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On the first day of returning to her youth, Jin Yaotiao inhaled the fragrance of her mother’s favorite incense from the fluffy bed linens, feeling more at peace than on any other night.
The night grew deeper, with the moon rising above the willow tree.
Yet, many corners of the city were filled with people who couldn’t sleep.
In Jiangzhou City, in a high-rise apartment located in the business district, Ning Meng sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, her gaze unfocused as she stared at the sky.
She felt as though her entire being had been hollowed out.
On the carpet beside her were several pill bottles scattered about, medications prescribed by her doctor, reminding her to take them every day.
But now, she had no energy or interest to even move.
The doorbell rang twice, but she didn’t want to get up to answer it.
The visitor seemed impatient and entered with the password.
She first heard the voice of her longtime best friend, Qiao Yusi: “You should talk to your cousin; it seems like she’s having another episode.”
Then footsteps followed. Ning Meng turned her head, her eyes vacant.
The newcomer stopped not far from her.
He was a sharp-looking young man, like a blade, with delicate features that were almost stunning.
The chain earring dangling from his ear reflected the light with a sharp glint, looking wild like a fierce wolf cub.
When Luna arrived at K Salon, Jin Yaotiao was finishing the last step of her hair treatment.
Before Luna arrived in sight, she had already spoken: “Why are you suddenly…”
Her sentence trailed off, and she froze with her eyes wide open, almost like they would pop out of their sockets.
The loud noise in her ears stopped. Jason, the stylist in extravagant attire and hairstyle, put down the hairdryer, satisfied with his masterpiece, and lowered his head, saying, “Miss Jin, it’s done.”
“Thank you.” Jin Yaotiao nodded at him, then turned to look at her friend Luna, who stood frozen at the door, “Luna, you’re here.”
Luna leaned back, as though trying to figure out if it was really her, and after a long pause, she confirmed it was indeed her, cautiously approaching, “YaoTiao? Is it really you? Let me see…”
Jin Yaotiao looked at her, as beautiful as she remembered, smiling faintly.
Her gaze passed over the mirror without much emotion.
In the mirror, her hair, black and shiny, was illuminated by the lights, flowing in soft, voluminous waves down her shoulders, complementing her fair skin.
She wore a beige knitted top, loose-fitting but of high quality, revealing her slender neck and delicate collarbones.
She paired it with simple jeans and handmade Martin boots with a mid-heel.
Looking at the image in the mirror, closer to how she remembered herself, she tugged at the corner of her mouth but let it drop again.
It was strange.
Despite being the same version of herself from her youth, just a few minor changes in her hair and clothes seemed to make her whole presence just as aggressive as she would be years later.
But something didn’t seem right.
After a moment, Jin Yaotiao realized it wasn’t the clothes or hair; it was her gaze that had changed.
” you look… you look…” Luna struggled to find the right words, staring at her for a long while before saying, “So expensive.”
She quickly realized her mistake, waving her hands to add, “I didn’t mean you were cheap before. Those dresses you wore before didn’t look cheap. Ugh, I mean…”
Jin Yaotiao interrupted her, looking at her as though she were a little sister: “No need to explain, I know what you mean.”
Luna met her gaze and suddenly felt that her best friend now had an intimidating aura, her face turning into a silly smile as she covered her face, saying, “Oh my God, are you trying to flirt with me? Why are you so… ah! Too much today. Too ‘A’. But too bad I have a boyfriend, Jian Wen will come after you.”
Jin Yaotiao clicked her tongue.
As expected, Luna was still the silly girl who spoke without thinking.
She then felt a bit disappointed—it wasn’t so bad.
At least compared to the tired, mature friend from years later, who would carefully consider every word before speaking, she preferred to see her carefree self now.
Both she and Luna shared a common trait—they loved to get hurt by the wrong men.
However, Luna had found Shen Qiming, who was rich and handsome.
Even if they broke up, many people would envy her for being able to catch such a rare handsome man.
Luna’s taste was much worse; she had been deceived by Jian Wen, a scheming man who took away most of her fortune.
Thinking of this, Jin Yaotiao suddenly asked, “Luna, how much liquid cash do you have?”
She remembered Luna once telling her that Jian Wen had borrowed nearly 10 million from her, claiming he would use the money to start a business and impress Luna’s father.
But the business never happened, and the money was never returned.
Then Luna got pregnant, Jian Wen naturally proposed, and though Luna’s father was unwilling to let his daughter marry a small office worker from his own company, he relented after much pleading.
After thinking about it, Jian Wen’s family might not be wealthy, but at least they were decent, and he worked hard—he was seen as a potential.
It wasn’t until much later that Luna learned that the money Jian Wen borrowed was actually used to pay his family’s gambling debts.
But by then, it didn’t matter.
He had already climbed to an executive position in the Yue family, and whether she knew or not didn’t matter anymore.
Luna was puzzled by Jin Yaotiao’s sudden question. “I usually use cards and don’t save much. Maybe about 10 million in liquid cash? Why do you ask?”
Jin Yaotiao replied, “Lend it to me.”
Luna was shocked. “You want to borrow money from me? What for?”
Jin Yaotiao: “Don’t ask too much. Will you lend it to me?”
“You can take it if you need it, don’t be so polite,” Luna agreed, though she was a little worried afterward. “But don’t go and do anything bad.”
In the K Salon skincare area, Jin Yaotiao stood up to wash off her face mask, and Luna’s voice followed her from behind.
“Do you remember that girl who bumped into me at that birthday party last week? Her name was Hu Wanyue, right? It was so funny. I didn’t even care about her, but she was all flustered. She’s been posting about new bags sent by brands on Weibo, acting like she’s best friends with them. Who doesn’t see through her little schemes?”
To Jin Yaotiao, the birthday party from last week felt as distant as if it happened a century ago.
The small misunderstandings that happened at the party were now so blurry they couldn’t even be remembered.
She couldn’t recall the details and had to give a perfunctory response.
Just then, Luna, who had been playing with her phone, suddenly squealed, “Oh my God!”
She jumped up and showed her phone to Jin Yaotiao. “Someone said they ran into Ning Shun in the North District!”
When Jin Yaotiao didn’t respond, Luna gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously? You have Shen Qiming now, and you’re not even paying attention to handsome guys anymore? You don’t even know who Ning Shun is, do you?”
Jin Yaotiao smiled lightly. “Of course I know him.”
After all, he was a popular celebrity, famous everywhere.
Even the old Jin Yaotiao wouldn’t fail to recognize him. Besides, the “handsome guy” Luna mentioned had intersected with her social circle quite a few times in the past.
It was quite remarkable, in fact.
Ning Shun was a relative of Ning Meng and came from a very well-off family, so the media had never managed to uncover any details about his private life.
Jin Yaotiao knew this because of a time when he had caused trouble for Shen Qiming.
The scene had been quite ugly, and she had heard many bizarre stories about it.
For example, Ning Meng’s depression, and how she had attempted suicide several times but failed.
Even more strange, she had managed to keep her family background and her suicide attempts a secret, even from Shen Qiming.
Looking back now, Jin Yaotiao felt a mix of pity and disbelief for her.
She was a wealthy girl who had spent so many years working as an assistant, yet ended up with nothing.
However, Ning Shun had never been friendly toward her. He probably thought she hadn’t managed Shen Qiming well.
When Jin Yaotiao thought about it now, all she remembered was the aggressive hostility he had shown her back then—not a good impression.
Luna was smitten with her “Ning Shun baby,” but Jin Yaotiao wasn’t interested, so she found an excuse to step outside to take a call.
The receptionist at the private hospital Anjia Service Department told her that her VIP health checkup package had been arranged.
When she confirmed the time and returned, the atmosphere with Luna had shifted—tension was thick in the air.
The K Salon was a well-known private salon by the river in the city, rarely open to the public, so it wasn’t unusual to run into acquaintances here.
Just moments ago, Hu Wanyue, who had been part of the conversation, was now sitting with Luna in the lounge area, accompanied by a man—probably Hu Wanyue’s boyfriend.
Hu Wanyue spoke in a coquettish voice. “Darling, I didn’t expect you to be here! It’s been so long since we last talked, I really missed you!”
Luna replied, “Same here! I see so many of your Weibo posts every day.”
Hu Wanyue paused and then laughed. “Really? I guess I’ve been getting too many gifts lately, so I’ve been replying a lot. By the way, did you hear? Shen Qiming took his assistant to a party a few days ago. A lot of people are saying she’s his girlfriend. Do you think they’re secretly together? Poor Yaotiao.”
Luna’s fake smile immediately disappeared.
This was big news in their circle, how could they not know?
But she had deliberately avoided mentioning it while talking to Jin Yaotiao earlier.
Hu Wanyue was definitely doing this on purpose.
She had always liked Shen Qiming, and over the years, she’d often tried to find opportunities to badmouth Jin Yaotiao.
Once, she had even publicly asked Shen Qiming for a dance, only to be gently rejected.
After that, she had constantly talked behind Jin Yaotiao’s back.
“Shen Qiming’s taste is obvious. He doesn’t look at shallow women.” Luna shot back at her, then turned to Jin Yaotiao with a smile. “What do you think, Yaotiao?”
Jin Yaotiao was also present?
Hu Wanyue, who had just been caught off guard, turned around angrily when she heard Jin Yaotiao’s name.
Upon seeing her, she froze for a moment.
Jin Yaotiao glanced over with an expression of indifference.
She didn’t get angry despite being the subject of gossip but suddenly turned to the man sitting next to Hu Wanyue and asked, “Are you Yueyue’s boyfriend? Hello.”
She stood tall, eyes slightly narrowed, and her voice had a certain low, enticing tone that seemed to hook the man.
He immediately froze, stood up eagerly, and replied, “Hello, hello, you are, Yaotiao?”
Jin Yaotiao didn’t respond, just smiled at him, then turned to Luna. “Luna, let’s go. The driver’s waiting at the door.”
The man, who had clearly been entranced, watched her leave with a gaze fixed on her long, slender legs wrapped in denim jeans, until he felt a sharp pain in his arm.
He turned to see Hu Wanyue angrily scolding him. “What are you looking at! Take your eyeballs out if you’re going to stare like that!”
On the street, in a quiet nanny van, Qiao Yusi sat distractedly, staring at the handsome young man across from her.
The boy, dressed in a black hoodie, didn’t pay attention to her and instead looked outside at a black business car. “Is that the one?”
Qiao Yusi snapped back to reality, quickly lowering her head to hide her flushed cheeks. “Yes, that’s it. Jin Yaotiao went to her parents’ house yesterday, and the car they use has that license plate number.”
The boy in the black hoodie nodded, about to open the car door when Qiao Yusi suddenly spoke up, stopping him. “Ning Shun, are you really going to… go there and… hit on her? Ning Meng will be upset, and if the reporters catch you… also—”
She wasn’t sure if it was jealousy or disdain, but she added, “And Jin Yaotiao, she’s so fake, always putting on an act. She’s really annoying.”
“If it weren’t for her constantly trying to end her life, I wouldn’t bother with this nonsense.” Ning Shun’s face darkened for a moment, but he quickly recovered, taking out his phone. “Are you sure it’s her?”
Qiao Yusi glanced at the photo she had recently taken of Jin Yaotiao and nodded.
Ning Shun didn’t respond, just threw on his hat and mask before getting out of the car.
Qiao Yusi stayed in the car, dazed, staring at his receding figure.
After Luna drove off in her car, Jin Yaotiao sat in the backseat, bored, gazing at the street scene.
The car had already started moving when suddenly the door on the other side was pulled open, and a shadow slid in.
Jin Yaotiao was startled and turned to look, then immediately calmed down and raised an eyebrow.
The boy, with sharp features, shut the door while scanning the surroundings.
He then removed his mask. “Sorry, could you take me somewhere? Anywhere will do. I got recognized by some fans.”
As he spoke, he turned to Jin Yaotiao with a smile on his face, a far cry from his usual cold, authoritative demeanor.
If this was a coincidence, Jin Yaotiao might just get off and bite the car’s tires.
But in the next second, when the boy saw Jin Yaotiao’s face, he froze for a moment, then quickly pulled out his phone to check.
Jin Yaotiao glanced at him with a playful look, her black hair falling over her shoulder, a few strands teasing her lips.
Ning Shun glanced at the door handle, as if considering leaving, but his hand was already on it.
He looked at Jin Yaotiao again, but for some reason, he didn’t move.
Jin Yaotiao withdrew her gaze, smiled lightly, and turned to the driver. “It’s fine, let’s go.”