After wrapping up her shoot, Liang Jin was summoned by Shen Keye to the Training Field.
She had seen the news: Shen Junbang’s life hung in the balance. At the press conference, Song Youqing had made an appearance, declaring her intention to change her surname to Shen.
As expected, she truly aimed to supplant Shen Keye as heir to the family empire.
Liang Jin stepped off the bus into the sprawling Hong Kong District, where a massive billboard showcased the gentle smile of a short-haired woman.
The girl tugged down her black baseball cap, her eyelids drooping slightly beneath her cascade of jet-black hair.
Just earlier on the film set, Jiang Manyu had returned and bragged to her about spending the previous night with Shen Keye. Her eyes had been red-rimmed—it was impossible to tell if she’d been bullied or simply cried from heartbreak.
Jiang Manyu had said that Song Youqing was offering five million to make her leave, or else she’d resort to less savory tactics.
Liang Jin had no interest in that five million.
Jiang Manyu’s tone had grown colder. “Miss Liang, I’ve been navigating these waters in the Hong Kong District for years, and even I can’t stay above the fray in this mess. Do you really think a rootless drifter like you can come out better than me?”
Liang Jin hadn’t said a word.
“Miss Liang?” The abrupt call yanked her back to the present, leaving her momentarily stunned.
Inside the Training Field, Zhang Xiaoran greeted her. The boy clearly had a crush—he always blushed when he spoke to her. He explained that one of the coaches was celebrating a birthday that night, and a bunch of people had shown up. He asked if she’d like to join them for cake later.
Liang Jin replied, “I’m here to see Shen Keye.”
Whatever she decided to do still hinged on Shen Keye’s attitude.
Zhang Xiaoran’s expression flickered. He’d seen the news, of course. The beautiful, understated rising star standing before him evoked the cool night mist over Victoria Harbour. Her official status was single, but the deep red marks marring her pale neck suggested she’d been devoured, radiating an inescapable aura of intimacy laced with coercion.
Putting two and two together with the person she was here for, Zhang Xiaoran opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally just said, “Okay.”
Liang Jin found Shen Keye in the Solo Training Zone. Dressed in his shooting gear, the young man trained with a stony face.
The awkwardness from last night’s events lingered between them. He’d called her “boring,” and she was self-aware enough to know she needed to spark his interest.
“Where did you go last night?” Liang Jin asked. “The hospital?” Or maybe a hotel, to get a room with Jiang Manyu.
Shen Keye didn’t glance her way until his shot struck true. He ignored her question and said instead, “Shen Junbang probably won’t last much longer.”
The bullseye on the distant target had been utterly obliterated by his shots. Liang Jin was surprised; just a few days earlier, Shen Keye had told her that his uncle’s condition in The Bund was stable enough.
“The hospital called a bit ago,” Shen Keye said. “He woke up once, but the doctors say even with all his money, he’s got maybe a few months left.”
The reports from The Bund must have been wrong. Song Youqing had clamped down on the information and blindsided him.
Liang Jin glanced at the distant target, the irony not lost on her.
Zeng Zhi, Liang Wei, and Mr. Shen were all patients, yet their life expectancies varied wildly based on their identities.
“And what about you?” Liang Jin didn’t want to air everything out, but after Song Youqing’s overtures, she couldn’t shake her unease. “Song Youqing wants to fight you for the inheritance. Will you end up with nothing?”
She’d been forced to pin her hopes on Shen Keye—or rather, he was her only option.
She needed to know if the lifeline she clutched was sturdy.
Shen Keye pulled off his goggles. His pitch-black eyes fixed on Liang Jin, cold and fathomless, like a desert storm brewing on the horizon. He smirked, racked the rifle, and said, “Asking me? Fine.” His tone was flat. “Hit the bullseye, and I’ll tell you, girlfriend.”
Liang Jin’s brows furrowed. She hesitated, then stepped forward, her heart clenching. This target’s bullseye was farther and smaller than the ones before.
She knew she couldn’t manage it. The cold metal bit into her hands, and the instant she squeezed the trigger, the recoil jolted her hard.
“Brother Ye?” someone called out. “Coach Chen’s birthday—we’re all heading out to eat later. You in?”
Shen Keye squinted at her errant shot, far wide of the mark, and told the newcomer, “Sure.”
The moment the door clicked shut, Liang Jin released her grip in a daze. She glanced sideways and heard his indifferent words: “I gave you your chance. You just couldn’t do it.”
She fell silent, trapped in the moment, yet found the whole thing absurdly predictable.
This outcome was exactly what both of them had anticipated.
After all, their relationship had never been on equal footing.
~~~
The group dinner was at a nearby Small Restaurant.
Liang Jin tagged along. The Coaching Team was mildly surprised by her arrival but didn’t comment.
Zhang Xiaoran, on the other hand, grew unusually quiet. Seizing the moment when Shen Keye stepped away to take a call, he leaned in and whispered to Liang Jin, “Did he bully you…?”
Last time, on Liang Jin’s birthday, Zhang Xiaoran had given her a cake and a card. She had a decent impression of him, but she had no particular comment on the matter.
“No,” she said.
It had all been her choice.
Several coaches were chatting about amusing anecdotes when someone brought up Shen Keye. They said Ah-Ye was the most talented genius they’d seen in the 10-meter air rifle field in recent years.
Shen Keye had started shooting at the age of five, racking up countless awards large and small. There had only been a gap of a few years in between.
“I remember he trained under an old friend of mine in Shanghai back in the day,” one of them said. “That friend was a benchmark figure in the industry, but sadly, he passed away from illness many years ago. Ah-Ye was as close to him as a father and son. With him gone now and everything changed, it’s truly nostalgic.”
The group reminisced about the past, laughing and chatting amiably.
They soon shifted to other topics that Liang Jin couldn’t follow, and she had no patience to feign interest. She simply excused herself from the table and stepped out for a walk.
She headed to the convenience store to buy a pack of cigarettes and ran right into Zhang Xiaoran, who was there picking up some booze.
“How about I cover it?” Zhang Xiaoran offered. “We’re here together anyway.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the young guys who’d come with him started whooping and hollering like a pack of rowdy spectators.
“Zhang Xiaoran, who knew you were into girls like that?”
“You’re a straight-up toad dreaming of swan meat!”
Zhang Xiaoran flushed beet red and stammered, “It’s not like that!” He hurried to explain, “We’re here as a group, so I’m just settling up.”
One of them ribbed him. “Not embarrassed at all, huh? You spot a pretty girl and start calling her ‘little sister.’ Come on, Liang Jin’s right here—say it for us!”
Zhang Xiaoran’s face burned so hot he couldn’t get a word out. He just muttered, “Piss off.”
They were all speaking Mandarin, and for once, Liang Jin had no trouble following their dialect. She couldn’t help but laugh.
Her gaze shifted slightly, and her smile faded. Standing at the door, watching her intently, was Shen Keye.
Liang Jin fished some bills from her pocket. “Keep the change.”
She strode straight out the door, but Zhang Xiaoran’s friends called after her. “Hey, why’d you leave?”
“Liang Jin, this is the first time Zhang Xiaoran’s ever been this shy. We were just messing around—no hard feelings, okay?”
They meant no malice, but Zhang Xiaoran felt mortified in front of the girl he liked and snapped at them to shut up.
In that instant, his eyes caught the young man in the denim jacket. Shen Keye stood there, gazing indifferently at them all.
It felt like an unbridgeable chasm separated him from them. Liang Jin’s heart jolted.
“Heading back to eat? You barely touched your food,” she said softly to Shen Keye, then added by way of explanation, “I ran into them. Zhang Xiaoran offered to pay for me, but I turned him down.”
Shen Keye lowered his eyes to her, a flicker of displeasure in their depths. “That’s exactly why I hate this underground relationship bullshit with you.”
He was the one steering this relationship, yet he was forced to put up with the shadows and sidelining.
Liang Jin reached out and took his hand. Shen Keye’s knuckles were prominent, his palm broad, his fingers long and slender—but right now, it felt cold to the touch.
The murmurs from nearby weren’t exactly hushed. Zhang Xiaoran had picked up on the vibe and started toward them to apologize.
Shen Keye glanced down at Liang Jin. “Another admirer?”
“Your teammate. You know him better than I do.”
“I don’t have many friends,” Shen Keye said.
Liang Jin opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly her wrist was seized in a firm grip. Shen Keye’s strength far outmatched hers, and he showed no restraint. He yanked her into his arms. Her head dipped forward, as if she’d half-expected it, and he cradled the back of her skull in a deep, claiming kiss.
The narrow streets of the Hong Kong District stretched into deep alleys. The convenience store door swung open and shut repeatedly, chiming with mechanical prompts.
This was a kiss staking his claim.
Liang Jin’s eyes flicked to the stunned group of boys nearby, then to the store’s security camera. Her heart hammered like a colossal bell tolling over and over.