The Dawn in Her Dusk
The height of summer in North City was always scorching, yet Mirror Lake Manor, standing alone in the middle of the lake, seemed to be shrouded in some mysterious force that kept it forever suspended in the most comfortable season.
“Big brother turned husband.”
“Rong Ci, you and President Xie really know how to play wild.”
~~
On the second-floor terrace.
Rong Ci was trying a newly custom-made collar on her cat. At Wen Jin’s words, her fingers paused. “Stop. Don’t sully our pure marital sibling relationship.”
“Brother already said it. He’s basically just here to play the role of a good-luck charm.”
The roguish curve of Wen Jin’s lips abruptly froze. “Wait a second. The new head of the Xie Group you married is your good-luck charm? I thought this was a business marriage?”
As Rong Ci’s number-one lackey, even he had been kept in the dark!
Rong Ci smoothed her cat’s fur. “The Rong and Xie families don’t need a business marriage.”
As for the marriage itself…
Rong Ci had been frail and sickly since childhood, carefully coddled by her family. Just growing up normally had been no small feat. Master Yici had once divined that her only chance of survival was tied to Xie Xunzhao. Only by binding herself to him in marriage would she live past twenty.
So, after she came of age, her family officially brought up the marriage.
At the time, Rong Ci—possessing a somewhat questionable understanding of herself—had objected. “But I’m a person who follows the rules.”
Xie Xunzhao treated her like a little sister, and she treated Xie Xunzhao like a big brother. How could they possibly get married?
It was practically a violation of all natural order and morality!
Once Rong Ci made up her mind about something, it was almost impossible for anyone to change it.
Except Xie Xunzhao.
The moment Rong Ci turned twenty, Xie Xunzhao took her straight to the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau and said, “What if I’m a Platonist?”
Rong Ci was enlightened. “…”
Oh. So that was an option, too.
And so, they registered their marriage that very day.
Xie Xunzhao was already a Platonist. What was there left to fear about violating natural order and morality? Even lying in the same bed, he would still be her half-brother!
After hearing the whole story, Wen Jin looked at Rong Ci with an indescribable expression and clicked his tongue. “Do you believe Xie Xunzhao is a Platonist? Might as well believe I’m the First Emperor Qin.”
After graduating and returning to the country, Xie Xunzhao stepped straight into the core division of the Xie Group.
From the “Young Master Xie” of those days to the “President Xie” that everyone now addressed with respect and genuine admiration. He had taken just under three years to secure his position as the true power behind the vast commercial empire that was the Xie Group.
The name Xie Xunzhao had already become something unreachable among their generation.
A man with ambition and methods like his, did she really think he was a vegetarian?
Rong Ci cast Wen Jin a sidelong glance and said, “First Emperor Qin? I can’t be bothered arguing with you. The main event is about to begin.”
With that, she stood up, cat in her arms, and looked down at the crowded courtyard below.
The most eye-catching thing in the courtyard was not the endless infinity pool, nor the lawn stretching toward the horizon, nor the spectacular and extravagantly luxurious villa complex, nor the young guests dressed in gowns and high jewelry.
It was the custom-made, three-meter-tall cat-shaped standee at the entrance and beside it an archway of rare flowers flown in from abroad in black, white, and orange, above which stood several large characters:
Welcome to Zeus’s 18th Birthday Celebration.
Rong Ci made her way into the banquet area without obstruction and climbed several steps onto the central stage.
The guests’ chatter gradually softened. “So, that’s Mrs. Xie? Isn’t she awfully young?”
“It is strange, when you think about it. North City is the capital. There are countless heiresses and socialites here, and no shortage of powerful families. Of all the possible marriage partners, why did the Xie family choose someone from Ling City, thousands of miles away?”
“And she’s a sickly beauty. Apparently, she spent years recuperating and is only making her first public appearance now.”
“I heard she’s notoriously unconventional in Ling City. You really can’t tell from looking at her.”
“Can’t tell?” Qi Miaoyan gave a scornful laugh. Under everyone’s gaze, she pulled out the invitation to the banquet and read aloud: “Guests must offer birthday wishes to today’s birthday celebrant, with reverent and sincere expressions, and no repeating of words.”
“I thought this was some senior branch of the Xie family having a birthday. Then I walked in and found out it really was a cat.”
So…
Asking all the guests to offer birthday wishes to a cat wasn’t that unconventional enough?
The guests exchanged looks before instinctively raising their heads toward the most conspicuous figure standing at the center of the stage.
Rong Ci wore a dark emerald satin gown. Her features were exquisitely delicate, her skin very fair, touched with the cool pallor of chronic illness. Her long, straight black hair poured down like a waterfall, as though spilling across freshly fallen, icy snow.
In her arms rested an extraordinarily beautiful calico cat. Around its neck was a gemstone collar dazzling enough to blind anyone who looked directly at it. Its fluffy tail draped over Rong Ci’s slender, pale wrist, flicking lazily from time to time, making the cat appear idle and harmless.
This was Rong Ci’s first public appearance since moving to North City.
People loved to compare themselves to others, and those with status in circles like these did it all the more fiercely.
The Xie family had always stood at the very summit of the world of wealth and power, their influence now at its zenith. The guests in the hall had their own agendas; most of them, of course, came for the sake of the title “Xie Xunzhao’s wife”, wanting to test the waters, or perhaps even use this birthday event to “climb the social ladder” with her.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Xie gave everyone a hard time right from the start.
Rong Ci paid no attention whatsoever to the scrutinizing and astonished gazes directed at her. Standing before the microphone, she spoke as if no one else was there. “The birthday banquet officially begins. Zeus is ready to receive everyone’s blessings.”
Zeus, in her arms, obligingly lifted its head with a noble air and meowed. The emerald around the cat’s neck glittered brilliantly beneath the lights.
No one present wanted to be the first person to offend Mrs. Xie on Xie family territory. For a moment, the air was thick with a half-hearted, grudging mood.
Rong Ci remained completely unaffected by the atmosphere. Looking to be in quite a good mood, she released Zeus. The birthday cat promptly jumped down to receive wave after wave of birthday wishes on his own. She had been holding him for so long that red marks had been pressed into her arms.
Rong Ci found herself a seat. She hadn’t forgotten that there was another reason she had borrowed Zeus’s birthday to hold this banquet.
Everyone invited today was around her age, and every one of their families had status and influence in North City. She’d likely be crossing paths with many of them in the future.
Better to learn their faces in advance. Otherwise, if someone offended her later and she couldn’t even identify the person, how was she supposed to take revenge?
Of course, under normal circumstances, she was an extremely kind and magnanimous person. “Accumulate virtue and perform good deeds” was her guiding principle in life.
Rong Ci watched for a while before pointing someone out to Wen Jin. “What’s the name of the girl in the pale yellow gown?”
Although Wen Jin had no idea what she was plotting, he answered instinctively. “Qi Miaoyan.”
“Oh.” Rong Ci lowered her eyes, opened the pinned contact at the top of her WeChat, and slowly typed those three characters. Actually, she knew all the information on every guest here, but the names couldn’t match the real people yet.
Rong Ci asked, “The man with the pink tie?”
Wen Jin replied, “Xu Sihuan…”
[Qi Miaoyan ×]
[Xu Sihuan ×]
[Zhou Lin ×]
[…]
She sent more than a dozen names in succession, but the other person didn’t reply to a single one. Rong Ci couldn’t have cared less and calmly continued typing.
Wen Jin watched helplessly as every name he gave her was sent, one after another, into the chat. After several seconds of hesitation, a horrifying thought occurred to him. “What is this? The North City rich-kid edition of the Death Note?”
No way.
No way, no way, no way.
He suddenly had an overwhelming urge to grab her phone and scroll through the chat history to see whether his own name had an X after it.
Rong Ci glanced at him. “My personal memo.”
Wen Jin’s jaw tightened. “…”
Incredible. In this entire world, only you would dare use Xie Xunzhao’s WeChat as a memo pad.
Just then, Rong Ci’s gaze paused. Her eyelashes lifted slightly as she gestured toward a young man currently bending down to offer Zeus his birthday wishes. “And who’s that?”
Wen Jin followed her gaze. “Fu Xi, the second young master of the Fu family.”
Fu Xi appeared respectful, and his birthday wishes sounded deeply heartfelt, but Rong Ci keenly caught the fleeting trace of subtle malice in his eyes. Even if the others’ smiles were fake, most of them bore no actual ill will toward the cat.
Anyone who could harbor malice toward a creature as universally adorable as a cat had to have negative character points—minus one, minus one, minus one…
[Fu Xi ×××]
When in doubt, ask Brother.
Rong Ci’s fingers curled instinctively. She felt she must never “wrongly accuse” a single bad person, so she raised her phone, snapped a photo of Fu Xi, and lowered her head to continue typing.
[I don’t like the way the second son of the Fu family looked at Zeus.]
[Hmm… His eyes look dirty.]
The next second… her “memo” finally replied.
Helios: [If they’re dirty, wash them for him.]
Right. If it was dirty, simply wash it clean.
Rong Ci looked up abruptly as though struck by enlightenment. “Go. Invite the second son of the Fu family to wash his eyes.”
The bodyguards had served the Rong family for many years. They knew their eldest young lady’s capricious, unrestrained nature. They understood her meaning instantly.
One minute later—
SPLASH!
An enormous plume of water suddenly exploded from the infinity pool, spraying all the way onto the deck.
“!!!”
Every guest stared, dumbfounded, at Fu Xi, who had just been thrown into the pool, and stepped back as one, wishing they could retreat eight hundred meters, wishing they had never attended this “uniquely creative” birthday banquet.
No one wanted to be next.
“WHO DID THAT?!”
Fu Xi had already considered wishing a cat happy birthday an act of lowering himself far beneath his dignity. Now that humiliation was compounded by the fury of being publicly toyed with. He hauled himself onto the deck in a sorry state, water streaming continuously down his face. He snarled, “Who?!”
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth—
Rong Ci stood. “Me.”
Fu Xi finally lost his temper. “You f—!”
Zeus, who loved playing in water, saw a huge splash and immediately trotted over to watch the fun and pawed at the surface, as though washing its paws.
Rong Ci, who suffered from severe mysophobia and was obsessively attentive to animal health, could barely endure the sight. She bent down, scooped Zeus into her arms, and spoke softly. “Why do you touch every kind of filthy water you come across?”
From beginning to end, she never once properly looked at the man who had fallen into it.
Fu Xi shook the water from his head and finally got a clear look at Rong Ci’s face. He closed his eyes in disbelief, opened them again, fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and blurted out a question: “I don’t know where I have offended Mrs. Xie, or is this simply how the Xie family treats their guests?”
In the strange silence, everyone held their breath and watched.
“A guest’s eyes were dirty. Naturally, we had to help wash them.” As she spoke, Rong Ci lifted one leg with practiced ease and planted a kick squarely in his chest, sending him straight back into the pool.
Still dirty. Better wash them again.
SPLASH!
Another tremendous crash of water.
Once again, the entire gathering fell silent. No one dared even breathe too loudly.
Rong Ci smiled faintly. “No need to thank me. Our Xie family prides itself on taking care of our guests in every possible way.”
~~
As dusk settled, the CORE Business Summit was drawing to a close at the Dome Center.
This was Xie Xunzhao’s first appearance at the summit as the true person in power behind the Xie Group. Even though he left through a private exit after the conference ended, a huge crowd of reporters had still gathered outside.
As soon as the door opened, sixteen highly trained figures stepped out first, the bodyguards immediately forming a barrier between the crowd and those behind them.
The reporters’ eyes fell on the tall man surrounded at the center.
Xie Xunzhao was very tall, with a narrow waist, broad shoulders, and long, straight legs, all complemented perfectly by his impeccably tailored black suit. The only touch of color was his brooch—a ruby scepter at its center, flanked by two twisted silver wings, elegant yet understated.
In an instant, cameras flashed everywhere, and voices erupted into a deafening clamor. Flashes joined into a river of stars. The thunder of shutters seemed loud enough to pierce the heavens, overwhelming even the sky as dark clouds suddenly gathered and rain began to fall.
“That’s the new head of the Xie Group? He has such a powerful aura!”
“If I can get an interview with him, I’d blow past this year’s quota.”
“President Xie! I’m a reporter with Headline Daily. May I ask, now that you’ve taken control of the Xie Group…”
The bodyguard beside Xie Xunzhao held a large black umbrella over him and cut them off directly. “Please make way. President Xie has no interviews scheduled tonight.”
The group proceeded toward the Rolls-Royce Phantom waiting by the roadside at an unhurried pace. As Xie Xunzhao entered the car, the umbrella tilted upward slightly, revealing an exceptionally striking face.
The half-lit, half-shadowed light traced the superb contours of his face exactly right—a handsomeness with a keen edge to it.
The flashes became even more frantic.
The reporters practically wished they could sprout wings and fly over the layers of security just to wring a sentence or two from him, but no one dared force their way through; only a few steps separated them. A few steps of distance, and it might as well have been a chasm.
They watched the luxury cars disappear into the distance one after another. Not a single one of the high-definition photographs they had taken was published.
Inside the car. Secretary Su, seated in the front passenger seat, finished reporting on business matters before moving immediately to something personal. “President Xie, the people calling to complain about Miss Rong have been flooding the secretary’s office all day.”
In the back seat, Xie Xunzhao’s profile was reflected faintly in the window, his expression impossible to read. His tone was ambiguous. “Miss Rong?”
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Secretary Su’s forehead, and immediately corrected himself at once. “Madam, I mean.”
“Mm.” Only then did Xie Xunzhao glance at him. “What are they complaining about?”
There were quite a few charges…
Secretary Su’s mind raced as he condensed them all into four words: “Abusing one’s power to bully others.” Relying on the power of the Xie family, she bullied every guest at the banquet.
Xie Xunzhao rested his temple against one hand and gave a low chuckle. “Abusing one’s power to bully others? The Xie family’s power is her support.”
After a two-second pause, he continued: “I don’t want to hear a single voice slandering my wife.”
“Yes, sir.” Secretary Su began cleaning up the aftermath with practiced ease.
He opened his tablet and drafted an email:
Please note that today’s Zeus Birthday banquet was, in fact, a charity gala centered on animal welfare. Following the conclusion of the banquet, donations will be made to the Animal Protection Association in the names of all attending guests.
Humans and animals are equal.
Any guest capable of sincerely offering birthday wishes to a cat must surely have been raised by a family of considerable kindness and compassion. The Xie Group will reserve the possibility of deeper cooperation with your esteemed companies in the future.
Xie Xunzhao opened his phone, took a screenshot of the chat, and sent it to Su Qingyan.
Secretary Su replied: “Received.”
Names marked with an “x” are excluded.
Names marked with “xxx” go on the Xie Group’s permanent blacklist—no cooperation, ever.
After President Xie personally reviewed the email, Secretary Su sent it out to everyone.
At times like this, Secretary Su couldn’t help thinking that Rong Ci was probably the luckiest girl in the entire world.
The only daughter of the Rong family, a scholarly house of a hundred years’ standing; a father with immense power, a mother who restored national treasures, a strong, fiercely protective brother, an uncle who was a business tycoon. On top of that, a childhood sweetheart who would always be there to catch her, no matter what outrageous or unconventional thing she chose to do.
The one regret of her life. It was probably that frail, sickly body of hers.
RUMBLE—
Lightning ripped across the night sky, accompanied by claps of thunder that seemed to rage everywhere, and torrential rain came pouring down as though the heavens had overturned.
Secretary Su paused, then suggested: “President Xie, the rain is getting heavier. Should we stay at a nearby hotel tonight?”
Xie Xunzhao turned his eyes slightly toward the window. The rain had become so dense that even the streetlights were barely visible. This was the first violent storm of the year – fierce, unstoppable, sweeping everything in its path.
His voice remained calm, leaving no room for argument. “Go home.”
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