“I can’t swim, but I can plug the hole.” Without another word, Qian Wei pushed Lu Xun aside. “Let me do it.” As soon as she’d said it, she sat right down on the hole in the raft in front of everyone. “My hand obviously can’t seal it, but this way there’s no problem at all — I just have to sit tight and not wiggle my butt around.”

“Qian Wei, you’re really something. How did you even think of this?”

In response to Liu Shiyun’s admiration, Qian Wei spread her hands. “Didn’t you all do that reading comprehension passage back in elementary school? Cold winter day, on the bus, plenty of empty seats, but there’s a man in an army coat who stubbornly stands by one window instead of sitting down. Everyone’s thinking, isn’t this guy an idiot, there are seats right there and he insists on standing — and then when he gets off at his stop and leaves, everyone else suddenly feels an unbearable icy wind blasting in, and they look and realize the window he’d been standing by has a hole in the glass. Turns out he’d been using his own body to block the cold wind for everyone, to block out the whole winter.” She patted her chest. “That’s me. I’m just that noble.”

Everyone was quite moved by this — except Lu Xun, who wasn’t buying it at all. He curled his lip. “You just want an excuse to sit there and doze off without having to paddle.”

The moment he said this, everyone looked at Qian Wei, who was yawning nonstop, and their expressions turned knowing.

Lu Xun, nobody thinks you’re mute just because you don’t talk — so why do you have to open your mouth!

With the leak problem solved, they’d barely had time to relax before the raft behind them caught up. The people on that boat were clearly lively and combative — as they passed Qian Wei’s group, they suddenly started splashing water at them with their paddles, completely out of nowhere. It was practically a declaration of war. The moment Mo Zixin got soaked, Qian Chuan was the first to object, hoisting his own paddle and striking back fiercely. That set both boats ablaze with fighting spirit, more and more people joining in, splashing each other, a full-on water fight breaking out on the rafts.

After all that thrashing about, the raft — which had barely been keeping its balance — began rocking wildly with everyone’s flamboyant maneuvering. To make matters worse, the raft had just reached a thrilling stretch of river where it curved sharply, the current rushing and swirling. With one huge plunge, the overburdened raft finally gave out, and without further ado, it flipped — the whole boatload of people tumbling neatly into the water together.

Qian Wei had been sitting calmly over the hole at the bow, keeping it plugged, while most of the others had gathered at the stern to battle the boat chasing close behind them. So the bow hadn’t taken much of the water fight. She’d actually been drowsy, basking in the warm sunlight — and then, in the blink of an eye, before she even knew what was happening, she went under with a splash. Worse still, everyone else had fallen from the stern, while she alone had gone in from the bow, and since the raft was drifting bow-first downstream, that meant Qian Wei had fallen in farther down the river than everyone else. With the current so swift, she was swept even further ahead than the rest.

For some reason, the flimsy life jacket made no difference whether worn or not — clearly a cheap knockoff. Not only did it provide no buoyancy, it actually sank the moment it touched water! And it wasn’t just Qian Wei — the other people in the water had clearly noticed the same problem and were now thrashing desperately.

“Help! I can’t swim either! Qian Chuan! Save me!! Qian Chuan—”

The moment Qian Wei finished shouting, the capsized raft struck a rock in the river and kicked up a huge splash straight into her mouth. She choked on a mouthful of water and finally started to panic, flailing wildly. The swift current carried her rapidly downstream. She tried to grab onto rocks in the river, but all she managed was to bruise and scrape her arms — it was useless. The current was simply too strong.

“Ah, help!”

Cries for help rang out on all sides, but even in such an urgent moment, Qian Wei couldn’t help noticing that amid all this wailing and howling, Mo Zixin’s voice still sounded as delicate and helpless as something out of heaven, instantly recognizable. Even in a state of panic while drowning, she somehow seemed more graceful than everyone else. While Qian Wei flailed with all four limbs in an utterly undignified struggle, Mo Zixin merely patted the water’s surface helplessly. Qian Wei thought, out of place as the thought was, that Mo Zixin probably managed to look elegant even taking a dump.

“Lu Xun! Lu Xun!” Amid the chaos, Mo Zixin was calling Lu Xun’s name. Coincidentally, Lu Xun had fallen in only a few meters from her, and he clearly knew how to swim — he’d already adjusted his breathing and rhythm in the water.

“Qian Chuan! Come save me!!” Qian Wei shouted the moment her head broke the surface.

But Qian Chuan couldn’t help her — though he was an athlete and a strong swimmer, Liu Shiyun had her arms locked tightly around his neck, leaving him barely able to keep his own balance in the water, let alone go save Mo Zixin nearby or swim over to rescue Qian Wei.

Qian Wei thought to herself, could it be that after being reborn into this life, she was actually going to die here? What a truly tragic waste of talent, damn it! The one comfort was that, faced with the choice between saving the girl he liked and his own sister, both fallen into the water, Qian Chuan finally showed the greatness of family love. Though he hesitated for a moment, he still resolutely swam toward Qian Wei — only, because he had to keep Liu Shiyun from being swept away, his speed was limited, and he had no hope of catching up with Qian Wei as she was carried downstream.

Just as Qian Wei was giving up hope that her life was about to end, she suddenly noticed that Lu Xun wasn’t swimming toward Mo Zixin. He clearly could have reached her quickly, but he ignored her cry for help entirely and swam straight past her. Qian Wei’s mind filled with question marks — what on earth was Lu Xun doing? Had falling into the water suddenly triggered some survival instinct, making him decide to save himself and get to shore first? That wouldn’t do at all, Lu Xun! You and Mo Zixin aren’t even together yet — how can you show this kind of “everyone for themselves” selfishness at the first sign of disaster! Do you even still want a girlfriend?!

While Qian Wei’s thoughts spiraled in disarray, she choked on more water. She flailed a couple more times, and just as she felt she was about to sink for good, she suddenly realized Lu Xun was swimming past one person after another in the water — not heading for shore, but heading straight for her.

What followed felt like a slow-motion movie freeze-frame. Qian Wei watched Lu Xun swim right up to her and grab hold of one of her hands.

“Do you still have the strength to hold onto me?” He struggled to keep his balance in the water. “Don’t be afraid. It’ll be okay.”

Almost on instinct, Qian Wei did as he said. She wrapped her arms around him.

“Hold on tighter.”

Obediently, Qian Wei tightened her grip.

“I’m taking you to shore now.” Even in this disheveled, dangerous situation, Lu Xun’s voice remained as steady as ever.

In that moment, Qian Wei felt that as long as Lu Xun was there, nothing could go wrong. She thought that maybe, deep down, she’d always believed this — back when she was a rookie lawyer who kept botching cases, she’d always instinctively turn to Lu Xun for help, and as long as he was there, no matter how bad the case looked, things would eventually turn around.

Qian Wei had always known her own worth and ambitions. Given this second chance, she’d never once thought about becoming a partner. She’d always felt she wasn’t Lu Xun — she was scattered, she was unpredictable, she had passion for casework, she could bring fresh ideas to a case at unexpected moments, she sympathized with the underdog and longed for justice, she loved her work, loved using her professional skills to solve problems for clients. But she wasn’t composed enough, she wasn’t as meticulous as Lu Xun, wasn’t as calm as him. She couldn’t withstand the pressure of being a firm partner, she wasn’t good at management and coordination, she didn’t have the ability to run an entire firm. Some people were born to rise above the rest, but she’d only ever wanted to be an ordinary person doing quiet work. Yet in this moment, she couldn’t help but wonder — had she been unconsciously relying on Lu Xun all along? Was that why she’d never thought of taking his place as partner, why she still wanted to remain his subordinate no matter how he worked her to the bone, why she’d never once thought of quitting?

She had to admit, Lu Xun’s ability was just too formidable — formidable to the point of absolute dominance, the kind that made people never even think of challenging his authority, that made people automatically want to submit, to follow his lead… Come to think of it, this man really did have a certain kind of charisma. Then again, put another way, this man really was quite toxic… after all, he’d managed to brainwash an employee all on his own, to the point that even being worked half to death hadn’t been enough to make her consider quitting…

Qian Wei clung to him this whole time, her mind wandering, as he carried her to shore. Once she’d climbed out, the wind hit her, and she realized she was already shivering with cold.

“Qian Wei, Qian Wei.” Lu Xun gently shook her shoulder. “No need to be scared anymore. You’re on shore now.”

Only then did Qian Wei realize she was still clinging desperately to Lu Xun, both of them dripping wet, fresh out of the water, their clothes plastered to their bodies. Held together like this, she could even feel the lines of his body against hers. Her hand was resting right at his waist — an unmistakably suggestive position. She let go of him at once, as if she’d touched something scalding hot.

“Th— thank you.”

Though drenched and somewhat bedraggled from the water, his hair hung wet against his forehead — he swept a hand across his face, but the water clung to his skin as if it were reluctant to leave his body’s warmth. Droplets still clung to his thick lashes; as he blinked, watching her, one of the drops mischievously rolled free, sliding down his neck and disappearing into his clothes, tracing a winding path down toward the body hidden beneath.

Out of place as the thought was, in that moment Qian Wei’s mind contained only one sentence —

This is deadly sexy, damn it.

“Stay right here.” As Lu Xun spoke, he shed his cumbersome outer shirt, and now Qian Wei could see, clear as day, the beautifully defined abs and the lines of muscle disappearing beneath his waistband. The thought that she’d once touched a body exactly like this made her entire face flush red.

The moment he finished speaking, he turned and strode back toward the riverbank, brisk and decisive, diving into the water once more to go rescue the others still struggling there. Qian Wei watched his retreating figure and, in that moment, felt from the bottom of her heart that Lu Xun could be damn handsome sometimes.