"It sounds like you handled it well," Kong Junzhen said as he maneuvered the car into the flow of traffic. Tapping the steering wheel slightly.
Lixue stared out the window, watching the city blur past. "Maybe," she replied softly. "But I still feel like there's so much I don't know. It's overwhelming."
Junzhen glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "The boss always says the most important thing is to take the first step. Everything else falls into place with time."
She smiled faintly at his words. It was the kind of advice Mo Ran would give—direct, pragmatic, and oddly reassuring. She rested her chin on her hand, her thoughts drifting to the evening ahead.
The Yu family gathering loomed in her mind like an unwelcome storm cloud. She had avoided their suffocating presence for years, and stepping back into that place felt like walking into a trap.
