Chapter 1

Los Angeles, Country A.

Inside the brightly lit venue, a long-haired woman kept checking the watch on her wrist, her expression growing more and more anxious. Her assistant leaned in beside her. “Sister Jiang, what’s wrong?”

The woman lowered her voice. “Xiaonan, how much longer until this show is over?”

Wen Nuan tilted her head. “It should still be a while. Why, Sister Jiang? Is something urgent?”

“In that case, go check the earliest flight to London for me. What time is it?”

Wen Nuan moved quickly and found it almost immediately. “Sister Jiang, there’s one in an hour.”

“Oh...”

The woman thought about it only briefly before making up her mind. “Then book me a ticket to London. If you want to go too, book one for yourself as well. There won’t be any work for the next few days anyway, so I’ll give you a vacation. Count it as a trip.”

“But Sister Jiang, you haven’t had a single decent night’s sleep in days. If this keeps up, your body won’t be able to take it.” Wen Nuan looked at the dark circles under the woman’s eyes, her heart aching.

“I’m fine. I can sleep on the plane. Besides, it’s only been busy for this stretch of time.”

As they spoke, a man in a tailored suit walked over and greeted her with a smile. The woman immediately put on her signature smile and shook his hand. “Mr. Liu, a pleasure.”

“Designer Jiang, that should be my line. I’ve admired you for a long time. The dress you designed this spring—my wife lined up for ages and still couldn’t get one!”

“Mr. Liu, you’re too kind. The clothes you design are excellent too; there are a few pieces I especially like.”

The two exchanged polite pleasantries, smiles fixed firmly in place. As for what they were really thinking, perhaps only they themselves knew.

Jiang Lai, twenty-five years old, was an internationally renowned fashion designer. She graduated from one of the top design schools in the United States, finished university at twenty-one, and by twenty-three had already launched her own clothing brand, carving out a place for herself in the design world. Her friends always joked about her: clearly someone who could live off her looks, yet she insisted on relying on talent.

That wasn’t really an exaggeration. Jiang Lai stood 172 centimeters tall barefoot, with long wavy hair that always fell over her shoulders. Her captivating peach-blossom eyes seemed to hold a kind of magic, drawing people in before they even realized it. In short, Jiang Lai was the living embodiment of fair skin, beauty, and long legs.

Gradually, the show reached its finale. She wore the perfect smile, lifting the hem of her dress as she walked onto the runway with the other designers for a group photo.

Once the organizer announced it was over, Jiang Lai hurried to the lounge, kicked off the troublesome dress and high heels, and changed into a camisole and shorts, revealing her delicate collarbones and butterfly bones. She slipped into a pair of canvas shoes, and her long hair was gathered into a bun.

She waited at the entrance for a few minutes before Wen Nuan finally drove the car over and loaded the suitcase into the trunk. Looking at Jiang Lai’s outfit, Wen Nuan seemed as if she wanted to say something but held back.

“What is it? If you’ve got something to say, say it. That’s not like you.”

Jiang Lai leaned back in her seat, in a rather good mood.

Hearing that, Wen Nuan decided to stop holding back. “Sister Jiang, you’re at least a fashion designer. You’ve designed plenty of clothes, right? But look at what you wear every day; it’s not fashionable at all!”

“You said it yourself; I’m only the one designing the clothes, not a model. I don’t need to walk the runway. Besides, as long as it’s comfortable, that’s enough. There aren’t that many requirements. Okay, okay, stop talking and hurry up to the airport. If we miss the flight, I’ll be very fierce...”

Jiang Lai put on a deliberately menacing expression, but it didn’t look convincing at all. Instead, it made Wen Nuan burst out laughing. “Sister Jiang, you’re too cute!”

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way to the airport. Wen Nuan took Jiang Lai’s luggage out of the trunk, worry written all over her face. “Sister Jiang, are you really going alone? Why don’t I go with you?”

“No need.”

Jiang Lai waved her hand and pushed her suitcase toward the airport. “Go keep your boyfriend company properly! I’m not going to be your third wheel.”

Wen Nuan stamped her foot shyly. “Sister Jiang!”

“Alright, alright, I’m really going!”

There weren’t many people at the airport at night. Jiang Lai glanced at her boarding pass; there were only ten minutes left before boarding. She hurried through each step and finally boarded the plane at the very last moment.

After finding her seat, she finally let out a breath and casually glanced at the woman sitting beside her. The woman had chestnut-brown short hair that brushed her shoulders, and a pair of sunglasses covered her face, obscuring her features. Her ten fingers were pale and clean, as if they’d just been peeled from fresh scallions.

Perhaps Jiang Lai’s gaze was too intense; the woman slowly shifted her eyes from the newspaper to her face. Jiang Lai’s face turned red, and she hurriedly greeted her. “Hello!”

The woman curved her lips in response. “Hello.”

Her voice was soft and gentle too, like a mountain spring striking stone; it was exactly Jiang Lai’s type.

After a brief exchange, Jiang Lai learned that the other woman was also going to London, to attend her daughter’s wedding. She had to admit, the two of them really were fated to meet. Rubbing her hands together, she asked a little shyly, “Um, may I trouble you with something?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Cough... Well, I’m also going to London, but I haven’t been resting well lately, so could I trouble you to wake me when we arrive?” She worried the other woman might refuse and quickly added, “If that’s inconvenient for you...”

“It’s fine.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Lai was a little confused.

The woman adjusted her oversized glasses. “I said it’s fine. Sleep. A little girl needs to rest properly, or she won’t be pretty.”

Jiang Lai’s face went scarlet. Her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed again, but no words came out. Seeing that, the woman smiled.

“You’re very cute.”

Jiang Lai really couldn’t take it anymore. She quickly pulled an eye mask down over her face, secretly grumbling that after all these years, she was actually being flirted with by a complete stranger of unknown age. Truly a bad year; misfortunes never came singly.

Thinking this over, Jiang Lai’s eyelids gradually drifted shut, and her head lightly came to rest on the woman’s shoulder. The woman glanced at the little burden on her shoulder and said nothing, simply continuing to read the newspaper she hadn’t finished.

Half-asleep, Jiang Lai vaguely felt someone speaking. Then warmth wrapped around her body. She tried to open her eyes and see what was happening, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t wake up, as if she’d fallen into a sleep she couldn’t shake off.

“Little girl, wake up...”

Jiang Lai had been sleeping soundly when someone suddenly shook her awake. She rubbed her eyes, her voice hoarse. “Are we there?”

The woman gently smoothed Jiang Lai’s hair, which had gone wild from sleep. “Mm, we’ve arrived. Get yourself together and get ready to disembark.”

“Oh... okay.”

Jiang Lai lifted the eye mask from her face, took out a mirror, and touched up her makeup before settling down to wait for the plane to land. With a sidelong glance, she then noticed a blanket covering her legs. Embarrassed, she asked, “Did you cover me with this?”

“Mm. You kept curling toward me in your sleep.”

The woman’s teasing tone made Jiang Lai sound like some kind of flower thief, when in reality the woman’s figure really was excellent—but Jiang Lai had the nerve, just not the courage.

“Uh...”

To ease the awkwardness, she smiled with warmth brighter than the morning sun. “Hello, big sister. My name is Jiang Lai. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Big sister?” The woman’s tone lifted slightly at the end. Her fingertip tapped lightly against the magazine. “I know you.”

“Hm?”

Jiang Lai was puzzled. Her fame shouldn’t be that huge, should it? Could people recognize her just by sitting on a random flight?

The woman flipped the magazine to the cover and pushed it in front of Jiang Lai. There, clearly displayed, was a photo taken by the photographer during an interview she had done a few days ago.

“Internationally renowned fashion designer Jiang Lai, isn’t that right?”

Jiang Lai chuckled awkwardly and lowered her head a little. “You flatter me, Sister.”

The woman brushed the stray hair from her forehead aside. That movement made Jiang Lai notice her outfit at once: a white shirt paired with a black dress. The shirt was simple and elegant, while the dress was a short patchwork style embroidered with a few clouds, showing off the woman’s refined temperament to the fullest.

Jiang Lai certainly remembered this dress. It was one of her newly designed spring pieces, and the cloud patterns had all been stitched on by her one stitch at a time.

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with this dress?”

Seeing Jiang Lai stare for so long, the woman grew a little confused.

Jiang Lai came back to herself. “No, it looks really nice. It’s just... your voice sounds kind of familiar. Have we met somewhere before? You look a bit like Cheng Shuyang...”

At her words, the woman’s smile deepened. “Is that so? A lot of people say I look like her. And... maybe we really do know each other.”

Jiang Lai was about to say something when the loud broadcast drowned her out.

“Dear passengers, our flight is about to arrive at its destination. Please take your luggage with you. We wish you a pleasant journey.”

The plane landed safely at the airport. The people around her rose one after another, and the woman was no exception. Jiang Lai hurriedly grabbed her arm. “Sister, may I know your name?”

“Little girl, trust me; we’ll meet again very soon.” The woman passed by her side, then stood on tiptoe to lean close to Jiang Lai’s ear. “Also, the clothes you designed... I like them very much...”

After teasing Jiang Lai like that, the woman disappeared from sight in her elegant high heels.

Jiang Lai watched her go, feeling as if fireworks were exploding in her heart one after another. Otherwise, how could she explain why her heartbeat was racing so fast?

Once she collected herself, she slowly got off the plane. Before leaving, she looked back at the seat the woman had occupied and let out a relieved smile.

“Well then; if it’s fate, we’ll meet again..."

Only later did Jiang Lai realize that this fated meeting would come far sooner than she expected.

——————

Author’s Note

This story will be updated occasionally; for now, I’m mainly updating the one over on the other side.

TL Note:

flower thief (采花贼) means a lecher / someone making shameless romantic advances.

butterfly bones (蝴蝶骨) means shoulder blades, named for their butterfly-like shape.