He wants to adopt a younger sister, but his aloof wife disagrees.

Jianghai City, 11:30 p.m.

Tomson Riviera, Building A, 28th floor.

As the most upscale residential area in Jianghai City, the floor-to-ceiling windows here offer panoramic views of the Huangpu River at night, with its shimmering neon lights and dazzling colors. However, this vibrant nightscape cannot penetrate the deathly silence inside.

In the spacious living room, the crystal chandelier emitted a cold, aloof glow.

In the center of the table sat an exquisite silver candlestick, the candles long since burned out, leaving only a pool of solidified wax. Beside it was a bottle of Romanée-Conti that had over-decanted, the red wine oxidized into a dark brown in the decanter.

The Wellington steak and Boston lobster on the table had long since gone cold, with grease congealed on the edge of the plate, making them look completely unappetizing.

Jiang Che sat at the head of the table, raising his wrist for what felt like the umpteenth time to look at the not-so-expensive mechanical watch.

23: 30.

Today is the 365th day of the year, and also the first anniversary of his marriage to Shen Qingge.

He started preparing for this dinner at three in the afternoon, declining his friends' invitations and happily bustling about in the empty mansion.

Because Shen Qingge had said before leaving this morning, "Try to come back as early as possible tonight."

Just that one sentence made Jiang Che feel like a child who had received candy, and he looked forward to it all day long.

"Buzz—"

The phone screen, which was on the corner of the table, suddenly lit up.

Jiang Che's eyes, which had been somewhat dim, lit up for a moment as he quickly picked up his phone. However, after seeing the contents of the screen, the light in his eyes visibly dimmed again.

From: [Wife]

The content is shockingly brief:

"Something came up at the company and I have to work overtime, so I won't be home tonight. Don't worry about me."

There was no explanation, no apology, not even a simple "Happy Anniversary."

Jiang Che stared at the screen for a full minute until it automatically turned off, revealing his bitter smile.

"Don't worry... Ah."

Jiang Che chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Indeed, she was the aloof and powerful female CEO of the Shen Group, handling tens of millions of yuan in revenue every day. And what about him? An unemployed bum, writing novels that nobody reads, playing music that doesn't make money; in the eyes of outsiders, he was a complete gigolo.

What right does a stay-at-home husband have to expect a busy female CEO to remember such "insignificant" days?

Jiang Che slowly stood up, his movements so calm they were almost frightening.

A year of married life had long since smoothed out all his rough edges. He didn't become hysterical; he simply picked up the cold steak, went into the kitchen, and dumped it in the trash.

Next came the lobster, then the cold soup, and finally the expensive bottle of red wine.

After doing all this, Jiang Che felt a tightness in his chest. The air here was too refined, and too oppressive.

He grabbed a black trench coat and draped it over his shoulders, changed his shoes, and went out.

……

The sky outside had darkened at some point, and a light drizzle had begun to fall.

Jiang Che wandered aimlessly through the streets and unknowingly walked into a 24-hour Lawson convenience store.

Welcome!

Jiang Che bought a serving of oden and sat on a high stool by the window in the convenience store.

Outside the window, the streets were washed clean by the rain, and the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow. After finishing a sip of hot soup, Jiang Che let out a long sigh of relief.

A Wellington steak in a mansion may be expensive, but it lacks human touch; oden in a convenience store may be cheap, but it can warm your stomach.

Just then, a piercing roar suddenly came from the end of the street in the distance.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!"

It was the sound of a motorcycle engine approaching from afar, carrying the sharp, explosive roar characteristic of an illegally modified exhaust pipe.

Jiang Che turned his head to look.

Seven or eight scooters, adorned with colorful lights and boasting exaggerated designs, roared past. The riders were all young men and women, freely releasing their excess hormones in the rainy night.

The convoy sped past, splashing up a cloud of mud.

However, at the very back of the convoy, a motorcycle suddenly swerved, seemingly to avoid a sudden stop ahead.

Although she didn't fall, a girl in the back seat was thrown off violently due to inertia.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

The girl fell heavily into the puddle by the roadside, her knees and elbows scraping and bleeding on the rough asphalt.

The convoy ahead seemed completely oblivious to the fact that someone had fallen behind, and soon disappeared at the end of the street, accompanied by jarring, lowbrow music.

Jiang Che frowned.

The girl looked young, maybe seventeen or eighteen at most.

She was wearing a cheap sequined tank top, a faux leather jacket covered in studs, ripped denim shorts, and red loafers covered in mud. Her face was covered in heavy smoky makeup, and now, with the rain soaking through, the black eyeliner had run down her cheeks, making her look like a disheveled clown.

This is Su Xiaoruan.

When she was thrown off the bus, she didn't cry out like a normal girl.

She just lay there in the mud, biting her lip tightly, letting out a suppressed groan of pain. Then, she braced herself on her arms, trying to force herself to stand up.

"Damn it...so unlucky."

She muttered a curse under her breath, wiped the rain off her face, and stubbornly stared in the direction the convoy had disappeared. There was no resentment in her eyes, only a numbness born of being used to being abandoned.

She tried to move her seemingly sprained leg, but the sharp pain caused her to stumble and fall back into the mud.

Jiang Che sighed and was about to get up when he noticed three drunken men staggering out of the alley.

The three drunkards saw Su Xiaoruan alone, and their lewd eyes roamed unabashedly over her exposed white legs.

"Hey guys, you're in luck! A stray kitten lying here, nobody wanted?" The bald man chuckled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Lonely at night, huh?"

Su Xiaoruan's body stiffened abruptly.

She's a street hustler, but that doesn't mean she's fearless.

Facing the three men who surrounded her, she gripped a broken brick tightly in her hand. Her hands were trembling, yet she still glared with her large, panda-eye-painted eyes and roared fiercely:

"What are you looking at! Get lost! My older brother is buying cigarettes up ahead. Anyone who dares to touch me, I'll have him cripple them!"

The voice was sharp and full of a bluffing, ruthless edge.

"Hahaha, big brother?" The bald man was clearly a seasoned veteran, seeing through her bluster at a glance. "I like this kind of prickly side. Come on, let your brother take a look..."

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed Su Xiaoruan's wrist.

Su Xiaoruan desperately swung the brick in her hand, but because of her foot injury, she couldn't move and the man kicked the weapon away from her hand.

"what!"

Only then did a crack appear in the hard facade in her eyes, revealing the fear that belonged to an eighteen-year-old girl.

Jiang Che pushed open the door and stepped out of the convenience store.

He opened a long-handled black umbrella and walked over.

He didn't shout or yell; he simply walked step by step to the alley entrance, dressed in a black trench coat and holding a black umbrella, like a silent mountain.

That calm and mature demeanor seemed out of place in the chaotic rainy night, yet it was also extremely imposing.

That's enough.

Jiang Che's voice wasn't loud, but it was clearly audible in the rainy night.

The three drunkards were taken aback and turned to see Jiang Che.

Before they could even shout, a piercing police siren could be heard in the distance.

"Waaah—waaah—"

"Damn! There's a cop!"

"You're lucky! Let's go!"

These street thugs are terrified of the police. Hearing the siren, the three of them exchanged a cursed glance and stumbled into the depths of a dark alley.

The alleyway was quiet again.

Jiang Che glanced at the girl on the ground.

Su Xiaoruan remained seated in the mud, soaked to the bone, her chest heaving violently. She didn't burst into tears immediately, but instead bit her lower lip hard until it turned white, trying desperately to hold back her tears.

She picked up a brick from the ground and looked at Jiang Che warily, like a stray cat with its fur standing on end.

"Thank you..." her voice was hoarse, with a trembling stubbornness, "but I don't have any money for you."

Jiang Che looked at her, who was clearly terrified but still pretending to be "very tough," and his heart softened for some reason.

"It's free. Go home now, it's not safe around here."

After saying that, Jiang Che turned to leave.

He offered a helping hand, but that was all.

Seeing Jiang Che's retreating figure, the last bit of strength in Su Xiaoruan's eyes finally crumbled.

The rain was pouring down harder, and the pain in her legs was excruciating. Those three bad guys probably hadn't gone far, while her so-called "friends" had already abandoned her.

She tried to stand up again, but she couldn't.

It was as if that only sense of security was about to disappear into the rain.

Su Xiaoruan finally disregarded her so-called pride and stubbornness.

She lunged forward and grabbed Jiang Che's legs tightly with both hands.

Jiang Che paused and looked down.

Su Xiaoruan looked up, her face, which resembled a cat's, was wet with a mixture of rain and tears. The ferocity in her eyes was gone, replaced by endless fear and a desperate plea for help.

"Could you... not leave me?"

Her voice was soft, her knuckles white from gripping tightly, as she clutched Jiang Che's expensive trousers, as if that was the only warmth she had in this cold, rainy night.

"I can't go anywhere now."

She lowered her head, her voice trembling with a broken sob: "I have no home anymore."

Jiang Che looked at the two clear muddy handprints on his trouser leg, then at the little wildcat trembling but still trying hard not to cry.

Finally, he let out a long sigh in his heart.

He bent down and tilted the black umbrella in his hand slightly to shield the girl from the wind and rain.

"Can you still stand up?"

Jiang Che's voice was soft, without any hint of disdain, only a gentle warmth that put people at ease.

Su Xiaoruan stared blankly at him, subconsciously shaking her head, then nodding, trying to be brave, but finding that she simply couldn't do it.

Jiang Che shook his head helplessly, then reached out his hand and offered it to her.

Get up.