This is mine, you must eat it.

Chen Zhi stared at the face on the screen, its nose red from the cold, and remained silent for a full three seconds.

"How the hell did you—"

He swallowed the rest of his sentence, lowering his voice to a whisper, and turned his head to listen to the noise next door.

The mahjong table in the living room was still clattering, the sound of shuffling tiles rolling like waves, one after another. Zhang Guifang had just yelled "Pong," followed immediately by Uncle Lin's hearty laughter.

Thank goodness, these elders were having the time of their lives; they probably wouldn't budge for anything.

As for Lin Wanwan, the girl was sleeping like a log earlier, so she probably wouldn't wake up easily either.

Chen Zhi quickly placed his phone face down on the bed, stood up from his chair, and grabbed the long black down jacket hanging on the rack, throwing it on. He didn't even have time to find socks; he slipped his bare feet into his cotton slippers, pulled up the heels, and headed out.

At the door, he stopped, took a deep breath, and adjusted his expression.

He pushed the door open and leaned half his body out.

"Mom, I'm going out to buy something."

Zhang Guifang didn't even look up. She was staring intently at the tiles in her hand, deep in thought, her brows furrowed tightly. "What are you buying in the middle of the night... Hurry back! It's cold outside, remember to wear more clothes!"

"Got it."

Chen Zhi closed the door, feeling a wave of relief.

What kind of mess was this?

His official girlfriend was fast asleep upstairs, while his wealthy lover was blowing in the cold wind downstairs.

If these two bumped into each other, they wouldn't need to watch the Spring Festival Gala this year; they could just switch directly to a true-crime show.

In the elevator, the signal returned. Chen Zhi held his phone upright again and stared at Pei Ningxue's face.

"Why are you here?"

On the screen, Pei Ningxue sniffled, her white breath fogging up the camera.

"I wanted to come, so I did."

"Are you crazy?" Chen Zhi gritted his teeth. "It's New Year's Eve. Why aren't you staying at home instead of running over here?"

Pei Ningxue brushed her wind-blown hair away from her face. The camera shook a bit, and the streetlight in the background clearly illuminated her cold, flushed face.

She was wearing a light-colored cashmere coat with exquisite tailoring, clearly expensive at first glance. But on a winter night several degrees below zero, its warming effect was practically zero.

"I felt like it."

The young lady's tone remained haughty, but there was a faint, barely noticeable tremble in her voice.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

Chen Zhi put his phone away and pushed open the building's entrance door.

Pei Ningxue was standing by the flowerbed not far away.

With one hand in her pocket and the other holding her phone, she was huddled into a ball, looking like a lost white swan.

Seeing Chen Zhi come out, she hung up the phone and just stood there watching him.

Chen Zhi walked over in a few strides.

Up close, he realized she looked even more miserable than on the video.

Her cheeks were red from the cold, her lips a bit pale, and she was shivering in the freezing wind while wrapped in that ridiculously expensive cashmere coat.

The two of them just stood there facing each other.

"Tell me, it's the New Year, one o'clock in the morning, and you ran all the way to my building. For what?" Looking at her state, half the anger in Chen Zhi's heart instantly dissipated, leaving only helplessness.

Pei Ningxue shoved her phone into her pocket and looked up at him.

Her beautiful eyes reflected the dim yellow light of the streetlamp, as well as Chen Zhi's shadow.

"I'm the only one from the Pei family in the provincial capital this year."

"My dad went home with that woman for the New Year. I didn't want to go."

Chen Zhi froze for a moment.

A gust of wind blew past, and Pei Ningxue visibly shivered.

Chen Zhi sighed and started unzipping his down jacket.

"What are you doing?" Pei Ningxue watched his movements.

Chen Zhi ignored her, took off his thick black down jacket, and draped it over Pei Ningxue without a word.

The oversized men's down jacket instantly enveloped her completely, its length falling past her knees.

"Put it on properly."

Pei Ningxue didn't refuse.

She took the opportunity to dive forward, slipping her hands out of the sleeves to tightly hug Chen Zhi's waist, pressing herself firmly against his chest.

The down jacket still held his body heat, mixed with that scent of his that always made her feel secure.

Good thing he had listened to his mother and put on a heavy coat. Mothers really do know best; otherwise, he'd be freezing to death right now.

The hoodie Chen Zhi wore underneath wasn't thick, but it barely managed to keep the cold out.

"I'm freezing to death," she said, pressing her icy cheek against Chen Zhi's chest.

Chen Zhi reached out and wrapped his arms around her back.

"Is your several-hundred-square-meter villa not big enough for you? You just had to come here to freeze?"

Pei Ningxue's muffled voice came from inside the down jacket.

"The nanny and maids all went home for the New Year. I'm the only one in that huge house. It's so cold and lonely."

She looked up, resting her chin on his chest. "I missed you, so I came."

Chen Zhi's body stiffened for a second. Although Pei Ningxue was usually clingy, it was mostly just her teasing him. Her straightforward vulnerability today left him unsure of how to respond.

After hugging him for a while, Pei Ningxue let go. She reached up to pull the wide collar of the down jacket closer together, her gaze looking past Chen Zhi's shoulder toward the building's iron gate.

"Since I'm already here, aren't you going to invite me up? I even prepared red envelopes for the New Year," Pei Ningxue blinked. "It's the perfect time to go wish your parents a happy New Year."

"Stop messing around," Chen Zhi refused decisively. "My parents and Lin Wanwan's parents are upstairs playing mahjong right now, and Lin Wanwan is sleeping right across the hall. If you go up there now, none of us will survive the night."

"Scumbag," Pei Ningxue cursed from his embrace.

"You know I'm a scumbag, yet you still keep clinging to me," Chen Zhi didn't push her away.

Pei Ningxue tightened her arms around him a bit more.

"I won't let go, and I won't admit defeat. So what if Lin Wanwan is upstairs? I'm the one holding you right now."

Chen Zhi felt a bit of a headache coming on.

This woman's competitiveness always flared up at the most inexplicable times.

"Alright, let's stop standing in the wind. Have you eaten dinner?"

Pei Ningxue shook her head.

"I was too full of anger to eat."

Chen Zhi sighed, let go of her, and reached out to pull the down jacket's hood over her head, hiding that strikingly beautiful face.

"Let's go, I'll take you to get something to eat. How do you not know how to take care of yourself?"

"Where to? Your place?" Pei Ningxue's eyes lit up.

"In your dreams." Chen Zhi flicked her forehead. "To the street up ahead."

Pei Ningxue obediently let Chen Zhi take her hand and lead her away.

At one o'clock in the morning on the first day of the New Year, the streets of the provincial capital were completely empty. There wasn't a single soul in sight, and all the restaurants had closed their doors long ago.

The occasional sporadic sound of firecrackers from the distance only made the quietness feel more desolate.

Chen Zhi led Pei Ningxue for a few hundred meters until they finally spotted a brightly lit 24-hour convenience store on a street corner.

"This is all there is, my lady. You'll have to make do."

Chen Zhi pushed the door open, and a wave of warm air mixed with the aroma of oden hit their faces.

The clerk was a young guy dozing off on the counter. Hearing the noise, he groggily lifted his head and froze for a moment when he saw the man and woman walk in.

The man was wearing a thin hoodie, while the woman was wrapped in an ill-fitting men's down jacket, revealing a section of her calves clad in exquisite boots.

"Welcome."

Chen Zhi walked over to the oden counter and picked up a paper cup.

"What do you want?"

Pei Ningxue peeked over, a hint of novelty actually gleaming in those eyes accustomed to exquisite delicacies.

"This one, this one, and that round one."

Chen Zhi picked up some pork tenderloin, konjac knots, and fish balls, then grabbed a bowl of braised beef instant noodles.

He poured the oden broth into the instant noodles, steam rising from the bowl.

The two sat at the long counter by the window.

Who would have thought? One was the founder of an AI unicorn company worth billions, and the other was the wealthy heiress of a listed company.

Yet here they were, in the early hours of Lunar New Year's Day, huddled in a small convenience store, eating a meal of instant noodles and oden that cost less than fifty yuan combined.

Pei Ningxue unzipped the down jacket a little, revealing her delicate face.

She took a pair of disposable chopsticks, snapped them apart, picked up some noodles, blew on them, and began to eat in small bites.

The steam made her eyelashes damp.

"Don't throw a tantrum next time. There's nothing wrong with going back with your parents. Otherwise, it's pretty pathetic to be eating instant noodles here on New Year's," Chen Zhi couldn't help but lecture as he looked at Pei Ningxue across from him.

Pei Ningxue swallowed a juicy beef ball and turned to look at him.

"It's not pathetic at all. I like eating like this."

As long as I'm with you, I'll eat anything.

Pei Ningxue asked the clerk for an empty paper cup, transferred some konjac knots and radish from her bowl into it, and poured in a little broth.

Then she pushed it in front of Chen Zhi, her beautiful eyes staring straight at him.

"Eat with me."

Chen Zhi looked at the paper cup pushed his way and smiled helplessly.

"I already ate at home just now. I'm stuffed."

"I don't care. This is my New Year's Eve dinner," Pei Ningxue held the cup up stubbornly. "You have to eat it."

Chen Zhi had no choice but to humor her. He took the cup, picked up a piece of radish, and stuffed it into his mouth.

A thin layer of mist formed on the glass windows of the convenience store.

The two of them ate with their heads close together. Neither spoke; there was only the sound of slurping noodles.

After finishing their food, they walked out of the store.

The wind seemed to have died down a bit.

Wearing Chen Zhi's down jacket, Pei Ningxue looked petite. Chen Zhi, wearing only a hoodie, had his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders hunched against the cold.

"Are you cold?" Pei Ningxue stopped and turned to look at him.

"Nonsense, take off the jacket and try it yourself," Chen Zhi rolled his eyes.

Pei Ningxue suddenly smiled, a smile so bright it was dazzling in the dead of night.

She opened her arms.

"If you're cold, hug me like you did just now. I liked that."

Looking at her asking for a hug, Chen Zhi's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm not cold," he said stubbornly. "Hurry up and walk. Soon my mom is going to realize I've been out buying cigarettes for an hour."

Pei Ningxue looked at Chen Zhi and didn't speak for a long time.

Her gaze was complex, carrying a touch of attachment, yet also a certain resolute determination.

She was very smart, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten into Peking University on her own merits, so she knew exactly what Chen Zhi was thinking.

It was nothing more than the fear that if he stayed with her too long, his childhood sweetheart at home would get suspicious.

Pei Ningxue felt indignant, but there was nothing she could do. Love was just like that; the one who fell in love first had already lost.

"What's wrong?" Chen Zhi felt a bit uneasy under her stare. "Is there something on my face?"

Pei Ningxue shook her head.

She suddenly reached out, unzipped the down jacket, and swiftly took off Chen Zhi's coat.

The freezing wind instantly pierced through her thin coat, but she acted as if she couldn't feel the cold.

"Here's your jacket back. I'm going home."

Pei Ningxue tossed the down jacket, still carrying her body heat and the scent of her perfume, into Chen Zhi's arms.

Chen Zhi scrambled to catch the jacket, looking completely bewildered.

"What are you doing? Where are you going in the middle of the night? There aren't even any taxis around here."

Pei Ningxue didn't speak; she just lifted her chin, gesturing for him to look at the side of the road.

Chen Zhi followed her gaze.

He saw that a black sedan was parked in the shadows by the road, having arrived at some unknown time.

The car's body was long and elegantly contoured, and the Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood gleamed with a cold light under the streetlamp.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Bearing a prestigious Beijing A license plate.

The car door opened, and a middle-aged chauffeur wearing a black suit and white gloves stepped out, respectfully opening the rear door.

"Miss."

Chen Zhi: "..."

So that whole "distressed heiress wandering the streets" drama just now was all an act put on for me?

Is this what rich people call a romantic quirk?