*
At a lavish drinking party, Ji He sat demurely beside her boyfriend, peeling mangosteen for him. The hard pits left her slender, pale fingertips red. When she looked up, her plain face was tinged with shyness.
After a few drinks, the men started talking nonsense. Somehow the topic turned to what made a good woman. Her boyfriend slammed his glass onto the marble table and slurred, "No one would want a woman who smokes and drinks."
The friend across from him laughed maliciously. "Who else is lucky enough to find such a sweet girlfriend?"
Her boyfriend grinned without replying, pulling Ji He into his arms to show her off. She lowered her eyes shyly, but from the corner of her eye, she caught the handsome, sharp-featured man at the head of the table watching her thoughtfully.
Ji He grew flustered and made an excuse to go to the restroom.
In the open-air stairwell, a tiny red glow shone against the dim night. Ji He, who had been so docile and considerate just moments earlier, now stared indifferently at the night sky as she smoked. Blue-gray smoke drifted away on the night breeze.
She didn't notice someone approaching from behind.
A tipsy boyfriend came out looking for her, mumbling her name. Ji He turned around, only to be startled by the tall man who had appeared behind her without her noticing. Away from the party room's psychedelic lights, his dark, ink-like eyes regarded her at ease.
Ji He froze, forgetting to stub out her cigarette. A small clump of ash fell onto the back of her hand, making her flinch.
The moment her boyfriend pushed open the door, Ji He felt her heart rise into her throat. The man suddenly plucked the half-smoked cigarette from her fingers. Her boyfriend peered bleary-eyed at the scene and asked, confused, "Huh? When did Mr. Chen learn to smoke?"
Chen Zhuoyan put the cigarette in his mouth and tossed out a reply: "Just now."
*
After Ji He broke up with her cheating boyfriend, everyone in their circle watched for the drama. Inside a dingy bar, his shady friends were busy finding the scumbag a new girlfriend. Chen Zhuoyan, tricked into coming by a friend, slammed his glass onto the coffee table, picked up his suit jacket, and left.
Even in his heartbreak, the scumbag didn't forget business. He grabbed Chen Zhuoyan by the hem of his jacket and asked meekly, "Mr. Chen, what about the Rongguang partnership...?"
Chen Zhuoyan looked at the man's clouded eyes with weary disdain, a faint smile curling his lips. The scumbag thought he had a chance and his eyes lit up, only to see Chen Zhuoyan give him a pitying look and say slowly, "Not happening."
*
On a snowy night, the scumbag couldn't let go of Ji He. He begged her to take him back outside her apartment, wailing and carrying on with heartrending sincerity as he pounded on the heavy door.
The heating was on full blast inside. Chen Zhuoyan pressed Ji He against the door, looking down at her as his scorching lips and tongue swallowed her breath. The cool palm clasping the back of her neck grew slightly damp.
Her body, pressed against the door, shuddered with every heavy knock. She whimpered and pushed at the man's broad shoulders, gasping for breath, but Chen Zhuoyan leaned in again, his damp lips close to her ear. Finally, he snapped, "Tell him to get lost."
"Reading Guide"
The male lead takes center stage; the scumbag will go through hell to win his ex back.
Theme: Leave the shadows behind and live bravely
