After celebrating Lu Xun’s birthday with everyone from the firm, spirits were running high, and the group went on to a karaoke place, the festivities finally winding down only in the early hours of the morning. Lu Xun wasn’t usually one for the noisy atmosphere of karaoke rooms, but watching Qian Wei sing along with her coworkers, he kept smiling the whole time. It seemed that now that their relationship was public, he no longer bothered hiding the way he looked at her at all. Qian Wei spent the whole night feeling the warmth and intensity of his gaze on her, her face burning—she suspected that by now, not just her coworkers but any random stranger on the street could probably tell how much Lu Xun loved her.

It was a little shameless, maybe, but… Qian Wei thought it actually felt pretty great.

The two of them had been planning to head back for some time alone once the party wound down, but a phone call from Liu Shiyun threw those plans into disarray.

“Qian Wei, where are you?” Liu Shiyun’s voice sounded like she’d been crying. Though she was clearly trying to hide it, Qian Wei could tell she was upset.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to be alone tonight. I tried calling you earlier and you didn’t pick up, so I asked your coworkers—they said you were all at Xinghui KTV. I’m downstairs at Xinghui now, waiting for you.”

Qian Wei felt a flicker of worry. For Liu Shiyun to reach out in the middle of the night like this, something must have happened. Even with Lu Xun right beside her, making it hard to think of much else, Qian Wei wasn’t the type to abandon a friend for romance. She grabbed Lu Xun’s hand and hurried downstairs.

Liu Shiyun was sitting alone on the steps outside, a can of soda beside her, her eyes slightly red. She glanced at Qian Wei and Lu Xun’s clasped hands, and her eyes reddened a little more.

“Am I interrupting you two?” She looked both awkward and a little dejected.

Qian Wei noticed something was off and patted her on the shoulder. “We’ve been friends for years—don’t talk about interrupting. What happened?”

Liu Shiyun’s nose stung, but she stubbornly put on a brave face. “It’s nothing. Just got dumped, that’s all!”

Qian Wei was startled. “When did you even start dating someone?!”

Liu Shiyun’s eyes darted away, and she muttered, a little defensive. “Just the past couple of days. We’d only just started, and then it fell apart, just like that.”

“Why’d you break up?”

“He was two-timing me!” Liu Shiyun gritted her teeth bringing it up. “He swore up and down he only liked fiery, feisty girls like me, that he was completely devoted—I said the word, he wouldn’t dare say two words back. And then! I found out he’d been secretly chatting up some little starlet behind my back! They’d even set up a dinner date to meet up!”

“What the hell!” Qian Wei was outraged on her behalf. “Who is this guy? Tell me who it is, we’ll get someone to expose him! Expose that starlet too while we’re at it! Cheating scandal, career over, permanent stain on the tabloids!”

But when it came to naming names, Liu Shiyun turned evasive, her voice strained. “Forget it. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be.”

Qian Wei wanted to press further, but Lu Xun stopped her. He glanced at Liu Shiyun, his tone carrying a kind of knowing insight. “If she doesn’t want to say, don’t push. Give her some space to calm down first.”

Qian Wei had originally planned to go back to Lu Xun’s place with him, but seeing how miserable Liu Shiyun looked right now, she couldn’t in good conscience leave her friend alone. At the same time, bringing Liu Shiyun along to Lu Xun’s place clearly wasn’t appropriate either.

“How about the three of us go book a hotel room? Let me check what’s available nearby online.”

“With me around, why would you need to check availability?” Liu Shiyun said breezily, pulling out her wallet and tossing a card to Qian Wei. “VVIP gold card for my family’s hotel chain. It’s yours.”

Qian Wei felt a bit awkward. “I don’t actually need a room…”

Liu Shiyun blinked, then, skipping right past Qian Wei, turned directly to Lu Xun. “My family’s company recently launched a themed hotel line—we’ve already opened high-end love hotels in several major cities, designed by actual Japanese designers. You know how the Japanese love hotel industry is. Just off the top of my head, we’ve got themes like hospital, school, office, subway car… guaranteed you could sleep somewhere different every night for a whole year without repeating. This VVIP card works at any themed hotel under our chain.”

She pressed the VVIP card into Lu Xun’s hand. “I know I’m intruding on your night together, so you two must have some feelings about that—consider this VVIP card my way of making it up to you.”

“…” Liu Shiyun, your mind really goes to some dangerous places sometimes!

Lu Xun cleared his throat, and accepted the card with perfect composure, saying earnestly, “I travel for work often, and your family’s hotel chain has excellent coverage. This card will actually be quite useful. Thank you.”

“…”

Regardless, the three of them found the nearest branch of Liu Shiyun’s family’s hotel chain, and Liu Shiyun, without hesitation, booked a presidential suite. But they’d barely settled into the room when Qian Wei got a call from Qian Chuan.

His voice on the phone sounded frantic. “Qian Wei, can I ask you something—can you get in touch with Liu Shiyun? I’ve called her like a dozen times tonight and she’s not picking up. I’m worried something happened to her! What do I do?!”

“Why are you looking for her?”

“We were supposed to have dinner together, and then she just went completely dark on me!”

Before Qian Wei could ask anything further, Lu Xun took the phone from her and gave Qian Chuan, without preamble, the name and location of the hotel they were currently at. “Liu Shiyun’s here. Room 809. Come get her right now.”

“Huh?”

Just as Qian Wei was puzzling over this, Liu Shiyun—who’d gone to borrow a phone charger from the front desk—walked back into the room. “What’s going on?”

Qian Wei told her plainly, “Qian Chuan just called looking for you…”

But before she could even finish, Liu Shiyun, who’d seemed calm just moments ago, exploded. “He’s got the nerve to look for me? Why doesn’t he go find his celebrity friend instead? Weren’t they supposed to have dinner together, catch up on old times? Ha, of course I can’t compete with someone like that—a rich, gorgeous, red-hot leading actress. It’s only natural he’d rather be with her…”

Qian Wei stared at her, dumbfounded, and then it finally clicked. “Liu Shiyun—are you dating Qian Chuan?”

Liu Shiyun choked, then tried to feign composure. “So what if I am? Is that illegal?”

“But aren’t you two always at each other’s throats? Bickering every time you meet?”

“That’s exactly why—since neither of us ever wins an argument, we decided to get together and settle it once and for all.” Liu Shiyun said this, then deflated a little. “But maybe we’re just not compatible. With my temper, most guys can’t handle it. If he likes someone else, fine, he likes someone else—but he could at least respect me enough to break up with me properly first! Instead he’s off getting cozy with someone else without even ending things with me—I absolutely cannot stand for that!”

Qian Chuan. Celebrity. The two pieces finally clicked together in Qian Wei’s mind.

“I think you’ve completely misunderstood Qian Chuan.” Qian Wei was half laughing, half exasperated. She recounted the whole story about Li Linlin. “So Li Mengyan and Qian Chuan actually knew each other from before—this time, she just wanted to take him to dinner to apologize for the past. And honestly, I know my brother—he’s about as sharp as a brick. Forget cheating being beneath any of us Qians, Qian Chuan himself doesn’t even have the wits for it. Him, cheating? You’ve got to be joking…”

Before Liu Shiyun could respond, Qian Chuan himself arrived, knocking anxiously on the door outside. Qian Wei opened it and gently pushed the still-fidgeting Liu Shiyun toward him.

Qian Chuan, it seemed, had truly had some kind of realization—he’d rushed over in a panic, a bouquet of roses in hand, no less, his face unmistakably tense the moment he saw Liu Shiyun. “God, you scared me. I thought something had actually happened to you when you weren’t picking up.”

Eyes don’t lie, and the anxious, worried look on Qian Chuan’s face just now had already said it all—but Liu Shiyun still put on a tough front. “Why would anything happen to me? You’re the one who should stop wasting time here and go see your old flame Li Linlin.”

Qian Chuan blinked, and only then did he realize why Liu Shiyun had gone dark on him. “It’s not like that. She used to chase after me, sure, but she’s got a boyfriend in the industry now, and I told her I have a girlfriend too. We even talked about the four of us grabbing dinner sometime, to get to know each other!”

Liu Shiyun looked a little embarrassed. “I don’t want to have dinner with her. With looks like hers, sitting next to her, wouldn’t I look completely outclassed?!”

“But to me, you’re the cutest one there is!” Qian Chuan stared at Liu Shiyun. “You’re the only sharp-tongued little chili pepper who can leave me completely speechless. Being with you is the only time I feel truly comfortable, truly myself—it’s only with you that I’ve realized love isn’t about one person constantly humbling themselves to please the other. You don’t have to chase desperately after someone, and you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. It’s supposed to be like this—equal, and real.”

Liu Shiyun blushed a little. “Are you lying to me?”

“No! I swear! If I’m lying, may Qian Wei’s hairline recede completely!”

Qian Wei: ??? Wait??? Something’s not right here???

Qian Chuan cleared his throat and said, with total seriousness, “Since Qian Wei is my most precious twin sister, I’m swearing on the thing she cares about most—her hairline—so you’ll know how sincere I am!”

Liu Shiyun finally broke into laughter through her tears.

The newly reconciled bickering couple made up at last. Liu Shiyun mentioned she was a little hungry, and Qian Chuan eagerly whisked her out to find a late-night snack.

Which left the spacious presidential suite occupied by just Qian Wei and Lu Xun.

“Well, I guess we should check out and head off too, then.”

But Lu Xun caught her hand and smiled. “Let’s not. Since Liu Shiyun already booked the presidential suite, it’d be a shame to waste it.” He leaned in close to her ear and gave her earlobe a gentle bite. “Besides, I’ve been wondering what it’s like to book a hotel room with my girlfriend.”