1 Rebirth

"Cheers!" A handsome and flirtatious looking young man yells exuberantly as he raises a shot of red berry vodka to the sky. "To freedom!"

"To freedom!" Six equally, if not more so depending on your tastes, handsome men shouted back with their own preferred drinks in hand.

"To autonomy!" The flirtatious man shouts.

"To autonomy!" The six echo enthusiastically. Even the most reserved, quiet and gentle of the group were giving it their all in repeating the words, as if by shouting them out the stuffiness that plagued them for so long would finally be vented.

"And to no more of that fucking green tea bitch!" The flirtatious man finally yells viciously, raising his cup up high before downing it all.

"No more!!!" The men holler and whoop before following suit.

Wiping his mouth vulgarly with the sleeve of his loudly patterned shirt, looking every inch the rich second generation he is, Fang Geming let out a relaxed breath.

Finally. They were free of Su Jishi.

Fang Geming was not a man who liked to think too deeply or immerse himself in negativity and other unhappy things. Life was short, and he was lucky enough to be born well off enough to enjoy it, so why must he choose to do things that would make him suffer?

But Su Jishi was too terrifying, and had become one of the sole exceptions of this mentality.

Su Jishi was a very beautiful woman. Even now, if Fang Geming had to be completely objective, he will still generously admit that she was one of the most lovely and physically attractive ladies he had ever seen. The taste of her in the bedroom was also… Fang Geming licks his lips a little before he immediately woke back up and poured another shot of his berry vodka into the glass. "Damn, it's really unpleasant." He sighs.

Sitting next to him, a refined and gentle looking older man with long hair loosely held together in a low ponytail and silver glasses, pats his shoulder sympathetically. Maybe because of his occupation, he subconsciously started rubbing and the stiffness in the other's trapezius muscle.

Fang Geming found the habit a bit pervasive however he was not one that had a very strong sense of personal space himself, and it was undeniable the long haired man's large hands were professional as well as firm, providing a very pleasurable massage that he didn't have the heart to reject. "Did you get another flashback?"

"Nghn.." Fang Geming makes an affirmative noise as he slowly sips and savours his drink, "I wonder if we'll ever really get rid of her, Yunru ge*."

*Ge referring to older brother. Could also be used for older male friend you respect or something too.

"Recovering from experiencing symptoms from trauma will vary between individuals but with professional help and time I believe we will be able to let go and move on eventually." Su Yunru softly comforts, "While our situation is a bit more unique, it should be similar to handling PTSD and other mental illnesses brought by trauma. I know a few good psychologists who are quite discreet."

"I'll take you up on that offer," A beautiful young man spat out as he downed a gin and tonic. His well maintained fingers combed frustratedly through his even better maintained hair, "I actually can't stop remembering our time together every time I see a camera, I'm a model how the fuck am I supposed to work like this?"

"Same when I go for my morning jog," A muscular and tanned man with a prominent scar on the side of his face that pointed from his chin and toward his eye in a \ direction, nods in agreement.

"When I go to my favourite noodle shop." A stern and cold looking man who had pulled down his face mask to sip a lychee martini also despaired, "It is one of the few shops in my area that fit my health standards and suit my tastes."

"When I do paperwork." A man who was the embodiment of your classic domineering CEO sighs, while a man with glasses and fox like eyes nods in agreement tiredly.

The sly looking man sips his whisky and complains, "I don't even think I did any paperwork with her, but the moment I sit down to work I just instantly recall when she texts me in the middle of doing things and how I should've felt so loved to be thought of all the time and how I should miss her presence, and I'm sorry but how is it possible I can remember the exact texts she sent but I can't for the life of me remember what I had for dinner last night? It's so creepy."

"You had soup, big brother." Fang Geming pipes up. The sly looking man, who was his elder brother Fang Jin, snaps his fingers as he remembers and gives his little brother a thumbs up.

Fang Geming gives the other a thumbs up before continuing to chat with Su Yunru. Despite himself and Fang Jin being non-blood-related brothers due to Fang Jin being adopted, they grew up quite close and had similar personality traits. If it wasn't for… well, if it wasn't for external factors they would still be very close, but there was now a sense of distance between the brothers that wasn't there before.

Most of the men here were quite reserved and proud in temperament which made it impossible for them to utilise the KTV room fully. Fortunately everyone was very rich so nobody felt distressed at the waste and instead everyone happily chatted, drank and ate comfortably. Because everyone were people of success and had a little overlap with everyone else, it was not difficult to find topics of conversation.

Fang Geming, as the most chatty and willing to socialise was especially happy. As a rich second generation, he lived up to his title by indulging greatly in the partying nightlife, drinking and other such matters. In a way he was the one with the least in common with the group, so he was very glad this gathering he had arranged was doing well.

And when he was happy he subconsciously drank more as he gossips with Su Yunru about the latest online dramas on Weibo. Don't look at his gentlemanly appearance or the fact he was a highly educated medical practitioner, the other was very involved in social media. Originally he had started as a small niche fanartist for various novels he liked to read and overtime this hobby had inadvertently developed him into a fairly popular online celebrity.

"Hiyah, hiyah, so it's true that Little Beansprout was plagiarising all this time?" Fang Geming sighs emotionally, "Then he's really finished."

Su Yunru nods in agreement, "It's a pity, I've read his Otherworldly Ocean series and I found his writing really beautiful and emotional. To be honest, his writing style is much better than the original work but the ideas and plot were exactly the same."

"Ah, I know what you mean," Fang Geming finishes his current cup of alcohol and puts it back on the table before grabbing a different glass.

He had ordered an assortment of various cocktails and drinks, partially for the others but mainly for himself as he liked to try out different flavoured drinks the most. Even if it wasn't alcoholic, he would still enjoy it for the flavours. "I feel like if he just got his own idea, or at least only used the original work as a basis of inspiration, he couldn't definitely continued to rise up ah. But honestly, Little Beansprout is too stupid, just because the original work was not well received and old, did he really think nobody would eventually notice?"

"In fairness it did take a while." Su Yunru smiles before gently reminding, "You should eat more to pad your stomach."

Fang Geming laughs, his voice a little slurred but his eyes were bright, "Don't worry, don't worry, my ability to drink is really good ah." However even though he said that he still yielded and grabbed some chips to snack on.

Su Yunru touches the top of Fang Geming's head and praises softly, "So obedient." Fang Geming laughs again, cheeks blushing a little.

"Am I really like a child in your eyes?"

"A little bit," Su Yunru easily admits, "But it's cute. A nice change of pace from the other people I usually associate with, I can relax and don't have to think too hard about our conversations."

Fang Geming: Hehehe what a kind way of saying I'm an idiot.

Fortunately Fang Geming was very self aware and didn't particularly mind. While his IQ could not be compared he was confident at least his EQ would definitely rank on the higher end among these elites. Probably. Maybe.

At the very least, his drinking capacity should be one of the best!

Unfortunately, even if that was the case, the rate he was finishing drinks was much faster than everyone else's, swallowing the drinks down like a child drinking juice on a summers day by the pool. Everyone had more or less looked at him with some level of admiration and confusion as he continued to chug liquid down his throat without hesitation and silently wondered how the other hasn't needed to go to the bathroom once.

As a doctor Su Yunru felt obligated to remind him a few more times before he could only shake his head and just take it as a medical miracle, choosing just to keep an eye on the other just in case.

Fortunately, Fang Geming's boast was really true and his drinking strength was very strong. Despite drinking half the table of drinks, other than being flushed, a little slurred and occasionally clumsy, he was still more or less sober and could hold a normal conversation.

"I used to bring him to drinking parties," Fang Jin tells the domineering CEO, Qin Yi, as he takes a fried chicken drumstick from the table. "He was really popular with them."

"Interesting," Qin Yi looks thoughtful as he swirls his red wine, "Do you think I could borrow him sometime?" After all, drinking was an inevitable part of business culture. But that didn't mean he liked it very much.

Fang Jin looks at him suspiciously, "You can't afford him."

"The Qin family is bigger than the Fang family," Qin Yi mildly retorts. For the sake of face he also didn't mention his own company that he started from scratch. A company, which had become so successful in the technology industry, that it made Qin Yi as an individual worthy of entering the Top 200* list.

*Top 200 rich people

Fang Jin snorts, "But my brother is priceless." He boasts.

Qin Yi gives the other a deep look before he turns to Fang Geming's direction and raises his voice, "Fang Geming, do you want to come to a drinking party? It'll be at the Peacock Lounge."

Fang Geming's eyes flash greedily and enthusiastically smiles, "I'll go! I'll go! You're the best Boss Qin!"

Qin Yi raises his wine glass at him with a doting smile before it turns mocking as he looks at Fang Jin. "Your priceless brother got bought by 1000RMB* drinks."

*1000RMB = 145.75USD

Fang Jin: "…" Damn, you blackhearted capitalist!

Fang Jin had completely forgot he was also a blackhearted capitalist, as a fellow CEO for his Fang family's corporations.

Meanwhile, Fang Geming looks a little mournfully at the increasing number of empty cups on the table. He knows he could order more, but he had promised himself to act with more restraint tonight. It did no good to become completely wasted and ruin the mood.

'Just one more drink,' He silently promised himself, 'then I'll order some sobering up tea.'

Extending his hand he was about to grasp a martini glass with a pale cloudy liquid and a little sprig of lavender on it, but it was cruelly snatched from his fingertips. Lifting his head up, his violet-grey eyes were wide with shock making the large grown man look cute and idiotic.

The culprit was the tallest man in the room, easy to spot in any crowd with his heigh, dyed dark purple hair and insistence of wearing a face mask everywhere, Mo Yongzheng. He was also the most well covered up in the room, giving a sense of asceticism. His sharp silver eyes stare at Fang Geming and he raises the stolen drink and gently shook it like he was shaking a cat toy at a little kitten, silently goading him to snatch it back if he could.

Fang Geming was good natured and played along. However, while the alcohol did have some effect on his brain, his overall mental thinking was still pretty clear. Everyone was sitting on a U-shaped couch, and Mo Yongzheng was more or less in the middle. Meaning he could only crawl over some people, or he could jump on top or crawl under the table.

The table was filled with glass, and crawling under the table would lose too much face. Therefore..

"Ah you drunkard!" The beautiful younger man flushes and shouts and lifts his rose lemon spritzer up at a safe distance in the air as Fang Geming practically crawls over his lap to reach the masked man's drink.

"Don't be, tsk, don't be like that Xiong Weizhe, Little Zhe, Little Wei, A-Wei kekek… Zemin ge and Yunru ge haven't complained." Fang Geming teases shamelessly.

Huang Zemin, the tanned muscular man with a scar quietly sipped his blueberry lavender fauxito. If one ignores how rumpled up his clothes were from Fang Geming wriggling and crawling over him like a wine-soaked worm, they would think the other had been completely untouched and unfazed. Hearing he was being referenced, Huang Zemin quirks the corner of his mouth and hums, "Well." He shortly replies with a sense of indifference and indulgence in that one word.

Su Yunru who had also been crawled over smiles and leans over to say, "It's not a big deal ah."

The beautiful young man, Xiong Weizhe, silently scolded the other for always enabling Fang Geming. Sulkily, he purses his lips and flushes. With his pretty face it made him look more coquettish than your average woman. "Tsk, at the very least stop… squirming. Or I- I won't apologise for my physiological reaction ah."

Fang Geming laughs, "Don't worry I won't be able to feel it anyway."

Huang Zemin chokes on his drink and had to immediately look away as his large body shook violently as he tried to suppress the awkward feeling between laughter and coughing his throat out.

Su Yunru kindly pretended he didn't hear.

Xiong Weizhe: •‿•

As Feng Geming finally crosses over the lap of Xiong Weizhe, Huang Zemin leans over with a faint smile on his usually expressionless face, "So I suppose there's no need to apologize for your physiological reaction then?"

Xiong Weizhe hisses like a cat with his tail being stepped on, "Shut up, he didn't feel yours either!"

"Not everyone here is as young and enthusiastic to fire their guns* like you." Huang Zemin raises his brow provocatively.

*implying the other is quick to shoot their 'gun'

However instead of getting angry, Xiong Weizhe sneers and also raises his brow as he looks pointedly at the other man, "I see, so your saying your gun is too old to fire huh? No wonder you always have to exercise so much, got to find somewhere to vent."

Huang Zemin's eye twitches.

Su Yunru who was older than both of them continues to maintain his inability to not hear anything.

At this time, Feng Geming was sitting on Mo Yongzheng's lap in a very ambiguous position as he laughs and hugs the other's drink victoriously, nursing the lavender infused gin cocktail happily like a baby with a milk bottle. Mo Yongzheng had more or less given up on taking back his drink and instead had an arm wrapped loosely around the other's waist, ready to tighten it if Fang Geming sways unsteadily, while he quietly converses with the cold faced CEO Qin Yi, with Fang Jin occasionally providing input.

"This is really good," Fang Geming licks his lips as he lets the bright, crisp flavors and floral notes of the honey and lavender in the drink settle on his tongue. "I might order another for myself."

Fang Jin's every present smile was a bit stiff, "Brother, you practically took Mo Yongzheng's drink for yourself anyway. Come over here, I'll let you taste mine okay?"

Qin Yi who was in the middle of Mo Yongzheng and Fang Jin, swirls his red wine at hand and looks at Fang Geming with some expectations.

Fang Jin glances at Qin Yi with a complicated expression. Doesn't this guy get tired of swirling his wine like that? He hadn't stopped swirling unless it was to top up his glass. Fang Jin had to say, it was a little impressive.

Before Fang Geming could say anything, Mo Yongzheng leaned in and took a sniff before wrinkling his brow, "You stink of alcohol, have some water." Hugging the other with one hand, Mo Yongzheng leans over and utilises his long limbs to reach for his glass of water in order to pass it the man in his arms. Seeing the alcoholic refused to let his grip over the liquor go, he instead pressed the water to Fang Geming's mouth to which the other obediently let the other do so like a pampered little prince.

"Isn't he heavy?" Qin Yi suddenly asks, placing down his red wine on the table before patting his thighs with an arrogant look, "Let me hold him."

"I am his brother," Fang Jin chuckles, "Shouldn't it be me who gets this honour?"

The other two men look at him strangely.

"Do you have the ability though?" Mo Yongzheng asks with genuine curiosity. After all, even though Fang Jin was the older brother, Fang Geming was 183cm tall and was fit enough that he had a sizeable amount of muscles and bulk. Meanwhile Fang Jin was 175cm and was more on the intellectual side, preferring to do the bare minimum for the best results. If anyone couldn't bear Fang Geming's weight it would be him.

Fang Jin looks at Mo Yongzheng who was the tallest of the group at 195cm, and then at Qin Yi who was only a little bit taller than Fang Geming but exercised in his free time, and fell silent.

Fang Jin: '…' Sorry I'm not a giant or like to get sweaty in my free time.

Qin Yi silently pat him on the back pityingly which made Fang Jin's face turn ugly.

Damn you! 175cm was a great height for asian men okay!? There is nothing wrong with 175cm!!!

As for exercising more… He's sincerely sorry, he really doesn't want to.

_(:3_/ \_)_

They continued to play around for another two hours. By that time everyone had more than a few drinks inside them and even the most uptight, and cold personalities had thawed quite a bit. With the exception of Qin Yi and Fang Jin who could be considered business rivals, everyone did not really have any large conflict of interests and were all successful or content enough to not need to feel a strong urge to flatter, cater or put up with anyone.

While it was impossible to be as lively as his usual fox and dog* friends, Fang Geming felt it was already good enough, as long as everyone was happy.

*generally meaning bad guys will make friends with bad guys. In China, it is believed that both the fox and dog are lowly animals so foxes making friends with dogs = wrongdoers will make friends with alike, ie bad guys/corrupt. Nowadays its not so serious so it could just mean slackers or just sort of troublemakers etc

Still it was getting late, and in consideration to some of their schedules, Fang Geming decided to end the fun once midnight struck. Clapping his hands he announced it was best to dissolve the gathering for tonight and welcomed them to contact himself at anytime. After all they were all comrades who had been through fire and high water now, and Fang Geming felt that such a rare friendship forged through adversity should not be discarded so easily.

Fortunately everyone quickly agreed, strengthening Fang Geming's belief and resolve to make sure that brotherly bond they had established will truly stand up tall and firm!

As they all left the expensive high class KTV lounge, Fang Geming was excitedly already discussing with them if they wanted to go camping for their next meeting but they were interrupted by a shriek.

"Wait!!" A gorgeous and familiar woman ran up to them, however as she came closer, the group of men could see that while she was still beautiful, there was actually a lot of problems on further inspection that made them nearly doubt if this was the person they knew. Her hair was dry and greasy, her skin had lost her jade-like lustre and there was even two pimples on her forehead.

Even more strangely, her facial features that used to be delicate and perfect, like her face was painted on by the most talented artist in the world, seemed to have lost 18-layers of filter and while the general shape of everything was still there, it almost felt unrecognisable.

It could be said she was still a little above average, even quite pretty but… it was a far cry when compared to models and celebrities, much less her previous looks which could cause fish to sink and geese to fall out of the sky*.

*沉鱼落雁– chén (sink) yú (fish) luò (fall) yàn (goose), meaning so beautiful that when fish see her they stop moving and sink and goose would be so enamoured they stop mid flight and fall

"..Su, Su Jishi?" Qin Yi was the first to tentatively confirm her identity.

"Damn, is that really her?" Xiong Weizhe whispers with a little disgust, he was a narcissistic face-con, and had always insisted on surrounding himself with a high standard of beauty.

Even though the others were not as strongly superficial as Xiong Weizhe, most of them had a strong sense of cleanliness and it was not wrong to say that they were also deeply influenced by Su Jishi's beautiful appearance as well. Without it, there were a few that, while were too polite to say something, had similar expressions of confusion and repulsion.

Mo Yongzheng who had his face mask up again, had even gone as far as to wrinkle his nose and take a step back. He had a keen sense of smell which made him quite pedantic about a lot of things. What initially attracted him to Su Jishi was her scent that was indescribable. Like a garden symphony, with so many different floral and sweet scents that seemed to sing in harmony and even change depending on her emotions making her addicting to his senses.

But now.. it was indescribably in another sense.

How could Su Jishi not notice the reactions? She had been with these men for so long, she understood immediately they looked down on her changes. Su Jishi silently sneers, as expected, men were all superficial scum. When she rises back she will go abroad and find even better ones!

However outwardly she lowers her head and covers her face with her hands, collapsing on the pavement as she begins to cry. "Please, help me, I'm sorry for everything I've done… I only wanted to work hard and do the best I could but I admit that I have been blinded recently and committed many mistakes… But I promise I've reflected and I'm determined to change, you may not believe me now but-"

Fang Geming couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward and looked down at the crying woman, standing with his hips cocked and hands on his waist, he bends over, tilts his handsome face and smiles sarcastically, "That's so nice to say Jishi~ But may I ask, which one of us were you talking to?"

Su Jishi chokes.

Not giving her time to recover Fang Geming straightens his back and begins to walk to his fellow comrades, "Tell me, is it my money? Or my big brother's company? Or is it CEO Qin's connections? Huang Zemin's music? Xiong Weizhe's fashion circle? The endorsements and free products from Mo Yongzheng? Or could you be aiming for washing white and restarting in social media and need Dr Su?"

"You!!" Su Jishi blushes and defends, "You're completely misunderstanding things! Can't I ask my friends for help in my time of need? Don't use your dirty thoughts to sully our pure friendship!" She wipes the tears flowing from her face angrily, "I love you so much… why can't you believe me?"

"Really?" Fang Geming chuckles, "Why are you still acting like this, it's not like we're engaged anymore right? Do we really need to lie like this?"

Su Jishi pales, "Wh-wh- what do you mean not engaged?"

Now it was Fang Geming's turn to have a pale expression, "Fuck, do you think we're still engaged? Didn't I send you the ring back? Weren't you suspicious I barely contacted you for a while?" He had originally thought it was because she had got the message, but it turns out she didn't even notice and did all those disgusting things in the past few weeks still under the mindset she was engaged. It was really… Amazing!

"I've been busy with work!!" She shouts desperately.

Fang Geming turns to his silent male comrades, "Hey, which one of you is 'work'?"

Everyone had different but equally ugly expressions. They did not expect that Su Jishi could even deny the ambiguity period so shamelessly in front of their faces. Even if they no longer were under whatever spell she had cast on them, it was still offensive. They were all men, and remembering how much they gave to this woman only to be considered as nothing but a 'good friend'… Ahhh they all wanted to go straight home and have a good scrub, maybe that could rub off some of the bad luck that caused them to be in this absurd situation.

Su Jishi felt lightheaded and dizzy. In her mind she felt like she should be somewhere else. In her mind she could visually imagine a scene where she was wearing a beautiful dress that was like it was made out of starlight, making her the sole focus of envy and admiration to them all. She was in a place full of the rich, famous and powerful, and she was full of beauty and grace.

Her fiancé, the scum man in her past life who left her, had finally, after being broken down and reborn with the power of love, got his act together and became her ideal licking dog who would do anything for her. Fang Geming would have got rid of his tacky bright clothing, re-dyed his light lavender hair and cut it, making him look clean and with a hint of playfulness like a sunny, bright good man, and his smiles were only for her alone.

He would lead her into the gala, and she would glow with pride as she would be considered the one who tamed and brought the prodigal son of one of the richest families back home*. They would dance and she would bask in the spotlight.

*the prodigal's son return: a person who leaves home to lead a prodigal/wanton/bad life but later makes a repentant return and changes for the better.

Then Fang Jin would come and slyly wink, dragging her over to dance again under the guise of determining her worthiness to his younger brother despite having meeting many times before. Fang Jin was similar to Fang Geming, but if Geming was a puppy, his elder brother was sharper like a fox that always gave her many pleasant surprises.

After being reluctantly let go, CEO Qin Yi would offer a hand for another dance causing everyone to burst out in various gossip. However under the excuse that he would regret not dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room he swept her off her feet. Under an intense spin he quickly pressed a fierce kiss that made her heart skip a beat. He was domineering and powerful, the fact he was willing to be the other man for her was extremely flattering to her.

After excusing herself under the excuse of having sore feet, a jealous lady tries to sabotage her dress, but thanks to Xiong Weizhe who had always been watching her, he quickly helped do some emergency dressmaking and produced an even more gorgeous dress that made her turn from a starry fairy into an ethereal moon goddess.

Xiong Weizhe shyly would kiss her hand like a prince and press a pure white rose into her hair, praising her beauty and promising that what was even more beautiful was her soul and that was more rare and everlasting than anything he had ever collected.

Once Xiong Weizhe left, Mo Yongzheng would appear and give her the custom scent he had worked on since he had met her. To her shock it not only complimented her perfectly, it mixed with her natural scent and elevated it to new heights. Moved by the 'perfect' scent, Mo Yongzheng would hug her close before letting her go, saying that as his muse, he would always support her.

Finally Huang Zemin would get up onto stage and dedicate his song to a certain someone very dear. From the way he looks into her eyes with a passionate and loving gaze, Su Jishi knew it was herself. The song was a love song that was so emotional the majority of the entire hall was wiping tears.

Entranced by the music, she didn't notice when Fang Geming hugged her from behind. As he hugged her tightly he confesses to her how much he loves her, and accepts that he was not good enough for her alone and wishes that she would not leave him. In exchange he would accept the other men in her life.

Su Jishi was so moved by the selflessness of Fang Geming she finally put down her grievances from the past life and kisses him under the eyes of the room.

The images were so real like they had happened many times before, that it should be happening now, making her question herself, unable to tell the truth from the fake. However the reality she faced too much of a difference from the pictures in her mind, and she really couldn't take it. With her head aching, she hotheadedly snaps.

"If you were willing to give me all of your resources and treat me with all your love, then I wouldn't have accepted the pursuit of those people in the first place!? You could play with so many women, why can't I do the same? Why are you such a hypocrite? Besides I still treat you the best anyway right? As a big man can't you let this go?" Her eyes filled with hatred and self-righteous fury, "If you really love me, you would accept everything about me! Including them!"

Fang Geming restrains his smile. Even if it was sarcastic, he simply couldn't do so in the face of such words.

Facing such an innocent face at this time, like she truly didn't see why she was wrong, everyone felt nauseated, disgusted and even physically repulsed.

Fang Geming who could be considered as the worst out of all of them felt especially so. However what was even more disturbing was that even now there was still a voice echoing in his heart, urging and coaxing him to give in to her words, to meet her expectations and give her all he could offer.

Fang Geming couldn't understand how inexplicable the voice was. Su Jishi was not beautiful at all right now, at least she could not be compared to the usual level of beauties he had handled. She had given him multiple green hats and took a lot of his money, ruined his reputation and caused him to distance his family, and even made him kneel and beg to sleep with her.

He vaguely knew what was happening, but like a dream he didn't fully know either. It was only when he blocked an attack for Su Jishi a few months ago that it was like the fog in his mind had been cleared up.

When he realised the extent of what she had done to his life for, what he was sure was no inexplicable reason, he was filled with genuine twisted hatred. Fang Geming truly hated her enough he wanted to kill her, to throw her to be disgraced by multiple men and completely ruin her life. But at the same time he will still have moments where he feels he must love her, that he should run back to her and please her and adore her.

The first time he had run over to her to break up immediately but instead he ended up buying her the most precious limited edition tiara to coax her, distressed and moved at how scared she was from his hospitalisation. It was only after they parted did Fang Geming realised what he had done and cursed his stupidity and how easily moved by beauty. After all, if she had really been distressed she would have visited him more than just thrice during the entire four weeks he had been in the hospital.

However the subsequent times he had been determined to leave showed him it wasn't his weakness to beauty stopping him. There was just… something else. Telling him what to do, what to feel. Even if it goes against his own personality, abilities and preferences, it will convince him to do things, do it for her.

He used to live and die for this woman, as long as she acts a little spoiled he was willing to do everything to support her and make her happy. He even felt that it would be okay for her to entangle with others, and he shouldn't be too jealous lest it affect her admirable rise to stardom.

It was so terrifying. This voice that can't be his own but lives in his brain and controls his heart so well. It was horrible, like he was just a puppet on strings and a script that he didn't know about but had already memorised.

Why must he feel like this? What did they do to deserve this?

"I guess.." Feng Geming says slowly, "That I really must not love you then." He raises his hands in surrender, "Sorry, but I guess we should break up then."

"I also agree." His elder brother stands by his side, his fox eyes not smiling anymore, "I don't know what I was thinking, but I regret it now. I hope Miss Su we will not meet again."

"The sentiment is shared." Qin Yi coldly agrees.

"You were not the person I thought you were." Huang Zemin quietly says.

"Beauty is skin deep, but ugly is bone deep*." Xiong Weizhe ruthlessly sneers as he throws out an appropriate idiom, not wanting to care too much about such a woman.

*Fairly obvious meaning. Being beautiful on the surface won't stop you from being ugly on the inside.

The gentle Su Yunru sighs but also did not want to say anything more so he copies Xiong Weizhe and throws out a proverb. "The papaya flower is most beautiful when its fruit is empty**."

**Beauty does not guarantee good character.

Mo Yongzheng stays silent, but when everyone turns to look at him he struggles for a moment before finally settling on a very succinct, "…You stink."

Everyone: Very good. He was the most ruthless of them all.

Su Jishi's tears rolls down her cheeks in disbelief. "It turns out your loves are so superficial?"

Everyone: …Sorry, we really can't withstand your true love ah!

They didn't want to spend any longer with Su Jishi, and after glancing at each other in tacit understanding they all started to walk away. Only Fang Geming lingered, staring at the quietly crying woman with complicated eyes. He wanted to ask why she was doing this, how could she be so greedy? Did she really think love should be like what she thought?

However, in the end, Fang Geming just sighs and doesn't say anything, turning back to follow the rest. There was no need to ask. After all he probably won't understand anyway.

Su Jishi whose heart was raised in hope seeing Fang Geming stay behind, immediately dropped and shattered once he turned around. It shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't… it shouldn't… it wasn't meant to be like this!

Her eyes burst with hatred and summons a knife from her system space as she got up and ran toward the group.

"Go die, Fang Geming!" Su Jishi screams.

"Fang Geming!" The others shout in alarm, also attracted by the shriek.

However Fang Geming was still the son of a wealthy family, and while he played around he did an assortment of things wilfully, so he wasn't unfit at all. Despite being still a little intoxicated, his reaction speed allowed him to dodge the oncoming knife and he instinctively kicked her. "You bitch! Are you crazy?!" He shouts, "Where did you even get a fucking knife? Your dress has no pockets, fuck!"

"I'm calling the police," Qin Yi already had a phone in hand, his lips pursed as he stares at Su Jishi.

Fang Geming leaps forward to try grab Su Jishi, making her screech and cry. But nobody felt sympathetic at all at her plight.

Finally he took a hold of her wrist, the one that was holding the knife, but to her surprise, she no longer struggled. Instead Su Jishi, laughs. "In this world, if you don't accept your place, you might as well die!" She curses viciously before with surprisingly explosive strength she violently shoves him.

As he stumbled backwards and was ready to swear at her chuuni words his attention was drawn to the group of handsome men who were all shouting and running toward him with pale faces. Feeling the lighting was a bit strange, he turned around and saw the bright headlights of an out of control car rushing toward him.

Before he could fully register it, he felt an overwhelming painful pressure all over his body. Like he was underwater, no couldn't seem to fully process the sounds and senses, but understood that his chest was being crumpled into itself, ribs and bones snapping and his back quickly feeling the same pressure. The back of his skull was savagely hit and he couldn't even control his neck muscles anymore, letting his skull flop and bang according to the whims of physics.

Ah. He must've died a really ugly death.

Its a pity he couldn't get one last drink.

…

…

…

Fang Geming woke up with a pounding headache and a feeling that all his bones had been crushed and put back together again.

"Motherfucker…" He mutters as he tentatively touches his forehead, gently trying to massage the sharp throbbing emanating from it.

"Mmm, Geming? What's wrong? It's so early.." A soft, jade like hand lightly touched his arm, the coolness of the hand feeling calming and comforting against his hot skin and it was like even his previous aches and pains had faded a lot.

But Fang Geming was not grateful. Instead his back broke out in cold sweat and his body went stiff as his memories flowed back into him.

After a moment of mental preparation, he looks down and gives the woman in his bed a gentle and affectionate smile.

"Nothing wrong Jishi~ It was just… a very bad dream."

Su Jishi smiles back, her beauty which would obscure the moon and make flowers blush* back once again. It was just… still not as good as it was in her prime. "Well, I hope I can do something to make those bad dreams go away then."

*make the moon hide behind a cloud and put the flowers to shame - be bewitchingly beautiful.

Fang Geming looks at her deeply before touching her face with an affectionate look. "Of course."

Su Jishi giggles and touches him seductively, "Hehe, I was only joking." She pouts coquettishly, "I have work today remember?"

"Oh, yes, yes, How could I forget?" Fang Geming hits his head and laughs playfully, "Come on, come on, my little fairy needs to work hard and let me eat your soft rice okay?"

They banter some more in bed before Su Jishi got ready to leave. As she was halfway out the door Fang Geming leans against the door and calls out, "Su Jishi."

She turns around, a trace of impatience in her eyes before it was quickly hidden. "Hm? What is it boyfriend?"

"I wasn't joking before." Fang Geming says seriously. Because he was usually very happy-go-lucky and constantly smiling, his serious look was very rare and incredibly handsome. Su Jishi couldn't help but blush under such an intense look. "I truly believe you are the key to getting rid of my bad dream."

"O-oh," Su Jishi plays with her hair before she runs up to Fang Geming and quickly pecks his lips before running with a blush on her face. "Well I hope this good luck charm will ward it all away! See you tonight!"

Fang Geming smiles and waves her away before he immediately runs to the bathroom and washes his face.

When he straightens his back, he looks into the bathroom sink mirror and sees his wet and sexy appearance. From the looks of it, he should be at least two years younger.

"Well…" Fang Geming touches his face before smiling, "I think this time I can finally get rid of my bad dreams for good."