Come downstairs

Xun Yuan smiled at Yun Tang and said mildly, "Clear goals, ambition, and ideas."

"Xunxun, do you really have to take it all so well?"

Yun Tang sounded helpless.

Xun Yuan broke into a smile. "If I couldn't take it well, then you'd really have something to worry about."

Yun Tang nodded slowly as it sank in. "True."

She picked up two glasses of champagne from nearby and handed one to Xun Yuan. "Want a drink?"

Xun Yuan arched an eyebrow, her features breathtakingly beautiful. "You've already put it in my hand."

They clinked glasses and drank together. The clear golden liquor refracted a kaleidoscope of light beneath the lamps, amid the private room's glowing lights and flowing drinks.

Someone suggested singing, and Jiang Yulin ran over, clutching a microphone, to ask Xun Yuan, "Xunxun, want to sing?"

"No."

Xun Yuan shook her head. She wasn't in the mood for that sort of leisurely amusement.

He pulled Yun Tang up to sing with him, while Xun Yuan ordered a few drinks and savored them unhurriedly.

Ye Wenyin sat beside Zuo Tingyue. Seeing him lift a glass, she pressed her lips together and gently advised him, "Don't drink so much. It'll hurt your liver."

Her voice was gentle and clear, like a ray of light in a noisy world, something out of the ordinary.

Not a flicker of emotion crossed Zuo Tingyue's handsome features. His hand around the glass was strong and powerful, his voice cool and detached. "Trying to keep me in line?"

Ye Wenyin smiled gently. Hers was an innocent sort of beauty, with soft features and nothing aggressive about them. "I'm just worried drinking is bad for your health."

Zuo Tingyue swirled his glass, turning a deaf ear to her words. The glass refracted cold light, glittering with a frosty gleam.

The crown prince had been born with everything. Love and affection were the last things he lacked. He could have as much shallow concern like this as he wanted, so how much of it could reach his heart? Being moved was something that almost never happened to someone like him.

Ye Wenyin knew when to stop. When Zuo Tingyue said nothing, she knew she had displeased him and quietly stayed beside him without another word.

After a while, the music in the private room changed abruptly, shifting from the free-spirited bravado of the jianghu to a tender, lilting Cantonese love song.

Xun Yuan looked toward the sound. Beneath the spotlight, a girl in a white dress stood within the beam, the light gilding her pure white skirt with a glow, like an angel.

Holding the microphone, she began to sing along with the accompaniment.

"The sky was a sweep of blue

The gentle breeze added romance

The tenderness in my heart

Was boundless as the sea in its sweetness

..."

It was Vivian Chow's "Favorite," a classic old song that seemed to tell a story, gently unfolding a beautiful tale of love.

Ye Wenyin's voice was sweet and clear, and she sang beautifully, keeping to the tune throughout. The lyrics flowed through her voice, lovely and pleasing to the ear.

Xun Yuan thought, I'd like her too, in his place. A young girl in the full bloom of twenty, innocent of the world, looking at you with that admiring, delighted gaze-how could it not soften your heart?

"There was no hiding this love

My devotion ran as deep as the sea

For a lifetime, we could hardly part

Hard to change, hard to ever again

..."

When she reached the climax, she poured her feelings into it, stealing a glance at Zuo Tingyue, shyly drawing him in even as she held back.

Afraid he would notice.

And afraid he wouldn't.

When the song ended, Ye Wenyin set down the microphone, walked over to Zuo Tingyue, and asked softly, "Did it sound good?"

Cautious yet full of anticipation, she never took her eyes off him.

Did Zuo Tingyue know how to cherish a delicate beauty?

He didn't even know how to write those words. Or perhaps he did, and it simply depended on whether he wanted to. When he was in the mood, anything was fine; when he wasn't, he couldn't care less who you were.

He probably wasn't in much of a mood today. The flint-wheel lighter clicked crisply as he lit a cigarette, brought it to his lips, and drew on it slowly without a word.

Smoke drifted out, blurring his handsome features, even veiling his gaze behind the wispy haze. It was impossible to glimpse the look in his eyes; only the brooding aura around him offered a hint of the indifference within.

Xun Yuan happened to turn her head and catch the scene, recognizing the coldness at his core. That was the kind of person he was. But sometimes, even she felt she couldn't see him clearly. He was too hard to fathom. Who knew what he was really thinking?

Later, when Jiang Yulin asked again whether she wanted to sing, Xun Yuan gave him an inscrutable smile. Jiang Yulin was utterly baffled, and Yun Tang was the one who pulled him away.

When the gathering ended, everyone headed home one after another. Someone had whisked Yun Tang away, though Xun Yuan didn't know who. Xun Yuan went home on her own. Since she'd been drinking and didn't want a friend to drive her, she booked a designated driver. While waiting outside, she heard Ye Wenyin's voice.

"Mr. Zuo, our school is arranging internships for us. I'd like to join the ballet company in Harbor City. Would that be possible?"

Her voice was soft in the night breeze, her tone inquiring and not the least bit irritating.

"Talk to Chu Xu."

Zuo Tingyue's voice was flat and even, without the slightest inflection, a detachment that verged on coldness.

He simply didn't care at all.

Then Xun Yuan heard Ye Wenyin leave. The designated driver called to ask where she was, and she stepped out of the shadows to find herself face-to-face with Zuo Tingyue.

She held her phone as she answered the driver. Zuo Tingyue stood beneath the night sky and glanced over casually, his gaze indifferent.

"How are you getting home?"

In the end, Zuo Tingyue spoke first. His low voice reached her ears on the evening breeze, rich with texture.

Xun Yuan waved her phone, her voice equally detached. "Booked a designated driver."

Under the moonlight, his expression was distant. He gave a quiet "Mm," almost imperceptible, scattering with the wind, much like the impression he gave.

The designated driver arrived shortly afterward. Without so much as a goodbye, Xun Yuan got into the car and left.

Over the next few days, Xun Yuan rested, occasionally dealing with emails from abroad. She also made an international call to Special Assistant Cheng overseas and secretly contacted an old acquaintance.

She also visited her maternal grandparents. Seeing that the two elderly people were doing well now, their lives peaceful and secure, she always felt a rare sense of ease and relaxation whenever she spent time with them. It was a warmth unlike anything she received from anyone else, the care of her elders.

After returning from her grandparents' home, she stayed home for another few days. Late one night, she suddenly received a call from Zuo Tingyue.

"Come downstairs."

The man's words left no room for argument.

Xun Yuan raised her eyebrows and glanced at the caller ID on her phone. It was indeed him, as overbearing as ever.

"Need something?" she asked lightly in return.

"Come downstairs."

The man repeated those words.

Xun Yuan walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Down below, everything was empty, a silent hollowness in the dead of night. She saw no headlights.

She asked again, "Need something?"

"Going abroad. Diving."

Xun Yuan sifted through her memories and recalled what they had said in jest during that trip to Shen City.

"Give me a few minutes."

Xun Yuan answered, hung up, quickly packed a few pieces of clothing, and went downstairs. She saw a black Bentley parked not far away with its hazard lights flashing, understated and restrained in the darkness.

As she approached, a faint glow shone through the windshield. The interior light must have been on. He was busy working again.