Cheng Mingjiao had truly sacrificed a lot just to spend New Year’s Eve with Zhang Xiyue.
For starters, his parents had demanded that he put down his phone and obediently spend the entire day with his elders.
That alone had nearly cost him his life.
From six in the morning until eight at night—twelve full hours—he had accompanied his grandmothers in cutting paper window decorations, helped his mother write Spring Festival couplets, gone fishing with his grandfather and uncle, and even assisted his father with an online meeting. He had been as busy as a top spinning at high speed.
Even so, he had managed to sneak back to his room from time to time to message Zhang Xiyue.
But he wanted to give her a surprise, so he had stubbornly held back from starting a conversation with her.
…Then again, he had to admit that after he went silent for an entire day, Zhang Xiyue hadn’t even asked what was wrong. He was, in fact, a little annoyed.
Besides spending time with his elders, he had also needed to buy a plane ticket back to Phoenix City, but there hadn’t been a single ticket available.
He had considered applying for a special flight route, but there hadn’t been enough time. In the end, he could only take a high-speed train to another city and fly out from there. Unfortunately, that city was hit by a severe rainstorm, and every flight was delayed.
After waiting nearly three hours, his plane finally took off. Things went fairly smoothly after that, except that taxis were impossible to find. In short, he had been struggling from eight that evening until one in the morning, when he finally stepped through the gates of his residential compound.
All the Lunar New Year travel misery Cheng Mingjiao had never experienced in his life, he had endured in one go for the sake of finding Zhang Xiyue.
And Zhang Xiyue still hadn’t messaged him. She hadn’t even wished him a Happy New Year, as though she didn’t care about him at all.
Zhang Xiyue was truly too cruel. She had completely failed to appreciate all his suffering. He decided to upgrade his irritation from mildly angry to extremely angry.
Once he saw Zhang Xiyue, he would accuse her of treating him badly and list every one of her offenses. He would continue until she was so ashamed that she couldn’t lift her head, and only then would he reluctantly forgive her.
Even after forgiving her, he would sleep in a separate room. Once she realized that delicious, sweet Cheng Mingjiao was right there in the house yet completely out of reach, and tossed and turned all night in frustration, he would finally appear before her.
He would…
“Zhuangzhuang!”
The cheerful voice interrupted Cheng Mingjiao’s imagination. He raised his head a beat too slowly, only to see Zhang Xiyue push open the heavy gate and fly toward him like a little butterfly.
Snow fell thickly, and the ground was slippery. Afraid that Zhang Xiyue might fall, Cheng Mingjiao could no longer restrain himself from opening his arms when she was still three meters away.
Zhang Xiyue threw herself into his embrace. He lowered his head and, as if some kind of addiction had flared up, buried his face against her neck and inhaled deeply. Then, floating on air, he hugged her tightly.
“How come you didn’t message me today?” Zhang Xiyue demanded, despite being the guilty party herself.
Seeing his own reflection in her eyes, Cheng Mingjiao apologized instinctively. “I’m sorry.”
“You think saying sorry is enough?” Zhang Xiyue stepped out of his arms and retreated two paces, putting on an arrogant expression. “That’s completely insincere.”
Cheng Mingjiao: “?”
Why did Zhang Xiyue seem so sharp-tongued at this moment, yet somehow strangely familiar?
Before he could figure it out, Zhang Xiyue suddenly let out a laugh. She couldn’t keep up the act any longer. “When you never messaged me, I vaguely guessed that you might be coming back.”
“You guessed?” Cheng Mingjiao asked in surprise.
Zhang Xiyue nodded.
She couldn’t be completely certain, but she had had a feeling. That was why she had bought a great deal of food.
Of course, she told herself that she had merely gotten the sudden urge to prepare a New Year’s Eve dinner. So even if he hadn’t come back that night, she wouldn’t have been disappointed.
“Aren’t you cold?” Zhang Xiyue asked, noticing that his hands were bright red. Her heart ached for him.
Cheng Mingjiao shook his head distractedly, still thinking about what she had just said. “You noticed that I hadn’t messaged you, so why didn’t you take the initiative and send me something?”
“Because I was afraid that if I messaged you, you wouldn’t be able to resist telling me everything. Then you’d definitely regret it afterward.” Zhang Xiyue smiled.
Cheng Mingjiao thought about it and realized she was right. His heart immediately turned sour.
Zhang Xiyue understood him far too well.
She was the person in the entire world who understood him best.
After Zhang Xiyue was gone, there would never again be anyone who understood him so well.
Cheng Mingjiao wasn’t a sentimental person, but at that moment, the corners of his eyes suddenly grew hot. He lowered his head and hummed softly as he searched for her lips.
Zhang Xiyue rose onto her toes cooperatively. The two of them embraced once more, pecking at each other again and again.
After who knew how many kisses, Liang Youyou’s puzzled voice came from nearby. “How much longer are they going to keep kissing?”
By the time Wei Chengfang covered her mouth, it was already too late.
Zhang Xiyue and Cheng Mingjiao turned their heads and discovered that everyone in the house was standing by the door. They had no idea how long they had been watching.
Zhang Xiyue felt a little embarrassed, but Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes widened. “Why are all of you here?”
“Of course we came to celebrate New Year’s with Xiyue,” Guo Fengnian said obnoxiously, showing off the head of yellow hair he had just dyed. “Did you think you were the only one who missed her?”
As he said this, Cheng Mingjiao happened to catch sight of Chen Mingjiao.
The two of them met eyes and simultaneously revealed looks of disdain.
Although Cheng Mingjiao was very displeased about all the extra light bulbs in the house, he decided not to throw them out for the time being when he saw Zhang Xiyue’s smiling face.
The entire group streamed back into the living room, shutting the wind and snow outside.
The kitchen was the most popular place that evening. As soon as Cheng Mingjiao heard that Chen Mingjiao had made two dishes, he immediately refused to be outdone. He stripped off his coat and squeezed his way in, insisting on making several dishes of his own to compete with Chen Mingjiao.
Chen Mingjiao rolled his eyes at him and was just about to make a few cutting remarks when his phone suddenly rang.
The moment Cheng Mingjiao saw him take out his phone, he shamelessly leaned over to take a look. “Why is Mr. Yang from Xin Technology calling you?”
“What else could it be? To wish me a Happy New Year, of course.” Chen Mingjiao immediately turned the question back on him. “Didn’t he call you?”
Cheng Mingjiao put on a fake smile. “Sorry, he messaged me this morning.”
So he had won.
Chen Mingjiao scoffed at his victory.
Seeing that he still hadn’t answered the call, Cheng Mingjiao urged him, “Go answer it already.”
Chen Mingjiao took his phone and walked toward the balcony.
Cheng Mingjiao poked his head out. “If you’re cold, put on your coat. Don’t think getting sick will give you an excuse to stay the night at my house.”
Chen Mingjiao ignored him completely.
Zhang Xiyue happened to enter the kitchen. “The heating is so warm in here. How could he be cold?”
“His hands were trembling,” Cheng Mingjiao said, refusing to pass up any opportunity to slander his rival. “You know, Xiyue, men who don’t exercise tend to be weak. Young as he is, he’s already an old man. You’d better stay away from him in the future. I’m worried he’ll break a bone from sneezing and then try to extort money from you.”
“…It’s New Year’s. Stop saying such unlucky things.”
Zhang Xiyue punished the ill-omened Cheng Mingjiao and called everyone to dinner.
In just that short while, Liang Youyou had already fallen asleep and been carried into a guest room on the first floor by Wei Chengfang.
Once the child was resting, the adults’ games began. Guo Fengnian and Liang Xiao brought out wineglasses in perfect unison and poured several rounds despite Cheng Mingjiao’s protests.
“Don’t even think about pretending to be drunk so you can stay at my house. I’ll carry every one of you home if I have to!” Cheng Mingjiao was unable to stop them, so he could only resort to threats.
Guo Fengnian pretended to wipe the corners of his eyes. “Zhuangzhuang has really grown up.”
“Indeed,” Liang Xiao choked out in agreement. “He used to only say that he’d throw us out to freeze to death. Now he says he’ll carry us home.”
They exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.
Cheng Mingjiao flew into a rage.
The three of them dissolved into chaos. Afraid they would wake Youyou, Wei Chengfang scolded one person after another, but the uproar soon drowned out even the fireworks outside.
Zhang Xiyue glanced around and noticed that Chen Mingjiao was still on the balcony, so she picked up a coat and went out.
Just as she pushed open the glass door, Chen Mingjiao happened to be taking his medicine. The moment he saw her, he coughed and choked on it.
His face instantly flushed red. Zhang Xiyue hurriedly poured him a glass of water.
Chen Mingjiao took it from her in a rush, mumbled his thanks, and swallowed the medicine.
Once he had recovered, Zhang Xiyue frowned and asked, “Have you increased your dosage?”
Chen Mingjiao had become much more independent lately and refused to let her accompany him to the doctor anymore. Since his condition had seemed stable, she hadn’t asked about it in quite some time.
He took another couple of sips of water and slipped his hands into his pockets. “It’s cold medicine.”
Zhang Xiyue froze. “You’re sick?”
Chen Mingjiao smiled, revealing a tiny canine tooth.
After the New Year, he would turn twenty-four.
At an age that was neither particularly young nor particularly old, he finally seemed to have regained a little of the carefree spirit of youth.
“I didn’t wear enough when I went to the supermarket the day before yesterday, so I caught a cold,” he explained.
Zhang Xiyue remembered what Cheng Mingjiao had said earlier and sighed. “Sign up for some personal training next year and work out.”
Chen Mingjiao instantly picked up on it. “Did Cheng Mingjiao say something about me?”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
“He’s got serious character issues.” Chen Mingjiao had never liked Cheng Mingjiao to begin with, just like a younger brother who disapproved of the man dating his sister. His opinion of him was now utterly abysmal.
Cheng Mingjiao, who had been fooling around with Guo Fengnian and Liang Xiao, suddenly raised his head. From across the room, he shouted, “Counterfeit! Are you bad-mouthing me?!”
Chen Mingjiao rolled his eyes.
Zhang Xiyue burst out laughing and urged him back into the living room.
The three men exchanged a glance and marched toward them in perfect unison.
Zhang Xiyue had a bad feeling about this and was just about to say something when Cheng Mingjiao swept her away with one arm. Guo Fengnian and Liang Xiao each grabbed one of Chen Mingjiao’s arms and, ignoring his protests, hauled him over to the drinking table.
“I’m going to teach him exactly what it means to be hopelessly outnumbered.” Cheng Mingjiao rubbed his fists together, shoved a bag of potato chips into Zhang Xiyue’s hands, and left.
Zhang Xiyue: “…Have you three no shame?”
No one listened.
Chen Mingjiao was young and unwilling to lose, while Cheng Mingjiao had two friends backing him up. Together, they were completely lawless.
Zhang Xiyue was exasperated and amused. Seeing that they were still showing some restraint, she let them be. She and Wei Chengfang poured themselves two glasses of red wine and began to sip.
In this fictional world, people still watched the New Year’s Eve Gala on Lunar New Year’s Eve.
Zhang Xiyue and Wei Chengfang sat on the rug in front of the coffee table. In the overly warm living room, they soon became tipsy.
Cheng Mingjiao and the others weren’t doing much better. Within half an hour, they were already weaving drunkenly from side to side.
Chen Mingjiao, however, remained sitting bolt upright, though his eyes had gone unfocused.
Even so, whenever his phone vibrated, he would open it immediately and respond to the New Year’s greetings with rational, polite messages.
“Gotta say… he looks more like a successful professional than you do.” Guo Fengnian draped himself over Cheng Mingjiao’s shoulder and slurred drunkenly.
Cheng Mingjiao disdainfully shoved him away before glancing at Chen Mingjiao. He scoffed. “He’s nowhere near my level.”
“Hey, Counterfeit.” For Zhang Xiyue’s sake, Cheng Mingjiao decided to educate him. “Not every message needs a reply. Keep this up and you’ll work yourself to death.”
Chen Mingjiao rolled his eyes at him again.
Cheng Mingjiao said, “If your eyes are bothering you, just tell me. I know a very good ophthalmologist.”
“What doctor?” Dr. Liang, who was extremely sensitive to the word “doctor,” shot upright. The next second, he was met with twin looks of disdain from Cheng Mingjiao and Counterfeit.
Liang Xiao yawned, slid beneath the table, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and began to sleep.
Cheng Mingjiao was tired too. He was still thinking about making them leave, but when he saw Zhang Xiyue smiling, he felt it would be inappropriate to chase everyone away.
He decided to let Wei Chengfang stay.
He had just made up his mind to put the plan into action when Chen Mingjiao suddenly stood up.
“Mr. Liu…” Holding his phone, he smiled stiffly. “Happy New Year. Is there something you need at this hour?”
“The contract we signed last month seems to have a small issue. I wanted to check something with you. Are you—”
“What kind of person calls you to discuss work at this hour?” Cheng Mingjiao clicked his tongue, feeling that this man had absolutely no sense of boundaries.
He hadn’t lowered his voice, so the person on the other end naturally heard him. “Is this a bad time?”
“It’s fine. Go ahead,” Chen Mingjiao said, walking outside with the phone.
Seeing that, Cheng Mingjiao decided not to interfere.
Guo Fengnian downed two more glasses of wine, then swayed over to the table to look for Liang Xiao.
Zhang Xiyue and Wei Chengfang huddled together. No one knew what they were talking about, but suddenly they began to laugh in a shameless, mouse-like way.
It was the first time Cheng Mingjiao had heard Zhang Xiyue laugh like that. He immediately tried to go over and ask what was so funny, but Zhang Xiyue stopped him with a single look.
“This is a topic for girls,” she announced loudly.
Cheng Mingjiao gave a disdainful snort to show that he didn’t care, but inside, he was dying of curiosity.
He pretended not to care and wandered around by the sofa once, but when they still didn’t invite him into the conversation, he simply opened a game on his phone and played while sulking.
Although Zhang Xiyue was chatting with Wei Chengfang, she had been keeping an eye on him the entire time. When she saw that he had finally settled down, a trace of amusement appeared in her eyes.
“Do you ever feel like running away when you’re dating Young Master Cheng?” Wei Chengfang teased.
Zhang Xiyue thought for a moment and smiled. “No.”
“Really?” Wei Chengfang raised an eyebrow.
Zhang Xiyue nodded. After a brief silence, she said, “He’s interesting.”
Wei Chengfang was speechless for a moment. Then she raised her glass. “You’re a brave woman.”
Zhang Xiyue laughed and clinked glasses with her.
Wei Chengfang soon got drunk. She sprawled across the sofa and fell into a deep, senseless sleep.
Feeling a little bored, Zhang Xiyue opened the small group chat titled “What on Earth Does the Emperor Want?”
When she had fled from Cheng Mingjiao, she had changed her phone number and all her social media accounts. After returning, she hadn’t contacted any of her former colleagues.
She had only added them back last month.
While Cheng Mingjiao was away on a low-profile inspection tour of the R&D base, Zhou Ce and the others had stormed into the villa, cursed her out for two hours, and then dragged her back into the group.
Everyone in the group was still awake. Even after leaving the company, they still had endless things to talk about.
Zhang Xiyue sent a message wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Someone immediately replied with a meme saying, “Pay your respects to Her Majesty.”
Then the whole group began sending messages saying, “Pay your respects to Her Majesty.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Back then, she hadn’t dared contact them again not only because she feared that being separated from them in the future would make the sadness worse, but also because she had been afraid of exactly this.
Dating the boss meant being destined to become the target of everyone’s teasing.
Zhang Xiyue pinched the bridge of her nose. When she looked up, she realized that the culprit responsible for all the teasing had disappeared.
Cheng Mingjiao had only been wandering aimlessly around the house with a popsicle because he was bored. When he reached the balcony, he happened to see Chen Mingjiao kneeling on the floor, trembling as he stuffed pills into his mouth.
As a half-expert in psychology, Cheng Mingjiao could tell at a glance that Chen Mingjiao was overdosing.
Cheng Mingjiao immediately rushed onto the balcony and pried the pills out of his hand.
At some point, the phone had fallen to the floor, its screen still lit. The irritating voice of an old man inside continued to drone on, picking apart every clause in the contract.
Chen Mingjiao was covered in cold sweat, his face waxen and yellow, even his breathing unsteady.
Even so, he braced himself against the floor and tried to respond to the old man.
Cheng Mingjiao found it irritating and hung up the call.
“…What are you doing?” Chen Mingjiao asked darkly.
Looking down at him from above, Cheng Mingjiao said, “Can’t you tell? I’m saving you.”
Chen Mingjiao was displeased. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Give me back my medicine…”
“With this dosage, you’ll sleep for three days if you take it.” Cheng Mingjiao refused to hand it over.
Chen Mingjiao frowned. “Why do you care how long I sleep?”
“I wouldn’t care for no reason,” Cheng Mingjiao said, shooting him a strange look. “I’m just worried you’ll sleep yourself stupid and affect Zhang Xiyue’s…”
He stopped halfway through the sentence.
Chen Mingjiao’s breathing grew more and more rapid. “If I don’t take the medicine, I’ll affect Sister Yue… Give it to me!”
His condition was getting worse by the second, as if he might die at any moment if he didn’t take the medicine.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at him for a long while, his expression gradually turning serious. “Chen Mingjiao, are you deliberately taking too much medicine?”
Chen Mingjiao fell silent.
“Are you addicted?” Cheng Mingjiao thought of the worst possibility.
Chen Mingjiao immediately denied it. “Of course not!”
“Then why are you reacting so strongly?” Cheng Mingjiao squatted down in front of him. It was obvious that he had no intention of giving him the medicine unless he answered.
Chen Mingjiao’s gaze was unfocused. In his daze, he felt as though his throat were swelling, making it difficult even to speak. “You… Why are you asking so many questions? Give me my medicine…”
“If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m not giving it to you.” Cheng Mingjiao stared at him. “Or do you want me to call Zhang Xiyue over to see what you look like right now?”
That one sentence struck exactly where it needed to.
“No!” Chen Mingjiao blurted out.
Cheng Mingjiao raised an eyebrow. “Then tell me why you need to take so much medicine.”
Chen Mingjiao clenched his teeth and refused to speak, but the sensation of suffocation grew increasingly severe.
He kept telling himself that the suffocation was only an illusion, yet he still found himself unable to escape the feeling that he was on the verge of death.
He couldn’t die. He hadn’t helped Sister Yue obtain the family fortune yet. He couldn’t die…
“Because…”
After a long silence, Chen Mingjiao finally spoke in a trembling voice. “Allergies…”
Cheng Mingjiao froze. “Allergies?”
“Mm… Whenever I come into contact with people or matters related to work, I have an allergic reaction. It only gets better after I take medicine.” Chen Mingjiao forced the words out with difficulty.
When Cheng Mingjiao saw how red his face had become, he realized how serious the situation was. He immediately stuffed the medicine into Chen Mingjiao’s mouth, unscrewed a bottle of water, and made him swallow several mouthfuls.
After taking the medicine, Chen Mingjiao collapsed onto the floor as if all his strength had left him.
“You’re not having an allergic reaction. If you were, the medicine wouldn’t take effect this quickly. This is a severe stress response.” Cheng Mingjiao helped him over to the small sofa, folded his arms, and asked, “When did this start?”
Chen Mingjiao was weak and didn’t want to speak.
Cheng Mingjiao promptly announced that he was going to find Zhang Xiyue.
“…After I joined the finance department.” Chen Mingjiao finally agreed to answer.
Cheng Mingjiao paused and calculated the timing. It was about the period when his own father had threatened him into leaving, after which he had sought the support of the Old Madam of the Chen family and returned to the company.
“I didn’t even want to live back then. Sister Yue saved me…” Chen Mingjiao stared blankly at the ceiling, laying bare his deepest secret to the person he liked least.
Zhang Xiyue had awakened his will to live, and he had decided to return to the company and reclaim everything that belonged to him.
But his loathing for work seemed to have seeped into his very bones. On his first day back, he developed an allergic reaction.
At first, it was only sneezing. Then came the runny nose, followed by headaches and difficulty breathing. Now, he was experiencing outright suffocation.
He had thought he had become this way because he hated those people so much. But even after he had gradually grown strong enough to drive them all out of the company, his allergic reactions hadn’t gone away. Only then did he realize that what he hated was simply the job itself.
He hated socializing. He hated saying one thing to a person and another to a ghost. He hated the dirty jokes at drinking parties, the conceit and pettiness of those old men, and most of all, he hated the hypocritical version of himself who constantly fawned over others.
He had been taking medicine with increasing frequency, trying to use it to maintain the appearance of normalcy. But his emotions were like a bottomless pit. As long as he kept working, he could never truly escape.
Chen Mingjiao raised a hand to cover his eyes and murmured, “I’m so tired…”
“It’s only a job. Why has it driven you to this point? I told you a long time ago: if you don’t want to listen, you don’t have to; if you don’t want to do something, you don’t have to do it. That’s how the business world works. The more you try to please people, the less they’ll take you seriously. The more you act however you please, the more they’ll consider your opinions.” Cheng Mingjiao was puzzled. “Besides, what exactly are you so worried about? Aren’t Zhang Xiyue and I both helping you?”
Chen Mingjiao was silent for several seconds before sitting up and looking at him mockingly. “Do you know why I hate you?”
Cheng Mingjiao humbly asked, “Why?”
“Because you were born into a loving family. Everyone gives way to you. You’re so smart that you can obtain anything with ease. After you started working, the Cheng family protected you, and no one dared to act recklessly in front of you.”
“Your life has been too easy, Cheng Mingjiao. That’s why you’re always so condescending and self-righteous. You’ll never understand why something that comes so easily to you can drive another person completely insane.”
Chen Mingjiao had never said any of this before. Perhaps his breakdown had left him feeling humiliated, and in his panic, he could only lash out.
“That’s right. I have no talent for business, and I’m terrible at dealing with people. Every time I have to negotiate a deal, I need to spend ages preparing myself mentally before I can manage a few normal pleasantries. The thought of going to work makes me sick enough to need medicine just to calm down. In your eyes, I’m no different from a useless piece of trash, am I?”
After saying this, he waited for Cheng Mingjiao to mock him.
But Cheng Mingjiao remained silent for a long time.
Chen Mingjiao’s back sagged slightly. He turned his face away and looked at the heavy snow outside.
After a long while, he rasped, “Don’t tell Sister Yue…”
“You hate this job so much, yet you’re still doing it for Zhang Xiyue, aren’t you?” Cheng Mingjiao asked.
Chen Mingjiao gave a bored half-smile and looked at him again. “You don’t understand, do you?”
Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes shifted slightly.
Chen Mingjiao said, “That’s right. I’ve held on until now for one reason: to seize everything belonging to the Chen family and give it all to Sister Yue.”
After saying it, he suddenly felt that it was pointless. “You definitely don’t understand. Someone like me… Someone like me has felt since childhood that living was meaningless. I have to keep finding reasons to go on living.”
At first, he had lived for his grandmother.
But his grandmother had grown increasingly confused and gone to stay at Yunxi Temple for an extended period. It seemed she no longer needed him either. Then he had fallen in love with Qing Tian.
Qing Tian hadn’t wanted him, and once again, he had lost the will to live. That was when Sister Yue had appeared.
He knew that although Sister Yue had told him to seize the family fortune and give it to her, she didn’t truly care about those things.
Sister Yue only wanted him to keep living, to see him become positive and driven. That was why she was always happy whenever she saw him working hard.
When Sister Yue was happy, he was happy too. And only when he was happy would he be willing to keep living.
But he couldn’t tell Sister Yue about this.
“She’s such a good person. If she found out, she’d blame herself. But this is my problem—it has nothing to do with her,” Chen Mingjiao said hoarsely.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at him for a long while before saying, “I won’t tell Zhang Xiyue.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the living room, only to meet Zhang Xiyue’s gaze the very next second.
