“Ying Yun! Hand over your life!”
As soon as Yang Xueyi got back to her room, she grabbed her pillow and gave it a furious beating, imagining it was Ying Yun.
After venting her anger, she pulled out her trusty notebook and, as usual, jotted down Ying Yun’s latest misdeeds one by one.
All these years, she’d been living under someone else’s roof at Ying Yun’s house, unable to offend him or fall out completely, and still had to put on a façade of harmony in front of her mother, pretending to get along with that loathsome guy.
It was suffocating.
So, she poured all her dissatisfaction and resentment into her ever-present notebook—her “Ying Yun Crime Record.”
By now, Ying Yun’s countless crimes had filled up to the seventh volume.
A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years.
Ying Yun kept making trouble, so sooner or later, Yang Xueyi would make him pay back everything—with interest.
Still, it didn’t sit right with her that she had to suffer while Ying Yun got away unscathed.
Still fuming, Yang Xueyi pulled out her phone and sent Ying Yun several articles.
《Real Men Aren’t Petty》
《Men’s Emotional Apathy May Be a Sign of Emotional Deficiency!》
《Men Without Tolerance Are Unloved by Women》
《A Correlation Analysis of Male Indifference and Sexual Apathy》
A moment later, Yang Xueyi received Ying Yun’s shameless and stubborn reply:
【I’m not a man, just a mop. Not applicable.】
Still, as trashy as Ying Yun was, Yunnan Baiyao was pretty effective.
***
The next day, after using the medicine, Yang Xueyi’s sprained ankle had mostly recovered.
She could walk without any trouble now.
Glancing at the date on the digital clock in her room, she genuinely felt that today was a good day.
And when she saw what was on the coffee table, her mood brightened even more.
At some point, Qiao Qianqian had come back and left her a small cake and a note:
“Xiaoxue, happy birthday! There’s a wedding today, so I’m off to do the candid photography. Come find me when you wake up!”
Yang Xueyi picked up her phone and, smiling, replied to the many birthday wishes she’d received.
But that smile vanished when she saw one particular message:
「Xiao Yang, have you made up your mind? When are you coming back to China? I want to…」
Right after that message came a short video clip.
Yang Xueyi didn’t even have to open it to know it was most likely another sleazy snippet clipped from some adult film.
The message was sent from a burner account, but Yang Xueyi knew exactly who it was from.
Clearly, her “vixen plan” needed to move faster.
People say your luck changes after your birthday, but Yang Xueyi felt her luck was already turning on her birthday itself.
She never expected that, without even trying, she’d run into Li Junxin at the breakfast restaurant.
He was standing in line with a few of his rowdy friends, and Ying Yun was nowhere in sight.
What a golden opportunity!
The buffet restaurant in the resort, with its panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and snowy views, was always crowded. Yang Xueyi naturally “accidentally” bumped into Li Junxin while getting her food.
She feigned an unconscious “sorry,” and, just as expected, Li Junxin glanced at her face and exclaimed in surprise, “You’re Chinese?”
Everything that followed happened smoothly.
Yang Xueyi took the opportunity to clarify her nationality, and Li Junxin immediately warmed up.
Not only did he invite her to join his table, but he also quickly exchanged contact details with her.
By the time Ying Yun showed up in the restaurant, Yang Xueyi had already taken the initiative and secured her position.
She’d chatted with Li Junxin for over a dozen rounds, using her gentle and tender demeanor—so different from her striking looks—and her soulful gaze to thoroughly enchant him.
But when Li Junxin spotted Ying Yun, he sobered up for a moment and waved, “Bro! We’ve got a seat here!”
As soon as Ying Yun saw Yang Xueyi at Li Junxin’s side, his face darkened.
When the annoying guy is in a bad mood, Yang Xueyi’s mood only improves.
As Li Junxin turned his head, she arched her brows and gave Ying Yun a provocative smile.
Sure enough, once Ying Yun sat down, Li Junxin couldn’t wait to introduce them, “Bro, this is Yang Xueyi. She’s Chinese. Did you mistake her for someone else before?”
Ying Yun shot Yang Xueyi a warning glance, his tone indifferent, “Is that so? Then why do you speak Japanese?”
Yang Xueyi ignored him, turning to Li Junxin with a gentle, affectionate look.
“It was my own misunderstanding. I watched too many anti-Japanese dramas recently, so when I first saw your brother, I thought he looked just like one of those Japanese characters—especially imposing, like someone high-ranking among the Japanese.”
A high-ranking Japanese officer, to be exact.
“I just happen to know a few words of Japanese. I wanted to show the Japanese our nation’s traditional virtues, let them see how polite we are, so I apologized in Japanese right away. Sorry for the mix-up—it was a silly mistake.”
As expected, being compared to a Japanese officer made Ying Yun’s face sink even further, and he glared coldly at Yang Xueyi.
Maybe Ying Yun was always like this, but Li Junxin didn’t notice anything off and remained enthusiastic as he introduced Yang Xueyi, pointing at Ying Yun, “Xiaoxue, you’re such a joker. Where in Japan do they have guys as handsome as him?”
“This is my cousin, Ying Yun. He’s an orthopaedic doctor. The ultimate end of skiing is orthopaedics, so skiing with him is extra safe—no worries at all!”
Li Junxin finished his routine flattery and quickly shifted his attention back to Yang Xueyi.
“So, how’s your skiing?”
Yang Xueyi replied sweetly, “I don’t know anything yet. I was hoping to find someone really good to teach me.”
Ying Yun lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, but Yang Xueyi acted like she didn’t notice.
Li Junxin, on the other hand, was all enthusiasm.
“Bro! Let’s take Xiaoxue skiing together! We can teach her!”
But as expected, as long as Ying Yun was around, nothing ever went smoothly.
The moment he opened his mouth, the previously cheerful atmosphere was completely ruined.
Ying Yun’s voice was cool and detached as his gaze swept over Yang Xueyi, “If you don’t know how to ski, what are you doing at a ski resort?”
What am I doing here?
I’m here to annoy you!
Yang Xueyi met Ying Yun’s gaze and forced a coy smile, her tone deliberately affected, “True, but actually, coming to Hokkaido wasn’t about skiing for me.”
She sighed in mock distress.
“I came to escape my nightmare of a roommate.”
“My roommate is so overbearing—bad temper, harsh, moody, impossible to get along with.”
She paused, unfazed by Ying Yun’s icy, murderous glare, and continued in a delicate tone, “I don’t know why, but he’s always picking on me. There used to be other people living with us, but lately they’ve all been away. I really couldn’t stand being alone with that weirdo, so I came to Japan to get away.”
Pretty girls playing the victim always worked—it instantly triggered the protective instincts of men.
Li Junxin immediately declared, “That person must be a total psycho! You know, lots of people nowadays are mentally unhealthy. Don’t stoop to their level.”
Yang Xueyi nodded in agreement and shot another glance at Ying Yun, deliberately saying, “Dr. Ying, you must see a lot of people like that in the hospital, right?”
Ying Yun’s brows were flat, his mouth slightly downturned.
He shot her a cold look.
“There are even more outside the hospital.”
Li Junxin, thinking the atmosphere had eased, tried to comfort her, “Forget about that crazy roommate. You’re here to relax, so enjoy yourself! I’m pretty good at skiing. If you don’t know how, I can teach you.”
“You can ski? Amazing!”
Yang Xueyi couldn’t be bothered with Ying Yun anymore.
She focused all her attention on Li Junxin, looking at him with sincere admiration, her voice soft and affectionate, “I’ve always thought guys who are great at skiing are so cool! I really envy girls who have a pro skier boyfriend.”
Her girlish tone and adoring eyes made Li Junxin feel very pleased.
He looked at Yang Xueyi’s face, his tone suggestive, “No need to envy others—you’ve got me.”
Yang Xueyi’s ankle was fine for walking, but still couldn’t handle intense exercise.
After flattering Li Junxin, she set herself up for a graceful retreat, sighing regretfully, “But I sprained my ankle just yesterday. Looks like I won’t get to ski this time. Maybe when I get back to China, you can teach me?”
“Of course! No problem!”
Li Junxin said, then seemed to remember something and turned to Ying Yun, “Bro, don’t you always carry a medical kit? You’ve got Yunnan Baiyao, right? I’ll come by your room later to get it for Xiaoxue.”
No need—Yang Xueyi had already taken Ying Yun’s Yunnan Baiyao and used it.
Ying Yun didn’t look up, only replied coolly, “Didn’t bring it.”
“Didn’t bring it?”
Li Junxin had wanted to show off in front of Yang Xueyi but failed.
He was a bit embarrassed and quickly tried to change the subject, “Bro, what’s with your child bride? You come all the way to Japan to ski and didn’t even pack that?”
The moment “child bride” left his lips, Ying Yun shot him a frosty glare.
Li Junxin realized he’d misspoken and hurried to explain, “I mean the daughter of your housekeeper—she used to do your laundry, cook, clean, just like a child bride. I was only joking, bro, don’t be mad.”
“Don’t joke about things like that.”
Ying Yun’s face was icy as he glanced at Yang Xueyi, then, as if he’d lost his appetite, got up and left after eating barely anything.
The moment he left, the atmosphere lightened.
Li Junxin breathed a sigh of relief, “My bro’s just like that, hard to get close to.”
He seemed to be kindly explaining to Yang Xueyi, “His housekeeper has a daughter who’s been living at his place for over ten years. I’ve never met her, but my mom visited once and said that girl was obviously trying to cozy up to my bro—probably dreaming of marrying into a rich family. But come on, does she really think she’s worthy?”
Li Junxin spoke with careless arrogance, judging someone he’d never even met like he was sizing up day-old vegetables at the market.
Yang Xueyi couldn’t help but ask, “Maybe your mom misunderstood?”
“No way. My mom’s got a great eye for people. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have found my dad—a famously devoted husband. He loves her so much!”
Is that so.
Yang Xueyi sneered inwardly.
Li Junxin kept on, “Luckily, my bro’s pretty sharp—he saw right through that girl. That’s why he gets mad when I joke about her being his child bride. He’d never go for a girl like that.”
Right, Ying Yun would never like someone like her. But…
“Maybe she doesn’t like your brother either.”
Yang Xueyi looked at Li Junxin, her gaze soft and intent.
“Your brother’s so cold, and his temper doesn’t seem great. Maybe that girl prefers someone gentle and courteous, like you.”
Sure enough, Li Junxin looked completely flustered, and the conversation finally moved away from Ying Yun as he started bragging about his skiing skills again.
***
“Well, Xiaoxue, did you get a chance to meet Li Junxin?”
That afternoon, Yang Xueyi finally met up with Qiao Qianqian, who had a break between photo shoots.
Yang Xueyi waved her phone, “Done! The plan went smoothly. We hit it off, and he’s already invited me to his cousin’s wedding.”
“Be careful. I overheard some people saying Li Junxin’s got a bad reputation.”
Yang Xueyi waved it off with a laugh, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—he’s no good either. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
“Tsk! Today’s your birthday, don’t dwell on that stuff. Just treat it as a sightseeing trip. The wedding chapel is gorgeous, super photogenic—it’s built entirely out of ice, only exists for one month each snow season in Hokkaido. It’s like a dream!”
Qiao Qianqian had already spoiled how beautiful the chapel was, but when night fell and Yang Xueyi followed Li Junxin into the Ice Chapel, she found words couldn’t capture its pure, crystalline beauty.
The pale blue ice bricks formed a domed ceiling, the altar, the aisle, and the cross—everything was sculpted from snow and ice.
The ice was clear and exquisite, glowing with a soft, holy blue under the flickering candlelight—deep and serene.
Yang Xueyi discreetly kept her distance from the increasingly clingy Li Junxin, deciding that for the sake of this dreamy winter chapel, she could forgive his overbearing behavior for just one moment.
But beauty came at a price.
Since the entire chapel was built from ice, there was no heating, and with Hokkaido’s winter chill, the temperature inside was freezing.
Many guests were shivering, and servers were circulating with hot cocoa and warm cocktails.
“I’ll go get you a warm drink.”
As soon as Li Junxin left, Yang Xueyi finally relaxed.
Then, in the crowd, she spotted Ying Yun.
He’d changed out of his ski clothes and dressed formally for the wedding, braving the cold in a black suit.
Tall and long-legged, broad-shouldered and slim-waisted, his face was cold and sharp, matching the icy chapel perfectly.
Standing next to the groom, he looked more like the groom than the groom himself, exuding an otherworldly aura—as long as you only looked at his face.
A crowd of men and women surrounded Ying Yun, all trying to strike up a conversation.
Even outside that circle, many were watching him. Yang Xueyi overheard some girls whispering nearby, “That’s Ying Yun, right?”
“Yeah, he’s so handsome!”
“If only I could marry him here.”
“Dream on. He’s super picky. I heard Lin Zixian from the Lin family tried to chase him, but he rejected her flat out.”
“She got rejected? Then how beautiful does a girl have to be for Ying Yun to like her?”
As expected, all the young women focused on Ying Yun’s looks and presence.
Only Yang Xueyi was watching something else.
She stared at the champagne glass in Ying Yun’s left hand, knowing her chance for revenge had arrived.
With his parents unable to attend, Ying Yun had come as the family representative for his cousin’s wedding.
The ceremony was extravagant and dreamy, but the ice chapel was freezing, so Ying Yun took a glass of champagne from a passing server.
But before he could drink, his mother’s scolding call came through, “Ying Yun! Why are you drinking?!”
“I told you, your grandpa and your uncle both died young from cirrhosis caused by drinking. You absolutely cannot follow in their footsteps! Not a drop of alcohol!”
His mother went on and on, but Ying Yun got the point, “If Xiaoxue hadn’t said she ran into you and sent me a photo, I never would’ve known you were drinking!”
After hanging up, his mother forwarded the photo Yang Xueyi had “accidentally” taken of their “chance encounter.”
The photo had zero sense of composition—the photographer’s only focus was Ying Yun’s hand holding the glass, and as if afraid no one would notice, she’d even enhanced the contrast on the glass to make sure it was the first thing anyone saw.
Truly “accidental.”
So Yang Xueyi was at the chapel too?
Ying Yun frowned, returned the champagne to the bar, and searched for Yang Xueyi.
He didn’t find her, but unexpectedly spotted Li Junxin, who was leaning against the bar with a friend, waiting for drinks.
“Japanese plum wine is already strong, and now you’re mixing it with fruit wine. Are you really going to give her that?”
Li Junxin leaned in and lowered his voice, “Girls all love this stuff,” he said, smiling meaningfully.
His friend clapped him on the shoulder with a knowing look, “You’ve got some nerve, man.”
Li Junxin put on a serious face, “I’m serious this time.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re always serious!”
Ying Yun tuned out the rest of their banter.
Li Junxin was always “serious”—the kind who, when in love, would do anything for the other person, but his seriousness had a three-month shelf life.
When he was in love, he’d go all out; when it was over, he couldn’t care less if you lived or died.
At that moment, Ying Yun finally spotted Yang Xueyi in the crowd.
She was wearing a charcoal cashmere coat and a red scarf.
Her usually fair face was tinged with a snowy flush, lips as red as her scarf—striking and bold.
Tall and slender, she looked delicate and fragile.
The troublemaker was glancing around innocently, and men kept approaching, fooled by her appearance.
Ying Yun saw her flash that deceptively sweet smile at them.
“Interested?”
Ying Yun’s cousin nudged his shoulder.
“She’s pretty. Wonder if she’s a guest from the groom’s side. Want to go say hi?”
“Not interested.”
Ying Yun looked away coldly.
“All show, completely fake. Only her face is worth looking at.”
After sending the photo to Mrs. Ying, Yang Xueyi saw Ying Yun’s sour expression as he answered his phone a few minutes later.
Did he think only he could tattle to his mom?
This was just payback in kind!
Serves him right!
With Ying Yun dealt with, and before Li Junxin returned, Yang Xueyi planned to enjoy the chapel’s beauty in peace.
But people kept coming over to chat her up.
Thankfully, Qiao Qianqian appeared at just the right moment and rescued her.
But before Yang Xueyi could feel relieved, a server approached and politely asked her to leave:
“Miss, you’re not on the guest list. This is a private wedding. Please leave.”
No surprise, when Yang Xueyi glanced around, she spotted that annoying Ying Yun not far away.
He was watching her coolly from across the crowd.
Him again!
Fortunately, at that crucial moment, Li Junxin returned with drinks.
“She’s my guest! My friend! One of us!”
He pressed a glass of fruit wine into Yang Xueyi’s hand.
“Here, have some to warm up.”
With Li Junxin vouching for her, the server didn’t insist but glanced back at her uncertainly.
Ying Yun’s plan to get rid of her had failed, so he had to step in himself.
“Li Junxin, what you do outside with her is your business, but today’s wedding is private and confidential—not just anyone can come in.”
Ying Yun was already the center of attention, and his harsh words drew many eyes to Yang Xueyi, as if she were some lowlife crashing the wedding.
With Ying Yun speaking, Li Junxin didn’t dare argue.
Qiao Qianqian was clearly shocked by Ying Yun’s bluntness and hesitated, unsure how to help Yang Xueyi.
She was working, and Yang Xueyi didn’t want her to get in trouble on her account.
Fine! I’ll just leave!
It’s not like this is my only chance—I can still handle Li Junxin later.
But just as she turned to go, Ying Yun called out, “Wait.”
Was this his conscience, feeling he’d gone too far and wanting her to stay?
Ha!
Now this grudge was set in stone!
Even if he begged her to stay now, Yang Xueyi wouldn’t stay!
But before her inner drama could finish, she heard Ying Yun’s cold voice, “Leave the wine. Drinks are only for invited guests.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.