The rain had stopped a while ago but the looming clouds had not yet dispersed.

  Faint shafts of light glimmered amidst the hush that had fallen. It was as if the silence was meant to convey how much he had missed her.

  Bewildered, Qin Shu struggled against the embrace that had caught her unawares but soon calmed upon realizing whose arms she was cradled in. A gasp of surprise stifled by the arms that enveloped her.

  She blinked and looked up at the man who had locked her in an embrace. Her eyes sparkled with a crystalline light free from the squirmish instincts that had overtaken her earlier.

  What felt like an aeon passed in the blink of an eye and still, Fu Tingyu refused to let go of her. Instead, he pressed her slender form against his own with even greater passion. Resting his nose atop the crown of Qin Shu’s head, he breathed in the sweet fragrance of her shampoo that lingered in her hair.

  “Bao’er, I have missed you.”


  The man’s nasal voice was overcome with emotion.

  Shock paralyzed her thoughts and rendered her speechless in his arms.

  She could not believe it. She had just been on the phone with him a moment ago and now he was right before her. The kiss they shared had been real. It called to her with such longing that it could not have been an illusion conjured by her mind.

  Magic. It had to be.

  It was a surprise – a surprise so great that it left her dumbfounded.

  The love of her life had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

  The man called out again, “Bao’er.”


  Recovering from her shock, Qin Shu raised her head to meet his gaze. The dim light made it difficult for her to make out his features but it made no difference to her. His face had been deeply engraved in her mind and no darkness was deep enough to bury her memory of it.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I wasn’t prepared at all.”


  Qin Shu had spoken on the phone with the man ahead of his unannounced arrival. The entirety of her attention had been focused on the man’s failure to eat his fill and she had not been conscious of her surroundings. Qin Shu’s inattention, coupled with the man’s uncanny ability to mask his own presence, made it a simple matter for him to sneak up on her.

  If she hadn’t been familiar with the man’s aura, she would have thought a ruffian was attempting to have his way with her.

  Fu Tingyu did not let go of the girl. He merely edged a couple of steps backwards to take in her current appearance. However, fortune did not favour him and the inky clouds blotted out what little light had managed to shine its way through the dour canopy.

  Frowning in dissatisfaction, Fu Tingyu released Qin Shu’s arms and murmured, “Let’s go to the car.” As he spoke, he clutched the girl’s hand and pulled her along towards the car.

  He was eager to see her face again. Her shy demeanour was one he adored.

  Her hand was held by his and Qin Shu allowed him to lead her on.

  Fu Tingyu did not walk very fast. He slowed his gait to match Qin Shu’s own so that they could walk together.

  They walked side by side on the wet cement road. The loamy smell of dank earth tickled their noses.

  It was a cool night with a gentle breeze filling the air. Many would have deemed it comfortable.

  As it had rained, there was no one on the road. It was quiet. Occasionally, the cry of insects would resound. It was a cheerful symphony celebrating the cooler temperature brought about by the rain.

  Time passed unknowingly and soon they had spent more than half a month in university. Qin Shu greatly profited from her meeting with a miserly old man who pointed her in the direction of a mysterious mountain where the medicinal herbs she sought were rumoured to grow.

  It rekindled hope in her heart and she could not wait to go to the mountain in search of the herbs.

  Her mind was so occupied by the thought of finding the herbs that she had no room to consider anything else outside of her goal.

  Half a month felt like the passing of a year each and every day. As the saying goes, a day apart can feel like three years.

  To Fu Tingyu, the wait was excruciating and there was not a moment he did not long for Bao’er’s swift return.

  In his hurry to meet up with his beloved, Fu Tingyu used his private plane.

  With his identity and resources, it was not hard for him to obtain one. It was a plane he had spent a considerable sum on. Not only had he refurbished its interior he also made sure to install a bed within.

  Despite the gratuitous amount of money he had spent on the aircraft, he rarely used it.

  The car stopped a little ways away. The pitch-black body of the car camouflaged itself in the gloom of night.

  Adjacent to the car stood Ye Luo’s towering figure. When he caught sight of the fourth master and Qin Shu, he reached out to open the car’s door and waited.

  Fu Tingyu ushered Qin Shu into the car, ensuring she was comfortable, before taking a seat next to her.

  Once the fourth master had taken a seat, Ye Luo shut the car’s door, turned, sat in the driver’s seat, and drove to the hotel.

  Qin Shu had not sat for long when she was hugged abruptly by Fu Tingyu. She peered at his face, catching the man’s sculpted jawline, pale cheeks, deep eyes and long eyebrows in the soft orangey glow emanating from the lights affixed to the roof of the car. Under its baptism, the man’s eyes became as gentle as the flowing tide.

  Using the shimmering lights above, the man traced the contours of the girl’s face. Yet, no matter how much he looked, he could not get enough of her.

  He knew he had missed her. He had missed her so much that sleep often eluded him. He thought of her face, her body, and the temperature around him surged in blistering ardour.

  His longing surged like the tide – an unstoppable force that he could not suppress – and it drove him mad with hunger for her touch. He wanted to feel her skin against his. He wanted it so much that nothing was more important than she was. He would not let go of her. No matter the cost.

  It was as his brother said. He was obsessed. From the moment he saw her, no one else had ever caught his eye. His love for her burned with the heat of roiling magma, entirely beyond his control.

  He watched her for a long time. Pursing his lips, he asked, “Are you surprised to see me?”


  Anxiety roiled beneath his skin as he waited in anticipation of Qin Shu’s answer. Though he looked calm on the surface, it was merely a front. He needed to know the answer dwelling in her heart.

  Qin Shu nodded sharply. “Yes, it really was quite surprising. It even felt a little surreal at first.”


  It was the truth. She had been stupefied by Fu Tingyu’s unexpected embrace.

  Hearing this, Fu Tingyu smiled happily, “Then you can verify it again.”


  “Pardon?”


  Seeing that the girl had not understood what he meant, the man leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Kiss me and you’ll know if it’s true.”


  Qin Shu blushed.

  The car slowed to a halt.

  A moment later, the car’s door was opened from the outside. Ye Luo’s tall figure stood at attention, patiently waiting in attendance.

  Fu Tingyu stepped out of the car before offering his hand to Qin Shu. She took hold of his hand daintily and followed suit.

  With her hand in his, Fu Tingyu led her towards the hotel.

  Ye Luo closed the car’s door behind them and followed the couple in.

  Earlier, Fu Tingyu had asked Ye Luo to book a room in the hotel – the same room as before. Fu Tingyu held Qin Shu’s hand warmly.

  The two of them rode the elevator in silence. Fu Tingyu’s hand wrapped around Qin Shu’s own with a firm grip, without letting go of the other.

  Ding.

  The doors to the elevator opened. Holding Qin Shu’s hand, Fu Tingyu lead her to the room he had reserved.

  Qin Shu recognized it as one she had stayed in before.

  Fu Tingyu unlocked the door to their room and strolled in with Qin Shu trailing in his wake.

  As soon as the door snapped shut behind them, he pushed her against the door and looked down to meet her eyes. The corner of his lips curled up. “Bao’er, do you still remember what I said last time?”