Country D, nine in the morning…

Lu Xiulan stepped out of her rented apartment and hailed a cab. Since she left the medical school to pursue her career in multimedia, she’d moved out of her parents’ place and lived on her own.

Lu Xiulan had always considered herself ordinary. In her opinion, every aspect of her life and personality was just as boring and ordinary as any other person. However, if one were to ask anyone who knew her, they would say that Lu Xiulan was anything but ordinary.

At a young age, her peers considered her one of the best in their class. She was that ideal student most teachers would appreciate. Anyone else would think that she was the filial daughter of the Lu family and one of the prettiest women on their neighborhood. She held such a reputation that Lu Xiulan herself couldn’t distinguish who the real her was.

In reality, although she wanted to tell herself that her life was normal, Lu Xiulan knew it was definitely not. She was far from the perfect daughter others portrayed her to be. As she watched the scenery outside the window of the cab she was in, she couldn’t help but wonder where and when her life took a turn for the worst.

The busy streets were the same as she could remember. Everyone was living their own lives with a smile plastered on their faces. That made Lu Xiulan wonder if the smile was meant to cover the sadness they felt inside, just like her.

The cab stopped at once when they reached their destination which was her parents’ mansion. Lu Xiulan paid her bill and stepped out. Lifting her head, she was amazed at how time seemed to have not touched this place.

The thick vines crawling along the high fences were still the same as she could remember. The house itself was still ivory white, that made one stop on their tracks to admire its elegance.

Lu Xiulan adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag and removed the invisible lint from her dress. Her father was an old-fashioned one and someone strictly following the rules, something she vehemently hated since young.

She rang the doorbell and was greeted by one of their housekeepers.

“Miss! You’ve arrived! Your parents are expecting you today.” He greeted her with a wide smile and opened the gate. “I haven’t seen you in five years. I say you look better now than when you were here.”

Lu Xiulan smiled back but didn’t comment. She would rather keep her opinion to herself than start another argument with her father. As she stepped inside their house, she found her parents conversing happily with two old couple and a man in his early thirties.

When they saw her at the doorway, her mother stood up and pulled her arm. She lowered her gaze and hid her disappointment. What could she say anyway? That she refused to accept this marriage arrangement they prepared for her return?

“Xiulan, I’m glad you came. Do you remember Lin Qianrou? He used to be your schoolmate, right?” Her mother asked excitedly. She’d never seen her mother as happy as this. Would the thought of her getting married make her mother happy?

Lu Xiulan lifted her gaze and gave the man a good look. Now that her mother mentioned it, she could roughly remember seeing this man before. Was it during her middle school years or high school? She had no idea.

The man called Lin Qianrou smiled politely at her and offered a handshake which she accepted.

“Miss Lu, I haven’t seen you for a while.”

A while was an understatement, Lu Xiulan thought. It could be a decade already since they last saw each other.

“Mr. Lin, I didn’t know you are acquainted with my parents,” she replied as she shook his hand. She was acutely conscious of his tall, athletic physique and how the rich outlines of his shoulders strained against the fabric of his dress shirt. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

His firm mouth curled as if always on the verge of laughter.

“We’ve been your family’s business partner for years, Miss Lu.”

Lu Xiulan’s face flushed as she realized how ignorant she was with regard to their family businesses. Her gaze then landed to her father who was silently criticizing her for her ignorance. She would never understand how come this father of hers was the direct opposite of Lu Xinyi’s father, her uncle.

Lu Changyan was the older brother of Lu Sibai. While Lu Sibai took an interest in cooking, Lu Changyan pursued the business world. While his younger brother was the happy-go-lucky type, Lu Changyan took pride in following the tradition and sticking to the rules. He opposed Lu Sibai’s decision on attending Silver Leaf Academy as he deemed being a chef wouldn’t bring enough money to support his family.

What Lu Xiulan couldn’t understand was why her father refused to take Lu Xinyi into their family after her uncle’s death. She once saw him arguing with their Grandma Lu over Lu Xinyi’s custody. Her young mind was thinking how nice it would’ve been if Lu Xinyi became her sister, but that never happened.

“Dad…”

“You’re here. At least you are just in time for lunch.” The old man stood up with his wife’s help and walked towards their dining area. “Please join us,” he told the Lin family.

Lu Xiulan was left in an awkward position. She hadn’t thought that her father would chastise her like that in front of their guests. She wondered if she had chosen the right decision about her marriage. Yuan Jin told her not to agree willingly just because some jerk had broken her heart.

So in the end, in her father’s eyes, she was just another piece to make his business successful. Ah, now, she regretted coming back to Country D. She should have listened to Yuan Jin’s advice. This was certainly not the right way to move on.

But how could she move on when she could see ‘him’ everywhere? She looked for him in everyone she met, and maybe that’s why she couldn’t move on. She knew she was supposed to move on and forget him completely, and yet she also knew she shouldn’t be drinking late at night and crying herself to sleep.

She knew… but that didn’t change the fact that she’d been drowning herself to alcohol just to forget her pain.

Her musing was disturbed when her phone vibrated on her bag. Taking it out to see who was calling her, she wasn’t surprised to see Lu Xinyi’s name on the screen.

A smile crossed on her lips. So Lu Xinyi found out, eh? Heh, she could never keep a secret from her for too long.

“Xiao Xinxin~” she answered her phone.

“Don’t ‘Xiao Xinxin’ me! Get your fat ass back in here!” Lu Xinyi retorted in a loud voice.

“Oww… too loud!” Lu Xiulan pushed her phone away from her ear.

Ah, Yuan Jin had surely sold her out to her cousin. But hey, she couldn’t regret having a friend like him. Yuan Jin was a cool person in her opinion because no one would compliment her, listen to her dumb drama, and tell her she was being a psycho bitch like him.

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