Chapter 10

The Three-Sided Mirror, The Trap (3)

“I think my brother is the most perfect man in the world, just find someone like you for me.”

Based on their usual conversation habits, he would definitely laugh narcissistically and say, “As if.” But after waiting for a long time, she didn’t get that answer.

He just gently pushed her away: “You can’t marry me.”

Xie Xinqi smiled slightly and puffed out her chest: “It’s okay, we can take our time. After all, Mark Twain said, ‘Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.’ “

Xie Xiuchen also smiled slightly: “I’m your time.”

“Well said! We siblings, together, can definitely...” But after a pause, she gave him another slight smile, “Go away.”

As the clock struck twelve, the lights on the top floor of the East Gate Building went out.

A cold wind blew, and Luo Wei locked her phone, wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered. She couldn’t believe she had been standing here for four hours. That little bitch Xiao Ying, she couldn’t have wanted to get back at her for that little incident in elementary school, could she? She put on the high heels she had kicked to the side of the road, picked up her bag, and wobbled out of the restaurant. After walking for five minutes, she felt like she was about to collapse. Crossing the road, she leaned against the railing and walked slowly along the seaside. She saw the Zhenji Wangcheng not far away. It stood like a pagoda on one side of the Palace City Bridge, brightly lit and never sleeping.

She didn’t know what she was chasing after. Those cherished memories were just the innocent words of two children. Look, she had waited so long this evening, and he hadn’t even appeared, or even tried to find her to say that their meeting was canceled. This only meant one thing: she was the only one who cared too much. Walking along the riverbank, the cool breeze ruffled her hair, and she couldn’t help but sneeze. The temperature difference between day and night had been large recently, and it was time to take a taxi home. At that moment, a voice sounded behind her: “Miss Luo.”

She turned around in confusion and saw a foreign man standing behind her. He was wearing a pure black suit and didn’t look very approachable. She backed away defensively and whispered, “Who are you...?”

“My boss has something he wants to talk to you about. Please come with me.”

“Your boss?”

He pointed across the street, where a stretched limousine was parked. It was as pure black as the foreign man, but its surface was polished to a high shine, as if it could absorb all the neon lights.

This was the most famous river in Palace City, with a classical name: Luo River. It cut through the waters of the two islands, giving the people of Palace City a belief similar to that of the Egyptians in the Nile River. Legend has it that in ancient times, a god lived here, consuming its spirit to protect Palace City. This is also the origin of the name Zhenji Wangcheng—in Cao Zijian’s writing, Zhenji is the incarnation of the goddess of the Luo River. The area from Palace City Bridge to the far east of the Luo River is the most expensive part of Palace City, and any type of luxury car can be frequently seen here. However, such a formal limousine was rare. So, could she assume that this was the same car as King’s? In other words, the person looking for her was King? Could it be that she was able to leave Zhenji Wangcheng smoothly because the K001 guard wasn’t careful enough, and now they were coming to catch her again? It was so late now, there was no one around, and she wouldn’t have time to escape. She might even be knocked unconscious and dragged away again.

“Wow, are you meeting a big shot? Just give me a moment, I’ll tidy up my clothes.” She turned around, facing the Luo River, and smiled apologetically at him. He had seen many girls like this before and simply looked away expressionlessly. Taking this opportunity, she took out her phone from her bag, dialed the police, and then took out her lipstick, pretending to apply makeup in the mirror.

The phone on the other end went silent but didn’t hang up, and she could tell they were aware of the situation. At this moment, two other men walked over from the opposite side. One was taller, wearing a white casual suit, a silver necklace, and a French perm that slanted to the right, with slightly down-turned corners of his eyes; the other was wearing a light-colored suit, his hair was cropped very short, almost bald, and he had a small mustache, looking a bit ruffianly. Seeing her still putting on makeup, the one with the curly hair smiled and said, “Miss with the raven-black hair, the night makes you so beautiful, but you’re not ready yet?”

She took a moment to adjust to this strange way of speaking and said, “Just a moment, just a moment. I still need to put on some blush...”

“Epicurus once said, ‘Don’t ruin what you already have for what you want.’ So, you wouldn’t want to ruin Brother Six’s patience, because an angry Brother Six is ten times more terrifying than a dragon.”

She took out her blush and pretended to chat casually, mumbling to them, “Sir, you must not have grown up here. Let me tell you, there wasn’t this clothing store on this street before, what was it called... Le paradis? Is that French? There wasn’t also this restaurant called ‘Ideal Country’ on the east side...”

The man who spoke like he was reciting poetry was about to speak, but the bald-headed man glared at him impatiently and interjected, “Miss Luo, not only did I grow up here, but I also know that locals don’t like to use directions like southeast, northwest. And please tell Officer Liu on the other end that this is Chang Feng, and our Brother Six just wants to have a chat with this young lady. There’s nothing serious, no need to send people over.” He smiled slightly, took a miniature remote control from his pocket, and pressed it lightly in her direction. She heard her phone beep and when she turned it over, the call had been remotely hung up. He extended his hand to her, “Hello, I’m Chang Feng, the vice president of Zhenji Wangcheng. This is Lu Xiren, our art director.”

“... I’m Luo Wei. Nice to meet you.”

She shrugged, placed her cold fingers in his hand, shook it symbolically, and reluctantly walked with him across the road. She should have known that an organization that could run such a big casino had to be involved in both the white and black worlds. Now she was really screwed. The distance of just twenty meters felt like a century. Finally, she clutched her bag strap and waved awkwardly in front of the shiny car door. Her reflection appeared in the window, and she saw herself smiling stiffly.

As the car window slowly lowered, the cold night wind, like ink and wash, outlined the man’s profile in the darkness. She was stunned, and her heart skipped a beat. At that moment, the sound of cars whizzing past on the opposite side of the street disappeared in an instant, and the neon lights flickered overhead. It wasn’t until the cold wind blew against her back that she was sure this was a real person, not a stage play poster stuck on the car.

She must have been standing for too long tonight, her behavior was a bit strange. There were many handsome guys in their design department in college, and she had seen some male celebrities in person. She had never been so distracted by anyone’s appearance. But as soon as she calmed down, she noticed that he had a melon-seed face, a high nose bridge, and a small beauty mark on the right side of his nose... She covered her mouth and gasped involuntarily. She couldn’t be wrong, could she? But this person was clearly...

“You’re four hours late,” he lowered his head to look at his watch, frowning impatiently, then turned to look at her. “It’s already 12:15.”

The moment their eyes met, the world seemed to stop for a second.

She had felt this way before when she was younger, so to protect herself, she had always tried to avoid him. But at that time, she had been too young to understand. Now, as an adult, her feelings were much stronger. She was simply stunned for a moment, then forced herself to calm down.

“Xiaoying!!” The stiffness she had felt a moment ago disappeared instantly. She exclaimed excitedly, bending down to lean on the car window frame, “It’s really you, is it really you? It’s really you!”

“What are you so excited about? We agreed to meet earlier. Who knew you’d be so late.” He tilted his head towards the empty seat beside him. “Get in.”

She happily ran to the other side of the car door. The driver had already gotten out and opened the door for her. She retracted her hand, which had brushed against his glove, and said “thank you”, quickly getting into the car. As the door closed, the car interior became particularly quiet.

Xiaoying was wearing a gray suit and a black shirt, with the top two buttons of his shirt casually unbuttoned, revealing a hint of his collarbone. Not many people had such long and straight legs and arms, and besides, he was sitting with his legs crossed, propping his forehead up with the back of one hand... There was an almost indifferent arrogance about him that reminded her of the masked man, K001, for a moment. But as his gaze turned towards her, she immediately dismissed that thought. He raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly, “What’s wrong? Want to say I’m not your type?”

[Rose Theater]

Luo Wei: “I heard that in the original setting for “Mirror Rose,” Lu Xiren was supposed to be a guy with a flat top, selling durian, and having dark skin. Now he’s turned into this French narcissistic playboy style. It’s really shocking...”

Lu Xiren: “I’m deeply saddened that I was immediately overshadowed by Brother Six as soon as I appeared...”

Xiao Jiao: “It’s my tragedy that I was forced to have a rivalry with someone like you, okay? Luo Wei is much better. Next week’s serialization is full of scenes between Wei and her first love, Xiaoying. It’s fucking cool.”

Xie Xinqi: “What about me and my brother?”

Chang Feng: “My Brother Six doesn’t officially appear until the end of the third chapter. What more do you want?”