---

"Please God, please. Save my soul, I'm dead. I've sinned, please," her manager mumbled and muttered to herself while typing words into the search engine. All the while, the model just wrapped herself in her fluffy blanket while holding onto a warm cup of milk, her other hand gripping onto the television remote and switched the channel several times before settling on a show.

"Done, I'm done. we're done. You're done," the woman who tied her hair up onto a bun threw herself against the sofa, looking hopeless.

"Come on Shanshan, It can't be that bad right..."

"What do you mean it can't be that bad?! You just cried during the fashion show! You literally cried! Have you ever heard of any model doing that?!"

"Now I do..." Yu Ji pouted her lips, acting all innocent to gain her manager's forgiveness. It only backfired though, her manager hastily grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at her, sadly missing.

"The internet's talking about you crying because you've just been dumped by that playboy Li Yuan!"

"He can't even dump me when there's nothing between us in the first place."

"But the internet doesn't care, people love gossips and they're only going to believe in anything that's scandalous."

Yu Ji stopped replying and only focused her eyes on the comedy show. Shanshan let out a long sigh and got up from her seat, tiredly walking towards the bed and threw herself onto it next to her.

"Why did you cry?" It was finally a question she had been anticipating someone to ask. She put down her cup of milk on the side table and turned a serious eye on her manager.

"Will you believe me if I say I wasn't crying?" Her manager just grinned, before replying, "So you're saying it was water from the air conditioning?"

"No! It was...it...came out itself..."

"Huh?"

"I saw this man sitting next to my brother. I just felt so...sad, when I saw him." Even now her heart was hurting slightly and she had a hard time breathing because of it but she put on a strong front.

"Who's he?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him before."

"And you cry the moment you see him?"

"Yes. I think maybe he's someone I know, I just forgot him. He was crying too, I swear!" Maybe he wasn't, since her vision was blurred when tears escaped her eyelids, but she had a feeling that he was crying as well.

"Yu Miaoyi... I think...you should sleep for the night." Shanshan grabbed the pillow she used as cushion and shoved it on Yu Ji's face, then climbing out of the bed, reaching for her bag and pile of documents on the coffee table as she headed for the door.

"Don't call me by my real name! You know I hate it because it sounds so outdated!"

---

The café was furnished with wooden furniture and little potted plants scattered around. The wooden chair was layered with white cushions, creating a relaxing atmosphere for customers who came in through the glass door that had a bell attached to it. Whenever the door was opened, it would ring a pleasant jingling sound.

When the bell jingled once again, a woman wearing a black mask and a white cap entered the café, her eyes scanning the area for the person she had an appointment with, until her eyes landed on a man sitting in a secluded cubicle. She hurriedly made way to the cubicle and sat on the sofa opposite him, putting her bag on her side and pulling down her mask. She saw him still wearing his employee identity card around his neck, his name Yu Mengyi was printed on it so clearly as if the company feared that their employees would go blind reading them.

"Your agency's okay with you crying?"

"I said I wasn't crying." Yu Ji picked up the mug of latte that she had asked her brother to order for her earlier. It was still warm enough for her to enjoy it.

"Thank that singer Peng Qishan for creating another scandal," Mengyi laughed as he picked up his own mug as well.

"Anyway, who's the guy you were talking to during the show? The one sitting next to you."

"Oh, that's my boss, the new manager. He's the current chairman's son." Yu Ji pretended nonchalance by mouthing an 'O' as she sipped her latte and put it down. She then looked out of the window before asking again, "what's his name?"

"What? Are you interested in him?"

"What? No!" Actually yes, she was interested, more like curious to find out who he was. However, she couldn't possibly tell his brother that he was the reason she actually shed a tear during fashion show. Mengyi looked at his sister suspiciously, chuckled and gave in.

"His name is Xiang Wang. He's only thirty years old, seven years older than you, just saying."

Xiang Wang, why did the name sound so familiar to her, so familiar...but sad as well?