The brief exchange disrupted the charged, ambiguous atmosphere in the room, leaving it awkward and deflated.
Yun Wulai had no intention of revealing her circumstances over the past few years before Zhu Kaixuan did. What if he casually dropped an "I have"? That would make her look utterly foolish.
If he said he had someone, she could always lie and say the same—after all, there was no way to verify the truth.
But if he said no… then she’d…
Well, she’d consider it.
In the silent standoff, everything seemed frozen. Yet Yun Wulai could clearly see the clarity gradually returning to Zhu Kaixuan’s eyes, the lingering tension between them dissipating until it vanished without a trace.
In the end, he didn’t step inside, nor did he give her an answer. With a perfunctory "Get some rest," he turned and left.
Without even closing the door behind him.
That was the most infuriating part.
The door had been left open too long, triggering a continuous, piercing beep—the hotel’s reminder for guests to shut their doors.
The sound wasn’t loud, but it grated on Yun Wulai’s nerves. She strode over and kicked the door shut with her foot, muttering irritably, "Couldn’t even bother closing the door for someone else?"
She wasn’t sure if he heard.
Just then, two hotel staff members happened to pass by. The night before, Yun Wulai had been personally escorted to her room by Yan Sui, who’d instructed the staff to treat her with utmost care, so they remembered her distinctly.
Yun Wulai’s face matched her name—cool and refined. At first glance, she wasn’t as striking as someone with more overtly glamorous features, but her poise was undeniably top-tier, likely honed from years of childhood dance training under her mother’s strict guidance.
Having spent years in the fashion industry, her sense of style was impeccable, radiating an unshakable confidence and ease. Even standing beside Yan Sui, whose beauty was bold and arresting, Yun Wulai held her own effortlessly.
The two women, with their starkly contrasting styles, made for a breathtaking sight.
The hotel staff had secretly nicknamed her "Fairy Sister."
Who would’ve guessed Fairy Sister had such a temper?
The moment the door slammed shut, Yun Wulai caught the varying degrees of shock in the employees’ eyes.
Back in bed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. France was seven hours behind, and her body clock was still out of sync. She’d barely slept the night before, only to crash for a long nap during the day.
As much as she hated to admit it, jet lag wasn’t the only reason for her insomnia.
The other reason? She was replaying whether she should’ve asked that question at all. During her years in France, men had never stopped vying for her attention, but she’d always brushed them off. She’d thought she’d reached a state of serene detachment—maybe she’d never need a man again.
But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case. Maybe idleness just bred wayward thoughts.
If only she hadn’t asked, none of this would’ve happened.
Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.
Yun Wulai only managed to drift off near dawn and woke again at three in the afternoon. Yan Sui had sent her several messages since morning, all unheard.
Rubbing her groggy head, she sat up and dialed Yan Sui’s number.
"Hey, Yun Wu, you’re awake?" Yan Sui sounded busy, surrounded by chatter and noise.
"Yeah." Yun Wulai’s throat was dry. She wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear, twisting open a bottle of water from the nightstand and taking a few gulps.
"Sleep well?" Yan Sui asked offhandedly.
Truthfully? Not at all.
"Yeah, fine." Yun Wulai realized Yan Sui had an uncanny knack for hitting sore spots lately.
"I’m swamped right now, so I can’t keep you company. You’ll have to entertain yourself for a bit." Yan Sui sounded exasperated by wedding errands. "When it’s your turn, remember—keep it simple. This is a nightmare."
"I’m not some outsider lost in Jin City. I don’t need a tour guide." Yun Wulai laughed. "Focus on your stuff. I actually need to go back somewhere too."
Yun Wulai reassured her: "Right, well, be careful. See you tonight."
Though Jin City was her hometown, there weren’t many places Yun Wulai felt drawn to.
After leaving the hotel, she bought two bouquets and took a taxi to the suburban cemetery where her parents were buried.
Since her mother’s passing, she’d avoided visiting, not wanting to reopen old wounds.
Her parents had each other now—they wouldn’t be lonely. So visits weren’t as crucial, right?
For a long time, she’d consoled herself with these excuses, masking her guilt and selfishness.
As she neared the graves, unease churned in her chest. She paused, took a few steadying breaths, and forced herself forward.
The cemetery was well-kept, tended to regularly.
Standing before her parents’ graves, she bent to place the flowers gently atop them, then stared silently at their photos. Her parents looked young, their smiles warm and tender as they gazed back at her.
Yun Wulai didn’t stay long. After about five minutes, she turned to leave. Before going, she finally spoke: "Dad, Mom, I’m heading out. I don’t know when I’ll be back—might be a while before I can visit again."
Her words dissolved into the mountain breeze, like a sigh.
With time to spare, she left the cemetery and headed for a residential area called Zhaohui Court.
Zhaohui Court was an old, low-to-mid-tier complex—over thirty years old, seven-story walk-ups with poor lighting and mediocre locations.
Yun Wulai had lived there for years, from age fourteen after her father’s death until her first year of grad school.
Now, standing at the entrance with bags of gifts and fruit in hand, she could see the apartment she’d once called home. Clothes fluttered on the balcony, swaying in the wind.
Yet her feet refused to move forward.
Only when a middle-aged woman leaned out to gather the laundry did Yun Wulai snap out of her daze.
Even knowing the woman wouldn’t recognize her after all these years, Yun Wulai instinctively looked away.
This woman had once cared for her like a daughter.
Yun Wulai had called her "Mom"—not her birth mother, but a foster mother.
But life had a way of twisting things, and now their relationship had deteriorated to the point where even meeting required hesitation.
As she stood torn, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Her hands full, she made a quick decision and walked to the security booth.
Two older men sat inside—not the grandfather she used to greet every day back then.
She wondered how he was doing now.
Handing over the items, she said, "Uncle, if you see anyone from the Luo Family in Unit 402, Building 3, could you pass these along for me?"
The security guard wasn’t too keen on helping: "There are so many households here, how am I supposed to know who’s who? It’s just a short walk—why don’t you carry it over yourself?"
Another guard chimed in: "Exactly, Building 3 is the closest. Just go straight in."
"If you don’t know, then you can just dispose of it." Yun Wulai set the items down and walked away.
She was tired of carrying them, and throwing them away felt like a waste. It didn’t matter who took them.
"Hey, hey!" One of the guards leaned out the window and called after her, but she didn’t even glance back as she answered her phone.
The guard withdrew, and the two of them muttered as they rummaged through the items.
"These are really expensive fruits. My daughter’s boyfriend brought these same kiwis when he first visited—said they cost ten yuan each. And look at this gift box, so fancy. That girl must be loaded."
"But where are we supposed to find the household she mentioned? We can’t just deliver it to her door."
"How about putting up a sign? Which building and unit did she say again?"
...
"Hey, Sui."
"Hey, Wulai." It was Yan Sui on the line. "Are you still at your godmother’s? Are you staying for dinner?"
Yun Wulai quickly stepped to the roadside and absentmindedly replied, "Yeah."
Only after answering did she realize she hadn’t even stepped foot inside the Luo Family’s home—how could she be staying for dinner? But since she’d already said it, she didn’t correct herself. Maybe some alone time wouldn’t be so bad.
"Alright." Yan Sui didn’t question it. "Come over after dinner, then. Fu Xingci’s throwing a bachelor party."
"Mm." Yun Wulai responded just as casually.
"Just a heads-up—Kaixuan-ge will be there tonight." Yan Sui was far more considerate than Fu Xingci, who would’ve insisted on springing it as a surprise—or more accurately, a shock.
Yun Wulai rubbed her temple. "Got it."
She and Zhu Kaixuan had already met. If she hadn’t said too much, they might’ve even ended up in bed together. And they’d see each other at the wedding tomorrow anyway—there was no point in avoiding him.
The bachelor party was held at an upscale club.
The guests were the bride and groom and their respective bridesmaids and groomsmen. Everyone was around the same age, and since they’d be working together for the wedding the next day, the men and women quickly warmed up to each other.
For the first half-hour of the party, Zhu Kaixuan was as smooth and sociable as ever—playing games, drinking, cracking jokes, and buttering up the bridesmaids for tomorrow’s gate-crashing. The only thing he didn’t do was show even the slightest curiosity about the "surprise" Fu Xingci had mentioned the day before.
Fu Xingci couldn’t take it anymore and pulled him aside. "Alright, enough fooling around."
"You throw a party and then tell people not to have fun?" Zhu Kaixuan shot back. "Then what do you want me to do?"
Without missing a beat, Fu Xingci replied, "You could act a little curious about the surprise I have for you."
Zhu Kaixuan feigned interest. "Oh, I’m so curious. So, what is it?"
"..." Fu Xingci found him utterly boring. "You’ll find out soon enough."
"Then why bring it up?" Zhu Kaixuan poured himself another drink and raised his glass to Yan Sui as she passed by. "Little Sui, bottoms up."
Fu Xingci and Yan Sui had gotten together twice, both times with Zhu Kaixuan playing a significant role in pushing things along. Because of that, Yan Sui was usually friendly with him, but this time, she surprisingly didn’t indulge him. "Let Fu Xingci drink for me."
She winked. "I’ve got to go pick someone up."
Fu Xingci slung an arm over Zhu Kaixuan’s shoulder, watching his wife disappear through the door before picking up a glass and clinking it against Zhu Kaixuan’s.
The show was about to begin.
About five minutes later, the private room door opened again.
Yan Sui walked in first, followed by Yun Wulai.
Zhu Kaixuan’s gaze flicked over indifferently before he looked away, his expression completely unreadable.
Yun Wulai did the same, greeting Fu Xingci—who was standing right next to Zhu Kaixuan—while pointedly ignoring the latter.
Fu Xingci grinned and waved her over, leaning in to whisper to Zhu Kaixuan, amused. "You two are really putting on a show, huh?"
He said "also" because back when he and Yan Sui had reunited after years apart, they’d acted the same way—pretending not to care.
Having been through it himself, Fu Xingci didn’t buy Zhu Kaixuan’s nonchalance for a second.
"Let me introduce everyone," Yan Sui said, linking arms with Yun Wulai. "This is my other bridesmaid, Yun Wulai. She also went to Jialan with us."
At Yun Wulai’s request, Yan Sui didn’t mention her profession as a designer.
The other bridesmaids and groomsmen didn’t know her, but they welcomed her enthusiastically anyway. One groomsman, Ni Dong, was particularly rowdy, his eyes practically sparkling. "A warm welcome! When the door opened, I almost thought a fairy had walked in."
"Just one?" Yan Sui shot him a look.
"My bad, Sister Fu!" Ni Dong immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Two fairies—you’re both drop-dead gorgeous!"
Yan Sui scoffed but let him off the hook for now, introducing the rest of the group to Yun Wulai one by one. "This is Luo Jingjing, this is Qi Yuanyuan, this is Ni Dong, and this is Duan Haoxuan—you can call him Mouse."
She didn’t introduce Zhu Kaixuan.
Yun Wulai smiled faintly and waved. "Hi."
Fu Xingci, however, wasn’t as kind as his wife. He slung an arm around Zhu Kaixuan’s neck and introduced him in the most casual tone possible. "Wulai, this is Zhu Kaixuan."
Last year, Zhu Kaixuan had been the one stirring the pot between Fu Xingci and Yan Sui. Now, the tables had turned.
Karma was a funny thing.
For the first time, Fu Xingci and Zhu Kaixuan truly understood each other’s perspectives.
Fu Xingci finally got why Zhu Kaixuan had found it so amusing to meddle—and honestly, it was kind of fun, like a cat toying with a mouse.
And Zhu Kaixuan now understood just how badly Fu Xingci had wanted to shut him up back then.
At Fu Xingci’s introduction, Yun Wulai finally looked directly at Zhu Kaixuan for the first time since entering. She gave him the same polite smile she’d offered everyone else, her tone just as breezy. "Hi."
Zhu Kaixuan wasn’t keen on responding. It wasn’t that he wanted to snub her—he just knew that no matter what they said or did, Fu Xingci and Yan Sui would read way too much into it.
But ignoring her would only make things worse.
Just as he was about to play along, Ni Dong diverted everyone’s attention. "Wait, you four all went to Jialan, but these two didn’t know each other?"
"You really are an idiot," Mouse teased. "Did you know everyone at your high school?"
Ni Dong puffed out his chest, shamelessly boasting. "I didn’t, but everyone knew me—I was kind of a big deal back then." He gestured at Zhu Kaixuan and Yun Wulai. "Look at Kaixuan and Fairy Wulai. Do they seem like the type who’d fly under the radar? Just like Xingci and Sister Fu—they hooked up back in school."
Haozi’s attention was entirely fixated on the phrase "popular figure," and he burst into uncontrollable laughter. "You? A popular figure? Why don’t you just claim to be the school heartthrob while you’re at it?"
"Well, I wouldn’t rule that out," Ni Dong fired back, rising to the challenge. "Back in the Renren days, I ranked in the top ten on the school heartthrob list—and I was even ahead of you, remember?"
The conversation veered into debating the legitimacy of Ni Dong’s claim to the title, shifting the focus away from Yun Wulai and Zhu Kaixuan.
Amid the laughter, their gazes never crossed. Yun Wulai followed Yan Sui to a seat and settled in.
This was for the best. After the wedding, she would soon return to Paris, resuming her normal life.
There was no need to stir up complications before her departure, leaving behind unnecessary attachments.
The group chatted and joked for a while until, with nothing better to do, Ni Dong suggested playing a game where the loser would face a Truth or Dare penalty.
Truth or Dare might be cliché, but its enduring popularity was well-earned—what other punishment could be more thrilling or wild?
Ni Dong’s ulterior motive was to find an excuse to cozy up to the "goddess" among them. But to his surprise, the game erupted into a battlefield from the very first round, with Fu Xingci laser-focused on targeting Zhu Kaixuan, directing every attack squarely at him.
Zhu Kaixuan defended fiercely but lacked his usual fighting spirit, refusing to retaliate with equal force as he normally would.
Ni Dong and Haozi were used to the love-hate dynamic between Fu Xingci and Zhu Kaixuan. As for them, they were natural fence-sitters, always pushing whichever side was easier to topple.
This time, Zhu Kaixuan was the easier target. The two joined forces, helping Fu Xingci corner him.
With many hands making light work, Zhu Kaixuan was quickly overwhelmed and trapped.
Though Zhu Kaixuan fell to Ni Dong’s move, Fu Xingci shamelessly claimed the right to ask the question. Ni Dong, accustomed to playing the lackey, raised no objections.
Fu Xingci’s opening line made it clear he was out for blood: "Truth or Truth?"
Zhu Kaixuan refused to play along. "Dare."
"Dare, huh?" Fu Xingci scoffed. "Then you have to French kiss Ni Dong for three minutes."
Ni Dong, who had wholeheartedly helped Fu Xingci ambush Zhu Kaixuan only to be stabbed in the back: "…??? The hell? That’s disgusting."
Zhu Kaixuan lifted his gaze. In his peripheral vision, the woman in the vintage white European-style dress sat primly, her posture impeccable even in a nightclub setting. She was diagonally across from him, a faint, indifferent smile on her lips, her act of detached observer flawless.
Did she not realize? This was a trap tailor-made for them, just waiting to snap shut.
Without bargaining, he stepped right into it. "What’s the Truth question?"
Just as Fu Xingci opened his mouth, Zhu Kaixuan’s temple twitched—his instincts screamed warning. He preempted, "There are women here. Keep it clean, nothing R-rated."
"Relax, it’s perfectly clean," Fu Xingci replied with a mischievous grin.
The hunter closed the net.
"Tomorrow’s wedding has three pairs of groomsmen and bridesmaids teaming up. I’ll take charge—you get first pick. Which one do you choose?"
