Chapter 1

Jiayang City.

Twenty-two Alley, Ankang Street, Guangming Road.

Light snow.

The alley was dim and cold, lit end to end by a sickly yellow streetlamp that bathed everything in its glow.

Yu Nianyi was squeezed into the crowd, her head aching from the complaints of the people in front of her and the nonstop beeping of electric bikes weaving past on both sides.

“Excuse me, excuse me…” Yu Nianyi smiled as she forced her way through the gaps between the electric bikes, craning her neck to look into the mass of people ahead.

Twenty-two Alley on Ankang Street wasn’t large. Every night at a fixed time, a big crowd of parents came to pick up their kids from tutoring classes, so it was famously packed during the evening rush. What kind of person would be so stubborn as to drive in here in the middle of it?

Amused, Yu Nianyi leaned over to look at the driver’s seat. The windows were pitch-black, blending almost seamlessly with the raven-dark body of the car. The yellow streetlight draped over it, and with snowflakes drifting through the air, it looked as if a thin coat of gray paint had been brushed across the surface. The car itself was already handsome; now it looked even better.

She curled her lip and looked away, continuing forward.

As she got closer, the heat radiating from the car body rolled toward her as well. Yu Nianyi sniffed and deliberately stepped a little farther away from the side of the car.

Her phone rang in her pocket. As she walked, Yu Nianyi took it out and answered with practiced ease, blurting, “I’m on the way, I’m on the way. Stop rushing me; it’s only a few dozen meters. I’ll be there in front of you any second now.”

“Miss Yu, Sister Nianyi, my dear sister, food doesn’t wait for people. If we miss this window, it won’t taste as good…”

Yu Nianyi hummed in response as she kept walking. Electric bikes kept squeezing past her one after another, and the car beside her finally started up.

A sharp sound suddenly came from behind her. Yu Nianyi instinctively turned back just in time to see a bicycle shooting out from the corner, along with the rider’s face right in front of her. She flinched and immediately stepped back. The bicycle brushed past the edge of her down jacket by a hair and sped off.

What, are you trying to race or something?

Yu Nianyi had just started silently grumbling when she suddenly heard several light splashes. The next second, she felt a chill on her leg. Looking down, she saw grayish-brown mud splattered all over the black tights she had worn for the first time today.

Yu Nianyi: “……”

She had worn these pants for the first time today, and the white socks were new too.

Yu Nianyi steadied herself for a moment before turning a blank stare toward the black car still parked to the side.

The owner seemed to realize she had been splashed, but after the two of them stared each other down for a long time, the owner showed no sign of saying or doing anything at all.

“…What’s going on? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Xi Yao’s slightly annoying voice came from the phone. “…Tell me you’re still alive.”

Yu Nianyi looked away and picked up her pace toward the restaurant.

Behind her, the car started up once more. Its tires rolled over the wet, slippery snowy road and gradually receded into the distance until the sound faded away.

“What happened just now?” Xi Yao asked on the other end.

Yu Nianyi clicked her tongue and pouted. “Don’t even ask. Bad luck today. I’m at the restaurant entrance; I’ll tell you in detail when I get there.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Nianyi hung up.

When the electronic “Welcome” rang out at the entrance, Yu Nianyi stepped from the cold into the warm interior.

Auntie Wang’s Restaurant was a particularly famous home-style eatery within a hundred-mile radius, especially popular with the college students nearby. Although the location wasn’t great, the food was delicious, and the place was packed at almost every hour of the day.

“Oh, Xiao Yu’s here?” The owner spotted Yu Nianyi the moment she walked in. She squeezed through the slightly crowded dining area and grabbed Yu Nianyi’s hand, leading her inward. “Haven’t seen you in a few days, Xiao Yu; you’re getting prettier and prettier!”

Yu Nianyi laughed without holding back, deliberately gathering the hair in front of her chest, and said sincerely, “Auntie Wang, you’re the one who’s getting younger and younger. Your skin looks amazing; you’re glowing, really—you look just like my cousin!”

“Oh my, look at you saying that… I’m already in my forties…”

Yu Nianyi’s praise clearly flattered Auntie Wang to no end; the smile on her face grew even brighter. By the time the two of them had exchanged a few more words, they had already reached the private room Xi Yao had booked.

“All right then, Little Xi is waiting for you inside. I won’t go in; if you two don’t have enough to eat, just tell me and I’ll make more for you!”

“Got it!”

Seeing Auntie Wang off, Yu Nianyi pushed the door open and immediately found herself face to face with Xi Yao.

Xi Yao drew in a sharp breath, sizing Yu Nianyi up and down before finally landing on her bright golden hair. “You’re really something, you know that? You just broke up, and you still dressed yourself up this brightly? I was even planning to comfort you, and it turns out I was wasting my time?”

Yu Nianyi curled her lip and sat down without ceremony. “You’re the one with the conscience.”

“Being secretly heartbroken over a breakup—do you think that’s something I, Yu Nianyi, would do? Only you. You were the one who cried your eyes out over your breakup, got completely drunk, and then got tattled on by your sister and your parents.”

The moment she said that, Xi Yao’s face darkened.

Amused, Yu Nianyi watched Xi Yao hit a sore spot. Xi Yao had never gotten along with her sister since they were young; their personalities were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Fortunately, her sister had been working out of town these past few years, which allowed Xi Yao to run wild at home.

Xi Yao had asked her parents more than once whether her sister had been picked up off the street.

And every time, she got cursed out by both of them.

“Oh, right, my sister’s coming over later,” Xi Yao said suddenly.

“Your sister?” Yu Nianyi lifted a brow. “I heard she was working somewhere else…”

Xi Yao irritably ran a hand through her hair and flopped onto the sofa. “She’s been back for a while. My parents gave her a new assignment. We’ve got a family gathering this weekend; after she’s done with her own stuff, she’ll swing by to pick me up.”

“Fine, then I’ll get to see what your sister you talk about all the time actually looks like.” Yu Nianyi nodded and reached for the chopsticks on the table, but then seemed to think of something and set them back down on the plate. “If your sister’s coming, then I won’t start eating yet. I’ll wait and eat together.”

Hearing that, Xi Yao waved a hand. “She might not even come into the private room. We don’t usually eat together; she probably can’t get used to my tastes either.”

“Besides, she’s only here to pick me up, not to have dinner.”

Yu Nianyi nodded. She thought the relationship between the two sisters was rather interesting, but she didn’t touch her chopsticks again after that.

“Oh, right.” Xi Yao instructed the waiter to pour Yu Nianyi a cup of hot water and set it in front of her. “What happened just now? You didn’t seem too happy.”

At that, all the frustration in Yu Nianyi’s chest came spilling out at once. She said weakly, “It’s nothing. I just got splashed by a car when I passed by.”

“Huh?” Xi Yao froze for a few seconds, then looked Yu Nianyi over. Her gaze finally landed on those long, straight calves. “……”

After staring for a few seconds, a gleeful smile slowly surfaced in her eyes.

“Then you really are unlucky.”

The moment Yu Nianyi saw Xi Yao’s sneaky little smile, irritation flared in her again. She casually unlocked her phone, and a few voice messages from Yang Shuyu popped up on the screen.

Yu Nianyi frowned reflexively and had no intention of opening them.

Noticing the look on Yu Nianyi’s face, Xi Yao guessed at once that it was Yang Shuyu’s messages and asked, “She texted you?”

Yu Nianyi hummed in acknowledgment, casually turned off the screen, and flipped the phone face down on the table.

“...If you were looking for Xiao Xi, you should’ve said so earlier. Here, this private room is...” Auntie Wang’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Yu Nianyi and Xi Yao exchanged a look, then both turned toward the entrance.

The tightly closed door was pulled open by four fair, slender fingers. Along with the creak of the door, a refreshing, slightly cool scent drifted in.

Like a winter morning under a light snowfall, when branches shiver in the wind with a rustling sound, swaying endlessly in the breeze. Then the wind stops, and the branches fall back into silence.

It was an extremely faint fragrance, elusive yet impossible to ignore.

Yu Nianyi’s gaze moved from the neatly trimmed fingertips to the face of the person who had opened the door.

A nondescript pair of black-rimmed glasses, hair arranged with excessive neatness and restraint, and a face that was perfectly serious and utterly dull.

It took Yu Nianyi only three seconds to categorize this person.

A boring-looking workaholic.

She pushed herself up from the table and gave the woman a standard, polite smile.

But the woman in glasses didn’t spare her even a glance. She strode straight over to Xi Yao. Xi Yao, who had been relaxed and composed just moments ago, now looked awkward and stiff; she stood there for a long time before forcing out a single word. “Sis.”

The air remained still for a long moment before Yu Nianyi finally heard the woman answer, “Mm.”

A voice with no trace of emotion.

Yu Nianyi folded her arms and stood to the side, her eyes quietly sweeping over the woman again.

It was only light snow, but Jiayang’s climate had always been cold; with a little wind, it became biting enough to make people shiver.

And yet this woman was only wearing a black wool coat, with a gray turtleneck underneath; her build was so slender.

As she was thinking this, the woman turned her head and looked directly into Yu Nianyi’s eyes through the lenses of her glasses.

Yu Nianyi quickly straightened and walked briskly over with a smile. “Hello, sister. I’m Xi Yao’s friend, Yu Nianyi.”

“Mm. Xi Yu.” Xi Yu nodded, staring at Yu Nianyi for a few seconds before slowly lowering her gaze to Yu Nianyi’s legs.

Xi Yu’s stare was far too direct. Yu Nianyi let out an awkward laugh, inwardly muttering. For someone meeting a person for the first time, wasn’t staring like that a little rude?

Could it be that this person was like them too? Was she also a lesbian?

“Can I have your contact information?” As if confirming Yu Nianyi’s suspicion, Xi Yu lifted her eyes slightly and said to her.

Xi Yao behind them looked utterly shocked, staring blankly at the two people standing in front of her.

Well, this got interesting. So she really had come prepared.

Yu Nianyi swept the thought aside. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and under the overhead light, her hair gleamed with a dazzling champagne gold, making her whole person look as if she were standing in the light itself; she was stunning.

She looked Xi Yu over again. Although the other woman’s appearance was neat and dull, since she was this proactive, it wouldn’t hurt to see where things went.

Yu Nianyi picked up the phone on the table, unlocked it with practiced ease, and smiled brightly. “Of course, Sister. You can just add me directly. If anything comes up later, you can ask me anytime; I’d be very happy to help.”