Where the Spring Mountains End

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Su Qingyi, an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of wood carving, returned alone from the capital after breaking off her engagement, going back to the ancient city where her grandfather lived.

When she went to a temple to burn incense and pray, she fell in love at first sight with the young owner of an antique shop. He had cool, refined features and an air of noble elegance tempered by humility. He gave off the impression that if she pursued him persistently enough, she could win him over.

But the young shop owner was ascetic and restrained. With his head lowered, he toyed with a string of agarwood beads and never let his gaze stray below the frog buttons of her qipao.

Later, she added him on WeChat using an alternate account.

She could send ten messages and get one reply. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I read online that men who fiddle with prayer beads aren't very good in bed."

The taciturn shop owner replied at once: "?"

Su Qingyi kept a straight face. "I know one who's young, but already seems..."

The next moment, the shop owner, usually impossible to read, knocked on the door of her shop with an expressionless face. "Boss Su, what do you think? Come out and tell me to my face."

Su Qingyi, who thought she'd hidden her identity perfectly: "?"

*

Half a year after Su Qingyi left, rumors suddenly spread through the capital's high society that she had attached herself to some powerful big shot in the capital.

Meanwhile, in the ancient city thousands of miles away, Su Qingyi was single-mindedly trying to earn enough money to give her shop-owner boyfriend a proper betrothal gift. "?"

Later, Su Qingyi returned to the capital and finally saw the powerful big shot from the rumors.

He wore a black suit with an embroidered stand-up collar. He stood tall and graceful, with sharply defined features and a lazy expression that nevertheless gave off an imposing air.

Everyone knew that Lu Jingchen, the former head of the Lu family, flouted convention and had no interest in officialdom, preferring to keep a low profile amid the bustle of the world.

He usually kept to himself and never received visitors except on the Buddha's birthday.

Nobody truly believed Su Qingyi could know him.

At a banquet, someone addressed the man seated at the head table. "President Lu, I heard you're seeing Qingyi?"

Lu Jingchen's meaningful gaze swept over her lightly.

"No."

The table fell silent.

Then the man raised his eyes and added, "She dumped me just last week."

Last week, Su Qingyi had decided the shop owner didn't like her enough, insisted on breaking up with him, and resolved to return to the capital to focus on her career. "..."

*

Everyone said Lu Jingchen had the Buddha's eyes, a compassionate face, yet was cold and ruthless, stopping at nothing and striking with deadly precision.

But even he had times when he lowered his head to someone.

The night he learned Su Qingyi had found someone else, the man who usually kept to himself appeared of his own accord at a gathering with friends, looking relaxed and inscrutable.

Later, in a small space separated from the crowd by a single wall, the man who had been laughing and chatting with everyone moments earlier pinned her by the waist beneath her qipao with his long, sharply defined fingers. "Do you really want to end things with me for good?"

Su Qingyi avoided his gaze and, steeling herself, didn't deny it.

At the same time, a friend outside called for her. She opened her mouth to answer, but he raised a hand and covered her lips. Amid the hubbub of the crowd, his tall nose brushed her pale neck, his warm breath clearly grazing the frog buttons at her collar. "Ayi, don't look at anyone else. Look at me again."

*Reclusive powerhouse of the capital's elite circle × Intangible cultural heritage woodcarver and qipao beauty

*At first she pursues him, never lowering herself. Later he descends into the mortal world, grows addicted to her, and chases her after the breakup.

#Please add my upcoming novel, Marriage Is a Must, to your reading list#

Before she turned twenty-five, Song Chiyu had never imagined marrying anyone but Xie Yunjin. She would marry him for love.

Instead, everything ended in humiliating ruin.

Later, having given up on love, Song Chiyu finally agreed to let her family arrange a match for her.

But on the day of the blind date, her prospective match not only failed to show up, he fled overnight by taxi.

So when the other party's elders rushed over to apologize, the usually kind young woman began speaking recklessly. "Actually, Second Uncle, you still have a lot of charm."

The noisy dining table fell abruptly silent.

Song Chiyu had no idea what the others were thinking. She only saw the elegant man across from her calmly undo his shirt collar and smile. "Is that so? If Miss Song doesn't mind, I could do the job too."

**

Qi Yanzhou was the youngest archaeology professor at Cheng'an University. Born into poverty, he never abandoned his lofty ambitions. He treated everyone like a modest gentleman, but was actually aloof, with a powerful sense of personal boundaries.

After they married, Song Chiyu and Qi Yanzhou remained as distant as polite strangers.

They had a meal together on the day they registered their marriage, but barely saw each other at any other time.

Even when she clearly told him she was willing to fulfill her duties as his wife, he never stayed the night.

Song Chiyu didn't take his attitude to heart either.

They both knew this was simply a way to answer to their elders.

For a while, she thought their life would remain so peaceful and uneventful, until she was assigned to conduct archaeological research in the Gobi Desert and ran into a local "big shot." She needed to find the person in charge of the antique trade in the Northwest to settle things.

Everyone in the antique trade knew that everything north of the Qinling Mountains belonged to the Qi family. The Qi family was not only a renowned top-tier collector, but also the sole authority in the Northwest. Their current head was extremely low-key, rarely appearing except at major donation ceremonies. People knew his name, but had never seen him.

Everyone was speculating when they saw a man in an outdoor jacket step out of a Jeep in the distance.

Tall and lean, with sharply defined brows, he stood amid the vast Gobi like an immovable slab of blue stone.

Before the project lead could say a word, he slapped the local "big shot" on the head.

The thug, who had been cursing up a storm just moments before, instantly broke into a fawning smile, calling him "Master Qi" over and over.

The noisy scene fell silent.

Everyone looked terrified, thinking an even more ruthless character had arrived. Then the man in charge of the Northwest quietly stubbed out his cigarette, buttoned his undone shirt cuff, and looked toward the inconspicuous Song Chiyu in the crowd. "Miss Song, what a coincidence."

Song Chiyu, who had come to the Northwest alone without consulting anyone: "..."

Don't ask...

It really was a coincidence.

**

In Song Chiyu's impression, Qi Yanzhou was ascetic and detached, wanting nothing. Everything seemed as insignificant to him as a drop in the ocean.

That was until the third night after he arrived in the Northwest. Xie Yunjin came to find her on a green-skinned train, braving a sandstorm to ask her to get back together. The elegant man said nothing to her in public, but on the iron-framed bed late that night, he kissed her until she could barely breathe.

"Miss Song, he's your love. What does that make me?"

Song Chiyu, kissed so breathless she couldn't answer: "..."

Later, she finally understood what it meant to do the cruelest things in the gentlest voice.

This elegant man was terrifying when jealous.

"Powerful boss of the antique world × Gentle, reserved researcher"

Theme: Don't settle. Strive to improve.