Sheng Zeyun shifted in his seat, clasped his hands over his knees, and turned to the practical details. “My wife leads a simple life. She mostly stays at the villa, painting, reading, or occasionally sitting in the garden. She doesn't like crowded places, but her doctor says prolonged isolation won't help her recovery. You don't need to make a special effort. Just keep her company. If she wants to go somewhere, go with her. If she doesn't, stay nearby. She's quiet and doesn't talk much. Don't feel awkward about it.”
His voice softened when he spoke of Lin Ting. Beneath it lay a worry and tenderness most people would never have noticed.
“She also has trouble sleeping. Sometimes she sits up very late in her room. You won't be on night duty, but your room is on the ground floor, and you must be available if needed.” He looked at her. “Any questions, ask now.”
Shen Yueji thought for a moment, then shook her head. “None.”
Sheng Zeyun nodded, returned to his desk, and took an access card and a ring of keys from a drawer. He handed them across to her. “The driver will pick you up at your current address at eight tomorrow morning. If you need anything moved, tell Special Assistant Qiu.”
“Yes, sir.” Shen Yueji answered solemnly, making clear that she would do the job properly.
Early the next morning, Shen Yueji arrived at the villa with a simple suitcase. Zhao, the housekeeper, showed her around, explained the meal times, and took her upstairs to meet Mr. Sheng's wife.
Lin Ting sat on a sofa beside the window, a drawing board propped on her knees, her pencil laying fine lines across the paper. Morning light slanted through the floor-to-ceiling glass, gilding the edge of her profile. Stray hair fell beside her cheek. She was as still as a delicately painted oil portrait in a gallery. At the sound of footsteps, she lifted her eyes, glanced over without acknowledgment, and resumed drawing.
“Madam, this is Shen Yueji, the personal bodyguard Mr. Sheng has arranged for you,” Zhao said quietly. Lin Ting gave a small nod to indicate that she had heard.
Shen Yueji did not add anything. She stepped back to stand by the door.
The next few days were exceptionally quiet. Lin Ting followed almost exactly the same routine: painting by the window in the morning, eating a few small bites at lunch, reclining on the living-room sofa in the afternoon to read or stare outside, and occasionally standing in the garden for a while at night. Shen Yueji followed. When Lin Ting walked, she walked; when Lin Ting sat, she found somewhere a few paces away, always keeping a casual eye on their surroundings. Apart from Zhao and two women who cleaned the house, no one else had visited. For six entire days, Lin Ting did not set foot outside the gate.
By the seventh morning, Shen Yueji could not sit still any longer. At this rate, every muscle she had built during years in the military would waste away within three months. She got up before six, changed into sportswear, and went out to the garden. The grounds were large, with a stone path circling the main house—perfect for running.
After a few laps, once she had worked up a light sweat, Shen Yueji moved to an open patch beside the lawn and went through a martial-arts routine. Her punches cut softly through the air, her movements broad and powerful. Every step landed firmly on the grass, light but decisive.
A corner of the curtain on the second floor lifted. Lin Ting stood behind the window, watching the figure in the garden with sweat-dampened hair. Dawn had not fully broken. Each of Shen Yueji's punches carried solid force: the swing of an arm, the turn of her waist, the placement of her feet, all clean and crisp, without the slightest unnecessary hesitation. Lin Ting's fingers slowly relaxed around the curtain. Something bright and hot had entered a gaze that had long seemed veiled in dust.
Shen Yueji had no idea how alive she looked, working up a sweat in the faint morning light, to someone in Lin Ting's desolate world.
That day, for the first time, Lin Ting asked the housekeeper about Shen Yueji's background. An orphan. A military veteran. A personal bodyguard... Every part of her life was so different from Lin Ting's. She could not help wondering whether, unlike her own carefully arranged existence, Shen Yueji's entirely different life had been hers to choose.
At first light the next morning, Shen Yueji opened the door and stopped in surprise. The woman who had not gone out in the week and more since her arrival was standing on the garden path in a loose white jacket and exercise trousers, apparently... waiting for her.
“Good morning, Madam.” Shen Yueji maintained the proper courtesies.
Seeing her, Lin Ting stepped forward. Her lips moved, and her voice was soft. “I'd... like to get some exercise too.”
Shen Yueji blinked, then recovered quickly. “You mean you'd like to work out with me?”
Lin Ting nodded.
Shen Yueji had no reason to refuse, but before they began, she needed to assess Lin Ting's basic fitness.
“Please follow me through a few warm-up exercises, Madam.”
Knee raises, toe touches, broad arm swings, forward and side lunges... By the end of the warm-up, Lin Ting's movements were sluggish and her breathing had noticeably quickened.
Shen Yueji could not help thinking that her physical condition was really rather poor.
“We'll just jog a few laps today. If you feel unwell at any point, you can stop.”
Lin Ting nodded gravely.
Shen Yueji ran beside her. As Lin Ting's steps grew less coordinated and her chest began heaving, she deliberately slowed the pace.
By the time they finally stopped, Lin Ting's cheeks were flushed, a sheen of sweat covered her forehead, and her knees were slightly unsteady.
She bent over, hands braced on her knees, and caught her breath before looking up. “Why didn't you teach me to fight?”
Shen Yueji answered directly. “With your current fitness, you wouldn't be able to perform the movements properly. Forcing it could strain your muscles. Build up gradually with running first. Once you've laid the groundwork, you can start learning.”
Lin Ting paused, then gave a faint smile. “Didn't they train you before you came? A bodyguard who speaks to her employer like that is quite likely to be fired.”
Shen Yueji was not frightened by a warning that was plainly a joke. “Mr. Sheng didn't arrange any training before sending me here.”
If he had dared send her over without any, surely she didn't need to change anything?
Lin Ting's smile widened. This new bodyguard was rather blunt. But her eyes were sincere, unlike the respectful distance of ordinary guards or the superficial wealthy women she had once called friends.
For the next two weeks, Shen Yueji got up at six without fail, ran three warm-up laps on her own, then led Lin Ting through her morning exercises.
Lin Ting was unexpectedly diligent. Every morning, she appeared in the garden on time.
Whenever Shen Yueji taught her a basic movement, she watched her hands and feet and copied it over and over. Sometimes she practiced the angle of a single punch more than a dozen times without complaint. When sweat rolled down her forehead, she wiped it away with her sleeve and kept going.
Shen Yueji was a little surprised. She had seen plenty of beginners lose interest after the novelty of the first three days wore off. Lin Ting was different. Her determination never slackened.
But she did not ask about it. This was her boss's wife. Asking too many questions would not be appropriate.