MYA | Chapter 1

Do you believe in a past life?

Believe that once, someone fell into Karmic Fire for you, and was reborn from death.

·

Luo Zhiwen stepped into the elevator and was about to press the button for the basement level.

“Wait!” A young clerk clutching a folder came rushing down the end of the corridor, out of breath. “Hey, wait for me!”

Luo Zhiwen lowered his head, tugged his mask higher, then helped press the door-open button.

The clerk hurried into the elevator and gasped out a thank-you. “Thanks. You, you’re really... Ah!”

With a cry, the papers in his hands scattered all over the floor.

Luo Zhiwen sighed and bent to pick them up.

“I wasn’t... I didn’t mean to.” The clerk apologized in a panic, but he no longer dared look at Luo Zhiwen’s face.

The left side of his face was delicate and handsome, but the right was covered in hideous dark red scars.

Luo Zhiwen knew he had frightened someone, so he shook his head gently. “It’s fine.”

The clerk recovered and, hugging his folder, said softly, “Hey, cosmetic dermatology is so advanced these days. You could get some work done! You’re so handsome, it’d be a waste not to.”

“I’ll think about it.” Luo Zhiwen answered good-naturedly, lifting his eyelids to glance at the floor number.

Twenty-seven.

His chest tightened.

The clerk was going to the twenty-ninth floor, so the elevator would go up first, then back down.

Luo Zhiwen prayed in his heart that no one would get on midway.

Unfortunately, wishes were not granted. When the elevator reached the twenty-eighth floor, the doors slowly opened.

“Feng, this proposal has to be redone according to my idea!” The young man who stepped in first chattered on without pause. “Your idea doesn’t fit the market at all. I don’t agree with your view.”

Feng Qingzhu said coldly, “I don’t care.”

The man wore a tailored black suit, looking both refined and aloof. His left hand rested lazily in his trouser pocket. As he looked up at the electronic display on the wall, the corner of his eye caught Luo Zhiwen, who was desperately trying to hide himself in the corner.

Feng Qingzhu’s brows drew together in an instant. “What are you doing here?”

Before Luo Zhiwen could answer, Han Qianshan jumped in first. “Sis...”

Luo Zhiwen’s brow twitched, and before Han Qianshan could get the word out, he spoke up. “I have something to do.”

After a pause, he added, “It’s done already. I’m heading home right away.”

Feng Qingzhu lowered his lashes and said lightly, “All right.”

The young clerk, huddled in the other corner of the wall, managed to squeak out a trembling “Hello, CEO Feng,” before the elevator doors closed again, then fled in panic.

Han Qianshan grinned and pressed the close button, then looked at Luo Zhiwen and called, “Sister-in-law.”

Luo Zhiwen awkwardly tugged at his mask, his heart pounding hard.

“What did you call him?” Feng Qingzhu’s voice cut in suddenly, icy enough to make his heart ache. “I’m not familiar with him.”

Han Qianshan probably thought he had made Luo Zhiwen uncomfortable by bringing up the topic, so he hurried to smooth things over. “Feng, that’s not fair. He’s been married to you for three years, right? What’s wrong with me calling him sister-in-law?”

“...Sister-in-law, don’t be mad. Feng just finished a meeting and thought the proposal was terrible, so he’s in a really bad mood. Wait for me, when his mood improves, I’ll make him apologize to you right away!”

Luo Zhiwen forced a smile and watched Han Qianshan and Feng Qingzhu leave the elevator for the office on the thirtieth floor. Only after the doors closed again did he pull off his mask and lean against the wall, breathing hard.

He would not be naive enough to think Feng Qingzhu would come apologize, because that man had already told him three years ago that marrying him was only the decision of their elders and had nothing to do with love.

Luo Zhiwen remembered how, back then, he had stiffened his spine and answered, “It’s fine. I agreed to marry you because I wanted to make Old Master Feng happy too. Don’t worry, if anyone asks in the future, I won’t say you’re already married, and you don’t need to fulfill a husband’s responsibilities to me.”

What had Feng Qingzhu said then?

Oh, the man had laughed mockingly. “The word husband will never be used between us.”

The marriage between Luo Zhiwen and Feng Qingzhu was both a business alliance and a marriage of fortune.

Luo Zhiwen had been fostered in the Feng family since he was young. The Feng children had all been taken overseas by their parents, leaving only him to keep Old Master Feng company.

Old Master Feng had a kind heart. He did not mind the ugly scar on Luo Zhiwen’s face, and fearing that he might not fare well in the years ahead, he entrusted him to his eldest grandson, Feng Qingzhu, on his deathbed.

Feng Qingzhu was filial and agreed to the marriage. It was only a pity that after Luo Zhiwen happily married in, he learned that Feng Qingzhu had a first love in his heart, called Ah Wen.

The difference between “Wen” and “Wen” was only one character, yet they were completely different people.

But Luo Zhiwen also hid a secret in his heart. He remembered his past life, remembered that in the years of war and chaos, he had waited for one person for many years, and that person had a face exactly like Feng Qingzhu’s.

Luo Zhiwen did not remember what had happened between them, but from the moment he saw Feng Qingzhu, his heart belonged to only one person.

Unfortunately, the past is like wind and cannot be chased. Luo Zhiwen was still in love with Feng Qingzhu as he had been in his previous life, but Feng Qingzhu had fallen for someone else.

It was really nothing.

Luo Zhiwen thought to himself that after three years of marriage, he had long since gotten used to it. Besides, Feng Qingzhu did not love him, but he also would not take out his feelings for an emotionless marriage on him.

At the very least, legally, they were already husband and wife.

When the elevator doors opened again, Luo Zhiwen went down to the underground garage and drove home in his SUV.

At the same time, in the office on the thirtieth floor, Feng Qingzhu opened Han Qianshan’s proposal.

Han Qianshan said, “Feng, I think sister-in-law is a pretty good person. Is it because of his face...”

Snap!

Feng Qingzhu shut the file abruptly, then looked over with displeasure. “What did you say?”

“I know you definitely don’t care about appearances, and cosmetic dermatology is so advanced now. Sister-in-law will look really good after treatment.” Han Qianshan pressed on despite his nerves. “The person you told me to look into doesn’t exist at all. Why can’t you just live a good life with sister-in-law?”

“How could he not exist?” Feng Qingzhu’s expression turned even colder.

“Ah Wen, Ah Wen.” Han Qianshan spread his hands. “Feng, you only gave me that one clue. How am I supposed to find someone? There are too many people named Ah Wen in all of China. Even if I searched for ten years, I still might not find the one you want.”

At Han Qianshan’s words, Feng Qingzhu’s jaw tightened little by little.

Han Qianshan kept pouring oil on the fire. “A full name, an appearance... Any little detail would do!”

“Fire,” Feng Qingzhu said, lightly rubbing his long fingers over the folder as he turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. “A very large fire.”

“Feng, were you in a fire? Did this Ah Wen save you?”

Feng Qingzhu withdrew his gaze, crossed his hands, and shook his head bitterly. “No, he didn’t save me.”

He was swallowed by the tongues of fire.

It was I who did not save him.

Far down the street, Luo Zhiwen drove his SUV farther and farther away.

Author’s note:

Ah... the story of reincarnation may be a little different from what everyone imagined.

Just to explain, the current situation is that Feng, the elder one, remembers everything from his past life, but not Luo Zhiwen’s face. Luo Zhiwen remembers Feng Qingzhu’s face, but not what happened before.

Mm, it’s sweet. It’s about to get really good.