Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
On the day of Jiang Se’s coming-of-age ceremony, it was a thunderstorm day.
Thunder rumbled, torrential rain poured from the roof of the Cen family’s old mansion, forming curtains of water.
She had always disliked thunderstorms.
Because of this terrible weather, that bit of almost unknown irritability in her bones nearly broke free.
Of course, this endless rain was only a fuse; what truly bothered her was that sudden childhood engagement with Fu Jun.
Two days prior, Mrs. Ji had lowered herself to come into her room and told her: “When you were born, Old Master Fu made a verbal agreement with your grandfather about you and Fu Jun’s engagement. Last month the Fu family brought up the old matter again, and your father has already agreed with them. Once you graduate college, the two families will hold an engagement banquet. This is the jade bracelet the Fu family sent last month. Remember to wear it on your coming-of-age night.”
When Ji Yunyi told Jiang Se this, her gaze was neither warm nor cold, her tone also bland, as if she were talking about something insignificant, not her daughter’s lifelong matter.
Jiang Se had long been used to Ji Yunyi’s indifference.
She looked at Mrs. Ji, and with the same calm tone asked: “What if I already have someone I like?”
Not a ripple appeared on Ji Yunyi’s exquisitely made-up face.
Others always praised her daughter as gentle and refined, saying she was just like her younger self, never doing inappropriate things at inappropriate times.
But no one knows a daughter better than her mother.
Ji Yunyi knew very well what kind of rebellious bones were born under Jiang Se’s refined, elegant skin.
She slowly took a sip of tea and smiled as she asked: “Sese, do you think I married your father back then because I liked him? In families like ours, marriage is nothing but a fig leaf. With this fig leaf, you can have a very free life, and you can have many romances. Haven’t you understood this long ago? Of course, you can also refuse the fig leaf your father and I have carefully chosen for you, on one condition——”
“Marrying the person you like must bring more benefits than marrying Fu Jun. If so, your father and I will naturally agree to you breaking the engagement. But the question is, does the person you’ve set your sights on set his sights on you?”
【Does the person you’ve set your sights on set his sights on you?】
This sentence had roared in Jiang Se’s mind for two days.
Withdrawing her gaze from the window, she looked into the dressing mirror in front of her.
Within the depths of the mirror floated the rainy scene outside, and in the misty rain a delicate, beautiful face was reflected.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand that the Fu–Cen cooperation project was key to the Cen family entering the new energy field.
But in all of Beicheng, the Fu family was not the only major player in new energy. There was also the Lu family, whose commercial territory was even wider.
And the person she had set her sights on was the grandson Old Master Lu valued most.
If marriage was a fig leaf for people like them, then why couldn’t she choose her own fig leaf?
Glancing at the old wall clock, Jiang Se rose and left the room.
Aunt Zhang, waiting outside, quickly said: “There’s less than three hours before the banquet starts. Why aren’t you resting a bit more? The gown you’ll wear tonight is on its way. Once you put it on, you won’t have any chance to rest.”
Aunt Zhang had taken care of Jiang Se since she was only a few days old, and counted as someone Jiang Se was fairly close to in the Cen family.
Jiang Se’s almond eyes curved slightly, and she smiled. “I’m going upstairs to say a couple of words to my older brother. I’ll come back right after.”
Aunt Zhang thought she was nervous about the coming-of-age ceremony and wanted to find the young master to relieve stress, so she smiled and said: “The young master is in the study, go quickly.”
Cen Li really was in the study, but at this moment the study wasn’t only him. Only after Jiang Se walked away did Aunt Zhang suddenly remember—
The young master of the Lu family was also in the study.
—
The old house was a four–story old building, and the study was on the fourth floor. The collection inside included rare and precious ancient books and paintings. Usually, aside from a few masters of the Cen family, only invited distinguished guests and the old butler could enter.
The corridor outside the study was covered with a thick sound-absorbing carpet, the carpet steeped in dimness, the only trace of light leaking from the crack beneath the study door.
The study door was slightly ajar.
Jiang Se came at the wrong time.
Or perhaps she came at just the right time.
She had only just arrived at the doorway, not yet knocked, when a familiar voice came from inside.
“Cen Li, stop trying to set me up.”
The man’s tone carried some inattentiveness, and faintly mixed in was the “click” of a lighter opening and closing, as if he was idly fiddling with the lighter while speaking.
That voice was lower than an average man’s, magnetic, pleasant to the ear, full of distinctiveness, more beautiful even than the tone of Jiang Se’s low-pitched cello.
This voice was extremely familiar to her.
For the past two years, as long as this voice appeared, her heartbeat would spiral out of control. Even if she occasionally heard someone else speak the three characters “Lu Huaiyan,” her heart could skip a few beats.
As if there were some mechanism hidden in her heart, whose switch was everything related to him.
His name, his voice, the glance he cast unintentionally, even the breath on him lightly scattered by the wind.
All were switches.
The moment the mechanism opened: chaos, wild and overwhelming.
And it was precisely in this moment of chaos that she was a beat too late. Her raised hand had not yet knocked before she heard another person speak.
“This is called not letting benefits flow to outsiders. Our Sese is such a good girl, I don’t want that hypocrite Fu Jun to get her cheap. Besides, doesn’t your old man like Sese quite a lot? Marrying a granddaughter-in-law who pleases him would also benefit you, right? It’s not like I’m telling you to marry her right away, engage for a few years first, and when you’re older, if you feel it’s really unsuitable, then cancel the engagement later. It won’t be too late.”
As Cen Li’s lazy tone fell, Jiang Se’s heart gave a tight contraction, and the hand paused in mid-air slowly lowered.
Cen Li wasn’t wrong. Old Master Lu indeed liked her.
This, she knew even more clearly than Cen Li.
There is no such thing as liking without reason. For someone like Old Master Lu, only heaven knew how much thought Jiang Se had spent just to make him look at her differently.
So much time and effort, only to get close to that person.
The narrow door crack compressed the study into a long narrow world. The men had their backs to the door, completely unaware that the girl they were discussing was standing right outside.
“You’re getting more and more ridiculous. I’m not interested in Cen Se. No matter how nicely you say it, in my eyes she is nothing more than that, far too—”
Lu Huaiyan paused here. The hand fiddling with the lighter stopped, as if considering what words to use. After a long moment, he finally thought of a suitable term: “dull and flavorless.”
Nothing more than that.
Dull and flavorless.
So this was how he saw her?
The storm outside slowly seeped into her entire body.
Her hands and feet began to grow cold, her heart sinking straight down, but the corners of her lips couldn’t help curving up.
Jiang Se had always had this kind of temperament.
The more turbulent her emotions were, the more gentle and elegant her smile became.
The smile hanging on her lips at this moment was probably the gentlest she’d shown in her life.
“Ah Yan!” In the study, Cen Li’s voice carried a bit of gritted teeth, “Why do you have to speak so harshly? That’s my little sister, don’t forget when she sees you she also calls you ‘Older Brother’!”
“Precisely because she’s your sister, I have to tell the truth. You look down on Fu Jun, want to borrow the Lu family’s influence to ruin the engagement between the two families. But what makes you think I, Lu Huaiyan, would be willing to take that loss? Our friendship? Or that one ‘Older Brother Huaiyan’ your sister calls me?”
Lu Huaiyan tossed the lighter onto the side table with a “clack,” his voice indifferent like wind blowing through the depths of winter: “With all due respect, whether it’s you or your sister, neither of you have that kind of face.”
Having his intentions exposed, Cen Li was like a firecracker dipped in water—instantly extinguished.
In the dead silent air, thunder and wind crept closer.
The girl outside the door lifted her thick lashes, glanced coolly at the sky outside. Deep within her dark eyes flashed a moment of disgust.
This thunderstorm day truly was, as always, annoying.
Jiang Se turned and walked back step by step.
Just like when she came: her steps light and steady, without making the slightest rustle.
—
During the short time she’d left, someone had already entered her room.
Ji Yunyi was leading a few fashion designers waiting inside. One of them held a gown in hand.
When Jiang Se walked in, Ji Yunyi signaled that person forward, saying: “The gown has arrived. You will change into it now. From this moment on, you may not eat, and water should be kept to a minimum.”
Jiang Se looked at the haute couture gown.
It was a strapless ball-gown dress, classical flower embroidery hidden in the layers upon layers of the skirt, the flower cores inlaid with crushed diamonds. When walking, it was like stars falling into blooming flowers: complex, dignified, with a touch of fantasy.
Back when deciding the gown color, Ji Yunyi preferred white with black diamonds, but Jiang Se had deliberately chosen black.
Only because Lu Huaiyan liked wearing black clothing.
At this moment, Jiang Se only felt that thick-ink black was blinding, so unpleasant, so irritating.
“Change to another one.” As she spoke softly, she was already heading toward the cloakroom.
Seeing her like this, Ji Yunyi knew the rebellious streak had risen again, and her smile faded some.
Just as she was about to say something, she saw Jiang Se stop.
“Forget it, I’ll still wear this one. No need to change.” She said lightly, “This is the dress I personally chose. Why wouldn’t I wear it?”
She said this in a strange way, not like she was asking a question, but more like asking and answering herself.
The few designers all lowered their eyes together, eyes to nose, nose to heart.
And it seemed only at this moment that Ji Yunyi noticed how unusually pale Jiang Se’s face was. She scrutinized Jiang Se, and very quickly her gaze shifted slightly, looking toward the others in the room.
“You all go out first.”
After everyone left, Ji Yunyi personally picked up the dress and had Jiang Se put it on.
Mother and daughter stood before the vanity mirror.
The black dress made the girl in the mirror look like a white camellia blooming in the night—holy and noble; paired with Jiang Se’s snow-pale face at this moment, it even faintly carried a touch of brokenness.
“Sese, where is your smile?”
Hearing that, Jiang Se lifted the corners of her lips lightly, pulling out a perfectly curved smile.
Only then did Ji Yunyi show a satisfied expression: “You went to the study?”
“Yes.”
A look of comprehension flashed in Ji Yunyi’s eyes in an instant, but she didn’t ask whom Jiang Se went to the study for, she only asked her, “The jade bracelet sent by the Fu family, are you wearing it yourself, or should I put it on you?”
A two-choice question, yet there was only one answer.
This bracelet she must wear tonight.
Her gaze lowered; Jiang Se looked toward the jade bracelet on the vanity.
It was a glass-type green jadeite, its water head crystal-clear, the jade quality bright; it was said to be an antique the Fu family bought from an auction house in the early Republic era.
Giving such a bracelet to congratulate Jiang Se’s coming of age showed how sincere the Fu family was.
Jiang Se knew what wearing this bracelet meant.
And knew she had the responsibility to wear it.
She lifted her eyes and asked Ji Yunyi: “Was it you who instructed my older brother to go find Lu Huaiyan?”
“Your older brother doesn’t want us sacrificing your marriage for a collaboration; he told me you already have someone you like. Although he didn’t say who it is,” Ji Yunyi smiled lightly, “but Sese, how many times have you followed Ah Li to the Lu house these two years? If you didn’t like Lu Huaiyan, with your temper, how would you accompany Old Master Lu to watch Peking Opera you’ve always disliked? The Lu family is good, yes, but that child of the Lu family—”
Realizing what she was about to say was inappropriate, Ji Yunyi cut herself off, directly bypassed Jiang Se, took her left hand, and slipped the jade bracelet onto her slender wrist.
“Since you know Lu Huaiyan has no interest in you, you should recognize reality. Giving up wisely is better than clinging blindly. Fu Jun is a very good choice, both for you and for the Cen family.”
Ji Yunyi lightly pressed Jiang Se’s shoulders, signaling her to look at the mirror.
“Sese, don’t forget, your surname is Cen.”
Don’t forget, your surname is Cen.
Jiang Se looked at those two completely dissimilar faces in the mirror, and her thoughts stalled for an instant at those words.
No—wrong.
She wasn’t Cen.
She was Jiang Se, no longer Cen Se of the Cen family of Beicheng.
—
The pitch-dark room had blackout curtains drawn tightly shut, not letting in a shred of daylight.
Jiang Se opened her eyes in the darkness.
Her thoughts lagged for a few seconds; very quickly she realized she had dreamed again. This time the dream was rather nostalgic; surprisingly, it was the day of her coming-of-age ceremony.
How long had it been since she last dreamed of her eighteen-year-old self?
Back then she was still Cen Se, still the cherished daughter of the Cen family.
And at that time, Fu Jun hadn’t died yet.
With the curtains drawn, she couldn’t tell the time outside, so Jiang Se lifted herself from the pillow and picked up her phone from the bedside table for a look.
5:59. One minute left before the set alarm.
After a moment, along with the alarm ringing, a memo popped up from Calendar—
【8 p.m., Beicheng International Airport, pick up Cen Yu.】
Jiang Se turned off her phone.
In the darkness, she slowly let out a breath.
Cen Yu was Jiang Se’s junior schoolmate, and also the real precious daughter of the Cen family.
After bringing Cen Yu back to the Cen house, the twenty-three years of their swapped lives would soon return to their rightful track.
