Tracing You Through the Mist

At first, Shen Xingzhuo paid no attention to Pei Jin's subtle approaches and flirtations.

Her acting was terribly clumsy. He saw right through it, but never called her out.

At first, he simply found her amusing. He never expected to gradually fall for her.

Until that dinner party.

A friend gave her a sly glance and teased him with a smile. "You're not getting any younger. Shouldn't you start thinking about marriage?"

Through the haze of cigarette smoke, Shen Xingzhuo's expression was inscrutable, giving nothing away.

"I'm her elder, nothing more," he said coolly.

Pei Jin took those words to heart and came to her senses for good.

Whether he had feelings for her no longer mattered.

In this game of flirtation, she had never been as skilled as he was.

He could give her what she wanted, but not what she wanted most.

-

Much later, they talked about love.

Pei Jin joked with a friend, "I don't think I have any regrets. I've moved on long ago."

Shen Xingzhuo happened to walk in and glanced at her calmly, his expression unreadable.

On a chilly night, in a dark guest room without a light on,

he lifted her onto the desk and wiped the excess lipstick from her lips with his hand, again and again.

He asked quietly, "What do you want this time?"

Pei Jin pretended to be unfazed, using his title to remind him not to cross the line. "Uncle, I don't want anything."

Shen Xingzhuo stopped. His expression turned unusually serious. His fingertip traced down her neck, drifting toward her heart.

"Jinjin, you're more ruthless than I am."

-

*He / eleven-year age gap / deliberately gets close to her

"Drowning in the past, sinking into the fog."

"He is her past, and also her future."

Theme: Love makes life flourish