Yue Lingxi

The rain had just stopped.

The Zhang family estate on the hillside blazed with light.

One black sedan after another climbed the winding mountain road, passed through the iron gates, and stopped beside the circular fountain in front of the main mansion. Attendants in dark suits opened the car doors for arriving guests. In the damp air after the rain lingered the scent of cigars, perfume, and wet grass.

Tonight was Zhang Shihong’s eightieth birthday celebration.

But this was more than a birthday banquet.

Among the guests were state officials, corporate executives, financial investors, celebrities from the entertainment industry, and figures from the tech world.

Some had come to offer congratulations.

Some had come to negotiate business.

Others simply wanted the Zhang family to remember their names.

Inside the banquet hall, soft music drifted through the air. Vast swathes of orange light floated slowly among the crowd.

Annie stood quietly beside the champagne tower, watching.

She wore a long black dress tonight, exposing her pale shoulders. Her long hair was loosely pinned up. She did not look like a celebrity, nor a socialite, and certainly not like the high-end escort some people whispered she was.

Yet anyone who spoke with her would unconsciously linger for a few extra minutes.

One female guest had approached her with faint condescension, but after only a brief conversation, she suddenly found herself smiling sincerely.

A drunken investor, originally irritable and aggressive, nearly spilled his wine. Annie merely steadied the glass for him, and somehow he gradually calmed down.

White light flowed gently around her, like moonlight hidden within night fog.

Occasionally, a faint trace of gold flickered through it.

“You’re looking at colors again?” Jason Zhang walked over with a wine glass in hand.

Tonight he wore a dark blue suit that didn’t quite fit him. His collar sat crookedly, making it obvious he was uncomfortable in this sort of setting.

“Mhm.” Annie smiled faintly. “There’s a lot of orange tonight.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I still think you’re making all this up.”

Annie did not explain.

She simply continued watching the banquet hall.

The orange light drifted among the crowd like murky seawater. In certain places, waves of red occasionally surged beneath it. In one corner, dark purple mist briefly rose beside a drunken man before being swallowed once more by the orange glow.

Then suddenly, a disturbance arose near the entrance.

State Senator Coleman had arrived.

He was a white man in his sixties, his hair perfectly combed, his smile warm and refined—like a distinguished university professor.

But in Annie’s eyes, beneath the orange light surrounding him, dense crimson currents churned constantly, like flames struggling beneath the surface.

Coleman shook hands with Zhang Junyao as the two exchanged smiles and polite conversation.

Several executives immediately gathered around them.

“Senator, we’ll need your help with that bill from the state government.”

“No problem. We’re all old friends here.”

Laughter spread through the group.

The red glow widened slightly.

Jason lowered his voice.

“My dad hates that guy. But he still has to smile at him.”

Annie gently swirled her wine glass.

“Some people exhaust everyone around them.”

Jason was about to reply when Coleman suddenly walked toward them.

His eyes landed on Annie first.

For a brief instant, his gaze froze.

Then he smiled as though nothing had happened.

“And who is this?”

Jason failed to notice anything unusual.

“My girlfriend. Annie.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Coleman extended his hand with practiced warmth.

Annie shook it lightly.

“The pleasure is mine, Senator.”

Her tone remained perfectly calm, though she still remembered the private dinner hosted by a certain conglomerate three years earlier—the one after which they had spent the night together.

Coleman looked at her. A complicated emotion flashed in his eyes: desire, mixed with guilt.

A brief strand of black mist appeared behind him, then vanished.

“Jason.” Coleman patted his shoulder.

“Your father had a lot more spirit at your age.”

Jason forced a laugh. “Guess I’m a genetic mutation.”

They all laughed.

As Coleman brushed past Annie, his palm lightly touched the side of her hip, lingering there for half a second.

Annie turned her head toward him with a faint smile and whispered softly:

“So this is method acting?”

Coleman’s expression stiffened for an instant before he laughed and walked away.

Jason noticed nothing. He was only frowning toward the far side of the hall.

“My dad’s staring at me again.”

At the center of the banquet hall, Zhang Junyao was speaking with several corporate leaders.

Tall and broad-shouldered, with graying hair, he spoke quietly, yet everyone around him listened attentively.

He was the kind of man who never needed to raise his voice.

Because everyone already knew he was the true decision-maker behind Hongyun Enterprises.

Beside him stood Zhang Mingxuan, heir to the third generation of the Zhang family.

Young, handsome, educated at elite universities—tonight he looked like the perfect successor.

Jason lowered his head and drank.

“Your brother’s watching you,” Annie said suddenly.

“Half-brother.”

“Close enough.”

Jason sneered.

“They all think I’m trash anyway.”

As he spoke, red and dark purple light twisted around him simultaneously.

But in the next instant, Annie gently brushed a raindrop from his sleeve.

Within that chaotic mixture of colors, a faint strand of white light suddenly appeared.

It vanished almost immediately.

Annie watched him silently.

At that moment, the crowd on the opposite side of the hall suddenly parted.

A Chinese man in a white suit entered the banquet hall.

He appeared to be in his forties, refined and scholarly, like a university professor. Many guests immediately greeted him.

Victor Chen—one of the owners of California’s largest casino conglomerate.

He laughed loudly as he clinked glasses with people around him. Orange-red light spread from him like burning flames.

Whenever others approached him, their emotions unconsciously became more excited, like the rising heat around a gambling table.

Victor quickly spotted Jason.

“Jason!” He spread his arms wide as he approached.

“You still haven’t died at the poker table?”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

The two laughed and clinked glasses.

Unlike the rest of the Zhang family, Victor never hid his appreciation for Jason.

“So,” Victor said, “have you thought about what I mentioned last time?”

“What thing?”

“Come work for me.”

Jason froze briefly.

Annie looked at Victor.

Deep within the red glow around him, she could vaguely see traces of black mist stirring. Yet small portions of orange light still remained, refusing to go out completely.

This man was not simple.

At that moment, the opposite side of the banquet hall suddenly grew quieter.

A blonde woman entered.

She was not dazzling in the way celebrities usually were, yet people instinctively lowered their voices when she appeared.

Sophia Vale.

In recent years, she had become California’s most popular spiritual mentor. Her podcast, meditation programs, and mindfulness app were wildly successful within the tech industry.

Zhang Mingxuan immediately stepped forward.

“Sophia. Welcome.”

Sophia smiled and nodded.

Deep blue light flowed steadily around her like a tranquil night sky.

Occasionally, faint traces of gold appeared.

But whenever those around her looked at her with admiration, faint dark-purple streaks would flash briefly beneath the blue.

Then suddenly, Sophia stopped walking.

Her gaze crossed the crowd and landed on Annie.

Annie’s entire body radiated white light—so pure it felt almost impossible.

Within that white glow, gentle gold occasionally flickered. Yet at times, an extremely faint trace of black would suddenly flash past, vanishing so quickly it felt like an illusion.

Sophia trembled slightly.

She had never seen anything like it.

In her understanding, darkness and light should not coexist.

Yet Annie’s white radiance seemed utterly unconcerned by those fleeting shadows.

Annie merely smiled and nodded toward her, as though nothing unusual had happened.

Then the front of the banquet hall suddenly fell silent.

Zhang Shihong was slowly wheeled into the room.

The old man said little tonight, but the moment he appeared, the entire hall naturally quieted.

Jason lowered his voice.

“The old man looks pretty energetic today.”

Annie looked toward Zhang Shihong.

The orange glow around him had become very faint. Most of the time, what surrounded him now was a nearly transparent white stillness, like a candle on the verge of extinguishing.

Zhang Shihong slowly scanned the room.

Finally, his gaze settled on Jason.

“Zhousheng.”

The entire hall suddenly went silent.

Jason froze.

“Grandpa.”

“What have you been doing lately?”

Several younger relatives lowered their heads, suppressing laughter.

Jason remained silent for several seconds.

“Nothing much.”

Zhang Junyao frowned slightly.

Zhang Shihong glanced at him.

“A man ought to have a proper job.”

The old man’s voice was quiet, yet the entire banquet hall fell silent around it.

He slowly swept his eyes across the crowd.

“If any of you have an opening, take him in.”

The atmosphere instantly became delicate.

No one responded.

Everyone knew Jason loved gambling, lacked discipline, and had a terrible reputation.

But no one dared openly refuse Zhang Shihong either.

Zhang Junyao spoke first.

“Father, Zhousheng is still young. Let him think a little longer.”

Victor Chen laughed.

“If Jason doesn’t mind, I happen to be short-handed.”

Several pairs of eyes immediately turned toward him.

Zhang Junyao’s expression darkened slightly.

Everyone knew Victor’s casinos were hardly respectable places.

But Zhang Shihong merely nodded.

“Young people ought to do something with their lives.”

Victor raised his wine glass.

“Jason, welcome to hell.”

Behind him, red light surged like flames.

Annie watched silently.

White light flowed softly around her.

She knew that some doors, once opened, were difficult to walk back through.

By the time the banquet ended, rain had begun falling again.

Jason had drunk quite a lot.

Before leaving the estate, he turned back for one final glance.

The brightly lit mansion still contained moving shadows behind its glass windows.

The laughter, wine glasses, and handshakes all looked like another world.

Sophia Vale stood near the entrance speaking with several tech executives.

The deep blue glow around her had grown even stronger than before.

Many people gathered around her, their expressions calm and focused, as though drawn in by some invisible force.

“She’s popular.”

Jason lit a cigarette.

Annie watched Sophia in the distance.

In the rainy night, that blue light resembled a sea hidden within fog—quiet, yet slowly spreading outward.

“Lots of people have been talking about her lately,” Annie said softly.

“They say she helps people find their true selves.”

Jason snorted.

“These days, even spirituality can be turned into business.”

Annie did not answer.

She was watching the blue light surrounding Sophia.

The glow slowly spread across the crowd around her.

Some people closed their eyes.

Some began to cry.

Others looked as though they had finally been allowed to breathe again.

And deep within the crowd, a faint strand of red light quietly emerged.

As though sensing something, Sophia suddenly lifted her head.

Through the curtain of rain, her eyes met Annie’s for a brief instant.

A strange feeling suddenly arose within her.

As though the real storm had only just begun.

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