The Subtle Seduction of My Ex-Girlfriend’s Aunt - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: I Can Ask Her Name Next Time We Meet…

The next afternoon.

Manager Wang from Xinghe Restaurant called Tang Ran, saying the menu for Song Wuqi’s birthday banquet had been drafted. He invited Tang Ran to come over and take a look if she had time.

The Tang family started with restaurants. Tang Ran’s grandfather had the capital to transition into food processing thanks to the wealth accumulated by three generations running Xinghe Restaurant. It was the root of the family. Before his passing, her grandfather gave the restaurant to Tang Ran, urging her to manage it well.

Tang Ran hadn’t failed that trust. In her previous life, Xinghe Restaurant was the only asset she managed to save.

If Manager Wang hadn’t called, Tang Ran would have forgotten she even ordered a birthday banquet for Song Wuqi. Her first instinct was to cancel it, but after a second thought, she told him she’d come by.

When she arrived, Manager Wang had the chefs set out the sample ingredients. Tang Ran looked them over and cut several items that required international airfreight or advance booking. Whether this birthday banquet would even happen was uncertain—there was no need to waste effort on elaborate preparations.

Song Group Headquarters, Top Floor.

Song Zhixu’s private WeChat received a photo, followed by a flurry of messages from Murong Yi.

“I heard she’s preparing a birthday banquet for your little niece.”

“Did I misunderstand this girl?”

“Doesn’t look like she’s prepping for a breakup at all.”

“Look at the menu specs—that’s at least six figures per table.”

“She’s so devoted; looks like she’s still madly in love.”

“How is this girl so infatuated?”

“Why can’t I ever meet a girl this good?”

Song Zhixu glanced at the screen, pressed the mute button without unlocking it, and set the phone down.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the streetlights flickered on. Road crews were busy on the streets, decorating the old district with new city fixtures.

Tang Ran walked into her apartment building carrying dinner from the restaurant. The concierge proactively swiped the elevator card for her. She thanked him and looked down at her phone.

Miao Tiantian was being driven crazy by a client and was venting to Tang Ran. Typing wasn’t enough to soothe her friend’s rage, so Tang Ran sent a voice note: “Rest easy, darling. Don’t be mad. When you’re back from your trip, I’ll take you out for something delicious to reward you.”

Her voice was soft and sweet, with the gentle lilt of a southern accent that could melt anyone’s heart.

The person on the other side of the elevator couldn’t help but glance over. Tang Ran was wearing a pink and white oversized vest-shirt combo with a white tiered skirt. The outfit matched her perfectly—very sweet. The way she smiled with curved eyes was even sweeter.

“19th floor,” the electronic voice announced. Tang Ran put her phone away and stepped out.

Just as she exited, her phone vibrated. As she raised her hand, the corridor lights suddenly went pitch black. Tang Ran’s body jerked; she froze in place. The endless darkness felt like a beast ready to swallow her whole.

“Don’t be afraid.”

A gentle voice sounded near her ear. A warmth spread from her wrist as someone pulled her back from the “black maw.”

Tang Ran snapped out of it. She instinctively looked toward the window at the end of the hall. Seeing the streetlights outside calmed her fear. She wasn’t afraid of the dark itself, but she couldn’t stand the suddenness of total darkness.

She turned to say thank you. The corridor lights flickered back on, and the “thank you” on her lips was replaced by surprise.

“Big… uh, Miss?”

Long black hair, beautiful light brown eyes, and a black mask. It was the “big-shot lady” she had met at the Xia residence yesterday.

Hearing the address, Song Zhixu tilted her head slightly but didn’t ask anything. She released Tang Ran’s hand and explained: “I live in 1901.”

Tang Ran blinked. She remembered the misunderstanding from yesterday. She felt a bit mortified. Honestly, she had been too busy being scared just now to even think about being wary.

“Oh… okay,” Tang Ran said, her face flushing slightly. To break the awkward silence, she asked, “Did you just move in, Sister? I haven’t seen you around before.”

“I’ve been here for a while,” Song Zhixu replied warmly. She had bought the place before the pre-sale and moved in long ago. Tang Ran hadn’t seen her simply because Tang Ran rarely stayed here.

“Oh! I’m in 1902.” Tang Ran felt stupid the moment she said it. There were only two units per floor; if the other woman lived in 1901, she obviously lived in 1902. “I only moved back here recently myself. Hehe. Thank you for just now.”

Meeting her two days in a row and being helped both times made Tang Ran feel they were destined, but a small seed of suspicion also sprouted. It felt a bit too coincidental.

Don’t blame her for being paranoid. Once bitten, twice shy—she had been deeply scarred by Song Wuqi’s deceptions.

“It was nothing. Don’t mention it,” Song Zhixu said, then turned her head to cough twice. When she stopped, she gave a polite “Sorry.”

Tang Ran said considerately, “Sister, you should rest if you’re not feeling well. I won’t disturb you.”

Song Zhixu nodded and headed into 1901. Tang Ran watched her close the door before looking away. Polite and gentle… isn’t that exactly the mask Song Wuqi wears in front of me?

She even wondered if the meeting at the Xia residence was also a coincidence. But the thought vanished as quickly as it came. She gave a self-deprecating laugh. She really did have PTSD from Song Wuqi. She wasn’t some high-profile figure; why would anyone go through so much trouble to approach her?

After taking a shower, Tang Ran headed to the dining room with her dinner. Miao Tiantian sent two more messages. Just as Tang Ran tapped them, the lights in the apartment went out again.

She jolted and bolted from her chair, using her phone’s flashlight to sprint to the balcony. She moved so fast she kicked off a slipper, and her bathrobe belt came loose, exposing a large patch of skin. Luckily, the towel around her hair was hanging messily over her chest, saving her from a full wardrobe malfunction.

What was more embarrassing was that before she could fix her appearance, she saw someone standing on the neighboring balcony.

The selling point of Shengming Mansions was the wrap-around garden balconies. The pro: a 270° view large enough for gardening and BBQs. The con: you could see your neighbor at the edge of the balcony.

There she was—the neighbor, who was on a phone call, looking over at her. Song Zhixu, with her years of refinement, gave a polite, non-awkward smile after a brief moment of surprise.

Tang Ran cleared her throat, pulled her robe shut, hooked her fallen slipper with her foot, and explained with feigned calmness, “Power’s out again.”

Song Zhixu nodded and continued her call. As she spoke, she turned to go back inside. From the few snippets Tang Ran caught, it was a work call.

Tang Ran’s phone lit up with a message from property management: a construction crew had accidentally cut a cable. Repairs were underway, and power was expected back within thirty minutes. She sighed; looks like she’d be spending the next half hour on the balcony.

“It’s fine,” Song Zhixu’s voice drifted from the other unit. “The delivery is probably downstairs. The elevator is out. No need to bring it up, I’ll just heat something up later. Book the flight to Yang City for next Thursday. Yes, that’s all for now.”

The voice grew closer as Song Zhixu returned to the balcony, holding a wrought-iron star lantern. Tang Ran had a similar one as a child, though hers used candles while this one was electronic. The warm yellow light felt like a sacred flame, dispelling her uneess. In Tang Ran’s eyes, Song Zhixu was a goddess arriving with light.

Noticing Tang Ran’s staring, longing gaze, Song Zhixu paused, walked to the edge of the balcony, and handed the lantern over. Tang Ran instinctively stood up to meet her, but then hesitated. “This isn’t right, Sister. You only have one lamp too.”

“You seem to need it more than I do,” Song Zhixu said gently.

Tang Ran stopped being polite. She truly hated the dark. “Thank you, Sister.”

The balconies weren’t too far apart. Tang Ran stood on her tiptoes and carefully took the lantern.

As Tang Ran placed the lamp on her table, Song Zhixu’s phone rang again. Another work call? Big-shots really are busy! Tang Ran thought as she observed her neighbor.

Song Zhixu was wearing a light-blue form-fitting dress with a structured cut that highlighted her figure, paired with a white blazer and a gemstone bird brooch. She looked professional yet feminine. Even though she’d been home for nearly an hour, she hadn’t taken off her mask; Tang Ran guessed she’d been on calls since the moment she walked through the door.

Her skin was very fair, her eyebrows long and dense, and her eyes were phoenix-shaped. Tang Ran was suddenly curious about the face under the mask. Looking closely now, she felt the woman’s eyes looked familiar. Like she’d seen them somewhere.

Sensing the gaze, Song Zhixu turned to her with an inquiring look. Tang Ran felt like she’d been caught peeking and quickly looked down at her phone.

Tang Ran pretended to scroll while listening to the neighbor’s balcony. When she saw Song Zhixu hang up, she called out before the woman could go back inside.

“Sister!”

Song Zhixu turned. Tang Ran held out the insulated bag from her table. “Thank you for the lamp.”

Song Zhixu asked, “Aren’t you going to eat it?”

“I ate before coming back.” She was stuffed from tasting dishes earlier.

Song Zhixu saw the “Xinghe Restaurant” logo on the bag and naturally thought of the messages Murong Yi sent her earlier. Tang Ran noticed the potential ambiguity and quickly added, “I haven’t touched it, and the food is still hot.” It was a separate set prepared by Manager Wang—the high-end items Tang Ran had cut from the menu.

“Thank you,” Song Zhixu said as she took the bag.

A ringtone sounded. This time it was Tang Ran’s. The caller ID showed a photo of the two of them, with the contact name: “Girlfriend ❤️❤️”.

In the dark, the screen light was blinding. Song Zhixu saw it clearly as she withdrew her hand. Tang Ran turned away with the phone, the smile on her face vanishing instantly into a dark expression. She controlled her voice and swiped to answer.

“Hello.” Her voice was calm, a complete contrast to the disgust on her face. “I’ve eaten. You? … The power just came back on.”

Tang Ran didn’t stay on the balcony. She walked straight into her living room. The faint glow of the lantern was drowned out by the overhead lights. Song Zhixu leaned against the railing for a moment before slowly looking away.

Inside, Tang Ran gave a few perfunctory replies and hung up on the pretext of taking a shower. The moment she hit the red icon, she went into her contacts and deleted the entry entirely. She had deleted the photos and WeChat nicknames the day she returned, but she had forgotten this “disgusting” contact name in her phone book.

Next door, Song Zhixu took a shower. Her pale skin made the purple bruise on her collarbone stand out sharply, with a dark scab in the center where the bite was deepest. She looked at it briefly, got dressed, and went to the dining room.

After slowly finishing the meal Tang Ran had given her, she unlocked her phone, skipped Murong Yi’s 20+ messages, and opened her work email to check a new message from Song Wuqi.

Song Zhixu circled the final figures and added a note: “Calculation inaccurate. Valuation is too high. Needs a re-audit.”

When Song Wuqi received the email, her heart sank. Her previous acquisition plan wasn’t good enough, and now she was being called out for inaccurate data. She threw the feedback into her team’s group chat and blew up: “How are you doing your jobs? How can data be wrong? Re-audit everything immediately!”

Over a hundred pages of material and tens of thousands of data points—the whole team wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.

Tang Ran lay in bed, getting ready for sleep. As she closed her eyes, the masked face appeared in her mind. Where have I seen her?

I’ll ask her name the next time we meet, Tang Ran thought.

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