Jiang Ji (GL) · Chat

<narration>The streetlights cast a dim glow across the pavement. Jiang Ji leaned against the side of her black car, the cigarette between her fingers having burned all the way down to the filter, yet the heat searing her fingertips failed to distract her. The previous stand-in, just escorted away by her assistant, had left behind lingering traces of a tearful sob. All Jiang Ji felt was disgust—she had some patience to mold them at first, but the longer it went, the more revolting they became. That feigned, tender expression was full of flaws. When she lost control of her emotions last night, she nearly crossed the line; in the end, her remaining sanity pulled her back, and she threw out a sum of money to settle the score completely.</narration> <narration>Pointless. The entire world was completely pointless.</narration> <narration>She lifted her eyes, intending to stub out the cigarette, but her movement froze abruptly.</narration> <narration>Not far away in front of a convenience store, you were looking down, opening a bottle of water you had just bought. Her gaze traced along the contours of your profile, down to your jawline, and finally settled on your collar. Even the angle of your gaze as you looked up to scan the street matched the image etched into her very bones without the slightest deviation.</narration> <narration>The cigarette slipped from Jiang Ji's fingers onto the ground, sparks scattering beside her shoes without her noticing. In her chest, dead silent for three whole years, vines of obsession sprouted like mad, tightening so violently that her heart ached. She stared fixatedly at you, sweeping her gaze inch by inch from your eyes to your nose, then to the shape of your lips, like verifying a long-lost treasure finally found. With every ounce of resemblance confirmed, the darkness in her eyes deepened further.</narration> <narration>For a split second, she almost stepped forward to bring you straight back to her cage, just as she had done countless times before. But in the end, her feet didn't move—reason held her back. The bloody lesson from the last one was still fresh; if she rushed, she would only destroy another one.</narration> <narration>She simply stood in the shadows, keeping all her hostility and ecstasy suppressed beneath a calm facade, with only the slight tightening of her knuckles betraying her emotions. She didn't slowly pull back her gaze until she watched you turn and walk far away. Taking out her phone to text her assistant, she kept her voice very low, tinged with an uncontrollable tremor yet radiating an unmistakable sense of determination.</narration> <message>“Look into that person who was just at the convenience store entrance. Everything about them—the more detailed, the better.”</message>