Qi Yu muttered in disbelief, “Does this mean...... he passed?”

He glared at Shen Mengzhi, demanding three questions in a row, “What on earth does this mean? How could you answer it? When did you two become so close?”

Shen Mengzhi looked innocent and reminded him in a kind voice, “Qi Yu, weren’t you the one who just told me not to lose to him?”

“That’s true, but......” Qi Yu was frantic, his words jumbled. “But this is different! You two have only known each other for a few days, how could you......”

How could they have become soulmates?! He and Song Sifan had known each other for so many years and still failed the test!

“It’s not what you think. I’ll explain it to you later.”

After Shen Mengzhi finished speaking, he turned to Yin Yu and said, “Miss Yin Yu, please lead the way.”

The two walked onto the covered bridge, one after the other. Yin Yu’s steps were light and graceful as she explained, “Young Master Chu’s private room is just ahead.”

Shen Mengzhi followed her for a while, then suddenly spoke up, “If all that’s needed is to solve the note, why separate the two people?”

“I do not know,” Yin Yu said. “It is the master’s rule.”

The master of Flower and Willow Lane? Shen Mengzhi’s expression shifted slightly, and he chuckled. “To be able to run a business as large as Flower and Willow Lane, and to have a place as amusing and elegant as the Heaven Tier, this master must be a person of world-astounding talent.”

Yin Yu smiled but did not answer.

The two walked a little further and had already crossed the bridge, arriving at the building on the opposite side of the lane. The building’s interior was a winding labyrinth. As they passed several private rooms, she asked again, seemingly casually, “Young Master Jiang, may I ask how you solved the note left by Young Master Chu?”

Shen Mengzhi said, “This trial is to Recognize the Heart. What was written on that note was his heart.”

Yin Yu said, “But it was a blank sheet of paper.”

“The heart of a newborn is the heart of an infant, without desire or want, which is why it’s a blank sheet of paper. Whatever I were to write would be something I impose upon him. Once ink touches the white paper, it will be stained black.”

After a pause, Shen Mengzhi said softly, “He was letting me choose, black or white.”

Yin Yu was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “You truly understand Young Master Chu. What you’ve said is exactly what he told me, without the slightest deviation.”

“Is that so?”

Shen Mengzhi glanced at the long corridor ahead that still seemed to have no end and asked, “Miss Yin Yu, which room is Chu Jin in?”

Yin Yu did not answer directly, instead saying at an unhurried pace, “This place is complex and winding. Young Master, you just need to follow me.”

Hearing this, Shen Mengzhi frowned slightly, but then he heard her speak again, her voice faint, “Young Master, do you know the ending of Lady Zhao and Mu Lian?”

Shen Mengzhi was taken aback and answered truthfully, “The book only mentions that after Lady Zhao recognized Mu Lian three times, the husband and wife were reunited and lived in harmony. I know nothing more.”

Yin Yu smiled faintly. Unconsciously, she slowed her pace, turned to the side to look at him, and parted her crimson lips to utter a few words.

“That is all a lie.”

Shen Mengzhi’s body froze.

Yin Yu paid no mind to his reaction, her face calm as she stated a fact. “After they were reunited, Mu Lian was disabled and could not work. Lady Zhao toiled day and night for decades, ending up stooped and aged. Later, there was a flood in Xufang, and the two were separated. Lady Zhao wandered destitute outside, and after much difficulty, she finally returned to Xufang and, through great hardship, saw Mu Lian again.”

At this point, she let out a laugh filled with mockery.

“But Mu Lian, he didn't even recognize her.”

By then, Mu Lian had made a fortune with his mask-making craft, was respected by others, and was surrounded by servants and beautiful concubines. Seeing the wretched, old, and faded Lady Zhao, he said, this is not my wife.

He said, my wife is gentle and virtuous, with crimson lips and a powdered face, hands like soft shoots, and a voice like a swallow’s song.

He said, this woman is coarse and vulgar, old and faded, with hands like tree bark and a rough voice.

He said, give her a few pieces of silver and send her away.

After decades of mutual support in poverty, was it really that he couldn't recognize her?

Or was it that he didn't want to, and didn't dare to.

“Young Master Jiang, do you understand?” Yin Yu said. “Even with Recognize the Sound, Recognize the Bone, and Recognize the Heart, you can never truly see through a person.”

Shen Mengzhi stopped and looked at her quietly.

After a long moment, he asked, “So, you’re not taking me to find Chu Jin, are you?”

“That’s right. I don’t want you to go find him.” Yin Yu had already turned around to face him. “'Do not forget the old friend of the Three Recognitions, a truth engraved in bone and heart'...... This Heaven Tier riddle, from the very beginning, had no solution.”

Whether one recognized the person or not, there was no good ending.

Silence spread between them. Even so, Yin Yu did not back down an inch, staring intently into his eyes.

After a long while, Shen Mengzhi sighed softly and said, “I am not Lady Zhao, and he is not Mu Lian.”

Their relationship was one of equals. They would not give everything for one person, nor would they be consumed by gains and losses over one person. The Three Recognitions were about recognizing each other. Only by knowing each other could they solve the Heaven Tier riddle.

He gave Yin Yu a slight bow and said, “Pardon my presumptuousness.”

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he turned and left.

Chu Jin leaned against the window, watching the setting sun gradually sink behind the distant mountains.

He didn't need to count to know that a long time had passed, but there was still no knock on his door.

As evening approached, the number of visitors to Flower and Willow Lane grew ceaselessly. Lanterns were lit upstairs, like trees of fire and flowers of silver, illuminating the entire deep lane.

Chu Jin sat for a while with a blank expression, for once sparing some thought to reflect on the words that person had once said to him.

—Resign yourself to it. This is the kind of people we are.

He let out a laugh, unsure of what he was feeling.

I originally thought that you and I were different people. I originally thought that I could escape your shadow.

Looking at it now, it really seems like a joke.

Chu Jin tilted his head back slightly, the jade pot in his hand tilting to pour a mouthful of clear wine down his throat.

The liquor was icy, so cold it made him frown. It was at this moment that he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps from the corridor, as if someone was walking briskly.

Before he could react, the door creaked open, pushed open without any warning. A figure appeared from behind the door, looking rushed. Perhaps he had been walking too quickly, for he was now leaning against the door, panting lightly, his forehead damp with sweat that stuck a few strands of hair to it, all his previous composure gone.

Upon seeing Chu Jin, he was first taken aback, then his brows relaxed, as if in relief.

A rare look of bewilderment appeared on Chu Jin’s face as he stared intently at the person, whose eyes were bright and a light smile touched the corners of his lips.

It was as if a touch of spring had burst in.

He said, “I found you.”

The author has something to say:

Chuchu's background is quite complicated...... (you all can try and guess).