Public opinion on social media had flipped overnight.
Liang Jin wrapped up her afternoon scenes, and by evening, advertisements were already promoting Liang Wenbin’s early-morning interview on TVB the next day. The rising star everyone had their eyes on, Liang Jin, stood accused of moral lapses in her personal life. Compared to her previous scandal in the Hong Kong School circles, this one—with endorsement from her own father—had stirred up a massive storm.
Zheng Yunzhi was beside himself with rage. He unleashed a torrent of curses on the film crew set, jabbing a finger at Liang Jin as he demanded, “I want to see how you plan to fix this.”
Dusk had settled in, gnats swirling beneath the lightbulbs. Every eye in the room fixed on Liang Jin; the set fell so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
The girl’s face remained impassive. She told Director Zheng, “Director Zheng, I’ll follow through on what I promised you.”
The night shoots went on as scheduled, but the mood was anything but smooth. The entire film crew buzzed with unease. The costume and makeup staff, rushing about their tasks, huddled around the TVB live broadcast, murmuring among themselves. A reporter chasing the hot story had dashed off to Jiangnan to interview Liang Jin’s neighbors. A pot-bellied man and his wife, fresh from dinner, brushed it off casually. “Oh, that Liang Jin? She’s just a delinquent girl. Good grades don’t mean squat. Back in high school, she got into a brawl with her dad—cops showed up at the house, and the school nearly kicked her out!”
The film crew’s confusion was plain for all to see.
Liang Jin finished her remaining scenes with steady focus. When she stepped out, a swarm of Hong Kong media reporters packed the area outside. Her gaze immediately caught Shen Keye, standing by the Koenigsegg at the farthest edge. The boy was staring down at his phone. When he looked up, his expression was cool and detached, as if simply waiting for her to approach.
Her arrangement with Shen Keye had settled into a delicate equilibrium. During her break earlier that night, she hadn’t eaten—instead, she’d stopped at the convenience store to buy contraceptives in various sizes.
Now she had four different sizes in her pocket.
What Shen Keye wanted was straightforward: kisses, hugs, and sex.
“Meet at the restaurant next door.”
The girl, her long black hair spilling out from under a duckbill cap and mask, looked up at the sound of his voice. Shen Keye frowned slightly. “Liang Jin, you get into fights too?”
Liang Jin slipped off her mask only after climbing into the car. Her skin gleamed pale in the low light, her dark lashes casting faint shadows as they drooped. She gave a soft laugh. “I’ve hardly ever lost one.”
The news included Su Middle School’s disciplinary announcement. After being hauled to the principal’s office with her parent, Liang Jin had gotten into it with Liang Wenbin right there, smashing the school’s trophy case.
If she hadn’t been a top seed for the college entrance exams, the school never would have let her keep her enrollment.
Shen Keye fixed his gaze on Liang Jin. “What wrong did they do you?”
Beneath the glow of the headlights, Liang Jin eyed him with faint surprise. Her delicate features hardened into something sharp. She countered, “Why assume it’s me picking fights and wronging them?”
Shen Keye looked amused, the tiny black mole on his nose bridge lending his smile an air of haughty danger. “You only pick fights with me.”
Liang Jin let out a sardonic huff. “Such confidence.”
Her demeanor stayed cool and distant. Liang Jin asked, “What time’s the meetup?”
Shen Keye glanced toward the Hong Kong media reporters not far off. In truth, someone had clocked his car ages ago, but none dared come closer.
Shen Keye knew the lay of the land. “Fifteen minutes.”
He paused, eyeing Liang Jin. “Want me to come with you?”
~~~
Song Youqing called Shen Keye. She was the one who’d set up the meeting with Liang Wenbin. Shen Keye sat in his car, peering through the trees at the restaurant nearby. The transparent glass reflected the girl’s silhouette.
Liang Jin sat there, her black hair draped down, radiating a sharp, icy elegance.
Song Youqing said, “Uncle wants to see you.”
Song Youqing had wanted a truce for a long time.
Shen Keye turned her down.
The year Shen Keye first returned to Hong Kong, he was just your average bright kid. By then, the mentor who’d taught him to shoot had long retired from injury. The sports world had its early heyday of glamour, but those at the bottom scraped by on empty stomachs. Shen Keye’s mentor fell into that overlooked-talents category—diagnosed with stomach cancer at forty, he couldn’t even afford proper care.
Song Youqing loathed the idea of anyone splitting the family fortune with her, so she challenged Shen Keye to chess. One game of international chess, one win: two hundred thousand for him.
Shen Keye knew nothing about chess and lost every time. Song Youqing figured she had it locked down, but a few days later, Shen Keye had cracked the game’s patterns.
Faced with inevitable defeat, Song Youqing swept the board clean.
Black and white pieces clattered across the pavement. Tiny ten-year-old Shen Keye glared up at her coldly. Song Youqing looked down and told him, “Ah-Ye, this game has no winner. I won’t play chess with you again.”
She never imagined that nine years on, everything would be so changed.
Song Youqing pressed, “Ah-Ye, you’re really turning down a fortune like that?”
Shen Keye shot back, “Isn’t that exactly what you’ve always wanted?”
Song Youqing felt exhausted. With a cold laugh, she said, “I’m not just after this one.”
She wanted them all.
Song Youqing continued, “I’ve already sent Liang Wenbin to meet Liang Jin. With a storm this big, if I push, she won’t be able to resolve it.”
Shen Keye sounded disinterested and moved to hang up the phone, but Song Youqing asked, “Ah-Ye, aren’t you curious if that girl will stay in Hong Kong District for you?”
“I can set a trap for you.”
The call, which had been moments from ending, stayed connected. Clearly, Shen Keye had perked up.
The boy’s light chuckle carried a hint of teasing as he said, “Big Sis, let’s bet on something else.”
Song Youqing paused. “What?”
The young man’s voice was low and magnetic, casual yet laced with the cold indifference of clashing steel. He said, “Bet on whether my Liang Jin can resolve the storm you stirred up.”
~~~
TVB broke in with a news update: Liang Jin had called a reporter, requesting an early interview with her and Liang Wenbin.
The interview aired on the car radio.
Liang Jin demanded that Liang Wenbin say everything he wanted to that night, and she corrected his statements point by point.
Her stakes were clear:
“If I’m wrong, I’ll leave Hong Kong District tonight.”
“If you’re lying, I’ll ruin your reputation.”
The sudden hot topic exploded across public opinion. Shen Keye waited fifteen minutes for Liang Jin. The girl emerged from the restaurant as the roadside lights flickered off.
Dim yellow streetlights bathed her profile in a warm glow.
The radio broadcast lagged behind, freezing on Liang Wenbin’s final barb.
“Liang Jin, I really regret having you with your mother.”
Liang Jin cupped her hand against the wind and lit a cigarette. Her dark brows and eyes resembled an ink-splashed painting, and when she looked at him, there was a profound depth to her gaze.
“Smoke?”
The night air was chilly. Liang Jin was still wearing her gray knit sweater and jeans. Her pale lips pursed into a smile as she said, “I can reward the man who helped me by sharing a smoke.”
Shen Keye didn’t hesitate, taking it from her hand. He bit down lightly along the mark her teeth had left and said, “It’s only a temporary fix.”
He took a drag. The two of them stood under the same overhang. Shen Keye lowered his gaze to the slender cigarette. Liang Jin’s smoke wasn’t as soft as it seemed—cold and fierce, carrying her signature chill fragrance.
But it still held a hint of sweetness.
“One hurdle at a time,” Liang Jin said with a sideways smile. “He just cursed so viciously.”
Shen Keye had helped her arrange the TVB broadcast. Liang Jin had planned it all out. She knew Liang Wenbin would talk dirty, but she hadn’t expected it to get that venomous. In his loose-lipped rant, he’d even cursed that he hoped Zeng Zhi would drop dead right then.
Shen Keye asked, “Not satisfied?”
Liang Jin shot back, “Shen Keye, do you think I’m bulletproof?”
The boy arched a brow and suddenly suggested, “Then let me help you vent.”
Liang Jin frowned slightly. Shen Keye spread his hands with a casual grin, though his tone turned wicked. “Want me to smash his car?”
The car parked nearby was the new one Liang Wenbin and Ning Qiang had bought for the trip—likely to save face, they’d splurged on an expensive luxury model.
There was no hesitation in Shen Keye’s voice. Liang Jin knew that if she uttered half a “yes,” he’d do it without a second thought.
“No need,” Liang Jin said. She didn’t want to end up on the social news. “Liang Wenbin’s just scum. It’s not worth it for him.”
Shen Keye went along with it readily, chuckling. “Fine.” Then he asked, “Any more rewards for me?”
Liang Jin’s hand brushed something in her pocket.
She looked away, and Shen Keye asked, “How about a kiss?”
Liang Jin turned to him in mild shock.
Shen Keye watched her calmly. In the night shadows, his smile wasn’t the usual gentle sort. With his eyes lowered, those dark orbs held an arrogant aloofness.
He asked, “Do you still find me disgusting, Jinjin?”
Liang Jin started, “Before…”
She hesitated, then explained.
“I saw Liang Wenbin with a woman once.”
That was the beginning of her family’s fracture—the nightmare images that had haunted her at fifteen or sixteen.
“I thought I’d forgotten, but it still makes me sick…” Her voice softened as she met Shen Keye’s eyes. “It has nothing to do with you.”
So she had never truly forgotten.
Shen Keye studied her, as if observing. Then the boy pinched out his cigarette and leaned in to kiss her.
His breath was warm and close, his lips brushing hers like a dragonfly skimming water—a tentative touch.
The warm, soft sensation lingered on her mouth.
Liang Jin’s eyes widened, her heart pounding in delayed realization.
Shen Keye lowered his lids slightly and smiled, as if savoring the moment. “Looks like you really don’t hate me.”
“You—”
He cut her off. “What’s wrong with that?”
Liang Jin wanted to curse him out, but before she could even react, she found herself pulled into the car.
The front passenger seat could only fit one person, and Shen Keye pinned her against it, claiming her lips in a kiss.
It was a fierce, demanding kiss that crushed against her mouth, nothing like the tentative innocence of moments before. The scorching heat carried a raw, suppressed hunger in his ragged breaths. Liang Jin recoiled on instinct, her back pressing into the seatback, but it offered no real sense of security.
Shen Keye’s hand brushed her waist, then suddenly paused at the pocket there, feeling something through the fabric.
Liang Jin remembered what it was, and her neck flushed crimson in an instant.
He moved to pull it out, but she stopped him cold. “Don’t touch my stuff.”
That tiny black mole on the bridge of his nose stood out amid his wicked, teasing smile, radiating danger. Shen Keye planted his hands on either side of the seat, caging her in, and murmured, “You sure that’s yours?”
Her eyelashes fluttered, the tip of her nose turning pink, but her voice turned icy. “Still kissing, or are we going home?”
Shen Keye was burning with anticipation, far from done savoring her, and he wasn’t happy about the interruption. He tilted her face back to his. “Fine. Then like this.”
He lowered his voice to a deliberate, husky drawl. “You take the lead.”
His hand remained firmly over the pocket of her jeans.
Liang Jin stared at him, then heard him say, “Baby, kiss me once, and I’ll foot the bill for you once. How’s that?”