The corridor hung suspended in midair, with scattered light pouring down from an oblique angle above, casting the translucent glass walkway beneath the man's feet.
Qin Jijing turned around and saw the girl who emerged from the shadows at the end of the corridor, striding out from where he had just been standing. She was in a pair of kitten heels, walking briskly as if afraid he would leave, with the motion-sensor lights barely keeping up with her pace.
Qin Jijing stood still, his eyes betraying no emotion.
His gaze lingered on her, looking down to his left where the noisy evening's main event continued, guests mingling on the deck, seemingly oblivious to this isolated spot on the fourth floor. To his right roared the churning sea, with frothy white waves constantly crashing against the ship's hull, quickly swallowed by the vast ocean again.
Neither side could be called calm.
The girl was dressed today in a white chiffon dress with a cinched waist and a full skirt, its straps tied in a butterfly knot around her slender neck, and her waist-length hair secured with a creamy hairband, a simple embellishment. However, the wind in the middle of the corridor was so strong it had tousled her hairstyle for the night.
But at that moment, she seemed unconcerned with her appearance, approaching him face-on and stopping in front of him. With a casual flick, she hooked a few strands of hair from her cheek behind her ear, the other hand hastily presenting something to him.
"It seems you've dropped this."
A black matte lighter, the one he had just left on the railing.
Whether gripped too tightly or with sharp edges, the impression of its outline was clearly etched into the palm of her hand.
The urgency in her eyes indeed looked as though she had come solely to return something.
Averting his gaze, Qin Jijing withdrew his hand from his trouser pocket in a leisurely manner and took out a cigarette from the packet.
The man stood tall, his wrist bearing an effortlessly revealed watch when he raised his hand, marking the distinguished status of his identity.
"Eavesdropping on my phone call?"
His voice was deep when he spoke, tone consistent without much fluctuation.
Jiang Ni was taken aback, not expecting him to discover her presence.
"No! I saw you standing there when I came out of the elevator, just didn't dare to approach."
"Afraid of me?" He seemed to chuckle, although she couldn't be sure if she had heard him correctly.
"Not really, just worried I would disturb you," she asserted softly, defending herself, "But I really wasn't eavesdropping... You were about to hang up at that time, so I didn't leave."
As she finished speaking, she saw Qin Jijing put the cigarette in his mouth, probably intending to light another one.
Noticing this, she extended the lighter towards him again, "Here you go."
Qin Jijing didn't take it, just looking at her with his head tilted downward.
Jiang Ni was perplexed.
For a few moments, neither of them moved.
After a few seconds, there was movement in the hand Qin Jijing had kept in his pocket.
But someone was quicker than he was, and her palm suddenly tightened even before he could take the lighter.
"Let me help you..."
Qin Jijing lifted his eyelids and saw her step forward twice.
Her movements were awkward, probably having never lit a cigarette for someone before. So she fumbled with it for a while before looking up and raising the lighter to his face.
The wind was blowing, and her first attempt to light it failed, causing her to frown in annoyance.
When she tried again, she was wiser, using one hand as a shield. Those bright, puppy-dog eyes of hers watched the flickering flame intently, as if she had found some novel toy.
"There you go."
Jiang Ni smiled and stepped back. Her gaze glided over the neatly pressed, hand-tailored suit's peak lapel, traveling upward from his adam's apple constrained by the shirt collar and boldly lingering on the contours of his eyebrow and eyes.
Before boarding the ship, she had looked at photos of his parents. He had extremely handsome features, resembling his mother, but his eyes and eyebrows could not be considered gentle. Now, sensing her gaze, he looked straight at her, and even with a hint of carelessness, his gaze was still sharp as if he could see through everything.
Meeting his eyes without subservience or arrogance, the smile in Jiang Ni's eyes did not diminish as she softly asked, "I wonder if Mr. Qin still remembers me. We met at school before when you came to look for Bai Shu, and you even gave me a ride along the way."
The last time they met was only about four or five months ago.
It was a day when a light rain fell in the east of England.
She and Bai Shu came out of the academic building and immediately saw the car parked not far away.
Qin Jijing was sitting in the driver's seat at the time, his hand holding a cigarette resting casually on the half-open window, his shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing a section of his forearm. Through the blurred veil of rain, she seemed to see the man looking over in her direction, his gaze resting on her without shifting away.
When Bai Shu pulled her into the car, he politely extinguished the cigarette in his hand. She was sitting in the back seat, diagonally opposite him. She watched as he opened the central armrest box and, lowering his voice, asked where she wanted to go while taking out a handkerchief to methodically wipe his fingers dampened by the rain.
When she did not respond immediately, he could not help but turn around to look at her, making eye contact.
—
Opposite her, Qin Jijing intentionally avoided her while smoking. At this moment, hearing her words, he turned his gaze back to her.
It was the customary condescending attitude of someone of his status, his look carrying a hint of scrutiny.
She was not sure if he was recalling that story.
Qin Jijing removed the cigarette, the ash fluttering down as he tapped it out, "Remember. Bai Shu's girlfriend?"
"..." This was an answer Jiang Ni had not expected. Her lips moved as if she wanted to explain something but was interrupted by him, "Anything else?"
"Oh, I wanted to ask you if you know where Bai Shu is right now?"
It seemed to her that he was not too interested in making small talk and catching up.
Indeed, the Crown Prince born from a prestigious family was different, even when he was impatient, he remained polite and did not make it overly obvious, avoiding causing her too much embarrassment.
Jiang Ni hurriedly brought up her WeChat chat window to show him, "He just sent me a message saying he needed to see me about something and asked me to come up, but he didn't tell me his room number."
"I walked around and didn't see any staff, so..."
Before she could finish, Qin Jijing had already turned around: "Follow me."
"Thank you."
The sound of the girl's high heels echoed behind him, slower than before.
However, the footsteps stopped again after not too long.
Qin Jijing could not help but look back.
The summer sea breeze was not as gentle as imagined, the girl's skirt had little fabric, thin and short, its length not even reaching her knees, and the fluffy hem fluttered in the air. The corridor was made of glass, and if someone with intent looked up from the deck below, they should be able to see everything clearly.
Jiang Ni frantically tried to hold down her skirt as the wind lifted it, beginning to feel a headache coming on.
When Qin Jijing was nearby earlier, the side breeze had been mostly blocked by him, so she wasn't so disheveled.
There was still some distance to the end of the corridor, and she even considered whether to leave Qin Jijing behind and run straight to the end in one go.
But that didn't seem like it would leave a good impression on him...
Before she could decide, a shadow fell in front of her.
The man who had already distanced himself from her all of a sudden turned around and came back, his tall figure blocking the sea breeze coming from her side.
Jiang Ni was startled, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes.
She stood still as Qin Jijing narrowed his eyes, "Aren't you walking?"