Where Zhao Mu Lies

[Short story, updates every other day]

[Next story, A Life of Unclouded Joy. Please bookmark it!]

After reading the class reunion messages in the group chat, Mu Yin casually opened the friends list.

"How is Jian Zhao doing?"

Her friend An Lin heard the unfamiliar name and asked in confusion, "Who is Jian Zhao? Someone you've recently met?"

Mu Yin's finger stopped scrolling. She looked up at An Lin in surprise. "What? Jian Zhao, our class monitor. Have you forgotten?"

An Lin didn't look like she'd suddenly remembered. Instead, she seemed increasingly horrified.

She pulled up the class graduation photo saved on her phone and held it in front of Mu Yin.

The photo was clear, and everyone in it wore bright smiles.

The boys and girls were seventeen or eighteen, their eyes shining with boundless hope for the future.

But the person in Mu Yin's memories was nowhere to be seen.

Had she really remembered wrong?

But she clearly remembered every look Jian Zhao gave her, and every time he quietly comforted her when she was hurt and miserable.

Why did nobody remember him...

When morning glories first bloom, the horns of the funeral procession have already sounded. - Shi Tiesheng, My Temple of Earth and Me

Blurb added on 25.11.30 (screen-recorded)

#Short story, alternating between city life and school days

#No romance during the school years

Blurb for A Life of Unclouded Joy:

Pretend siblings / Reunited from the opening

Clear-headed, teasing younger sister x Dark, pathological older brother

[One person's hell is hell. Two people's hell is paradise.]

The Jiang family is one of Wucheng's most powerful and prominent clans. They care more about reputation and prestige than anything, yet a scandal has rocked the family in recent days.

Less than three months after the death of the Jiang family's current patriarch's first wife, his new lover boldly moved in with her child, acting as if she owned the place. Even more attention-grabbing was that the child she brought along was an eighteen-year-old girl who bore a striking resemblance to the patriarch, sharing seven or eight of his features.

Illegitimate children are nothing unusual among the wealthy, but this was the first time anyone had been so shameless about it.

Rumor had it that the new lover and the Jiang patriarch had been childhood sweethearts, separated only because of their vastly different social status.

After lying low and enduring for years, she had finally gotten what she wanted.

Those who loved to watch the drama gradually turned their attention to Jiang Siyu, the Jiang patriarch's only son.

Just as everyone expected, Jiang Siyu went abroad six months later.

The Jiang family claimed that their overseas company couldn't be left without a leader, so they had assigned Jiang Siyu to gain experience there.

But everyone knew the truth. The Jiang family had only been expanding overseas for a year and had yet to find its footing. How could a young man in his twenties possibly reverse its decline?

The so-called training was just an excuse. In reality, they were making room for the mother and daughter.

The battle for the wealthy family's succession came to an end, with the illegitimate child ultimately gaining the upper hand.

Everything seemed to settle down, but under the calm surface, trouble was brewing.

In just four years, the Jiang patriarch was imprisoned, and the once-mighty Jiang family began to teeter on the brink of collapse.

-

The Gabriel Auction House had risen out of nowhere among Wucheng's many auction houses three years ago, quickly becoming the country's number one.

It had things no one else had. It dared to auction off things other auction houses wouldn't touch.

From authentic works by famous artists to heirloom jewelry, it dared to sell things others wouldn't even dream of.

Today, an unusual lot appeared at a place where even admission tickets had to be fought over.

At the auction, Li Wu appeared in a red dress. Ignoring the astonished stares around her, she walked step by step to the center of the display stage, making herself an item up for auction.

Li Wu listened expressionlessly to the ugly, cutting remarks from the crowd. The lights shone brilliantly, leaving her nowhere to hide. She fought back the tears threatening to spill and stared resolutely at the mysterious box on the third floor.

She knew the person behind the auction house was Jiang Siyu.

She knew he had returned.

Most of all, she knew he would see her.

If she was destined to fall into the hands of a wolf, she hoped it would be him.

After all, he had always wanted to drag her down to hell with him.

Now, she agreed.

-

In a third-floor VIP box, moonlight spilled into the room and flowed quietly through the darkness.

Li Wu was pinned against the door by a hand gripping her waist. Her carefully applied lipstick had smudged, and her eyes glistened with light, bright as diamonds.

Breathless, she stared at the person before her, her gaze alluring. Her flawless white arms wound like vines around the man's neck, and her red lips drew close, almost touching his. "Why didn't you come home when you returned to the country, Brother?"

The hem of her red dress tangled with his black suit trousers, dangerous and intimate.

Jiang Siyu bent down, pressing his lips to hers again. He left a mark where she'd just bitten his swollen lip until it bled.

He held her lower lip between his, his voice hoarse with an indescribable desire. "Would you like me to come home, little sister?"

The metallic taste of blood grew stronger. Li Wu's last breath was stolen from her, but she seemed not to notice the sensation of nearing death. Her eyes still curved into a smile. "Of course. I want to see you every day and every night, Brother. I don't want to be apart for even a moment."

Theme: Those who strive desperately to chase the sun have already become the most dazzling suns themselves.