The evening sky over the Jiang neighborhood was a bruised purple, and inside the small apartment, the smell of braised pork and ginger filled the air. The peace was shattered by a sharp, rhythmic knock at the door.
Jiang Min shuffled to the door, her spirit still heavy. When she pulled it open, the breath caught in her throat. Standing there, silhouetted against the hallway light, was Le Mei. She looked every bit the "Goddess," holding a designer bag, her expression unreadable.
"Why are you here?" Min stammered, her voice failing her.
Mei offered a small, composed smile—one that carried no malice. "Won't you invite me inside?"
"Min-Min, who is it?" Lin Xia called from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.
"A... schoolmate," Min managed to say. With no other choice, she stepped aside, but as she moved forward, a firm, warm hand tapped her on the shoulder. Thinking it was Mei being pushy, Min spun around with a flash of her old "Warrior" annoyance.
"Hey, don't—"
The words died. Standing behind Mei was Gu Wei. He was dressed in a crisp, tailored shirt that made him look like he'd stepped off a magazine cover, and in his hand, he held a vibrant, fragrant bouquet of lilies and carnations.
"Brother Wei?" Min's eyes went wide. "You came too?"
Lin Xia emerged from the kitchen just as Wei stepped into the light. Min's heart did a frantic little skip; seeing the flowers, she instinctively reached out her hands, thinking they were for her.
But Wei, with a playful glint in his eyes, moved right past her. He bowed gracefully to Lin Xia. "A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady," he said, his voice smooth as silk.
Mei let out a refined laugh at Min's frozen, empty-handed stance. Min's face turned a violent shade of crimson as she pulled her hands back, tucking them awkwardly behind her back.
"Aiya, what a good boy!" Xia beamed, clearly impressed by the politeness. "You certainly know how to treat a lady." From the sofa, Jiang Rou laughed heartily, watching his daughter's embarrassment with amusement.
Wei introduced himself with a grand, formal air, then introduced Mei. A silent, heavy look passed between Rou and Xia. "So this is Mei," their eyes said. "The girl our daughter has been crying about."
"Please, sit," Rou invited, gesturing to the sofa. Min, feeling like a stranger in her own home, sat stiffly beside her father, staring at the wall.
"Get some snacks for the children, Xia," Rou said.
"Oh, I forgot! Just a moment!" Xia rushed back to the kitchen, returning seconds later with a tray of sunflower seeds and fruit.
Wei glanced at Mei. With a nod, Mei reached into her bag and pulled out a thick, cream-colored envelope embossed with gold. She handed it to Rou. "Tomorrow is my birthday. I am hosting a banquet in the evening, and I would very much like for your entire family to attend."
The room went silent. Rou looked at Xia; she gave a subtle nod. "We would be honored to attend," Rou said with a fatherly smile.
"I won't go!" Min suddenly shouted, her voice cracking. She bolted from the sofa, her footsteps thundering down the hall before her bedroom door slammed shut with a definitive bang.
The silence that followed was awkward. Mei's expression fell into disappointment. "Don't mind her," Rou said gently. "She hasn't been herself lately. We will be there, I promise."
"Give her some time," Xia added, placing a hand on Mei's shoulder. "She'll come to her senses."
Wei stood up, his expression turning serious. "I'll go talk to her." Rou and Xia exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Go ahead, son."
As Wei headed for the hall, Xia turned to Mei with a warm smile. "Mei-Mei, would you mind helping an auntie in the kitchen for a moment?"
"I'd love to," Mei replied, her "Goddess" mask softening into something more human.
Inside her room, Min was curled in her desk chair, clutching a stuffed doll to her chest. The door creaked open, and she heard the soft click of the lock.
Wei walked in, scanning the room. "Nice decor," he teased, picking up a small trinket on her shelf. "Very... Striver-chic."
Min huffed and looked away. Wei walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, tapping the mattress beside him. Min ignored him. He tapped again, louder this time. With a groan of annoyance, Min dragged herself over and sat at the very edge, her body language stiff and aloof.
"Are you jealous?" Wei whispered, leaning closer.
Min gripped her doll tighter. "I'm not."
"Okay, okay," Wei laughed softly. "Next time, I'll bring a bouquet twice as big as your head. Happy?"
Min slowly turned her face toward him, her pout softening.
"Now, leave that aside," Wei's voice dropped into a more serious tone. "Why are you avoiding us? Why are you avoiding her?"
"I'm... I'm not," Min hesitated, her eyes darting to the floor.
"Look into my eyes and say that."
Min slowly turned her head. As her eyes met Wei's deep, steady gaze, the guilt she had been suppressing for days bubbled over. A hot tear traced a path down her cheek.
"I told you at the cemetery," Wei said, his voice a gentle anchor. "I am here to bear the weight for you. But you keep running. You can't run from us forever." He reached out, taking her hand in his. "I am on your side, Min. I will stay right here until you're ready to face her alone."
Min felt a rush of moving emotion. Her heart felt lighter than it had in days. But suddenly, Wei let go of her hand and turned his back to her.
"What happened?" Min whispered, her heart sinking. "Did I do something wrong?"
Wei looked over his shoulder, his expression one of mock-hurt. "I said 'believe in me.' But clearly, you don't."
"No, that's not what I meant!" Min's mind screamed. Her body language became frantic as she reached out.
"Or perhaps," Wei continued, sneaking a look at her reaction, "I'm just not worthy of being believed in by the Great Warrior Min."
"I would never say that!" Min cried out, panicked. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn back to her, her eyes wet with fresh tears. "I do believe in you! I do!"
Wei stared at her for a beat, then reached out and playfully tapped the tip of her nose. "Idiot," he murmured with a smirk. She understood Wei was teasing her .
Min froze, then a small, genuine smile finally broke through her cloudy expression. For the first time in three days, the "Warrior" was home.
In the Kitchen
The steam from the simmering curry filled the kitchen with a cozy, domestic warmth, a stark contrast to the cold "Ice Queen" reputation Le Mei carried at school.
Mei pushed back her silk sleeves and picked up a kitchen knife with practiced grace. "Auntie, let me handle the vegetables," she said, her voice dropping the formal chill it usually held.
Lin Xia watched her out of the corner of her eye while stirring the pot. "Aiya, such nimble hands. You usually see girls your age only interested in manicures, not mincing ginger." She paused, her expression turning soft and gentle. "Mei-Mei, about Min-Min... don't take her temper to heart. That girl is like a bamboo stalk—stubborn and hard to bend, but her heart is hollow and honest. She's just been... troubled lately."
Mei's hand paused over a stalk of bok choy. She offered a small, sad smile. "Auntie, you don't need to apologize for her. Min is... she's the bravest person I know. She fights for what she believes in, even when the whole world—including me—is against her. She has a fire that I sometimes wish I had."
Lin Xia froze, the wooden spoon mid-air. She looked at Mei, truly seeing the "Goddess" for the first time. 'She isn't looking down on my daughter; she's looking up to her." "I am truly happy," Xia whispered, her eyes misting over. "My daughter has a friend with such a broad mind. You are a very mature girl, Mei." Both Continue's their work .
The atmosphere in the small apartment shifted the moment the hallway door creaked open. Jiang Min stepped back into the living room, her posture no longer slumped like a wilted leaf. Beside her, Gu Wei walked with a casual, easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a faint, knowing smirk playing on his lips.
Jiang Rou looked up from his newspaper, his sharp eyes behind his spectacles scanning his daughter's face. He saw the faint puffiness around her eyes from the crying, but more importantly, he saw the light that had returned to her gaze—the familiar spark of the "Warrior" who refused to be defeated.
She's back, Rou thought, a wave of profound relief washing over him. He offered a small, private nod to Wei, a silent "thank you" from one protector to another.
Wei didn't miss the stack of weathered journals resting on the coffee table.Jiang Rou sat upright, surprised to see Gu Wei leaning over the coffee table, carefully flipping through a stack of technical papers on Tang Dynasty burial sites.
"You're interested in archaeology?" Rou asked, his voice tinged with the excitement of a man who rarely finds a young person willing to discuss dusty history.
Wei looked up, his eyes bright with genuine interest. "My father has a small collection of bronzes, but he never understood the 'why' behind them. Your research on the migration patterns of the silk road is fascinating, Uncle. The way you correlate pottery shards with linguistic shifts... It's brilliant."
Rou beamed, gesturing for Wei to sit closer. For the next twenty minutes, the "Robot" of Shanghai High disappeared, replaced by a focused scholar. Min sat on the edge of the other sofa, her chin resting in her hand, completely ignored by the two men. She watched Wei—the way his brow furrowed when he made a point, the elegant way he gestured with his hands.
"He's so versatile, Min thought, her heart doing a slow, rhythmic thud. "One minute he's teasing a devil, the next he's a scholar. How can someone be so... perfect?"
"Dinner is served!" Lin Xia announced, emerging from the kitchen with a steaming platter of braised fish, followed by Mei carrying a large bowl of soup.
The transition to the dining table was seamless. Rou and Wei were still debating the merits of carbon dating as they sat down, their faces flushed with the joy of a good argument. Min sat across from Mei, and for a fleeting second, their eyes met. There was no glare, no challenge—only a silent, tentative acknowledgement of the truce.
As they began to eat, the clinking of chopsticks against porcelain created a domestic melody. Wei, ever the life of the party, decided the mood was a bit too serious.
"Auntie, Uncle," Wei said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "I heard about this , Did Min-Min tell you about the time in the third grade when she tried to 'liberate' the school's goldfish and ended up falling into the pond? She was so covered in algae, all thought she was a water spirit."
"Brother Wei! Stop!" Min shrieked, her face turning a vivid crimson. She lunged across the table to cover his mouth, but Wei leaned back, laughing heartily.
"And she refused to go to the nurse because she was worried the fish would get lonely!" Wei continued, dodging her hands.
Lin Xia and Jiang Rou erupted into laughter, their eyes crinkling as they watched their daughter's frantic embarrassment. Even Mei let out a clear, bell-like laugh, her shoulders shaking.
Min sat back down, huffing and puffing, but as she looked around the table—at her laughing parents, a smiling Mei, and a glowing Wei—the last bit of the "cold war" melted away. The "Warrior" finally felt the warmth of the sun again.
After the Dinner, At the gate .
The humid night air after the rain carried the lingering scent of jasmine and damp earth. Outside the iron gates of the Jiang residence, the streetlamps cast long, flickering shadows on the pavement. Le Mei and Jiang Min walked side by side, yet the distance between them felt like an invisible canyon. Neither spoke, their gaze fixed forward until they reached the edge of the sidewalk where the sedan would soon arrive.
"Mei." Min's voice was small, stripped of its usual "Warrior" armor.
Mei stopped, her silk coat shimmering under the amber light. She turned slowly, her posture as elegant and unyielding as a white crane. "What is it?"
Min bit her lip, her fingers twisting the fabric of her sweater. "Do you... do you really wish for me to attend your birthday banquet? Or is this just another 'Gold Circle' game?"
Mei looked directly into Min's eyes. Her "Ice Goddess" mask didn't slip, but her gaze softened with a rare, crystalline sincerity. "It's not about what I wish, Min. It is Brother Wei's wish that you are there. And I... I will do anything to fulfill his wishes."
Min felt a sharp pang in her chest—a mixture of guilt for the past and a sudden, burning spark of competitiveness. She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "So... Do you like him? I mean, really like him?"
The question hung in the air like a bared blade. Mei didn't flinch. She drew herself up, her chin tilting with a quiet, lethal confidence. "I do," she said, her voice steady. "I have liked him since the day he left Shanghai. And what about you, ' Min? What is your heart saying?"
Min felt the blood rush to her face, but she didn't look away. The memory of the cemetery, of the shared jacket, and of Wei's hand on her nose flashed through her mind. She stood her ground, her eyes burning with a new, fierce determination.
"I also do," Min declared, her voice ringing out in the quiet street. "I realized it tonight. I won't hide it anymore."
A faint, knowing smile touched Mei's lips—the smile of a general recognizing a worthy opponent. "Good. Then let the best girl win. I won't lose, Min. Not to you, and not to anyone."
"Neither will I," Min countered, her lips curving into a matching smile.
In that moment, the "War" of the Strivers and the Gold Circle died. In its place, a new, more personal rivalry was born. They weren't enemies anymore; they were two young women standing on the precipice of their first real love, both determined to win the heart of the same "Selfish King."
"Aiya, what are you two doing standing here in the dark? Are you plotting a revolution or a fashion show?"
Gu Wei strolled toward them, his hands in his pockets and his signature mischievous smirk firmly in place. He stepped directly between them, waving his hands in front of their faces to break the intense stare-down.
"We had a good time tonight," Wei said, oblivious to the emotional lightning crackling between the two girls. "But it's late. Time for the 'Goddess' to go back to her palace and the 'Warrior' to go back to her fortress."
He offered a casual wave, turning to lead Mei toward the car.
"Wait!" Min called out.
Wei and Mei both turned back. Min stood under the streetlamp, her face glowing with a sudden, radiant confidence. She looked directly at Mei and nodded—a silent, formal acceptance of the challenge.
"Tomorrow," Min said clearly. "I am attending the banquet. I'll be there, Mei."
Mei's eyes sparkled. She gave a single, regal nod in return. "I'll be waiting."
Wei looked from Min to Mei, his brow furrowing in genuine confusion. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at the two girls who were now smiling at each other in a way that felt... dangerous.
"What did I miss?" Wei muttered to himself as he opened the car door for Mei. "Did they just become best friends or declare war? Girls are so complicated."
As the car pulled away, Min stood at the gate, waving until the red taillights disappeared into the Shanghai mist. The "Warrior" wasn't just back; she had a new mission.