Chapter 1: The Seal on Fujiwara Takumi

In the early autumn of 2016, a cool breeze swept through the night. Amidst the glow of artificial lights that painted the darkness, a young woman named Yu Zhimei opened the door to her balcony. She raised her head, surrounded by the scent of flowers, as deep blue twilight mingled with the city’s luminescence. All around was quiet except for a cat pacing near her feet. She gazed into the night sky, where the misty heavens were overwhelmed by the surrounding buildings’ bright lights, making it nearly impossible to see the stars—a common sight in this bustling metropolis. What she didn’t expect, however, was that a single sentence would keep her awake.

The incident began during a dull afternoon at the office. With a hint of shyness, she unlocked her phone, and an image flashed before her eyes—restless eyes paired with alluring red lips. Accompanying the picture was a caption: “People fear budding romance, yearn for marriage, grow weary of raising children, yet suppress their emotions, as if love should never be spoken of. When hearts race and people decide to pursue true love, they shed their masks, break free from constraints, and quietly confess the sincerity that has secretly blossomed within.”

By the time she tried to search for that quote and the splash screen photo, it was too late. Both the restless eyes and the teasing lips seemed to have vanished as though they had never existed. Staring at the night sky, she thought of many people. Then, glancing at the neighboring balcony, she softly whispered, “I love you.”

She never expected her story to begin like this.

(All characters, organizations, and events in this novel are fictional.)

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Fujiwara Takumi’s Seal is Broken

“There are so many theories about love, yet people still can’t manage relationships well. So everyone blames love itself for being flawed.”

Yu Zhimei sat in the passenger seat, adrenaline coursing through her veins while her lungs felt ready to burst. Her biggest pet peeve was bad traffic, but what annoyed her even more was being cut off repeatedly during a jam. Here she was, stuck in the passenger seat despite her exceptional driving skills, feeling like Fujiwara Takumi from Initial D , immobilized after breaking his leg. Ahead of them was a BMW, while she rode in a second-hand Santana—a stark contrast made worse by their current predicament. She thought bitterly, even if Kato Taka turned into the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, it wouldn’t save them now.

That day, during her rare lunch break, she had met up with a friend she hadn’t seen in two years since moving downtown. He suddenly announced he was getting married. Afterward, she had to meet a client, but remembering her friend’s earnest tone over the phone, she managed to squeeze in some time to take the subway to their rendezvous—taking a taxi along Yan’an Elevated Road on a Friday noon would undoubtedly be hopeless. But upon arriving and seeing her friend’s furious face, she was startled when he grabbed her hand and shoved her into the car. After exchanging just three sentences, she understood: recently, his girlfriend, with whom he’d been passionately in love, had emerged from a hotel only to be whisked away by a man who looked wealthy and handsome. Today, he was determined to chase them down, confront the betrayal, or at least crash into their car in a dramatic act of mutual destruction.

“These days, unless you catch someone in bed, it doesn’t count as cheating…” Before they even reached the scene, Yu Zhimei watched her friend’s trembling hands clutching the car keys and couldn’t help but feel pity.

“Of course, it’s cheating! That guy looks like your typical rich playboy. He pulled my girlfriend out right in front of me, and they ran off like they’d seen a ghost. If that’s not infidelity, what is?”

“This sounds serious…”

“It is! My girlfriend loves money so much. I’ve suspected something was wrong for a while.”

“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions…”

“Don’t defend outsiders! How can you sit in my car and side against me?”

“You’re the one who dragged me into this car. You signal left but stay in the right lane, letting others weave through traffic while you obediently trail behind. At this speed, how do you expect to catch anyone?”

“This car isn’t cutting it. Once we catch them today, I’m definitely switching vehicles.”

“A car without power, but driven by a man full of emotion.”

Her friend’s focus wasn’t on the car at all: “I really loved her. I bought her bags, cosmetics—I upgraded from Innisfree to La Mer, switched purses from Charles & Keith to LV. The pile of money kept growing, and my credit card debt skyrocketed. And now she’s sleeping with someone else…”

“Brother, you weren’t even a spare tire—you were a jack and an ATM rolled into one…” Just then, the green light turned red. “Two seconds left, floor it!”

He slammed on the brakes instead, and Yu Zhimei heard a crack in her neck. “Two seconds is plenty of time—shouldn’t you have floored the gas?”

“I didn’t dare…”

Standing up for justice was one thing, but losing in a street race infuriated her. As cars passed by on the right-turn lane, Yu Zhimei suddenly gripped the steering wheel hard and shouted, “Change lanes! Signal right!”

“Where are you going?!”

“Taking a shortcut!”

Near Jiangsu Road, the narrow streets slowed everyone down. Yu Zhimei navigated the car through one-way alleys, her friend screaming in panic. “Be careful! What if you hit someone? There are elderly people on the roadside…”

“Just step on the gas! Keep pressing it! Why are you scared when I’m handling the wheel?”

The car zipped through backstreets and took another left, nearing Triumph Road when they finally spotted the other vehicle. Sure enough, the driver was a handsome man with a slightly large head. The girlfriend saw her boyfriend and panicked, rolling up the windows and urging the driver to speed away. Yu Zhimei, initially calm, felt a surge of anger when the man arrogantly glanced at her. Her friend, upon seeing his girlfriend, burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Yu Zhimei stomped her foot impatiently. “Stop crying! Look at the road! We’re losing them again!”

“So intimate! Did you see them nudging shoulders? Adulterous scum!”

“Seen it, seen it!” Just as Yu Zhimei loosened her grip on the steering wheel, her friend slowed down. After fighting through three traffic lights to get onto Zhongshan West Road, Yu Zhimei noticed the other car hesitating before continuing straight. She guessed they were trying to get onto the inner ring road. She instructed her friend to press the clutch and shift into third gear: “Go, move forward. The left lane is for going straight, and the right lane is for turning left. Take the left.”

“How can you look at the road without comforting me first?”

“Watching you drive like this makes me uncomfortable. If you don’t put this car into ‘battle mode,’ how are you supposed to overtake others, chase a car, or win your girlfriend back?”

A line of cars waited at the red light at the Jinsha River Road intersection. Yu Zhimei watched the countdown timer. The adulterer’s car was at the front of the line. By the time the cars ahead started moving, at least half a minute would pass—plus, with this driver’s mediocre skills... Suddenly, Yu Zhimei slapped her friend’s shoulder: “Get out of the car.”

“What for?”

“I’ll drive! I’m determined to chase that car today.” Yu Zhimei slid into the driver’s seat, quickly adjusted the seat, reclined the backrest, fastened her seatbelt, kicked off her high heels, tossing them into the backseat, and hitched up her skirt to her thighs: “Watch closely. See how I catch up to that car for you. I can’t stand people who start something and then abandon it—whether they’re men or women.”

Having grown up in a driving school, Yu Zhimei was extremely familiar with Santana cars. Her skin was as tanned as her years of driving experience. In recent years, she had even taught drifting, handling all kinds of luxury sports cars. Automatic or manual transmission didn’t matter; neither did the age or performance of the car. Although today’s vehicle was seven years old, she knew from pressing the gas pedal that it could drift. Nothing else might be tied to her pride, but driving definitely was. There were only a few speed checks on the inner ring road, and not many cars on the northern section. With her eyes locked on the BMW, she was laser-focused, her mind filled with thoughts of catching it. From Yangpu Bridge to the inner ring road, there were four turns. As long as the BMW didn’t exit the elevated road, she was determined to pursue it to the end.

Just as she prepared for the first drift, the car descended at the Hutai Road intersection—without giving her a chance to show off!

Yu Zhimei cursed under her breath, made an emergency lane change, and charged down. After all, the car wasn’t hers, and she hadn’t brought her driver’s license. Today, she was acting on behalf of justice, and if anything went wrong, someone else could take the blame.

They chased the BMW all the way to the Baohua Marriott hotel, where it suddenly stopped, refusing to flee further or enter the underground garage. Her friend jumped out of the car furiously and grabbed the girl: “What’s going on between you two? Explain yourself today!”

“Brother, save me… He’s really a psycho…”

The man shoved her friend aside and pulled the girl behind him protectively: “I should ask you—why do you keep stalking her after she broke up with you? Do you know how scared she is?”

Yu Zhimei was utterly confused: “Huh?”

“They broke up two weeks ago because your friend kept insulting her, calling her materialistic and saying she spent too much money. He claimed marrying her would bankrupt him. But my friend never intended to marry him; she just wanted to get to know him better. When they broke up, she returned all the gifts he gave her. Isn’t it outrageous that he keeps stalking and harassing her? Love isn’t something you force upon someone. It begins with affection and ends with respect. Do you understand?”

His voice was bright, clear, and full of righteousness. Yu Zhimei was left speechless. Her friend sat on the ground, crying bitterly: “It’s true she loves spending money—I didn’t lie about that! I gave her all my savings, waiting for us to get married. How can you accuse me of stalking?”

The girl trembled and cried: “I never thought of dating you. You were too aggressive and didn’t give me a chance to refuse.” She rushed over and grabbed Yu Zhimei: “Please, can you take him away? I just want to live a normal life. I don’t want to be stalked anymore…”

So, after all this drama, the entire love story was nothing more than her friend’s one-sided infatuation? Before Yu Zhimei could fully process what was happening, the man pushed her friend aside, pulled the girl into the BMW, and glanced at her before getting in: “You chased us for half an hour. I didn’t expect this old car to go so fast.”

“Do you believe in love?”

“Yes, I do. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world.”

“No, I don’t. It’s just libido at work. Falling in love is like starting to suffer—every breath hurts.”

“But love can bring incredible happiness: a racing heart, a feverish body, difficulty breathing… Experiencing it once in life is enough to leave no regrets. That’s why The Bridges of Madison County is so beautiful.”

“Love isn’t easy to attain. A partner is a consumable, romance is a luxury, and lust is a drug. Marriage isn’t about love—it’s about exchanging benefits. Otherwise, why doesn’t the law protect love and instead focuses on property and custody rights?”

After the absurd midday commotion, Yu Zhimei finally calmed her friend down and arrived at the client’s company by 3 PM. Feeling dizzy from the sun, she waited as the client took their time coming downstairs. In the meantime, she sat there listening to her colleague’s theories about love. Reflecting on her friend’s tragic breakup vows and her own impulsive heroics, she realized that the girl had never considered her friend a boyfriend in the first place. Yu Zhimei wanted to interrupt the roundtable discussion: questioning love so much only proves that love itself is flawed.

By evening, Yu Zhimei walked awkwardly in uncomfortable high heels on a dimly lit gravel path. Prone to her professional habit of using false data to support arguments, she mentally replayed the day’s events, refuting each point one by one: First, whether or not to believe in love—how is such a subjective topic still being debated? Second, people talk about love on the surface but are actually calculating; they only bring up money and responsibility when everything else fails to align. Third, those lucky enough to experience one wonderful romance will likely have another—don’t ask why; it just happens. Fourth, if your body feels hot and you’re having trouble breathing, go to the hospital to check your respiratory system.

Entering the building unseen, Yu Zhimei took off her shoes, immediately softening her sharp demeanor. During the three-floor climb, she reminded herself not to always criticize others. Normally, she was a gentle and tolerant woman—so why did wearing the wrong shoes make her so irritable? The corridor light was broken, and as she fumbled for her keys, she wondered when to contact the landlord to fix it. Suddenly, someone darted out from the neighboring balcony and collided with her. Instinctively, she stepped back, misjudging her footing without her heels, and stumbled. Yu Zhimei cursed inwardly—karma came too quickly.

The house had only three floors, with an outer balcony on each side of the top floor. Although the neighborhood was relatively safe, if a strange man were hiding on the balcony, she wouldn’t be able to do much about it. Moreover, she didn’t know any of her neighbors, so calling for help likely wouldn’t bring anyone to her aid… After a series of news stories about strange men stalking single women flashed through her mind, a hand reached out from behind her, preventing her from falling down the stairs and pulling her back from tipping over.

The force was strong, and the arm that caught her was steady. Her neck strained slightly from the sudden tug, causing a bit of pain, but her body gently leaned into the man’s embrace as she regained her balance. Yu Zhimei felt momentarily dazed. The man, however, seemed quite concerned: “Are you okay?”

Yu Zhimei nervously pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining the light on the man’s face—it was the same man who had been driving the BMW earlier that day!