Just after the summer solstice, the rains in North City had picked up, and the overcast skies day after day made it hard for anyone to muster any energy.
That was how it was supposed to be…
Fang Nianchen lifted her eyelids and glanced at the person leaning against her desk, unsure whether to interrupt her.
She’d been talking non-stop for nearly ten minutes, all about some woman she’d never even met.
When Qiao Yan got excited, she grabbed Fang Nianchen’s shoulder and shook it. “See, I told you praying to Buddha more often works. That new HR director is so stunning that she…”
Qiao Yan paused, as if she’d finally found the right word. “Exploded.”
Fang Nianchen shrugged off Qiao Yan’s hand. “With all the stars in the company, she’s just an ordinary person. No need to go that far…”
The “Yunqi Media” they worked at was an entertainment company with hundreds of contracted artists, more than half of whom were big-name celebrities. Logically speaking, they shouldn’t lack for good looks or charisma.
Though the company did background checks before hiring and employees couldn’t be fans of specific stars, the contract didn’t stop them from becoming fans later on.
Yesterday, Qiao Yan had told her that a certain female celebrity was her fated wife, and today she was gushing over someone else.
If her “wife” found out she’d lost to a nobody, she’d probably start doubting her own professional skills.
“Hey—why not!” Qiao Yan hooked her foot around her chair and pulled it over to sit down.
“Hmm?” Fang Nianchen hummed from her nose, signaling her to continue.
“Celebrities are pretty on the surface, but this one’s beauty is in her bones.” Qiao Yan analyzed it seriously for Fang Nianchen. “These days, it’s easier than ever to become a star. Anyone halfway decent-looking can join a talent show and debut. Worst case, they can go be internet celebrities, streaming and drawing crowds.”
She had a point. Fang Nianchen finally tore her gaze away from her computer.
“Unfortunately, they all lack any real presence. You can only lump them under ‘pretty,’ but this one? I can sum her up in two words.”
Qiao Yan’s wording was so formal it sounded weird.
Fang Nianchen thought she was making it up again and smiled helplessly. “What?”
“Cold. Ascetic.” Qiao Yan emphasized the words, all mysterious.
Cold, ascetic.
Fang Nianchen mentally scanned her colleagues—no one like that around. Everyone was focused on work and meals, their eyes so pure they bordered on idiotically clear.
The company’s artists had a few trying to go in that direction, but none had made the switch yet.
No wonder Qiao Yan was thrilled like she’d found gold. Rarity was indeed precious.
“Done? I have a meeting.” Fang Nianchen started to stand, but Qiao Yan pressed her down.
“Don’t rush. Take a look. I just realized you look a bit like her when you’re not smiling.” Afraid Fang Nianchen might misunderstand, Qiao Yan quickly added, “Your vibes are similar.”
Fang Nianchen turned her head away. “Not interested.”
“You will be.” Qiao Yan stubbornly shoved her phone in front of her. “Fresh beauties are a limited-time offer. Once she starts work, you’ll probably get annoyed by her soon enough.”
You know it?
Fang Nianchen sighed heavily in her heart.
So what if she’s a heavenly beauty? Once she starts as director next week and works for a bit, her attitude will change completely.
That’s how bosses are. With the superior-subordinate dynamic, it inevitably creates conflicts.
Looks only determine how harshly you’re scolded, not how often.
Better to temper expectations now, so there’s less guilt when the time comes to curse her out.
“No thanks. I’m annoyed already.” Fang Nianchen was in a hurry and brushed off her hand carelessly, grabbing her folder and heading to the conference room.
Left behind, Qiao Yan pouted. “I showed it to you because I thought she’d be your type. No appreciation…”
The meeting dragged on forever. Fang Nianchen nearly dozed off midway, propping her head on her pen.
By the time she emerged, Qiao Yan had already left.
After so many years as classmates and now colleagues, she knew Qiao Yan well. The woman never gave up until she got what she wanted. The lack of movement now meant she was plotting something quietly.
Sure enough, as soon as she reached the ground floor, there was Qiao Yan waiting with a smug grin.
Fang Nianchen’s lashes fluttered, and she turned to leave.
“Hey hey hey, where are you going?” Qiao Yan chased after her and grabbed her arm. “I’m not showing you the photo. Tao Zhixing’s bar is opening tonight, and she invited us to show support. Don’t say you didn’t know.”
Tao Zhixing and Qiao Yan had been Fang Nianchen’s two best friends in high school, forming an iron triangle.
Tao Zhixing’s name sounded gentle and quiet, but it didn’t match her at all. Qiao Yan used to run wild with her, but had toned it down after starting work.
Tao Zhixing was a rich second-gen who worked for the family business after college, and her brash personality hadn’t changed a bit.
To match her wild image, she’d invested in opening a bar.
Fang Nianchen eyed Qiao Yan warily. “Just that?”
“Would I trick you?” Qiao Yan suddenly looked helpless. “There are so many women in the world. If you don’t like this one, skip it. It’s not like she’ll be the one.”
Fang Nianchen finally relaxed. “Fine, let’s go.”
The bar was in the bustling downtown area, but inside it was anything but rowdy, with mellow jazz playing. On its first day, it was already packed.
“Fang Nianchen, what gives? You have the drink but won’t drink it, and you’re leering at my bartender.” Tao Zhixing had already drunk quite a bit by the time they arrived. She staggered over to Fang Nianchen and flopped onto her.
Tao Zhixing was boneless, her hand with the glass shaking nonstop, spilling booze all over Fang Nianchen.
She wasn’t mad and gently pushed Tao Zhixing away. “I wasn’t looking.”
Fang Nianchen prided herself on being upright and timid. From childhood to now, she’d never asked anyone for their contact info on the street. Even drunk, she was a model citizen. Tao Zhixing’s accusation was pure slander.
Besides, she’d just been spacing out and hadn’t even noticed anyone in that direction.
“Fine~ Not looking~” Tao Zhixing laughed, clinking her glass noisily before tossing it back in one gulp.
“No biggie. If you like her, take her. Anyway…” Tao Zhixing hiccuped. “I opened this bar to help you two get unpaired.”
Fang Nianchen knew the “you two” meant her and Qiao Yan.
Tao Zhixing was 100% straight, while she and Qiao Yan weren’t.
Qiao Yan had awakened her love for beauties back in high school, while Fang Nianchen realized later, in college, that she liked girls.
At first, they hadn’t paid much mind when Tao Zhixing said she wanted to open a bar, but when she specified a les bar, it shocked them both.
But if it was really just for them two, the friendship was too lavish.
Right after Tao Zhixing spoke, her head took a “smack” from behind.
She clutched it in pain and heard Qiao Yan snap unhappily, “What nonsense! Who’s the failure? Our Xiao Chen isn’t unpopular. Back in high school, didn’t those guys you crushed on all confess to her?”
Over the years, pursuers had come in droves for Fang Nianchen—guys and girls, all sorts.
Suddenly hit where it hurt, Tao Zhixing shot back loudly, “But she never ended up with anyone! She just hasn’t met the right one yet. What’s wrong with me helping?”
These two could bicker endlessly; it had been that way forever.
Fang Nianchen smiled helplessly and poured herself a drink.
Qiao Yan wouldn’t back down. “She definitely has!”
Tao Zhixing was tipsy and aggressive. “Fuck, then why doesn’t she say!”
Their trio’s friendship left no room for secrets.
“You gonna pretend you don’t know? That senior!”
“Pffft… cough cough cough.” Fang Nianchen had been enjoying the show, but at those words, she nearly spat out her drink.
Talk about bringing up the wrong pot.
“Oh? Right.” Tao Zhixing suddenly deflated, remembering something from years ago, and turned to Fang Nianchen. “Back in your freshman year, you said you liked a senior. What happened after?”
In college, Fang Nianchen had gone to a different school from the two of them, but they still got together now and then for food and drinks. That was the first—and only—time she’d eagerly asked them for pursuit advice.
The memory of that first time, the only time.
Qiao Yan and Tao Zhixing tacitly called a truce, both pairs of eyes turning to her.
“Nothing after…” Fang Nianchen felt a pang of guilt and looked down, fingers rubbing her glass. “After a while, I didn’t like her anymore.”
“Don’t buy it.” Qiao Yan nudged Tao Zhixing with her elbow and raised a brow.
Tao Zhixing got it and shook her head. “Don’t—buy it.”
Freshman-year Fang Nianchen had been unusually active, like a switch had flipped. The girl who’d always shunned socializing went out more that year than all of high school combined.
The phase lasted a year and a half. By the end of sophomore year, she’d reverted to her old ways—and gone even more reclusive.
When they asked, Fang Nianchen clammed up.
Years later, it had become the one secret she kept from them, including that “senior’s” name and face.
Honestly speaking, they didn’t think Fang Nianchen’s taste could be that bad. This person wasn’t a hopeless romantic; she was perfectly clear-headed.
She might have spotted something off about the other party and cut her losses in time, or maybe she’d been hurt by love, sealing her heart with cement and turning into a lonely single frog for all these years.
Qiao Yan and Tao Zhixing chimed in one after another with their questions, while Fang Nianchen silently downed several glasses of wine.
Suddenly, she slammed her glass down on the table, her expression turning serious. “I’ll say this once, so listen up.”
Something this embarrassing—she was afraid she’d die of shame if she had to repeat it even a few more times.
Fang Nianchen poured herself another drink, letting the slight buzz give her courage before she finally spoke. “That senior is straight. Back in my sophomore year, she got a boyfriend, so…”
So her secret crush had fizzled out without a chance. One could say she’d been utterly heartbroken by a straight girl.
Even after all these years, bringing it up still left her mortified.
“Straight girl, huh…” Qiao Yan struggled to hold back her laughter, her lips trembling nonstop. She slapped a hand on Tao Zhixing’s shoulder and finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, burying her face as she burst out laughing.
In their circle, stories of lesbians crushing on straight girls were a dime a dozen—usually just fodder for jokes. She never imagined there’d be a real-life case right in her own friend group.
Fang Nianchen felt annoyed inside. “Have you laughed enough yet?”
Qiao Yan laughed mutely for a bit longer before pulling out her phone to change the subject. “Zhixing, our department just got a new director who’s ridiculously good-looking. Check out her photo.”
Tao Zhixing obligingly leaned over, her eyes going wide. “Tsk tsk, she’s something else.”
Fang Nianchen had first wanted to die of embarrassment, and now she was being ignored. Unhappily, she grumbled, “Let me see too.”
Qiao Yan set her phone face-down, giving Fang Nianchen a meaningful smile. “You better not. With looks like hers, she’s straight as an arrow.”
Straight girl this, straight girl that—was she ever going to stop?
It was just a look! She wouldn’t necessarily even like her!
Fang Nianchen said resentfully, “Why does your word make her straight?”
Back then, she’d crashed and burned precisely because she couldn’t spot that the senior was straight. She wouldn’t allow Qiao Yan to develop some kind of superpower like that.
Seeing Fang Nianchen getting properly riled up, Qiao Yan dropped the teasing and handed over her phone. “Fine, no more bullying you. Here, one high-cold goddess for your viewing pleasure.”
Fang Nianchen glanced at it casually at first, but then her pupils abruptly contracted.
The woman in the photo wore a perfectly tailored dark gray suit, her hair pinned up with a few loose strands framing her ears. Her finely sculpted features, paired with the outfit, gave off an aloof, unapproachable vibe—especially those icy eyes.
Even through the screen, that gaze was enough to kill any impulse to get close, no matter how captivating the face.
She really did live up to Qiao Yan’s description: high-cold and utterly abstinent.
Fang Nianchen frowned, wondering if she’d drunk too much and was starting to see things.
Clinging to a faint hope, she asked cautiously, “What’s her name?”
“Yu Wan.”
The instant she heard the name, Fang Nianchen’s buzz vanished completely. A numb sensation shot from her scalp straight down to her toes.
