Ning City, just after a heavy rain, was anything but peaceful.
Several black sedans sped across the overpass to the airport, all for the sake of catching the runaway fiancée of the city's most reputable young master, Qin Yanshu of the Qin family, before her plane took off.
In the airport late at night, the crowd was sparse. A woman in a white baseball jacket with her face carefully hidden behind glasses and a mask and a simple backpack strode hurriedly back and forth in front of the terminal. Finally, she chose a corner in front of Terminal 2 and sat down.
In her hands was an airplane ticket to Singapore. The thin ticket was slightly crumpled in her grip.
She lowered her head, her face anxious, and glanced at the watch on her wrist: 10:40. In ten minutes, she would leave this place for good. After looking around and confirming no one was following her, she let out a sigh of relief.
She took out her phone, typed a message, but hesitated to send it. After a long pause, she deleted the message and turned off the phone.
Never mind, let it be a surprise for him!
Thinking that she could soon join her boyfriend, Su Nan, who was studying in Singapore, filled Tong Anwan with joy.
Time ticked away. The vast airport terminal was silent except for the sound of the broadcast alert.
"Dear passengers, flight CZ2546 to Singapore is now boarding. Please report to Terminal 2."
Downcast, Tong Anwan rose to board the plane, but she was surrounded by several burly men dressed in black.
Her heart plummeted. Had they found her?
"Madam, please come back with us. The master is waiting for you outside."
Recognizing that her guise had been discovered, Tong Anwan boldly removed her sunglasses, raised her chin, and spoke to them with an air of arrogance, "You are nothing more than his subordinates, you have no right to make me willingly return with you. I don't want to make things difficult for you. Just let me go!"
As the time for the plane’s departure was quickly approaching, Tong Anwan was visibly panicked. While she was calculating her odds of taking down these five men single-handedly, the sound of footsteps from behind caught her off guard.
"Do I qualify then?" A deep and steady male voice emanated from behind her with an undeniable air of power and authority.
Qin Yanshu, clad in a handmade, fine black suit, walked slowly and steadily with poise. He stopped right behind Tong Anwan who had just moved a step forward, only to find herself stopping abruptly mid-step.
The fearless Tong Anwan startled herself by being afraid of the man who was to become her spouse tomorrow.
She turned around and feigned tranquility as she gazed at Qin Yanshu, "Qin Yanshu, I never agreed in the first place to marry you. Whoever told you I did, go find them."
Qin Yanshu curled the corner of his mouth sarcastically, "Tong Anwan, so this is your true face!"
Tong Anwan, the belle of the Ning city known for her politeness, grace, and wit, was the ideal daughter-in-law in the eyes of many wealthy families, not excluding Madam Qin and Lady Qin. Even Qin Yanyan, his younger sister, was encouraged to follow Tong Anwan as a role model.
However, the sharp-tongued and uncooperative Tong Anwan before him was probably her true self!
Seeing Qin Yanshu's scornful look, she assumed he was disappointed to find her different from what the rumors suggest. A gleeful notion sprung up in her heart and she goaded him, "Correct, this is my real self! Are you disappointed? Lets call off the engagement then."
Tong Anwan calculated meticulously; she knew the Qin family, being traditionalists, couldn't possibly like a sharp-tongued, argumentative girl like her. The Qin and Tong marriage alliance was, after all, more for the sake of her socialite status and beauty rather than her personality.
Qin Yanshu looked at the slightly smug Tong Anwan and chuckled nonchalantly, "I think you're mistaken, it's your authentic self I like. If you were like how the rumors painted you, we would lead such a boring life together."
Annoyed at his nonchalance, Tong Anwan retorted, "Qin Yanshu, there are countless women coveting to marry a man of your stature. Why don't you let me go? I have a boyfriend, and we plan to marry right after he graduates."
Qin Yanshu stared at Tong Anwan's face for a few seconds, a surprised smile tugging at his lips, "Tong Anwan, reacting such way, don't you feel you're picking the wrong target?"
His spot-on conjecture left Tong Anwan feeling embarrassed and slightly angry. Not willing to back down, she retorted, "Mister Qin is smart, but I Tong Anwan, am not a fool. You couldn't have sought me out for some absurd reason like love at first sight, could you?"
"I understand that my natural beauty is not easy to abandon. Could Mr. Qin be as shallow as those wealthy men?"
Seeing her self-praise, Qin Yanshu was somewhat surprised, but he laughed slowly without any urgency, "How do you know that my approaching you was not because of love at first sight? I'm also a man, how could I not like a woman like Miss Tong, who is so stunningly beautiful?”
It's said that a beautiful woman has charm in all her movements, and the woman in front of him was exactly that type. Even when she was ranting, she was still dazzlingly vibrant. Compared to her puppet-like politeness, he found this much more pleasing to his eyes.
His remaining interest was just in this, watching people struggle like cornered beasts, which is extraordinarily amusing.
Tong Anwan was left speechless by Qin Yanshu, so she decided to say nothing at all.
Qin Yanshu signaled towards the man in black, then said to Tong Anwan, "You're right, I can have any woman I want, but it's you that I like. I've never been fond of keeping a mistress. If anyone can be my woman, it's Mrs. Qin."
"So you can rest assured, things like infidelity within marriage won't apply to me."
Once he had finished, he turned around nonchalantly and left, while Tong Anwan followed Qin Yanshu under the gaze of the man in black.
A black Maybach stood at the airport entrance, and before the car door was her pink suitcase.
Tong Anwan, with a crestfallen expression, watched Qin Yanshu's broad back, silently cursing him as a 'beast.'
Who knows if he could read minds, but the moment after she finished cursing him, he turned around, with a faint smile and quipped without any context, "If you want to curse, just say it, don't do it secretly."
The Maybach had plenty of space, and immediately upon getting in, Tong Anwan leaned against the window, looking as unapproachable as a poisonous snake, which made Qin Yanshu rather uncomfortable. Was he a plague?
"Come sit here." He ordered in a low voice.
Tong Anwan didn’t budge, choosing to ignore him as she watched the scenery rapidly recede outside the window.
"Tong Anwan, don't make me repeat myself." This time, there’s a threat in his tone.
Qin Yanshu never liked being disobeyed, and those who dared to disobey him did not end up well.
Tong Anwan knew this all too well, but she simply didn't want to oblige him. So what to do?
