“S-sorry, miss! I didn’t mean to! I was in a hurry and running too fast, so I didn’t see you!”

A little while earlier, Big Couch-Potato Qin had been hurrying downstairs to find Colonel Zuo and the others. As he dashed around a corner in the hallway, he accidentally crashed into someone—and since Qin Heng was running so fast, the impact was no small thing.

I’m done for! I’m done for!

Normally, if you bumped into someone, you just apologized. At worst, they’d give you an earful.

But this was different!!!

Where was he, exactly?! This was practically a gathering place for all the most powerful bigwigs in Kyoto. He’d only gotten the chance to attend thanks to Young Master Feng.

Besides, even Qin Heng could tell that ever since they’d arrived, Feng Xun—usually so carefree, outspoken, and unrestrained—had been holding himself back.

If even Feng Xun, the young heir of a multibillion-yuan corporation, had to tread carefully, then what chance did a nobody like him have? He had no connections and no clout.

If he’d collided with some young lady from one of the major corporations, he wouldn’t be the only one in trouble. Feng Xun and the others could get dragged into it too. After all, he’d gotten in through the back door.

If she was one of those high-status, pampered young ladies with a short temper, he was finished!

Qin Heng hurried over to help the woman up, all the while praying she was a waitress or a saleswoman. At least then he’d still have the status of a “customer,” and it’d be much easier to sort things out. He could apologize, then quickly make sure she wasn’t hurt.

But when Qin Heng helped the woman to her feet with his head bowed, the moment he saw her gorgeous, deep-black evening gown, his heart sank.

“Here, c-careful.”

Qin Heng didn’t dare look her in the eye. After helping her steady herself, he suddenly remembered something.

When he’d collided with her, he’d vaguely noticed something in her hand. Now it was empty. It must’ve been knocked out of her grasp.

Still supporting the woman, Qin Heng glanced down at the floor. Sure enough, he spotted a folding fan not far away.

“I’m sorry, miss. I’ll pick it up for you right away.”

Qin Heng still didn’t dare look directly at the woman. He just kept apologizing in a panic, without noticing the look on her lovely face when she saw him…

If Qin Heng’s heart had sunk when he first bumped into her, then when he walked closer and saw the fan on the floor, he’d already started imagining where they’d bury him.

The folding fan lay open on the floor, its frame wrapped in a layer of blue radiance. Wisps of light drifted through the air around it…

It was obvious this fan wasn’t merely finely crafted. It was a spiritual artifact.

Thousands of years ago, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth began to grow thinner and thinner. Not only could humans and the Yao Clan no longer cultivate, but the magical treasures and spirit weapons of that era gradually lost their power and spiritual essence too.

Any spiritual artifacts that had survived to the present day—when spiritual energy had been diluted almost to the point of vanishing—were practically one-use items. Their worth couldn’t be measured in a few million or even tens of millions. They were priceless, with no market for them. Only the great families, with their deep reserves and long histories, might possess one.

To see such an artifact up close was an honor Big Slacker Qin would remember for the rest of his life… Of course, that was assuming he hadn’t met it this way…

Big Couch-Potato Qin froze on the spot, his outstretched hand beginning to tremble.

If anything happened to that fan, he couldn’t afford to pay for it even if he sold himself! Besides, it wasn’t like anyone would want a Salted Fish like him. His limbs were as skinny as a greyhound’s. Send him to Syria for a summer job, and he probably wouldn’t even be able to lift a weapon.

Big Couch-Potato Qin dug his fingers hard into the tender flesh of his thigh, forcing himself to calm down.

He hurried over to pick up the fan. But as soon as he lifted it, a sharp pain shot through his index finger. Qin Heng couldn’t worry about that now. He quickly got back up and returned to the woman.

“I-I’m really sorry. Could you please check this fan—no, this spiritual artifact—”

Qin Heng wanted to return the spiritual artifact as quickly as possible and let her check whether it was damaged. If there was a chip or some other damage, he’d just have to accept his fate.

But when Big Slacker Qin stepped closer and got a clear look at her face, he froze all over again…

The woman before him was tall and slender, with a graceful figure and a slim waist. The light fell on skin as flawless and luminous as white jade.

Her dark golden hair fell over her shoulders and floated behind her waist. A few strands brushed across her breathtaking face.

She stood tall beneath the soft light, elegant in every way, beautiful as a startled swan…

Q-Qing… Qing Nianyi?!?!

Unlike the outfit she’d worn at the gala earlier, she was now dressed in a black off-the-shoulder evening gown. It was a striking contrast with her warm, approachable image. And since she was a tall, mature beauty, the impact was all the greater…

Big Slacker Qin’s already battered heart took another devastating blow.

He’d already guessed from the spiritual fan that its owner had to be someone of extraordinary status. But Qin Heng had never imagined it would be Qing Nianyi…

He was done for. His life as a Salted Fish was over.

Forget saving himself—even Feng Xun couldn’t help him now.

“M-Miss Qing, right? This is… your fan.”

Qin Heng’s lips trembled. His eyes stared blankly ahead, and the tips of his fingers gripping the fan began to hurt again. But he couldn’t bring himself to care…

His mind went completely blank, and he apologized mechanically.

He didn’t even notice the expression changing on Qing Nianyi’s lovely face right in front of him…

At that moment, Mu Zi’s eyes trembled as she stared at Qin Heng in disbelief.

I-it really is him! I can’t believe I’ve run into him here again!

A-and he still remembers my name!!!

The feeling of being remembered and cherished by the person she cared about filled Qing Nianyi with incomparable joy and happiness.

“I-I… I’m…”

Qing Nianyi parted her cherry-red lips, eager to answer him. But though she was usually graceful and eloquent no matter the occasion, she couldn’t manage a complete sentence.

Qing Nianyi looked at the young man before her, her eyes lifting ever so slightly as she gazed at him in a daze…

At such close range, she carefully studied the person who had captured her heart…

…H-his features really were so refined. His face was clean, and his skin was fair and smooth…

And—and just as she’d imagined, the young man’s handsome face had a softness and youthful quality to it. That meant he really was still young…

S-so in front of him, she could be… his b-big sister…! Ah!

The moment that thought entered her mind, joy and happiness swept away every other feeling in her heart…

In an instant—

A blush spread across Qing Nianyi’s neck and lovely face. Her delicate hands clenched without her realizing it, fine beads of sweat forming in her palms. Shyness rippled through her eyes, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze again…