Cheng Yao was curled up in front of her computer, reading a hot post on LAWXOXO, a legal-circle gossip site — “Gossip Time: The Ten Biggest Faces in City A’s Legal Circle.” The post ranked the male partners of City A’s legal community by looks, counting down from tenth to first, and for fairness’s sake, the rankings were all based on candid photos anonymously submitted by netizens who’d caught these partners going about their daily lives.
Cheng Yao scanned down from number ten and had to admit that partners in the legal world were getting younger and more elite by the day — some of these male partners were not only formidable in their practice but genuinely good-looking too. The man in second place, Qin Hao of Golden Partners, already had the kind of looks you’d expect from a minor celebrity. So who could possibly be ranked first, and just how good-looking would he have to be?
Curious, Cheng Yao scrolled further down.
“Number One: Junheng Law Firm, Qian Heng.”
Unlike the other men on the list, this top entry came with a special note appended to the name: “He may be pure poison as a person, but he’s genuinely that good-looking — even if you docked him a hundred points, he’d still deserve the top spot.”
This wasn’t the first time Cheng Yao had heard the name Qian Heng. She’d heard plenty of things about him — arrogant, tyrannical, utterly without a sense of justice, a blight on the industry, that sort of thing. And yet none of it had ever changed the fact that Junheng brought in over a hundred million yuan in annual revenue, with partners splitting bonuses in the tens of millions.
In the legal world, breaking a hundred million in revenue wasn’t rare in itself. But unlike giants such as Dentons or Yingke, which had branches spread across the country, Junheng was a small, highly specialized boutique firm based entirely in City A. It employed only around thirty practicing lawyers and didn’t touch lucrative non-litigation work like IPOs or mergers — its focus was exclusively family law. For a firm this small, with such a narrow practice area, to break a hundred million in revenue and rank among the top ten nationally in per-lawyer earnings — that was genuinely impressive.
Much of Junheng’s success could be traced directly back to the iron-fisted leadership of partner Qian Heng.
And with numbers like that staring them in the face, even with all the mixed rumors swirling around Qian Heng, young lawyers were still racking their brains trying to get into Junheng.
Still, Cheng Yao hadn’t expected that the man so widely reviled as an industry blight would turn out to be this good-looking. Even though most people in the legal field had at least heard his name, few had actually seen him in person — he never attended any bar association events, and while he was notoriously overbearing at work, he kept an extremely low profile in his private life. If it weren’t for this anonymous submission to the gossip forum, there’d be no photo of him online at all.
Just as Cheng Yao was getting ready to satisfy her curiosity and get a good look at Qian Heng’s face—
A furious shout came from the living room. Li Mengting bellowed, “Screw this garbage internet connection!”
Li Mengting was Cheng Yao’s college classmate. The two got along well and had shared an apartment since graduation. Lately Li Mengting had gotten hooked on gaming, with “chicken dinner” and “Honor of Kings” constantly on her lips. That furious shout meant she’d probably hit a critical moment in the game only for her connection to lag out again…
Sure enough, Cheng Yao glanced at her own screen and found Qian Heng’s photo replaced by a broken-image icon. No matter how many times she refreshed, it wouldn’t load.
And whether by some strange coincidence or not, at almost the exact same moment, Cheng Yao got a call from the HR department at Junheng Law Firm.
After hanging up, Cheng Yao still couldn’t quite believe it. She was so excited she barely knew what to do with herself — the stress of having quit her last firm without another lined up had suddenly flipped into the thrill and anticipation of landing a new job.
She’d been hired by Junheng! The Junheng that brought in over a hundred million a year!
Cheng Yao rushed out to the living room, unable to resist sharing the news with Li Mengting.
“Oh, that’s great, Yaoyao. Junheng’s amazing.” Li Mengting’s tone carried a hint of envy, though not a very strong one — she was clearly still absorbed in her game. “Since your job’s settled now, why don’t you play with me? I’ll teach you, I’m actually pretty good — if it weren’t for the lag, I would’ve won that last round!”
Cheng Yao had passed the bar exam back in college. These days, though, eighty or ninety percent of law graduates had master’s degrees, and plenty had studied abroad — some had passed not just the domestic bar exam but the New York or California bar as well. With competition that fierce, and law being a field with a notoriously low employment rate, someone like Cheng Yao, a graduate of an ordinary university rather than a prestigious “211” school, had no way of getting into the mid-to-high-tier firms.
So she’d settled for less. Cheng Yao had spent a year interning at a very ordinary local firm, gotten her lawyer’s license registered there, and once she had her license in hand, she could no longer be satisfied with an ordinary firm’s platform and workload. She started mass-mailing her resume to mid-to-high-tier firms.
Li Mengting was different from Cheng Yao — she hadn’t passed the bar exam yet. She’d taken a job at a magazine while studying for it on the side, but the magazine job was high-pressure with frequent overtime. With the exam approaching, Li Mengting had simply quit to study full-time at home. But somehow her study momentum had faltered lately, and she’d gotten hooked on gaming instead.
Regardless, Cheng Yao was still thrilled about getting into Junheng. She couldn’t help herself — she immediately grabbed her phone, wanting to tell her sister Cheng Xi the good news. But at the last moment, remembering the way her sister’s eyes tended to well up with tears, she hesitated. She was afraid the words “law firm” and “lawyer” would dredge up unpleasant memories for her sister. In the end, after much hesitation, she sent a text instead.
“Sis, I got hired by Junheng, the firm I wanted!”
It wasn’t long before she got a reply.
“Yaoyao, I knew you could do it. So happy for you. Treat me to a big meal next time you’re home.”
Seeing her sister’s reply, Cheng Yao finally let out a breath of relief. She smiled, then called her childhood friend Qin Qin. To celebrate, the two quickly arranged to meet for a meal.
Cheng Yao met Qin Qin at an elegantly appointed little café.
By the time Cheng Yao arrived, Qin Qin already seemed to be waiting impatiently.
But before Cheng Yao could even sit down and say anything, Qin Qin shot her a look, then tilted her chin toward a spot not far away, saying mysteriously, “See that guy sitting by the window?”
Cheng Yao followed her gaze to a man’s back. She couldn’t see his face, but just from his build alone, he looked like a model — at least 188 centimeters, broad shoulders, long legs, perfect proportions, filling out his American-cut suit beautifully. Tall and imposing, every detail of his outfit was immaculate. Even though Cheng Yao knew nothing about brands, she could tell at a glance that his clothes were expensive.
The man’s back was to Cheng Yao. Across from him sat a middle-aged woman decked out in jewelry.
Cheng Yao turned back to Qin Qin, teasing, “What, you falling for him?”
Qin Qin rolled her eyes at her. “Falling for him, nothing — the only thing I fall for is money.”
“Then why’d you point him out to me?”
Qin Qin lowered her voice. “He’s an escort.”
Cheng Yao was startled. “What?”
“I happened to have nothing on today so I got here early, and I ended up watching this whole business transaction play out.” Qin Qin clicked her tongue. “This era really is beyond saving — even the sex trade gets conducted right out in the open now. Moral bankruptcy, I tell you.”
“That brazen, huh?”
Qin Qin nodded. “See that rich middle-aged woman across from him? The two of them just finished settling on the overnight rate. This guy’s no joke — flat rate, no haggling at all. You know what the starting price for one night is? Ten thousand, minimum. And you have to book in advance.”
Cheng Yao was floored.
“Did you notice his shoes?” Qin Qin went on. “Silvano Lattanzi, a niche Italian luxury brand. I just saw it in some promotional materials at work the other day. You know how much those shoes cost? Even buying them in Italy, they’d run you almost three thousand euros — that’s twenty thousand yuan! And they’d be even pricier bought domestically.”
Qin Qin worked in PR and marketing, dealing with luxury brands regularly, so she’d never mistake one label for another.
Now Cheng Yao was truly indignant. Here she was, slaving away at a law firm, working overtime every day, and her monthly salary couldn’t even match what this guy made in one night! How was anyone supposed to believe that knowledge could change your fate after that?
Even as she seethed, Cheng Yao found herself glancing over at the man again without meaning to — and just then, he happened to turn his head, and their eyes met.
It was the briefest of glances. His gaze was cold, but Cheng Yao felt an odd flutter in her chest all the same. She wasn’t the type to judge people by their looks, but he really was too good-looking — she’d never seen a face with this much visual impact. His eyes especially — cold, but utterly captivating.
Despite his line of work, there wasn’t a trace of anything cheap about him. His features were strikingly handsome, his nose bridge so perfectly arched it looked almost surgically done. His whole bearing radiated a kind of aristocratic air, along with a touch of arrogance and impatience.
Face, build, presence — all flawless. Just, evidently, a rotten temper.
Qin Qin, catching that same fleeting glimpse of his face, immediately switched sides with zero principles. “Okay, that’s worth ten thousand.”
“…”
The man had apparently settled on a price and didn’t linger. The middle-aged woman wore a look of knowing satisfaction. The two walked out of the café one after the other — and to Cheng Yao’s surprise, even though there was outdoor parking right outside, the two of them went their separate ways, each heading to their own car.
Qin Qin kindly explained, “They avoid leaving together to dodge suspicion — usually one goes first, gets a hotel room, and the other just heads over with the key card once it’s ready.”
Cheng Yao suddenly understood — and watched as the impossibly handsome man walked toward a Bentley…
“That takes a lot of sleepless nights to afford,” Cheng Yao said, watching the man’s steady stride, feeling an unexpected pang of pity. “A night at ten thousand — even the cheapest Bentley would run about five million, so that’s five hundred nights. Nearly two years of diligent… labor. I wonder if his legs ever get weak from all that. His back probably isn’t in great shape either…”
After that little detour, Cheng Yao shared her good news with Qin Qin, and the two chatted about this and that. They’d meant to keep talking, but Qin Qin got a call about overtime at work, so Cheng Yao waved her off.
Today must have been Cheng Yao’s lucky day, though — she’d barely left the café when she got a call from her rental agent.
“Miss Cheng, the landlord’s agreed to the place you wanted to rent. Come sign the contract right away.”
Her current apartment had been found by Li Mengting — just one bedroom, which she and Cheng Yao shared, and the value for money was quite good.
But Li Mengting had recently started dating a boyfriend, and things were going well, so the two of them were planning to move in together.
Li Mengting had offered to let Cheng Yao keep the apartment while she and her boyfriend found another place, but Cheng Yao couldn’t accept that — Li Mengting had been the one to handle finding, viewing, and renting the place from the start. It only made sense for Cheng Yao to find her own place now.
Unfortunately, in City A, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it took a long time to find a suitable place. Cheng Yao had finally found one she liked and haggled hard over the price. Now the landlord had finally agreed to sign, and after finishing the contract at the agency, she finally let out a breath of relief.
She was quite pleased with this apartment — a freshly finished two-bedroom, one-living-room unit that had never been lived in, and it happened to be surprisingly close to Junheng. Cheng Yao planned to find a roommate later to split the rent. Perfect.
Having signed the contract that morning, Cheng Yao went to pick up the keys that afternoon with brisk efficiency.
She hummed to herself as she waited for the elevator, which slowly rose up from the underground garage to ground level.
But when the elevator doors opened, Cheng Yao froze.
There was, naturally, someone inside — and it was someone she’d seen not long before.
The man across from her was just as tall, long-legged, and imposing as before, his nose bridge as perfect as if sculpted, his face carrying a hint of cold impatience. “Are you getting in or not?”
Cheng Yao hurried into the elevator, though her mind was racing.
She quickly scanned the elevator buttons. Twelfth floor — the same floor as her own.
Was she about to be neighbors with this escort?!
As she thought this, she snuck a few more glances at him. He really was gorgeous — his lashes absurdly long, his lips thin, his skin so pale it almost looked Caucasian.
Such a shame, with a face like that, to have fallen into this line of work.
Driving a Bentley worth millions but living in a complex like this? Cheng Yao thought. It seemed every profession had its hardships — even this escort probably had some unspoken sorrow behind putting up appearances with a luxury car. Who knew how many clients he had to take to afford it?
The elevator reached the twelfth floor, and Cheng Yao stepped out first.
Unit 1203 — that was the number she’d rented.
Her handsome male neighbor, dragging his suitcase, walked along right behind her.
But as they passed 1201, then 1202, he was still following. Cheng Yao started to feel something was off.
By the time she stopped in front of 1203 and he stopped there too, her sense that something was very wrong reached its peak.
“You—”
Before Cheng Yao could finish, he cut her off, his handsome voice utterly indifferent. “Excuse me, you’re blocking my door.”
He said this while pulling out his keys…
“Are you sure you’re not at the wrong place?” Cheng Yao pointed at 1203. “This is the apartment I just rented today.”
The man did pause at that, but instead of turning to leave, he frowned. “You’re the one who’s got it wrong. This is the unit I rented. I’m moving in today.”
Cheng Yao didn’t say anything — she simply took out her key and, right in front of him, turned it in the lock and opened the door. “See?”
The handsome man pressed his lips together, closed the door again, then took out his own key and inserted it into the lock.
The lock turned open once more…
This wasn’t Cheng Yao’s first time renting an apartment, and she quickly ran through the situation in her head. The man across from her clearly wasn’t slow either — the two exchanged a look and found the answer reflected in each other’s eyes.
That unscrupulous landlord had double-booked the unit!
Without a word, Cheng Yao pushed the door open, ready to toss her bag inside.
But the man let out a cold snort, grabbed her bag with one hand, and tripped her with a leg. “Trying to claim it first? Dream on.”
This actually raised her opinion of him a little — apparently even an escort these days knew a bit about the law. He clearly understood that in a double-rental situation, whoever legally took possession of the property first would win.
The two of them stood there, neither willing to let the other in first.
An idea struck Cheng Yao. “Did you register the lease?”
He arched a cold eyebrow. “Did you?”
Well. Neither of them had, it seemed.
In a double-rental case, if neither party had taken possession yet, then whoever had registered the lease first would win.
But once again, they were at a standstill.
So the deciding factor came down to the very last one.
If neither party had taken possession, and neither had registered the lease, then whoever had signed their contract first would win.
The two of them remained deadlocked, so naturally they called in both the agent and the landlord. But once everyone compared notes, there were some stunned expressions all around.
Both of them had signed on the exact same day, at the exact same time.
The handsome man turned utterly cold. He pressed his lips together and said to Cheng Yao, “I’ll cover two months’ rent for you. Go find somewhere else.”
But finding a suitable apartment wasn’t that easy. And Li Mengting’s boyfriend was moving in within a few days. Tomorrow she had to start at Junheng. Where would she find the time to go apartment-hunting again?
There was no way she could back down.
Cheng Yao gritted her teeth and decided to pull out her trump card. She fixed her gaze on the man’s handsome eyes. “I’m a lawyer. I’d advise you to give up this apartment — you won’t win against me. My consultation fee starts at a thousand yuan an hour.”
Perhaps her status as a lawyer gave him some pause, because for the first time, he lifted his head and actually looked at her properly.
Cheng Yao pressed her advantage. “Junheng Law Firm — heard of it? I’m a lawyer there! Even if you don’t know me, you should at least know our partner, Qian Heng!” After all, most ordinary people had no idea how the legal world worked, so she decided to borrow some borrowed authority. “Lawyer Qian thinks very highly of me. If I get bullied, it’s not just a matter of his personal feelings — it’s about the firm’s reputation too. How could a lawyer from Junheng lose a double-rental dispute? As a lawyer, I have to fight for my own rights to the very last moment! I absolutely will not back down!”
Maybe it was her imagination, but when she mentioned Junheng, the man seemed to freeze for a second. And when she mentioned Qian Heng, he looked outright stunned.
Qian Heng really must be quite famous, if even an escort had heard of him.