"The excitement begins now! Don't leave! Just a few more pages and you won't want to go! The best part is coming right up!"
"Son, get up and eat. Your dad just called—someone will be here soon to pick you up for your new assignment. Stop sleeping and get out of bed!"
Li Ming groggily heard his mother calling him. Fighting off his drowsiness, he forced his eyes open.
"What assignment? So soon? I don’t even know which department I’m being assigned to yet! How am I supposed to start already?"
Li Ming was completely baffled.
"You know how your father is—always swift and decisive. Stop complaining and hurry up. They’ll be here soon to pick you up."
Hearing this, Li Ming had no choice but to quickly get dressed. Watching his mother drag out a large suitcase and stuff his clothes inside one by one, he couldn’t help but protest.
"Mom! You don’t need to pack so much. It’s not like I’m moving. I’ll just take a backpack with a couple of things—I can buy whatever else I need there!"
"Don’t worry about it. Go eat first! Breakfast is ready, hurry up!"
Unable to argue with his mother, Li Ming gave in and went to wash up before eating.
Before long, the sound of a car horn echoed from the villa’s front gate.
Beep beep beep!
Hearing the noise, Li Ming’s eyes lit up. He grabbed his suitcase and slowly made his way to the door, his mother following close behind.
Outside, a black Jeep SUV came into view.
He knew this must be the car sent to pick him up.
The Jeep’s door slowly opened, and out stepped a stunningly beautiful woman—her expression cool and composed, her skin flawless and fair, her figure perfectly curvaceous.
The woman stepped out, glanced at Li Ming holding his suitcase, and then approached his mother with a polite greeting.
"Auntie Jiang, hello! It’s been a while. I’m Lin Xi—my father is Lin Aiguo." A warm smile graced Lin Xi’s lovely face as she spoke.
"Oh! Little Xi! I didn’t even recognize you! My, how you’ve grown! It hasn’t been that long, but you’ve become so beautiful—like a fairy!" Li Ming’s mother took Lin Xi’s hands in hers, showering her with astonished praise.
"Hehe, Auntie Jiang, you’re just as beautiful as ever! You haven’t aged a bit—still so youthful!" Lin Xi replied.
"Oh, I’m already old. It’s your generation’s time now! So, Xi, do you have a boyfriend yet? You used to play house with my Li Ming when you were little!" Jiang Wan teased, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.
"Ahem! Mom, stop embarrassing her! You should head back now. Lin Xi and I probably have a long trip ahead." Seeing his mother teasing Lin Xi, Li Ming quickly stepped in to rescue her.
"Tch! You brat! Just like your father—once you leave home, you’re like a wildcat, never knowing when to come back!" Jiang Wan rolled her eyes at her son, though she wasn’t truly upset. After all, a grown son needed to venture out into the world.
"Auntie Jiang, Li Ming is right. We really do have a long way to go. Our destination isn’t in City A—it’s quite far from here," Lin Xi added with a smile.
"Alright, alright. I won’t keep you for a meal then. Drive safely, and be careful on the road!" Jiang Wan stuffed the luggage into the trunk and watched as Li Ming and Lin Xi got into the car.
"Goodbye, Auntie Jiang!" Lin Xi said politely.
"Don’t worry, Mom! It’s not like I’m never coming back. Once I settle in, I’ll visit you soon!" Li Ming, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. With transportation so advanced these days, he could easily come home on leave.
"Go on, then! You ungrateful brat!"
……
On the road!
Once inside the car, Lin Xi reverted to her earlier cool and aloof demeanor, exuding an air of effortless confidence.
Li Ming felt a little awkward striking up a conversation, but with just the two of them in the car, he had no one else to ask the countless questions swirling in his mind. Swallowing his hesitation, he finally spoke up.
"Lin Xi, where exactly are we going?"
Keeping her eyes on the road, Lin Xi replied,
"Somewhere good. You’ll find out when we get there. I can’t say anything on the way—your father’s orders."
Hearing this, Li Ming felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
What kind of job assignment required this level of secrecy? Wouldn’t he find out once they arrived anyway? Why couldn’t she just tell him now?
"Fine. If my dad won’t let you say where, then can you at least tell me why you’re the one picking me up? Are you assigned to that department too?" Li Ming asked curiously.
Back when they were kids, he and Lin Xi had been close friends. Their fathers were practically inseparable, like brothers. But as they grew older, the distance between boys and girls naturally widened. It had been six or seven years since he’d last seen Lin Xi. He never expected her to have changed so much—the sweet little girl from his memories had blossomed into this stunning woman.
"Way to hit a sore spot. But yes, you guessed right. I’ve been there for two years already." Lin Xi shot him a brief glare before refocusing on driving, ignoring him again.
Li Ming was baffled. What’s with the sudden mood swing? I was just asking a question. Such an overreaction. What a waste of a pretty face—so cold and distant. She was much cuter as a kid.
With Lin Xi ignoring him, the car fell into silence. Li Ming played with his phone for a while before drowsiness crept back in. Reclining his seat, he dozed off before he knew it.
He was jolted awake by the bumpy ride.
Rubbing his bleary eyes, he realized it was already pitch-dark outside. There wasn’t a single city light in sight—just endless darkness, broken only by the faint glow of the car’s headlights on the road ahead.
Li Ming blinked in confusion before suddenly sitting bolt upright.
"Holy crap! Where the hell are we? Why are we in the middle of a forest?!"
His eyes widened in disbelief. Beside him, Lin Xi remained unfazed, calmly driving without so much as a flinch at his outburst.
"Your workplace, of course. We’re almost there—just another ten minutes or so." For once, Lin Xi’s voice was soft.
"Huh? My workplace? What kind of office is built in the middle of nowhere? Did my dad exile me to the borderlands or something? He’s not even my stepdad!!" Li Ming rolled down the window and stuck his head out, scanning the surroundings. No matter how he looked at it, this place was just a desolate mountain.
The ground was nothing but dirt and gravel. Forget streetlights—there probably wasn’t a living soul for miles around.
Now wide awake, Li Ming sat stiffly in his seat, bracing himself as Lin Xi drove onward.
Finally…
After another ten minutes of winding mountain roads…
A towering perimeter wall loomed into view at the end of the path. With Li Ming gaping in shock, Lin Xi drove straight through the gates into the compound.
The row of large characters mounted on the wall left Li Ming frozen, unable to process what he was seeing.
Black Mountain Women’s Prison!!!!!
(Thousands of daily reminders to update aren’t a joke! Stay tuned for more!)...
"Just you wait—seven trips in and out of the dark room!"