Buffet area.
Lin Mo held a small cake in her left hand and a grilled prawn in her right.
As she ate, she suddenly noticed Qiao Yinyin staring at her from near the restroom entrance.
The moment their eyes met,
Qiao Yinyin quickly looked away.
Lin Mo took a bite of the cake and muttered under her breath, "I feel like I’ve seen that girl somewhere before."
Shen Sizhan followed his sister’s gaze and whispered, "That’s Qiao Yinyin. You saved her in an alley once and nearly got stabbed. She was just a kid back then."
Lin Mo’s memory clicked. "Oh, it’s her!"
That day during her second year of high school, she had craved skewers from a particular shop after evening self-study.
Shen Sizhan had come to pick her up, and the two went to buy some.
On their way back, they heard cries for help from a dark alley.
They rushed over to investigate.
There, they found a little girl pressed against the wall, her pale face streaked with tears, looking like a helpless stray kitten as she whimpered, "Help! Help!"
Ten-year-old Shen Sizhan, brimming with righteous fury and eager to impress his sister, charged forward, shouting, "What’s wrong, kid? Who’s bullying you? Tell me, and I’ll beat the crap out of them!"
Just then, three thugs emerged from the shadows, their faces smug and brutish.
"Who’s gonna beat us up?" they sneered.
Shen Sizhan paused mid-step and scoffed, "Just you three? Let’s be real—if you fight me, in five seconds flat, you’ll be on your knees begging me not to die."
The thugs: "..."
Seizing their momentary confusion, Shen Sizhan tried to grab the girl and run, but one of the thugs yanked her back.
Realizing brute force wouldn’t work, Shen Sizhan decided to call the police instead.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo had already stepped forward.
The thugs laughed when they saw her. "Mind your own business, sweetheart."
Without a word, Lin Mo leaped up, grabbed two of their heads, and smashed them together.
Her foot lashed out at the third.
Shen Sizhan, having finished calling the police, joined the fray, skewering one thug’s backside with a grilled squid stick.
Caught between the two, the thugs found themselves outmatched, their dignity—and other things—under siege.
Just as they were about to surrender, one suddenly pulled out a knife and lunged at Lin Mo.
"Watch out!" the little girl screamed.
The alley was too dark for Lin Mo to react in time. Though she dodged, the blade still sliced through her school uniform.
In one swift motion, she disarmed the thug and kicked him to the ground.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
As the three tried to flee, Lin Mo spun and delivered a precise kick to each of their groins.
They crumpled instantly, all fight gone.
At the police station, Lin Mo learned the girl’s mother had passed away, and her father had fled after racking up gambling debts.
Now, she lived alone with her grandmother.
The thugs had been sent by loan sharks to kidnap and sell her.
The girl was strikingly beautiful—but in her vulnerable position, beauty was more curse than blessing.
Lin Mo asked, "How much did your father owe?"
Tears welled in the girl’s wide, innocent eyes. "He borrowed 100,000, but now they say it’s a million."
Clearly, loan sharks at work.
One thug hastily corrected, "N-no, just 100,000! Only 100,000!"
Lin Mo couldn’t bear to see the girl suffer. She patted her head gently. "I’ll lend you the money to pay it off. Study hard, and when you grow up, you can pay me back. Deal?"
The 100,000 didn’t matter—she just wanted the girl to have a chance at a better life.
The thugs, now pale with fear, insisted they’d never planned to sell her, just collect the debt.
With no concrete evidence, the police could only arrest the one with the knife and detain the other two, warning them they’d be the first suspects if anything happened to the girl.
The thugs, money in hand, swore they’d never bother her again.
Lin Mo escorted the girl home, took her grandmother’s bank details, and promised to fund her education.
As they parted, the girl said, "Pretty sister, I’ll study hard and pay you back someday. Also… can you give me your uniform? I’ll mend it for you."
Her eyes flickered with uncertainty, as if afraid Lin Mo would refuse a patched-up uniform.
Lin Mo handed it over with a smile. "Thanks. Bring it to No. 1 High School when it’s done—just ask for the prettiest top-ranked senior!"
True to her word, the girl returned the uniform, the tear not just repaired but embroidered with sunflowers. Beautiful.
Lin Mo wore it often after that.
"Remember now, sis? She joined the entertainment industry a few years back and repaid every cent," Shen Sizhan said between bites of pizza.
For Lin Mo, the incident had only been two years ago.
She’d entrusted the girl’s sponsorship to professionals—alongside several other children from impoverished regions.
Even if she died, the support wouldn’t stop; the funds were already secured.
Twelve years later, the girl had blossomed into someone unrecognizable at first glance.
"Wasn’t her name Zhao Yin?" The name didn’t match either.
Shen Sizhan shrugged. "Her agent had a fortune-teller pick ‘Qiao Yinyin’—supposedly luckier for fame."
Lin Mo went back to her food, saying nothing more.
She only sponsored the event to learn something from her parents, not to seek anyone's gratitude.
Qiao Yinyin probably didn’t want to bring up the past.
The director nearly fainted when he saw everyone gathered in the buffet area.
Seriously? A bunch of gluttons?
“Time for dance invitations! Tonight, we’ll open the ‘Sweet Bedroom’—netizens will vote for one male and one female guest to share a room!” the director announced loudly.
Of course, it was a suite with two separate bedrooms. Whether they chose to sleep apart or together was entirely up to them.
No live cameras either.
That statement made all the guests perk up their ears.
Would the netizens today be shipping couples or testing who would crack under pressure?
With such a large audience, the outcome was hard to predict.
Yet, no one had stepped forward to ask for a dance.
Suddenly, the entire villa plunged into darkness.
“Director, did you forget to pay the electricity bill?” Shen Sizhan asked with a frown.
The director scratched his head. “No way, right? Stay calm, everyone! Let me check!”
The abrupt blackout made Lin Mo’s mind flash back to that day in her family’s villa.
In the dark, she had accidentally kissed Xie Guanyan.
Just as the memory surfaced, she felt someone approach her, a hand slipping around her waist.
Lin Mo’s fist was already halfway up, ready to strike—until a familiar, cool fragrance hit her senses.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Then came the soft press of lips against hers.
Lin Mo’s eyes widened.
She instinctively tried to jerk back.
But the man seemed prepared. A strong arm locked around her waist, leaving her no room to escape.
The overwhelming heat of his touch left her mind blank.
“Open your mouth.”
A low, barely audible rasp brushed against her ear.
Her scalp tingled, adrenaline surging.
Oh god, there were so many people here!
The director, staff, security, and countless live-stream viewers—someone would turn on their phone flashlight any second now.
But damn, this was thrilling.
Before she could even comply, the villa’s lights flickered back on.
No one noticed the hand that had discreetly sprinkled powder into Shen Sizhan’s abandoned orange juice on the table moments earlier.
Lin Mo and Xie Guanyan pulled apart as if nothing had happened.
But her face burned, her pulse raced, and she quickly lowered her gaze.
Shen Sizhan handed her a glass of orange juice. “Sis, I was about to give this to you when the power went out. It’s freshly squeezed—really good.”
Lin Mo didn’t look up.
Eye contact might make her punch him, and that would raise questions.
She was used to Shen Sizhan fetching drinks for her anyway.
She took the glass and downed the juice in one go.
