Zhu Yiyi’s heart skipped a beat when she heard those words.

She slowly turned around.

He Shen was standing right behind her, holding his phone, and said in a low voice, “Do you see me?”

A strong sense of pressure came over her.

Zhu Yiyi’s heart was still racing. She couldn’t help but cover her chest, feeling the same guilt she had felt when he caught her at the bar.

She just stood there, waiting for He Shen to walk up to her. She was still holding her phone, unable to utter a word.

Her round, almond-shaped eyes just stared at him.

He Shen bent down and suddenly got closer. His tall figure was like a dense net, tightly enveloping her, leaving her nowhere to escape, “Why don’t you hang up the phone?”

She snapped out of it and abruptly ended the call. Her face was unnatural, “Why are you here?”

“I just finished inspecting the site and was heading back to the hotel. I saw you on the way.”

Zhu Yiyi tilted her head. Sure enough, she saw a traffic jam on the road, and He Shen’s conspicuous Bentley was parked at the entrance of the high school.

Zhang Boyuan’s eyes almost popped out of his head the moment He Shen appeared.

His clothes, his demeanor, his appearance, everything was outstanding.

He had never seen anyone like him before.

Zhang Boyuan felt a sense of crisis, “Yiyi, who is this?”

“My boss, I’m on a business trip with him.”

“I see.” The sense of crisis in Zhang Boyuan’s heart disappeared, and he smiled, extending his hand, “Nice to meet you. I’m Yiyi’s good friend, Zhang Boyuan, and I’m also a teacher at Xuanzhou No. 1 High School.”

He Shen glanced at the hand, didn’t move, and said calmly, “Is that so? Why haven’t I heard her mention you before?”

Zhang Boyuan awkwardly retracted his hand, “We were classmates in high school, and we were very close. But later, Yiyi’s family moved to Beijing, and we lost contact. I didn’t expect to run into her again today!”

He laughed, “By the way, Yiyi, my family is still in the same place. Come visit sometime.”

Zhu Yiyi smiled and said okay.

Yiyi.

Yiyi.

Yiyi.

He called her name so familiarly and affectionately.

He Shen’s expression was emotionless, “Let’s go.”

Zhu Yiyi “Oh”ed and followed him out of the school gate.

Before getting into the car, she waved goodbye to Zhang Boyuan.

He Shen leaned against the car door, his body relaxed. He glanced at Zhang Boyuan in the distance, his gaze sharp and dangerous.

Then he slammed the car door shut, not too hard or too soft, making a dull “Bang.”

Zhang Boyuan stood there, inexplicably feeling a chill.

The car drove towards the hotel.

Zhu Yiyi and He Shen sat in the back seat. She moved over to the window, leaned against it, and texted Zhang Boyuan, discussing where to eat tomorrow.

He sent a link to a hotpot restaurant.

Zhu Yiyi’s mouth watered just looking at the menu.

The person next to her suddenly asked, “Did you live in Xuanzhou before college?”

Zhu Yiyi was still scrolling through the menu, “Ah, yes.”

“Why haven’t I heard you mention it before?”

“It’s an old story, nothing worth mentioning. Besides, it’s not good to talk about personal matters during work hours.”

He Shen leaned forward, resting his arm on his knee, and said, “If I remember correctly, we were still boyfriend and girlfriend a month ago.”

Zhu Yiyi stopped scrolling through the menu and finally locked the screen, “That doesn’t mean I have to mention it. You are you, I am me. We were just in a relationship, there’s no need to know everything about each other.”

“Besides,” she turned to look at him, “I don’t know anything about you either.”

In the past, Zhu Yiyi had tried her best to fit into He Shen’s life. She inquired about his preferences, paid attention to the places he loved to go, remembered his favorite dishes, and kept everything in mind. But one day, she realized that these were all superficial, things that He Shen allowed others to know, so she would know too.

Zhu Yiyi wasn’t satisfied with that.

Since they loved each other, she should truly enter his heart.

But she gradually discovered that the tall wall in He Shen’s heart excluded even her.

She wasn’t special.

She was just someone who appeared “just right.”

Before coming to Xuanzhou, the weather forecast said that there would be a heavy snowfall in the next few days.

When she woke up in the morning, Zhu Yiyi could clearly feel the temperature drop. She pulled open the curtains, and the outside was misty, with a layer of ice crystals forming on the windowpane.

Thinking about going out to have dinner with Zhang Boyuan later, she changed into a warm down jacket.

When she went out of the hotel, there was a car parked at the entrance.

The back window was rolled down, and He Shen was sitting upright, his long legs crossed, flipping through a planning document, as if he was dealing with business.

Zhu Yiyi stopped and greeted him, “Good morning, He President.”

After she finished speaking, she was about to leave.

“Zhu Yiyi.”

The man’s voice was colder than usual, as if it contained a few strands of the cold air of the winter solstice.

Zhu Yiyi turned back, “What’s wrong?”

“Where are you going?”

“To have dinner with a friend,” she asked slowly, “Don’t I have any work today?”

He Shen looked up from the document, turned his head, and looked over, meeting the girl’s slightly puzzled almond-shaped eyes. They were round and watery, like smooth pebbles polished by a clear spring.

His aloof gaze softened slightly, and he explained, “Get in the car. The driver will take you wherever you need to go.”

“…No need,” she pointed to the bus stop, “It’s just a street away.”

He Shen’s expression dimmed slightly. The hand under the document curled into a fist, then slowly relaxed.

He looked away, his tone returning to normal, “As you wish.”

Zhu Yiyi didn’t think much of it. She carried her bag, said goodbye to He President, and left.

She was in a hurry, and her steps were quick.

Soon, her figure disappeared around the corner.

Huai cuisine restaurant.

Zhang Boyuan had booked a private room. When Zhu Yiyi arrived, the pot and dishes were already set.

She couldn’t help but salivate at the rich aroma, “It smells so good.”

“This restaurant is very good. Many internet celebrities have checked in here.”

“Really? Then I have to try it!”

They chatted while eating. When they talked about Zhu Yiyi moving away after graduating from high school, Zhang Boyuan’s eyes dimmed slightly, “Yiyi, I’ve always wanted to ask, why did your family move away back then?”

He had looked for her for a long time.

Zhu Yiyi dipped a piece of lean meat into the pot, “You know my family’s situation. We couldn’t survive without moving.”

Ms. Zhu had a relationship when she was young. They were about to get married, and she was seven months pregnant. But the heartless man turned around and got a marriage license with another woman because of money. Ms. Zhu, who should have been the original wife, suddenly became the third party.

And Zhu Yiyi became a “bastard child.”

The heartless man never supported her for a single day.

When she was in high school, Zhu Yiyi met Zhang Boyuan. In a way, they were both similar.

Zhang Boyuan also came from a single-parent family. His father had an affair, forcing him and his mother to leave with nothing.

Since childhood, Zhu Yiyi had witnessed too much family tragedy, seen too many young couples end up hating each other, and heard too many marriages turn into chaos.

All of it confirmed the saying –

Marriage is a grave.

It’s the beginning of all misfortune.

Over the years, when Zhu Yiyi mentioned the past, she was very calm, “I’m twenty-six years old this year. Counting it, it’s only been the past eight years living in Beijing that have been peaceful.”

Noticing that the atmosphere had become heavy, Zhang Boyuan changed the subject, “It seems like you’ve been doing pretty well these past few years.”

“Of course, I’m white and plump.”

“You’re whiter, but not plump. You’re quite pretty.” Zhang Boyuan was speaking sincerely. He had thought Zhu Yiyi was pretty back in high school.

And he had liked her ever since.

Zhang Boyuan pondered for a moment and asked, “Yiyi, are you dating anyone?”

Zhu Yiyi scooped up a spoonful of shrimp paste from the clear soup pot, “I was, but I broke up recently.”

Zhang Boyuan nervously licked his lips, “I’ve also been in a relationship, but we broke up a year ago. Actually, I was surprised to see you yesterday, but I was more happy. Yiyi, back in high school, I felt differently about you. I didn’t expect that after all these years, I still…”

“Boyuan.”

Zhu Yiyi interrupted him.

She stopped chewing, looked at the bubbling pot, and after a long pause, said, “I don’t have any plans to date now, and to be honest, I don’t have any plans to get married either. We have similar family backgrounds, and we’ve been together for a few years. I think you understand my fear of marriage better than anyone else.”

The more deprived of love one is, the more they yearn for it.

The more one has witnessed the fragility of marriage and love, the more discerning they become about love.

Zhu Yiyi was one such person.

She wanted a passionate, unconditional love.

But He Shen couldn’t give it to her.

But it didn’t matter –

She didn’t want it anymore

After dinner, it was already snowing heavily outside.

The ground was covered with a thin layer of ice crystals. When you stepped on them, they made a crunching sound.

Zhu Yiyi hadn’t seen much snow in Xuanzhou or Beijing. It was mostly freezing rain and small hailstones. Now, she couldn’t help but stop and step on the snow, enjoying it.

Zhang Boyuan suggested, “There’s a free viewing platform nearby, perfect for watching the snow. Do you want to go?”

“Viewing platform?”

“It’s also a popular spot for internet celebrities. It’s very beautiful.”

Zhu Yiyi had never been to a popular spot for internet celebrities before, and she smiled and agreed, “Then we’ll take a taxi?”

“Okay, but it might be hard to get a taxi today because of the snow.”

Zhang Boyuan’s words came true. They waited on the street for twenty minutes, but no driver accepted their order. As the snow on the side of the road got deeper, the chance of getting a taxi became slimmer and slimmer.

He scratched his head, “Yiyi, it seems like we can’t get a taxi. What should we do now?”

Zhu Yiyi was a little disappointed. She had only seen a few snow scenes in her life, mostly freezing rain and small hailstones.

She thought she would be able to see a real snow scene today.

“It’s okay, we can’t see it if we can’t see it,” she pulled up her collar, which was letting in the wind, exhaled a breath to warm her hands, “Let’s go back. Don’t you have classes this afternoon?”

“Okay,” Zhang Boyuan took an umbrella out of his bag, opened it, and stood next to Zhu Yiyi. They walked side by side, holding the umbrella, “Let’s go.”

At the same time, a Maybach was approaching.

He Shen sat in the back seat, turning his head to look outside.

Until the expected figure appeared in his line of sight, he instructed the driver, “Honk the horn.”

The driver was stunned for a moment, but quickly followed instructions.

Beep –

A horn blared through the street.

It instantly attracted the attention of everyone on the street.

Including Zhang Boyuan.

Men have a strange fascination with cars, just like women with lipstick. Zhang Boyuan was a car enthusiast. He could tell from the sound that the car honking was very expensive. He stopped and looked back.

It was a black Maybach, slowly approaching in the heavy snow.

“That’s a luxury car,” Zhang Boyuan exclaimed, “They’re driving it in this heavy snow. Aren’t they afraid of getting it dirty?”

Zhu Yiyi looked in the direction of his voice.

She had 100-degree myopia. She usually didn’t wear glasses because it didn’t affect her work, but she couldn’t see clearly in the distance. Besides, she wasn’t very interested in luxury cars or not, so she lazily glanced in that direction.

Just one glance.

The blurry “京 A” on the license plate caught her eye.

The Maybach gradually approached, finally stopping on the side of the street, less than five meters away from them.

The car engine stopped, the driver’s door opened, and a man holding an umbrella walked towards them.

Until he stopped in front of Zhu Yiyi.

Zhu Yiyi stared at the man in front of her, her expression stunned. She remembered that he had gone to inspect the site today.

He would be passing by this road on his way back.

He Shen said, “Where are you going?”

“To the viewing platform to see the snow,” she said, “But there aren’t many cars today because of the snow. We’re not going anymore. We’re going back to the hotel.”

A long time ago.

Zhu Yiyi had mentioned to He Shen that she had never seen real snow, so the one thing she wanted to do when she grew up was to see snow.

They had just finished making love.

He Shen maintained a close embrace, gently patting her back to soothe the excitement, while kissing her sensitive earlobe. When she stopped trembling, he asked, “See snow?”

“Yes,” she said weakly, “But I don’t want to go alone.”

He hummed, his voice rising in a questioning tone, but also with a low, post-coital sound.

The breath he exhaled smelled like Zhu Yiyi.

Thinking about the nasty things He Shen had done to her legs just now, Zhu Yiyi’s face flushed red. She buried her face in his side neck and said softly, “I want to see snow with someone I like.”

But now she was saying she wanted to go see snow with Zhang Boyuan.

He Shen’s expression was calm. He took a step forward, approaching.

His leather shoes stepped on the thin ice, making a crunching sound, one after another, like an alarm from the bottom of the earth, ringing eerily and chillingly.

After a few seconds, he stopped in front of Zhu Yiyi, completely separating her from the other man.

He lifted his eyelids, and a hint of domineering possessiveness emerged from his calm and composed tone, “Want to see snow?”

“I’ll take you.”