On such a cold day

This Spring Festival, Ye Mian spent her days leisurely yet fulfilled. The snow fell heavily, so she stocked up on groceries for several days and nestled herself at home. The snowstorm raged day and night, with the icy wind howling against her windowpanes. In that moment, she found herself falling in love with the little apartment she rented.

There was something about the place that made her feel inexplicably safe.

The apartment was decorated in light tones, the furniture and walls suffused with a gentle warmth. Ye Mian had even bought a glass vase, into which she divided the flowers Jiang Chen had given her, placing small bouquets in every corner of the room.

If she managed to make some money, she thought, it might be time to consider moving out of the dormitory. Though she was reluctant to leave Qin Feifei and Wang Xiang, she had to admit it was more comfortable to live on her own.

Thinking of the dormitory, she suddenly remembered the black box Jiang Chen had given her the last time they parted. Back then, after her failed confession, she hadn’t been in the mood to open it, and then she’d been busy for two straight months without a break. The box had remained locked in her dormitory locker ever since.

Glancing at the swirling snow outside, Ye Mian wrapped a scarf around her neck and pulled on her thick down coat before leaving the warmth of her apartment. Snowflakes dusted her as she stepped out; she glanced up into the gray sky and realized, belatedly, that she ought to have brought an umbrella.

Tiny flakes clung to her eyelashes, blurring her vision. Tightening her scarf, she hurried toward the bus stop.

There were few passengers on this route. She took a seat near the exit. The ride, with frequent stops, took forty minutes before she finally reached the university gates.

The campus was silent and still. Apart from an elderly security guard smoking in his booth, there was no one in sight. Ye Mian showed her student ID, explained her purpose, and the guard let her in without trouble.

She thanked him with a smile.

It felt a little strange to step into the university after so long, especially seeing it so deserted and quiet—something she’d never experienced before.

She made her way to the dormitory building, used the key the guard had given her, and entered the room to retrieve the box. The dormitory, unheated, was icy cold. Rubbing her hands together for warmth, she carefully opened the box.

Inside lay a bottle of perfume.

The bottle was unbranded, with no logo—just a simple, beautiful glass vessel sealed with a wooden stopper. Beside it was a dropper-style cap.

Ye Mian, delighted, lifted it and took a sniff. The scent was much like the last one, yet somehow subtly different. She searched her memory for a while before realizing that the fragrance now carried a hint of woody notes.

It was strange. She wasn’t one to wear perfume, but this scent struck her heart with uncanny precision.

Outside, the wind and snow intensified. Ye Mian carefully packed the perfume back into its box and slipped it into her bag. After a moment’s thought, she found an umbrella in the dorm before hurrying away.

In the end, Ye Mian never used that bottle of perfume. Back home, she tucked it into the drawer by her bed. It wasn’t that she was loath to use it—she simply had a habit of keeping the things she loved.

Sitting by the window, watching the snow whirl outside, she sighed.

The person she liked was abroad. Barring surprises, it would be at least two years before they could meet again.

She decided to treat this bottle of perfume as Jiang Chen’s parting gift. Just as her father would, before leaving, give her little trinkets to cheer her up and stop her from crying.

Unfortunately, she was no longer a child. Nor did she like goodbyes.

Over this period, she had thought things through. She would no longer dwell on what Jiang Chen truly felt for her. Two years was a long time. She couldn’t control her feelings or her emotions; she could only go with the flow. If she liked him, so be it; if she stopped liking him, she’d deal with it then. Whatever Jiang Chen might think of her in the future, she would never confess to him again.

Out in the world, dignity is something you give yourself!

When Qin Feifei came to visit, she asked about Ye Mian’s feelings. Ye Mian answered honestly, only to be met with Qin Feifei’s exaggerated shake of the head and disdain. “Oh, come off it, stop lying to yourself.”

Ye Mian narrowed her eyes. “I really mean it.”

Qin Feifei nodded in mock agreement, then hugged her shoulders with a laugh. “Trust me, you when you see Jiang Chen, and you when you don’t, are two completely different people.”

Ye Mian fell silent. There was no way to refute that.

Still, she believed it wasn’t her fault. After all, it was Jiang Chen who had that captivating face, seducing without even realizing it. She was merely a victim of his charms!

The new year passed quickly. Aside from a video call on New Year’s Eve, she had no further contact with Jiang Chen.

When spring arrived, Ye Mian received several confessions.

Among them was even a rich young man she’d seen with Jiang Chen. Rumor had it that, only after confirming Ye Mian wasn’t with Jiang Chen, did he dare to lower himself to pursue her. He made quite the spectacle, blocking the school gates with a sports car and a bouquet of red roses, only to stammer and fall silent as Ye Mian walked by. In his flustered attempt to catch up, he ran headlong into a lamppost.

When Qin Feifei recounted the incident, she laughed for a long time, occasionally sighing with regret and asking, “Really not interested? Some of them seem nice. Haven’t you taken a fancy to any of them? Jiang Chen is great, sure, but what if, after all this waiting, he still doesn’t like you? And isn’t his family situation kind of complicated?”

Ye Mian didn’t even pause, twisting up her hair and taking a sip of coffee. “If I don’t like them, I don’t like them. I never planned to be with him in the first place. While I’m young, I should focus on improving myself—maybe talk about it again when I’ve become rich.”

After saying this, she took another sip of her coffee. Early spring’s chill lingered, and the coffee’s faint bitterness barely pressed down the sourness in her heart.

People are like this: you can control your mind, but not your body. Her senses told her, all too clearly, that she didn’t really think that way.

“That’s right—become a rich woman and keep me as your sugar baby,” Qin Feifei half-joked, delighted to see her friend so ambitious, not like those hopeless romantics who let love consume them.

But if her friend’s hopeless crush was Jiang Chen, Qin Feifei had to concede she understood.

Ye Mian gazed out the window at the abrupt chill of the spring wind, at the budding branches. Another year had begun.

This year, it seemed she had truly grown accustomed to her new life. The past felt far behind her.

But the matter of Jiang Chen’s fate drew ever closer.

Now, apart from attending classes, she spent her time scouting locations for her studio. She wasn’t opening a brick-and-mortar business, so she didn’t need the busiest location, but it couldn’t be too remote either. After all, she’d eventually have to recruit staff; she didn’t want a place no one would willingly go.

After much searching, she finally found two suitable office spaces. One was decently furnished, affordable, and close to the university. The other, though farther from campus and closer to downtown, was more spacious—ideal for partitioning into multiple livestream studios.

After careful comparison, she chose the second option.

There was a reason for this choice she was reluctant to admit: the second office was just nine hundred meters from Secret Realm.

(End of this chapter)