The eve of Chapter 43 was like a silent snake approaching its prey...

Five years later.

In a rooftop coffee shop in Shanghai, soft jazz music flows gently through the air, and a scented candle burns on the table, slowly casting a soft glow.

A stylishly dressed girl sat by the window. Her chestnut-brown curly hair was tucked behind her ear with a small hair clip, revealing a simple and delicate diamond earring. A small gray-blue square bag was placed next to her chair, and upon closer inspection, one could see the traces of handcrafting.

Pei Yueli gently swirled a caramel macchiato in her hand, glancing at her phone every now and then, and then casually glancing at the entrance of the coffee shop, a faint look of doubt appearing on her delicate and bright face.

It's already eight minutes late. Ning Jiu isn't usually late, so something must have delayed him.

She had just turned off the screen and gotten up to go find Ning Jiu when she heard a loud commotion coming from the entrance of the coffee shop.

The waiter at the door tried to stop him, but the man in the suit pushed him aside, smiled, and confidently blocked Ning Jiu's path.

“Don’t rush to reject me, Xiao Jiu,” he said, putting one hand in his suit pocket and the other on the railing in front of her. “I’m only saying this for your own good. Please consider me.”

The well-behaved girl wasn't annoyed by being blocked. She slowly raised her eyes, her amber eyes clear and bright, with a slight upturn at the corners, and a gentle smile appeared on her lips.

"Considering you?" she changed the subject. "But I have a boyfriend."

"Yes, consider me."

The man looked at Ning Jiu meaningfully, a confident smile on his face.

“Junior, we’re practically from the same school, so I won’t beat around the bush. Your boyfriend, Su Ming, just graduated from Shanghai University and is planning to pursue a PhD. You’re talking about starting your own business, but he’s from a small town; he doesn’t have any decent connections or resources. To be honest, he can’t help you at all. I’m different—”

He casually revealed the designer watch on his wrist, and his fingertips began to try to touch Ning Jiu's wrist, but Ning Jiu dodged it.

"I currently have three projects in talks, one of which is in the psychology field. If you work with me, you can attend industry events with me and broaden your horizons. Then you'll understand what a person like Su Ming really is..."

The girl tilted her head and interrupted the man in a soft voice: "Excuse me, senior, what kind of person are you?"

I was initially too lazy to deal with him, but this guy has been sticking to me like glue ever since I left school, and it's really annoying.

"It is a fine watch, a Patek Philippe Nautilus, a limited edition from 2006... You bought it when you were five years old?"

Her gaze fell on his wrist, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"This suit looks like a ready-to-wear piece, but the shoulders can't hold it up. The material is too light and the color is too bright. It's okay for everyday wear, but it would be a bit of a stretch to wear to a cocktail party."

He comes from an upper-middle-class family with some family resources and gets into certain situations through his parents, but his own knowledge and temperament are not up to par. He is a self-righteous finance guy who likes to show off and put on a show.

"It's normal for you to like me, because I like myself too."

Ning Jiu's voice was as gentle as ever.

"But senior, if you want to bring an obedient and well-behaved female companion to the party, you at least have to be presentable yourself first."

When Pei Yueli arrived at the door, she saw the finance guy angrily leaving, and the obedient girl standing quietly beside him.

Recalling the first time she met her, she, like everyone else, assumed Ning Jiu was as gentle and easy to talk to as she appeared, but the result was—

Her true personality is just... exactly what she likes.

"With this level of skill, he tries to act like an elite man. It's infuriating." Pei Yueli had overheard their conversation at the door. She took Ning Jiu's hand and walked towards the coffee shop's terrace, not forgetting to complain, "He's so ordinary yet so confident. He has a boyfriend but still tries to steal him away. Don't these men have any self-awareness?"

During her high school years, Ning Jiu was more of a soft and obedient girl. Now, her baby fat has faded, and while her obedience remains, she has gained an indescribable allure. With her snow-white skin and amber eyes, she can be captivating with just a casual glance.

Because of her looks, she had a constant stream of suitors after starting university. This only calmed down a bit after she got a boyfriend, but recently these people have started to get restless again.

The two sat back down. Ning Jiu, as usual, didn't drink coffee but ordered a lemon tea. She seemed a little absent-minded until Pei Yueli coughed next to her, which brought her back to her senses.

Pei Yueli observed Ning Jiu's expression and casually asked, "What's wrong? Ever since you went back to Jiangcheng a few days ago, you've seemed restless."

Both of them are alumni of Shanghai University, but Pei Yueli has lived in Shanghai since childhood. If she hadn't just returned from Paris and was busy with a bunch of formalities at her new fashion company, she would have originally planned to go to Jiangcheng with Ning Jiu.

"Nothing much, just saw some old friends," Ning Jiu said casually, then, as if remembering something interesting, she put down her glass and raised an eyebrow. "By the way, didn't my uncle recently travel to Melbourne with Teacher Shen—"

"Stop, stop, stop," Pei Yueli started to get frustrated as soon as this topic came up. "Can we not talk about sweet wine for now?"

After entering the Department of Psychology at Shanghai University, Ning Jiu was mentored by Shen Zhiying throughout her undergraduate and master's studies. Coincidentally, Shen Zhiying is also Pei Yueli's aunt.

Pei Yueli studied fashion design at Shanghai University, and because of this connection, the two became quite close during their university years.

Neither Ning Jiu nor Pei Yueli expected that during the months Yuan Liangjing spent visiting Ning Jiu in Shanghai during the summer vacation, he actually fell in love with Shen Zhiying at first sight. Ning Jiu could accept this relationship, but the key issue was Pei Yueli.

She didn't have any other thoughts, she was just too shocked. She couldn't imagine that her aunt, who had been praised as "someone else's child" since childhood, had been single for many years, and her first relationship was with a dessert shop owner she had only met a few times.

“I remember my aunt’s ideal type in college was a muscular guy with eight-pack abs like Chris Hemsworth.” Pei Yueli had gone from initial shock to lamenting her fate. “In the end, the person she actually liked didn’t fit either of those ideal types.”

"By the way, the reason I asked you out today is to discuss serious business," she said, her tone becoming serious. "Are you really planning to take over that psychological counseling center?"

Since her undergraduate years, Ning Jiu has been working with Shen Zhiying in psychological counseling. In her final year of master's studies, Liu Qingman, a former student of Shen Zhiying, was preparing to immigrate, and her psychological counseling center in Shanghai was facing transfer. After learning the news, Ning Jiu took the initiative to take over the paperwork and rent the space, intending to try to restart it before graduation.

“In the current environment, renewing the lease for the consultation room won’t be easy,” Pei Yueli knew Ning Jiu had her own plans, so she didn’t say much, but just looked at her seriously. “If you encounter any difficulties in the process, just tell me or your aunt. She has been looking forward to you for the past few years and will not stand idly by.”

Even though they had previous experience in psychological counseling, the studio's client base didn't grow overnight.

Ning Jiu understood Pei Yueli's meaning; her previous return to Jiangcheng was also because of this matter.

The counseling center's clients were mostly concentrated in Jiangcheng and Shanghai, but changing the person in charge at the last minute was not an easy thing to accept. During the few days she returned to Jiangcheng, the visitors on the list were crossed off one by one, and almost none of them were able to renew their contracts.

Ning Jiu has been so busy dealing with this matter lately that she hasn't slept well for several days, and faint dark circles are visible under her eyes.

“I’ll try again,” she said, still hoping to take on the task herself and complete it independently. “There’s no hope in Jiangcheng, but I have a few clients in Shanghai. I’ll see if I can arrange to meet them.”

After chatting with Pei Yueli, she readily offered to drive her home. As soon as she came downstairs, she could see the eye-catching emerald green custom Maserati from afar. With just one glance, Ning Jiu knew that Pei Yueli had changed to a new car again. This new car, as always, perfectly matched her aesthetic style, and it was clearly marked with Pei Yueli's name.

As soon as Ning Jiu got into the car, she felt a vibration in her bag; it was Su Ming calling.

There was some background noise on his end; I could vaguely hear the hum of the instruments running, interspersed with the sounds of turning pages and typing on a keyboard. He must still be in the lab.

There seemed to be a minor accident on the main road ahead. Ning Jiu patted Pei Yueli on the shoulder, signaling her to be careful, and then picked up her phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello."

"Xiao Jiu." The other end called her name as usual, followed by a brief silence, as if there was some hesitation.

Ning Jiu took a moment to look up and saw that Pei Yueli had driven closer. The accident involved a white truck colliding with a blue sedan. The side of the sedan was deformed, and the front of the car was almost embedded in the guardrail. It looked quite serious.

Traffic police have arrived and are busy directing the evacuation. It's a bit noisy now. Ning Jiu didn't hear what Su Ming said, but she could roughly guess that it was about the EZGT Exchange Summit quota.

Because she was busy contacting existing clients of the psychology studio these past few days, she had to ask Su Ming to help her with the school's foreign affairs approval process and submit some of her exit documents on her behalf.

"If it's about the summit, I'll go back right now and we'll talk face to face."

Ning Jiu tilted her head slightly and used her palm to protect the phone's earpiece, trying to avoid noise interference.

Pei Yueli had already turned around and driven onto another road. Just as she entered the fork in the road, a black minivan in the other lane suddenly turned around, completely unaware of the surrounding vehicles.

With a hiss, the rear of the van scraped the front left side of Pei Yueli's car, making a muffled sound, and a long scratch was left on the gleaming emerald green paint.

"I just picked up my new car last week!"

Pei Yueli cursed under her breath, turned on her hazard lights, and was about to get out of the car to argue with the other party. Ning Jiu and Su Ming briefly explained the situation, hung up the phone, and quickly followed her out.

A burly man in a suit stepped out of the driver's seat of a black van, his face practically screaming "Don't mess with me." He was menacing, but Pei Yueli's aura was equally strong. After a brief argument, the passenger door opened, and a curly-haired woman wearing sunglasses got out. She took off her sunglasses and said in a teasing tone with a Shanghai accent, "Oh, isn't this Lili?"

Pei Yueli stared at the woman with exquisite makeup for a few seconds, then her brain went blank for three seconds.

"Aunt Linda?"

Linda Lee just laughed and said, "These past few years I've been busy traveling all over the world with my artists. You only met your aunt once when you were little, do you still remember? That's really something."

Since they were all acquaintances, Pei Yueli could only smile awkwardly. The two of them parked their cars in front of a nearby convenience store. Linda said that it was rare to see the little girl who used to follow her aunt around when she was a child, and they wanted to get together nearby. Pei Yueli quickly waved her hand and said that she had to take her friend to Shanghai University.

“Oh, then let’s meet again next time, you and your aunt can come together.” Li Linda’s gaze then fell on Ning Jiu, who had been silent for a long time. “Your friend? The little girl is quite pretty.”

“Our company is right next to Shanghai University. Auntie, can you take your car to get it repaired first? I’ll give your friend a ride over there.”

Before Ning Jiu and Pei Yueli could respond, Li Linda enthusiastically took Ning Jiu's arm and led her to the back seat of the van. Just as her hand touched the door handle, before she could exert any force, the door clicked open from the inside.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, one of our artists is still inside."

Unlike the sharp edge she displayed at first sight, Li Linda's voice was gentle and calm now, carrying the ease and confidence honed through her experience in the business world, which made people unconsciously relax.

"You might know them. Our artist has gained some attention in recent years. The company headquarters moved from Shanghai to Beijing a while ago, and they just moved back recently. They just landed today."

Ning Jiu looked up and met those familiar, smiling phoenix eyes, and was speechless.

More than just acquaintances.

I've blocked eight hundred or so WeChat accounts already.

After making eye contact with her for a second, Wen Yi casually looked away. Li Linda, who was standing outside the car door, assumed that Ning Jiu was shy like other fangirls when they saw their idols, and kindly comforted her.

“Our Evan may seem aloof on stage, but he’s actually very easy to get along with in private, so don’t be nervous.”

Wen Yi? Easy to get along with?

Ningjiu simply couldn't connect these two words together.

She was jokingly pushed by Li Linda into the business class seat. The back seat was spacious, with a retractable LCD screen and a foldable small table in front. The air conditioning was set just right, suppressing the summer heat.

She leaned back in her chair, trying to keep her body as far away from the other person as possible. When she saw Wen Yi three years ago, he had changed a lot since high school, and now he had changed completely.

His hair looked meticulously styled, with a few strands of sea blue highlights at the ends. He wore a seemingly casual light gray bomber jacket, zipped up halfway and with the collar slightly open, presumably for a brand he was endorsing.

The car windows were covered with privacy film, so you couldn't see the scenery outside. The fragrance inside the car wasn't strong, but it had a subtle, sweet scent, like ripe cherries mixed with a hint of jasmine, gently carried into your nostrils by the air conditioning.

Linda Li closed the car door, casually adjusted the rear lights, instructed the driver to start the car, and said with a smile, "Evan chose this fragrance himself. He likes this kind of fruity and sweet scent, saying it makes him feel at ease."

She paused, glancing at Ning Jiu out of the corner of her eye: "But some people can't stand the smell, they find it too sweet. Do you mind? Or should I get something milder?"

As Ning Jiu met her gaze, she also felt another gaze fixed on her.

She smiled sweetly and said, "No need, thank you, Sister Linda."

The car soon entered a familiar area, and the street scene outside the window gradually became more welcoming. As Linda Li had said, the newly renovated Yaoxing Entertainment Company was just two streets away from Shanghai University.

Before leaving, Linda Li casually took her phone out of her bag.

"I was so busy talking that I forgot. What's your WeChat ID? Come visit our company sometime."

Ning Jiu frowned, the words of refusal on the tip of her tongue, but Wen Yi, who was beside her, seemed not to notice her hesitation and lazily replied.

"It just so happens that she's a psychology major. Didn't you say before that my mental state was unstable and that you wanted to find me a reliable psychological counselor?"

"......"

"......"

Inside the carriage, even though the air conditioning wasn't turned down, Ning Jiu felt the atmosphere around her inexplicably drop a few degrees.

The surprise lingered on Li Linda's face for less than a second before being easily concealed. Her meaningful gaze shifted between Wen Yi and Ning Jiu.

"You two... know each other?"

-

Ning Jiu sometimes really wanted to sew Wen Yi's mouth shut.

Today's plans were all disrupted by this unexpected little accident. When Ning Jiu arrived at Su Ming's research lab, it was already dark. Only a few machines were still lit up inside, and very few people had left.

Su Ming was sitting at the control panel checking data when he heard the door open. He looked up at her, took off his glasses, and revealed his handsome and gentle features.

"Little Jiu, you've finally arrived."

He looked even more tired than usual, but he still went to the water dispenser and poured her a glass of water first.

Ning Jiu took the water: "What's wrong? Is there a problem with your exit documents?"

Su Ming shook his head and pushed the folder on the table toward him: "It's not materials, it's people."

“We originally planned to send two representatives from our science and technology team,” he said, “but one of them received an offer from a foreign research institute right before the deadline, which conflicted with the summit’s dates.”

"The organizers are already very dissatisfied. The key issue is that this time they have a new investor who is particularly decisive. They just sent a letter to the school requesting that they reconfirm the participating representatives and send someone to their company in person to make preliminary contact."

Ning Jiu roughly understood what he meant and listened to Su Ming continue.

"Professor Shen and my doctoral supervisor are both abroad recently, and they asked me to temporarily hand over duties. We both happen to be going to the summit, so—"

"So you're using me to do someone a favor?"

Ning Jiu was joking when she said that. It wasn't the first time she had done preliminary liaison work on behalf of the school; she was already quite skilled at it.

The tense atmosphere was eased by her joke. Su Ming looked at her and smiled, his tone a little softer than before.

"I'm not asking you to do me a favor, I'm asking you to come with me to save the day."

"Besides, I heard that the investors this time have a particularly strong background. Didn't you just take over the psychology studio recently?" He sincerely thought of her, "Take this opportunity to get to know them. Maybe you won't have to worry about client resources in the future."

-

The following day, she and Su Ming dressed formally and arrived at the investor's company on time as required.

It is said that the investment company behind this is a startup technology company that was established only four years ago. Although it is a startup, it has come on strong and has won several national key scientific research projects' technology supply contracts in just a few years. The financing lineup behind it is extremely luxurious. It was once rumored in the industry that it started with top-notch resources. This strong entry into the main investment seat of the EZGT Summit is also part of its "China-Europe Scientific Research and Industry Bridge" plan.

"This year, they have shifted their research focus from algorithms to cognitive intelligence, which is likely aimed at the psychological technology field."

Su Ming whispered as he waited to register in the company's lobby on the first floor.

“During our initial conversations, we can focus more on personal business to see if there is any room for cooperation.”

The conversation in the conference room went much more smoothly than the two had expected. The other party was the vice president in charge of project coordination at the summit, surnamed Qi, in his thirties. He spoke crisply yet with a friendly tone. After listening to Ning Jiu's introduction and looking at the technical cooperation model provided by Su Ming, he smiled and nodded.

“Your thinking is very clear. We investors are also looking for this kind of cross-industry integration opportunity.”

He flipped through the materials in his hand and said to Ning Jiu, "Especially in the psychology field, the combination of psychological counseling and intelligent assessment is quite good. We can consider having you do a joint presentation at the psychology-themed event."

As he spoke, he glanced between the two of them, then suddenly smiled, his tone slightly joking: "And you two work together quite well, you look like a couple, don't you? It's really nice to see you like this."

Su Ming's ears immediately turned red, and he reflexively turned to look at Ning Jiu, who smiled and did not deny it.

When it came to the final step of signing the contract, she picked up her pen but stopped when she saw the company name "Null-J Tech" on the last line of the contract.

“This is the name our boss personally chose,” Vice President Qi said with a smile, his face full of admiration as he spoke of the company’s founder. “He’s currently on a business trip in Beijing and will most likely be back tonight. If you come a little later, you might even run into him.”

After signing the contract, it was past dinner time. Ning Jiu frowned slightly as she stood up. Su Ming quickly noticed her unusual expression and knew that her stomach problems had flared up again. He naturally took out his thermos from his backpack and went to the water room to get some water.

Ning Jiu was surprised that he was carrying a thermos in the sweltering heat of summer, and chuckled. Su Ming smiled shyly as he filled his thermos with water.

"It's new, I haven't tried it before."

The sound of water flowing in the enclosed water collection room, the gentle trickle, the boy's vigorous forearms, the two people's breathing—it seemed as if she had experienced such a scene before.

Ning Jiu stood there, wanting to politely decline, when suddenly she felt a tightness on the back of her head as a hot and sticky gaze fell on her, lingering and refusing to leave, like some kind of silent snake approaching its prey.

My heart skipped a beat. When I looked back, the corridor was empty; there was nothing there.

"A little wine?"

Hearing Su Ming's gentle voice, Ning Jiu snapped out of her reverie and responded.

"Here, have some water first." He handed her the glass, his worried gaze falling on her. "Hold on until we get back before taking your medicine."

She took it, lowered her head and took a sip; the momentary daze seemed to be soothed by the hot water entering her mouth.

-----------------------

Author's Note: This chapter focuses more on the urban setting; the two will reunite in the next chapter.

Second update tonight at 9 PM [shy]