Reunion? Let’s Make an Appointment

-Five Years Later-

“Happy birthday, Zhen-jie!” In the hotel, everyone raised their glasses to toast the night’s guest of honor. Xi Zhen accepted their congratulations with a smile, drained her glass in one go, and thanked them politely.

Xi Zhen: “Thanks, everyone. Have fun tonight.”

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. What had happened back then felt like a dream; time had smoothed it over until not even a shadow remained. Li Xingqing seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, and there had never been another scrap of news about her.

Even though Xi Zhen had once indulged the childish thought that maybe Li Xingqing hadn’t really died, only that it wasn’t convenient for her to come back yet, over those thousand-odd days, that hope had completely turned into wishful thinking.

That earth-shaking public uproar from back then seemed to have left no trace at all, yet *Seal the Heart* had swept the television industry’s major awards that same year. Best Director, Best Newcomer, even Best Lighting—but somehow, the script itself didn’t even receive a nomination.

Ke Wei rode that drama to a comeback and was now a well-known TV director. As soon as she launched a new project, investors came flocking in.

Bai Mo and Zheng Yuyu, the breakout newcomers the show had made famous, had peacefully untied their linked image after a full year of being marketed together. They were even called the most elegant breakup pair in the business.

Xi Zhen’s company kept growing larger and larger; everything seemed to be moving in a good direction. But Xi Zhen always felt as if something were stuck in her chest, making even her breathing ache faintly.

Five years had passed in the blink of an eye. This year, by both count and age, she was already thirty-five. It was a dangerous age, especially for an unmarried woman at that stage of life. Bai Mo’s mother had told Xi Zhen countless times to find someone else, and said it would even be fine if it were a girl. But Xi Zhen herself felt no desire at all, as though a piece of her heart had been hollowed out and nothing could ever fill it again.

What goes around comes around. Song Xunqing had clearly been going downhill these past few years too. She’d risen to fame early on with her looks, but as the years went by, the other young starlets of her generation had long since succeeded in reinventing themselves, and it seemed only she was still standing in place.

At first she could still rely on Zhou Ping’s resources to keep thriving, but Starlight Entertainment was obviously on the decline as well. Most of the top-tier artists had left their contracts, and there was no real backbone left in the company to step up in their place. Zhou Ping had a headache over it all and even less interest in dealing with Song Xunqing.

Not to mention that Zhou Ping’s legal wife had disliked Song Xunqing for ages. These days, Song Xunqing was truly surrounded on all sides, with damaging scandals coming one after another, and it looked as though she was about to be completely blacklisted by the industry.

Of course Xi Zhen didn’t have the time to care about other people’s business, but everyone was in the same circle. News like that spread fast on its own; even if she didn’t want to know, she couldn’t avoid hearing it.

The thirty-five-year-old Xi Zhen was calmer than she had been five years ago. If the old her had been someone brutally thrown into the mud and then gritting her teeth to claw her way back out, then the Xi Zhen now had long since walked out of that mire. Her sharpness no longer showed itself outwardly; instead, it had settled quietly into her bones.

She seemed to have lost a lot over the years, but looking back now, it also seemed as though she had lost nothing at all. Only one thing remained—Li Xingqing, the person she had once run into countless times in her dreams.

What had been a birthday banquet had long since turned into a social arena of wealth and status; only the guest of honor had stepped back to stand quietly by the window.

It was midsummer. Cicadas buzzed outside without end, grating on the nerves. Bai Mo had no interest in exchanging polite smiles with anyone, so he held his wineglass and slipped over to Xi Zhen’s side.

Bai Mo: “Sis.”

Xi Zhen: “What?”

Bai Mo: “I’m saying this first so don’t get mad, but I think I still like Zheng Yuyu.”

Even Bai Mo had finally figured himself out; it was clear Zheng Yuyu’s five years of waiting hadn’t been in vain. Xi Zhen lifted her glass toward him. “If you like him, then go for it. You’re not an idol, and I’m not against you dating. Just one thing: think it through.”

At that, Bai Mo nodded, as if he had finally made up his mind. “Got it. Thanks, sis.” With that, he turned and ran off, not even giving Xi Zhen a chance to say another word, as if afraid she might change her mind.

Xi Zhen sat alone by the window and smiled helplessly, as if she saw herself in Bai Mo, yet also felt he was nothing like her at all. She simply hadn’t been lucky enough to meet someone willing to wait for her, willing to love her. Song Xunqing was ungrateful, Shi Fengyu wasn’t right for her at all, and as for Li Xingqing... forget it.

Whether it was that old saying about speaking of the devil or what, the utterly down-and-out Song Xunqing appeared beside Xi Zhen. There were dark circles under her eyes; her once-bright features had been worn down by time and layers upon layers of makeup into something no longer refined, looking exhausted to the point of haggardness.

Song Xunqing stopped at Xi Zhen’s side, slowly clenching her fists before finally loosening them again. “Zhen-jie, are you really this heartless? You’re just going to stand by and do nothing while I die?” As she spoke, tears slid down her face. Her acting, stagnant for years, somehow looked as if she had been possessed by a god in that moment.

But while she was performing with all her might, Xi Zhen paid her no mind at all. She tilted her head slightly and drained the wine in her tall glass, then set it casually on the nearby table.

“Song Xunqing, I don’t think you still understand what I said. Maybe I was too gentle before. Let me say it again clearly: get lost. I don’t want to see you again. Understand?”

“Zhen-jie, I..."

“Your wife keeps picking fights with you, doesn’t she? If you want me to help her out a little more, keep talking. I’m listening.”

Song Xunqing: “...”

She clenched her fists even tighter and slammed the glass Xi Zhen had just used to the floor.

With a sharp crash, the wineglass shattered into pieces. Song Xunqing picked up a larger shard and slashed at her own wrist.

Xi Zhen watched her performance with interest. As expected, just before the shard touched her wrist, Song Xunqing screamed, flung the piece away, and turned to leave.

The people around them acted as if they saw nothing and simply went on with their own business. Only the cleaning aunt hurried over to clear away the mess of shards.

That night, Xi Zhen didn’t feel any joy at turning thirty-five. There was only emptiness. Everything she had once pursued now sat in her hands: career, time. She believed the twenty-something version of herself would have longed for the person she was now. And yet, in all of it, it seemed she had still lost something.

The banquet dragged on until midnight. Xi Zhen had no interest in joining the rest of the evening’s activities, nor would she stop these young people from continuing to have fun. She dragged her tired body along, took her car key, and went to the parking lot alone.

Her high heels clicked against the ground, making a tap-tap sound. Xi Zhen’s steps were a little heavy, and she looked faintly annoyed, as if she had only just remembered she’d had too much to drink tonight and still hadn’t called a designated driver.

She took her phone out of her bag, but before she could even make out the screen, the world suddenly spun. Her wrist was seized and yanked backward with force. Before Xi Zhen could call out for help, a hand was already covering her mouth.

Reacting purely on instinct, Xi Zhen bit down.

Then she heard a muffled grunt of pain, followed by a voice she knew too well, a voice that belonged to someone long lost and now found again. “It’s been a long time, Sister. You’ve learned to bite now?” There was a trace of laughter in that voice, along with a faint breath of air, as if it had drifted out of some far-off dream; and yet it was right there, close enough to touch.

Xi Zhen’s pupils contracted sharply. She violently broke free from Li Xingqing’s arms and stumbled back half a step, lifting her head to crash straight into a pair of eyes she had thought she would never see again in this lifetime.

Her breathing stopped. It felt as if an invisible hand had clamped down hard on her heart, then suddenly let go; blood surged through her limbs and bones all at once. A ringing filled her ears, every other sound faded far away, leaving only the pounding of her own heartbeat.

Impossible! Her lips parted, but her throat felt blocked by something; not a single word could come out.

She had clearly—

Wasn’t she already gone?

Xi Zhen’s eyes suddenly turned red; not from sadness, nor from excitement. She just stood there staring blankly at the person before her, as though looking at a ghost, an illusion, a shadow she had dreamed of countless times at night and then forced herself to forget after waking.

“...You’re alive?” Her voice was hoarse, almost inaudible. Xi Zhen felt as if she had sobered up; or maybe she was even drunker than before.

But Li Xingqing reached out again and pulled her into her arms. “What, Sister? Did you really want me dead that badly?” When she said it, her tone carried a chill. But Xi Zhen had no time to sort through that, because Li Xingqing was already kissing her.

The kiss grew more and more lingering, more and more intense. Xi Zhen only felt the alcohol rushing to her head, her brain refusing to work at all.

From the parking lot to the hotel lobby, and then to the bed in the top-floor suite, Xi Zhen let the other woman’s hands roam wherever they wanted. Five years of suppressed longing and desire erupted all at once on this wine-soaked night, stealing Xi Zhen’s reason away.

In the dead of night, City A glittered with lights. Before the hotel’s floor-to-ceiling window, Xi Zhen saw herself stripped bare, and the person she had been thinking about day and night standing behind her.

The next day, well past noon, Xi Zhen finally opened her eyes slowly in bed. The unfamiliar surroundings told her that everything from last night had not been a dream. But the most important other person, at this moment, was nowhere to be seen.

Xi Zhen couldn’t help thinking back to last night; Li Xingqing, crazy as if possessed, demanding again and again while taking everything she could from her:

“Sister, were there any other people these five years?”

“Did Song Xunqing ever come here?”

“If I’ve been good, has Sister been good too?”

“And now that you’ve found out I wasn’t dead, are you happy or disappointed?”

At first Xi Zhen had answered these questions in silence, then helplessly, and in the end she had begged for mercy. She could feel that Li Xingqing had grown a lot over the years, becoming more mature and... more vindictive. Like a little beast that had once been wronged, now baring its fangs and claws in a threatening show of force.

The power of yesterday’s alcohol was showing itself now; Xi Zhen felt as if her head no longer belonged to her. She held it as she got up and put on the hotel slippers. She was wrapped only in the hotel bathrobe and nothing else. Looking at the mess all over the floor and the missing suspect, she had no choice but to call her assistant first and ask her to bring clothes over.

So when Li Xingqing came back, she found the room empty again. She tossed the things she had prepared to the side and sat alone on the hotel sofa, dialing a number.

The call was answered quickly. Xi Zhen got straight to the point: “Where is she?”

“Miss Xi drove away an hour ago.” The person on the other end seemed to know exactly what Li Xingqing was going to ask and answered quickly.

She really ran fast. But, Sister, you should know that when the monk runs away, the temple can’t. Li Xingqing hung up, the corners of her mouth curling slightly.