Where the Moon Sets, My Heart Finds Peace - Chapter 1

The July heat in H City was thick, humid, and utterly suffocating.

Inside a downtown shopping mall cafe, the air conditioning offered a welcome shield against the blazing sun outside, but it couldn’t hide the stark, angry red marks on Jiang Jingyue’s face. Five distinct fingerpricks stood out against her pale left cheek. The slight swelling only intensified the fragile yet stubborn aura of her cold, striking, and naturally aloof features. She possessed a sharp, ethereal beauty, but right now, she sat as quiet and still as fallen snow, her long hair draping over her shoulders.

Across the table, her best friend, Du Qiaoxi, looked on with a heart full of pity. “Your dad actually laid a hand on you? What on earth happened?”

Jiang Jingyue kept her eyes lowered. Her fingertips curled slightly into her palms. After a long, heavy silence, she finally spoke, her voice flat and detached.

“He’s forcing me to marry Wang Yijie.”

Du Qiaoxi’s face fell instantly. “Wang Yijie? That playboy from TY-VISION who just got out of prison?! Is your dad insane?! Does he not know what kind of scumbag that guy is?”

“He knows.” A faint, self-deprecating smile touched the corner of Jiang Jingyue’s lips. “He just wants to leverage the Wang family’s connections to boost Yunjing Construction Group. In his eyes, I’ve never been a daughter. I’m just a bargaining chip.”

The screaming match from this morning was still vivid in her mind.

Ever since she returned from studying abroad, she had endured three years of arranged blind dates and a life entirely dictated by others. But the moment her father tried to push her into a living hell, her patience finally shattered.

At the time, she had simply looked at him and said calmly, “I have no interest in men. If he’s willing to get a sex change, I might consider it.”

That one sentence bought her a slap across the face. It also permanently shattered whatever lingering hope she had left for Jiang Peng.

“I’m not going back to the company,” Jiang Jingyue said, lifting her gaze. Her eyes held a fierce determination she had never shown before. “L City University of Technology is hiring an engineering budgeting lecturer. I applied, passed, and I’ll be starting in a few days.”

Du Qiaoxi blinked in surprise, then nodded vigorously. “I’m 100% behind you! Going to a university is great. The environment is peaceful, and hey… who knows, maybe you can even bring back a cute younger girl or guy while you’re at it!”

Jiang Jingyue didn’t answer, though her eyes softened into a gentle crinkle.

She wasn’t looking for romance. She just wanted to escape.

The Jiang family estate was nestled in a suburban villa district of H City…an area where property prices were astronomically high, surrounded by lush, manicured greenery, elegant architecture, and top-tier security. It was a place that practically oozed quiet wealth and prestige.

When Jiang Jingyue returned to the villa that evening, she found her father, Jiang Peng, sitting on the sofa reading. Her older brother, Jiang Jingyu, and his wife, Peng Wenyue, were on the carpet playing with their one-year-old daughter, Jiang Xiaoguo. Her mother, Xiang Zhiruan, sat at the dining table with a face full of worry. Despite the sweet, nonsensical babbles of the baby, the atmosphere in the room was suffocatingly tense.

The moment Jiang Jingyue walked through the door, Jiang Peng didn’t even look up from his book. “Tomorrow, go out and meet Yijie.”

Jiang Jingyue let out a cold laugh. Her voice was soft, but cuttingly clear. “No.”

Jiang Peng slammed his book down and stood up, his eyes blazing with fury. “I raised you, gave you the absolute best education, and now when the family business needs you to make a tiny sacrifice for our future growth, you throw a fit? Once you’re married, feelings will develop naturally!”

“Sacrifice my entire life just to fulfill your ambition?” Jiang Jingyue stared back at him, her eyes completely devoid of warmth. “If you’re going to force me, you might as well marry off my corpse.”

Arguments, shattering glass, desperate attempts to hold people back… in the end, it was her mother who tearfully pulled her upstairs, while her brother and sister-in-law offered their silent support.

Everyone was telling her to leave. Everyone was telling her to run.

And she, truly, wanted nothing more than to run away.

By late August, the official hiring notice arrived exactly as expected. Jiang Jingyue swiftly handed off her responsibilities at work and packed her bags, leaving without a single shred of regret.

The night before her departure, Du Qiaoxi threw a farewell gathering at her own bar, joined by their mutual childhood friends, Yao Ying and Ma Yiming. The four of them had been close since middle school, bound by shared values and endless laughs. The playful teasing, the clinking of glasses, and the warm, genuine blessings from her friends became the last bit of warmth Jiang Jingyue took with her from H City.

The next morning, her brother drove her to the airport. The entire way there, he bombarded her with reminders to take care of herself and not to worry about home.

Jiang Jingyue simply nodded, watching the scenery blur past the window. In her heart, she softly whispered: Goodbye, H City. Goodbye, my old life.

As the plane soared into the clouds, two hours ticked by before it touched down smoothly at L City International Airport.

Beneath her feet was an unfamiliar city; ahead of her was a completely fresh start.

Dragging her suitcase out of the arrival hall, the warm sunlight washed over her striking, elegant features. She had no idea that this journey…born entirely out of a desperate need to escape…would soon lead her right into the arms of the person she would remember, go crazy for, and love for the rest of her life.

Part 2: The Sunny Architecture Major

L City was a place steeped in academic history, boasting endless campuses, cultural roots, and a gentle, historic charm baked right into its bricks and mortar.

Xingyuan Communities sat right by Binhe Road, bursting with vibrant, everyday life. Inside Unit 5, on the 9th floor, Liu Fang was loudly knocking on her daughter’s bedroom door.

“He Zian! It’s twelve-thirty! Get out of bed!”

A muffled, sleepy groan echoed from inside the room. After a lengthy battle with her blanket, He Zian finally crawled out of bed, sporting a disastrously messy mop of hair.

She was twenty-one years old, majoring in Architecture at L City University of Technology, and about to start her junior year. Ever since she was a little kid building block towers and sketching buildings on scrap paper, she had been obsessed with architecture. When college applications came around, she didn’t hesitate to choose this prestigious university right on her doorstep.

He Zian was a ray of pure sunshine…cheerful, outgoing, and highly athletic, which gave her an enviable, healthy stamina. She had inherited the absolute best genes from her parents; her features were clean, sharp, and possessed a refreshing blend of boyish charm and feminine grace that only grew more attractive the longer you looked at her. Standing at a striking 173 cm (5’8″), she was the kind of person who naturally became the center of attention in any crowd.

During her first two years of college, she had received confessions from classmates of all genders…enough people to fill half a classroom…but she always brushed them off with a headache. To He Zian, nothing in this world mattered more than good food.

Romance? What even is that? Can it compete with a plate of braised pork belly? Absolutely not.

People always said college was the prime time for dating, but He Zian and her three roommates begged to differ. In their class of forty students, thirty-six were guys and only four were girls. The real kicker was that the thirty-six guys possessed looks that failed to inspire even a shred of romantic interest. Sitting in the lecture hall, they looked less like college students and more like a delegation of middle-aged corporate managers auditing a meeting.

Watching her daughter inhale her lunch, Liu Fang felt both amused and tender. “Eat slower, honey. You’ll give yourself indigestion.”

“I have to head back to campus this afternoon, so I won’t get to eat your cooking until the weekend,” He Zian mumbled around a mouthful of food. “I missed your food so much.”

“If you ever crave it, just call me. I can always bring some over to your dorm.”

“No, no, please don’t,” He Zian waved her hands quickly. “Taking the bus back and forth is exhausting. I don’t want you dealing with all that travel.”

Liu Fang worked in the community’s property management office handling administrative data tasks. It wasn’t a demanding job, and her office was conveniently located right inside the residential complex. Her husband, He Wanming, was an electrical engineer at a chemical plant in the far suburbs, meaning he could only make the long trek home on weekends.

After finishing her meal, He Zian threw her collarbone-length hair into a quick, practical half-bun that made her look sharp and energized.

Dragging her suitcase behind her, she navigated three different bus transfers, refusing to spend a single penny on a taxi. By the time the bus finally rattled its way to campus, dusk had already fallen. He Zian’s logic was simple: the money saved on a cab ride meant an extra budget for a spectacular meal. The mindset of a true foodie.

She pushed open the dorm room door to find the place already lively.

Liu Dongwang was busy making her bed. With her slightly tanned skin and practical short hair, she looked every bit the textbook straight-A student. Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen and Li Xin were huddled together, gossiping furiously.

“An’an! You’re finally back!” Bai Zhenzhen lunged forward, wrapping her in a massive bear hug. “I missed you so much over the break I practically lost weight! Quickly, feel my waist, see if it got smaller!” She grabbed He Zian’s hand, trying to press it against her waist.

He Zian helplessly tugged her hand back and teased, “Go find your boyfriend if you want a feel. Why are you bothering me? I can’t satisfy you.”

It took Bai Zhenzhen a solid two seconds to process the joke before her face flushed with mock indignation. “Oh my god, He Zian! You’ve never even been in a relationship, but your mind is dirtier than anyone’s!”

Li Xin giggled from the side, while Liu Dongwang remained completely unfazed, keeping her head down to fix her sheets…a true master of ignoring distractions to focus on her own business.

Li Xin pulled out some homemade flatbreads she had brought from her hometown, and the four girls sat in a circle, happily munching away.

Chewing on her bread, Bai Zhenzhen dropped a piece of insider gossip. “Hey, today Li Xin and I helped the counselor photocopy the student information forms for our class.”

“What forms?” He Zian asked casually.

“They’re for that new engineering budgeting course we’re taking this semester. The new professor requested them,” Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes practically sparkled. “Let me tell you, the counselor whispered to us that this professor was hired from out of province. She’s incredibly accomplished and apparently a total, drop-dead gorgeous bombshell!”

He Zian’s eyes lit up slightly. “Really? Wow, now I’m actually looking forward to class.”

Since there weren’t any handsome guys in their major, having a beautiful professor to look at felt like a decent consolation prize to survive the grueling workload of junior year.

Liu Dongwang didn’t even look up. “Doesn’t matter if she’s a beauty or not, as long as she teaches well.”

Bai Zhenzhen gave a dramatic martial arts bow. “Truly the mindset of a scholar. Forgive us simple mortals for our shallow ways.”

The room erupted into laughter.

He Zian had no way of knowing that this casual bit of anticipation would soon trigger a massive, beautiful detour in her life.

An Unexpected Discovery

At that exact moment, across campus in the northeast faculty apartments.

The one-bedroom apartment measured around forty square meters…compact, but incredibly clean, cozy, and featuring a lovely small balcony shaded by lush tree leaves. Jiang Jingyue had just finished unpacking and was quietly whipping up a simple dinner for herself.

Having arrived at the university at noon, she had completed her registration, picked up her keys, and organized her entire living space with staggering efficiency.

Afterward, she had paid a visit to the class counselor to pick up the student roster for the junior architecture class. With three days left before the semester officially kicked off, she wanted to familiarize herself with the faces she would be teaching.

Forty students. Thirty-six guys, four girls. The typical ratio for an engineering major—Jiang Jingyue wasn’t surprised.

But the moment her fingers flipped to He Zian’s page, her hand paused.

In the ID photo, the girl wore her hair in a neat half-bun. Her face was strikingly clean and beautiful, with a crisp, confident brow that exuded a refreshing, vibrant charm.

What truly brought a rare, genuine smile to Jiang Jingyue’s lips, however, was the “Personal Hobbies” section. Where others had filled the blank with standard answers like basketball, sports, or reading, He Zian had written a single, solitary word in bold, honest handwriting:

“Eating!”

Jiang Jingyue stared at that single word, a soft, rare amusement tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Interesting, she thought.

After dinner, a video call from her mother, Xiang Zhiruan, came through. The moment the connection went live, a barrage of worried, loving questions poured out: “Have you finished settling in? Is the apartment comfortable? I’m keeping this a secret from your father, so just focus entirely on your work…”

Jiang Jingyue listened quietly, her usual cold demeanor softening into a gentle warmth as she patiently reassured her mother.

After hanging up, she washed up and went to bed early. The long day of traveling and unpacking had finally caught up to her.

As she drifted off to sleep, the quiet campus of L City University of Technology waited just outside her window, holding the first pages of a story she never saw coming.

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