Liang Chen's days were a never-ending blur of meetings with executives, urgent phone calls, and the stress of Horizon Tech's ongoing cyber crisis. His commute through the busy streets of Shanghai, usually in the quiet cocoon of his sleek, black car, was less of a trip and more of a change of battlefields. His mind was always full of plans, threats, and his grandfather's unyielding demands, so he didn't have much time to pay attention to what was going on around him. The city outside his tinted windows was usually just a colorful background to the chaos inside his head.
One very tense morning, while his car was stopped at a busy intersection, a sudden change in traffic created a brief, unexpected scene. He saw a figure through the window, but it was only for a moment. There were a lot of people walking by. It was a young woman with dark hair pulled back simply. Even though she was in a hurry, her features were striking, and she was both delicate and strong. She walked with a purpose, her face focused, as if she were in a hurry to catch a bus or just get through the morning rush. The brief image, a splash of calm in the middle of the city's chaos, only lasted for a second.
And then, just as quickly as the glimpse happened, it was gone. The traffic light turned green, and his driver smoothly sped up, leaving the stream of people behind. Liang Chen's mind quickly filled with the urgent notes he needed to remember for his next meeting, the ongoing problem with the company's firewall, and the conversation he had with his grandfather. There was no recognition, no spark of curiosity, just a brief, almost subconscious appreciation of beauty. He was just a man who was lost in his own world; she was a stranger he saw in a crowd.
If Mei Lin even noticed the passing luxury car, it didn't matter to her. Her mind was also racing with numbers, plans for how to win competitions, and the constant desire for that electric bike to cut down on her commute time. For a split second, their paths crossed, two strong, independent lives brushing against each other like ghost ships in the vast ocean of Shanghai. At the time, it was a moment that had no meaning at all, but it was full of deep, hidden irony, a subtle thread woven into the fabric of a destiny that neither of them could yet imagine.