”

He knew she understood.

Shang Mingbao was silent for a moment before smiling, “I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. You don’t need to lecture me.”

“Good,” Wu Baiyan snuffed out the cigarette. “Last time you cried so much when you heard he was averse to marriage, I thought I’d made enough of an impression.”

“If there’s no future, whether he’s averse to marriage or not doesn’t matter.”

Wu Baiyan smirked, sensing her resignation. His mood lightened, and he spoke casually, “Honestly, it’s just my mom who won’t give up. I’m kind of forced into it.”

He looked at Shang Mingbao, “I actually feel a bit of sympathy for you.”

“Hmm?”

Wu Baiyan pulled out his phone and showed her a foreign girl’s profile picture, making up a story, “I like her, but my mom disagrees because of her family background, so she’s breaking us apart.”

The truth was, this Czech girl just helped him with his thesis.

It was the first time Shang Mingbao had heard him say this, and seeing his troubled expression, she asked, “And then? Did you… end it, or keep it secret?”

Wu Baiyan’s lips curled up slightly, “Secret relationships don’t last, so it ended.”

Shang Mingbao gave him a touch of sympathy, “Didn’t you think about fighting back?”

“I did, but it didn’t work,” Wu Baiyan shrugged, playing up his spoiled persona. “I haven’t told anyone else this. You’re the first. Just wanted to let you know, if you’re upset and need someone to talk to, come to me. I can empathize.”

They were close to West 56th Street, but there was just enough time for him to finish his story.

In front of the apartment building, he stepped on the brake and said without any hesitation, “Get out of the car.”

Shang Mingbao unbuckled her seatbelt and said to him, “Thank you.”

“What if he’s not here?”

Shang Mingbao had already opened the car door and ignored his question.

It wasn’t that she was certain; she had never given herself the chance to consider this possibility.

Wu Boyan shook the cigarette box and took out another cigarette. “I’ll wait for you ten minutes.”

With a bang, the car door slammed shut. He looked up, watching Shang Mingbao’s figure disappear into the white light of the apartment lobby.

As he turned the key, his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat.

The room was pitch black, with the curtains drawn tightly, blocking out all the light from outside. Occasionally, a gust of wind would rush in, lifting a heavy corner of the curtain.

The sound of high heels clicking on the floor was faint.

The sound stopped after just one step.

The room was empty, and she could make out his scent. If he wasn’t here, the space was terrifyingly cold.

Why isn’t he here? Why didn’t he come?

The light from the phone screen was glaring. After dialing again, someone finally answered.

“Feiran Gege?” Shang Mingbao called out to him, her tone uncertain.

“Finished with the social event?” he asked with a calm tone from the other end.

“Yes,” Shang Mingbao replied, her impatience evident. “I’ve been calling you—”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Feiran paused for a moment. “I was at the library, had ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode on.”

The wind of the city tousled his hair, revealing his slightly closed eyes. They were still strikingly sharp in shape, but the content within them was not as clear as his words.

“So, you only connected now because you were timing it?” Shang Mingbao asked with a soft laugh.

It turned out that after leaving the Wu family home, he went to the library as usual, worked as usual, and had ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode on, making it seem like nothing had happened.

It made her realize how much she had overthought and cared.

Yes, he did tell her he understood. Why did she think that kind of gesture would hurt him?

Xiang Feiran murmured an “Mm.” Shang Mingbao didn’t respond, and a few seconds of silence fell between them.

“You…” Shang Mingbao fumbled for words in the darkness and asked, “Was your evening smooth?”

“Not bad.”

Shang Mingbao walked a few steps into the room, not turning on the lights, and tossed her bag onto the sofa. When she tried to turn on the Christmas tree lights, she kicked something with her toe.

It clattered, like a rolling bottle. After a while, the leftover beer spilled from the bottle neck, soaking into the carpet and quickly dissipating in the air.

Shang Mingbao stopped, her body swaying slightly. After a moment, she crouched down and picked up the bottle. The glass was still cool to the touch.

“Was the library crowded today?” she asked quietly, posing an unrelated question.

“Not many,” Xiang Feiran said, closing his eyes tightly. The wind had chilled him to the bone and was almost blowing away the last of his sanity. His hands rested on the railing as he hung his head, using his last bit of clarity to say, “You should rest first. I still have some data to process. Good night.”

After hanging up, Xiang Feiran pushed open the partially closed glass door and returned to his room from the balcony, then headed towards the living room.

His gaze seemed to sketch out a vague outline in the darkness.

He had never considered it could be a break-in.

He only felt his heart racing, pulling his steps forward. He walked straight to the figure and embraced it, closing his eyes and kissing.

Why was it warm? Such a real illusion… So, is it true that a Ph.D. student from the neighboring team, after drinking too much one day, was guided by a god and saw a set of parameters in the dark, finally solving a problem that had stalled the entire team for two months, despite trying 320 parameter combinations?

Alcohol does seem to have some mystical energy.

Xiang Feiran held the illusion tightly, kissing tenderly and restrainedly. As if knowing it was fake, he was kissing too seriously to find it meaningful, so he kissed absentmindedly.

But the illusion responded to him.

He hesitated for a second, then gradually lost control, deepening the kiss while reaching to untie the bow belt around her waist.

The belt was loose and came off easily, the wool coat’s lapels falling from both sides.

He didn’t stop, his hand moving across her shoulder to easily pull off the coat, while the other hand touched her face.

But the illusion was also breathing heavily.

Xiang Feiran’s hesitation was shorter this time, just half a second. He kissed her until she sank onto the sofa, then knelt on his knees beside her. As his lips wandered from her mouth to her earlobe, he was briefly interrupted by the emerald earrings.

He paused, frowning, and started to remove her earrings. His hot breath lightly brushed her face, his expression blank, with no sign of clarity left in his eyes.

He had enough patience to remove one side. The other side would have to wait until the kiss was over.

The expensive jewelry was tossed somewhere he didn’t know, falling heavily onto the carpet. The emerald was delicate, but Shang Mingbao had no time to care if it would crack.

Xiang Feiran now… was very strange.

He sucked on her earlobe, pressing his kiss against her ear: “I miss you so much.”

Shang Mingbao’s body trembled. Since that phone call, she had never heard him say this face to face.

The tone in which he said it was so captivating, filled with hot breath and a sigh of surrender, brushing against her ear and hair.

After saying it once, he closed his eyes, sighed deeply, and said again, “I miss you… babe.”

Shang Mingbao’s eyes widened in shock.

Feiran Gege… is this what it’s like when he’s drunk? He rarely calls her “babe” even when he’s sober, always addressing her as Shang Mingbao.

She was left feeling as if she could only breathe, and yet also as if she couldn’t breathe.

His kiss paused for a moment before he suddenly became very serious, holding her face in his hands, his eyes like stars in the darkness: “I’ve been dreaming about you these past few days.”

Shang Mingbao took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck, guiding herself to his lips.

Xiang Feiran’s tongue slid in, making her breathless, her saliva turning into a glistening shine at the edge of her lips, unable to swallow in time.

His kiss traveled down her body, and when it reached the cold necklace, he frowned again. Shang Mingbao took matters into her own hands this time, removing the necklace and tossing it into a corner of the sofa, offering her collarbone to him, pressing her neck against his palm, begging for his touch.

He sighed and said, “You’re so warm.”

He removed the champagne-colored sheer fabric she used to prevent exposure, lowering his head further, using his fingertip to pull down the thin lace edge. Her reddened skin was exposed to the cold air, standing firm. He used the pad of his thumb to push her soft flesh up, creating waves of tremors and swaying.

The kiss was intense from the start, his sucking and tongue movements forceful. Shang Mingbao felt a tingling all over, finally letting out a soft, trembling sound from her nose.

The sound was so clear and real that it felt like a lightning bolt splitting his desire and confusion.

Xiang Feiran slowly stopped, gradually thinking and coming back to his senses.

He wanted to ask how she had arrived or why she was here. But clearly, that was a deadly question at this moment.

Xiang Feiran took just two seconds, so quick that Shang Mingbao barely noticed the difference between his past and present self, then used the pad of his thumb to grip her chin, turning her face and kissing her again.

This time, he was no longer polite like the illusions he had been having. He pressed her onto the sofa, his gaze more intense, sharp, and displeased than before. Before kissing her again, he removed the ring from her finger and threw it behind him — a clinking sound as it hit the glass door.

He shouldn’t have left the balcony door ajar —

He thought regretfully and calmly as he retrieved a cushion to place under her waist.