No One Loves Me (GL) - Chapter 1

In Ningchun City, inside an office building at the heart of the CBD.

Linjun Advertising, one of the 4A agencies known for its creativity, had won this round of the pitch battle, securing the client’s communications campaign for a mid-to-high-end line of smart home appliances.

As soon as the client left, the creative department began celebrating.

“We only won this pitch thanks to the idea Director Xie proposed!”

Lucy, the art director, also praised her. “Director Xie deserves most of the credit. Otherwise, such a huge account would have been snatched away by another advertising company.”

Several people looked toward the woman seated at the conference table. Beneath her thick, ink-black hair, her simple yet fashionable pearl earrings made her appear even gentler and more elegant.

As she closed the proposal and stood up, preparing to leave the meeting room, she said, “For this proposal, everyone did a good job with the demo, visuals, and copy. You accurately hit the client’s needs and pain points. This isn’t just my accomplishment alone. Now that the pitch is over, everyone can breathe a little easier. Leave the rest to our colleagues in the planning and media departments.”

Lucy called after her, “Director Xie, Manager Fei wants to treat everyone to afternoon tea. What would you like?”

Xie Zhitang walked past Lucy and smiled faintly, gentle and intellectual. “I have something to do this afternoon, so I can’t drink anything. You all enjoy.”

Lucy let out an “ah,” watching her back before turning to exchange looks with the others.

Everyone knew that project manager Fei Yanting was interested in Director Xie. Openly and secretly, he had been pursuing her all this time. Manager Fei’s own qualifications were not bad either—tall, handsome, and if one had to say it, even a rich second-generation heir.

But… alas, Director Xie had always kept her distance.

.

After returning to her office, Xie Zhitang had just set down the presentation proposal for this pitch when someone knocked on the glass door.

“Come in.” Xie Zhitang glanced at the time. It was about time for her to leave.

The person who pushed the door open was none other than Manager Fei. This time, he finally could not hold back. In one motion, he pressed Xie Zhitang against the wall.

“Director Xie, why do you keep rejecting me?”

It had been so many years, yet she was completely unmoved. She would not even drink afternoon tea with him.

Xie Zhitang frowned slightly at his approach, but her good upbringing stopped her from screaming immediately. She stared at the superior in front of her and asked in return, “Not drinking afternoon tea means I’m rejecting you?”

Fei Yanting knew her temperament. Even when such pointed words came from her mouth, they did not make people dislike her. Instead, they only made him even more fascinated.

This woman was calm no matter the situation, gentle yet with edges of her own. She had never once lost her composure or openly torn into someone.

Fei Yanting looked at her face. Her beauty was not aggressive, yet it attracted people’s gazes at every moment.

The infatuation in his eyes deepened. “Xie Zhitang, be with me. I love you. I can give you anything. Even I myself belong to you!”

After he finished speaking, Fei Yanting stared fixedly at the woman before him, full of hope, wanting to see even a trace of surprise or joy appear in her eyes.

Unfortunately, there was none. Faced with his bold confession, Xie Zhitang first fell silent for several seconds. Then she laughed softly, her shoulders trembling as she held it in.

“Anything—you can give me?”

In that pause, her tone carried a hint of surprise and a barely noticeable trace of mockery.

Fei Yanting did not hear it. Thinking she had been moved, he said with burning eyes, “Yes.”

“Can you kill someone for me?”

“What?”

“Or can you go to prison for seven years for me?”

Fei Yanting’s expression changed.

“Can you do either of those two things?”

The fanaticism in Fei Yanting’s eyes as he looked at Xie Zhitang had already faded, and a vague, inexplicable fear even began to rise in its place.

How could the always gentle and intellectual Director Xie have such terrifying thoughts?

Killing someone? Going to prison? Seven years?!

“If you can’t do any of that, what right do you have to say you love me?”

Fei Yanting was so frightened that he rushed out the door.

The glass door closed automatically. Xie Zhitang gave a mocking smile, brushed the dust from her shoulder, picked up her car keys, and left.

.

Huaiqi Prison.

An iron gate opened from inside.

“Xin Geling, you’ve been released.”

A tall, thin woman walked out from inside and stood in the patch of shadow before the iron gate, looking up at the blazing sun.

A touch of unfamiliarity and calm showed in her eyes.

Her gaze slowly fell on a white sedan ahead. The car door opened, and a woman stepped out. With a slight smile on her red lips, she walked over gracefully in high heels.

Her white skirt suit was well-tailored, outlining a waist as slender as a willow branch. Her long hair, slightly curled, fell behind her. Her looks were not bright and overpowering; instead, she was filled with an intellectual, bookish air that always made people instinctively feel goodwill toward her.

Xin Geling knew her. Seven years ago, she had gone to prison because of the woman before her and had served a full seven years.

In the next second, Xin Geling was wrapped completely in her arms. A gentle voice sounded beside her ear.

“Sister.”

—

When Xie Zhitang had just entered high school, she tested into a prestigious high school in Ningchun City. For the convenience of her studies, her parents moved the whole family near the school, becoming neighbors with Xin Geling’s family.

Since the two of them attended the same high school, they would see each other almost every day. Over time, they became familiar with each other. But because Xie Zhitang’s family was strict and her parents did not allow her to make messy, unsuitable friends, the two of them only reached the point of nodding and greeting each other every day.

They could not even be considered friends.

On the day the college entrance exams ended, it was already around seven or eight in the evening by the time the teacher appreciation banquet ended.

On her way home, Xie Zhitang was dragged into the bushes by a drunken man who intended to assault her. At the time, even her underwear had been pulled down. If Xin Geling had not happened to take off her earphones as she passed by and heard Xie Zhitang’s faint cry for help, no one dared imagine what eighteen-year-old Xie Zhitang would have suffered.

After Xin Geling went to prison, about half a year passed without Xie Zhitang or her family ever coming to visit. Xin Geling thought Xie Zhitang was like most people, treating a great debt of gratitude as something frightening and shameful, afraid and unwilling to have anything to do with her.

Just when Xin Geling thought she would never see Xie Zhitang again in this lifetime, that same year in November, on Thanksgiving Day, Xie Zhitang suddenly came to visit her in prison.

The first thing she said was not thank you, but, “Sister, I miss you.”

There was not the slightest trace of fear in her words, nor any grievance from forcing herself to visit just to avoid being accused of ingratitude. She merely stated that sentence calmly.

Back then, Xin Geling was one year older than her. She stared at her for quite a while before asking through the glass of the visitation room, “Why are you calling me Sister?”

They were only neighbors who nodded to each other, nothing more.

But Xie Zhitang said, “Because you saved me. That makes you my sister. From now on, I’ll call you Sister.”

From then on, Xie Zhitang would come to see her every few months. Xin Geling had nothing to do in prison anyway, so she agreed to every visit. Gradually, the two of them could be considered familiar.

Only later did Xin Geling learn that every time Xie Zhitang came, she had hidden it from her parents. Not only that, but she had also worked part-time in university to save money, then traveled all that way to see her.

Xie Zhitang’s university and Huaiqi Prison were not even in the same province.

Xin Geling accepted her as her younger sister.

The faint scent of violet perfume drifted over. Xin Geling lightly stroked her back and gave a soft hum.

.

The sedan drove away from Huaiqi Prison. Xin Geling sat in the passenger seat as the hot wind of freedom kept blowing against her face, lifting her long hair slightly.

“How’s work?” she asked.

Xie Zhitang glanced over at her and caught sight of her striking facial contours. There was a hint of heroic sharpness to them, and yet they had appeared in her dreams countless times.

Hearing that question, she could not help recalling what had happened in her office two hours ago.

“Pretty good.” Thinking of that ridiculous confession, Xie Zhitang answered her, then asked, “Sister, what are your plans?”

Xin Geling said, “We’ll see. I’ll go home and see my mom first.”

Something seemed to occur to Xie Zhitang, and her eyes flickered. “Okay.”

The white sedan entered a residential complex. Xin Geling looked at the familiar entrance of the neighborhood, and her expression stirred slightly.

Seven years.

Xie Zhitang took a square box out of the trunk and went upstairs with her.

The stairwell showed traces of age. Xin Geling came to a hollow-patterned iron door and knocked.

Before long, the wooden door inside was opened. A middle-aged woman with black, white, and gray hair froze in disbelief on the spot.

“Mom, I’m back.” Xin Geling took in that head of mixed black, white, and gray hair. Even her usually calm face could not stop the ache rising in her nose.

“Geling—” Lin Huailan’s eyes reddened. With trembling hands, she hurriedly opened the iron door and hugged her daughter.

Xin Geling also hugged the thin middle-aged woman tightly, stroking her head and touching her coarse, graying hair.

They were a single-parent family. When Xin Geling was ten, Lin Huailan was abused by her husband after he drank. As a teacher, Lin Huailan had endured it at first for the sake of the child, swallowing her anger for the dignity of her profession. It was only later, when he became more and more excessive and even cheated without the slightest regard for his child or his reputation, that Lin Huailan could no longer bear it and took Xin Geling with her in divorce.

She had raised her child alone.

Yet such a strong mother had still been forced to watch her own daughter be locked in prison for seven whole years.

“Mom, let’s go inside first.” Xin Geling loosened her hold a little.

Lin Huailan nodded, choking back tears. “Okay. Mom was just about to go pick you up…” As she spoke, she was about to pull her daughter into the apartment when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xie Zhitang standing outside the door.

Xie Zhitang noticed her gaze and smiled faintly. “Hello, Auntie.”

Xin Geling held Lin Huailan as they entered and asked, “How has your health been all these years?”

Lin Huailan coldly withdrew her gaze from Xie Zhitang. Beside the old refrigerator, she picked up a pale green thermos printed with three peonies in red, pink, and white.

She poured out a cup of water and eagerly handed it to her daughter. “Geling, you must be thirsty. Drink some water.”

Xin Geling said, “Okay.”

Xie Zhitang placed the box on the table and prepared to speak. “Sister, I prepared some things for you—”

Before she could finish, Lin Huailan sharply interrupted, “What did you call her?!”

Xin Geling did not understand what was going on. Xie Zhitang bit her lip, her hand about to open the lid of the box, not knowing whether she should continue.

“She has no younger sister! Don’t come here trying to claim kinship!” Lin Huailan suddenly became extremely agitated. With both hands, she shoved the large box hard, knocking it onto the floor.

Xin Geling did not react in time and failed to stop her.

All at once, the things inside the box tipped out and scattered across the floor.

A newly bought phone, a laptop, a mouse, high-quality over-ear headphones, wireless Bluetooth earbuds, a fitness band, and several other electronic devices…

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Xin Geling tried to soothe her.

Lin Huailan moved past her, grabbed Xie Zhitang, and dragged her toward the door. “Who allowed you to come here?! Get out! You’re not allowed to go near my daughter again!”

Xin Geling hurried forward to persuade her. “Mom, don’t be like this. She’s Xie Zhitang.”

“She’s the one who caused you to spend seven years in prison!” Lin Huailan roared. Her eyes quickly reddened. “Your whole life was ruined by her—”

Seeing that her emotions were unstable, Xie Zhitang looked somewhat embarrassed. She forced out a smile. “Auntie, I’ll go back first.”

“Get out—”

Xie Zhitang walked to the door and looked back at Xin Geling.

By this point, Xin Geling could roughly guess why Lin Huailan was so resistant to Xie Zhitang. She held Lin Huailan tightly, keeping her from getting so agitated that she did something reckless, then nodded toward Xie Zhitang at the door, signaling for her to leave first.

Only after the door closed did Lin Huailan’s emotions gradually settle.

Xin Geling helped her sit on the sofa and handed her the cup of water from earlier. “Mom, drink some water first.”

Lin Huailan pushed it away. “You drink it. I poured it for you.”

Xin Geling said, “Then I’ll pour you another cup.”

“No need. Daughter, what do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.” Lin Huailan could not sit still. Her daughter, who had spent seven years in prison, was finally released, and she could not help wanting to do something for her.

Xin Geling thought for a moment. “Cook me a bowl of noodles. I haven’t had that in a long time.”

“Okay. Mom will cook it for you now.” Lin Huailan’s eyes blurred again, but she quickly wiped them and stood up, heading to the kitchen to wash the pot and cook noodles.

Xin Geling glanced at the things scattered across the floor, then crouched down and slowly tidied them up. Xie Zhitang was now a creative director at a 4A advertising agency, young and capable. Compared with the girl from an ordinary family back then, she had already undergone a complete transformation.

Looking at it that way, her seven years in prison could be considered worth it.

After placing all the electronic devices back into the box, she found a bank card and a sheet of letter paper pressed at the very bottom. Xin Geling’s fingertips paused. She put the bank card back into the box, but unfolded the sheet of paper and looked at it.

On it was Xie Zhitang’s beautiful handwriting, saying this was a small token of her regard, and she hoped Xin Geling would accept it.

Seven years in prison meant that she had been cut off from society for seven years. The world outside had already changed completely.