Chapter 7

There were four people in total: the familiar driver and three tall, powerfully built bodyguards in plain clothes following behind him.

They called it an “invitation,” but in reality, they had surrounded her.

Whether she went or not was no longer Ji Cen’an’s decision.

With such a large force arrayed against her, she had to get into the car whether she wanted to or not. She had no other choice. She was required to go.

Nan Jia understood Ji Cen’an. She had given her no opportunity to escape and had even cut off every possible retreat.

Ji Cen’an wanted to run, but another car was parked across the entrance to the alley, blocking the passage in advance. They clearly had no intention of letting her go easily.

The other side had prepared thoroughly enough to know precisely which locations needed to be blocked. They must have conducted plenty of investigations in secret. They had deliberately appeared in the middle of the night, certain that Ji Cen’an would not call for help because she feared exposing her whereabouts, while also avoiding unnecessary trouble.

There were too many eyes and ears during the day, making it easy to attract outside attention. The period after she finished work was their only ideal opportunity.

Ji Cen’an surveyed the surroundings. Seeing the bodyguards draw closer, she sensibly released the long steel pipe and raised her arms slightly to indicate that she would not resist.

The metal struck the ground with a sharp clang—

“Where are we going?” she asked quietly, her tone indifferent.

The driver did not tell her. As though he had not heard the question, he turned and opened the rear door for her.

“After you, Miss Jiang Can,” he said evenly.

Ji Cen’an had no choice but to bend down and get inside, following his instructions.

She entered the car first. Two bodyguards immediately followed through the doors on either side, sitting close beside her and trapping her between them.

They were exceptionally cautious, guarding her like a prisoner, as though terrified she might jump from the moving car and escape.

The driver entered last, while the remaining bodyguard took charge of the pure-white Volkswagen Santana blocking the entrance to the alley.

The two cars left Tongzi Alley one behind the other. [read the original at bailiantales.com]They separated partway, reunited at another intersection, then circled the urban village several times before taking a winding route toward a remote and unlit stretch of road.

Ji Cen’an did not know their destination. Since they refused to answer, she stopped asking. She remained patiently seated and silently studied the people inside the car.

The driver and bodyguards were equally silent throughout the journey. The driver concentrated on the road, while the two behind appeared unresponsive but were, in reality, closely monitoring Ji Cen’an.

The car never entered the expressway, and the road ahead became increasingly secluded and deserted.

Ji Cen’an turned her head and watched the roadside scenery blur into streaks as it rushed past. Several landmarks seemed vaguely familiar. Only after quite some time did she understand where they were taking her.

Her red lips pressed together beneath her mask. She lowered her head slightly, her dim gaze sinking into the dense darkness of the night.

One long stretch of road was illuminated by soft, warm yellow light, extending for seven or eight hundred meters. The light slanted through the car window and fell across the bar-issued baseball cap she had yet to remove, bathing half her body in a hazy glow.

Approximately ten minutes later, the car entered an affluent suburban residential community and stopped inside the garage of a particularly imposing villa.

The driver got out first. Then, genuinely behaving as though he were receiving an important guest, he opened Ji Cen’an’s door and escorted her upstairs at an unhurried pace with the bodyguards flanking her. They brought her to the villa’s second floor.

The interior was far more luxurious than the exterior suggested. Its clean, minimalist décor was crisp and refined, perfectly blending shades of black, white, and gray. Every object [read the original at bailiantales.com]had been professionally arranged and displayed. Even the overhead light fixtures had been specially imported from Europe, requiring considerable effort to create the meticulously designed result.

The entire place was sophisticated and austere. Every detail revealed the villa owner’s distinctive taste and style.

The second floor had been entirely opened up. Its dividing walls were all semi-open, never completely enclosing any area, yet each respective space remained clearly defined.

The entrance opened onto a spacious transitional area, with valuable works of art hanging on the walls. On the western side was a neatly arranged bookshelf area that could be used for both work and leisure. Opposite it stood an open-plan living room. Farther inside, near the wall, were the bathroom and bedroom. At the center was a botanical landscape enclosed by glass walls, containing expensive artificial rock formations and ornamental bamboo that required costly maintenance.

Ji Cen’an was extremely familiar with this place. She had visited it numerous times in the past.

—After all, she had personally hired a master designer to create it. Every brick and tile had followed her instructions and been chosen by her.

The villa had once been Ji Cen’an’s birthday gift to Nan Jia. After their first half year together and Ji Cen’an’s graduation, it had also become the place she visited most frequently.

They had met here afterward. Nan Jia would wait for her on the second floor every time, and the two of them would remain here for a day or two.

None of the villa’s furnishings had changed. Everything was exactly as it had been years ago, down to the placement of the transparent vase and the fresh white jasmine blossoms arranged inside it.

It perfectly matched the scene from the first time Ji Cen’an brought Nan Jia here, as though one image read the original at bailiantales.comcould be placed directly over the other.

Even the bed farthest inside—the place where they had tenderly embraced and nestled together countless times—remained unchanged, right down to the bedsheets.

Almost everything had been restored without exception.

The only thing that had probably changed was Ji Cen’an herself. The more glorious she had been then, the more destitute and miserable she was now. She was like a phoenix reduced to a featherless sparrow, the difference as vast as heaven and earth.

Ji Cen’an stopped where she was and refused to go any farther.

The bodyguards dutifully remained by the door, ignoring her.

The driver merely asked, “What would you like to drink, Miss Jiang?”

He did not explain why she had been brought here and offered no other information, remaining deliberately mysterious.

Ji Cen’an steadied herself, shook her head, and declined.

“Nothing.”

The driver did not ask again. He turned and left.

Ji Cen’an assumed he had gone. After casting a glance from the corner of her eye, she eventually walked toward the bookshelf and examined it.

Every book on the shelves was one that had originally been there. Whatever had once been present remained now. Nothing had been added or removed. Every item looked exactly as it had years ago.

Had she not been fully awake, Ji Cen’an might have mistaken this for the past. For an instant, it almost felt as though she were dreaming.

Before long, the driver returned, carrying a bottle of wine and two stemmed glasses.

The wine was familiar as well. It was the same one Ji Cen’an had brought for Nan Jia to drink the first time she took her here—La Romanée-Conti.

Seeing the familiar bottle again drew old memories to the surface.

Nan Jia had not drunk any of that wine back then. Not a single drop had touched her lips. She had thrown all of it into Ji Cen’an’s face.

Ji Cen’an remembered it clearly. When Nan Jia received that gift, her face had turned deathly pale, every trace of color vanishing. She had stared at Ji Cen’an Read on BaiLianTalesin silent endurance before eventually lifting her glass and splashing the wine all over her.

Ji Cen’an had been young and hot-blooded. She had not understood why Nan Jia disliked it and had become angry with her in return. They gave each other the cold shoulder for nearly half a month before reconciling.

Naturally, Ji Cen’an had been the first to relent. Someone as proud as Nan Jia would never have softened toward her.

Nan Jia had wished never to see her again. She would have preferred Ji Cen’an to storm off in anger and go as far away as possible, ideally severing all contact forever. Why would she have apologized and sought reconciliation merely to please Ji Cen’an?

The driver did not explain why he had brought the wine. He merely bent down and placed everything on the coffee table, passing Ji Cen’an without acknowledgment. Once the bottle and glasses were set down, he left again.

This time, he truly departed and did not return.

The door was pulled shut behind him, separating the interior from everything outside.

Ji Cen’an was left alone on the entire second floor.

The spacious area was so quiet that the drop of a needle would have been audible.

By this point, how could Ji Cen’an fail to understand what had happened?

She had believed she had hidden herself well and that no one had discovered her. In reality, that was not the case. At some unknown point, she had given herself away, and someone had already caught hold of her trail.

The other party had simply never exposed her until finally coming for her tonight.

Ji Cen’an did not know what Nan Jia intended, but the matter certainly would not be brushed aside so easily.

She walked toward the coffee table and lowered her gaze to the two wine glasses.

Nothing else happened for a long time. No one entered, and the familiar figure she expected remained absent.

Twenty minutes. Half an hour. Nearly an hour…

Nan Jia was deliberately leaving her there to wait.

Time passed one second and one minute at a time. It was already extremely late.

Ji Cen’an sat down rather [stolen content]than continuing to stand, settling patiently on the sofa to await the woman’s appearance.

…

The hour hand moved slowly from three toward five.

…

Ji Cen’an had spent most of the night working. After waiting so long, her exhaustion gradually began to show.

She had stopped paying attention to whether she had waited for more than one hour or two. Eventually, Ji Cen’an grew weary and assumed the other woman might have changed her mind and would not come tonight.

She leaned backward against the sofa, wondering whether she should leave and how she might manage to do so.

Just as she was considering it, footsteps sounded outside, drawing steadily closer.

Before Ji Cen’an could fully react, the door opened.

Nan Jia finally appeared in a backless evening gown and slowly entered.

There was no telling whether she had just arrived from some banquet or event, or whether she had been here all along and had only now found herself in the mood to appear and meet an old acquaintance.

At the sound, Ji Cen’an raised her head and looked at the alluring woman. Her gaze followed Nan Jia as she moved from the doorway, slowly approaching until she stood before her.

Nan Jia looked exactly as she had when they encountered each other several days ago. Even after seeing Ji Cen’an, she displayed no sign that they were acquainted, as though she were facing a completely unfamiliar stranger.

She neither regarded Ji Cen’an as important nor cared about her.

Neither of them spoke. They did not even exchange a greeting.

Ji Cen’an did not stand. She merely watched in repeated silence.

Nan Jia behaved as though she sensed nothing, allowing Ji Cen’an to look as much as she pleased. After entering, she simply went about her own business.

She leisurely opened the bottle and poured wine into both glasses.

One glass was filled to the brim. The other contained only a small sip.

Nan Jia sat beside Ji Cen’an, gently settling close to her.

Still, she did not look at Ji Cen’an or spare her even a glance. Only after pouring the wine did she push the full glass to the side and say warmly, “I’m sorry to have troubled you by making you wait so long, Miss Jiang…”

Ji Cen’an raised her head slightly but did not accept the glass.

She would not touch it and had no intention of drinking.

Nan Jia lifted her own glass first and gently swirled it twice.

“I invited you here so abruptly tonight because there’s something I’d like to ask you about. I also hope you can help me with something.”

Her tone was as calm as still water, without any considerable fluctuation.

Her emotions appeared perfectly stable, as though she were entirely unaffected.

After speaking, she paused.

She waited for Ji Cen’an to respond, showing no hurry to proceed directly to the main subject.

Ji Cen’an remained silent, every word trapped in her throat.

Neither rising nor falling, as though she had choked on them.

The room remained deathly silent.

Several minutes later—

“Nan Jia…”

Ji Cen’an was ultimately the first to call her name, her voice slightly low and hoarse.

Nan Jia, however, did not want to hear it. Her red lips parted as she suddenly said with deliberate ambiguity, “You look very much like an old acquaintance of mine, Miss Jiang…”