Chapter 59: The Ex-Boyfriend

On a night filled with heavy snow, the beige villa stood nestled among lush trees, the warm yellow light in the second-floor bedroom constantly glowing.

The duvet on the bed was made of cotton, and a soft down quilt enveloped the body like a warm nest.

A curly-haired little puppy lay at the foot of the bed, emitting gentle, shallow snores.

A fair, sharply jointed hand clasped her neck.

Tightening slightly, the cyan veins on the back of the hand stood out like vines from the exertion.

A clear and gentle voice sounded.

"I have prepared juice for you; it will help you hydrate."

"I have also prepared a tail for you."

"Shall we play a little longer tonight?"

As these words fell, the sensation of suffocation and the tingling warmth in her lower abdomen arrived simultaneously.

Jiang Ying awoke abruptly from her dream, gasping for breath like a drowning person.

The hot sweat on her back stained her silk nightgown with damp patches, and stray strands of hair clung to her cheeks from the perspiration, dispelling her drowsiness almost instantly.

She tossed back the covers, got out of bed, walked into the bathroom, slipped off her nightgown, and turned on the shower. The warm water sprayed out, finally helping her regain some clarity.

Strictly speaking, that was not a dream out of nowhere, but something that had happened on a certain night long ago.

After all these years, Jiang Ying had completely forgotten that night, but her mind seemed not to have truly deleted those memories, choosing instead to compress and pack them away in some hidden corner.

That text message from Lu Zhixi, sent five years ago with a somewhat neurotic tone, had inexplicably reactivated these memories.

It was just past four in the morning, and Jiang Ying was completely unable to sleep anymore.

After taking a shower and changing her clothes, she draped a sweater over her shoulders and walked into the study, which was laid with a cashmere carpet. Turning on the heater, she prepared to sort out the old books she planned to sell this year.

Outside the window, the gloomy night dyed the white snow into a cold, deep black, while inside was a warm and quiet haven.

Three walls of the study were lined with bookshelves. The sleepy puppy accompanied her over, lay down directly beside the warm heater, and quickly resumed its light snoring.

Many photographs stood on the wooden cabinet beside the bookshelves, all taken by Jiang Ying during her travels over the past few years.

Her appearance in the photos had not changed much, but arranged in chronological order, one could easily discern that her gaze looking toward the camera had gradually grown warmer and mellower.

Everything a person has experienced is hidden in their eyes.

Jiang Ying flipped aimlessly through the pages of a book, the scene from her dream just moments ago still vividly lingering in her mind.

In the dream, Lu Zhixi's eyes held a smile; when he looked at her, he was filled with affection, tinged with a morbid urgency.

Yet the Lu Zhixi who had driven her home today was completely different from the man in the dream. His attitude was restrained and ambiguous, and while a smile still lingered on his face when he spoke to her, it left one unable to discern what meaning was hidden within that smile.

Lu Zhixi had changed.

She was certain of this.

But she was unsure of what this change signified.

*

Near noon the next day, the doorbell rang.

Jiang Ying thought it was the bookstore owner from the neighboring district coming to collect books. Peering through the peephole, she discovered it was an unfamiliar white man. With a mild manner, he explained his purpose: he was a driver sent by Lu Zhixi to bring back her car, which had been left near the tennis courts yesterday.

Seeing Jiang Ying's guarded expression, the driver, who called himself David, placed a call to Lu Zhixi and then handed the phone to her.

"Since I was the one who suggested sending you home yesterday, it was only natural that I find a way to deal with your car," Lu Zhixi explained briefly.

Not only had the driver helped Jiang Ying promptly take the car to have winter tires installed before driving it back, but he had also enthusiastically shoveled the snow from her garage and front yard before leaving.

Jiang Ying had been too busy recently, and by the time she remembered to schedule the winter tire replacement, she was already told there was a one-month waitlist. Tonight, she was attending a dinner organized by alumni of Huada University, and she had originally planned to pay for an Uber. At that moment, Lu Zhixi's display of financial capability in solving her car trouble was truly a massive help.

Jiang Ying sent Lu Zhixi a text message expressing her gratitude, then swiftly walked Nono and headed out right on schedule.

This dinner gathering was set at a Chinese-owned bar, spearheaded by an old senior who had graduated from Huada's School of Finance over a decade ago and eventually settled in Boston. Although the gathering was held annually, this was Jiang Ying's first time attending; unfortunately, scheduled for a weekday afternoon, Zhou Anning was tied up with overtime and couldn't come.

The original start time was five o'clock in the afternoon, but tardiness was a Huada tradition. When Jiang Ying arrived right at five, only three people were at the venue, all seniors who were three or four classes ahead of her.

Abroad, alumni who had studied at the same university shared a natural sense of affinity. After exchanging greetings with the three of them, she quickly grew familiar with them.

The senior asked, "You've been in Boston for four years now? Why didn't you attend the gatherings in previous years?"

"I was always away traveling around this time in past years."

"What a pity, you missed several opportunities to feast your eyes," the senior joked.

Curious, Jiang Ying asked what kind of visual feast he meant, and the two senior female students beside them told her with smiles that every previous year, an insanely handsome junior had attended the gathering, and he was quite a famous figure.

One of the senior students took out her smartphone, searched for something, and turned the screen toward Jiang Ying.

She saw a photograph of Lu Zhixi.

This was an illustration from a news article published when Lu Zhixi had just joined the group after graduation, which Jiang Ying had seen at the time.

As soon as he entered the corporation, old Williams quickly announced his retirement. However, because Lu Zhixi was too young, he could only wield power from behind the scenes, while some senior executives in their forties and fifties served as the public facade in the foreground.

Several financial media outlets had raised strong doubts about their family at the time, and the stock price had fluctuated due to the actual handover of family power. Fortunately, the corporation's operations continued to improve, and those skeptical voices had gradually subsided this year.

In the photograph, Lu Zhixi's expression was cold and aloof, escorted by four bodyguards in black as he walked into the skyscraper bearing his family's surname.

He seemed not to have had an easy time over the past few years.

Uncertain, Jiang Ying asked, "Did he attend this gathering every single year before?"

"Every single year," the senior female student replied. "Though I'm not sure if he'll come this year. He's definitely a very busy man, and I heard he lives permanently in New York, so making a trip to Boston every time must be quite a hassle."

By six o'clock, most of the people had arrived, but there was still no sign of Lu Zhixi.

As it neared eight o'clock, the door of the bar was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Jiang Ying was chatting with a senior who was also pursuing his Ph.D. at Harvard, and she subconsciously raised her head to glance at the entrance.

Seeing Lu Zhixi again at this moment, she was not particularly surprised.

Today he wore a turtleneck cashmere sweater and a black peak-lapel overcoat. His Eurasian physique was already very tall, and standing among the alumni, he towered at least a full head above everyone else.

The old senior who hosted the gathering knew him well and immediately walked over to greet him.

"Sorry, work ended rather late," Lu Zhixi said apologetically.

Everyone here knew his identity and felt that his mere presence showed enough respect; no one would quibble over such tardiness.

Jiang Ying sat at the bar counter against the wall, propping her face in her hand without moving as she watched him chat with the others.

Sure enough, not long after, Lu Zhixi walked over and sat down beside her. "I didn't expect you to be here."

The bar seats were placed closely together, and Jiang Ying caught a faint scent of red wine and cigarettes from him. This aroma was not unpleasant; instead, it possessed a strangely intoxicating and dizzying quality.

She smiled and said, "Did you really not expect it?"

"Yes," Lu Zhixi replied with a calm expression. "Because you didn't come in previous years. What made you decide to attend this year?"

"Because I happen to have no travel plans this year, and..."

Jiang Ying paused, then said bluntly, "And I figured it was time to meet some new people."

| "Is that so? What kind of people do you want to meet?"

"It depends on fate; no specific requirements."

With that, she looked back at Lu Zhixi. "Though I didn't expect you to be willing to attend this kind of gathering now."

"I am different from before," Lu Zhixi said in a gentle voice.

Jiang Ying took a small sip of her juice and said softly, "Indeed, you are very different from before."

"Does the current me satisfy you?"

Jiang Ying was startled. Turning her head, she found that Lu Zhixi was also looking down at her.

"You're outstanding, exceptionally outstanding," she mused, searching for a fitting evaluation. "Handsome, wealthy, and very successful in your career."

Hearing her praise, Lu Zhixi smiled faintly. "Thank you. When I saw you at the reception, your changes surprised me as well."

"In what aspect were you surprised?"

"In every aspect," he said. "Because you surpass every woman I have ever known."

Jiang Ying was amused by his exaggerated compliment.

Perhaps because the atmosphere between them had grown very relaxed, she probed tentatively, "When I saw you last time, you seemed a little tired."

"That was entirely due to work; I hope you don't mind."

Recalling the text message Emily had sent, Jiang Ying nodded. She knew that people who served as chairpersons or CEOs might look like they wielded immense power, but the actual burdens on their shoulders were heavy indeed, far from an easy job.

"Make sure to rest properly outside of work," she said.

"Of course, we even bumped into each other at the courts last time."

Thinking of their previous encounters, Jiang Ying fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking:

"So... these past few times weren't a coincidence, right?"

Yet, just like last time, Lu Zhixi did not answer her directly. "What do you think?"

"You can't just brush it off like that," Jiang Ying said, laughing helplessly.

Lu Zhixi gazed at her, a nameless luster flashing in his eyes.

"Everything that happens in this world is a matter of probability. I didn't know you would be at that reception, I didn't know you would go to the professor couple's home that day, nor did I know at what exact moment you would go play tennis."

He took a small sip of his drink and continued in a calm tone:

"I have simply come to Boston many times over the years, attended many receptions, and upon learning that you play tennis, I merely found a venue you were most likely to frequent and showed up there every day."