Chapter 1: The Old and The New  

Half a year had passed since she returned home to China. Summer went, autumn arrived, then came winter. All this time, the temperature difference in this prosperous coastal city of A was very clear. It was never like New Zealand where she had studied. It was a place warm as spring all the year around, fine and beautiful beyond words could ever describe

Dressed in an azure sweater and a pair of navy jeans, Shangguan Ning was sitting in a white Audi A4, driving at a steady pace.

Her skin was pure and white. She was tall and slender. Even the plainest clothes clearly reflected the freshness and charisma of this woman.

The sky was blurred with dim moonlight, and the sea breeze brushed up her smooth, long hair through the half-opened car window. Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy echoed in her ears, making one’s heart soften for some reason.

A couple was hugging below the hibernating magnolia tree. The chemistry between them was so strong that they became tightly tangled with each other, as if no one was around. And their dazzling love was so fierce that even people at a distance could sense the heat clearly.

Envious, jealous, regretful and pain.

Shangguang Ning’s heart was ripped, and the tears could not help but drip down along the cheeks, completely out of her brain’s control.

She pulled out a piece of tissue paper in a fluster and wiped away her tears.

You promised never to think about him again! You promised not to linger like a fool. He doesn’t love you, and is not worth it either. Forget about everything, and everything will pass in the end.

She sniffed, trying hard to calm herself down.

But someone was destined to oppose her, to bring trouble to her.

A man dressed in a pale green plaid shirt on the driver’s seat was driving a black Land Rover towards her. He was a handsome man with refined and elegant charisma. A girl clad in a pink dress sat on the passenger’s seat. She had shoulder-long hair and looked gentle and beautiful.

Their silhouettes were in a happy conversation, and that moment stung Shangguan Ning’s eyes.

She had assumed that she could face that with a smile. But why did her heart ache so much at this moment that she felt like suffocating?

She wished never to run into them again in her life if that was possible because every time it happened, she would have to remind herself that she had been a silly girl!

“Ning, you don’t need to persist any more. I’m grateful that you took care of me for so long, but I don’t love you. I have always regarded you as a sister. I love Xue. She is a kind-hearted girl and you aren’t allowed to bully her. I will pay you back myself!”

His voice echoed in her ears, shattering her heart totally.

What a ridiculous thing it was! They had been separated for just one summer holiday and he claimed to have found his one true love when the school started again!

It had been four years, and it turned out that she had never been able to forget that. Shangguan Ning, you are so useless!

She clenched the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles whitened.

She was just about to press the accelerator, when the people opposite her noticed her first.

Two voices rose at the same time, blended with surprise and guilt.

“Sister”

“Ning!”

Shangguan Ning’s entire body became numb, but inside her heart it was roaring and twisting. She passed by with no expression on face, as if they had never existed.

Shangguan Rouxue, the girl in the Land Rover could not help but call out again, “Sister!”

But the white Audi drove away without turning back.

Shangguan Rongxue’s exquisite face was suddenly filled with tears.

Her pretty voice was laced with a remorseful, guilty tone. “Zhuojun, my sister must still be mad at me. It was all my fault. I betrayed her. I shouldn’t have...”

Xie Zhuojun’s heart ached as he saw Shangguan Rouxue’s saddened face, and his guilty feelings towards Shangguan Ning decreased tremendously.

He parked the car by the road, and grabbed Shangguan Rouxue into his arms.

He comforted her as he gently wiped away the tears on her face, “It had nothing to do with you. I was the one who owed her. But I will compensate her later. Anyways, you are the one I have always wanted to marry.”

At these words, Shangguan Rouxue felt quite moved.

She was about to say something when Xie Zhuojun asked in confusion, “When did she come back to China?”

“I’m not sure either. My sister has changed her phone number and she never replied to my e-mails. Mom and Daddy have been worried about her as well. I wonder if she has been living well all these years. She was totally alone over there, and no one could take care of her even when she got sick. She is such a stubborn woman, and just now she... Ah, it was all my fault, I shouldn’t have... have fallen in love with you. What should I do, Zhuojun, I feel so bad...” she said.

Xie Zhuojun never expected that one question of his could lead Shangguan Rouxue into the self-accusation again. He felt that he had said something wrong, so he squeezed out a smile on his handsome face.

He comforted, “Don’t worry about her, let’s talk about something cheerful.”

Shangguan Rouxue tried to make herself look cheerful and answered him with a little nasal voice, “Yeah, okay.”

As Xie Zhuojun watched the girl in his arms trying to hold up her emotions so that he could be happy, he finally made up his mind inside.

“Xue, let’s go and order the dress tomorrow.”

“Huh? What dress? For your company’s event?”

“No, the dress for our engagement party.”

Shangguan Rouxue slightly raised her graceful face in surprise. She knew completely well that she looked best from this angle.

Tears dangled in her large eyes. She called out his name, moved, “Zhuojun...”

Her baby-voice seemed to be filled with deep affection, so that Xie Zhuojun’s fluctuated emotions because of Shangguan Ning’s appearance vanished instantly.

He bent down his head and could not wait to place his lips upon her slightly-pursed red lips. He started tenderly before going deeper and more passionate.

The two soon became tangled, stripping each other’s clothes. It was getting very warm in the car.

Shangguan Rouxue’s face and lips were dripping with lust. Her eyes were wandering and she whispered in a soft voice, “Not here, Zhuojun. Let’s go home, alright...”

The oiled engine of the Land Rover started up instantly, heading off towards a certain direction like the wind.

And the girl named Shangguan Ning was no one but a passer-by.

Shangguan Ning drove at a high speed. She didn’t know how long did it take before she revived from the grieving emotion.

She knew that she must have got quite pale without looking herself at the mirror. She was a scattered woman who had been trying hard to stay calm.

However, strangely enough, despite the suffocating feeling that drowned her inner heart like the sea, she did not shed a single tear any more. She had thought that she would have cried until her eyes got swollen like two peaches.

She sneered in a self-mocking way – had she been hurt so badly that she already got immune to that?

She parked her car by the road and closed her eyes out of exhaustion, leaning herself against the seat and forcing herself never to think about anything anymore.

A piece of catchy and happy music rang. Shangguan Ning opened her eyes and glimpsed at the cell phone. On the screen a “Mr. Guo Shuai” was displayed.

A jolt came to her – she just recalled of the appointment with someone tonight.

Oh no, she must be late. Guo Shuai was a very punctual man. He must be mad.

Shangguan Ning took a glimpse at the time. Their set time was 19:30 and now it was already 19:40. She had navigated towards somewhere else because of her unstable emotion.

It was a fifteen-minute drive from the place she was, in to the western restaurant where they were supposed to meet.

She answered the phone, trying to keep her voice calm, “Hey, Mr. Guo. Are you there yet?”

A displeased male voice came from the cell phone. “Ms. Shangguan. I have been waiting for you for thirteen minutes. Are you just too conceited to come in time on our second ever date?”