CTS 57

On his birthday, Shen Mo only had a bowl of noodles. Plain wheat noodles boiled in water, with no toppings, just a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil, and a handful of chopped scallions. He ate alone in the small apartment.

If he hadn’t exposed the man’s identity yesterday, today would have looked very different.

While eating, Shen Mo glanced at the box on the table.

It was a typical gift box, beautifully wrapped with a neat bow on the lid. He imagined the man, with his sharp face and calm expression, carefully choosing the packaging. The thought made Shen Mo want to laugh.

He had already opened the box the night before. Inside was a key and a small piece of paper. The handwriting was unfamiliar, probably the man’s own. It simply listed an address. It was in Jinxiu Villa, one of the city’s most well-known residential neighborhoods. The area was prime, and the price per square meter was sky-high. Shen Mo had heard of it but had never been there himself.

He knew how much thought the man had put into the gift. It was the kind of sincerity that did not deserve to be dismissed. So he closed the box carefully and put it away, deciding that he would only open that door once he had sorted things out with Zhou Yang.

The sky remained heavy and dull. Rain threatened to fall at any moment. Shen Mo looked out the window, guessing that the man was probably waiting for him at Jinxiu Villa.

How long would he wait?

A week. A month. Maybe longer.

Shen Mo shook his head and forced himself not to think about it. After finishing the noodles, he pulled up Zhou Yang’s number from his phone and tried calling.

The line was off.

He dialed again and again. The routine felt strangely familiar, like a moment he had lived before. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember.

Eventually, he gave up and started messaging a few classmates from high school, asking if they had heard anything about Zhou Yang.

“Zhou Yang? Haven’t talked to him since graduation.”

“No idea.”

“I’m not sure. Weren’t you two always together back then?”

Only one person gave a lead. “I heard he went abroad.”

That was what the man had said too. That Zhou Yang was overseas.

If that were really the case, Shen Mo had no idea what to do. He didn’t even know where Zhou Yang was. He couldn’t possibly chase him all the way overseas. There was still an address for Zhou Yang’s family in his contacts, but there was no way he could show up there unannounced. He would probably be thrown out the moment he reached the gate.

Was this how things were going to end between them, just like that, without any clarity?

Shen Mo glanced at the box on the table and, unwilling to give up, made a few more calls. Of course, there was still no news. It had been years since high school, and most of his classmates came from average families. They were from a completely different world than Zhou Yang.

In truth, he and Zhou Yang had always been that way too.

He had known all along how fragile their relationship was. Every day felt like walking a tightrope. If it hadn’t been love, they wouldn’t have lasted this long.

At that thought, Shen Mo suddenly remembered someone. When he and Zhou Yang rented this apartment, the man who handled the paperwork for them had been someone Zhou Yang brought in, supposedly to make sure their names wouldn’t appear in any records. Shen Mo recalled that his surname was Fang. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked like a refined middle-aged man. Zhou Yang called him Uncle Fang and said he worked at Zhou’s company.

That man must have known where Zhou Yang had gone.

With a goal in mind, Shen Mo finally felt a little more grounded and went to bed early that night. Before falling asleep, he glanced out the window. For a moment, he thought he saw that familiar car again, but when he looked again, it was gone.

It must have been his imagination.

The next morning, Shen Mo woke early. After getting ready, he headed out. Zhou’s company was located downtown. He took the bus there and walked into the grand glass building. Right at the entrance was a smiling receptionist with a polished, friendly tone.

Shen Mo walked over calmly, pretending to be someone there on business, and casually tried to ask about Uncle Fang.

“You must be talking about Secretary Fang. His office is on the sixth floor.”

“Thank you.”

Shen Mo gave her a nod of thanks and walked over to the elevators. While he waited, someone else came in from outside. It was a well-dressed woman in an elegant skirt suit, wearing a set of pearls. Though no longer young, she carried herself with a graceful confidence.

The receptionists all straightened up at the sight of her, their expressions turning respectful.

The elevator chimed open. Just as Shen Mo stepped in, he realized who she was.

It was Zhou Yang’s mother. The powerful Madam Zhou, born into wealth and known for her ruthless ways. Shen Mo had seen her photo before, stored on Zhou Yang’s phone.

She stepped into the elevator and cast him a casual glance.

The moment their eyes met, Shen Mo felt a jolt run through him.

He had seen that look before, countless times, in his nightmares. A man with a scar on his face had looked at him the same way. Sneering, stepping on his hand, whispering something into his ear. Until now, Shen Mo could never hear what was being said in the dream. But now, the words returned to him clearly.

“This is just a warning. Don’t even think about seeing Zhou Yang again. You’re not worthy.”

No, it wasn’t a dream.

It had really happened. He had been kidnapped, beaten, had his fingers crushed… and behind it all, the ones responsible were Zhou Yang’s family.

The elevator stopped again. Shen Mo didn’t even check which floor. The moment the doors opened, he rushed out.

His head was throbbing. Memories came crashing back all at once, leaving his mind in chaos.

It felt like a chorus of voices was shouting around him.

“Stay away from Zhou Yang.”

“Next time, your family will be the ones who suffer.”

“Zhou Yang left for abroad with Miss Ji.”

Yes, there was also Miss Ji.

Shen Mo steadied himself against the wall and took a few shaky steps forward. When he saw an emergency exit sign, he followed the stairs down.

Scattered fragments began to surface in his memory. He remembered walking home alone at night when a car suddenly pulled up behind him. Then came the abandoned warehouse, the endless torture, and the hospital room where he told Zhou Yang over the phone that their relationship was over.
And then…

There had been a man who came to see him in that hospital room. He was handsome, his gaze cold like a winter night. He had said his surname was Ji. He was Miss Ji’s older brother.

No. That was not their first meeting.

He had seen that face before the hospital.

There were just a few steps left on the staircase. Lost in his thoughts, Shen Mo missed a step and fell forward, crashing hard onto the landing. In that instant, a vivid image flashed before his eyes.

He was curled up on the floor of an abandoned warehouse, his right hand a mess of blood and flesh. He thought he was going to die. But then, the tightly shut door creaked open, and a sliver of light pierced the darkness. Someone stood in the doorway, backlit by the light, their face blurred. Shen Mo watched as the man walked toward him, and little by little, his features came into focus.

That was the man who pulled him from the edge of death.

Shen Mo’s headache grew more intense, but at last, he remembered the man’s name.

It was Ji Mingxuan.