Tracing the Current

[Awaiting revision]

Lu Yu is the eldest son of the Lu family in Nancheng, refined as jade, cold, and distant.

Song Xun is the daughter of the Lu family's chauffeur. Her father died saving the Lu family's matriarch, and in gratitude, the Lus took Song Xun into their home.

Song Xun was eighteen that year, young and with no one to rely on. After moving into the Lu household, she remained quiet and withdrawn, often gazing up at Lu Yu with her dewy eyes. He was eight years older than her, a man who wielded power in the world of wealth and influence, deep in the whirl of worldly affairs.

Even though he was reserved and treated her coldly.

One ordinary spring night, rain fell in a steady, tender curtain. Lu Yu was out at a business engagement, so Song Xun brought him an umbrella in the rain.

Her white shoes were soaked through by the time she arrived. Through a traditional carved window, she saw the man leaning by the window, while a sexy, beautiful woman lit his cigarette.

He turned his head to take it, looking lazy and wearing a carefree smile.

Her heart grew colder, drop by drop, along with the rain.

Later, she finally gathered the courage to leave for a distant place.

Lu Yu watched her for a long time, stubbed out his cigarette, and smiled faintly. "A Xun has grown up and has ideas of her own."

-

Another rainy night, just like that one.

On the road from the suburbs to the villa, he stopped by the roadside at a red light.

With a soft flick of his lighter, he lit a cigarette, his pale, sharply handsome profile turned to the side. Then, quite by chance, he saw Song Xun in a white dress slip beneath someone else's umbrella.

From that day on, Lu Yu could never forget the pure smile in those bright, dewy eyes.

Not long afterward, Song Xun's boyfriend's business went bankrupt. A friend whispered in his ear, and for the sake of his future, he sent his girlfriend to a powerful man's luxury apartment.

At the time, Lu Yu sat by the floor-to-ceiling window. He set down his glass of Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Chateau Lafite, then wiped a crystalline tear from the corner of her eye.

He gave a soft sigh, a smile tugging at his lips.

"The world outside is too cruel. You're too naive, A Xun. No one else can protect you."

He waited for the fish he'd temporarily let swim free to obediently return to the net he'd woven with his own hands.

Theme: Live well