He did not open the other two letters without authorization — he handed them, entirely intact, to Tao Rong and Xu Huaishi.

Half a month later, the bar exam results were released. Xu Huaisong passed without difficulty, and Xu Yin’s condition had stabilized as well, so the hospital discharge procedures were completed.

Ruan Yu had originally planned to take him back to her own apartment, but Xu Huaisong couldn’t bear to ask that of her when her hand injury hadn’t yet fully healed, and the apartment rooms couldn’t be easily freed up besides. So when Tao Rong voluntarily offered to take care of Xu Yin, he accepted, and sent his father home to the house in Su Shi.

The day they returned happened to be the day the verdict was handed down in the Wei Jin case. The Xu family scrambled to cut off all access to the news — unplugging the television, discarding the morning and evening papers — so that Xu Yin wouldn’t catch even the faintest whisper of it.

In the middle of the day, Xu Huaishi sat by her father’s side telling him fairy tales he half-understood at best. Tao Rong was busy in the kitchen. Xu Huaisong had been helping too, but after being “shooed away” several times, he finally retreated from this territory in which he was decidedly out of his depth and stepped out onto the balcony.

Ruan Yu was resting there due to her hand injury, sunning herself with Xu Huaisong’s grandmother.

When he came out, he happened to catch his grandmother covering her mouth and whispering conspiratorially, “That Huaisong boy — hasn’t gone to meet your parents yet?” She had the look of someone deeply worried her grandson wasn’t attentive enough and might end up letting down a good girl like Ruan Yu.

Ruan Yu was just about to explain when Xu Huaisong, smiling in helpless resignation, stepped forward. “Grandma, don’t wrong me — I’m the one who wants to go. It’s her who won’t let me.”

His grandmother’s eyes darted over to Ruan Yu.

Ruan Yu let out a small laugh and raised her still-scabbed hand. “Grandma, I was waiting until my hand healed a little more before going. Otherwise my parents would only worry.”

His grandmother nodded in understanding, smiled warmly, and said, “Good, as long as you two have a plan. Will Huaisong be going back to America after this?”

“There’s one last hearing at the end of the month. After that, barring anything unexpected, there’ll be no need to go back.”

A gleam lit up in his grandmother’s eyes. She brought her right fist gently down into her left palm — the gesture of something being settled.

Ruan Yu blinked, not quite catching on.

Xu Huaisong bowed his head with a quiet smile and said to her, “Come wash your hands — time to eat.”

She nodded and followed him to the bathroom.

During this period, Xu Huaisong had taken on all the household tasks that involved water. Even when she was simply washing her hands, he would hold a cotton swab and carefully clean around the wound for her.

Ruan Yu looked down, watching his movements, and said, “The scab has set properly now. It’s really fine.”

Xu Huaisong ignored her and continued attending to her hand. When he was done, he turned and closed the bathroom door, then bowed his head and opened his phone.

She mouthed the words at him: Has the verdict come out?

Xu Huaisong nodded and opened a digital copy of the judgment document.

Ruan Yu leaned over to look — it was a suspended death sentence.

Seeing her brow furrow with confusion, Xu Huaisong lowered his voice and explained quietly, “The first-instance trial being concluded and sentenced this quickly was driven largely by public pressure — but there’s still an unresolved drug trafficking case behind him. This suspended death sentence is also giving him a chance to cooperate with the police and bring down the entire drug distribution network.”

She nodded. Seeing that he seemed to have anticipated this, she didn’t press further, and asked softly, “What about the Zhou Jun matter? How is that going?”

“Court convenes in two weeks.”

“How confident is Zhang Jie?”

He smiled and lightly touched the top of her head. “Forget confidence — just do everything we can.”

The two of them spent one night in Su Shi, and once they saw that Xu Yin’s mood was largely stable, they returned to Hang Shi.

For half a month straight, Xu Huaisong simultaneously prepared for the final hearing in America and followed up on the Zhou Jun case. On the evening before the Zhou Jun trial, he and Zhang Jie were at the law firm making final confirmations. He didn’t arrive home until after ten.

Ruan Yu had an early meeting at Huan Shi the next morning to prepare for the upcoming film commencement ceremony, so she had gone to bed early. She stirred in a drowsy half-wakefulness and found that Xu Huaisong had come into the bedroom, and was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her injured hand.

She blinked in mild surprise. “You’re back.”

Xu Huaisong made a quiet sound of affirmation and gently brushed the loose strands of hair from her forehead. “I woke you. Go back to sleep — I’m going to shower.” As he said it, he switched off the bedside lamp he had just turned on.

Ruan Yu nodded, covered her mouth as she yawned, and only then — belatedly — registered a strange sensation from the moment she’d woken: the ring finger of her left hand had felt oddly itchy, as though a thin loop of string had been slipped around it.

But she lowered her gaze and looked at her hand, and found no trace of anything there.

Drowsiness swept back in. Ruan Yu quickly fell asleep again, and slept through until daybreak — by which time Xu Huaisong was already up, dressed in his shirt.

She came to her senses and climbed out of bed. “Let me tie your tie today.”

Xu Huaisong paused. “I’m not standing at the defense podium.”

She approached with the air of a mother insisting on straightening her son’s red neckerchief on his first day joining the Young Pioneers. “But it is your first day walking into a Chinese courtroom as a practicing attorney.”

As she said it, she rose onto her tiptoes and focused carefully on tying his tie.

Xu Huaisong looked down, watching her practiced movements. “When did you learn how?”

“When you were at the law firm.”

His brow lifted slightly. “And who was your model?”

Task accomplished, Ruan Yu faltered, then pointed to the coat rack behind him. “Who else could it have been?”

He bowed his head with a quiet smile. “All right. Go wash up.”

Ruan Yu nodded and headed into the bathroom. Over breakfast, she bit into her sandwich and asked, “Today’s meeting needs to settle on a few candidate titles for the film — do you have any good ideas?”

“Wasn’t the original title quite good?”

“But it might not pass censorship review in the end — the producer says it sounds too suggestive in the ear.” Ruan Yu took an indignant sip of milk. “I ask you, why does everyone have such impure minds these days? That title clearly means — I really want to tell you a secret.“

As though something he had long misunderstood had just been corrected, Xu Huaisong paused mid-bite of his sandwich, made a sound of comprehension, and nodded in composed agreement. “Yes. Yes, far too impure.”

After breakfast, Xu Huaisong dropped Ruan Yu off at Huan Shi. Following her usual routine, she headed to the seventh floor for the meeting, and stepping into the elevator, she ran into Sun Miaohan, whom she hadn’t seen in quite some time.

Sun Miaohan had been confirmed as the female lead for the film a month prior. Aside from Ruan Yu having put in a word for her, it was mainly because her temperament and appearance suited the original source material.

The two of them had been in contact by phone before, but hadn’t managed to meet in person. This unexpected encounter left Sun Miaohan visibly delighted. “Older Sister, our fate really does seem to keep meeting in elevators!”

The words came out on impulse, and the moment she said them, her expression shifted. She paused for just a moment.

The shadow Wei Jin had cast over her clearly hadn’t entirely faded.

Ruan Yu patted her on the back. “That’s all in the past now. I’ll be with the production team throughout the entire filming process this time. I guarantee nothing like that will happen again.”

Sun Miaohan nodded. “Older Sister, you truly are a blessing sent into my life.”

Ruan Yu smiled. “What brings you to Huan Shi today?”

“Chairman Cen invited me. He said he wanted to treat me and Li Shican to lunch — so we can get to know each other properly before filming begins.”

Before she finished speaking, the elevator gave a chime and stopped at the seventh floor.

Ruan Yu waved goodbye to her and stepped out.

She had come unusually early today to accommodate the timing of Xu Huaisong’s court hearing. When she arrived at the conference room, only a handful of people were there yet, chatting idly. The moment she stepped in, she heard one of the girls say with great excitement, “So Jacky Cheung really does have a worthy successor!”

Having grown familiar with everyone over these weeks, Ruan Yu smiled and asked, “Where’s this new king of the scene emerging from?”

“Haven’t you seen it on Weibo, Yuyu? It’s our male lead.”

Li Shican?

She blinked. “Did he win an award?”

“Not an award — you know how a string of fugitives were caught at Jacky Cheung concerts? Well, yesterday at Li Shican’s concert in Shanghai, they caught one too. Word is it was a serial killer who had been on the run. This is a great omen for our commencement ceremony!”

The small group chatted on, and as the other participants trickled in one by one, the meeting got underway.

As noon approached, Ruan Yu received a WeChat message.

Li Shican: Are you done yet? Chairman Cen is inviting you up to the nineteenth floor for lunch.

Since she had run into Sun Miaohan in the elevator, Ruan Yu wasn’t surprised that Li Shican was here too. She bowed her head and quietly typed back: Not quite yet. Aren’t you all eating out?

Li Shican: The paparazzi outside are relentless. Chairman Cen has had a chef come in and prepare a full spread of home-style dishes. Come up when you’re done.

Since it was Cen Rongzhen’s invitation, Ruan Yu couldn’t very well decline. Once the meeting wrapped up, she made her way to the nineteenth floor and gave a small apologetic nod to the three already waiting. “Chairman Cen, I’m so sorry — I’ve only just finished.”

“Not at all — a casual lunch between us doesn’t call for such formality. Come, have a seat.”

Four people around a large round table, spread with an exquisite array of Jiangnan dishes, including several varieties of Suzhou-style pastries that Ruan Yu particularly liked.

Whether by Cen Rongzhen’s arrangement or Li Shican’s, she couldn’t say.

Ruan Yu felt slightly self-conscious after sitting down. It was Sun Miaohan — who had apparently spent the entire morning getting acquainted with Li Shican and was already quite at ease with him — who took it upon herself to keep the atmosphere lively throughout the meal, working at it without pause.

Li Shican was naturally an easygoing and outgoing person, and he matched her energy effortlessly, trading one remark for another without missing a beat.

After the meal, tea was brought out. Cen Rongzhen excused himself due to work commitments and left Huan Shi, leaving only the three of them on the nineteenth floor.

Sun Miaohan ate a piece of fruit and looked over at Li Shican. “Li Shican, did you really catch a murderer yesterday? That’s incredible.”

Li Shican wore the expression of someone who couldn’t believe she had fallen for it. “That’s all the company stirring things up to generate buzz for me. The person wasn’t even my fan — they just happened to be apprehended somewhere near the venue.”

Sun Miaohan gave a long, drawn-out sound of understanding. “I see. You’re surprisingly candid about it…”

Li Shican choked.

Ruan Yu, who had been about to get up and head back to the seventh floor for the next meeting, stopped herself when she heard this and asked Li Shican, “Does this publicity push have anything to do with the film?”

He shook his head. “That’s from my management agency.”

She made a sound of acknowledgment and said with some hesitation, “But it seemed like former Chairman Wei intended to link you together with the film as part of a joint promotional strategy?”

Li Shican nodded. “He was probably planning to stir things up using the original plagiarism incident — working in the angle of you, me, and Cen Sisi together. Don’t worry, Chairman Cen won’t do any of that.”

Ruan Yu naturally knew that Cen Rongzhen would never use his own daughter as a publicity tool, nor would he exploit some behind-the-scenes “love triangle” narrative to court attention.

What concerned her was a different question entirely. “So when Wei Jin was still in power — what contingency plan had you and Attorney Xu originally worked out between you?”

Since Wei Jin had been arrested and the plan had never been needed, Xu Huaisong had kept entirely silent about it at the time. And since he hadn’t brought it up, she could only ask Li Shican.

But at the very instant he heard the question, Li Shican’s smile faded. He went quiet.

Ruan Yu made a soft sound. “You don’t have to say if it’s inconvenient — I’m just a little curious…”

“It’s not inconvenient,” Li Shican said after a moment. “Attorney Xu was worried that using something like a romantic angle for publicity would affect your normal life. So the contingency plan he proposed was to dispel the rumors using the most direct method possible…”

“The most direct method?”

Li Shican smiled and raised his gaze. “Yes. He said — if he couldn’t neutralize the risk of the publicity angle, he would marry you.”