By the time Qian Wei was finally discharged three days later, surrounded by a crowd of visiting friends and family, she was still somewhat dazed. Lu Xun had approved a month of leave for her, but Qian Wei couldn’t stand staying home for even one day. She’d only been unconscious for a week, yet she already felt like she was falling behind the times.
In that single week, a celebrity couple famous as a “model marriage” in the entertainment industry had been exposed as being in a sham marriage; the popular singer Wang Lin had committed suicide due to depression; and an obscure, bottom-tier actress named Li Mengyan had suddenly shot to fame as the newest Best Actress…
Qian Wei sat in her office during lunch break, scrolling through entertainment gossip in astonishment. Just one week, and it felt like the world had cycled through several generations. Even the interns in the office had changed—new faces everywhere. Of course, the one thing that hadn’t changed was their worship and adoration of Lu Xun.
“Is Lawyer Lu really single?”
“Yes! I bribed one of the girls in admin, and it’s true, no doubt about it. Besides, look how he works himself to the bone every single day—when would he even have time to date?”
“But he wasn’t working overtime for a week or two before, and no one could really find him. He wasn’t off on a date, was he?”
“You’re new, so you probably don’t know—our Lawyer Qian was in a coma and hospitalized. That’s why Lawyer Lu dropped everything he was working on. I heard he contacted nearly every neurology specialist in the country.” The young intern’s voice was full of reverence. “He really is the model boss of China. If I could get that kind of attention from Lawyer Lu by falling into a coma, I’d gladly lie in a hospital bed for a month. Who knows, maybe he’d even fall for me over time…”
“Keep dreaming.”
The girls, all around senior-year college age, chattered on, carefree and full of youthful energy.
Listening to them, Qian Wei felt a bitter twist in her chest. She’d been back on track with her life for a few days now, but Lu Xun was still the same Lu Xun—reserved, cold-faced, never using two words when one would do. And as if trying to make up for the week of work he’d missed while she was unconscious, he’d been working himself into the ground lately, practically living at the firm.
Qian Wei felt quite wronged. Even though Lu Xun had gone back to being his usual aloof, untouchable self, treating her exactly as he always had, she found she could no longer settle back into their old dynamic. Every time she looked at that face of his—handsome to an almost unfair degree—her heart could no longer stay as calm as it used to. Whether it had been a dream or a parallel world, everything she’d experienced with the nineteen-year-old Lu Xun had felt too vivid, too real. Even knowing that the nineteen-year-old Lu Xun in her memory might have existed only in her own mind, some feelings, once awakened, were hard to put back to sleep.
In the past, Qian Wei had never dared to even entertain thoughts about Lu Xun. He was too perfect, too outstanding—so outstanding it created distance, making Qian Wei feel he belonged somewhere up in the heavens, while she, standing on the ground, was only fit to look up and follow him. She had never once dared imagine anything happening between them.
But that experience at nineteen had made her truly recognize her own heart. Perhaps without even realizing it, she had been numbing herself all along with mere admiration and adoration, burying deep inside her a fluttering feeling for Lu Xun that had taken root long ago—so long ago she hadn’t even noticed—when she had already begun, without meaning to, to depend on him, to let her gaze drift toward him again and again…
The more she thought about it, the harder it was to resist. During lunch break, Qian Wei called Liu Shiyun and cleared her throat. “I’ve recently taken a liking to a guy.”
Liu Shiyun immediately perked right up. “Qian Wei, oh Qian Wei, who would’ve guessed—the iron tree is finally blooming! Tell me everything! Is he handsome? How old? Height, weight, measurements? Is his family rich? Are his parents still alive? Is his mother easy to get along with?”
“…” Qian Wei chose to selectively ignore Liu Shiyun’s barrage of questions. She cleared her throat. “The problem right now is, he probably doesn’t feel anything for me—it’s a one-sided crush. What do I do?”
“Go after him!” Liu Shiyun said, sounding like she was ready to roll up her sleeves and coach Qian Wei through it step by step.
“How do I go after him?” Qian Wei felt a bit awkward. “I’ve never pursued anyone before.”
“Cater to what he likes! Whatever he likes, you show him exactly that. Every man has a little kid living inside him, and if you can satisfy that inner child, he won’t be able to leave your side!” Liu Shiyun, the self-appointed love expert, spoke with total conviction despite never having had a relationship of her own. “Also, think hard about what type he likes. Whatever you do, don’t confess easily—tease him, seduce him! Once you confess, you lose all mystery in his eyes. And men are contrary creatures—they love the thrill of the chase. If you make the first move, he won’t cherish you. So you have to seduce him slowly, keep him guessing, make him itch with longing, until he mistakenly believes he fell for you first and comes after you on his own. That’s when you’ve won!”
“That sounds really difficult…”
“Actually, there’s one ultimate move. Want to know what it is?”
Qian Wei was intrigued. “What?”
“Sleep with him using masterful technique until he’s completely won over! Though I’m afraid you probably don’t have that kind of skill, hahahahahaha!”
Qian Wei thought, if having a filthy mind were a crime, Liu Shiyun would already be serving a life sentence.
Still, regardless, Liu Shiyun’s words did give Qian Wei some inspiration. If it was true that Lu Xun’s family really did live at An Lan Villa, then in those experiences at nineteen—were Lu Xun’s preferences also real?
“So that means Lu Xun likes girls with a great figure, a striking face, and beautiful eyes?”
Just as Qian Wei’s thoughts were spiraling, the interns who had been gossiping scattered like startled birds. Qian Wei looked up to see that Lu Xun had returned from meeting a client. He still wore that same indifferent, cold expression, walking into the office with his usual ramrod-straight posture.
Qian Wei thought about it for a moment, then decided to take action—no time like the present. She let down her hair from its ponytail, ran her fingers through it, pulled out a bold red lipstick and applied it, then checked herself in a mirror. To her surprise, instead of looking careless, she looked languid and effortlessly beautiful. Even after over a week lying in a hospital bed, her skin had actually become fair and delicate, and paired with red lips and bright eyes, she looked strikingly good.
Qian Wei grabbed a random file off her desk as a pretext, then, after a moment’s hesitation, gritted her teeth and undid two buttons at the top of her white blouse. She took a deep breath and knocked on Lu Xun’s office door.
“Come in.”
Qian Wei pushed the door open. Sure enough, Lu Xun didn’t even look up, focused intently on a case file in his hands.
Only after Qian Wei cleared her throat did he look up. Seeing it was her, he seemed a bit surprised, but at least set aside what he was working on. “What is it?”
Qian Wei felt a flash of nerves—she’d been so single-mindedly focused on seeing Lu Xun that she’d completely forgotten to think of an excuse. Fortunately, she’d grabbed a file on her way in, and glancing down, she saw it was the legal aid case Lu Xun had given her before the accident.
Qian Wei had no choice but to bluff her way through it. “It’s this legal aid case. I got delayed because of the hospital stay, and now I’ve got a backlog of other client matters. I’m worried that with the time crunch, I won’t be prepared enough for this one…”
Lu Xun stared at Qian Wei’s face. “So have you looked over the case yet?”
Qian Wei could only nod and lie. “Mm, I’ve looked at it.” She left herself an out. “But I haven’t studied it closely yet…”
Lu Xun lowered his eyes and was silent for a long moment before he said, “Fine, I understand. I’ll take over this legal aid case—just hand it to me. If you’re running short on time for your other clients, hand those to me too. Go rest for now.”
For some reason, even though Lu Xun still wore that same expressionless, indifferent look, Qian Wei felt like his mood had dipped, just for an instant, into something disappointed and caught off guard. But when she looked at him again, his composed, unshaken demeanor made her think that flash of feeling had just been a trick of the light.
Never mind, forget these unimportant details! Focus on the real task!
Qian Wei tossed her hair, hoping Lu Xun would notice how she’d dressed up today. She deliberately pretended to cough, covering her mouth lightly, coughing for a bit while subtly shifting her posture, puffing out her chest so her neckline would catch his eye, just barely, just enough.
But unfortunately…
“Why did you suddenly start coughing?”
“…” That’s not the point, Lu Xun! The point is my lips! My hair! My chest!
Though she was screaming inside, Qian Wei forced a smile. “Might be catching a cold.”
Fine, so the work-obsessed Lu Xun hadn’t noticed the little effort she’d put into her makeup and outfit—that was fine. At least he cared about her health, right? Qian Wei consoled herself. A man with looks like Lu Xun’s, still single at twenty-eight—he clearly had standards, so she couldn’t be too demanding. The fact that he showed any concern for her at all was a good sign.
Except…
“Then you should go back out.”
Qian Wei: ??? She asked, confused, “You want me to leave?”
Lu Xun frowned. “If you’re not leaving, what are you staying here for? To pass your cold on to me?”
“…”
Fine then, Lu Xun! Stay single forever, see if I care! Qian Wei was practically boiling with rage. Without another word, she stood up and turned to walk out.
“Wait.”
“Hm?”
“Button your shirt back up before you go.”
“Huh?”
Lu Xun kept his head down, looking at the case file in his hands, not looking at Qian Wei, but his tone was oddly stiff. “Your neckline’s too low.”
Huh?
Lu Xun set the file down on the desk and looked at Qian Wei with a displeased expression. “Mind your appearance. As a lawyer, professionalism matters. Why would you leave your collar open like that? Do you need me to have you copy out the firm’s dress code?”
Qian Wei felt deeply wronged, but argued back anyway, “I was just a little warm. The AC’s not working well today.”
“Button everything back up. As a lawyer, dignity matters.” Lu Xun pressed his lips together, then picked up the office phone and dialed an internal extension. “Have Xiao Yan from admin talk to the building management—tell them to turn the AC down.”
“…”
And so, for the rest of the afternoon, Qian Wei silently cursed Lu Xun in her heart, huddling at her desk shivering along with the rest of the office staff. Lu Xun seemed absolutely determined to make sure she kept every single button fastened—was this air conditioning even meant for humans?!
Thinking back on everything she’d experienced at nineteen, Qian Wei felt an overwhelming wave of grief. In this moment, she felt a kind of tragic, epic sense of having endured all eighty-one trials of hardship, only to end up with the wrong scripture entirely.