Chosen: Beyond Fate

Two days later, on a sunny afternoon in Cliff City, at a viral dessert café called Horizon Café in Gracefield District...

Under the brilliant afternoon sun, a steady stream of customers wandered across the beach outside, stopping to snap photos for social media. Under the parasols, many patrons enjoyed the café’s signature desserts and afternoon tea sets amid the lively chatter and bustle. But inside one of the café’s private rooms, an awkward silence settled in after an endless round of pleasantries.

“The weather’s really nice today.”

“Yeah, it really is.”

“Was there any traffic on the way here?”

“No, none at all.”

“You’ve lost weight.”

“Just a little.”

“Your skin looks amazing!”

“It’s the makeup...”

The woman sitting across the table sighed. She was dressed in a blouse and a pencil skirt. Her hair was neatly pinned up at the back of her head, and her light makeup only added to the gentle warmth that seemed to radiate from her naturally. She had the kind of presence that immediately put people at ease, making them want to pour out every worry weighing on their hearts.

Ye Zhi pushed her coffee aside and said seriously, “I skipped an appointment with a major client just to see you today. You said you had something important you wanted to consult me about in person, so go on, tell me.”

“Okay, fine...”

Tong Hua fidgeted for quite a while. Ye Zhi’s gaze subtly dropped to her hands. She was twisting her fingers together, interlacing them and pressing her fingertips against each other from time to time. Anxiety and confusion were written all over her. Tong Hua was still deciding whether she should tell her about it.

“I have a friend...” she finally said.

“Got it. You have a ‘friend.’”

Understanding immediately dawned on Ye Zhi. She adjusted her plain glasses, crossed her legs, and straightened in her seat. The fingers holding her spoon subtly shifted their grip, as though she were holding a pen instead. Behind the lenses, her eyes took on a knowing look.

Tong Hua was instantly appalled and stared at her. “What’s with that look? Why are you profiling me already?!”

Tsk. The perception abilities of Aether-types are really annoying.

Ye Zhi smiled apologetically. “Sorry, just my occupational habit. Go on, go on. So, this ‘friend’ of yours...”

Tong Hua clenched her fists. “I really do have a friend! He’s a guy, but there’s absolutely nothing going on between us! We’re not like that at all!”

She raised her eyebrows and leaned forward a little in her upright posture. A familiar nosy gleam, recognizable to every Aether user, lit up in her eyes.

“Is he...?”

“No!!!”

“Alright, alright. Look at you, getting all worked up. I haven’t even said anything yet.” Ye Zhi waved her hand. Under Tong Hua’s glare, she finally gave up her therapist-like posture and let out a helpless sigh. “Then give me a brief rundown of the situation.”

Being a Heart Core Chosen One had its downsides. Most of the time, they had to keep a low profile. If people discovered what they were, they would inevitably become wary and keep their distance. And if you somehow managed to make a few close friends, you inevitably ended up dealing with agonizing questions like, “Do they not love me anymore?” Then, the second they got dumped, you were the first person they came running to.

Ye Zhi sighed. She was used to it. After all, she only had a handful of friends. Her fingernails casually scraped across a notepad as she listened absentmindedly to Tong Hua’s description.

“Early twenties... Tianmen University... promising academic future... craftsman... kind of weird... and, like you, always clicks his tongue at me...”

Ignoring most of the specific details, Ye Zhi only interrupted every now and then to ask a few follow-up questions. After talking for what felt like ages, Tong Hua finally picked up her teacup and let out a long breath. “Anyway, that’s pretty much it.”

Ye Zhi looked up curiously. “I have one more question. Have the Tong family’s standards for recruiting a live-in son-in-law[1] gotten this ridiculously high?”

“I told you, it’s not like that!”

“Alright, alright. I think I get the general picture now.” Ye Zhi sighed. “So what is it you actually wanted to ask me?”

“I want to know if my friend... ahem...” Tong Hua subconsciously lowered her voice. “If this keeps up, do you think all this will affect him mentally?”

Ye Zhi paused for a moment, clearly caught off guard. “I’m more curious about why you’d even think that.”

Tong Hua looked embarrassed. She waved her hands frantically. “I know it’s not a nice thing to speculate about. I’m just... worried, okay? We’re friends, after all.”

Ye Zhi frowned, looking at Tong Hua in confusion. “No, that’s not what I meant. What I was trying to say is, why are you only thinking of asking a therapist now? What do you mean, ‘is there something wrong’? You should be asking what isn’t wrong with your friend!”

She held up the sticky note in her hand, its surface covered in scratches from her fingernail.

“Severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, paranoia, pathological suspicion, mysophobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Though some details would need an in-person evaluation. If I had to guess, he also has at least moderate anxiety, heightened sensitivity toward interpersonal relationships... and self-destructive tendencies.”

After rattling off the long list, even Ye Zhi had to pause for breath before letting out a weary sigh. “I mean, everyone’s got a few issues these days, but it’s pretty rare to find someone with such a comprehensive collection of symptoms who hasn’t already been admitted to a hospital.”

How should she put it? It was like running into a beautiful young woman in red inside a haunted house, a stranger in the middle of nowhere warmly inviting you over for dinner, or a kind-hearted young man wearing a balaclava who had just walked out of a bank and was helping an old lady cross the street.

Everything looked perfectly fine at first glance, but the more you looked, the more everything seemed wrong. It was like choosing the wrong dialogue option and immediately getting a game over.

So what if he had problems? Sure, he had a lot of issues. But if he was still living just fine, then clearly they weren't causing any problems. Besides, every programmer knew one rule: if the code ran fine, they should leave it alone and not mess with it.

Ye Zhi honestly didn’t think there was any need for her involvement. The first lesson every Heart Core Chosen One had to learn was simple—one shouldn’t stick one’s nose where it didn’t belong. One shouldn’t go looking for trouble, because if they did, trouble would come looking for them, and it would only keep getting bigger.

Wasn’t this guy doing perfectly fine right now? If he wasn’t crazy, then there was no problem. And even if he was crazy, that wasn’t necessarily a problem either. Plenty of people looked like they were living normal lives when, in fact, they’d been insane for years.

For the sake of their friendship, Ye Zhi sincerely advised, “Give up. He won’t like you. No, more accurately, if it weren’t for the fact that the two of you are already connected, he’d probably want to stay as far away from you as possible.”

Tong Hua flew into a rage and, in her fury, somehow got even angrier and slammed the table. “When did I ever say I liked him?! Besides, I’m the eldest daughter of the Tong family! What’s so bad about me?!”

Ye Zhi shook her head. “To him? Probably everything.”

Her personality, her abilities, her family background...

Tong Hua was indecisive, overly sentimental, and loved gossip. She couldn’t resist prying into things and always managed to see more than she should with her Aether Eye. On top of that, she had a ridiculously complicated family situation that made anyone’s head spin.

“If he only sees you as a too—um... friend, then the two of you would probably get along very well. He might even become a genuinely good friend to you. No matter how reluctant he might be, if something were to happen to you, he wouldn't just stand by and do nothing,” Ye Zhi said decisively. “But if he notices even the slightest possibility that your relationship could become something more, he’ll absolutely keep you at arm’s length.”

Tong Hua stared at her in shock. “Seriously? Is it really that extreme?”

Ye Zhi let out a helpless sigh. She pointed at the somewhat clueless young lady in front of her.

“Setting aside your connection to the Aether, the Tong family is a walking storm. Sometimes all it has to do is breathe, and everything caught up in it gets blown away. Do you think he’d jump into a pit like that of his own volition for no reason? He’d never risk throwing his plans by getting involved in something that served no purpose. Your family's wealth, power, and status mean absolutely nothing to him. ”

Tong Hua frowned. Instead of becoming defensive or angry as Ye Zhi had expected, she acted as though she had suddenly remembered something. Her eyes lit up. Leaning closer, she lowered her voice and asked, “What if... it were someone from the An family?”

Ye Zhi rolled her eyes. “That would be even worse! Unless he suddenly lost his mind, there’s no way he’d return those feelings. If anything, he’d probably avoid them like the plague!”

His paranoia, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and sensitivity in interpersonal relationships, all of these were merely symptoms. The root of it all was the desire for control deep in his heart—not over other people, but over himself.

“You think he might just be a little obsessive about details or have perfectionist tendencies, but all of that actually comes from an instinctive need to control his own life. He only feels comfortable and at ease when he’s living the life he chose for himself.” Ye Zhi lifted her coffee spoon. “In other words, someone like him would never allow anyone or anything to dictate his life or disrupt his plans. It doesn't matter whether the change is for better or for worse.”

If something threatened that control, he would eliminate it or isolate himself from it. And if someone deliberately crossed that line, it would trigger the most immediate stress response imaginable. He would first learn everything about it, then evaluate it and probe it. In the end, he would eliminate it without mercy.

“You’d better pray that he has no interest in you. If someone like him wanted power and influence, he probably would have started laying the groundwork and making preparations seven or eight years ago. Meeting you would simply be one part of his plan. He would meticulously and carefully control every step of it, using everything and everyone at his disposal to achieve his goal.”

1. 赘婿 refers to the traditional marriage arrangement known as ruzhui (colloquially called “marrying into the wife’s family”), where a man joins his wife’s household and becomes a member of her family after marriage. ☜