Chapter Nine: Setting the Fire

The figure hidden in the shadows smiled and stepped out from behind the curtains. “I didn’t expect that after all these years, you’d still be this vigilant.”

Leng Zhen returned the smile, her voice cool. “Thank you for your praise. After all these years, you still enjoy setting traps for others. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to see how the person who once lost to me is doing these days,” Gu Xiabing replied.

“Is that so? I’m rather curious myself—have your tricks improved at all?” Leng Zhen shot back without a hint of politeness.

Gu Xiabing lowered her head. “Xiao Zhen, you really have grown up…”

“All thanks to you.”

“I’m sorry, Xiao Zhen. I had no other choice,” Gu Xiabing said with a pitiful air, a look that would have fooled almost anyone into believing she had suffered back then. Anyone except Leng Zhen. If she hadn’t witnessed Gu Xiabing’s malice firsthand in the past, she might have been convinced.

“Is that so? Then how would you explain the hotel fire? Were you hoping for headlines announcing: ‘The head of the Qin family, famed voice actress, top of the rich list, founder and chairwoman of several world-leading companies—a legendary figure—perished in a hotel blaze’?” Leng Zhen smiled, leaning in close to Gu Xiabing’s ear. “Unfortunately, such schemes are still too crude for me.”

Gu Xiabing froze, then snapped angrily, “You! How did you know?”

“I just do~”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you know, it’s already too late. I imagine the fire has reached this floor by now.” Gu Xiabing threw her head back in laughter, gazing out the window as though victory was already hers. “Don’t worry—if you dare try to escape, I’ll have someone take care of that Cheng Yunting. He should still be at the banquet, shouldn’t he?”

“You! But don’t you like him? How could you…” Leng Zhen stared at her in disbelief.

“If he’s not mine, why should I treat him well? Hmm? Hahaha! Hahaha!” Gu Xiabing leaned close to Leng Zhen’s ear, her voice cold. “If word doesn’t get out tonight that you were badly burned, well… perhaps it’ll be Cheng Yunting who gets hurt instead…”

“You—!”

“Just stay right here, Head of the Qin family.” Gu Xiabing smirked, then leapt out the window.

Leng Zhen, too, smiled faintly, lying back on the bed. She watched as the flames crept into the room, slowly licking at the sheets, then the pillow, and finally reaching her own body…

By then, she had already lost consciousness. Still, faint voices seemed to call her name at her ear. She struggled to open her eyes, to see him one more time, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t.

Even with her eyes closed, she recognized Cheng Yunting’s voice. She reached out desperately to grasp him, but just as her fingers brushed the air, he vanished from sight…

…

“Can you find out who started the fire?” Cheng Yunting sat at Leng Zhen’s bedside, gripping her hand tightly. His precious girl was now burned from head to toe, her fate uncertain.

“Don’t worry, I have a good idea. My sister has only a few enemies, but to force her to lie so quietly, they must have threatened someone she loves.” Qin Xiaonan stood at her bedside, looking at Leng Zhen with heartache as he replied.

“Good. Once you find out, don’t do anything. Let me handle it.” Cheng Yunting gently caressed Leng Zhen’s face, nodding coldly.

“All right. I’ll go for now.”

“Mm.”

…

When everyone had left, Cheng Yunting could no longer contain the storm inside him.

“Xiao Zhen… why are you so foolish? I’m not worth it…” He sat by her hospital bed, gazing down at her—her body wrapped in bandages, her hand in his. His voice was hoarse with unshed tears, yet impossibly gentle. “Xiao Zhen, do you remember when we were children, you promised that when we grew up, we’d go to the Forbidden City to watch the snow, and at night we’d look at the stars together? You said you were too little then, and asked me to wait for you…”

So he rambled on, not knowing how long he spoke, refusing even a sip of water until his voice was hoarse, but still he kept talking.

He wouldn’t let anyone else touch Leng Zhen. He took care of everything himself—no matter if his own parents or her brothers came, nothing would persuade him otherwise.

No one knew when it happened, but the cold, ruthless head of the Cheng family was moved to tears for one person, soaking the pillow with his grief, keeping vigil for three sleepless nights, tending to her with his own hands.

That decisive, formidable leader of the Qin and Su families, sacrificing herself for one person—never asking for anything more, only praying for that person’s safety.

See? It was never about Cheng Yunting not being worthy of Leng Zhen, nor Leng Zhen unworthy of Cheng Yunting. They were perfectly matched.

In love, it’s not about who deserves whom. As long as hearts are drawn to each other, that is love’s perfect match.