Yuan Yuan had retreated into the staff room to collect her belongings. Their twelve-hour shift was finally groaning to an end, and the exhaustion was starting to settle into Yu Ning's shoulders. She sat at the desk, scrolling through the POS system for one final check of the day's logs.
A pair of perfectly polished leather shoes appeared in her peripheral vision. Looking up, she found a man with light brown hair staring back at her. He leaned one elbow on the marble counter, peering over at her screen with an air of casual authority.
"Do you happen to know where Yuan Yuan is?" he asked.
Yu Ning blinked. He looked unfamiliar, yet his features were strikingly similar to someone she had seen before. Wasn't he one of the VIP guests she had checked in during the rush?
Offering a polite, professional smile, she told him she would be right back. As she turned toward the staff room, a small knot of worry formed in her chest. Was this man here to reprimand the intern for her earlier fumbles? For a split second, she felt a wave of pity for the poor girl.
Pushing the staff room door open, she nearly collided with Yuan Yuan. The girl looked up with round, doll-like eyes.
"Oh, uh—someone is out there looking for you," Yu Ning stated.
Yuan Yuan peered past her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the man at the counter. Her face paled instantly. She scrambled back, trying to hide behind Yu Ning.
"Do you know this man?" Yu Ning asked, puzzled by the sudden terror.
Yuan Yuan paused for a heartbeat, then shook her head vigorously.
"Should I turn him away, then? I'll tell him you've already left for the night."
Seeing Yuan Yuan's pleading expression, Yu Ning sighed and turned back toward the lobby.
This time, she noticed Qing Jue had joined the other man at the counter. She smoothed her uniform and stepped out.
"My apologies, sir," she said with a courteous smile. "It seems Yuan Yuan has already clocked out and left. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
The brown-haired man gazed at the staff door, his expression turning visibly annoyed. His tone flattened into something dangerously straight.
"Could you relay a message? Tell her that her brother is waiting for her in the lobby."
The realization hit Yu Ning like a physical weight. She looked up at him, he had the same round eyes and light-colored hair as the intern.
Stiffly, she excused herself and walked back into the staff room. Yuan Yuan was peeking out through a crack in the door.
"Your brother is asking for you," Yu Ning said, her eyebrows lifting in an 'explain this' expression.
Realizing she had reached a dead end, Yuan Yuan sheepishly crept out of the staff room. Yu Ning followed behind her, feeling like an accidental spectator to a private drama.
The man towered over them both. His cold gaze fell on his sister. "I'm leaving in half an hour," he said, his voice like ice. "Do you need a lift home?"
Yuan Yuan declined with surprising heat, muttering that she'd rather get hit by a bus.
Yu Ning stood in the corner, piecing the puzzle together. She had suspected Yuan Yuan came from money, nobody spends sixteen years in England without a heavy wallet, but the Hotel Chain's Vice President's sister? Some people were truly born with silver spoons.
Seeing Yu Ning stand in a corner, Qing Jue moved towards her.
"Thank you for sorting out the reception fiasco earlier," he said. His tone was business-like, yet there was an underlying warmth that wasn't there when he spoke to others.
Yu Ning shook her head, declining the praise. "It's my job, sir."
"Are you a full-timer here?" he asked, his gaze lingering on her.
"No, just a part-timer. But I'm currently in charge of the reception desk," she answered, her tone equally polished and distant.
"Ah, I see. It seems we bump into each other often," he stated, setting his wine glass down on the counter with a soft clink.
Yu Ning fell silent standing next to him. She speculated that maybe he held a high position in the hotel, perhaps even higher than the Vice President and the weight of that thought made it hard to breathe.
She found herself speaking to him as if he were her senior manager, her back straight and her words carefully measured.
Noticing her stiffness, Qing Jue gave her a warm smile and peered down at his watch.
"You two should be off-shift soon. Yuan Feng is taking Yuan Yuan back, would you like them to drop you off as well?"
Her eyes widened, and Yu Ning immediately declined the invitation. She gave the quick excuse that she lived near the West Bund, on the edge of the Xuhui District, which was in the opposite direction of where the most of the elites stayed at.
Seeing her clear discomfort, Qing Jue didn't insist. He left the siblings to their bickering and returned to the ballroom.
Xuhui District, he thought to himself. He happened to stay there as well.
After packing up and bidding a weary goodbye to a still-pouting Yuan Yuan, Yu Ning stood at the hotel's pickup point. The twelve-hour shift had drained her; she sank onto a nearby stone bench, her eyes glazed as she waited for a driver to accept her ride request on her phone.
The quiet of the night was broken by the hum of a high-performance engine. A black Mercedes pulled up directly in front of her, snapping her out of her dazed state.
The window rolled down, revealing Qing Jue. He had shed his vest and suit jacket, leaving him in a simple white button-up with the sleeves rolled back. Without the layers of formal wear, he looked younger, less like a shadowy corporate executive and more like the man she had met on the balcony.
"I happen to live near the West Bund," he said, his voice casual. "If you need a lift, hop in."
He seemed far less intimidating like this, despite the polished gleam of his car.
"There's no need, Mr. Shen," she said, trying to force a professional smile while glancing down at her phone.
A notification popped up almost immediately: [Sorry, there are no drivers available in your area.]
"..."
Watching her facial expression shift from polite refusal to silent defeat, Qing Jue let out a low chuckle.
"Take it as an offer from a friend," he said, his eyes curving into those familiar crescents. "There's no need to be so courteous."
Yu Ning found herself in the passenger seat as they sped toward downtown.
The city sparkled outside her window, a blur of neon signs and skyscraper lights bleeding into one another.
The air inside the Mercedes was crisp and cool. A small, peach-shaped diffuser hung from the air conditioning unit, emitting a faint, sweet scent that competed with the lingering sandalwood on Qing Jue's skin.
Beside her, he drove steadily, his hands relaxed on the steering wheel as the radio played low-volume pop music.
Yu Ning sat as still as a statue, doing her best not to touch anything. She was acutely aware of the "awkward position" she was in, silently thanking the music for filling the silence between them.
Qing Jue glanced over at her, catching the way she was practically holding her breath. A look of amusement, mixed with concern, flashed across his face.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not in charge of anything related to your hotel," he chuckled.
Yu Ning's head snapped toward him, her relief visible as her stiff shoulders finally dropped.
Seeing her reaction, Qing Jue broke into a genuine laugh.
"I wouldn't be so bold as to pick up my own employee in front of the entire lobby," he added.
"Oh." That was all Yu Ning could manage.
"I'm just a close friend of Yuan Feng's. My name is Qing Jue, though I suppose you already know that," he started.
"And you are Yu Ning?" he recalled seeing her staff badge on her earlier.
Yu Ning hummed out a response.
Listening intently, she found the courage to ask, "So, what were you doing at the summit then?"
"Moral support."
Yu Ning's lips quirked into an amused line. So even rich people need emotional support, she thought privately.
"A part-time job, huh? Are you a university student?" he asked.
"Yeah. I'm in my third year," she said distractedly, her mind still trying to re-categorize him.
Qing Jue hummed in response. "I'm in my fourth," he said, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
Yu Ning whipped her head around, her eyes wide. She felt like banging her head against the window; she had spent the last hour treating him like a terrifying boss when he was just...a student.
"Fourth year? And you're running around doing all this?" She gestured vaguely to his suit and the high-profile conference.
"Just helping a family friend out here and there," he stated bluntly.
The family friend being Yuan Feng. Her boss's boss. Yu Ning leaned back against the leather seat. It seemed the world was simultaneously too big and much too small.
"So... you're twenty-one?"
"Twenty-two. I was born in March so I joined the earlier school year."
He was only two years older than her. She looked at his profile, he had a sharp jawline and a calm, steady gaze. Young, rich, and handsome indeed.
The rest of the ride was quiet. Yu Ning leaned back against the leather, finally finding a position that didn't feel so rigid. She had sat in Song Yan's father's roadster before.
Song Yan occasionally snuck it onto campus, so the low-slung, cradled seat of a luxury car didn't feel entirely foreign to her.
Beside her, Qing Jue remained calm and approachable. In this light, he almost resembled a more composed, put-together version of Song Yan, though she knew it was too early to judge the depths of his personality from a few brief encounters.
The car slowed as they crossed the river, leaving the city center behind. Here, the buildings were bleaker, stripped of the vibrant neon that painted the Bund. They reached a dense estate where a fairly tall apartment complex loomed. The security gate was an old, manual model. They waited as the guard slowly shuffled out to push open the flimsy barrier.
Against the weathered surroundings, Qing Jue's shiny black car looked like a peacock in a chicken enclosure.
The Mercedes crawled toward the lift lobby and came to a steady halt. Yu Ning unbuckled her seatbelt and offered a small, sincere thank you. But as she reached for the door handle, his voice stopped her.
"Would you be coming back to the Eclipse Bar anytime soon?"
Yu Ning paused, her hand hovering. She remembered the name, it was the bar where Song Yan had dragged her and Shu Hua to earlier that week.
Thinking of how often they frequented Anfu Road, she replied honestly, "Yeah, my friends and I might head back for a few drinks eventually."
Qing Jue offered her a grin and extended his phone toward her.
"If you want, you can add me on WeChat," he said casually. "I can get you a discount on the bill. Just text me whenever you're there."
Yu Ning hesitated. Then, she remembered that her WeChat was pretty much barren.
She rarely posted on her Moments, and her biography was practically empty. Besides, Shu Hua would be thrilled to save a few dollars on their weekend outings. It wouldn't hurt to benefit a connection or two.
She reached for her phone, scanned the code, and pressed Add.
A notification popped up immediately: [Shen Qing Jue has accepted your friend request.]
She stole a quick glance at his profile. His profile picture was a shot of the Shanghai skyline, taken from a high balcony. The perspective looked hauntingly familiar, mirroring the view from the night they first encountered one another.
The profile suited him, she thought.
Stepping out of the car, a passing thought formed in her mind. Every time she encountered him, the city lights seemed to gleam just a little brighter, but maybe she was just being blinded by the slight taste of the high life whenever he happened to be present.
As she disappeared into the shadows of the building, Qing Jue's gaze sweeping past the spot where she had stood.
He waited until the lobby door clicked shut before he shifted the car into gear and drove off into the night.