Chapter 01: End of Heat

Day Eighteen.

Mid-August in Beijing brought scorching heat, with a stifling, baking sensation permeating the air from all directions.

Li Zhirong turned her bedroom air conditioner to the lowest setting and burrowed into a heavy quilt, sinking into a drowsy sleep.

She had no idea how much time had passed or what changes had occurred outside.

The spacious villa felt particularly oppressive. The servants bustling about on the first floor didn’t even know what they were busy with anymore. In rooms so quiet you could hear a pin drop, everyone felt uneasy.

Because they knew Li Zhirong was the true master of this large house the catalyst.

Now that she had withered, the atmosphere had stagnated, yet no one dared to try and console her.

Eight days ago, Li Zhirong had been brought home from the hospital by ambulance and had remained in this state ever since.

Aside from coming downstairs to eat when hungry, she spent the rest of her time locked alone in her bedroom.

Everyone was counting the days for her. It had been eighteen days since Li Zhirong attempted suicide by jumping into the river.

For eighteen full days, whether in the hospital or at home, the girl had hardly spoken a complete sentence. On the rare occasions she opened her mouth, it was only mechanical sounds like “ah,” “oh,” or “eh.”

Compared to her formerly bold and outgoing personality, it was as if she had become a completely different person.

But… it wasn’t what she wanted.

Did she really want to be like this?

It was just that Li Zhirong couldn’t communicate with others. She buried herself under the quilt, and every time she closed her eyes, bizarre scenes and harsh truths would flood her mind.

She wanted to sort through everything that had happened recently and find the most appropriate solution, but the brutal reality had torn a hole in the “happy” nineteen years of her life, forcing her to confront how foolish her past existence had been…

With a splitting headache, Li Zhirong could bear it no longer and threw off the heavy quilt covering her.

The next second, she shivered as the intensely cold air from the air conditioner hit her, making all her body hairs stand on end.

Li Zhirong lifted her droopy eyelids and belatedly noticed how gloomy the entire room felt. No one had dared to come in and clean for nearly ten days, and the air conditioner had been running nonstop…

A sense of decay seeped into her bones.

She couldn’t go on like this anymore.

Li Zhirong forced her weak body out of bed and drifted like a zombie to the window.

She hadn’t eaten properly in a long time. Not only her body but even her arms felt weak, yet she decisively pulled open the thick curtains

The bright sunlight outside made her squint.

Li Zhirong didn’t flinch or look away. Her clear black-and-white eyes fixed stubbornly on the sliver of sun hidden behind the dense branches.

Bright, vibrant, full of life…

“Good morning,” she murmured hoarsely. “You’ve come back to life.”

Li Zhirong spent an hour in the bathroom cleaning herself up. She blow-dried her hair until it was half-dry, with droplets occasionally forming at the tips and dripping onto her slender collarbones.

Her delicate face, framed by black hair, had been unnaturally pale, but after being steamed by hot water for so long, two faint blushes appeared on her cheeks.

She found her phone on the floor it had automatically shut down due to a dead battery and plugged in the charger. The latest model iPhone nearly froze from the flood of accumulated messages that had piled up over the days.

Li Zhirong raised an eyebrow slightly and waited several minutes for the incessant pings and vibrations to finally stop.

She opened WeChat, where several pages were filled with crimson message notifications, and the name at the top stood out with a glaring 99+.

Ning Chuchen.

At the sight of that name, the girl suddenly felt a wave of physical nausea.

Li Zhirong furrowed her delicate brows, suppressing her discomfort as she pressed a hand against her growling stomach. After taking a deep breath, she finally tapped into Ning Chuchen’s chat.

He had first sent her numerous voice messages. When he received no response, he switched to text, line after line urging her to think positively and not to quarrel with her parents. Then, eighteen days ago

Ning Chuchen had made a flurry of video and voice calls, and it seemed he had even shown up at her door a few times.

Later, his messages of concern turned into reproach, blaming her for being too impulsive…

Hah, impulsive.

A mocking smile curled at the corners of Li Zhirong’s lips.

She took another deep breath, skimmed through the last few lines, and typed three words into the message box: [Let’s break up.]

Without hesitation, she blocked Ning Chuchen on every platform.

After completing these actions as quickly as possible, Li Zhirong called her best friend, Ying Yuxi.

The call was answered instantly, the voice on the other end filled with undisguised astonishment: “Oh my god! You’re alive!”

Li Zhirong gave a faint smile and began, “I…”

Amid Ying Yuxi’s rapid-fire questions, she paused briefly before continuing, “That day… who was the person who saved me?”

Nearly twenty days of silence seemed to have affected her vocal muscles. Her voice was hoarse and carried a clumsy, stuttering quality, as if she were awkwardly relearning how to speak.

Ying Yuxi fell silent for a moment on the other end, and when she spoke again, her voice was choked with tears: “Chongchong, how… how are you really?”

She used her childhood nickname, her worry laid bare.

Li Zhirong closed her eyes and said slowly, “I’m… fine.”

“But… but you’ve refused to see anyone for over half a month. Even when you were in the hospital, you wouldn’t see anyone. I asked your parents, but they wouldn’t say anything either…” Ying Yuxi was genuinely concerned, crying as she spoke. “What really happened? How did you end up falling into the river?”

Eighteen days ago, when she heard that the girl had “accidentally” fallen into the river, she thought she was dreaming until she rushed to the hospital and saw the operating room lights on, with Li Zhirong’s parents weeping outside the door…

Ying Yuxi had been so frightened her legs went weak. Later, when she learned Li Zhirong didn’t want to see anyone, she could only frantically send WeChat messages and make calls, even visiting the Li household several times.

But she never received a response.

Today, suddenly getting a call from Li Zhirong, Ying Yuxi was both shocked and overjoyed, feeling as if she had won the lottery.

Only when she heard her voice did she realize Li Zhirong was just recovering from a serious illness.

“It’s nothing.” Li Zhirong didn’t want to discuss her own situation further and asked again, “That day… the person who saved me… do you know who it was?”

She spoke slowly now, and Ying Yuxi listened patiently before sighing helplessly. “Chongchong, I don’t know.”

“By the time I got to the hospital that day, the kind person who saved you had already left. I only heard it was a gentleman. But someone called the police do you want me to ask around at the station? There must be a record.”

Li Zhirong was taken aback and, after a moment, asked in return, “The police were called?”

Ying Yuxi replied, “Yes, I heard from your mom that the scene was chaotic. After that gentleman pulled you out, some bystanders called an ambulance, and someone else reported it to the police.”

Is that so? Li Zhirong pondered thoughtfully and said softly, “Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

She knew Ying Yuxi’s uncle worked at the Municipal Public Security Bureau, so asking about a name would be an easy task for him.

Ying Yuxi quickly replied, “Oh come on, what’s our relationship? No need to thank me for such a small matter… Huh? Why is Ning Chuchen calling me? Chongchong, have you contacted him? He’s been going crazy with worry these past few days.”

Li Zhirong was utterly annoyed.

She felt somewhat flustered, her words stumbling slightly: “D-don’t answer it.”

“Ah?” Ying Yuxi was confused. “Not answer?”

“Don’t answer,” Li Zhirong said. “He and I… we’ve broken up.”

Ying Yuxi on the other end was completely shocked.

“Don’t let him bother you,” Li Zhirong, fully aware of Ning Chuchen’s intentions, said calmly. “You should block him too.”

But some things can’t be resolved simply by blocking someone.

A few minutes later, Li Zhirong received a call from an unknown number. Through the receiver came Ning Chuchen’s angry and anxious voice.

She hung up after hearing just the beginning since she still couldn’t speak fluently and hadn’t recovered her former sharp-tongued eloquence, she didn’t want to argue with Ning Chuchen.

But the breakup couldn’t be delayed for even a moment.

Li Zhirong had just experienced something that could completely reshape her worldview. Through this experience, she realized that she and Ning Chuchen had fundamentally different values, making it pointless to continue their relationship.

Even though they had known each other since high school and shared many years of history and feelings.

But she didn’t need a boyfriend who only expected her to be obedient and accommodating, while blaming her for “being unreasonable.”

Li Zhirong blocked all unknown numbers directly.

A while later, Ying Yuxi sent her a WeChat message saying she had already gotten the information.

The kind-hearted person who saved her was named ‘Xie Wei,’ living at a place called ‘Dawn Auto Repair Shop’ on Chang’an Street.

Li Zhirong was a native of Jingbei, but she had never been to Chang’an Street.

This was quite normal after all, Jingbei was so large that people from within the Second Ring Road would rarely venture beyond the Fifth or Sixth Ring Roads.

But since this man named Xie Wei had saved her life, it was only right that she should visit him to express her gratitude.

Because the moment she jumped from the railing, Li Zhirong had already regretted it. She clearly realized it was just a momentary impulse she didn’t actually want to die…

The icy water rushed into her senses, making it hard to breathe and causing pain throughout her body. She didn’t know how much water she was forced to swallow, feeling like her lungs were about to burst

Just then, a pair of hands pulled her upward.

Li Zhirong couldn’t open her eyes and was on the verge of losing consciousness, but she could feel that someone was saving her.

In her dazed state, those hands felt incredibly strong and firm.

So the first thing she thought of after recovering to “normal” was to thank the gentleman named Xie Wei.

Li Zhirong typed “Thank you” in reply to Ying Yuxi.

Then she randomly picked two pieces of clothing from her wardrobe, put them on, and went downstairs.

The servants busy on the first floor were startled to see her coming down and gathered around her, asking in chorus how she was feeling, whether she wanted to eat, and so on…

Li Zhirong found their chattering headache-inducing and frowned. “Not eating.”

As she spoke, she walked toward the main door.

“Miss, are you going out?” The housekeeper, Auntie Deng, hurriedly said. “Do we need to inform Sir and Madam…”

“Do I not have hands or feet?” Li Zhirong turned back to look at her and said calmly, “Why inform them?”

Li Zhirong only brought her car keys and a card when she went out.

Having not seen sunlight for too many days, and with the scorching summer heat at its peak, she was immediately hit by a wave of intense heat as soon as she stepped outside, almost suffocating her. Her head felt dizzy.

The girl laughed at herself wryly, thinking that her current body was too weak, as fragile as paper.

But she could still drive.

Li Zhirong entered the address provided by Ying Yuxi into the navigation and followed the route driving for over an hour before reaching the vicinity of Chang’an Street.

There was no other way; it was just too far.

Having just recovered from a serious illness, she had taken on such a “strenuous task.” Li Zhirong felt dizzy and lightheaded, with cold sweat breaking out intermittently all over her body.

After finally navigating the winding Chang’an Street and locating the so-called Chenxi Auto Repair Shop, her lungs felt as if they were about to burst. She leaned heavily on the steering wheel, gasping for breath.

It took her a while to recover before she finally opened the car door and stepped out.

But as she moved from the cool, air-conditioned car to the outside, the extreme contrast in temperature hit her like a blunt force.

Li Zhirong almost ran to the shade under the eaves outside the auto repair shop, fanning her flushed cheeks with her small hands.

There were quite a few people inside the repair shop, all burly men moving about.

Li Zhirong peered through the glass door but didn’t venture inside recklessly. Instead, she crouched down to ease her discomfort, frowning and clenching her fists.

That foolish jump into the river had caused a lung infection, landing her in the hospital for eight days. Of course, she hadn’t fully recovered yet and was still as fragile as “a delicate willow swaying in the wind,” panting heavily after just a few steps.

As Li Zhirong leaned against the glass door behind her, taking small, labored breaths, a voice came from above

“Here for a repair?”

A very pleasant voice, deep and aloof, as if directed at her.

Li Zhirong didn’t want to answer and shook her head.

The person said, “If you’re not here for a repair, don’t block the door.”

“…” How rude.

Li Zhirong frowned and looked up indignantly.

Standing before her was a very tall man. He stood against the light, looking down at her with a condescending posture.

The man was extremely lean, wearing a black baseball cap and black clothes, which made his skin appear even paler.

The lines of his face were clean and sharp, and his dark, profound eyes, shadowed by the brim of his cap, seemed to hold a cold, icy stillness.

The stark contrast made him stand there like a sharply rendered black-and-white portrait.

Yes, he was as sharp as a paper cutout.

Li Zhirong was stunned.

Good heavens, she had never imagined that there could be a man in this world whose appearance appealed to her so perfectly.

It was as if all the handsome faces she had ever envisioned in her mind had materialized into reality at this very moment.

When Xie Wei saw Li Zhirong’s raised face, a flicker of brief surprise passed through his dark eyes, followed by a slight frown.

“You…”

“I’m here to find someone,” Li Zhirong finally spoke, her voice soft and helpless, slow and clumsy, making her seem exceptionally pitiful. “Excuse me, is there someone named… Xie Wei here?”

Xie Wei remained silent for a moment before asking directly, “What do you want with me?”

???

So he was her savior!

Li Zhirong suddenly felt a surge of excitement and stood up abruptly but she rose too quickly, forgetting that she hadn’t eaten all day and was suffering from dizziness due to low blood sugar. She stumbled forward and collapsed

In the last moment before she fainted, the scent of old-fashioned laundry detergent filled her nostrils.

A warm, comforting fragrance.