A Humid Summer Night

To climb the ladder, Jiang Chi once stopped at nothing.

The day her reputation was ruined, she spent the whole day trending, utterly humiliated.

Someone else was trending all day too: Shen Zhi, who had just won all three major Best Actor awards, basking in the limelight.

Jiang Chi looked at their names side by side. It was the first time they had appeared so close together in the public eye.

On a low-budget variety show, Shen Zhi appeared as a mystery guest.

The two sat at opposite ends of the table, clearly keeping their distance. Everyone thought they barely knew each other.

No one knew that in a damp basement apartment, they had once squeezed together on the sofa, sharing a portion of crawfish and even a cigarette.

Even Jiang Chi had almost forgotten.

Back then, he had loved her so much. He had loved her until it nearly killed her.

Now he wouldn't even spare her a glance.

They met again when rumors spread that he was never seen with women.

"Let's get married."

"Why?" Her heart was pounding wildly, and her voice sounded hoarse.

"I need a marriage, and you need my resources. We'll each get what we want." His tone was strictly business, without the slightest trace of tenderness.

He was nothing like the man who used to call her "A Chi, A Chi," with a tenderness that could drown her.

The pain was so sharp it hurt to breathe, yet she heard herself say yes.

If this was the ending he had chosen for them, she would accept it gladly.

No one knew that on the night before he forced her to marry him, Shen Zhi spent the entire night smoking beneath her apartment building.

Theme: Finding what truly matters