Flirting with the wrong man

Love entangled in Beijing and Harbor City / Fengjin Ruixue

2024.2.21

Rain came crashing down, and the dense darkness of night seemed about to swallow everything.

Crimson blood flowed with the rainwater, soaking the girl's pure white clothes.

Clamorous sounds poured into her ears. Chaos, terror, death, blood...

Police sirens wailed...

The operating light at the hospital flicked on, then off...

"The hospital blood bank is running low."

"The patient's heart rate is too fast."

"Quick, transfuse!"

"..."

The sleeping woman's brows were tightly knitted, cold sweat covered her forehead, and her body trembled slightly as she murmured over and over, "No," "Dad," "Mom"...

Suddenly, she shot upright in bed, gasping violently, the knuckles of her slender fingers bluish-white as she clutched the clothes over her chest.

After a long while, Xun Yuan pulled free of the nightmare, and her body stopped trembling. She got out of bed, switched on the light, and took her sleepwear to the bathroom.

Under the bright light, her figure was slender and graceful. Barefoot on the expensive carpet, with thin straps framing her exquisite curves and her skin fair, even her back alone held all the allure of a beauty.

Hot water poured over her, warming her body. Xun Yuan quickly finished showering and came out, bracing her hands on the glass washstand as though drained of strength.

The tragic scenes of her parents dying one after the other remained vivid before her eyes. All these years, she neither lost herself in them nor forgot.

Those who had harmed her, those who had shown her kindness.

Kindness would be repaid with kindness, vengeance exacted for vengeance.

After all that, sleep was out of the question. She left the bathroom, changed, picked up her car keys, and headed out.

Beneath the night sky, Harbor City blazed with lights, bright as day, yet more enchanting than it was in daylight.

How to put it? Harbor City's nights were flashing neon and a world intoxicated by gold and glitter.

Dressed in a dark green qipao, Xun Yuan stood on the second floor, looking down from above, little emotion in her lowered eyes.

On closer inspection, though, they were distinctly dark and unreadable.

Ever since her parents had both died, she had been forced to go abroad. Eight years had passed, and this was her first return to Harbor City, for nothing other than peace of mind.

Onstage, a woman sang into a microphone. The old Shanghai style, combined with the colorful modern lights spilling down, captivated the eye.

After watching for a while, Xun Yuan found it rather dull. Just as she withdrew her gaze, she caught a crimson spark flaring in a booth opposite. Her eyesight was good, and in the instant the flame lit up, she clearly saw the man's hand: veins coiled across it, every inch of bone wrapped in flesh, strength intertwined with beauty, brimming with masculine vigor.

Xun Yuan raised her brows slightly. It was the first time she had so easily sensed the scent of hormones on a man.

Sexy, deep, substantial, surging with sensuality.

After that single glance, she looked no longer, turning to leave at a leisurely pace.

Her slender heels made faint sounds against the floor. She walked neither quickly nor slowly, her slim waist swaying, the slit of her qipao moving with it. Now and then, her fair, shapely calves emerged beneath the warm yellow light, graceful and alluring.

Xun Yuan had met Jiang Yulin overseas, and he happened to be out enjoying himself at the club that night.

Xun Yuan followed Jiang Yulin over to the second-floor booth.

As soon as they approached, someone teased him.

"Yulin, one trip outside and you've brought back a pretty girl. Quite the luck with women!"

The man could only see a female figure behind Jiang Yulin. Everything else was completely blocked by him.

Jiang Yulin shook his head and retorted, "This isn't my luck with women. Don't talk nonsense."

He stepped aside, revealing Xun Yuan behind him.

In an instant, they stood face-to-face, with nothing obscuring her.

Xun Yuan wore an embroidered qipao, silver threads tracing clusters of begonia blossoms. Its fitted cut visibly outlined her delicate waist and slender figure. A white shawl lay loosely around her, neither clinging nor slipping, its languid, cool allure radiating from her very bones.

Dark green was an exceptionally demanding color to wear, yet on her, it perfectly complemented her ice-smooth skin and jade-like bones. Beneath the lights, her skin was so fair it reflected the glow.

Her face had superb bone structure; the word "beautiful" was insufficient. The outer corners of her eyes were elongated and slightly upturned. When she looked at someone without speaking, her gaze was clear, yet it bewitched the heart-and not merely through her looks.

A qipao, how to put it, took on a thousand faces on a thousand women. Some wore it with dignified elegance, others with endless charm. On her, it held depth, lingering appeal, and a wealth of stories.

"Let me introduce you. Xun Yuan, the owner of the Jiang Family Club."

Jiang Yulin spoke with a cheerful smile. On the way over, he had already told Xun Yuan who the people in the booth were.

Xun Yuan poured a glass of wine, her red lips parting slightly. "Xun Yuan. I'm new to Harbor City, and we're bound to see one another in the future, so I thought I'd make my face familiar first. A toast to you all."

After draining the glass, she inclined her head, the corners of her lips lifting slightly, her manner neither lofty nor humble.

She had offered and drunk her toast readily enough, leaving everyone there utterly bewildered. Jiang Yulin had kept the matter tightly under wraps. They knew the club had changed hands, but the gilded lettering at the entrance read "Jiang Family Club." Who would have imagined there was a female owner?

They were all shrewd people, and a moment's thought made it clear: anyone who could have the young master of the Jiang Family personally introduce her as the owner, and make a special appearance for her, was not to be underestimated.

They could only suppress their many questions and greet her with smiles.

Amid the clamor, Jiang Yulin drew Xun Yuan over to sit in an empty seat.

As chance would have it, she sat beside that man.

Xun Yuan noticed that this was precisely the spot her gaze had fallen on earlier. The man beside her had not taken part in the exchange of pleasantries from beginning to end.

She lowered her eyes to look. The cigarette burning between his fingers had vanished, leaving only his large, well-defined hand. The lighting here was somewhat dim, and he remained concealed in shadow. No one approached to disturb him. However noisy his surroundings, he sat as immovable as a mountain, with a presence and reserved coldness entirely his own.

That very sense of mystery was the most tantalizing thing.

A playful impulse stirred in Xun Yuan. As she poured wine, she deliberately tilted her hand, knocking over a stemmed glass on the table with a clink. Wine splashed out, landing neatly on the man's trouser leg.

The wine quickly seeped into the fabric, spreading into a dark patch.

Fortunately, it was below the knee.

Xun Yuan immediately apologized, her cool voice taking on a touch of softness as she lowered it.

"I'm sorry, sir. My hand slipped, and I accidentally stained your trousers."

As she spoke, she hurriedly pulled out tissues to blot the wine from his trousers.

But with only a fraction of an inch to spare, the man extended his sinewy, well-defined hand to block her.

Xun Yuan paused, momentarily unsure where to put her hand.

Only then did he turn his head.

Light slanted down, illuminating the sharp line of his jaw in profile. His short, tousled hair could not conceal his prominent brow, and his eyes were deep-set. When his gaze turned toward her, it was veiled in indifference-simply aloof and aristocratic.

Xun Yuan's breath caught. That face was both familiar and unfamiliar, and so damnably to her taste.

"No need."

When he spoke, his voice was low and magnetic, made to send a tingle through women's ears.

Xun Yuan withdrew her hand and asked with a faint smile, "May I reimburse you for the full price?"

The man's gaze remained unruffled, his voice low.

"No."

Two refusals in a row. How cold.

Xun Yuan took another glass and poured some wine, smiling. "Then may I offer you a toast as an apology?"

The man watched her for several seconds, his expression indifferent, yet a faint glimmer of amusement rippled plainly in his eyes.

"I don't casually drink toasts from women."

His low, amused voice sounded like a refusal, and like teasing.

Xun Yuan showed not the slightest timidity. Smiling softly, she parted her lips and asked in return.

"Then what would make it less casual, sir?"

He smiled, utterly unconcerned, rakish without being frivolous. "I only drink with arms linked."

Xun Yuan's smile stalled. This time, she truly had not expected it. She raised her eyes to him. His gaze was deep and indifferent, faintly threaded with a thin smile, its meaning hard to decipher.

Jiang Yulin had been quietly watching them all along. Sensing something off in the atmosphere, he mustered his courage and spoke.

"Tingyue, you can't bully a young girl."

That single sentence served to rescue her from the situation.

Zuo Tingyue, the man at the helm of Harbor City's Zuo Family, the undisputed crown prince of the elite circles.

In that instant, Xun Yuan learned the identity of the man before her.

Truly, hearing of someone was no substitute for meeting them. Even in his nonchalance, he never yielded the upper hand. Only a Zuo Tingyue like this could be called the head of the Zuo Family.

Zuo Tingyue did not respond. He smiled, his gaze passing over her face and the front of her body.

What about her was little?

He rose, instantly casting a shadow over Xun Yuan's vision. He really was tall and straight. From this angle, she could see his broad back, with its pervasive sense of strength and solidity.

"I'm leaving."

Zuo Tingyue left those words behind.

Somewhat bewildered, Jiang Yulin looked at his retreating back and asked, "Why are you leaving already?"

"My trousers are wet."

His voice drifted over from a distance, flat in tone, with teasing mischief hidden beneath.

Xun Yuan gently swirled the wineglass in her hand. He really was wicked.