70 18 Years Ago

Then, everyone froze when the next second, the man pinched Xu Anyi's nose shut and then leaned forward, placing his own mouth over hers.

Seeing this, Lu Yuzhe immediately rushed over and pulled the man back, but the man turned around and pushed Lu Yuzhe so aggressively he fell back a few steps.

"Yuzhe!" Xia Yiwei called as she heard several gasps, and she looked back to see everyone staring at the man. She frowned as she looked over at the man, and her mouth fell open as well when she saw how handsome he looked.

Who was he?

However, despite how good looking he was, his expression was so cold and scary that she fell back a few steps and shivered in fear.

The man scanned the crowd quickly, causing everyone to shiver at his strong presence, and then he kneeled back down and began performing CPR on Xu Anyi.

The entire crowd watched without breathing, and they looked from the man to Xu Anyi.

Did Xu Anyi actually drown? But she could have stood up in the pool? Was she acting? But it didn't seem like it. . .

After a minute of intense silence, Xu Anyi suddenly began coughing violently as her face scrunched together, and she bent forward, choking out water as her eyes slowly opened slightly.

Her vision was blurry, and she was suddenly brought back to 18 years ago. . .

— 18 Years Ago

Xu Anyi looked around the empty forest and stepped forward to the lake she had just found, hidden in the middle of the mountains.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked around curiously, standing on her toes so she could see better.

She was only 8 years old at the time, and her family with a few other close family friends had decided to go to the mountains together during the summer as a trip.

She did not like playing with the other kids, who were all children of upper class families, so she began wandering in the mountains alone. To her surprise, she found this peaceful lake, where only the sound of the birds chirping could be heard.

There was a simple boardwalk that led to the middle of the lake, and she carefully stepped on the wood in her bare feet, sitting down at the edge of the board and swinging her short legs into the water.

The water was quite clear and chilly in the hot summer water, and she giggled happily as she kicked up the water.

The temperature was relatively cooler near the lake, but she was still sweating from the heat, and she leaned forward, running her hands through the water as well. The coolness of the water calmed her and she began drawing alone the calm surface of the water with her fingers.

She smiled as she continued to play around with the water, and her eyes widened in amazement when she noticed that there was a group of small fish in the lake as well, a little bit beneath the surface.

She reached her arm further in to try and touch the fish, but it only scared them away. However, as she pulled her arm out, the bracelet she was wearing got loose from the water and fell off her arm and into the water.

Xu Anyi gasped as she watched the bracelet float away on the surface. It was the bracelet her father had given her for her birthday!

Her father would certainly be mad if she lost it, right?

Xu Anyi bent forward further, trying to reach the bracelet, but it was floating further and further away, until. . .

"Ah!" Her short scream scared all the birds away, but the sound was soon replaced with the splashing of water as she fell straight into the middle of the lake, where it was too deep to stand.

Unable to swim, she began flapping her arms up and down, trying to gasp for air.

She could only try and stay afloat for a few seconds because she did not know how to swim, and before long, she found herself drowning, slowly into the dark lake.

As she fell deeper and deeper into the lake, the last thing she saw was a figure suddenly entering her blurred vision. . . It was a boy.

He grabbed onto her, his arm was very strong. He seemed quite tall, and this fragrance on him calmed her. She wanted to sleep, and then. . .

The light blinded her as she began coughing violently, and then she heard him calling her name.

"Anyi! Xu Anyi!"

He patted her on the back until all the water was out and she slowly sat up and saw Lu Yuzhe kneeling down next to her.

"Are you okay?!" He asked.

She began to cry as she threw herself into his arms, and he could only pat her on the back, comforting her.

That day, she had almost drowned in the lake.

And it was Lu Yuzhe who saved her.

The man she would like starting from that day.

— Present

Xu Anyi slowly opened her eyes, and the figure of the boy she had seen 18 years ago seemed to emerge. . . The familiar smell and feeling. Where did it come from?

As she slowly regained her consciousness, the vision of the boy disappeared and was replaced with Si Mu's face, and her heart almost stopped when she saw him.

He was here! She wanted to cry, but remembering that there were other people around, she stopped herself as she coughed out the remaining water, feeling weak in all of her limbs.

When he saw that she was awake, he lifted her up in his arms, holding onto her tightly as he straightened his back. Then, he looked at every single person at the party coldly, as if giving them a warning, but just his glare alone was enough to make everyone shiver in fear.

Then, he turned around and walked away.

After he had gone, there were several seconds of continued silence until someone muttered, "That man. . . Why does he look so familiar?!"

And then there was the sound of glass breaking into pieces on the hard floor as the man who had just spoken dropped the glass of wine he was holding, his mouth falling open in shock.

"Th- That man!"

Everyone turned to look at him in confusion.

"He's President Si!"