Chapter Two: Your First Love Is "Big Brother"?

Su Mian grabbed Qin Lingling’s hand and they turned to run. The burly men chased desperately, but the little girl was as light as a swallow, darting left and right like a slippery eel. Occasionally, when one managed to catch up, she would effortlessly entwine and trip them, sending them sprawling to the ground.

They took a taxi back to their apartment, and Qin Lingling still felt as if she were dreaming.

Su Mian rested her arm on the car window, leaning her head sideways to watch the streets and alleys recede behind them, lost in thought.

Noticing Qin Lingling’s gaze, she turned and gave a faint smile. “What’s wrong?”

Qin Lingling shook her head. “You run so fast, pulling me along and still keeping up like it’s nothing. I’m exhausted, but you look like you haven’t even broken a sweat. You really have great stamina.”

Su Mian raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“How did you train yourself like that?”

“Since I was little.” Su Mian’s expression grew a bit wistful, as if recalling something, but the dim light inside the taxi cloaked her mood.

“That must take daily dedication, huh? No wonder you won Best Actress at twenty-one. With that kind of perseverance, you’ll succeed at anything.”

Su Mian chuckled genuinely this time. “So you’re saying I embody a popular internet meme, huh?”

Sometimes, she actually liked those silly trends.

After that, she closed her eyes and fell silent, and Qin Lingling wisely followed suit.

They had been high school roommates, and Qin Lingling was used to Su Mian’s calm, carefree demeanor—nothing seemed to faze her. But recently, amidst so much turmoil, Qin Lingling had noticed Su Mian’s weariness.

The topic ended there, and within half an hour, the taxi stopped in front of the apartment rented by their company. They got out one after the other. The street lamp at the entrance flickered erratically.

Su Mian hadn’t truly fallen asleep; she had merely dozed off in the car. Her mind was restless, replaying memories of one person—snippets from nineteen years—flashing through her mind without beginning or end. She tried to stop thinking, but the ache in her heart and the tightness in her chest made her dizzy.

At the very least, she told herself, don’t cry.

Resigning to this, Su Mian closed her eyes, rubbed her temples, and leaned against the weathered, rusted door. Bowing her head, she swallowed back silent sobs.

The autumn nights in Harbor City were dry and cold, with a biting wind outside. The hallway was even chillier. Though Su Mian had changed out of the high-slit fishtail gown from the ceremony, her thin clothes still gave her chills.

Qin Lingling, not a performer, wore much warmer clothes and stood shielding Su Mian from the wind.

This was the most vulnerable Su Mian had ever appeared in Qin Lingling’s memory, fragile as a thin sheet of paper, easily crumpled.

“Actually, the one with perseverance isn’t me. It’s him.”

Su Mian’s voice was hoarse, as if she was catching a cold, yet she still dwelt on this question.

Qin Lingling, eager to hear more but worried about her catching a chill, grabbed Su Mian’s arm. “Let’s go upstairs first.”

But Su Mian stopped, feeling dizzy and reluctant to move, as if freezing in that moment could keep her anchored in the past.

“Who is ‘he’?”

Su Mian said nothing. She rested one hand against the dusty wall of the hallway, quietly watching Qin Lingling with bright eyes and a smile that could captivate the world.

---

“Damn, your doomed first love, huh? But don’t shoot me that look—I’m not your fan, and I can’t take it!”

Just past one in the morning, a sudden night rain fell, with thunder crashing like a wild drum. Su Mian, terrified of lightning, grabbed a pillow and ran into Qin Lingling’s room, only to find Qin Lingling also sporting heavy dark circles under her eyes.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Su Mian pulled the curtains tight and climbed into bed quickly.

“I’m curious—who exactly was your first love?”

Su Mian gave her a wry look. Maybe the storm had broken down her defenses, because she actually answered.

“Maybe you’ve heard—he’s the one who called me that night, Shang Biehan’s... big brother.”

“What?! You’re panting like you ran a marathon! Isn’t that Shang Jiuxu, the current head of the Shang family? The Shang family from the capital? Shang Biehan’s already intimidating enough, but you’re connected to someone even more powerful! Did you know he doubled the Shang family’s output in just two years? The Shang family is a global behemoth—doubling their value! That’s terrifying! Seriously? And now you’re living in this dump with your girlfriends?”

Su Mian smiled quietly, waiting for Qin Lingling to absorb the information. She never joked about matters of the heart, something Qin Lingling knew well. And as for Shang Jiuxu’s capabilities, the hardships and trials he endured to become who he was—no one understood better than Su Mian.

“So the bigger backing you mentioned is Shang Jiuxu?”

“Yes.”

“Wait.” Qin Lingling suddenly remembered a serious problem. “Shang Biehan is your registered second brother, right? Then Shang Jiuxu must be your registered eldest brother?”

“Shang Jiuxu was raised as the heir with a special status, so he’s not registered with the main family,” Su Mian said, folding her hands behind her head, the smile on her lips faint. “But from when I was two until nineteen, he raised me. Every word and action he taught me, every meal he personally took care of. Except for these past two years, we were barely apart—just no blood relation.”

“Ah!!!” Qin Lingling screamed in shock at the revelation of this high-society secret. Su Mian helplessly raised an eyebrow and covered her mouth. “Shh, be careful not to disturb the neighbors.”

“I can’t help it! I always wondered why you acted so arrogantly in high school—if I had that kind of family, I’d be wildly arrogant too. If the Shang family treated me that well, I wouldn’t even walk out the door myself—I’d have eight handsome male models carry me in a sedan chair!”

Su Mian laughed at her. “The Shang family is strict. Shang Jiuxu is a smiling tiger who influences people like a gentle breeze. Just don’t be intimidated around him.”

“I seriously can’t imagine Shang Jiuxu—so scandal-free—actually dating. Though you drive men crazy and make women blush...” Qin Lingling puzzled. “Did you force your way into his heart? I know you liked him for years, but did he like you?”

“I’m not sure.” Qin Lingling was about to say, of course he did, since they dated, but Su Mian sighed softly, her gaze serious.

“We were together because I schemed it. For him, maybe it’s softness, pity, or habit in taking care of me. But,” Su Mian sighed again, “it probably wasn’t love.”

“Why would you think that? Who has their good big brother and sister rolling in the same bed? Where were you two back then?”

“We’d gone all the way,” Su Mian answered calmly, as if commenting on the heavy rain that evening.

“Damn, beast! He’s six years older than you! When you were just an adult, he made his move?!”

Qin Lingling had been the gossip queen since high school and knew the birthdates of all the aristocrats and stars by heart.

“That has to be love, right? If not, is he even human?”

“He never contacted me once in these two years since we broke up. Even when I asked my second brother to pass messages, he was completely unreachable.” Su Mian forced a bitter smile, like a butterfly with rain-soaked wings. “If it were love, he wouldn’t be so heartless.”

Qin Lingling had no words of comfort. After all, who knew Shang Jiuxu like Su Mian did? “Who broke up with whom? How did it end?”

“I did.” Su Mian turned over under the blanket, her voice faintly hoarse. “So it’s only natural he ignores me. I’m just the one who can’t let go.”

---

The next day, as expected, Su Mian caught a cold, her voice slightly nasal. Qin Lingling grumbled while brewing her cold medicine.

“There’s a business gala tonight. You dodged Huo Chong’s bed last night, who knows what trouble awaits today?”

Su Mian downed the medicine in one gulp. After a night’s sleep, she had fully recovered, as if the broken version of herself was just a hallucination. She smiled brightly, swirling the remaining medicine in her glass. “I could do a commercial for cold medicine. No matter how bitter, I can swallow it without flinching.”

“Have you been sick a lot since you were little? Always taking medicine?”

“Bingo!” Su Mian snapped her fingers and set down the glass. “That’s how I trained.”

Miss Su Mian, who had trained herself, took two doses of medicine and was lively by evening, showing no signs of illness. Qin Lingling admired her physical resilience.

Su Mian glanced at her faintly. “Who said I’m both fragile and tough?”

That night, she wore a white layered wave skirt with a black pearl collar. The edges of the waves were trimmed with black thread, and beneath a pleated black blazer, her graceful figure was concealed. A simple ring rested against her chin as she watched the mingling crowd under the shifting lights, a mixture of boredom and detachment in her eyes.

“You’re always giving me a hard time. The company’s bottom line is that you must attend tonight, but they didn’t say you had to do anything. Don’t cause trouble, got it?” Qin Lingling whispered her reminder.

Su Mian nodded lightly, her tone resigned. “I’m afraid trouble will come looking for me anyway.”

Amid the lilting cello music, Huo Chong stormed over with a group of heavy-hitters, quickly surrounding them. Su Mian stood, clutching her wine glass tighter and straightening her blazer as she noticed many eyes discreetly turning toward them.

“Miss Su, our star, you really kept me waiting last night!” Huo Chong’s thick eyebrows flushed red with frustration, recalling how he nervously downed drink after drink, nearly falling asleep before learning she had fled.

Su Mian sensed this would be a difficult encounter, a headache forming, yet she smiled warmly. “Director Huo, what’s your penalty? Su Mian is at your service.”

She glanced toward the nearby stage, where a waltz flowed smoothly across the dance floor, sparkling spotlights flickering over couples. Nearing midnight, she had already reviewed the schedule: the midnight ball followed by an auction.

A middle-aged man’s lecherous gaze landed on her face, making Su Mian feel nauseous. The men around Huo Chong weren’t to be trifled with either. One corpulent, slick-haired, narrow-eyed boss licked his lips lasciviously while staring at her pale chest.

“Director Huo is busy, Miss Su, but would you honor me with a dance?”

He was eager, imagining the delicate waist he could grasp and the smoothness of her skin like fine jade.

Su Mian’s smile remained unchanged, but her eyes grew colder—like shards of ice among a blooming garden.

She considered how to refuse, knowing she’d have to use tact, bow low, and beg not to be molested.

“This is Mr. Zhou? I’ve long admired Zhuofeng Entertainment,” Su Mian smiled, preparing to speak, when a commotion erupted in the distance. Everyone, including Huo Chong, subtly turned their attention toward the entrance.

Though it was just a minor disturbance among influential guests, every sharp mind sensed trouble and shifted focus immediately.

Su Mian’s heart raced. More precisely, she had a strong premonition, as if all the blood in her body surged to her brain at once.