He Yining looked down at his disheveled clothes, shook his head helplessly, and tossed them directly into the trash bin. Shen Qi fled from the bathroom, fumbled to change into her pajamas, lay down on the sofa, and pulled the blanket over herself from head to toe. When He Yining came out after his shower, this was the scene he saw. Without a word, he went straight to his room to rest.
Hearing the door close, Shen Qi finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief and yanked the blanket off her head. Phew, she’d almost suffocated. She sat up abruptly on the sofa, tossed the blanket aside, and padded silently to pour herself a glass of water. She gulped it down in one go, finally feeling a bit better.
The starlight outside the window was just right. Shen Qi set down the glass, ran to the window, and leaned against the wall, hugging her knees as she gazed at the starry sky, lost in thought. A shooting star streaked across the sky. Shen Qi instinctively reached up to touch the flame-shaped birthmark between her collarbones, her mind inexplicably drifting back to a childhood playmate. That boy she’d promised to tell who she really was. But...
“Little brother, you said that when a shooting star falls, that’s when you’d find me. But now we’ve grown up, scattered to different corners of the world. Maybe we’ll never see each other again in this lifetime, right?” Shen Qi murmured wistfully to herself. “I’m so sorry. It’s not that I deliberately broke my promise not to meet you. It’s just... my mother remarried, and my brother and I followed her away. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to.”
Shen Qi rested her chin on her knees, quietly lost in thought. She didn’t know how long had passed when the wall lamp behind her suddenly clicked on. Startled, she turned around. He Yining was also awake, walking over with a glass of water in hand.
“Did I disturb you?” Shen Qi immediately checked herself.
He Yining shook his head. “No, I just couldn’t sleep. Why aren’t you asleep either?”
“Not tired,” Shen Qi replied.
“Is that so?” He Yining sat down on the carpet by the window as well, looking at Shen Qi in her little white rabbit pajamas. Her obedient demeanor made the corners of his eyes soften. At this moment, Shen Qi had none of her daytime sharpness; her slightly messy hair clung to her cheeks, making her look even more serene.
He Yining took a sip of water and joined her in gazing at the night sky. The air in City C was decent, not heavily polluted by heavy industry. Watching the stars at night was quite a treat.
After what had just happened, Shen Qi felt unsure how to face this business tycoon. She didn’t want He Yining to think she was trying to latch onto him. Noticing her silence, He Yining broke the awkwardness with a topic. “Do you know who I’m meeting tomorrow?”
Shen Qi shook her head.
“It’s a friend of my father’s,” He Yining explained voluntarily. “Do you know who my father is?”
Shen Qi shook her head again, looking bewildered.
He Yining let out a soft laugh. “Right, you don’t pay any attention to me.”
Shen Qi scratched her head sheepishly.
He Yining continued, “This elder was once my mentor. Later, he stepped down and came here to live in seclusion. ‘Great hermits hide in the court, middling ones in the city, small ones in the wild.’ As the saying goes, but the great and middling paths are always too exhausting.”
Shen Qi seemed to catch on. She couldn’t help interjecting, “So, he settled in the countryside of City C?”
He Yining smiled gently. “Yes. He built a small house on the outskirts and lives a carefree life. What do you think of that kind of life?”
“It’s wonderful,” Shen Qi replied. “Only someone truly open-minded realizes that striving and scheming in life is just too tiring. As time passes, stepping back from the forefront and retreating appropriately isn’t a bad philosophy of life. I don’t know who this elder is, but since he was your mentor, he must have once been a figure who could command wind and rain. To have the vision and courage to do this now, he can’t be a mediocre person.”
Hearing this, He Yining felt a spark of interest in the conversation. “Oh? You can judge he’s not mediocre without even knowing who he is?”
“It’s simple,” Shen Qi said matter-of-factly. “Many people can’t bring themselves to make a graceful exit. If he’s around your father’s age, he’s probably only in his sixties. Times aren’t like the past—sixty is still a vigorous age nowadays.”
He Yining chuckled, his phoenix eyes lifting. “Your perspective is indeed different from others.”
Shen Qi felt a bit embarrassed, scratching her head again. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you said it well.” He Yining shook his head lightly, still smiling. “What about me, then?”
“Huh?” Shen Qi looked completely confused, not understanding his meaning.
“Do you think I should make a graceful exit? After all, I’m already at the peak,” He Yining said with a faint, teasing smile.
“Ah... I can’t really say about that,” Shen Qi answered honestly. “I’m just a small stylist.”
“Alright, I won’t disturb you anymore. Get some sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow.” With that, He Yining stood up and left.
Watching his retreating figure, Shen Qi inexplicably felt relieved. Geez, facing this emperor still made her nervous. Checking the time, it was indeed late. She probably wouldn’t get many hours of sleep, so Shen Qi didn’t dawdle. She climbed onto the sofa and drifted off into a drowsy slumber.
The next morning, Shen Qi heard the rustle of curtains. Still half-asleep, she thought she was at home and mumbled, “Don’t bother me, I’m still sleepy...”
The hand pulling the curtain paused. He Yining heard the sleepy murmur of a young woman for the first time, so different from her usual voice—sweet and languid. He cleared his throat and said, “Time to get up. We’re running out of time!”
At the sound of He Yining’s voice, Shen Qi, who had been battling drowsiness just a second ago, snapped her eyes open! She blinked, and her foggy brain instantly cleared. This wasn’t home! She sat up on the sofa and turned around—oh my god, He Yining was already fully dressed!
Ahhh, had she overslept? Shen Qi didn’t dare linger in bed anymore. She jumped up and dashed into the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in a second!”
Watching her flustered state, He Yining couldn’t help but smile softly. Xiao Chun happened to knock and enter, catching the president’s smile in that instant. He was stunned for a long time. The president had never been one to smile easily. But lately, it seemed he was smiling more and more often...