The word "boyfriend" died on the nurse's lips.
Oops… almost slipped. Last night, the hospital director personally received a man in gold-rimmed glasses—a face so flawlessly sculpted it silenced the night-shift nurses. His expression was taut with worry, cradling an unconscious, breathtakingly beautiful woman. She'd been assigned to this room, privileged to witness the pair: the woman, doll-like with porcelain skin and mesmerizing fox-eyes; the man, imposing in his tailored suit, icy aura melting only when he looked at her. The untouched meal tray? His specific order.
They're clearly a couple, she'd thought. His burning gaze, impossible to hide, convinced anyone. Yet, before leaving, he'd instructed: Don't tell her I brought her here.
Why? she'd blurted.
His answer was cryptic, tinged with melancholy. "It's not time yet."
Ah, she'd concluded, a lovers' quarrel. He's planning a grand gesture.
"Sorry?" Jiang Zhi prompted, confused by the abrupt pause.
The nurse snapped back, offering an awkward smile. "The man who brought you in... has left."
"A man?" Jiang Zhi's pulse quickened. Fragments of her dream—warmth, cedar scent, a tender voice—surfaced. Could it have been real?
The nurse's next words shattered the hope. "Yes, it was an anonymous delivery uncle last night." She handed Jiang Zhi a slip of paper, reciting the script from the man's assistant verbatim. "He said helping you was nothing. If you insist on repaying him, donate to this orphanage."
Jiang Zhi unfolded the paper. The name "Xingfu Orphanage" stared back—a place achingly familiar. Burdened by her father's crimes, she'd long supported charities; Xingfu was one. If her rescuer wished anonymity, she'd honor it.
After lunch, Jiang Zhi reached for her phone to arrange donations. It was dead. Puzzled—it still held 50% charge—she powered it on. Dozens of missed calls flooded the screen: Jiang Nian's and her Aunt Cheng Shuwen's. Without hesitation, Jiang Zhi blocked every trace of Jiang Nian. She swiftly ordered supplies online for Xingfu, donated a sum in the "delivery uncle's" name, and notified the orphanage director.
As she braced to call Cheng Shuwen back, her aunt's number flashed.
"Finally gracing us with an answer, Miss Jiang?" Cheng Shuwen's shrill voice pierced the line. "Too grand now as the 'Film Emperor's' agent to pick up? Don't forget who fed and clothed you after your father went to prison! Now your uncle needs help, and you hide?! Ungrateful wretch! Should've let you starve on the streets!"
Jiang Zhi absorbed the vitriol, numb. Her father, jailed for corruption during her sophomore year; her mother, long gone since high school. Her uncle Qin Ming was her only refuge. She'd lived with him since, enduring Cheng Shuwen's venom—the insults, the blows in her uncle's absence. To spare Qin Ming conflict, Jiang Zhi swallowed the bitterness, avoided home, lived in dorms, worked tirelessly from junior year onward. Her uncle's love was her sole warmth—generous, treating her as his own daughter. She vividly recalled that rain-lashed night her father was taken: her uncle's hand gentle on her head, his promise solemn. "As long as Uncle is here, Zhizhi will always have a home. You'll always be the princess of the Qin family."
He never knew: that night, she hadn't grieved. Her princess dreams died with her mother, buried deep, replaced by harsh reality.
"Speak! Cat got your tongue?!" Cheng Shuwen's roar yanked her back.
Jiang Zhi steeled herself. "What's wrong with Uncle?"
"Stop playing dumb!" Cheng Shuwen sneered. "A hotshot agent like you, oblivious to the Qin Group's scandal online? Don't think I don't know how much your uncle's wasted on you—"
"What do you want me to do? Spit it out." Jiang Zhi's voice was ice, cutting her off. She braced for a demand for money.
Cheng Shuwen paused, startled by the bluntness. Before she could reply, a scuffle erupted on the line—fabric rustling, paper tearing—followed by Uncle Qin Ming's furious roar.
"You searched Zhizhi's room?! That's a violation of her privacy!!"
Cheng Shuwen remained defiant. "Husband! We've fed and clothed Jiang Zhi all these years! Now the company faces bankruptcy—it's her duty to repay us! Besides, marrying into the Shang family is every girl's dream! She'd be set for life, no more groveling for others! I'm doing her a favor!"
Jiang Zhi's heart plummeted.
The marriage contract. Cheng Shuwen had found it—the agreement Grandfather had entrusted to her before his death.