The Past

That night, after they got home, Lin Ting did indeed ask about Shen Yueji and Cheng Chi's history, her gaze curious, sizing her up. "You and Cheng Chi — were you two a couple?"

Shen Yueji thought for a moment, her tone flat. "Yes. We dated for a month in college. Then we broke up."

Lin Ting clearly hadn't expected the answer to be that short. She waited two seconds, realized Shen Yueji had no intention of elaborating, and switched topics without pressing. "And the people crowding around him earlier — do you know them?"

Shen Yueji shook her head. "No."

So Lin Ting counted them off on her fingers. "The one standing next to Cheng Chi, about his age — that's Qi Nianxue, his cousin. The man in the brown suit talking business with Zeyun is Qi Nianxu, president of the Qi Group, Qi Nianxue's older brother, and Cheng Chi's cousin as well. Their generation of the family is close; the three of them grew up together. Cheng Chi only went to Yu City University because of his grandmother."

Shen Yueji silently memorized the names — Cheng Chi, Qi Nianxue, Qi Nianxu, each with a more powerful background than the last. Rich kids she couldn't afford to offend, she thought. Best to keep her distance.

Over the following month, the atmosphere in the villa changed in ways you could see.

Every evening, Sheng Zeyun came home on time to have dinner with Lin Ting. They sat on the same side of the table; sometimes he served her food, sometimes Lin Ting picked the things she didn't like out of her own bowl and into his, and Sheng Zeyun accepted all of it without complaint. Every time, the housekeeper, Zhao, watched with a gratified smile.

Every morning when Shen Yueji pushed open her door in her workout clothes, someone was already in the garden — Sheng Zeyun, in a sweatshirt, jogging with Lin Ting, his strides deliberately slowed to match her rhythm. And after the run, Lin Ting would keep him company in the gym while he trained.

Occasionally on weekends the two of them went out together — dates, they said — and came back with Lin Ting carrying a bag from the art-supply store and Sheng Zeyun holding a box from a dessert shop.

Shen Yueji would stand at the villa entrance watching Sheng Zeyun's car pull out and pull back in, feeling that her job was nearly finished.

Lin Ting no longer needed her company to go out, and no longer needed her to coax her into a good mood.

Happy for the free time, Shen Yueji ordered a few professional books online: a financial accounting text, a study guide for the intermediate professional certification, and a volume of tax law.

She had served five years in the army. After coming back she'd spent a year making up credits and earning her degree, but compared with people who had studied the field properly, her foundation was still thin. While she had the time, she wanted to earn that intermediate certificate — she believed that once this bodyguard job ran its course, she could go back to making a living in finance.

So for a stretch of days, Shen Yueji spent her time reading and doing practice problems in her room on the first floor of the villa, occasionally summoned upstairs by Lin Ting for afternoon tea and a chat. Life was, all things considered, peaceful.

Then one afternoon, as if she had suddenly remembered her recently revived hobby, Lin Ting came downstairs with her bag and tipped her chin toward Shen Yueji's room. "Come on. We're going to Wufan Camp."

Shen Yueji responded at once, changed, and headed out with her. On the way she noticed something off about Lin Ting — that early-days prickly streak was back. Every so often she would sniff, shoot her a sidelong look, then turn her face away to stare out the window.

Shen Yueji's head filled with question marks. Had she and Mr. Sheng had a falling-out again?

That didn't seem right. Weren't the two of them jogging and eating breakfast together just these past few mornings?

But that sniffing didn't sound aimed at Sheng Zeyun either. It sounded aimed at her.

When they reached Wufan Camp, Jiang Shuyun and the others came out to greet them warmly as always, and Shen Yueji got Lin Ting geared up and settled into a shooting lane.

She coached posture and adjusted grip angles like usual, but after a dozen or so rounds Lin Ting suddenly set the gun down on the table, turned, and stared straight at her. "Shen Yueji, stop going easy on me! I don't need you to let me win. Hmph!"

Shen Yueji froze. "Huh? Isn't this how we always practice?"

"Sometimes you deliberately drift off to the eight ring. You think I can't see it?" Lin Ting glared at her. "Do you take me for that Lin Ting who held a gun for the very first time?"

Shen Yueji opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had been dialing it back a little — it was target practice, after all, and the point was to let the young miss enjoy herself. Who knew Lin Ting's eye had gotten this sharp?

For the rest of the afternoon, Lin Ting shot like she had something to prove, round after round, comparing her score sheet against Shen Yueji's after every single one, determined to come out on top.

Shen Yueji no longer dared go easy and shot in earnest. Their scores stayed neck and neck. When Lin Ting won one round she'd sniff once; two rounds, two sniffs. When Shen Yueji won, Lin Ting would press her lips together and say nothing, then shoot the next round extra hard.

After an entire afternoon of this, on the drive back into the city, Lin Ting slumped in her seat saying nothing, the streetlights sliding past the window one by one. Sitting beside her, Shen Yueji finally couldn't take it anymore. "Young Miss, exactly how did I offend you?"

Lin Ting whipped her head around, as if she had waited ages for precisely that question. "You — you held out until NOW to ask me!!! I thought of you as a friend, and it turns out you were Sheng Zeyun's person from start to finish! I thought when you switched from calling me Madam to Young Miss it meant you were on my side, and then you went and told Sheng Zeyun everything about me! Everything!!! What about my dignity?!!!"

Shen Yueji blanked for a moment, then couldn't help the helpless curve of her lips, half wanting to laugh. So the Young Miss had spent a whole afternoon huffing over this. It was too adorable — like a rabbit with its cheeks puffed full.

She hurried to smooth her fur. "Oh, Young Miss, look how happy this month has been for you with Mr. Sheng by your side~ True, he was the one who sent me at first, but my duty is to protect you — doesn't that make me your side, by definition?!!"

And she raised four fingers, pressed together: "I swear — the reason I told Mr. Sheng about you is that I want my Young Miss to be happy. I am still on your side!!!"

Shen Yueji's big, sincere eyes blinked up at her, wide and guileless. Lin Ting turned her face away, chin lifted slightly, but her sidelong glances kept flicking over and back — clearly unwilling to be won over so quickly. After a few seconds of silence she abruptly changed the subject. "And what about Cheng Chi? What was the story between you two? I heard you left school and enlisted in the army — because of him?"

So that was it. She'd come for the gossip. If Shen Yueji didn't come clean, there would be no coaxing her around tonight.

She leaned back in her seat, watching the road unspool ahead in the headlights, thought for a moment, and told the truth. "Cheng Chi once made a bet with someone — the stake was, he'd pursue me. When I found out, we broke up."

Hearing that, Lin Ting's fist clenched. "He is a bad man." But judging by what Sheng Zeyun had told her last night, there was more Shen Yueji wasn't saying, so her face stayed tight, in no mood to forgive.