WF | Chapter 1

Chapter 1Chapter 1

In January 2025, New Jersey had a heavy snowfall, the biggest since winter began.

Shen Lian came out of the lab, took off her lab coat, washed her hands, carefully applied a layer of hand cream, put the Chopard watch back on from the drawer, and drove home.

She was preparing to attend a dinner invitation, her coworker and neighbor Chen Zhiwang's mother's birthday banquet.

Chen Zhiwang's mother had just turned seventy this year. Five years ago, she had immigrated to the United States with her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend from a small town in northern China. When she first arrived, she did not speak a word of the language. Shen Lian had happened to ask her for directions a few times in the neighborhood, and after learning that she was Chen Zhiwang's mother and giving her a ride a few times on the way, she had been very honored to be promoted by the old lady to one of her good friends.

Although Shen Lian felt that she herself had never done anything particularly worthy of being kept in mind by the old lady, and although she and Chen Zhiwang were only nodding acquaintances at work, that did not stop the old lady from always showing her goodwill.

Knowing that she lived alone year-round, every time the old lady made steamed pastries, dumplings, or other Chinese dishes, she would specially have Chen Zhiwang or his wife bring her some. On holidays and festive occasions, she also warmly invited her over to celebrate together.

Shen Lian was not someone who loved socializing. In the eyes of some coworkers, she was even aloof and solitary, but she was not truly the sort of person who failed to appreciate kindness.

The old lady and the two of them, Chen Zhiwang and his wife, had all been kind to her, and she remembered it.

So this time, for the old lady's seventieth birthday, when the invitation call came personally, Shen Lian did not decline. She made an exception and agreed to go.

The community was near the coast, and the road was built along it. The closer she got, the stronger the wind and snow became. For safety, Shen Lian had no choice but to slow down, which delayed her a little. She arrived later than expected, but fortunately she was not late.

The detached villa bought jointly by Chen Zhiwang and his wife was packed with people. Besides Chen Zhiwang and his wife's close classmates and friends, there were also other Chinese friends around the old lady's age whom she had made in the community.

The room was full of noisy voices, laughter, and chatter.

After handing over the flowers, gifts, and red wine she had brought, and greeting everyone politely, Shen Lian quietly and courteously ate a dinner that left both host and guests thoroughly satisfied with each other.

As the dinner drew to a close, almost everyone had stopped using their chopsticks and forks. They just sat at the table chatting idly, occasionally sipping the drinks beside them.

By now, it was already close to Spring Festival back home. Although everyone was in a foreign country at the moment, their hearts could not help but remain tied to their relatives back home. Naturally, the conversation focused on that. After talking too much about one family's affairs and another's, everyone's sense of boundaries gradually faded, and the topics drifted further and further off course, becoming more and more personal.

After one of Chen Zhiwang's unmarried, older bachelor friends was harassed by his own mother and the aunts around him about finding a partner, he could not withstand the pressure and urgently shifted the fire elsewhere, suddenly calling Shen Lian's name. "Speaking of which, Selene, I've always had a question I'm really curious about, but I haven't had the nerve to ask you to confirm it."

Shen Lian looked up. "Mm?"

The woman asked, "Do you really have someone, or is that just an excuse to keep suitors away?"

Shen Lian was thirty-four this year. After earning her doctorate, she joined the leading U.S. pharmaceutical company where she currently worked, and in just five years she had climbed several ranks in this major company where it was very hard for Chinese people to rise. She could be called young, promising, and accomplished. On top of that, she was exceptionally beautiful, with a striking, cool-toned face that would be impossible to forget even if she never smiled.

In the biopharmaceutical circles and even in the Chinese community around here, Shen Lian had some name recognition, and there was no shortage of suitors. But Shen Lian never gave them an inch. She always said, "I'm married."

However, in the New Jersey circles, and even earlier among the classmates from her doctorate days, without exception, no one had ever seen her partner, aside from the platinum ring on Shen Lian's ring finger, which never seemed to come off.

So there were also rumors that Shen Lian's so-called married status was just a shield she used to turn down suitors.

"Not an excuse." Shen Lian answered with a calm gaze.

So it really was true that she had someone. A flash of disappointment crossed the woman's eyes, but she quickly hid it.

"Then... then she's Chinese too? Back in China?" The other people at the table were also aroused with curiosity, and even Chen Zhiwang's mother could not help asking.

"Mm."

"Then is it inconvenient for her to come over? Do you have any plans to move here?" The other older women quickly started asking one after another.

Shen Lian said briefly, "Mm, it's inconvenient."

Seeing that Shen Lian did not seem willing to say more, her coworker Chen Zhiwang wanted to change the topic, to steer it in another direction. "Wow, Selene, you've really kept this under wraps. How did you two meet? Honestly, I can't picture what kind of person could possibly win you over."

Half joking, half sincere, everyone deeply agreed with that.

Shen Lian also searched her memory. How had they met?

What kind of person was she?

Zheng Tingyu.

Darling, how would you want me to describe you?

In her mind, the familiar roads in Japan surfaced one after another, the roads from school to the restaurant, from the restaurant to home, and from home back to school. She thought of the Mount Fuji they had once shared beneath the golden afterglow, thought of the brilliant fireworks they had watched together, thought of the lights beneath Tokyo Tower that they had looked down on...

One road after another, one burst after another, one point after another, all of them were Tokyo memories Zheng Tingyu had left her.

Imprints in her life, life images that would never fade.

"We met in Japan." She lowered her eyes, gently parted her lips, and her gaze was more tender than ever before.

Author's note:

I'm here~