Kissing the Snow-Color - Chapter 1

Summer in Yijiang is very short. Even though it isn’t yet the end of August, the wind is already wrapped in autumn chill, and the trees by the roadside have started to turn yellow.

A new message popped up on Lin Shuxue’s phone.

[Zhang Hao: Traffic is a bit heavy. I’ll be downstairs at your office in five minutes.]

Xia Yuqing, a young intern beside her, glimpsed the message and her eyes filled with anticipation: “Sister Lin, we’re riding in President Zhang’s car today!”

“Yes.” Lin Shuxue replied politely, telling him to be careful on the road, then dimmed the screen. “His company’s R&D department is also attending, so he said he could give us a ride on his way.”

“How is that ‘on his way’? A busy big boss giving a ride to bottom-tier workers like us…” Xia Yuqing muttered.

Lin Shuxue glanced at her.

“Sister Lin, everyone in the magazine office sees President Zhang’s intentions.” Seeing that Lin Shuxue didn’t stop her, Xia Yuqing got bold enough to probe, “Don’t you really feel even a little bit moved?”

Zhang Hao was high-profile in his actions, often finding various excuses to come to the magazine office to see Lin Shuxue, and he would order coffee and desserts for everyone, successfully buying over a crowd of colleagues. During breaks, they would often discuss when the two would finally get together. This, of course, included Xia Yuqing, who was currently drinking an iced Americano and eating a Basque cheesecake.

Lin Shuxue knew the young girl didn’t have any malicious intent; she was just purely gossiping. She said gently: “Don’t guess randomly; President Zhang is just a good person.”

Hearing this “nice guy” card, Xia Yuqing knew Zhang Hao had no chance. She had been interning under Lin Shuxue for nearly two months. Although Lin Shuxue looked soft, gentle, and easy to talk to on the surface, she was incredibly hard-headed at her core—once she made a decision, no one could shake it.

Xia Yuqing couldn’t help but be curious, blinking and testing the waters: “Then, Sister Lin, what kind of person would make your heart move?”

She had intended to just brush it off with a couple of sentences, but upon hearing this question, Lin Shuxue couldn’t help but stall. A certain face peach-blossom eyes curved in a smile, wearing a look of dissolute cynicism bossily and aggressively occupied Lin Shuxue’s mind.

She shook her head slightly, trying to cast aside those memories that were coming like a tidal wave. With a light sigh in her heart, she gave an answer that was the exact opposite: “Someone more ordinary, someone plain and simple, I suppose.”

Her voice was unconsciously low as she spoke, and her dazed eyes revealed her confused state of mind.

Xia Yuqing noticed Lin Shuxue’s abnormality and hurriedly echoed her words: “That’s true! Someone like President Zhang, with such a big family and grand business, who knows how many troubles that would stir up!”

Lin Shuxue realized the young girl had probably understood something, and her heart softened. She couldn’t help but rub the girl’s head, teasing: “I don’t know how many troubles it would stir up, but if we don’t land the interview today, we’re going to be in very big trouble with the editor-in-chief.”

Her threat was very effective; at the very least, it successfully extinguished the gossip fire that had just ignited in Xia Yuqing. The cheerful young girl instantly wilted.

Every year, Yijiang City hosts a scientific research summit called WNI. This year, the attention and discussion surrounding the WNI summit have doubled compared to previous years. This is because the core team behind “Hull” will be accepting their first public interview here.

Hull is a domestic service robot, but it possesses highly sensitive emotional perception capabilities. In a society where human relationships are becoming increasingly distant, it has undoubtedly aroused the interest of many. However, the team is mysterious; after demonstrating the first version of the robot, they rejected countless interview invitations, remaining completely impenetrable. Only after the official announcement that they would attend this year’s WNI summit did they show signs of loosening up.

Lin Shuxue had spent an entire month persistently sending invitations to their official public email address to win the opportunity for a featured interview with Hull’s R&D team. She had finally received a reply, inviting her to discuss details offline at the summit. That is today. Whether she can secure this featured interview depends entirely on whether the planning draft they prepared fits the client’s preferences.

In a daze, a pure black Cullinan stopped at their feet. The car window rolled down, and a man in a light-colored suit, tailored perfectly with a stiff tie, appeared. His rugged silhouette softened with a hint of gentleness as he smiled.

“Shuxue, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Lin Shuxue nodded slightly in greeting: “Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Zhang.”

Although Xia Yuqing had received a clear answer from Lin Shuxue, hearing the distant tone of Lin Shuxue’s conversation, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for President Zhang for two seconds.

When they arrived at the venue, the notification from Hull’s R&D team said they would arrange a dedicated person to meet them. President Zhang’s company showroom was almost at exhibition time, so he had to attend, and after bidding farewell to Lin Shuxue and the others, he left in a hurry.

The large reception room instantly became quiet, leaving only the sound of Xia Yuqing frantically flipping through pages as she reviewed their strategy plan. Lin Shuxue felt a surge of inexplicable nervousness.

Motion came from the door. Lin Shuxue looked up reflexively.

She met a face that was both familiar and mixed with strangeness.

She was slightly stunned.

“Lin… Lin Shuxue?” The man’s tone seemed to be one of disbelief.

“Long time no see, Pei Tianyang.”

The astonishment lasted only a second. Lin Shuxue quickly withdrew her flustered expression and smiled.

“Are you the reporter for WIND?” Pei Tianyang’s eyes widened.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you the person in charge of the Hull R&D team?”

“Me? The person in charge?” Pei Tianyang instinctively wanted to retort, but sobered up in an instant. “Ah, yes, it is. Let me take you over.”

“Then what was Zhang Hao doing in the reception room just now?” Pei Tianyang suddenly remembered.

“President Zhang?” Lin Shuxue frowned.

Pei Tianyang’s sudden change in expression made her confused about the reason. Mentioning Zhang Hao made her even more puzzled, but thinking of Pei Tianyang’s family background, the two might have had business dealings in the past, so she still explained with a good temper.

“He’s a friend of ours; he gave us a ride on his way.”

Pei Tianyang lowered his voice and cursed under his breath upon hearing this: “I was wondering why the reporter had such a big background that I had to come personally to pick her up. It turns out…”

“What?” Lin Shuxue didn’t hear clearly.

“Nothing, nothing!” Pei Tianyang pulled out a smile and gestured in one direction, “The M08 exhibition hall is just ahead. The report hasn’t finished yet; a staff member will take you over in a moment!”

Pei Tianyang stared at Lin Shuxue’s retreating back for a long, long time, his expression unfathomable.

“What’s with that look? Could it be that this woman is your first love?” asked a curly-haired woman with red lips beside him.

“My first love?”

Pei Tianyang sneered, burying his head in his phone to send a message. He wished he could roll up his cumbersome suit sleeves and get down to a real fight. He said angrily, “Do you see how many lives I have? Do I dare to have her as my first love?”

“No, I have to report this Zhang Hao matter to that lord immediately.”

For some reason, Lin Shuxue always felt that Pei Tianyang’s appearance wasn’t a simple interlude. As the distance to the M08 exhibition hall grew shorter, her sense of unease intensified. The soundproofing of the exhibition hall wasn’t exactly great, or perhaps a window had been left open for the reporters outside; Lin Shuxue could vaguely hear a low male voice coming from within.

“The last question.”

Lin Shuxue felt as if an electric current had brushed across her spine. The voice was too recognizable, making Lin Shuxue think back, involuntarily, to the humid and sweltering plum rain season many years ago. She secretly calculated the possibility of Pei Tianyang and this familiar voice appearing at the same time, but before she could calculate a self-deceptive answer, her thoughts were interrupted by Xia Yuqing’s low exclamation.

“Sister Lin, they seem to be…”

Lin Shuxue looked up in a panic. As it turned out, they had just happened to collide with the end of the exhibition. Two bodyguards stood on either side to disperse the crowd, and many reporters and photographers who still refused to give up were surrounding them; the sound of flashbulbs was endless. The man walking in the center—his figure standing tall and upright. Just seeing his back was enough to nail Lin Shuxue to the spot.

Xia Yuqing couldn’t hold back her impatience; she clutched Lin Shuxue’s elbow and ran forward with the crowd. The moment she saw the man’s face clearly, she gasped.

“Sister Lin, isn’t he”

Lin Shuxue looked up. Even though there was a heavy crowd between them, she still locked her gaze on the side profile in the center of the crowd at the first glance blurred, yet familiar.

Jiang Zong. Lin Shuxue silently completed the name Xia Yuqing hadn’t finished saying.

Xia Yuqing’s eyes were about to pop out. They were too familiar with this face because they often dealt with news—after all, this was the man who had dominated half the page of the Financial Daily the moment he appeared. The person in power of the Jiang Group—

Jiang Zong.

No wonder he had hidden it so strictly.

At this moment, countless comments Lin Shuxue had heard from colleagues at the magazine office about Jiang Zong echoed in her head.

“A face that should clearly be on the entertainment headlines, but it’s actually printed on the financial news. What a waste of talent…”

At that time, the report had been posted on the company bulletin board, along with a high-definition half-length photo of the subject, standing in a position Lin Shuxue could see the moment she looked up. Others were staring at Jiang Zong’s bewitching face, but only her gaze fell on a diamond ring on the man’s left ring finger.

She had flipped through the report again and again, reading about Jiang Zong taking over the company during his graduate studies, watching his ruthless methods in seizing market share, restricting the supply chains of competing companies, and firmly securing his position at the core of the group.

Yet, there wasn’t a single word about the meaning behind the diamond ring.

At that moment, Lin Shuxue felt a hint of stolen joy, which she carefully hid away the next second.

Xia Yuqing didn’t know the thoughts surging through Lin Shuxue’s mind; she was preoccupied with securing the interview rights for Hull’s founding team. Before she could sigh much more, she took Lin Shuxue and rushed forward against the flow of people with swift steps.

The staff member handling the connection was sharp-witted; seeing the two, he immediately took them inside. The moment the lounge door opened, Lin Shuxue’s gaze fell upon the man in the suit sitting in the middle of the sofa.

He was lowering his head to look through documents. The side profile of his face, having shed its adolescent awkwardness, was sharp and handsome. His nose bridge was high, his eyelids drooping loosely his expression was idle and lazy.

This lazy demeanor vanished the moment he heard movement, looked up, and clearly saw who had arrived.

Their gazes intersected for a fleeting moment in the air. The coldness in Jiang Zong’s eyes was so sharp that Lin Shuxue felt as if she had been cut.

“This is the reporter from WIND Outlook magazine, her name is Lin…” The staff member stuttered halfway through the introduction, just about to turn his head to give Lin Shuxue a look.

“Lin Shuxue.”

Jiang Zong leaned back on the sofa, squinting his eyes, and continued nonchalantly.

“Oh, right!”

The staff member remembered something: “This Miss Lin and you, Brother Jiang, are both from Huauan University. It seems you knew each other before?”

Lin Shuxue watched silently as Jiang Zong leisurely rolled up half his sleeves and picked up a teacup. The diamond ring on his ring finger looked increasingly piercing. He lowered his eyes, and the tone of voice that had stripped away all tender affection remained only cold and stern.

“Mm, we’ve crossed paths a few times.”

The others in the lounge who had been watching the spectacle were taken aback. But his next words were abrupt, sharp, and came on aggressively.

“So, Miss Lin can explain.”

Jiang Zong clearly still had that idle expression, not even sparing Lin Shuxue a glance, yet he inexplicably exerted a heavy pressure.

“Why would a magazine that specializes in social and livelihood news send us an invitation?”