Volume One, Chapter Two Tonight, all that Liang Muzhi gave her was wind and snow.

Liang Muzhi had always been playful, something Xu Zhi knew well. As a child, he was into games and skateboarding; in college, it was bands and skiing. Liang’s father had hoped he’d go abroad for graduate school and return to take over the family business, but after university Liang Muzhi refused to study further and took up racing instead.

He tried his hand at everything—except women.

It was precisely because he didn’t play around with women that Xu Zhi had permitted herself to feel special for so long. She thought his refusal to date or clarify things with his parents meant, like her, he tacitly accepted the childhood engagement between their families.

Now, she couldn’t fathom how she could have been so foolish.

There weren’t many hotels nearby. Xu Zhi had searched on her phone’s map, walking through two blocks of wind and snow before finally entering another hotel.

Shivering, she approached the front desk and asked, phone in hand, if there were any rooms available.

The receptionist answered politely, “I’m sorry, miss, we’re fully booked tonight.”

Xu Zhi felt darkness close in around her.

In this weather, she truly lacked the courage to venture out again in search of another hotel. She stood stiffly at the desk, considering whether to just shamelessly spend the night on the lobby sofa, when a voice suddenly called her name: “Xu Zhi.”

She started and turned to look.

A man in a black trench coat was walking over. Tall and long-legged, his features refined, his bearing aristocratic. Xu Zhi stared into his eyes for several seconds before a name surfaced in her mind: “Liang Jinmo?”

The words left her mouth before she could stop herself.

Liang Jinmo was Liang Muzhi’s older half-brother by three years—strictly speaking, she ought to call him brother out of courtesy. Yet, Liang Jinmo’s status was peculiar—an illegitimate son—and even Liang Muzhi never addressed him as brother.

Xu Zhi hadn’t interacted with him much over the years and still didn’t quite know how to address him.

Liang Jinmo didn’t seem to mind, and with a slight frown, he asked what she was doing in a hotel so late.

His voice was low, and a fragile chord seemed to tremble within her at the sound.

Perhaps it was because she felt particularly vulnerable tonight, but even such a faint touch of concern made her nose sting with emotion.

“Liang Muzhi got into a fight. I just bailed him out at the police station,” she replied truthfully.

Liang Jinmo didn’t seem surprised. “And him? Why are you alone?”

“He and his girlfriend checked into a hotel near the police station,” Xu Zhi said, her tone bleak. “By the time I got out, the dorm was locked and I couldn’t go back. There weren’t any other rooms at their hotel, and I didn’t feel right about staying with them, so I came here to try my luck.”

Liang Jinmo paused at her words. “Aren’t you his girlfriend?”

He’d heard of the so-called childhood engagement—both families had long since treated Liang Muzhi and Xu Zhi as a pair, and neither party had ever denied it.

Xu Zhi didn’t know how to make her expression look natural. She forced a smile. “No… never have been.”

Her voice was stiff, and she added, “Not ever.”

Liang Jinmo regarded her thoughtfully but said nothing.

Meeting his gaze, Xu Zhi felt flustered.

His eyes were especially striking. Most East Asians had brown eyes, but his were pure black, just like his name.

They were beautiful, but also dangerous—when he focused on something, his eyes seemed to draw you in like a gentle whirlpool.

She quickly looked away, her thoughts in turmoil, trying to explain, “That engagement was just the uncles and aunties joking around. It’s a different era now…”

Liang Jinmo cut her off. “If that’s the case, you both should have made things clear to your families. And why is it that every time something happens to Liang Muzhi, he comes to you? Now he gets into a fight, and you’re the one bailing him out? What, is his girlfriend a corpse?”

Xu Zhi was taken aback.

She hadn’t expected his words to be so blunt—so biting.

But… she realized he had a point.

Liang Jinmo changed tack. “Did you manage to get a room?”

Xu Zhi shook her head, dejected. “No rooms here either.”

Liang Jinmo was silent for a moment. “I’m staying in the penthouse suite. If you don’t mind, you can sleep in the guest room.”

Xu Zhi was in no position to be picky and quickly expressed her thanks.

Liang Jinmo had moved out of the Liang family home before graduating high school—there was no place for him there.

It was a family scandal, really: the illegitimate son, Liang Jinmo, was even older than the precious legitimate son, Liang Muzhi. Liang’s father had impregnated another woman before his arranged marriage and then abandoned her. Later, for the sake of a family alliance, he married Liang’s mother.

The Xu family lived next door to the Liangs, and at five years old, Xu Zhi had listened to her parents gossip about them.

Originally, Liang Jinmo didn’t live with the Liangs, but his mother had forced him into the household later on.

One could imagine how awkward his presence must have been.

Liang’s mother wouldn’t even let him eat at the table.

Back then, Xu Zhi spent all her time playing with Liang Muzhi, who told her that Liang Jinmo was the love child, tainted by dirty blood, a bad kid. She’d been young and had agreed with every word.

Drawing herself back from these memories, Xu Zhi found she’d followed Liang Jinmo into his suite.

The signs of daily life were obvious—she had no idea how long he’d been living here alone.

Liang Jinmo changed his shoes and paused, remembering something. “There aren’t any women’s slippers here. I’ll ask the hotel to send some up.”

Xu Zhi, not wanting to trouble him, waved her hand. “It’s fine—it’s just one night. I’ll make do.”

Liang Jinmo took off his coat, washed his hands, and went into the kitchen. When he returned, he handed her a cup of hot water and placed it on the coffee table. “Have some hot water, it’ll warm you up.”

Xu Zhi was still frozen through, sitting on the sofa without having taken off her coat. She accepted the hot water and thanked him.

She actually wanted to ask why he’d come back so late, but Liang Jinmo clearly had no intention of chatting. He strode to the master bedroom, his attitude distant and cold. “I don’t use the bathroom out here. There are disposable toiletries inside. Make yourself at home and rest early.”

Xu Zhi opened her mouth, but his back had already disappeared into the master bedroom—and the door closed behind him.

She sighed inwardly. It seemed Liang Jinmo hadn’t changed—still quiet, especially when it came to her.

She couldn’t blame him. Considering all that she and Liang Muzhi had done as children, it was a wonder he didn’t dislike her outright.

Still, the warmth of the water revived her. At least Liang Jinmo had given her shelter and a hot drink—Liang Muzhi, tonight, had offered her nothing but wind and snow.

She finished her drink slowly. As she got up to wash up, there was a knock at the door.

Opening it, she found a hotel attendant outside.

“These are the things Mr. Liang requested,” the attendant said, handing her a bag. Xu Zhi assumed it was slippers and thanked him as she accepted it.

But when she opened the bag, she was stunned.

It was large—not just slippers, but brand-new women’s skincare products and even a cup of hot brown sugar ginger tea.

That night, Xu Zhi tossed and turned in the guest room’s bed.

Liang Muzhi had dropped a bomb on her, forcing her to reevaluate their whole relationship.

Deep into the night, as drowsiness crept in, her phone vibrated sharply. She glanced at it.

A WeChat message from Liang Muzhi: “Little Zhi, did you get a room?”

So, it turned out he still remembered she existed.

She placed her phone face down on the nightstand, closed her eyes, and as she drifted into sleep, a thought surfaced: Liang Muzhi was actually quite disappointing…

He wasn’t even as good as Liang Jinmo.