Three years later, his friend was transferred from Fengxiang back to the capital, and Xu Keli went to meet him outside the city.
Xu Keli was solitary and aloof. His friend was the only person in the world he could truly confide in.
The carriage curtain lifted, revealing the unfamiliar, bewitchingly beautiful face of a woman.
Oh, his friend had brought back his fiancée, too.
Reunited with an old friend, they often dined and drank together, trading verses over the same table. With each passing day, Xu Keli felt more comforted that their friendship remained as it had been in their youth.
Yet with each passing day, he also grew more indifferent, because he kept running into that excessively bewitching face.
Xu Keli loathed his friend's fiancée.
He loathed the affectionate glances with which she wrapped herself around him.
*
After her family fell into ruin, Wei Ran found herself stranded in a foreign land. With her looks, finding some high-ranking official or wealthy man in Fengxiang to shelter her should have been easy. Yet she chose an utterly unremarkable young official and became engaged to him.
Everyone thought she had a discerning eye and was betting on the young man's brilliant prospects. Only Wei Ran knew the truth: she had seen him before.
Back in the capital, at Xu Keli's side.
Xu Keli was the Wei family's enemy. Wei Ran could hardly wait.
*
Xu Keli's desire for Wei Ran had brought him to the brink of collapse.
He casually endorsed a petition and sent his friend out of the capital on official business.
Knowing nothing, his friend entrusted her to him before leaving. "I know you don't like Miss Wei, but for my sake, please look after her a little."
Xu Keli looked after her right into his bed.
Self-loathing and abandon entwined until he was driven mad. "Wei Ran, are you satisfied now?"
Wei Ran secretly scoffed. This was nothing yet.
There was still the time when you would suffer.
Theme: Seize the day.
