Kissing the Snow-Color - Chapter 2

His words were sharp and blunt, without the slightest bit of cushioning, leaving everyone caught off guard.

The others around them didn’t dare to breathe; they exchanged glances, none of them understanding what this “Master” was up to this time.

Lin Shuxue had also witnessed Jiang Zong’s incisiveness in the past.

Those eyes, usually filled with smiles, would suddenly turn frigid during debate competitions, every word striking like a blade.

Once off the stage and seeing her, however, they would soften into a pool of clear spring water, and he would lean in lazily, begging for kisses and praise like a large dog.

Unfortunately, she would never again have the chance to see Jiang Zong’s softness; she could only bear the brunt of his sharp interrogation.

Jiang Zong’s questioning was overbearing, but Lin Shuxue was actually prepared for it.

“Our magazine is called The Outlook. The original intention behind its founding was indeed to convey the diverse aspects of people’s lives through print media, so the topics of the first few issues have leaned towards everyday matters.”

Standing under the gazes of everyone, she explained gently and unhurriedly.

“According to the philosophy publicly declared by the Hull R&D team, you aim to serve the general public. Therefore, I believe your team’s R&D philosophy is consistent with our magazine’s core values.”

“I do not believe that interviews regarding the scientific field must be high and mighty; this, too, is one of the many facets of the lives of the people.”

However, no matter how gentle her tone, the moment she finished speaking, the look in Lin Shuxue’s eyes as she gazed back at Jiang Zong inevitably carried a touch of private resentment.

Jiang Zong’s questioning was not without reason. In specialized fields, if the Hull R&D team’s collaboration for this interview was aimed at increasing their profile and industry recognition, then choosing a scientific journal would be more appropriate.

It was understandable to have such concerns.

It was just that a sour emotion still enveloped her chest, leaving her feeling stifled.

If anyone else had asked this question, she would have been able to answer more concisely and logically.

When it came to matters concerning Jiang Zong, she always easily lost her composure.

Jiang Zong remained lazily leaned against the back of the sofa. He didn’t say whether Lin Shuxue’s answer was good or bad, his thick eyelashes lowered to conceal his emotions, only looking up to stare directly at Lin Shuxue.

It was as if he wanted to carve her into his very bones.

The atmosphere in the lounge dropped to freezing.

Beside her, Xia Yuqing was so nervous that she couldn’t help but hold her breath.

It was a man with gold-rimmed glasses beside Jiang Zong who finally broke the tension.

“Ms. Lin is right; our R&D team’s philosophy has always been to serve the people.”

He smiled and skillfully offered some polite pleasantries.

“May we take a closer look at Ms. Lin’s general vision for this partnership?”

Lin Shuxue nodded and retrieved a stack of manuscripts from her briefcase.

“This is the first draft of my detailed proposal for the Hull R&D team column…” She paused, not knowing how to address the other party.

The man introduced himself: “My surname is Cui, Cui Jingyu. I am mainly responsible for the follow-up promotion work of the R&D team.”

“Please take a look, Mr. Cui.”

The manuscript was quite thick, feeling like at least twenty pages. Cui Jingyu raised an eyebrow.

The lounge went quiet again, the sound of paper turning clearly audible.

Cui Jingyu was actually a few years older than Jiang Zong. Although he wasn’t as monstrously talented as Jiang Zong who could dominate the business world while still finding time to hang out in the lab he was knowledgeable and experienced.

This was an almost impeccable proposal. One could tell that when the other party was drafting it, she had carefully read almost all the publicly available information on the Hull R&D team, and even professional papers related to artificial intelligence technology.

It was full of sincerity.

In fact, before Lin Shuxue came in, Cui Jingyu had been flipping through recent issues of The Outlook to get a general understanding of the magazine.

It was a branch magazine under the major publication WIND. It had been in operation for less than a year, but it had a very good reputation. Each chosen topic had a unique angle, and the content often hit directly at social pain points.

Most importantly, this magazine was highly praised by young people.

In an era when print media was declining, this was very rare.

The question Jiang Zong had used to make things difficult for Lin Shuxue was one Cui Jingyu had also planned to ask, but… he had intended to organize his words more gently and hadn’t planned on throwing it out so recklessly.

What’s more, Cui Jingyu couldn’t figure it out. He was only responsible for the final screening; the preliminary organization and statistics were all handled by Jiang Zong. If Jiang Zong really had such a big problem with The Outlook, he could have just deleted them from the list. Why pull this stunt?

Forget it, Cui Jingyu decided not to torture himself; after all, no one could ever fathom that man’s thoughts.

Lin Shuxue did not know the raging storm within Cui Jingyu. After submitting the materials, she retreated to her original position, standing obediently, feeling anxious in her heart for fear that there might be some oversight in the materials and she would face more tricky questions.

Cui Jingyu maintained his calm composure, pretending to adjust his glasses while raising questions about a few vague points in the proposal.

Lin Shuxue answered fluently.

In the end, Cui Jingyu closed the pages, his smile friendly: “I look forward to our cooperation, Ms. Lin.”

Relief. Lin Shuxue let out a long breath.

She packed up her things, intending to leave.

Just as she was about to go out, she was stopped by Cui Jingyu, who had chased after her.

“Apologies, Ms. Lin. Regarding the details of the proposal, I feel we need to discuss them further.”

Cui Jingyu bit the bullet to say these words, cursing himself inwardly for being crazy. He had just said there were no problems, and then changed his tune in just a few minutes.

But the moment he thought of that certain person’s grim look on the sofa, he had no choice but to lie through his teeth.

Lin Shuxue raised her eyebrows, her beautiful face full of confusion: “Huh?”

She quickly realized something was wrong and hurriedly corrected herself, agreeing: “Okay, Mr. Cui. May I ask what else I haven’t written clearly?”

Cui Jingyu tried his best to maintain a decent smile: “How about this, Ms. Lin? Our R&D team has booked a restaurant for this evening for a celebration party. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to attend so we can discuss the proposal details in depth.”

“…A celebration party? Me? Would that be appropriate?”

Cui Jingyu smiled even more innocently: “It is appropriate. The dining table is the best place for a long discussion.”

Lin Shuxue fell into a brief silence.

Go? She had never liked such occasions, and there was a high probability of running into Jiang Zong.

Don’t go? This was a request from the partner, and a rash refusal might affect their exclusive interview rights.

Xia Yuqing, upon hearing this, was quite interested. The young girl liked lively crowds and was tilting her head to peek at her reaction.

Just then, a person dressed as a staff member walked up to Jiang Zong and spoke softly.

“Brother Jiang, will you be coming tonight?”

Lin Shuxue instinctively became alert, concentrating her mind to listen to the response.

She only heard that person’s lazy tone.

“We’ll see.”

The staff member was likely meeting Jiang Zong for the first time; his expression turned awkward, and not daring to ask again, he had to turn and ask Cui Jingyu for help with his eyes.

Cui Jingyu smiled warmly, easing the atmosphere for the staff.

“When he says ‘we’ll see,’ it usually means he won’t be going.”

The staff member breathed a sigh of relief, nodded in understanding, and walked over to ask Lin Shuxue.

“Ms. Lin, what about you?”

The scales of hesitation in her heart tipped significantly after Cui Jingyu’s remark. Lin Shuxue asked softly.

“May I bring my colleague here with me?”

Cui Jingyu continued to smile, giving no cause for complaint.

“Of course, you are very welcome.”

Although it was called a celebration party, when Lin Shuxue arrived at the location, she discovered that this was an extremely high-end private club, the kind where even VIPs had to line up just to apply.

It made sense. After all, this kind of club had the best privacy protection.

Xia Yuqing leaned into Lin Shuxue’s ear and whispered, “Sister Lin, this place screams elite status from head to toe. I couldn’t afford their membership threshold even if I didn’t eat or drink for fifty years!”

On the other side, Zhang Hao was frequently stopped by people who recognized him to chat, and he soon fell quite far behind the two of them.

When Lin Shuxue went back, she had mentioned the celebration party. Zhang Hao, upon hearing that the party would not only include the Hull R&D team but also many industry titans participating in this summit—several of whom were key targets his group wanted to cooperate with—had asked Lin Shuxue if she would do him the favor of bringing him along.

Lin Shuxue had asked Cui Jingyu, and the reply came quickly.

“Ms. Lin, you are welcome to bring whoever you wish.”

And so, they arrived at the inner hall.

The hall doors were magnificent, the patterns on the handles intricate and polished to a shine.

The moment she pushed the door open, Lin Shuxue vaguely saw a familiar person reflected in the mirror-like shine of the door handle.

When she looked back, the corridor in front of the door was deep and dark, not looking like anyone was lingering there.

The guests hadn’t all arrived yet, and only the appetizers had been served. Lin Shuxue recognized many leaders in the scientific field, and several were even the targets of the editor-in-chief’s planned column interviews.

Driven by a deeply ingrained “workhorse” spirit, Lin Shuxue gathered her courage to exchange contact information with them.

Just as Lin Shuxue was happily reflecting that this trip was worth it, a crisp female voice rang in her ear.

“I’m not late, am I?”

Lin Shuxue looked up.

The woman was dressed in a capable professional suit, her long, straight black hair tied back in a high ponytail, her smile bright.

“…You came just in time, Sister Keyun, they just served your favorite cherry mille-feuille!”

Lin Shuxue couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. The sounds around her were amplified into a mass of chaos. All her focus was on the ring worn on the fair finger that Wen Keyun raised.

It was similar in appearance to the ring she had once observed repeatedly on the pages of the financial daily.

Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, and she forgot how to breathe for a moment.

The only thing to be thankful for was that she had chosen a corner seat, so she wouldn’t normally be noticed there and wouldn’t have to deal with unnecessary pleasantries.

“Sister Lin, is this brownie that good? You actually finished the whole portion!”

Xia Yuqing’s words were like a heavy hammer, pulling her back from her stupor into reality.

She had actually finished the cocoa brownie in front of her without realizing it.

The sweet, rich pastry slid into her empty stomach, and a delayed, intense sense of discomfort welled up. Lin Shuxue tried her best to suppress the urge to vomit and made her tone as calm as possible.

“It’s not bad, it’s just that the cocoa powder is a bit bitter.”

Xia Yuqing didn’t notice anything unusual, her attention drawn by the gourmet food.

Lin Shuxue stood up to go to the restroom, and Zhang Hao, who was nearby, asked in distraction.

“What’s wrong?”

Lin Shuxue smiled and shook her head: “The cocoa powder is a bit bitter, I’m going to rinse my mouth.”

“Is it really that bitter…”

It must have been Xia Yuqing whispering. Lin Shuxue thought.

She walked towards the restroom in a daze, seeing the man in a suit and leather shoes leaning against the window at the end of the corridor, a nearly burnt-out cigarette held in his fingertips.

It was someone she hadn’t expected.

Jiang Zong was still wearing the same black suit from the morning. The warm yellow light in the corridor outlined his broad shoulders and long legs, his bangs messy.

This only made his current posture look even more casual and relaxed, and the ring on his long fingers appeared even more glaring.

He clearly hadn’t expected Lin Shuxue to come out suddenly, and a trace of panic flickered in his eyes.

Seeing Lin Shuxue staring at him in a trance as she approached, he realized what was happening only after coughing from the lingering smoke.

He quickly extinguished the cigarette butt and opened two other windows.

The scent of agarwood and mint still lingered in the corridor, just like many years ago.

This familiarity inexplicably stirred up some kind of impulse in her.

Lin Shuxue stared straight at him: “Wen Keyun is inside, aren’t you going in?”

Almost at the same time, Jiang Zong spoke: “Are you not feeling well?”

The two spoke over each other; neither heard what the other had said. And Lin Shuxue no longer had the courage to say it a second time.

They stood there in a standoff, staring at each other, until Jiang Zong finally lost.

He averted his eyes in frustration, his brows knitted tightly, and he gripped Lin Shuxue’s wrist, pulling her into his private suite.

“Warm water. Stomach medicine. A heat patch.”

Jiang Zong helped her onto the sofa, the whole process practiced and effortless.

He could probably guess that Lin Shuxue’s old ailment had flared up. He recalled what Pei Tianyang had reported to him today.

His expression was mocking, and his tone was stiff.

“Is Zhang Hao that useless? He doesn’t even know you can’t eat dessert on an empty stomach?”

Lin Shuxue curled up in the corner of the sofa, her consciousness slowly returning as the warm water soaked into her, and she managed to summon the strength to correct him.

“He is my friend, don’t say that…”

But the words came out soft and weak, not sounding like a retort, but more like acting spoiled.

Only Jiang Zong’s suddenly darkened eyes responded to her.

“He is your friend, then what about me?”

Lin Shuxue realized that Jiang Zong had walked up to her at some point.

“What am I? Lin Shuxue?”

As he spoke, he leaned down, so close that the words exhaled from his lowered voice mingled with his warm breath and fell evenly upon her face.

Those eyes she had kissed countless times were now pitch black. They stared straight at her with zero warmth, as if brewing a mountain-collapsing storm, wanting to swallow her whole.

A chill climbed up her spine in the face of such a gaze, accompanied by the dull throbbing in her lower abdomen.

Lin Shuxue realized with a delay that the person in front of her was no longer the person she was familiar with. The passage of time had carved his features to be even deeper; the scar at the corner of his brow had faded to a pale pink, hidden in the light, no longer to be found.

Along with the orange blossom scent she was familiar with, it had all turned into a strange, cold, woody fragrance.

She heard Jiang Zong ask.

“Lin Shuxue, am I just a toy you throw away once you’ve grown tired of playing with me?”

She wanted to deny it, but her body stiffened, and her heated eyes were on the verge of shedding tears.

The memory of that rainy night the one she regretted the most and least wanted to recall came flooding back, along with the boundless, ink-like darkness in Jiang Zong’s eyes, drowning her.

Lin Shuxue had never realized so clearly that summer had truly passed, and the harsh winter that belonged only to her would remain forever, never stopping.