Chapter 20: N. The Uninvited Guest

This kind of scene was something Su Hui had dreamt of several times.

In fact, compared to a meeting like this, some of his dreams were even more direct—actual, literal weddings with white veils, bouquets, and buttercream cakes that seemed as if they were about to melt under the glare of expensive crystal chandeliers. In those dreams, Ning Yixiao would invite him; they would sit at opposite ends of a long table, happily recounting how precious their encounters with their respective wives had been.

Su Hui had originally thought he would need to expend a great deal of effort to maintain a veneer of peace, as he did in his dreams.

But when this moment actually occurred, Su Hui found himself surprisingly calm, as if he were a competent bystander.

Perhaps it was because he had endured too many crushing blows over the years, one after another, molding him into a numb piece of scrap metal, devoid of the ability to feel.

Besides, being with Ning Yixiao felt like something from a past life. When they parted, they were both penniless students; by the time they reunited, Ning Yixiao was on the verge of becoming someone else’s husband.

Su Hui realized with a start that their encounters—past and present—were all born of accidents. Good accidents, bad accidents, meaningless accidents; accidents for which he had no standing and no right to be involved.

No, he did have a position now. His current position was to provide Ning Yixiao with a perfect engagement.

“Hello.” Su Hui tried to detach himself from his emotions, giving that familiar hand a brief, perfunctory shake before letting go.

Ning Yixiao showed no expression. He averted his gaze and said to Bella, “You didn’t mention this to me.”

Bella shrugged. “That’s because I hadn’t finalized it yet. I don’t talk about things until they’re set in stone.”

She smiled at Su Hui. “Why don’t you have lunch with us? We can discuss some ideas. What do you think?”

Su Hui’s lids were half-lowered, his eyes red-rimmed, his appearance one of extreme exhaustion. In his mind, a voice seemed to be constantly warning him: Run away, run away quickly.

Moral duty and longing were locked in a tug-of-war.

Ultimately, he lowered his head and pulled a folder from his worn-out bag. “Ms. Jones, this is the first draft. I came today just to bring this to you. I’m very sorry, but I have a pressing matter to attend to. I’m afraid I’ll have to excuse myself.”

Su Hui spoke very slowly, but every word was clear. His expression suggested he didn’t want to stay for even a single second longer.

Seeing his poor state, Bella took the folder and said gently, “That’s fine. Actually, you could have just said something; I could have had my staff come to you. I’m sorry to have put you through the trouble of coming here today. My driver is downstairs—if you don’t mind, he can take you.”

“It’s alright,” Su Hui declined politely. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do. I’m really grateful you considered my commission.”

Just then, Bella’s phone rang. She glanced at it and complained to Ning Yixiao, “It’s them again. I told them to just decide on their own—it’s just dessert, it’s not that big a deal. Getting married is such a hassle…”

Su Hui only wanted to leave.

“Ms. Jones, I’ll be going then.”

Bella, still on the phone, smiled and waved, telling him they would see each other next time.

Su Hui turned and left. Ning Yixiao stared silently at his retreating back.

“…Anything is fine. Didn’t you send over a sour cherry cake last time? That one was decent…”

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Ning Yixiao clearly saw Su Hui’s footsteps falter, pausing for a half-second. But in the end, he kept walking, never once looking back.

His eyes burned. He turned his head calmly to look at the snow outside the window. The snow was falling heavily.

The scene was so familiar.

Bella hung up the phone and nudged Ning Yixiao’s arm with her elbow. “Hey, isn’t he good-looking?”

Ning Yixiao remained cold, only glancing at her without a word.

“I’m talking to you, Shaw.”

Bella clasped her hands, looking like a smitten schoolgirl. “He’s really beautiful, and his voice is so nice—gentle and soft. I haven’t met someone this charming in a long time. An artist, indeed. What do you think it feels like to be in love with someone like that?”

Ning Yixiao gave her no feedback, only a suffocating silence.

Bella had to answer herself. “It must be unforgettable for a lifetime.”

Unable to endure it any longer, Ning Yixiao finally spoke. “You’re talking a lot today. Change of heart? Do you like men again?”

“Why so aggressive?” Bella pouted, taking a mirror out of her bag to touch up her lip gloss. “I’m just admiring him. As for you, why do you always have that hair-raising expression? Come on, it’s only for a month—at least put in some effort to fake it. Don’t be so half-hearted.”

Ning Yixiao’s face remained cold. “Why didn’t you tell me before you looked for him?”

“Why should I tell you?” Bella snapped her compact mirror shut. “Does it matter? The engagement is just for show anyway. You’re not supposed to be managing anything…”

“Why did you look for him?” Ning Yixiao asked.

“What else do you do with an installation artist? You make installation art.” Bella thought he was acting strangely, but given that they were allies, she laid it out. “Because she told me once that she’d seen Eddy’s work at an exhibition and liked it. She wanted to meet him, but never had the chance. I was originally going to set up that opportunity for her…”

Bella sighed. “And you know the rest. Anyway, I just wanted to irritate Chloe, to let her see me getting engaged to someone else, and to have the work of her favorite artist appear at the engagement party. I didn’t feel much about it before, but today, seeing that this Eddy is so handsome, I actually feel a bit uncomfortable…”

Ning Yixiao had never understood this young lady’s way of thinking. At this moment, he couldn’t think at all.

Out of selfishness, he didn’t want Su Hui to appear at this farcical engagement ceremony—not as a person, and not as an artist.

“I don’t agree. I don’t want this.” He couldn’t even bring himself to use the word “engagement ceremony.”

Bella rolled her eyes at Ning Yixiao. “Why? I don’t care. The money is paid, and the contract is signed.”

“Then break the contract. I’ll pay the damages.”

“I don’t want compensation.” Bella felt he had lost his mind. “My business isn’t for you to manage.” She looked down, opening the folder Su Hui had given her. Sure enough, his hand-drawn drafts were inside.

“These drawings are beautiful. His handwriting is nice, too.” Bella admired them closely.

Ning Yixiao couldn’t speak; just seeing his handwriting made it hard to breathe.

Bella put the folder away and tilted her head proudly. “I’ll frame these. That’ll piss Chloe off.”

Bella Jones’s arrogance and socialite behavior had their reasons. Unlike Ning Yixiao, who had clawed his way up from the bottom, she was a privileged daughter born with a silver spoon. Her father, Stephen Jones, was a business tycoon holding countless stocks, with a commercial empire spanning the globe. He was currently expanding into the technology sector and was one of the shareholders in Ning Yixiao’s company.

Her mother was a famous fashion designer and editor-in-chief of a prestigious fashion magazine, having mentored countless industry stars, including Bella’s ex-girlfriend—currently the hottest photographer in New York, Chloe Chen.

Bella was the youngest daughter of the Jones family, inheriting her mother’s discerning taste in fashion. She had no interest in taking over the company; with four older siblings ahead of her, it was unlikely she would need to, so she followed in her mother’s footsteps, becoming a designer and founding her own eponymous brand.

During the promotional shoot for her brand’s first line, she met Chloe, who was also a newcomer, and they began a clandestine relationship.

Because of the vast difference in their backgrounds, and her father Stephen’s strict control—which even extended to limiting her inheritance rights unless she agreed to marry a candidate selected by him—Ning Yixiao, who had single-handedly fought his way into Silicon Valley, was one of the selected choices.

Bella was rebellious and didn’t care about the inheritance; she would have been willing to stay with the person she loved even if it meant having all her money frozen. But Chloe had refused, believing that the price of Bella turning against her family was too high to bear, and had proposed they break up.

In the autumn, Bella came to Ning Yixiao’s company in person and proposed a deal. She knew Ning Yixiao needed a new round of financing to resist acquisition by a large corporation, and she needed Ning Yixiao to be the key to unlocking her trust and inheritance. At the same time, she desperately needed a grand, high-profile engagement party to give Chloe a hard push.

At the time, Ning Yixiao had even asked, “Aren’t you afraid she doesn’t care at all?”

Bella had replied confidently, “I’m afraid she might suddenly come to stop the wedding, so I’ve decided to wear flat shoes on the day.”

Ning Yixiao had never understood why Bella could be so certain, so certain that someone truly loved her. At least he couldn’t do it, and perhaps he never would.

Accompanying Bella to the hotel banquet hall was not on his schedule today; even Carl was confused as to why his boss would spend six hours flying from Los Angeles to New York.

It was only because, the day before, while Ning Yixiao was pulling an all-nighter for a merger negotiation, he had overheard his subordinates talking in the breakroom.

“Didn’t they say he refused several times before?”

“Yeah, but he called back suddenly last night. Jason told me. He even said the guy is desperate for money.”

“Looks like even artists can’t live without cash. Such a big pile of money, who wouldn’t be tempted?”

These mocking words caught Ning Yixiao’s attention. A sudden, subconscious reaction made him stand rooted to the spot, startling the employee who was holding a coffee and intending to go back.

“Shaw… want some coffee?”

Ning Yixiao asked, “Who are you talking about?”

The employee answered carefully, “The artist Bella has been trying to find. I think his name is Eddy.”

“Last name.” Ning Yixiao’s face went cold.

“Su. He’s Chinese.”

The feeling of a premonition coming true was terrible. His obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up again. During the six-hour flight, he forced himself to count the business-class seats over and over, going to the restroom to wash his hands time and time again, scrubbing until they were red, forcing him to wear gloves.

Ning Yixiao felt a confusion that persisted until he arrived at the meeting spot, and upon seeing Su Hui, it transformed into a rage with nowhere to go.

He wanted to know if Su Hui had known from the beginning. In that “accidental” meeting in Seattle, when they spoke face-to-face, had he already been told that the person before him was the engagement target of that New York socialite? And that rebellious socialite had invited him long ago to be her contractor.

He was the only one in the dark.

Su Hui hadn’t said anything. Even when Ning Yixiao sat before him, Su Hui had remained silent, listening quietly as he tried to recall the past, tried to stir up a fragment of memory, only for Su Hui to leave, completely unmoved.

Even when Su Hui stood before him to hand over the manuscript, he didn’t frown even once.

Ning Yixiao returned to his property in New York and spent the entire day in conference calls, barely eating.

Carl had tried several times to order food for his boss, but it was in vain; he didn’t touch it at all, so Carl ended up eating it himself. Although he was a bit glad, because he normally wouldn’t order these expensive meals for himself, but today he managed to eat three meals; however, he was also very worried, fearing that something might really happen to Ning Yixiao.

He had no choice but to secretly tell Ning Yixiao’s only close friend and company investor, Jing Ming, who happened to be in New York. The other party soon drove over in his flamboyant Pagani, and Carl was finally able to rest for an hour.

Ning Yixiao was sitting in his office chair reading a paper sent by a researcher. Jing Ming arrived suddenly without notifying anyone, and even his own assistant hadn’t said a word.

As soon as he entered the room, Jing Ming was irritated by the smell of disinfectant and sneezed.

Seeing Ning Yixiao’s noticeably dark expression, he leaned in with a grin. “I brought you a bottle of good wine. This is something I brewed by hand at my father’s farm when I was a kid.”

“This house of yours is empty; anyone who didn’t know better would think you bought it to be an office.” He was familiar with the place and took a decanter from the bottom shelf of the glass cabinet, which he had left there previously. He opened the bottle, decanted a carafe, and sat contentedly on Ning Yixiao’s sofa, waiting to drink.

“It’s a good thing I had someone bring a set of sofas, or there wouldn’t even be a place to sit.”

Ning Yixiao didn’t even lift his head. “There are chairs.”

“That’s too boring. This place is so big, you could even build a tennis court.” Jing Ming started cracking jokes. “Look at the lawn outside; how about I get you a children’s playground? Let’s have reporters come and take photos to build an image of a future good father.”

Ning Yixiao couldn’t stand his nonsense any longer. “Did you come here just to drink?”

Jing Ming smiled flippantly. “Actually, yes. I didn’t come here to look at your financial reports; I just came to drink.” As he spoke, he poured a glass and swirled it. “Want to try? This wine isn’t something just anyone gets to drink.”

He walked over and handed it to Ning Yixiao across the table. Ning Yixiao took it and took a sip.

“How is it?” Jing Ming asked immediately.

Ning Yixiao set the wine glass down. “Average.”

“How is it just average? You have no taste!”

“I’m not a sommelier.”

Ning Yixiao’s mood was visibly terrible, and Jing Ming could tell. He leaned halfway against the table and lowered his voice to ask, “No way? Don’t tell me you’re unhappy because of the engagement party. What time is it now? Isn’t this emotional feedback a bit too slow? Isn’t your brain supposed to be pretty sharp?”

His words flowed like beans being poured, and not a single one was what Ning Yixiao wanted to hear. He didn’t look at Jing Ming’s face. “It’s not because of that.”

“Psh, I don’t believe you. Then what could it be for?”

Jing Ming didn’t hold back when complaining, but when it came to comforting, he only had a few lines. “Bella’s mother must have arranged for a large number of media outlets. The only reason it’s still being kept under wraps is to save it for an explosive news story. The union of old and new families, the son-in-law of the Jones family being the CEO of a Silicon Valley unicorn—what a spectacle. When that time comes, all those venture capitalists will be lining up, and our Series C round should be just about ready.”

He voiced his only concern: “This whole thing, no matter how you look at it, the benefits outweigh the risks. The only problem is if you two break up later, it won’t be easy to answer to old man Jones. He definitely knows you two are ganging up to trick him; it’ll be troublesome if he decides to take it out on you.”

Ning Yixiao finished the rest of the red wine in his glass.

“Playing the chess game to this step, Mr. Jones is very clear in his heart that we are all mutually beneficial. If it really comes to that point, the one who provokes him won’t be me; it will have to be his youngest daughter.”

“But they are blood father and daughter,” Jing Ming reminded him.

Ning Yixiao looked up at Jing Ming. “We also have a relationship based on real money and silver investments; we’re grasshoppers on the same rope.”

“You’re quite clear on that, aren’t you?” Jing Ming didn’t understand. “Then what are you bothering about?”

Ning Yixiao didn’t speak. After a long while, he stood up and walked to the window. “I ran into him today.”

To be precise, it was he who took the initiative to go look for trouble.

“Him?” Jing Ming didn’t understand at first, but seeing Ning Yixiao like this, he suddenly realized who he was talking about, and his speech became less fluent. “Is it that… that… the ex you almost dropped out of school to find?”

He sensed something was wrong and immediately remembered the time Ning Yixiao almost froze to death running to Iceland.

Deeply infatuated people usually didn’t have good endings, so he hurriedly tried to dissuade him. “You don’t want to rekindle the old flame, do you? This timing is quite inappropriate, and it’s been how many years now.”

Ning Yixiao was silent for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was very light, somewhat powerless.

“I just can’t figure it out.”

Can’t figure out how he could truly have not a single shred of reluctance.

Can’t figure out if Su Hui had ever loved him.

Seeing him like this, Jing Ming couldn’t help but worry, after all, Ning Yixiao was the type of person who would get what he wanted at any cost.

“I say you should forget it. It’s been six years—not six months, not six days—it’s been a full six years. Since he could dump you, dump you cleanly without a single contact, that’s enough to prove the point.”

“Maybe people are already married and have children; maybe they’ve switched partners who knows how many times. What is there for you not to figure out? In this world, there is no emotion that never changes. You are so smart, how come you can’t walk out of it?”

Jing Ming brought out what he cared about most, his work. “Now the acquisition case and the Series C investment are imminent. Don’t be stupid.”

Seeing Ning Yixiao’s extremely poor complexion, he couldn’t help but sigh, feeling bitter for him.

He had witnessed Ning Yixiao’s most depressed stage with his own eyes: alcoholism, smoking, OCD repeatedly worsening, working all night long, not eating or sleeping.

If it happened again, let alone the person involved, even he, a bystander, couldn’t handle it.

Jing Ming stopped the joking and said seriously, “Ning Yixiao, you can’t spend your life playing with a little cat doll.”

This sentence was like an invisible sharp blade that completely sliced open his heart. He didn’t react, his brows locked in a frown, displaying his “no strangers allowed” demeanor after being poked through.

Jing Ming was right, and he knew it very well himself—he had no position now.

Dolls don’t change, people do.

The Ning Yixiao of six years later believed more firmly than ever that there is nothing eternal in this world.

But as long as he saw Su Hui again, he couldn’t continue to deceive himself.

Seeing Su Hui living poorly, it was still him who was sad.

Carl finally had some free time and was tossing a salad in the lobby on the first floor. This time he wasn’t alone; he had brought an assistant secretary, Amy, and was finally not so bored.

He began to recall their start-up history for Amy: “Do you know? For the company’s operation, Shaw could sleep for only three hours in three days, didn’t eat, and after working all night, could still energetically demonstrate the product to investors for hours. I don’t know what supported him to do that.”

“No girlfriend?” Amy’s point of curiosity deviated significantly.

Carl felt his topic had been ruined by her, but still explained: “No, at least in the years I’ve been with him, he has never had a private life.”

“Then… Ms. Jones…”

Carl looked around and said carefully, “This really might be a business marriage. He didn’t even let me book a single private dinner for them; even a blind date would have at least one or two, right?”

Suddenly, Ning Yixiao came down from upstairs, and the gossip duo terminated their conversation, pretending to be seriously eating salad.

“Carl, come here for a second.”

Ning Yixiao gave him some more strange work, asking him to look into the installation artist that Ms. Jones had brought in.

When he found the other person’s photo, he suddenly realized, isn’t this the young man who had coffee with the boss last time? He always had a deep impression of beautiful people.

After some thought, the self-proclaimed observant Carl found that things were not right. The boss cared about this person so much, but when he mentioned it, his expression was very bad…

They were both from China, both looked very handsome, could it be that…

That night, in the employee cafeteria, Carl squinted his eyes and told his neighbor Amy about his outrageous guess: “Do you think… Shaw could have a long-lost brother?”

…