Chapter 2

Shen Jingsong’s concerned gaze fell upon her, and Xia Zhuxi met her eyes for just an instant before suddenly looking away.

Shen Jingsong turned to the Boss. “We’ll also need some Iodophor and cotton swabs, plus two more cola popsicles.”

Xia Zhuxi followed Shen Jingsong as they passed a large tree.

In the flower bed, gardenia buds strained to bloom.

Shen Jingsong had bought several extra bottles of water. She had Xia Zhuxi sit on the edge of the flower bed and apply an ice compress while she used room-temperature water to rinse the wound.

Xia Zhuxi kept her head lowered in silence as Shen Jingsong applied the medicine. Her touch was gentle. She dipped a white cotton swab into the Iodophor, which turned it yellow, then dabbed it in circles over the abrasion. Once the liquid had dried, she sprayed on some Lingnan White Medicine.

“It must hurt a lot. Eating a popsicle might make you feel better.” Shen Jingsong tore open the wrapper. “Your favorite cola flavor.”

“Thanks.” Xia Zhuxi took the popsicle and took a sip. The sweet, silky taste seeped into her heart. So Shen Jingsong didn’t just remember where Pei Ziying kept her private items—she also remembered Xia Zhuxi’s preferred flavor.

Someone lightly bumped the popsicle in her hand. Shen Jingsong clinked hers against it like a toast.

Shen Jingsong sat down beside her. They were about the same height, their shoulders brushing. “How did you get hurt? Would you like to talk about it with me?”

It was surprising that the first person to ask if she was in pain or why she’d been injured was Shen Jingsong, their houseguest…

Xia Zhuxi wiped the corner of her eye and turned her face away, letting the shadow of the flowering tree hide the glimmer of tears. Her voice was a little hoarse as she feigned calm. “Neither my dad nor my mom asked why I got into a fight.”

Shen Jingsong was a patient listener. “Then tell me alone. I’ll keep it secret.”

It was a simple story. While Xia Zhuxi had been wandering the pedestrian street, she’d seen a group of boys bullying a girl.

The ringleader had lifted the little girl’s skirt and loudly announced the color of her underwear. The other boys hooted along, and the girl burst into aggrieved sobs.

In a surge of anger, Xia Zhuxi had punched the skirt-lifter. Then the boy’s parents had shown up.

And that was that.

Xia Zhuxi shrugged indifferently. “I’m used to getting beaten and yelled at anyway. This is just a scratch.” She added, “Thanks… Sister Jingsong.”

A soft sigh escaped Shen Jingsong’s lips. Xia Zhuxi glanced over to see her slender jade-like fingers brush past her ear before gently ruffling the top of her head. “Xia Zhuxi, you’re amazing.”

The spot on her ear felt hot, and her chest grew light and dizzy. Without thinking, Xia Zhuxi touched her earlobe and stared down at the ants crawling through cracks in the pavement. In a small voice, she murmured, “It was nothing. I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

Even her wound didn’t hurt as much anymore.

Xia Zhuxi nibbled on her cola popsicle, stealing glances at Shen Jingsong from the corner of her eye. The evening breeze lifted the hem of her skirt as she gazed peacefully at the sky, the elegant curve of her raised chin and neck tracing a graceful arc.

The sunset painted the deep blue sky like a velvet curtain brushed with rouge. Amid the red and blue, Shen Jingsong stood out in pure white.

A faint, snowy fragrance wafted over, soothing the restlessness in Xia Zhuxi’s heart.

She savored the gentle breeze, closing her eyes as if she were in the vast Snow Forest—where Shen Jingsong was a snowflake resting on a pine branch, radiating clear, gentle purity.

~~~

Someone mentioned prep classes for the transition to high school, and Xia Mama took it to heart. She felt the tutoring centers in County Town weren’t up to par, so she decided Pei Ziying should tutor Xia Zhuxi instead.

Neither the teacher nor the student was thrilled about the idea.

“You still haven’t memorized this formula after three days? Xia Zhuxi, I’m begging you as your sister—give me a break.”

“You think I don’t want out of this? You go tell Mom.”

Xia Mama was delighted to see such sisterly bonding over studies. On top of the morning and afternoon sessions, she thoughtfully added evening self-study.

There were no lectures during evening self-study. Pei Ziying would hand Xia Zhuxi practice sheets to complete, correct them the next morning, and then go over the questions.

One evening, Pei Ziying mentioned she had to head into the city proper early the next morning, so she wanted to grade the sheets ahead of time. Unfortunately, Xia Zhuxi had gotten a ton wrong. Pei Ziying’s blood pressure skyrocketed. “Xia Zhuxi, are you a pig? I’ve explained this equation seven or eight times, and you still mess it up? Six major problems, five wrong—and one blank. Were you waiting for me to solve it for you?”

“You’re so annoying. Wrong is wrong—what are you yelling about? You think you explain it that well? Every time it’s a different way. Last time, your formula didn’t even match the book.”

“That’s because you’re too dumb to understand the transformation formula.”

Shen Jingsong, who had come in with some fruit, stepped between them. “Alright, both of you, take a break.” She turned to Pei Ziying. “You’re tired too, and you’ve got to get up early tomorrow. You hate getting out of bed.”

Pei Ziying flopped onto the bed and squinted up at Shen Jingsong. “Set an alarm for me. Wake me when it goes off. If you hadn’t insisted on visiting that temple, I wouldn’t have to sacrifice my lie-in.”

Shen Jingsong’s tone took on a coquettish lilt that Xia Zhuxi had never heard before. “Ziying, you promised me.”

Xia Zhuxi stared down at her worksheet. The red marks glared back at her. As the two went back and forth, a stuffy frustration built in her chest, and she gripped her pen a little tighter.

The two of them chatted a little longer before light footsteps approached. Xia Zhuxi heard Shen Jingsong say, “Xiao Xi, shall I tutor you?”

Pei Ziying rose and walked to the door. “Shen Jingsong, give it up. She’s hopeless.”

Xia Zhuxi slammed her pen down on the table. Shen Jingsong laid a gentle hand over hers, her fingertips warm against the back of Xia Zhuxi’s hand. Xia Zhuxi drew in a deep breath and forced the curse words back down her throat.

Shen Jingsong stepped up to Pei Ziying, the light sparkling like stars in her eyes. “Only you are so clever.”

“Not clever enough to come home with me?” Pei Ziying tilted her chin up slightly. Shen Jingsong lowered her gaze, a secret smile curving her lips as she shut the door, leaving her outside.

Xia Zhuxi watched them, her chest swelling with an inexplicable mix of sourness and bitterness.

Her eyes lingered on the curve of Shen Jingsong’s lips—so full and glistening, flushed a delicate pink against her snow-white skin. When she smiled like that, words hovering unspoken on her lips, she was utterly enchanting…

Surprisingly, Xia Zhuxi behaved herself during Shen Jingsong’s lessons, allowing Pei Ziying to happily play the hands-off boss.

This was Xia Zhuxi’s first truly diligent summer of studying. She tackled every exercise Shen Jingsong assigned right on schedule, listened attentively to her explanations, and watched as she graded the papers.

A faint, soft fragrance drifted around her.

Xia Zhuxi propped her chin on the desk, staring fixedly at Shen Jingsong as she marked the papers.

Shen Jingsong’s eyebrows arched finely, like the “lingering smoke” described in <Dream of the Red Chamber>. Shen Jingsong’s eyes were clear and alluring, like the bright moon hanging high in the sky. Shen Jingsong’s…

Her gaze settled on the tiny mole at Shen Jingsong’s collarbone, and for a fleeting moment, she had the urge to reach out and touch it.

“Xiao Xi, you’re very smart. You grasp every point after I explain it just once.” Shen Jingsong looked up, and Xia Zhuxi hastily shifted her eyes away.

Shen Jingsong lowered her voice. “It’s not that you can’t learn. It’s that you don’t apply yourself.”

Xia Zhuxi stared off elsewhere, saying nothing.

Shen Jingsong set her phone down in front of her. Xia Zhuxi glanced at the screen—it showed a profile of a professional race car driver.

“Xiao Xi, do you want the F1 Crown?”

Xia Zhuxi’s eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously. “Yes!”

Shen Jingsong pulled up a university website. “J University’s automotive engineering program is renowned. Just imagine: one day you’re out racing, and someone asks you about streamlining and aerodynamics. You can’t very well admit you have no idea, can you?”

Xia Zhuxi’s cheeks flushed pink. She nodded emphatically. Shen Jingsong gave her a warm smile, her fingers brushing lightly over the top of Xia Zhuxi’s head. “J University’s admission cutoff is sky-high, but I believe you can make it.”

A warmth bloomed in Xia Zhuxi’s eyes and chest.

She folded her arms and rested her chin on them, her lips pressed tight. Believe in me… Her parents and sister had never said those words to her. She had faith in her racing, but studying and exams? Even if she poured her heart into it, her grades would never match Pei Ziying’s—and her parents would still never approve of her…

Shen Jingsong’s clear eyes seemed to pierce straight through the shadows in her heart. She parted her lips. “Xia Zhuxi, you don’t have to be better than anyone else.”

“You are you—passionate, brave, a shining light blazing down the racetrack.”

“You are the best Xia Zhuxi there is.”

Hot tears spilled out despite her efforts. Xia Zhuxi crumpled the paper in her fist and buried her face in her arms.

She would do it. She would get into J University. She would conquer F1. She would claim that crown.

She would become the best Xia Zhuxi—the one Shen Jingsong believed in.

~~~

Summer slipped away quietly, almost before she knew it.

August drew to a close in the blink of an eye, with school looming just around the corner.

On the final night of tutoring, Xia Zhuxi glanced over at the woman beside her.

Shen Jingsong was caressing a photo of Pei Ziying on the table, her touch tender and lingering.

Xia Zhuxi’s spirits dimmed. She quickly masked her bitterness with a faint smile, scribbling line after line of answers on her paper—and etching that impossible name deep into her heart.

Shen Jingsong. Shen Jingsong. Shen Jingsong.

Shen Jingsong. Shen Jingsong. Shen Jingsong…

The papers ended up boxed away in the old house back in the county town, and that name was sealed forever in the summer she turned fourteen.

Later on, Pei Ziying headed to France to study film directing. Rumor had it she and Shen Jingsong had a falling-out and cut off all contact.

Xia Zhuxi never saw Shen Jingsong again.

~~~

That year, at twenty-three, spring arrived early in Shengjing City. A few gentle rains had passed, bringing lush greenery everywhere, and the sunlight grew brighter with each passing day.

In the heart of the bustling downtown, the iconic triangular tower of Jingyue Grand Hotel rose from an expansive lawn. A massive poster hung at the revolving entrance:

Congratulations to

Mr. Li Han & Miss Pei Ziying

on their engagement—a perfect match destined for three lifetimes

In the hotel lobby, a tall woman in a sleek suit and gown stood at the end of the red carpet, next to the guestbook wall. Floor-to-ceiling windows surrounded the space, and her long orange hair gleamed with a warm glow in the sunlight.

“Xiao Xi! You’ve grown so much!”

Xia Zhuxi looked up at the sound of her voice. Sunlight bathed her face, highlighting her striking features—the shadow of her lashes falling across the bridge of her straight nose.

A plump middle-aged woman’s voice trembled with excitement. “Do you remember me? I’m your Cousin Aunt. You came back to the county town that summer after your middle school entrance exams, and we had dinner together.”

The young woman beside her was even more worked up. “Mom, call her Xia God! Sister Zhuxi is now the ace of the Feilian Racing Team—the legend who shot straight from F3 to F1!”

Two years earlier, Xia Zhuxi had shattered the F3 record and leaped straight to an F1 qualification, rocketing to godlike status in a single race. Fans in the racing world still buzzed about it endlessly, bestowing titles like Xia God and Racing Queen upon her. Their cheers were nothing short of fanatical, and while Xia Zhuxi had felt shy at first, she’d slowly grown used to it.

Xia Zhuxi gave them a faint smile and handed over a signing pen.

The sign-in wall was crammed full, with nearly all the guests having arrived.

Xia Zhuxi cross-checked against the sign-in sheet, circling the names of those who hadn’t signed. She flipped to the final page, her pen pausing over the last name. She verified the name and identity details several times to ensure there were no errors before slashing a heavy line through it.

Her breath caught as the pen tip dragged across, leaving a tiny ink smudge beside those three characters.

The last two clouds in the sky drifted away, and sunlight flooded brazenly into the hall. A silver high-heeled shoe clattered onto the red carpet, the skirt’s hem swaying as long, straight legs carried their owner forward with elegant strides.

A faint commotion stirred at the revolving door. Xia Zhuxi set down the sign-in sheet and slowly lifted her gaze toward the noise. The light was blinding; she squinted. In the glare, a snow-white figure grew from a distant speck into sharp focus.

The woman’s skin gleamed whiter than snow, her presence ethereal and aloof. A high-slit gown hugged her slender waist, and the fragrance of snow pine perfume drifted through the air.

“Sign in,” she said, halting opposite the sign-in wall. Her makeup was flawless, her expression cool and detached as she waited for the receptionist to hand her a pen.

Xia Zhuxi froze, clutching the pen in a daze. After two seconds of silence, she found her voice, though it quivered. “Sister Jingsong.”

“Who are you?” Shen Jingsong’s eyes held no spark of recognition. Her long earrings swayed gently, brushing the small mole at her collarbone.

Xia Zhuxi’s eyes burned. “I…”

Nine years had passed. Of course she didn’t remember.

They’d only shared a fleeting connection that one summer. Xia Zhuxi had been nothing more than the disappointing little sister of her former best friend. Why would she?

“I love the dramas you star in. I’m a huge fan,” Xia Zhuxi said, swallowing the lump in her throat and forcing a smile as she offered the pen.

Shen Jingsong accepted it, her shoulder grazing Xia Zhuxi’s as she passed.

“Long time no see, Little Champion.”

Xia Zhuxi whipped her head around in shock. Shen Jingsong glanced back suddenly, their eyes meeting. A brilliant smile lit Shen Jingsong’s face, radiant as spring sunlight shattering the ice.