Under the varied gazes of quite a few girls, Qian Wei withstood the pressure and finished breakfast with Lu Xun, then went back to the dorm to get her textbooks and hurried off to Criminal Law class with Liu Shiyun. Criminal Law was one of the fourteen core courses in the law program and a major subject on the bar exam, but the real reason Qian Wei couldn’t skip it was that the Criminal Law professor gave a pop quiz on the previous lecture’s content every single class. The quiz scores over the semester counted toward the participation grade, and if those scores weren’t good, there was still a risk of failing the course even with a passing final exam grade.
Qian Wei had a talent: she could pass out during class and snap awake the instant it ended. As soon as Criminal Law let out, she hurriedly packed up her things, not bothering with Liu Shiyun, and quickly caught up to Li Chongwen. As she left, she glanced sideways at Lu Xun sitting by the window—Mo Zixin was just walking over to say something to him.
“Li Chongwen, here are the Civil Law notes you lent me last time.” Criminal Law happened to end right around lunchtime, and Qian Wei finally caught up with Li Chongwen. “To thank you, let me treat you to lunch.”
Li Chongwen was as gentle and refined as ever. He smiled faintly. “No need. We’re classmates—it was just lending some notes, nothing worth treating me to a meal over.”
Qian Wei knew he probably wasn’t planning to eat lunch at all, but even so, Li Chongwen never carried himself with that kind of threadbare awkwardness. He was always restrained, gentle, refined—every bit like one of those well-educated young patriots from the Republican era. His suffering and his unease were his own; he never blamed the world for them, never resented fate, and never let his composure slip. Even in hardship he refused to admit defeat, living every day with hope and dignity, moving forward step by step toward his goal, however slowly.
“Actually, there were a few cases the professor discussed in Criminal Law today that I didn’t quite understand. I wanted to ask you about them—thought I could do it over lunch, and maybe do better on the next quiz too.”
Qian Wei was about to add something to seem more sincere, but her train of thought was interrupted by Liu Shiyun’s voice—she had just finished gathering her books and had caught up as well.
“Qian Wei, don’t tell me you’ve got a fever. Is your brain okay?” She eyed Qian Wei suspiciously and felt her forehead. “Why the sudden change of heart about studying Criminal Law properly? Didn’t you say it yourself—in this society, big cases are decided by politics, medium cases by influence, small cases by connections, and most of the time the law doesn’t even come into it, so there’s no point studying hard?”
Qian Wei nearly wept. She’d spent so much effort in the past coming up with high-minded excuses not to study… Liu Shiyun, Liu Shiyun, don’t you know how hard I worked to find an excuse to treat Li Chongwen to lunch! Can’t you just not sabotage me!
Qian Wei coughed. “What do you mean the law doesn’t matter? It matters plenty at final exam time.” She said this with great righteousness. “Besides, Criminal Law absolutely needs to be studied properly.”
Liu Shiyun didn’t get it. “Why?”
“Because when you grow up, you’ll understand—all the best ways to make big money are written right there in the Criminal Code.”
At that, Li Chongwen finally couldn’t help laughing. “All right then, let’s all eat together and study up on how to get rich in the future—shall we discuss whether to rob a bank or go in for murder and robbery?”
The three of them went to the cafeteria together, and this time they genuinely did discuss criminal law over the meal. In truth, Qian Wei had no real confusion about those cases, but in order to have a natural excuse to eat with Li Chongwen, she forced herself to sit through the dry legal analysis.
“So that’s how it is!” After Li Chongwen finished his explanation, Qian Wei put on a look of sudden enlightenment. “Now that you’ve explained it, it’s all so clear!”
Li Chongwen smiled. “Is there anything else you’re unsure about?”
“No, nothing else! You explained it so clearly. But since there’s a quiz every class in Criminal Law, could I keep asking you for help going forward? Maybe we could form a study group? As thanks, I’ll buy your breakfast for a month.” Qian Wei’s plan was a good one—she had to get up early to buy breakfast for Lu Xun anyway, so she might as well pick up Li Chongwen’s too. Li Chongwen was a good person; he shouldn’t have to get stomach cancer at such a young age. Besides, he’d be a judge in the future, and building good connections with him would help her own career down the line.
“Don’t say no.” Qian Wei cut in before Li Chongwen could politely decline. “I’m the type who’d rather skip breakfast than get out of bed, but this semester I’ve decided to start doing morning reading. I know I can’t keep it up alone, so give me a chance—let me buy your breakfast. Think of it as killing two birds with one stone: you’ll be supervising me into getting up early too.”
In the end, Li Chongwen couldn’t out-argue Qian Wei and had no choice but to nod in agreement.
“Oh, right—I went to the supermarket yesterday, and pineapples were buy-one-get-one-free. I bought too many, and I can’t finish them all by myself, so here, take a box.” Perhaps because she’d just used the same line on Lu Xun, the flattery came tumbling out of Qian Wei’s mouth without a second thought. “From the moment it sprouts, through its growth, all the way to its brilliant blossoming and fruiting, the pineapple never loses focus—it travels without limit, and even within its small patch of earth, it digs down to its very essence, carrying a belief in perfection. That’s why the pineapple symbolizes flawlessness, just like you! I think among all the fruits, only the pineapple is worthy of you! The moment I saw this box of pineapple, I thought of you—you absolutely have to do me the honor of eating it.”
Li Chongwen wasn’t like Lu Xun. Lu Xun could take such lavish praise without so much as a flicker of expression, clearly long since immune to it—or perhaps his thick skin simply let any amount of flattery roll right off. Li Chongwen was far shyer. Hearing Qian Wei’s speech, his fair cheeks flushed faintly pink, and he didn’t dare look directly at the box of pineapple, glancing away instead. Still, Qian Wei achieved her goal—he accepted the pineapple in the end.
After Li Chongwen left, Liu Shiyun finally recovered from her stunned silence. She gave Qian Wei a meaningful look and gave her a thumbs up.
“Impressive. You are truly something else.” Liu Shiyun slapped her own thigh, her tone full of regret. “Why didn’t I think of that! If I had half your wits, would I still be single right now?”
Qian Wei: ???
“The biggest mistake I’ve made is only ever going after one target at a time. You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket! That guy from Architecture who was the department heartthrob, and that talented one from the Computer Science school afterward—I should’ve gone after both at once! Same method, just running it on multiple tracks—multi-task, saves time, saves effort, super efficient. Like you, just now—buying breakfast for two at once, giving pineapple to two people at once. Even the flattery lines can be recycled—just memorize one script and it works! Look at that pineapple-symbolizes-perfection line of yours—you could slap that on literally anyone you’re trying to win over.” Liu Shiyun patted Qian Wei’s shoulder. “Qian Wei, you really are a genius! And you’ve got guts, too, going after both Lu Xun and Li Chongwen at once—they’re both in our law school, aren’t you worried it’ll blow up in your face?”
“When did I ever say I was going after either of them???” Qian Wei coughed. “I’m just trying to build good relationships with these two people. Haven’t you heard the saying—a golden-scaled fish is no mere pond creature; once the winds and clouds shift, it becomes a dragon? Look at them—Lu Xun and Li Chongwen are obviously going to be top talents in the legal world someday. I’m going to be a lawyer myself, and building good relationships with future heavyweights in the field is only smart! It’s an investment! Betting small to win big! People say it best—friendships formed when someone is still humble run deepest. Wait until they’ve made it big, and you might not even get a second glance from them!”
No matter how Qian Wei explained herself, Liu Shiyun kept giving her that “I understand, no need to explain” look, and by afternoon she was still staring at Qian Wei with visible concern.
“What if you actually land both Lu Xun and Li Chongwen? Who would you even reject at that point? Ugh, just thinking about it on your behalf gives me a headache, such a hard choice.” Having said that, she immediately contradicted herself. “Though it probably won’t come to that—they’re not blind, after all.”
“…”
Liu Shiyun rubbed her chin, unable to resist adding one more jab. “At the very least, our Lu Xun definitely won’t fall for it. Li Chongwen seems more easygoing—you might just pull off a peaceful coup there. But Lu Xun? No way. He’s cold and aloof and noble, the total snow-lotus-on-a-mountaintop type, the kind who looks at people down his nose. Don’t worry, you’re not going to end up facing that difficult choice…”
Hearing this, though she had no real designs on him, Qian Wei still felt indignant. “Why does everyone assume Lu Xun would never look twice at me? I have plenty of good qualities too—I’m smart, clever, lively, and adorable.”
Liu Shiyun pursed her lips and rolled her eyes skyward. “Sure. If smart, clever, lively, adorable you manages to land Lu Xun, I’ll call you Dad.”
“Hmph.” Qian Wei kept up appearances stubbornly. “My cleverness doesn’t need proving through something like this. My talents should be put toward advancing China’s legal system! A person shouldn’t be limited by petty romantic affairs—one should hold the greater love of one’s country in one’s heart!”
Her answer was an emphatic “pah” from Liu Shiyun.