Inside the Mo Xue Ji Restaurant, Xi Xianqing had his final formal meeting with Shen Ying during this assessment.
Shen Ying had prepared exquisite and delicious autumn-themed refreshments for Xi Xianqing, and in return, he presented his design sketches to her.
The design featured a brooch in the shape of a snake.
The snake’s body was crafted with a platinum base, its scales adorned with gradient pink chalcedony1A micro-crystalline type of quartz occurring in several different forms, including onyx, agate, and jasper. and white mother-of-pearl with embellishments. The design perfectly captured the snake’s agile curves, imbuing it with a sense of dynamic vitality.
Xi Xianqing gently slid his fingers along the sketch and introduced, “The snake’s mouth is delicately holding a sakura petal made of pink topaz, symbolizing your name.”
Shen Ying studied the design for a moment and couldn’t help but praise, “This is truly a stunning piece. Even as an amateur like me, I can see how intricate the craftsmanship is. I’m very satisfied.”
Xi Xianqing nodded.
“However, the snake’s body is more slender and lightweight, leaving some empty space in the center when it’s crafted into a brooch. Visually, this creates a slight sense of incompleteness, and it may not look as refined when paired with clothing.”
Xi Xianqing said, “Therefore, I’ve prepared an alternative design as a second option for you to consider.”
A hint of surprise flickered in Shen Ying’s eyes as she watched Xi Xianqing take another sketch from Ye Lu’s hands.
The moment she saw the centerpiece of the design, the smile on Shen Ying’s lips froze silently.
“This design features an irregular wild black pearl as the fluffy, soft body of a black sheep, with its ears, head, and limbs simply outlined in white agate.”
Xi Xianqing stacked the two sketches together. “If this pearl is embedded within the snake’s body, it would fill the central void perfectly. The contrast of black and white—ink and snow2The Mò Xuě in the restaurant’s name means these two words.—would also align beautifully with the name of your restaurant.”
When Xi Xianqing drew these two sketches, he used translucent tracing paper.
At this moment, he overlapped the two sheets of tracing paper, revealing the pink-and-white spirit snake gently wrapping around the body of the pearl sheep. The once-empty center of the brooch was now filled by the sheep’s plump, rounded form.
The spirit snake was intricate and elegant, while the sheep was simple and stately. The two figures nestled closely together and inseparable.
Shen Ying remained silent. The brocade snake on her wrist tightened its coils, wrapping firmly around her arm.
Xi Xianqing placed the two sketches on the coffee table and calmly asked, “Between these two designs, which one do you prefer?”
It was a long moment before Shen Ying lifted her head. The corners of her mouth twitched awkwardly. “I—”
In the next instant, the door of the box was pulled open from outside.
Zhu Ming had a faint smile on his lips as he appeared in the doorway.
Shen Ying’s pupils shrank imperceptibly. She stood up almost instantly, staring in disbelief at the person standing behind Zhu Ming.
“When we saw your poster in the magazine earlier, we didn’t even recognize you.”
The air was silent. Ji Rong’s gaze fell on Shen Ying’s smooth and elegant silk cheongsam, and she let out a smile. “As expected, without the store’s apron… you look much better.”
Shen Ying’s body trembled, but she said nothing, her eyes stared at blankly on Ji Rong’s face.
“It’s just that I’ve never been able to figure it out, A’Ying.”
Unlike her earlier outburst of tears, Ji Rong’s emotions were now calm and resolute after seeing Shen Ying. “I just want an answer. I want to know why.”
“You obviously have your own, glorious life path,” Ji Rong said softly. “Why did you come to the bakery back then? And why did you leave without a word in the end?”
The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Shen Ying remained silent for a long while before taking slow steps toward Ji Rong.
It was only after a deep breath that she finally spoke. “A few years ago, I made a bet with my father, Shen Zhaoshan.”
“My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps and open a restaurant in the way he envisioned. It would undoubtedly become one of the restaurants representing District Two. But I didn’t want that.”
She continued, “I bet with him that if I could become a representative of District Two without using his resources or connections, he would stop imposing his will on me and let me own a restaurant entirely my own—from the design to the menu.”
“When I ran away from home, I happened to encounter you and your family’s bakery. I thought it was a business with great potential for development.”
Shen Ying said lightly, “Of course, the final result proved that I wasn’t capable enough. I lost the bet.”
“As for your family’s bakery, it was just a stepping stone I used for the wager.”
Shen Ying’s tone was detached, her words perfectly logical and nearly flawless. “When the bet ended, I naturally had no reason to stay.”
However, Ji Rong pulled the corners of her mouth and mercilessly exposed her lies. “Is that so?”
“If we were just an experiment or a stepping stone, then during last year’s rainstorm, who secretly sent so many supplies to the back door of the bakery?
“And a few months ago, when Liang Dachao’s mother fell ill and was inexplicably moved to an upgraded VIP ward, who arranged that?”
Ji Rong stepped forward, pulling out a napkin pressed beneath the dishes, and questioned, “And what kind of mindset leads someone to embroider a design created with their stepping stone onto a napkin?”
“Does Miss Shen treat all her stepping stones with such lingering care?”
Her voice trembled slightly as she stared at Shen Ying’s face. “Worthy of being the youngest and most outstanding representative of District Two. Such generosity and grandeur ah.”
Outside the window, the petals of the cherry blossom tree fluttered in the wind.
Shen Ying stood rigidly in place, unable to speak for a long time.
“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Shen. Sorry to have disturbed you.”
Ji Rong glanced around at the opulent decor of the restaurant, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as her lips curled into a faint sneer. “At the same time, I hope you won’t interfere with our lives again in the future.”
With that, she turned around, ready to leave the room.
Shen Ying was startled. Without thinking, she stepped forward and grabbed Ji Rong’s wrist.
“I… I can’t forgive myself,” Shen Ying said, her voice trembling.
“Whether it was the representative campaign or the goal of earning a star, all of it was something I selfishly imposed on you. I gave you hope, but in the end, I didn’t have the ability to help you achieve that dream.”
She paused, lowering her eyes with a bitter smile. “And with this painfully ironic title of identity… I’ve never had the face to return and face you guys again.”
Ji Rong froze, then abruptly turned her head back. “This is why you disappeared without a word?”
Shen Ying remained silent.
“We’ve always known better than anyone that a bakery could never earn a star.”
Ji Rong shook her head. “If one can’t be a representative then one can’t, because to us, that title was never the most important thing.”
“The most important thing was that in that winter, we met A’Ying.”
She said, “It was she who gave us our first common goal, who inspired us to work together, to sweat and strive to transform the bakery.”
Ji Rong gazed into Shen Ying’s eyes and said softly, “The time I spent with her—those days—are my most treasured memories.”
Shen Ying’s shoulders trembled sharply.
Silence fell over the private room. Zhu Ming exchanged a quiet glance with Xi Xianqing, then wordlessly stepped out, gently closing the door behind him.
They headed to the small pavilion beneath the cherry blossom tree in the restaurant’s garden, leaving the two inside the room with some privacy.
“You made one call and dragged her straight to the bakery without a word.”
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the garden, Xi Xianqing glanced at the two people inside. “If they end up arguing, my first assessment will be ruined because of you.”
Zhu Ming chuckled lightly. “You say that, but when you abandoned your initial idea of designing earrings and switched to this brooch, weren’t you already thinking the same thing as me?”
Xi Xianqing didn’t speak again.
“It’s a risky move with a high risk but with an extremely high reward.”
Zhu Ming said casually. “There’s even a one-in-a-million chance that your assessment piece will receive an unprecedented, stellar review because it helped restore an incredibly precious relationship oh.”
Xi Xianqing said after a long while, “I hope so.”
Zhu Ming glanced back at the room, a smile tugging at his lips. “No need to hope—it already has.”
Following his gaze, Xi Xianqing turned to look inside and saw that, at some point, the two women had started trembling and were now tightly embracing each other.
Xi Xianqing watched for a moment before turning his eyes away.
A strange and subtle feeling swirled in his chest. Initially, he had approached this assessment with a strong sense of resistance.
Socializing with others wasn’t Xi Xianqing’s strength, nor did he care about other people’s lives. All he wanted was to design the perfect piece and complete the assessment flawlessly.
But in this moment, Xi Xianqing realized… he genuinely felt happy for them.
As they left the restaurant, Shen Ying took the initiative to see them off.
Ji Rong claimed she had something to take care of, but given Zhu Ming’s understanding of her, it was likely both the human and the sheep had cried themselves into an unpresentable state.
Shen Ying’s eyes were slightly red, and her previously immaculate hairstyle was now a bit disheveled. She no longer had the flawless, composed demeanor she’d displayed earlier.
Yet, to Xi Xianqing, this was the most genuine version of her he had seen since they met.
They didn’t say anything.
“If it were the old me, I probably would’ve thought the first option was the safest choice”
Shen Ying said softly as they reached the restaurant’s entrance. “But now I think that the alternative design you proposed might be what I’ve truly needed all along.”
It sounded like she was referring to the two sketches Xi Xianqing had shown her earlier. After a moment of silence, he replied, “There’s never a right or wrong choice. As long as it follows your heart, it’s the right one.”
Shen Ying seemed lost in thought. After a while, she looked at Xi Xianqing and smiled faintly. “I look forward to the final piece.”
Then, turning to Zhu Ming again, “I apologize for not greeting you properly earlier. You must be Mr. Xi’s spouse, Mr. Zhu, right?”
Zhu Ming’s eyes held a gentle warmth. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Shen.”
“And thank you for the gift you sent me last time,” Shen Ying said as she bent slightly in a polite bow. “More importantly, thank you for bringing her here today. She asked me to pass on her thanks as well—your medicine worked wonders.”
Zhu Ming’s tone was soft. “Miss Ji’s heartache is difficult to heal. My medicine is only supplementary. If paired with the dose of your future companionship, Miss Shen, it might just cure her completely.”
Shen Ying paused, then looked up in slight surprise. “I will.”
“I’d been curious about the kind of person who could occupy Mr. Xiao Xi’s mind even during an assessment.”
She smiled and shook her head, “Now I finally understand.”
Zhu Ming: “En?”
Xi Xianqing: “…?”
“When we first met, Mr. Xi mentioned that you really liked the white jade bayberries from our mountain. He even specifically asked me for a batch.”
Shen Ying didn’t notice that the atmosphere was off, and pointed in the direction where the back kitchen was, “Now, although the bayberry season is almost over, I still have a batch frozen, so please take them with you today.”
Zhu Ming’s mind was spinning a bit.
He did indeed craved for white jade bayberries, and Xi Xianqing had previously brought a box back for him.
But if he remembered correctly, the explanation Xi Xianqing had given at the time was that “District Two’s representative took the initiative to give them.”
Then where did Shen Ying’s claim that “Xi Xianqing personally requested them” come from?
The body of the person beside him abruptly stiffened, and Zhu Ming hesitantly opened his mouth, “I—”
“No need, thank you, Miss Shen.”
In the next instant, Xi Xianqing’s emotionless voice cut through the conversation. “We have other matters to attend to, so we won’t stay any longer. Let’s end today’s meeting here.”
On the way back to the resort villa, the air was oppressively silent, nearly frozen in place.
Shen Ying had insisted on gifting the frozen white jade bayberries to Zhu Ming, and in the end, Zhu Ming couldn’t refuse her generosity.
The bayberries were packed in a lacquered wooden box filled with dry ice, and Zhu Ming, worried about the bumps during the ride, held them on his lap the entire time.
Xi Xianqing kept his gaze fixed on the window, avoiding any opportunity for interaction or questions from Zhu Ming.
The memory of that night—his allergic fever and the image of Zhu Ming’s face by the pool flashing before him—was enough to unsettle Xi Xianqing.
But at the time, he had attributed it all to the effects of the medication and temporarily pushed it to the back of his mind.
But now, with the bayberry incident surfacing and everything stacking together, his chaotic thoughts only grew more tangled.
The most frustrating part was that Zhu Ming didn’t ask anything. He sat beside Xi Xianqing in an unusually calm and silent manner, as if he had silently accepted something.
They were so silent all the way back to the villa.
As soon as they got out of the car, they saw Yang Jiahe standing at the door, holding a toolbox.
“You brat, you really made me wait ah.”
Yang Jiahe strode forward, gritted her teeth, and gave Xi Xianqing a punch on the shoulder. “I’ve been standing out here in high heels forever. If you don’t invite me in for a drink tonight, you’ll owe me one big time.”
Xi Xianqing froze briefly, suddenly recalling that he and Yang Jiahe agreement from a few days prior. Once the final drafts were settled, they had planned to discuss the gemstone inlay techniques together.
Xi Xianqing gave a quiet “en,” his steps slowing as he glanced back.
Zhu Ming had just gotten out of the car, holding the box of bayberries on his lap. Seated in his wheelchair, he quietly observed the scene ahead.
Yang Jiahe seemed to forget her annoyance entirely. Her face lit up as she eagerly approached. With a bright smile, she introduced herself, “Ai, you must be Xiao Zhu? I’m Yang Jiahe, this kid Xi Xianqing’s former mentor. Just call me Yang Jiahe.”
Zhu Ming smiled and extended his hand. “Hello, Teacher Yang. I’m Zhu Ming.”
Yang Jiahe shook his hand warmly, but her gaze fell on the faint gleam of a clear blue ring on his finger. “Oh, your ring, is it also—”
Xi Xianqing’s body stiffened abruptly.
Yang Jiahe was about to pull Zhu Ming’s hand to scrutinize it, but in the next instant, her arm was pulled away by a large, powerful hand.
“Teacher Yang, it’s getting late.”
Xi Xianqing’s face was obviously a bit stiff. “Let’s head to my study to look at the designs.”
“What’s the rush ya?”
Yang Jiahe reluctantly let go of his hand, her interest in Zhu Ming clearly not waning. “What’s the difference between going to the study and looking at it in the living room? It’s spacious, and we can all sit down and have a chat.”
Xi Xianqing grew increasingly restless when he heard her say they should “have a chat,” and he instinctively rejected the idea with irritation. “No.”
First the box of bayberries, and now this ring—why did everything have to come up at this exact moment?
Yang Jiahe was depressed, “Why ah?”
Right now, all Xi Xianqing wanted was for the two of them to separate as soon as possible.
His brows furrowed, and he brushed her off coldly and dismissively. “He’s from District Seven. He doesn’t understand design, and he has no interest in jewelry. What’s there to talk about?”
As soon as he exited, everyone was silently shocked.
The atmosphere suddenly went cold and silent.
Yang Jiahe frowned. “You kid, did you eat gunpowder?”
Zhu Ming quietly traced the edge of the wooden bayberry box with his fingers, his gaze steady on Xi Xianqing’s face. He said nothing.
When their eyes met, Xi Xianqing’s heart sank. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat.
A few seconds later, Zhu Ming’s lips curved slightly upward. He took the initiative to break the awkward silence. “It’s fine. I’m originally a layman, after all. To me, diamonds are just the hardest form of carbon.”
Yang Jiahe burst into laughter, causing the Iris branches behind her to shake as well. “Aiya, look at the other person’s temperament.”
“Forget it. The kid’s assessment is at a critical stage right now.”
She casually slung her arm around Xi Xianqing’s neck and gave Zhu Ming a carefree smile. “We’ll be busy for a bit. Let’s chat later.”
Yang Jiahe patted Xi Xianqing’s shoulder, “Come on, I brought a whole box of top-quality hardest carbon for you to see.”
Zhu Ming lowered his eyes slightly and nodded, the polite smile on his face remaining calm and polite.
Just as Xi Xianqing was about to head back inside with his mind in turmoil, a loud voice suddenly rang out—
“Zhu-ge!”
Everyone was stunned.
Turning around, they saw Zhou Zhou, drenched in sweat and carrying a travel bag, waving enthusiastically at Zhu Ming from the end of the path.
“My goodness ya!!”
Zhou Zhou ran over, panting heavily, while the exhausted roe deer behind him staggered in exhaustion. “This place is way too fancy la. It took me half an hour to walk all the way here from the gate!”
Zhu Ming’s expression was slightly helpless. “Zhou Zhou, you could’ve just taken the cable car from the entrance.”
Zhou Zhou let out an indignant “Ah?” “Damn it ah! Why didn’t that security guard tell me!”
He happily jogged up to Zhu Ming, squatted down to show him his phone’s photo album. “But one thing is for sure, the scenery along the way was beautiful. I didn’t really mind walking. Look, I even took a picture of a frog…”
Yang Jiahe bit her fingertip, watching with interest. “And this is…?”
Xi Xianqing didn’t say anything.
Noticing the curious gazes from the two at the door, Zhu Ming paused for a moment before introducing, “My assistant, Zhou Zhou.”
It was only then that Zhou Zhou noticed there was someone else standing at the door. He stood up and waved awkwardly.
Zhu Ming smiled faintly before turning his attention back, lowering his voice as he spoke gently. “It’s too dangerous to go down the mountain alone. If it gets too late tonight, stay here with me. Understand?”
Zhou Zhou nodded eagerly, and the roe deer behind him wobbled happily along with him. “Okay! Thank you, Zhu-ge!”
Xi Xianqing’s jaw tightened silently.
Sensing the subtle tension in the air, Yang Jiahe’s gaze flitted between the group with growing interest.
With a teasing tone, she fanned the flames. “Aiya, didn’t someone just say he wasn’t interested in design and shouldn’t be included? But from the looks of it, he seems to have plans of his own tonight.”
Xi Xianqing immediately reined in his lingering gaze.
He turned around expressionlessly and prepared to close the door behind him.
Just then, Zhou Zhou’s booming voice rang out, cutting through the silence. “Ai, Zhu-ge, what’s inside this pretty box ah?”
Xi Xianqing’s hand, resting on the door handle, paused slightly—
“White jade bayberries.”
After a moment of silence, Zhu Ming’s soft, ethereal voice floated through the narrow gap in the door. “Once we’re tired from working, we can wash them and have a taste.”
Author’s Notes:
It’s all a mess ah. Someone’s mind is in turmoil, and his words are all over the place ah.
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