Qi Sisi was the first friend Zhu Xin made after starting high school. They had been classmates since the beginning and later joined the art class together. They had similar interests and got along very well.
In Zhu Xin’s memory, Qi Sisi was always sunny and lively, kind to others, and loved to joke with her. She would listen to Zhu Xin share her happy moments and stay by her side when she felt down.
She never doubted her.
But how could it be such a coincidence?
The phone call inviting her out for a dinner gathering was made by Sisi.
When she had just left the private room, she hadn’t just gone to the bathroom, she had also contacted other people.
Ten minutes ago, Qin Junhong had entered the Eternal Heaven Club, and just as she came out of the bathroom, Qi Sisi had led her to this separate private room.
And handed her a drink.
Zhu Xin looked at the high-stemmed glass carefully pushed towards her by Qi Sisi and smiled lightly as usual, “What’s this?”
Qi Sisi said, “This drink is called Dream Chaser. How is it? Pretty, right?”
Zhu Xin: “…”
It was indeed beautiful, with interwoven shades of pink and blue, blending and layered like an unreal dreamscape.
She nodded, picked up the glass, and smiled, “But what made you think of surprising me? Is today a special day?”
Qi Sisi naturally replied, “Today is the Lantern Festival! Actually, I wanted to ask you out during the New Year, but I knew your brother was back, and you definitely wouldn’t come out. Now that school is about to start, I can’t bring it to school for you to try, right? Even though it’s non-alcoholic, the teacher would still scold me. This is a new drink designed by a professional mixologist. No one else has tried it. I specially had it made just for you.”
“…”
Familiar demeanor and tone. Zhu Xin felt a chill in her heart. She asked, “Sisi, how do you know my brother isn’t home tonight?”
Qi Sisi was taken aback.
Zhu Xin continued, “Why did you invite classmates to dinner today?”
Qi Sisi blinked and said, “It’s rare for the Lantern Festival, and didn’t you say your brother’s boyfriend is staying at your place? You should give them some private space. As a single dog… Wait, Xiao Xin, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
She finally sensed something was wrong, and her smile became stiff.
Zhu Xin looked at her with an unclear expression.
When Qi Sisi invited her out, she didn’t mention her brother attending a party, using the excuse of not disturbing her “brother and sister-in-law” during the festival.
Did she really not know?
Qi Sisi’s face showed more confusion than tension and guilt.
Zhu Xin couldn’t tell if she was relieved or sighing. She put down the glass and directly asked, “Who prepared this drink?”
Qi Sisi: “Huh?”
Zhu Xin said, “Sisi, if you still consider me a friend, just tell me.”
Qi Sisi was a little surprised and tried to cover up, “Xiao Xin, what are you talking about?”
Zhu Xin, getting a bit impatient, said, “This drink wasn’t prepared by you.”
Qi Sisi: “…”
Zhu Xin asked, “Who?”
Seeing Zhu Xin’s sudden seriousness, Qi Sisi panicked a bit. She said, “You already know, don’t you? It wasn’t prepared by me. But how did you know… Xiao Xin, what’s going on?”
They had been friends for so long that Qi Sisi could tell something was very wrong with Zhu Xin’s emotions now.
She was just helping to deliver a gift to Zhu Xin. Why was she reacting so strongly?
Zhu Xin said, “Do you know that this drink has been drugged?”
Qi Sisi froze, then exclaimed, “Drugged?!”
“…”
“Impossible!” Qi Sisi suddenly stood up, “This drink was made by your brother himself. How could he drug it?”
The words that slipped out silenced both of them.
Realizing what she had said, Qi Sisi held her breath.
Zhu Xin looked at her and asked, “My brother?”
Qi Sisi’s face showed a hint of discomfort. “Not your biological brother, but your other older brother, the one who came into your family after your stepmother married your dad.”
Sitting in the private room reserved by Qin Junhong, Qi Sisi explained what had happened.
Her contact with Qin Junhong had begun over a year ago.
They had met by chance at the school gate when Qin Junhong had come to see Zhu Xin, delivering homemade zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival. Before that, Qi Sisi had seen Qin Junhong a few times when he came to find Zhu Xin.
During another encounter at the school gate, Qin Junhong recognized her and asked her to help deliver the zongzi to Zhu Xin.
Later, Qi Sisi saw Qin Junhong a few more times outside school when he came to pick Zhu Xin up after school. However, they had only exchanged nods because Zhu Xin hadn’t introduced them to each other.
Their actual contact began when Qi Sisi ran into Qin Junhong at a restaurant while dining with her family. Qin Junhong had lost his wallet and was in an embarrassing situation at the counter, so Qi Sisi helped pay his bill.
“He didn’t want me to tell you, saying it was embarrassing. Later, when he found his wallet, he added me on WeChat and transferred the money back.”
Qin Junhong contacted her again more than a month later.
“Do you remember having a severe cold in your first year of high school? You even came to school with a fever. He was worried about you and contacted me to buy medicine for you. He has always cared about you secretly. He didn’t want to interfere in your life too much, so he contacted me in secret. You… you never talked about your family with me, and you always had a cold face when others asked. I thought it wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t tell you.”
Nor did she dare to.
Zhu Xin disliked her stepmother and stepbrother and hated it when others asked about them. Qi Sisi, being her close friend, knew how to maintain boundaries.
Qin Junhong’s contact with her wasn’t frequent. Whenever he did reach out, it was always about Zhu Xin.
He worried about Zhu Xin’s eating habits, fearing she would skip breakfast or eat too much spicy food, which could harm her stomach. He also shared many details about Zhu Xin’s preferences in food with Qi Sisi.
He knew Zhu Xin so well that Qi Sisi was amazed and couldn’t help but ask him if he liked Xiao Xin.
To her surprise, Qin Junhong admitted it.
“He said nothing could happen between you two and that you didn’t like him. He was just worried you wouldn’t take care of yourself and wanted me to help.”
His affection was humble and patient, easily evoking sympathy.
He willingly shared family details to satisfy Qi Sisi’s curiosity, knowing she wouldn’t dare to reveal them due to Zhu Xin’s sensitivity.
He never pried into Zhu Xin’s school life. His concern was always measured, never crossing the line. Over more than a year, through sporadic contact and his unobtrusive care and devotion, he gained Qi Sisi’s trust.
And then came today’s drink.
Qi Sisi said, “He contacted me a few days ago, saying your dad and his mom divorced because she misappropriated family assets. He felt guilty… He’s decided to go abroad. He said he didn’t want any regrets and wanted to express his feelings before leaving, so he asked me to invite you out today. Besides this drink, there’s a letter of confession. He asked me to give it to you after you tasted the drink.”
As she spoke, Qi Sisi took out the letter, confidently saying, “It’s just a drink. There’s no way it’s drugged.”
Zhu Xin didn’t take the letter, calmly stating, “Qin Junhong is right outside the room.”
“…”
Qi Sisi’s face turned pale and confused. “No way, he told me his flight was tonight…”
The door to the private room was pushed open from outside, rendering Qi Sisi speechless.
The moment Qin Junhong was brought into the room, all his patience and deep affection turned into deceitful lies.
The suitor who had sent a photo from the airport, claiming he wouldn’t wait for an answer before leaving the country, was now still in the club where they were having dinner.
Qi Sisi looked at the drink on the table that Qin Junhong had sent to the room, her face turning ashen.
Zhu Xin told one of the people who had entered, “Take Miss Qi back to the other private room.”
Someone stepped forward.
Qi Sisi instinctively reached out to grab Zhu Xin, “Xiao Xin, it wasn’t me. I didn’t know he would…”
“Sisi,” Zhu Xin interrupted, “We’re still friends. But, you don’t have the right to decide whose kindness I should accept.”
“……”
Pity or being moved by the deep affection crafted by Qin Junhong — if Zhu Xin had not been prepared, what would have happened today?
Zhu Xin did not want to think about it.
Qi Sisi did not dare to think about it either. Her hands and feet were cold as she was numbly led out of the room.
After Qi Sisi left, Zhu Xin glanced at the items Qin Junhong had prepared for her on the table and said softly, “Give it to him. It’s a shame to waste it.”
She said it lightly. The person holding Qin Junhong was momentarily surprised but quickly understood, grabbing the drink, loosening Qin Junhong’s mouth, and forcing it down his throat.
Qin Junhong choked and coughed incessantly. The drug hadn’t taken effect yet, and he struggled, trying to lunge at Zhu Xin, only to be quickly subdued again.
The bodyguard was about to seal his mouth again, but Zhu Xin said, “No need, let him speak.”
“……”
Qin Junhong coughed for a long time before catching his breath, his gaze dark and fierce as he looked at Zhu Xin. “…How did you find out?”
Zhu Xin sat back in her previous spot. “What are you referring to? Discovering you, or discovering the hidden dangers around me? Or maybe discovering your and Aunt Qin’s intentions?”
Qin Junhong’s pupils shrank. “What do you mean?”
Zhu Xin smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes as she sat down. “You left the Zhu family because my dad found out you and Aunt Qin were secretly hoarding money to buy a house behind his back. I was the one who told him.”
Qin Junhong’s eyes widened instantly. “It was you? You ungrateful bitch…!”
He attempted to surge forward again, but he was held down firmly.
His breathing became rapid. “Ungrateful bitch! You can’t be trusted! My mom raised you since you were young, and she took care of you wholeheartedly, and this is how you repay us?”
“Wholehearted care?” Zhu Xin chuckled. “She certainly was meticulous. She raised me, planning how to make me depend on her, how to use me to gain property, scheming to get me pregnant with your child so you can get inheritance. Isn’t that right?”
Qin Junhong choked, his face turning red.
These were words he had once let slip to his mother at home, and his timid mother had scolded him for it.
Had Zhu Xin overheard?
Ignoring his shock and the mixed feelings of sympathy and anger from the surrounding bodyguards, Zhu Xin continued, “You call me ungrateful? If your kind of care counts as kindness, how should I repay you? You had someone drug me today, and now the stuff is in your own stomach. Why don’t you tell me your next plan? I can repay you doubly.”
Perhaps the drug was starting to take effect because Qin Junhong began to feel weak. He found Zhu Xin terrifying.
His knees gave out. “What are you going to do? Zhu Xin… Xiao Xin, you can’t do this to me…”
His tone suddenly softened, but his pupils gradually lost focus.
The bodyguards holding him had shifted from pressing his shoulders to holding up his arms.
When he finally collapsed, Zhu Xin rose from the sofa, murmuring softly, “It works quickly.”
She turned to walk towards the door. “Take him…”
She didn’t finish the words “take him away” before she saw the people standing at the door of the private room.
Zhu Tong was leaning against the door frame, with Shao Ming behind him. The two of them were standing at the doorway, and it was unclear how long they had been there.
