Cheng Yao stood alone outside Qian Heng’s door, hopping around and wriggling until she finally freed herself from the blanket’s confines. She scratched her head and went back to her room, preparing to wash up too. Though it was still early, today, after all, she’d be traveling with Qian Heng to City B for a business trip! Her first business trip—just thinking about it made her a little excited.

But the moment she walked into the bathroom and glanced up at herself in the mirror, her face flushed instantly.

The third button of her pajama collar had, for some inexplicable reason, come undone!

Undone!

UNDONE!!!

If she’d been standing still it would have been fine, but the slightest bend or movement caused a small gap to open up, and through that gap, one could see straight down to her chest…

Since she’d just been sleeping, naturally Cheng Yao had nothing on underneath…

Anyone who glanced at her could catch a faint glimpse of the outline of her chest…

At that moment, Cheng Yao felt she might as well just die.

She finally understood Qian Heng’s baffling behavior from earlier—he simply couldn’t bear to look!

And that early morning shower he’d taken… was it a cold shower, she wondered…

In this freezing weather, that was rather pitiful of him…

Cheng Yao decided to self-numb, self-hypnotize, and forget this whole episode. Fortunately Qian Heng seemed to feel the same way—the two of them still managed to sit properly at the table for breakfast, though as an aftereffect, Qian Heng seemed unwilling to even look Cheng Yao in the eye.

But since they’d be traveling together for two days, they couldn’t keep this awkwardness up forever. Cheng Yao racked her brain trying to figure out how to break the silence.

Unfortunately, Qian Heng kept wearing an expression that screamed “no trespassing,” his face set in a stern mask.

This state persisted all the way to the airport, where, due to air traffic control, the flight originally scheduled to arrive in City B at 11:30 was delayed until 1 p.m. Qian Heng’s face grew even longer at this news.

Once on the plane, Qian Heng’s expression remained tense.

They were seated in business class, and today there was no one else in the cabin besides Cheng Yao and Qian Heng.

Cheng Yao held back for a while, but finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Boss, are you giving me the cold shoulder?”

Qian Heng pressed his lips together and said nothing, flipping through the in-flight magazine with sharp, crackling motions.

Cheng Yao wasn’t someone who liked keeping things bottled up, and being treated with such cold indifference started to make her a bit resentful too.

“Are you angry about what happened this morning?”

“…”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Cheng Yao said, somewhat huffily, biting her lip. “Besides, in this whole thing, I’m the one who lost out. I’m the victim here, and I haven’t said anything—and yet you’re the one acting wronged. Besides, it’s not like you saw anything that offended your eyes. I’m quite confident in my figure—what exactly did you see that gave you pinkeye?”

“Cheng Yao!” Qian Heng slammed the magazine down in his hand, his face flushing red and pale by turns, but he finally looked directly at Cheng Yao. “You’re a lawyer! Watch your conduct!”

“What’s wrong with my conduct?” Cheng Yao felt her fighting spirit stirred too. “Did I do anything illegal? Did I behave improperly in any way? All I did was accidentally have a button come undone on my clothes—couldn’t you have just not looked?! Who told you to look! Isn’t the one behaving improperly you?! Ever heard of ‘don’t look at what’s improper’? How is this suddenly my fault?”

Qian Heng was practically laughing out of anger. “How am I supposed to know it was something improper to look at without looking first?”

“See, you admit you looked! What ‘don’t look at what’s improper’—I clearly remember you took a first look and then turned back for several more before you threw the pillow at me!”

Qian Heng’s expression looked like he was about to explode. “Admit what? I haven’t even accused you of deliberately seducing me, and that’s already me showing exceptional mercy! Deliberately finding excuses to sleep in my room in the middle of the night, then this morning your button conveniently comes undone to tempt me into a mistake. And now you’re pushing your luck even further?”

“What deliberate seduction? I don’t even know how the button came undone—I didn’t even want you to see anything!”

“Then who did you want to show it to? Women like you who happen to be a bit pretty are always thinking of using your feminine advantages to take shortcuts. That kind of approach doesn’t work with me. I brought you on this business trip with no ulterior motives whatsoever—I just hoped you’d behave yourself and demonstrate proper professionalism.”

“What shortcuts?! Don’t you dare slander me?! And didn’t you say I wasn’t even that good-looking?”

“I’ve just gotten used to seeing you. You’re passable, I suppose.”

“…”

The two of them bickered their way all the way to City B.

Though both of them still had some lingering resentment and looked ready to argue for several more hours, the moment the plane landed, it was time to get to work, and the two of them tacitly set aside their earlier emotions.

The client in this family trust dispute had a company in City B; he’d flown back from abroad temporarily specifically to handle business at his company, which was why Qian Heng had arranged to meet him at his company at 2 p.m. Even though they’d already informed him in advance about the flight delay, given the client’s limited time in the country, Qian Heng still didn’t want to be late.

The two of them went straight from the airport with their luggage, not even stopping at the hotel, and hailed a taxi directly to the client’s company.

The client this time, Tang Bing, was a middle-aged man whose body and face were well-maintained. From the background materials she’d reviewed beforehand, Cheng Yao knew he was a prominent wine industry tycoon based in City B. As far as wealthy businessmen went, he was reasonably good-looking, and being mindful of his diet, he hadn’t gained weight—he came across as quite energetic overall, with a pair of lively eyes that carried a hint of romantic flirtatiousness.

“Lawyer Qian, Lawyer Cheng, welcome, welcome. I’ve prepared the list of materials you sent me earlier—shall we go up to the second-floor conference room at my company so you can look them over?”

As Tang Bing led the way, he casually introduced his company and the business he wanted to entrust to them to Cheng Yao and Qian Heng. But Cheng Yao could clearly sense that his lively eyes kept sweeping over her, again and again, lingering on her a beat too long each time.

So the online gossip about him was true after all, Cheng Yao thought inwardly with a curl of her lip. This Mr. Tang, despite having a legal wife, made no secret at all of also having a second, third, and fourth mistress—these four women had collectively borne him a total of six children—and beyond that, there were all sorts of rumors of illegitimate children scattered about. On top of that, with such a massive family fortune, no wonder he needed to plan a family trust early, to avoid his descendants tearing each other apart fighting over the inheritance down the line.

Tang Bing led his assistant, along with Qian Heng and Cheng Yao’s group, into the conference room, where he’d had people bring in stacks upon stacks of documents. Besides the family trust, he also hoped Qian Heng could help him plan out the company’s future family shareholding structure.

“Time is precious, let’s just get started. Let me introduce everyone—to my left, in order, are our CFO, chief legal counsel, HR director, and marketing director. If you have any questions about the company’s situation, feel free to sort them out on the spot.”

After finishing, Tang Bing glanced once more, lingeringly, at Cheng Yao, flashing her a smile he clearly thought quite charming, before continuing on to business.

Cheng Yao wasn’t particularly fond of Tang Bing’s oily manner, but fortunately, once he settled into work mode, he didn’t act up anymore, reverting to a shrewd businessman, going back and forth with Qian Heng discussing the family enterprise’s shareholding situation.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed. Cheng Yao, who had originally been going through the company’s financial situation, finally couldn’t hold back the waves of hunger washing over her…

Because the flight had been delayed, and they’d needed to rush to make their appointed time at Tang Bing’s company, the proper lunch they might have enjoyed in City B had been compressed into nothing. Cheng Yao and Qian Heng had only managed to eat a simple in-flight meal on the plane, which could barely stave off hunger for a while. Now, under this intensity of mental work, Cheng Yao was so hungry her stomach felt like it was touching her spine…

If she herself was in this state, Qian Heng, as an adult man who needed even more calories, must have it even worse.

Yet when Cheng Yao glanced over at Qian Heng, she saw him still bent over, reviewing the documents in front of him, occasionally raising his head to communicate with the various company executives, his questions clear, sharp, and direct.

He seemed as if he didn’t get hungry at all—professional, precise, almost frighteningly so.

Cheng Yao had no idea whether Qian Heng’s stomach had some special hunger-resistant function, but she herself really felt like she was about to faint from hunger. Yet with everyone working, she could hardly suddenly stand up and announce she needed to go buy some food, could she? That would be far too unprofessional, far too embarrassing! And besides, Tang Bing’s company was located in the far outskirts of City B, in an industrial zone—along the whole taxi ride here, Cheng Yao hadn’t seen any small food stalls or supermarkets nearby.

“Cheng Yao, Bao Rui just contacted me. Go outside and give him a call, read him the materials he needs. The materials he wants are in my bag—take it out.”

Just as Cheng Yao was starting to feel dizzy from hunger, Qian Heng glanced at his phone, then finally, as if graciously sparing some attention for her, glanced over at her before coldly issuing this instruction.

Cheng Yao nodded, took the bag from Qian Heng, and, forcing down the pain in her stomach, headed out of the conference room.

She was just puzzling over what case materials Bao Rui could possibly need that weren’t backed up somewhere, that he’d need her to read them aloud from Qian Heng’s bag, when her phone rang.

Cheng Yao picked it up—it was a text message. From Qian Heng.

“No need to call Bao Rui. There’s chocolate in the bag—eat it outside.”

Huh???

Cheng Yao dazedly opened Qian Heng’s briefcase, and sure enough, tucked in a small side pocket, there really were two large pieces of dark chocolate.

So Qian Heng hadn’t asked her to take the bag out because Bao Rui needed materials at all—he’d just been finding a plausible excuse to get her out of the conference room so she could quickly eat something from his bag to fill her stomach?

Even while fully immersed in work, Qian Heng had still managed to spare some attention to worry about Cheng Yao’s stomach. He himself hadn’t eaten anything at all, yet he’d still thought of his subordinate—seemingly cold and detached on the outside, yet he’d actually packed chocolate in his bag ahead of time.

Cheng Yao knew Qian Heng wasn’t fond of sweets, so she could be almost one hundred percent certain that these two pieces of chocolate hadn’t been prepared for himself at all.

This realization suddenly left Cheng Yao feeling flustered and a bit nervous.

She tore open the chocolate wrapper and took a bite. The taste of the dark chocolate was pure, carrying a faint bitterness, yet Cheng Yao didn’t feel that way about it at all—she felt that the chocolate in her hand was actually quite sweet, perhaps the sweetest thing she’d ever eaten in her entire life.

Cheng Yao hastily finished off the chocolate, then went back into the conference room, pretending as though she’d just finished making a phone call.

At her return, Qian Heng didn’t even lift an eyelid, maintaining that same cold, aloof demeanor, utterly unfeeling—if it weren’t for the text message as proof, Cheng Yao would have started to wonder if she’d just dreamed the whole thing.

Yet after sitting back down, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but keep sneaking glances at Qian Heng out of the corner of her eye.

“I’d suggest gradually transitioning all the individual shareholdings over to a holding company. Also, from the perspective of reasonable tax avoidance, holding shares through a holding company gives you much more flexibility when it comes to dividend distributions, transfers, and converting undistributed profits into share capital.”

…

Cheng Yao listened along, following Qian Heng’s train of thought as she did. The man sitting beside her was handsome, cool and detached, professional terminology flowing without pause from his beautifully shaped lips, his speech as fast as his thinking, his gaze focused, his expression cold, professional to the point of being icy—yet his presence was overwhelming enough to crush anyone in the room.

Yet somehow, the more Cheng Yao looked at this profile, the more she felt an involuntary flutter stirring in her chest.

She’d never imagined that such an icy, cold man could be so captivating.

Cheng Yao had eaten a piece of chocolate and no longer showed any signs of low blood sugar; her stomach felt much more comfortable now. Yet Qian Heng, who by rights should be even hungrier than her, remained completely focused throughout, using an impeccably flawless state to plan out the shareholding structure for Tang Bing.

Cheng Yao had specially saved one more piece of chocolate for Qian Heng, hoping he too would find some excuse to step out partway through—but he never did.

He simply sat there, back straight, his manner aloof, his expression cold, without a single unnecessary word.

Truly, so utterly professional.

If she hadn’t gone on a business trip with Qian Heng, she never would have known someone could push the practice of law to such an extreme.

It was at this moment, too, that Cheng Yao started to believe it. Qian Heng had once said that his previous dozen or so assistants had all ended up falling for him—apparently, that wasn’t without reason after all.

Handsome, wealthy, persistent, dedicated, responsible, powerful.

A man like this—if he smiled at you, his eyes fixed on you alone, it probably really would be quite devastating.

And just about at that same moment, Qian Heng suddenly turned his head, calling out Cheng Yao’s name, and smiled at her as he looked at her.

“Cheng Yao, you’ve reviewed the company’s HR and financial situation—anything you’d like to add?”

Qian Heng, immersed in his work, was almost at full throttle. That smile of his carried the exhilaration and pleasure of being fully invested in his work, an almost irresistible quality to it, like clear skies breaking after heavy snow, like spring light suddenly bursting through.

Now Cheng Yao could confirm it.

When Qian Heng smiled like that, it wasn’t just “probably” devastating—it truly was devastating.

In that moment, Cheng Yao’s mind went briefly blank; she managed to answer normally almost purely through sheer willpower and instinct, pointing out one by one the issues she’d noticed while reviewing the materials earlier.

Only when Qian Heng gave a slight nod did she finally exhale in relief. This time, at least, she hadn’t disappointed him.

The meeting continued all the way until four in the afternoon.

Tang Bing was clearly quite satisfied. He personally saw Qian Heng and Cheng Yao all the way to the company entrance and arranged a car for them: “I’ll have my driver take the two of you to the InterContinental first. Our company’s out in the far suburbs, and there aren’t many hotels around here, so I booked the hotel in the city center. I’ll be staying there too tonight. I still have some things to handle at the company right now—why don’t the two of you go rest at the hotel first, and tonight I’ll treat you both to dinner, and we can continue discussing the family trust then.”

Qian Heng remained polished and impeccable, shaking hands with Tang Bing before getting into the car with Cheng Yao.

But once the car had driven off for about ten minutes and Tang Bing’s figure had finally disappeared from view, Qian Heng’s perfectly polished composure from earlier finally collapsed. He casually loosened his tie and leaned back against the seat, a hint of fatigue crossing his face. It was only then that Cheng Yao noticed that although Qian Heng’s face was still as handsome as ever, his complexion was, compared to usual, rather pale.

“Boss, are you okay?”

Qian Heng pressed his lips tightly together, brows slightly furrowed, and waved a hand at Cheng Yao. His other hand was pressed against his own stomach.

There was no need for him to answer now.

Several hours of high-intensity work while hungry—Cheng Yao now understood: Qian Heng was really not doing well.

Cheng Yao immediately took his bag from Qian Heng’s hands, hurriedly pulled out the other piece of chocolate, tore open the wrapper, and held it up to his mouth: “Eat it, quick!”

Unfortunately, Qian Heng gently turned his head away. “Old problem. It’s fine.”

Five words, delivered with breezy nonchalance—yet somehow, Cheng Yao’s heart ached a little.

They always said successful lawyers all had bad stomachs; it turned out to be true.

Qian Heng—before this, how many times had he forgotten to eat because of work? Cheng Yao, though only from a comfortably middle-class family, had never truly experienced the feeling of hunger like this; she knew she herself couldn’t have endured this kind of suffering, going without meals. It was hard for her to imagine that Qian Heng, born into an enormously wealthy family, had endured all of this, one time after another.

Someone with an easy way out, someone who could clearly live a relaxed life—just how much willpower and conviction, how much resolve and persistence, did it take to get to where he was today?

Qian Heng remained leaning back gently against the seat, one hand lightly covering his eyes. From Cheng Yao’s angle, all she could see was the elegant bridge of his nose and his lips, sharply and coolly shaped, and the slight rise of his fair, hormone-charged Adam’s apple, and further down…

Further down, Cheng Yao suddenly didn’t dare look anymore. She awkwardly looked away.

Fortunately, there was no traffic today, and forty minutes later, the driver dropped Cheng Yao and Qian Heng off at the InterContinental.

Qian Heng’s condition still wasn’t great, but he simply gave the driver a slight nod in acknowledgment before checking in at the InterContinental with Cheng Yao.

“Tang Bing will probably contact you before dinner—let me know if there’s any arrangement.”

The two of them had adjoining rooms. Qian Heng gave Cheng Yao a few instructions, then went into his room.

Although the short rest in the car had improved Qian Heng’s complexion somewhat, his furrowed brows still hadn’t relaxed—it seemed his stomach was still bothering him.

“Boss, do you want me to order some food for you?”

“I can’t eat anything right now.” Qian Heng’s tone still carried some fatigue. “Tonight we still have to meet with the client about the family trust—business trips are always this intense. You should go rest up too.”

Cheng Yao nodded.

But once back in her own room, Cheng Yao still couldn’t put her mind at ease. Tang Bing would surely host another dinner tonight, and hotel cuisine tended to be oily and heavily flavored, entirely unsuitable for Qian Heng’s already battered stomach. Especially after a cycle of starving then overeating, he’d probably start suffering from stomach pain and bloating again.

After some thought, Cheng Yao called the hotel’s food and beverage department and ordered a stomach-soothing congee for Qian Heng. Not entirely trusting them to get it right, she specifically requested the ingredients—repeatedly emphasizing that it needed to include japonica rice, glutinous rice, red dates, and cooked beef tripe. If the InterContinental’s food service hadn’t been so thoughtful and accommodating, she might have wanted to roll up her sleeves and march into the kitchen to make it for Qian Heng herself.

Fortunately, the hotel was efficient. Before long, room service arrived at Cheng Yao’s door with a thermos of congee.

Without thinking twice, Cheng Yao immediately took it straight to Qian Heng.

She just hadn’t expected that Qian Heng would have just finished showering.

When he opened the door, he was wearing only a bathrobe, his hair still dripping slightly. The front of his robe was open rather wide, and as he moved, glimpses showed through—Cheng Yao caught sight, however briefly, of the lines of his abdomen.

Not an ounce of extra flesh on him—just a thin layer of muscle definition.

Should it even be legal for a partner to have a body like that?! This was a bit much!

“What’s up?”

Cheng Yao’s eyes darted about evasively as she stammered, “I… I… this… this…”

Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao’s flushed face, pressed his lips together, said nothing, and simply pulled his robe tighter, to a point where nothing at all could be seen.

Cheng Yao finally felt her thoughts clear up. “I had the hotel prepare some stomach-soothing congee for you.” She raised the thermos she was holding. “Drink some first.”

Qian Heng was startled for a moment, then turned his head to the side. Though he remained as terse as ever, there was a subtle change in his voice: “Fine.” He took the thermos. “You can go now.”

This was clearly a dismissal—but a true lawyer never fears authority!

Not only did Cheng Yao not leave, she stuck her foot in the doorway and squeezed her way into Qian Heng’s room.

“No.” She fixed her eyes on Qian Heng. “I’m not leaving.”

Qian Heng raised an eyebrow, a storm brewing. “Cheng Yao, are you trying to latch onto me now?”

“Huh???”

Qian Heng looked away, seeming somewhat uneasy. “Just because I accidentally looked at you a couple times this morning, are you planning to latch onto me now and not let go?”

Huh??? What on earth was he talking about???

Cheng Yao was baffled for a moment before realizing what Qian Heng meant.

Her whole face turned red. “I… I… no… this…”

Qian Heng had already recovered his composure. He turned his head back and looked at Cheng Yao again: “You’re expecting me to take responsibility just because I looked at you a couple times—that’s not going to happen. But to be fair, you can look at me a few times too.” As he spoke, he started to pull open the front of his robe. “You get five minutes. After that, we’re even, no debts owed. You can only look—no recording, no photos, no keeping any electronic image files, or I’ll sue you for invasion of privacy.” He thought about it, then added, “Look only. No touching.”

????

Qian Heng! Your brain! Can it please connect with the rest of us normal people!

Cheng Yao lunged forward and grabbed Qian Heng’s hand before he could finish opening his robe. She thought—surely this action made her intentions clear enough!

I am absolutely not here to latch onto you, dammit! I’m also not here to get a look at your pecs and abs, okay!

Cheng Yao stared at Qian Heng, trying to convey her thoughts through sheer force of will—

I am a person of noble character! A person of upstanding conduct! A person of refined taste! A person whose sense of fun is even more refined than my taste! I am not the kind of person you think I am!!!

Qian Heng was stunned for a moment, but the look he gave Cheng Yao grew even more complicated. “You want to do it yourself?”

“…”

Cheng Yao thought helplessly, Boss, if your thoughts keep going in this dangerous direction, I really am going to call the police…

Even as she thought this, Cheng Yao instinctively glanced past Qian Heng’s body toward the phone behind him.

Little did she know, her silence brought about a dramatic change in Qian Heng’s expression.

His face turned ashen. “Cheng Yao, don’t push it too far.”

Cheng Yao was on the verge of tears. “What did I even do now?”

“Showing you my upper body wasn’t enough—now you want to see my lower body too???” Qian Heng gritted his teeth. “Put away that lecherous gaze you’re giving my lower half! Two words for you: dream on!”

I’m not! I didn’t! Don’t make things up!!!!

I was looking at the phone behind you! I wasn’t looking at your lower half at all!!!