The man stood at the end of the narrow path, his tall frame outlined by the mountain light.
From a distance, Lin Che could already tell — he wasn't from the village.
No one around here dressed like that.
His black shirt was crisp, fitted perfectly across his broad shoulders, the fabric gleaming faintly as the wind moved through the trees. A silver watch peeked from beneath his sleeve, glinting with every small motion of his hand. His posture was straight, his every movement deliberate and calm — not the slightest hint of hesitation.
A person like that… couldn't possibly belong here.
Lin Che paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly. Her secret place, the one corner of the village where she could always find peace, now had a stranger standing right in the middle of it, calmly making a phone call.
The audacity.
For a brief moment, she thought of turning back. After all, he looked… intimidating. Everything about him screamed authority — the kind of person you instinctively avoided.
But then a flicker of annoyance passed through her.
This was her place.
If she let him just stand there, it would feel like a stain on a blank sheet of paper — a single, stubborn dot she couldn't ignore.
She took a deep breath and decided she wasn't going to back away.
As she walked closer, the soft sound of his voice carried through the breeze.
"Yes," he said coolly into the phone, his tone low and deep. "Make sure the reports are ready by the time I return to the city. No mistakes this time."
His voice alone made her steps falter for half a second — calm, powerful, and cold.
He was obviously not someone to trifle with.
Still, Lin Che lifted her chin. "Sir, are you lost?" she asked, her tone polite, though her eyes carried a faint spark of challenge.
The man — Gong Feng — was silent for a moment, as if he hadn't heard her. He was still speaking into his phone, his gaze fixed somewhere in the distance, the sunlight glinting off the dark glasses perched on his nose.
But then, as he turned around, their eyes — or rather, her eyes — met the place where his should have been.
And she froze.
Even though his eyes were hidden, she could still feel it — that piercing presence beneath the lenses. The sharp lines of his face, the defined jaw, the calm but cold air around him — it all radiated something dangerous, something powerful.
For a brief, unguarded moment, her heart skipped.
He was beautiful.
Not the delicate, soft kind of beauty, but the sort that made you stop breathing — the kind that felt untouchable, carved from something distant and unreachable.
A little beauty, she thought unconsciously, biting her lip.
A little beauty who just happened to be trespassing in her space.
And just as she thought this, he finally spoke.
Gong Feng had noticed her the moment her voice reached him.
He turned slowly, phone still in hand, and his usual calm faltered for just an instant.
The girl before him — simple dress, a few strands of hair loose from her braid, sunlight catching on the faint droplets of sweat on her forehead — was… stunning.
Not in a loud way. But in a way that silenced everything around her.
He blinked once, almost to ground himself.
The assistant's voice droned on from the other end of the phone, but he barely heard it. For the first time in a long while, Gong Feng found himself speechless.
"Sir," she said again, this time her tone edged with a touch of irritation. "Are you lost?"
Her brows furrowed slightly as she looked up at him, her hands on her hips now.
That little bit of anger — faint, fiery, and restrained — struck something deep inside him.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
For a fleeting second, an idea crossed his mind — to say something teasing, just to see how this young woman would react if he provoked her a little. Her expressive face was already giving him too much to think about.
But before he could even open his mouth —
"Che Che! Come over! We have gifts!"
The voice burst through the quiet air — loud, bright, and utterly shattering the fragile silence that had built up between them.
Lin Che blinked, startled. That voice… she knew it too well.
Nan Lu.
Of course, it had to be Nan Lu.
"Lin Che! Where are you?" Nan Lu's voice carried down the path, playful yet impatient. "I know you're here! Come out quickly, the Gong family is bringing out gifts! If you're late, you'll miss something good! You already know you're going to be the new mistress of the Gong family!"
Lin Che's breath caught.
Her face flushed instantly — half from embarrassment, half from irritation.
That girl!
Couldn't she just stop talking for one moment?
Did she have to shout that here of all places?!
Lin Che's eyes widened in panic, and she spun toward the direction of the voice, wanting to scream back before her friend's loud mouth caused her more mortification than she could handle.
But before she could, Nan Lu called again — even louder this time. "Che Che! Don't make me come find you!"
Mortified, Lin Che blurted out, "I'm coming!" Her voice was hurried and breathless, as though trying to patch over Nan Lu's dangerous words.
She turned to run, but her feet refused to move for a split second.
Her gaze — unwillingly, inexplicably — drifted back to the man standing behind her.
He hadn't moved at all.
The wind ruffled his hair lightly, sunlight catching on the dark glasses that still sat neatly on the bridge of his nose. His expression was unreadable, and yet there was something there — a flicker of curiosity, maybe, or something deeper that she couldn't name.
For a heartbeat, time seemed to stretch between them.
Lin Che felt something strange stir in her chest — a faint pull, as though something inside her wanted to stay a little longer. But she quickly shook the feeling off, telling herself she was being ridiculous.
With one last glance — brief but intense — she turned and bolted down the path.
In a matter of moments, her light footsteps disappeared into the distance, and the curve of the path swallowed her whole.
Silence returned.
The same soft breeze, the same mountain scent — but the space suddenly felt different.
Almost… emptier.