IJLHTW - 4

Yi Zecheng looked at her pushing her luck and immediately let go, adding a bit of force as he shoved her back. Her entire body crashed into the gleaming black SUV behind her.

She hadn't stood firmly and hit the car hard, her waist bumping into the edge—sharp pain shot through her. But she merely furrowed her brows without making a sound.

He didn’t move, watching her coldly.

The smile on Huo Ci’s face disappeared, but in her eyes, there was still that casual, teasing glint—like the one who crashed and was in pain wasn’t even her.

Then he finally spoke, his tone flat: “Miss Huo, I hired you to take photos, not risk your life.”

He had previously only been seen either in bars or sitting inside his car—always under dim lights that cast a vague allure over him. But now he stood before her. His slightly long black hair was slicked back, and his irises were a bit too light, but the depth of his eye sockets made his gaze particularly intense.

He said he hired her, but his tone made it sound more like she owed him a debt.

She looked at him and smiled. “I haven’t forgotten. After all, this is the job you gave me.”

“Has the shoot ended?” he asked, looking at her directly. There was not a trace of emotion in his eyes, completely unfazed by her playful tone.

“Not yet. It'll take some more time,” she answered calmly. When it came to work, she never slacked.

Yi Zecheng nodded and turned to leave. He was tall to begin with, and now dressed in a dark navy pinstripe suit, his back was as straight as rebar. The custom-fitted suit emphasized his presence even more.

Huo Ci found him truly interesting. In the bar, he'd been wearing a white dress shirt, holding a glass of wine at the counter under dim lighting, exuding a restrained sensuality.

But now, under the sunlight, all that remained was unyielding toughness—like steel and concrete.

Mo Xingchen was right. Every woman would want to sleep with him.

A grin tugged at Huo Ci’s lips. “Hey, could you help me get my camera down?”

Yi Zecheng looked up and saw her long fingers pointing to the roof of the car. When she had jumped down, she’d left her camera up there.

“Yang Ming,” Yi Zecheng suddenly called.

The man behind him immediately stepped forward.

He looked at the roof and pressed his lips together. “Help Miss Huo get her camera down.”

“Delete my photo,” Yi Zecheng added, this time to Huo Ci.

Once Yang Ming retrieved the camera, Yi Zecheng didn’t turn away but stared directly at her. Huo Ci had never forced anyone when taking photos. She turned on the camera and promptly deleted the image.

After deleting it, her eyes scanned Yi Zecheng—from his Adam’s apple down to his chest. Her gaze was so brazen.

Such a good body, yet so thoroughly hidden.

What a waste.

Yang Ming couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He had initially assumed Miss Huo was a cold, aloof beauty. When he’d first seen her, she spoke little, her gaze was icy. Once she picked up her camera, she was wholly focused. Even when Bai Yu made a comment, she simply gave him a cold glare that sent him scurrying away.

Who would’ve thought she’d act like this in front of the boss?

Thankfully, Huo Ci soon returned to her shoot. By then it was already 5 PM. People had started returning to the nearby single-story houses—cooking, washing vegetables. Smoke from the stoves drifted through the windows. It was simple and warm. Though Yi Zecheng hadn’t specified what kind of photos he wanted, this forgotten, desolate part of the city still burned with a kind of quiet warmth.

It wasn’t until the city lights began to glow that Huo Ci finally wrapped up the shoot.

She lowered her head and browsed through the photos on her camera, flipping until the very last one. After a long pause, she looked up at the man leaning against the car not far away. He was smoking, a tiny red flame glowing between his fingers.

“I’ll have the photos printed in three days,” Huo Ci said as she approached him.

Yi Zecheng nodded and stubbed out his cigarette. This time, he spoke sincerely: “Thank you, Miss Huo.”

He knew that, given her reputation, it was already rare for her to accept a trial shoot. Regardless of her real motives, he could separate business from personal feelings. That thank you was deserved.

Huo Ci looked up at him. “My name is Huo Ci. Call me Huo Ci.”

Yi Zecheng returned to his usual emotionless expression.

But she didn’t mind. She asked again, “Can I know why you chose this place for the shoot?”

This location wasn’t chosen at random.

“It looks a lot like where I used to live,” he said, lifting his gaze.

For the first time, Huo Ci saw emotion in his otherwise cold eyes.

Nostalgia. She actually saw nostalgia in his expression.

A man in a custom-tailored suit, driving a Maybach, missing such a run-down place?

“Where did you live before?” she asked. He was like a treasure chest—Huo Ci suddenly wanted to dig all the way to the center.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at her blandly. “If you pass the audition, I’ll tell you.”

“I will,” she said, lifting her chin with pride and confidence.

**

Later that evening, Yi Zecheng politely invited her to dinner. But Huo Ci declined—she wanted to print the photos as soon as possible and make him invite her again willingly.

After getting in the car, Bai Yu was once again driving. Huo Ci sat in the back seat, glancing out the window as the Maybach started up and quickly disappeared from view.

“Bai Yu, do you think my legs look good?” she suddenly asked.

Bai Yu turned his head sharply to look at her, the car swerving slightly before he quickly straightened it. “Did that Yi guy take advantage of you?” he asked.

Earlier, when Huo Ci jumped down from the car roof, Yi Zecheng reached out to catch her.

Huo Ci now sat in the center of the back seat, her legs crossed, elbows resting on her thighs, her palm supporting her cheek. Upon hearing Bai Yu’s question, she gave a light snort. “Then that’s good.”

It had only been a few seconds—his gaze had lingered on her calves.

But a few seconds were enough.

It showed that he didn’t completely ignore her.

—

That night, as soon as she returned, she began selecting the photos. When it came to jobs she was determined to win, she was always serious. However, this time, it angered Bai Yu. After all, she still had work scheduled for the next two days. Swapping out the photographer last minute made the magazine company understandably unhappy. Even though it was only a third-rate weekly, Bai Yu didn’t want to offend anyone, so she offered them a newcomer recently signed to their studio and gave them a bundle discount.

Huo Ci locked herself at home for two days straight. It was Mo Xingchen who finally came and rang the doorbell.

“No matter how rushed you are, you still have to eat,” Mo Xingchen said, carrying takeout.

After taking one bite, Huo Ci looked up. “Still from that place near the school gate.”

Watching her eat bite by bite, Mo Xingchen sighed. “It’s only at times like this that you seem like someone who still lives in the mortal world.”

Huo Ci glanced at her. “Psycho.”

The takeout was from a restaurant near their university—cheap and delicious pork rib stew. A large portion was enough for four girls in a dorm. Back when they first entered college, the four of them had their first meal together at that very restaurant.

Back then, Dorm 402 of the medical department at B University was practically a legend, because it housed two campus goddesses.

Of course, Mo Xingchen wasn’t one of them—the “goddesses” were Huo Ci and the youngest girl in the dorm. The two of them caught everyone’s attention the moment they arrived. Huo Ci, 172 cm tall, showed up for registration in September wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, dragging a suitcase behind her. Along the way, upperclassmen were tripping over themselves trying to help her carry her luggage. As for the youngest girl, she arrived in a private car. The chauffeur who carried her suitcase stood tall and straight. Though he wore casual clothes, he couldn’t hide his military bearing.

Mo Xingchen, who had always thought of herself as fairly attractive, ended up feeling like a leaf meant to highlight two flowers. One would think that having two goddesses in a dorm would make it a battleground of beauty, but instead, the two coexisted quietly as if they lived in their own worlds.

Back then, Huo Ci was always calm and aloof, rarely spoke, and seemed to care about nothing and no one.

Ironically, the reason they picked that cheap restaurant was because Huo Ci had no money.

Even though everyone was still a student back then, it was obvious she only used the best. Her clothes and accessories were all high-end, and even her bags were international luxury brands. Yet somehow, she couldn’t even afford to chip in for a single dorm meal. Back then, she was cold, stubborn, and mysterious—hard for anyone to figure out.

Not just the boys from the medical department—even guys from other departments would come up with excuses to chat with her. The president of the school’s most sought-after Student Union personally invited her to join, only to be coldly rejected.

Her reason? She had no money. She needed to work.

Later, she started taking photos, winning awards, and eventually entered this glamorous industry.

—

“What happened that night? Why did you suddenly leave? What about that god-level hottie?” Mo Xingchen asked. She’d gone to the restroom and run into a young model from their table. They flirted for a bit, but when she came back, Huo Ci was already gone. After asking around, she learned that Huo Ci had left with that icy, white-clad handsome guy.

Mo Xingchen’s curiosity came from Huo Ci’s strange behavior that night. She had always been cool and indifferent, but she’d said something that night that was totally out of character. Since they’d known each other, Huo Ci had never shown interest in any man.

Mo Xingchen once suspected she might be a lesbian, but later concluded she might be asexual.

When Huo Ci didn’t answer, Mo Xingchen leaned on the dining table and teased, “I said it that night—if you really manage to land him, I’ll call you Daddy.”

Huo Ci turned and stared at her with dark, intense eyes. “What would I want with a bargain-bin daughter like you?” But just after she spoke, her eyes glinted with interest. Her tongue slid across her lips, revealing pearly white teeth as she said, clear and cool, “But you can wait.”

—

Huo Ci parked her car in front of the building, picked up the bag on the passenger seat, and got out.

When she walked into the lobby, the ten-meter-high ceiling and polished marble tiles reflected her figure like a mirror. She had already called ahead. Just as she was about to go upstairs, someone stopped her.

“Huo Ci? What are you doing here?”

She looked up and recognized the person—an editor from 人物 magazine. She’d worked with this editor before during a shoot for a prominent business figure.

“I’m here to see someone,” Huo Ci replied.

“I’m here for an interview, but no luck,” Yue Su said with a wry smile, though she didn’t sound too disappointed.

Huo Ci, ever cold and reserved, was about to take her leave when Yue Su asked, “Which floor are you going to?”

“21,” she answered straightforwardly.

“You’re here to see DK?” Yue Su asked, unable to hide her surprise.

Huo Ci shook her head. “No.”

“But the 21st floor is Mingsheng Group. Other than DK.Yi, I can’t imagine who else you’d be seeing.”

Yi? As in Yi Zecheng?

Huo Ci was taken aback. Calmly, she asked, “DK.Yi?”

She didn’t have to ask more. Yue Su opened the folder she was holding, and right on the cover was a photo of Yi Zecheng. But he didn’t look anything like she’d seen before—in a sharp suit exuding cool aloofness. In the photo, he wore a white T-shirt and black pants, his face and clothes covered in dirt, and there were even bloodstains on the shirt. In his arms, he held a Black child, eyes closed, his own head bloodied.

It was a candid shot, capturing the moment he looked back. His eyes were sharp and dark.

Covered in blood, yet his eyes shone with resilience.

For the first time, Huo Ci understood why he gave off such conflicting energy. Compared to the suited, emotionless version of himself, this… this seemed like the real him.

“What is this?” she asked, nearly captivated by the photo.

No wonder so many photographers risked their lives to venture into war zones—such vivid eyes could only be found there.

“He used to be the most outstanding surgeon in MSF,” Yue Su said.

(MSF = Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders)