A Beijing socialite stole my boyfriend; she went crazy after I got married.

Jiang Chu paused, her hand holding the fork still. "Uh... excuse me, have we met before? Was it at a competition or a performance?"

She racked her brains trying to recall, but to no avail.

"Neither." The man sighed, "I'm Xu Muyao, also from Peking University, the Academy of Sciences. I got your account from a friend at the art school, added you as a friend, and sent you a long, heartfelt confession, complete with my professionally edited photos. I told you I hoped you'd dump that idiot Wei Jing as soon as possible. Don't you remember at all?"

"cough……"

Jiang Chu almost choked on her own saliva.

The original owner's list contained many such people, most of whom were ignored or politely rejected—usually depending on the other party's attitude.

"Ah... I'm sorry, I have a bad memory."

Jiang Chu touched her nose somewhat awkwardly, "However, Wei Jing is indeed an idiot, you're not wrong about that."

Hearing that Jiang Chu agreed with her opinion, Xu Muyao immediately perked up and plopped down in the empty seat opposite Jiang Chu.

"Right! That idiot's only good at academics, but we're all from Peking University, everyone's a top student, so why does he think his major is the most prestigious and he looks down on everyone all the time—"

Xu Muyao looked disgusted. "Just looking at him makes me want to vomit. How have you been lately?"

"I broke up with him," Jiang Chu said, "but I have a boyfriend now, and we're very much in love."

"Ha," Xu Muyao seemed unsurprised, "I guessed so! How's your boyfriend? He's definitely better than that idiot Wei Jing, right?"

He seemed a little excited.

Jiang Chu didn't know what he was expecting, but she naturally wouldn't hesitate to answer this question.

"Of course!"

Jiang Chu answered without hesitation, a smile involuntarily appearing in her eyes, "...To compare Wei Jing to him is like the Wei family's ancestors emitting auspicious smoke!"

She thought for a moment, "If we're talking about wealth, there aren't many people on our continent who are richer than him. If we're talking about other things... he could punch Wei Jing into a wall so hard he couldn't be pried off."

Xu Muyao froze for a few seconds, then slapped her thigh. "Damn! That's more like it! That's more like you! You're so good-looking, Wei Jing, that loser, is no match for you..."

What followed was a series of rather vulgar words.

Jiang Chu, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased with what she heard.

"Okay, since your boyfriend is so amazing, then there's nothing more to say."

Xu Muyao looked at the birds outside again, "Anyway, you're bored eating alone, so I'll tell you more about them. Don't let their cute appearance fool you, they're actually very territorial..."

This man was clearly a die-hard fanatic of natural sciences, and once the topic turned back to his field of expertise, he began to speak with great enthusiasm and fervor.

Jiang Chu found this person quite amazing, so she simply ate her Wagyu beef while listening attentively to his "Little Bird Science Lecture".

Seeing that Jiang Chu was listening attentively, Xu Muyao became even more interested.

He pointed to the branches on the other side of the window: "See that little grayish-brown creature with fine spots on its chest? That's a thrush, a regular here. They're very bold; sometimes they dare to fly two or three meters away from people to find food."

Jiang Chu nodded, "Oh, I recognize him! I see him all the time..."

Before the words were finished, a slightly smaller bird with a chestnut-red head fluttered its wings and landed on a nearby branch, tilting its head to look at the diners inside.

"Hey, this is a Red-flanked Bluetail," Xu Muyao said in a low voice. "The male, look at that blue under its wing, isn't it beautiful? This thing is very wary and doesn't usually like to get close to humans. I guess it's too cold this winter and it's frozen silly that it came over here."

The red-flanked bluetail shook its wings, revealing a small patch of jewel-like indigo, which stood out against the gray-white winter background.

It pecked at the red berries on the branch twice, then looked around warily, its tail wagging back and forth.

"What do they eat? Just the fruit of these ornamental plants?"

"Omnivorous," Xu Muyao counted on her fingers, "insects, berries, grass seeds, they eat whatever they can get their hands on. The artificial lake here doesn't freeze in winter, and there are small fish and shrimp in it. If you're lucky, you can even catch a couple of bites of meat. But mainly, we have to rely on kind people to feed us—look at that little tin house under the tree over there, that's an automatic feeder set up by the management office, which regularly dispenses grains and dried insects."

He then pointed to the top of a tall ash tree further away, where several dark shadows were huddled together: "Those are blackbirds. They sing beautifully, but now that it's cold, they're too lazy to sing and just sit there to save energy."

Jiang Chu followed his finger and saw several blackbirds crouching among the bare branches, their necks tucked in, looking like a few clumps of old yarn that had been carelessly left aside, a stark contrast to the lively little birds nearby.

She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't let their laziness fool you. In the spring, they'll be the first to sing before dawn," Xu Muyao said confidently. "If you come here for breakfast then, I guarantee you'll get to hear a free concert."

The atmosphere in the restaurant on the first floor was peaceful.

Shortly after, Xie Jing walked up the spiral marble staircase.

The dinner ended faster than expected; the French representatives, struggling with the time difference, left early.

however--

When his gaze passed over the restaurant's elegant screen and landed on the booth by the window, the man's eyes darkened slightly.

Standing in front of the huge glass window, Jiang Chu rested her chin on her hand, her large, watery eyes full of smiles as she looked at the trees outside.

A boy, who looked about her age, was sitting opposite her, gesturing wildly and talking about something, occasionally pointing outside.

In the afterglow of the winter sunset, two equally young and energetic figures sat there, watching the migratory birds that were overwintering.

...It seems wonderful.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside the window.

The few thrushes that had been quietly perched on the branches seemed to have been disturbed and scattered in a flurry.

Immediately afterwards, two male red-flanked bluetails of similar size and bright plumage suddenly leaped out of the bushes and collided violently with each other in mid-air.

The little birds flapped their wings, and their fine feathers fluttered down.

They chased and tore at each other, fighting from one branch to another, emitting rapid and sharp warning cries, none of them willing to give an inch.

Xie Jing stopped in his tracks.

He watched through the huge floor-to-ceiling window as the two little creatures fought fiercely for some unknown reason.

She glanced again at the girl inside the window, who was looking up, and at the young man sitting opposite her, who was beaming with excitement.

It's winter now, far from the mating and breeding season.

The two male birds were probably fighting so fiercely over a bite to eat or a comfortable place to land—but that's not important.

More importantly, Xie Jing felt a strange resonance as he watched the two birds locked in a fierce battle.

He even wanted to fight.

Xie Jing withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, loosened his tie, and walked steadily toward the booth.

Xu Muyao, who was speaking, suddenly stopped talking.

He felt a sudden chill run down his back, and a sense of crisis instantly swept over him.

Xu Muyao instinctively turned her head away.

A very tall and imposing figure approached.

The man had a cold and aloof demeanor, his deep black eyes were like frozen lakes, and he exuded the pressure of a superior, making the surrounding air seem thinner.

Xu Muyao: "!"

Holy crap.

As a member of the Xu family, a long-established wealthy family in Beijing, he might not recognize other nouveau riche, but how could he not recognize this face!

The richest man in Beijing!

Chairman of Tianyu Group!

Xu Muyao immediately jumped up from her seat.

He was so nervous that he didn't even know where to put his hands. Instinctively, he brought his legs together and bowed deeply to Xie Jing.

"Hello, Uncle Xie!"