Xin Di did not expect that a 30-year-old man would be so scared by her confession of being a virgin at the age of 28 that he would run away in fright.

  Just a few minutes ago, they were still tightly embracing, bringing back the intoxication from Lan Kwai Fong to the hotel. Their clothes had been pulled half off in the tussle, he was tall and handsome with a healthy wheat-colored glow on his skin; she was petite and fair-skinned, forming a wonderful contrast with him.

  That night, she had made up her mind to use wine as an excuse to end her long and somewhat unbelievable virginity. As they kissed passionately, his hands caressed her skin, he gently licked her ear, and she felt dizzy with excitement, without any disgust, thinking, okay, it's him. With a soft gasp, she said: "It's my first time, be gentle."

  The scene that followed was too dramatic, the notorious playboy was shocked and stayed his hand, looking at her incredulously, then stuttered: "I... I think I'm not ready yet, sorry."

  She stared at this handsome face in an incredible way, making him blush and tidy up his clothes, while bidding farewell and rushing out the door.

  Xin Di buttoned up her shirt, walked to the window and gazed out at the neon lights flashing outside. Her flushed face gradually cooled down. She had come to Hong Kong for Fashion Week, and the expenses were not extravagant. The hotel was located on Fortress Hill, with a small room and a view of the bustling city that never slept. There was no scenery to speak of. She decided to take a bath and sleep, regardless of whether she felt sleepy or not.

  The phone rang and she picked it up to answer it.

  "Sorry, Xindie, I was too much earlier, I overreacted, I..."

  "Go die, David Fan." She hung up and turned off her phone.

  Xin Di came to Hong Kong for Fashion Week, as a fashion designer, she has to come to Hong Kong at least twice a year, in January to see the spring and summer releases, and in July to see the autumn and winter releases, this absurd seasonal reversal, she had long been accustomed to.

  The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is not as crowded as the Beijing National Exhibition, but its professionalism is obviously higher. It takes a lot of time and energy to see everything. In addition, there are various press conferences to attend, and then go to the big and small shops in Kowloon and Hong Kong to take a look around, and visit the fabric market on the Kowloon side to see the new fabrics on the market.

  After watching the Hong Kong Fashion Week, I have to rush back to Shenzhen and attend another exhibition. The fashion industry is a never-ending play, but those in the profession may feel some occupational fatigue. Especially in Hanzhong City, which is located inland and far from the fashion center, fashion has become an industrial project rather than a word with tempting magic power, and there's no romance to speak of.

  After working for six years, Xindi has gained some reputation in the industry and become the design director of Suomei, the largest local garment enterprise. Her career prospects are promising, but at the same time, she feels increasingly tired and doesn't know if it's because of her work or her life.

  She was well aware that this emotion came a bit out of nowhere. At 28, she was still a virgin, which didn't particularly bother her either. As for how she ended up in the city of Hong Kong with David Fan, she had no idea, because they had known each other for ten years, and from the moment she first saw David, she just couldn't stand him.

  They were classmates at the art academy, with David Van Gogh having a handsome physique and face. He was studying landscape design, but as soon as he entered school, he was pulled into the modeling team and became acquainted with the fashion design department. David had a good appearance and a generous personality, making him very popular, but Xin Di always looked at him lazily and occasionally talked to him with cold ridicule.

  Xin Di's close friend, Ye Zhiqiu, who was also studying fashion design, couldn't bear to watch and asked her what was wrong. She said with a straight face: "It's just annoying how he relies on his good looks to bully others, like a peacock showing off his plumage, strutting around with an air of superiority."

  Ye Zhiqiu could only laugh in surprise. The reason was obvious and not sufficient, their profession determined that they had to deal with all kinds of handsome men and beautiful women every day, and Xīn Dí didn't seem to have any dissatisfaction with other people who were more narcissistic.

  Yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, David Fan walked towards me with a bit of swagger. Actually, it's not his fault - he was already a national second-class athlete when he was in school and still holds a local track record, so walking like that is just a habit rather than showing off. He runs an advertising company with his friend Zhang Xin and also takes on fashion brand image planning business, and sometimes comes to professional exhibitions to find inspiration and trendy elements.

  Before, Xindie often ignored David Fan, but at the end of March this year, at the Beijing Fashion Show, Xindie held a press conference, and David Fan, entrusted by Ye Zhiqiu, went on stage to present flowers when Xindie made his final appearance.

  After that encounter, he walked in from afar, the sunlight filtering through the glass window shone on him, his entire body seemed to have a faint golden edge, and he greeted her with a pleased face. She couldn't help but acknowledge: this guy's appearance is indeed impressive. With such a tall and upright figure, wearing a fitted T-shirt and long pants would make other men look somewhat pretentious, but he looked energetic and majestic, and the people passing by couldn't help but stare at him.

  The two chatted for a while, talking about their next plan, and coincidentally they went to Harbour City together. David Fan looked at the window display and store design, Xindi looked at the new season's style of the famous store on the other side, and casually ate something. After strolling around for a while, David Fan suggested going to Lan Kwai Fong bar, and she agreed immediately.

  Was it the alcohol's fault? Xindi didn't think so, after all they were just drinking beer and at most had a slight buzz. She couldn't quite recall how she and he had their first physical contact, but that physical contact did bring back one of her memories.

  At her last Beijing fashion show, she came out to take a bow, David Fan handed her a large bouquet of lilies, raised his long legs and stepped onto the T-stage, handed her the flowers, then hugged her briefly and politely, which made her body suddenly catch a chill. At that time, she only attributed this to seeing him unexpectedly and didn't think much about it.

  But at this time, once she came into contact with him, she felt the same horror. Realizing her reaction, she was shocked and almost bit her own fingers. She had only talked about a few unfulfilled loves, and lust was still a strange thing to her. She hesitated to look at the handsome man beside her, just as he turned his head back, their eyes met, and the ambiguous atmosphere combined with the relaxation of being in a foreign land, and what happened next made Xindie wish she hadn't met him.

  Back in Shenzhen, Xin De and her friend Ye Zhiqiu, who came to see the fashion show, met at the hotel. After finishing their respective tasks, they went to her single-occupied hotel room that night, took a bath, wore pajamas, and chatted relaxedly on one bed each, but Xin De's confession was indeed surprising.

  "You..." Ye Zhiqiu was so scared that she couldn't speak, she and Xin Di were classmates in the same class, but after graduation, they did clothing sales, and previously worked at Su Mei. In Xin Di's words, this good friend of hers belonged to the kind of person who thinks before acting, calm and rational as can be expected.

  "Isn't this a case of pulling the reins on the edge of a precipice? I haven't even had a chance to gloat," Xīn Dí said with a mischievous grin.

  "It's okay, it's okay. But you're just on a business trip, and you're too bold to bring a man you've just met back to the hotel."

  The stranger who took her back was a total stranger, at least they went their separate ways after leaving the hotel and had no connection with each other. She still had confidence in her skills that she had forgotten about herself without a care. However, thinking again, she could only honestly admit that she didn't have the guts to provoke a stranger.

  "Uh, I didn't get to the point earlier, it wasn't a chance encounter, actually you know that person too, David Fan."

  "He..." Ye Zhiqiu was speechless again. Of course, she knew her senior Dai Weifan, and in fact, the two were pretty good friends who often collaborated on work projects. But she also knew that Xīn Dí had always disliked Dai Weifan, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't understand why Xīn Dí would choose him to be her first lover.

  "He just happened to be there."

  Ye Zhi Autumn raised an eyebrow and looked at her, clearly thinking this was no excuse. Xin Di's face turned red as she coughed, "Autumn, can you please not scrutinize me like that? Fine, I'll confess. I think he looks quite handsome, plus he has a reputation for being a ladies' man, so his... skills should be pretty good, right? Since I just didn't want to still be a virgin at 29 and didn't want to get married, being with him shouldn't have any consequences, right?"

  Ye Zhiqiu made a vomiting sound, "Xiao Di, your thinking is so weird."

  Xin Di burst out laughing, "Forget it, let's not mention this again. It's good that he ran away, otherwise I wouldn't be sure if I would regret it or not. What puzzles me now is, at 28 years old and still a virgin, can she scare men away?"

  She had this problem, and her good friend couldn't answer it for her. She thought, let him be, even if she remained a virgin until 29 years old, what's the big deal? She only sincerely hoped that the guy wouldn't appear in front of her again, even if he didn't die like she cursed on the phone.

  However, the more you don't want to run into someone, the higher the probability of running into them again. Xindai doesn't know if this counts as one of Murphy's laws.

  Next, at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, at a dinner party of Ye Zhiqiu's friend, on the return flight, Xindi kept running into David Fan. She felt like vomiting blood, even in their common city of residence, it seemed that there was no such high frequency of encounters.

  And besides, it's really not easy to ignore a 183cm tall man who looks too good.

  After getting off the plane, Xīn Dì went to pick up her checked luggage. Before she could put down the bag in her hand, a long and sturdy arm stretched out from behind her, easily lifting the large suitcase off the conveyor belt and placing it beside her. She was petite, and the size of this suitcase was really too big compared to her body.

  "Hey, why don't we just go our separate ways? If you're heading east, I'll head west."

  "That's impossible," he said curtly. "There is only one road from the airport into town and it goes south."

  "What exactly do you want, David Fan?" Xindi asked bluntly. "You've been constantly appearing in front of me these past few days. If it's to annoy me, then you've succeeded, so you can disappear now."

  Dai Weifan smiled, revealing his snowy white and neat teeth. "Give me a chance, Xinkai, I want to pursue you."

  Xin Di was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing, delighted to have the chance to use this ready-made line: "Sorry, I think I'm not ready yet either."

  David Fan was not discouraged at all, "That day was our fault, we can try again from scratch."

  At the mention of that day, Xindi raised her eyebrows and was about to get angry when a low voice behind her called out: "Xiao Di."

  Xin Di turned her head to look, a tall man wearing a white shirt stood not far from her, he was carrying a deep coffee-colored suitcase and a well-made notebook bag, his hair was cut short, with a handsome face, a pair of deep eyes were calm and bright, that stunning appearance was no less than the handsome David Fan.

  Xin Di's joy was half true and half false. She let out a scream and rushed over, "Lu Fei, is that really you? How come you didn't even call me first when you came back?"

  Lu Fei put down his suitcase, grasped her hand and smiled. He was a young man with a calm temperament, but at this moment, he had a faint smile on his face, and his eyes showed a few degrees of tenderness, "It's an unexpected surprise, Xiao Di."

  This joyful reunion scene left David stunned.

  Xin Di's phone rang, she picked it up and saw that it was her cousin Xin Chen calling, "Chenzi, what's up?"

  When she called out this name, Lu Fei hung up his own ringing phone and stood quietly on one side.

  "Are you back, Dizi? Remember to help me water the flowers. You have to go today, as long as it's not raining. Go once every other day and use the water stored in the water tank on the balcony to water them. After watering, fill up the tank again. Don't be lazy." Xincheng said over the phone.

  "Xin Di* sighed, "Why must you torment me? On such a hot day, any suitor who receives your request will surely rush to comply."

  Xin Chen smiled straight and said, "How can we casually let pursuers enter the hall, let people have wild thoughts for nothing, isn't that looking for trouble?"

  Xin Di looked at David Fan, who was standing not far away and hadn't left, with a sulky expression, admitting to herself that she had gotten into big trouble. But this guy wasn't even a suitor, and she didn't know if she was suffering from heatstroke or hormonal disorders.

  "How many days will you be gone?"

  "It's been about eighteen days now, and at this moment the train has already passed Enshi."

  "In eighteen days, heavens, don't forget to apply sunscreen, or you'll be as dark as a lump of coal when you return."

  "No, most of the time in the car."

  "Do you know who I met at the airport now?" Xindi said with a smile, looking at Lu Fei and intending to hand over her phone, but only saw Lu Fei slightly and quickly shaking his head. She couldn't help feeling a little surprised, but of course followed his intention, "Forget it, let's talk about it when you get back."

  Xin Chen didn't ask much, "Take care of my flowers, I'll buy you a thangka when I come back, see you later."

  Xin Di threw her phone into her bag and asked Lu Fei: "I was going to ask you to talk to Chen Zi, why did you shake your head?"

  "Where did she go?"

  "Tibet, and friends together take a cross-country drive past. Xindi has always been in the bustling metropolis, likes the feeling of stepping on flat roads, no sense of adventure, really can't understand her younger sister's hobby of going to the mountains every few years, at least once a year, even she hasn't heard of those places, but the small trinkets she brought back are quite interesting."

  "Tibet." Lu Fei's expression was slightly dazed, and he repeated the distant place name softly, "Xiao Di, she wants to call you again, don't tell her I'm back."

  Xin Di raised an eyebrow, "Want to give her a surprise too?"

  A faint smile hung at the corner of his mouth. "She'll probably be surprised, she'll be astonished, but I'm not sure if she'll be delighted."