Starlight Has No Past - Chapter 13 Part 3

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.

Starlight Has No Past

Chapter 13 Part 3

Ye Qiao subconsciously licked her upper teeth where the sensation of the
kiss lingered, a product of spontaneous passion. At that very moment, she
didn’t think it was that bad of an idea to get into a relationship with him, even
if there was no love involved. At the very least he didn’t talk much, nor did he
ask too many questions. There was no pressure when she spent time with him.
Since both of them were nonchalant in character, there was no concern that they
would pester each other; a perfect lover.

She was surprised by her own thoughts and mentally scolded herself.

Was it an aftereffect of being dumped by Gu Jin? She had lost the innocence of
a young woman in her early twenties; she now had a mindset like someone in
her stepmother’s age. She had no intention to fall in love again since she was on
the rise in her career, plus the previous love affair had burned her out. She felt it
should be alright to find someone, if only to deal with the loneliness both mentally
and physically.

Ye Qiao raised her eyebrows and sized up Zhou Tingsheng’s outfit: “You weren’t
wearing this during the day. Were you there for business?”

“I have a sister who runs an auction house. I was there to help her pick the pieces
for the catalog for a upcoming auction.” Zhou Tingsheng took out a cigarette from
his gold cigarette case and fiddled with it between his fingers: “So, you like the
way I looked then?”

She thought about it for a while: “The way you are now is more fitting. I hardly
recognized you earlier today.”

Ye Qiao tried to digest the information he just divulged. She recalled how her
father’s <Secret of the Mortal World> was auctioned off. It was five years ago,
it seemed that overnight the value of the painting had gone up several times. It
was not unusual in the arts market; it only took some luck for a painting to become
a priceless treasure. Just like how the <Mona Lisa> gained its unparalleled popularity
only after its famous theft and recovery in the early 1900s.

At the time, she seldom contacted or cared about her family. But his words had
helped her put all the pieces together-- --

No wonder he owned that painting yet displayed it in such an unimportant spot.

Ye Qiao seemed to remember that the auction house which handled her father’s
painting was called Ferra. It sounded quite familiar but she couldn’t put her finger
on it. Then she remembered that one of Cheng Jiang’s sponsors happened to
invest in art, which was affiliated with Ferra. She suddenly realized something:
“You were at Cheng Jiang’s birthday party also because of Ferra?”

Zhou Tingsheng nodded and turned his head to look at the street lights with the
ghost of a smile on his lips.

Ye Qiao recalled all the questions she had asked him. Her misconceptions of him
were now becoming clear to her.

She tacitly smiled and teased him: “Was that the reason why you took me to C
University to eat street food?  As revenge?”

“No.” It was a long story, but he only explained in a few sentences: “I was in the
military before. One year, our mission was to train all the college freshmen in G
City. C University was one of them and the students told me about the place.”

Translated by Team DHH at http://dhh-workshop.blogspot.com.