Her heart racing, moved, trusting, and carrying a sense of safety.

Never had Cheng Yao felt prouder than she did now—being able to join Junheng, becoming Qian Heng’s associate lawyer. She felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

She snuck a glance at Qian Heng, and a subtle, secret thrill rose in her heart.

No one else understood how good Qian Heng really was. Only she knew.

Everyone else was blind, unable to see it—only she had discovered this gem of a man. And this unrecognized goodness, in fact, gave Cheng Yao the illusion that “only I have the discerning eye to see his worth, and only I can claim it for myself.” Though she knew it was inappropriate, without even realizing it, Cheng Yao had already begun quietly claiming Qian Heng for herself in her own private fantasies.

Unaware of the twists and turns in Cheng Yao’s mind, Qian Heng shot her a warning glance: “From now on, you’re not allowed to meet unfamiliar men alone.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng turned his head to the side, his movement somewhat unnatural. After a moment, he turned back and glared fiercely at Cheng Yao: “Did you hear me?”

Cheng Yao was momentarily baffled: “Is this a new firm policy? Why can’t I meet men alone? I mean, the Tang Bing thing definitely left me shaken, but does that mean I should just avoid all men out of caution? Besides, most men actually have pretty good boundaries and are polite and gentle with me…”

“No.” Qian Heng frowned, his thin lips parting. “Men are hypocritical and cunning. If they’re polite and gentle to you, it’s because they want something from you.”

???Boss, aren’t you a man too?

Before Cheng Yao could ask, sure enough, Qian Heng added, as if it were obvious—

“Except me.”

“…”

Boss, as a fellow man, is it really okay for you to be attacking your own kind like this?

Just as Cheng Yao was internally mocking him, Qian Heng added another line.

“Everyone else at the firm can meet the opposite sex alone. But you, better not.”

Qian Heng glanced at her, a bit awkwardly. As a lawyer, Cheng Yao really was too beautiful. Wu Jun had said she was unaware of her own looks, didn’t even know how to dress herself up, so it wouldn’t stir up jealousy or rivalry at the firm. But Qian Heng now felt that Wu Jun had misjudged the situation.

Cheng Yao was indeed still oblivious about her own appearance, yet despite having such a striking face, she genuinely never tried to use her beauty to take shortcuts or throw her weight around. This unconscious innocence, in some ways, only made her more attractive.

For some reason, Qian Heng’s mind flashed back to that morning when he’d glimpsed the outline of Cheng Yao’s chest. He knew, deep down, that she hadn’t meant it—but somehow, the more unintentional it was, the more tempting it became. Because beyond being beautiful, she was also naive, also pure.

A beauty that spelled trouble.

Qian Heng thought irritably, truly a beauty that spelled trouble.

But the beauty-that-spelled-trouble in question was completely unaware of Qian Heng’s mood, still earnestly trying to correct his prejudice: “Boss, you really think too badly of people. Sure, there are people like Tang Bing in this world, but most people are still good…”

“Fine, then whenever you go meet some unfamiliar man alone, report it to me beforehand.”

“Oh! Okay, okay!” Cheng Yao said excitedly. “So what counts as familiar, and what counts as unfamiliar?”

Qian Heng thought for a moment, putting on the air of making a great sacrifice: “How about this—you tell me roughly what kind of interactions you’ve had with the person, and I’ll judge for you. My time is very valuable, but I don’t want my subordinate running into this kind of thing again.”

Cheng Yao, simple-minded as she was, and still filled with boundless gratitude toward Qian Heng after the Tang Bing incident, was deeply touched that he was willing to spend his time vetting this for her.

She didn’t even realize that as an independent woman, why on earth would she need to report meeting some unfamiliar man to anyone? This was practically like some helpless girlfriend having to report to a jealous, possessive boyfriend every time she went out to meet another man!

“Also, don’t make decisions on your own from now on.”

“Huh?”

“When you filmed that video, did you even consider the danger?” Qian Heng rubbed his temples, looking pained. “Did you ever think, what if Tang Bing had absolutely no shame, and even knowing you filmed him, he didn’t care and was determined to have his way with you? What then? Your physical strength is nowhere near his. If he’d locked the conference room door and wanted to do something, you wouldn’t have been able to stop him at all.”

“He wouldn’t have not cared… I could’ve posted the video publicly online. Public opinion is very sensitive about this kind of thing now, and Me Too has quite a lot of momentum… And besides, I thought, if I’d just run away, and he denied it afterward, I’d have no evidence at all—wouldn’t that mean I was harassed for nothing? I’d just have to swallow it like eating a fly. And clearly he’s done this kind of thing skillfully before—it’s obviously not his first time. He’ll definitely keep doing this to the next girl. What if she can’t get away? I wanted to teach him a lesson.”

“And what if he’d used his physical advantage to overpower you, not only done something to you, but also taken your phone and deleted the video? Or even filmed something inappropriate of you to threaten you with, what then?”

Cheng Yao froze for a moment. Only now did a chill of fear creep in.

Qian Heng was right—she’d been lucky that Tang Bing had been momentarily stunned by her resistance. If she’d encountered someone even more vicious, her fate might not have turned out so well.

“Cheng Yao, at any time, self-protection comes first. In critical moments, don’t worry about evidence or anyone else.”

“But without evidence, even if I came to you to report it, I’m afraid you wouldn’t believe me…”

“I would.”

“But without evidence, just my word, even if you believed me, you couldn’t do anything about it.”

Qian Heng lowered his head, pressing his lips together: “Even without evidence, I’d still fight him for you. Satisfied now?”

Fine, fine.

Even though Qian Heng shot her another glare, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased inside.

With Qian Heng backing her up, what was there to be afraid of?

Yet facing Qian Heng’s support, Cheng Yao felt a wave of guilt: “I’m sorry, boss. I know you helped me get justice, taught Tang Bing a lesson, and turned down the case, but if I’d just been more careful, rather than…”

Before she could finish, Qian Heng cut her off: “Cheng Yao, can you stop flattering yourself.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng’s expression was full of impatience: “I’m not taking Tang Bing’s case simply because I personally find him distasteful. It has nothing to do with you. Stop giving yourself credit.”

“Then, then at least you hit him because of me…”

“I hit him because he deserved it. That has nothing to do with you either. I’ve wanted to hit him for a while now.”

“Huh??? Why???”

Qian Heng’s tone returned to its usual nastiness: “Whenever he uses the bathroom, he keeps staring at me.”

!!!

Qian Heng’s tone turned somewhat unnatural: “You know how some men are, right? So childish—the moment they’re in the bathroom, they can’t help but sneak a look at the person next to them to compare size.”

Com… compare size?

Qian Heng said, displeased: “I really don’t know what there is to compare. Delusions of grandeur.”

Wait… wait a minute… Boss! Can you please not discuss this topic with such a calm expression!!!

For a moment, Cheng Yao felt like she’d heard something she shouldn’t have. And yet, even though she knew perfectly well that Qian Heng had beaten Tang Bing entirely because of her, this sudden change of subject had completely stolen her attention, making her forget what she’d even been talking about…

“Anyway, it’s not because of you that I turned down this client, or that I hit him.” Qian Heng glanced at her again, as if worried she might not have gotten the message, and emphasized once more, “Don’t go around fantasizing and feeling burdened over nothing.”

“Mm…”

Still… Cheng Yao thought it over and decided this was a question worth asking: “Boss, did you specifically train in some kind of self-defense? Your fighting stance looked really professional. I heard Bao Rui say once that lawyers like us who handle family cases are easy targets for angry clients seeking revenge—did you learn some skills after starting work to protect yourself?”

“Not something I learned after starting work.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been practicing sanda since elementary school.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng looked somewhat troubled: “Maybe it’s because I was too outstanding. I was bullied at school starting from elementary school.”

Cheng Yao was shocked. This Qian Heng who now had everything going his way—had he really been bullied back in elementary school?!

That was seriously rough!

Cheng Yao couldn’t help but soften. They always said childhood trauma follows a person for life, deeply shaping and changing their character. In that moment, Cheng Yao immediately forgave Qian Heng for all his past sharp-tongued comments.

She thought, so that’s why it all makes sense!

Poor Qian Heng—he must have once been a cute, lively, innocent little boy, only to be gradually transformed by school bullying into today’s Sect Leader of the Five Poisons…

Cheng Yao’s heart filled with sympathy for Qian Heng, and even her gaze toward him unconsciously grew gentler and more tender.

“Boss, if I could go back in time, I would definitely protect you!”

Qian Heng looked somewhat surprised: “Why would you need to protect me?”

“Weren’t you bullied? Then you must have been hurt since elementary school?”

“Oh, you mean that. Yeah, that’s true.” Qian Heng nodded. “At first my technique wasn’t refined, so I had some minor cuts and scrapes that needed disinfecting at the hospital. But every time, I still had to pay them money.”

Cheng Yao was genuinely shocked. What kind of terrible elementary schoolers were these—beating up Qian Heng and still demanding money from him afterward, just because his family was rich?! Bullying him like that! This was a total moral collapse!

“Here, this is for you.”

But just as Cheng Yao was still absorbed in thoughts of school bullying, Qian Heng abruptly changed the subject again. He said these four words succinctly, then tossed a box to her.

Cheng Yao opened it and looked—a box of paper clips???

“Boss, what’s this?”

Qian Heng glanced at her: “Pay more attention to your clothing from now on.”

Pay attention to her clothing? Cheng Yao looked down at her suit dress—wasn’t she already paying attention? And what did a box of paper clips have to do with clothing anyway?

Seeing Cheng Yao still looking completely lost, Qian Heng finally showed a hint of exasperation: “From now on, don’t— chest area, inside the clothes.”

Cheng Yao froze for a moment before finally understanding what Qian Heng meant. She instinctively glanced down at her chest—her clothes seemed fine, fitting properly…

“Mm, it’s fine right now, but in the future, just in case, keep it in mind.” Qian Heng looked away, his expression stern. “I don’t want another situation where a button on your chest pops open.”

“…”

Qian Heng ignored Cheng Yao’s embarrassment entirely, saying shamelessly: “You should know, people with as much integrity as me are rare. If you run into another Tang Bing type, wouldn’t your behavior count as deliberate provocation?”

“…”

At this point, all Cheng Yao could think was: can I take back my application to join the Five Poisons Sect while there’s still time?

“Alright, let’s go. Back to sleep.”

“Huh? Okay…”

Qian Heng’s thoughts moved like a tornado. Cheng Yao felt like she’d only just barely caught up with his pace before he was already sending her back to her room.

As she was leaving, Cheng Yao instinctively opened her phone. As a lawyer’s professional instinct, she wanted to back up every piece of evidence to prevent loss. She opened the camera app, wanting to upload the video she’d just filmed to cloud storage.

But—

“Where’s my evidence video?” Cheng Yao panicked. “Why is it gone? I definitely recorded it, it was right there on my phone, the phone hasn’t been dropped or gotten wet, and it hasn’t crashed either. How could it just disappear??”

Although Tang Bing might be too wary of the video in Cheng Yao’s possession to bother Qian Heng, what if he did anyway? At the very least, that video could prove Qian Heng had acted to protect her, giving them the upper hand in public opinion, but now…

“I deleted it.”

Cheng Yao was stunned. What the hell? Did Qian Heng accidentally delete the crucial video evidence with a shaky hand?

“Then what do we do? Now we have no leverage to hold over Tang Bing!”

Yet in the face of Cheng Yao’s alarm, Qian Heng remained completely nonchalant, raising an eyebrow: “Would I make such a rookie mistake?” Qian Heng scoffed. “I used your phone earlier and already backed up the video to myself.”

“Huh???” Cheng Yao clicked through her various social media accounts one by one but couldn’t find any trace of sending the video to Qian Heng.

“No need to look. I deleted the transfer records too.”

“Why?!”

“I don’t want you to watch it a second time.” Qian Heng looked toward the wall in the distance. “This kind of thing doesn’t need to be relived. Forget it. I’ll keep the evidence on my end. I’ll handle the follow-up—you don’t need to worry. I won’t let someone like Tang Bing keep running free to prey on the next woman either.”

“But wouldn’t this put you at risk from Tang Bing?”

Qian Heng smiled: “So what? A man ought to take responsibility. Better it falls on me than on you.”

For a moment, Cheng Yao’s own sense of justice was ignited: “Then do you need me to participate too, testify as a witness and victim if necessary…”

“No, don’t get involved.” Qian Heng’s voice sounded slightly unnatural. He cleared his throat: “Didn’t we just say watching the video again could cause secondary trauma? You don’t want psychological scarring—that would count as a workplace injury, and you wouldn’t want to spend money on a therapist.”

Cheng Yao paused, only now realizing that Qian Heng had deliberately deleted the video from her phone, even meticulously erasing the transfer records, purely to prevent her, the victim, from having to see the video again and relive that unpleasant memory.

Though he claimed on the surface it was about avoiding the cost of a work injury claim, Cheng Yao knew deep down that Qian Heng was doing this for her own good.

Saying one thing while meaning another.

Would it kill him to just speak plainly?

No wonder he’d been single for so long—with this kind of personality, being single wasn’t unfair at all!

“Also, finish this book tonight.”

Cheng Yao stared, dumbfounded, as Qian Heng tossed her a thick, hardcover book full of colored illustrations. She opened it to find—a collection of famous Western paintings.

“After seeing something filthy that could damage your mental health, you should look at some refined art to cleanse your eyes.” Qian Heng pressed his lips together. “Once you’ve finished it, we’ll discuss Western art history tomorrow morning.”

“…”

Sure, seeing Tang Bing’s lower half had been eye-scarring, but discussing Western art history sounded pretty painful too! And where the hell had he even gotten this book from?!

Since things had broken down irreparably with Tang Bing, there was naturally no more discussion of taking on the case. Qian Heng had originally set aside two days in City B for Tang Bing’s business, which now left an entire free day. He’d planned to change his flight back to City A, but unfortunately, because City A was currently hosting an AI conference, flight tickets were nearly impossible to get, and he couldn’t rebook.

With no other choice, Qian Heng found himself stuck in City B for an extra day, along with Cheng Yao.

Because he’d deliberately worked through several consecutive late nights beforehand to clear his schedule for handling Tang Bing’s case, now that the case had fallen through, his day had suddenly opened up.

“Is there anywhere in City B you particularly want to go?”

At breakfast in the InterContinental’s buffet restaurant the next morning, Qian Heng, eating elegantly, suddenly extended an olive branch to Cheng Yao.

“Hm?”

Qian Heng took a sip of coffee, glancing lightly at Cheng Yao: “As of now, my schedule for today is still open.”

So?

“So I suppose I could reluctantly accompany you somewhere.” Qian Heng turned his head, avoiding Cheng Yao’s gaze, and coughed. “Also, I can grant you one request.”

“What kind of request?”

Qian Heng kept his gaze fixed elsewhere, avoiding looking at Cheng Yao. Maybe the air conditioning in the InterContinental was set too warm, because his ears had turned slightly red. He cleared his throat again: “Any request is fine, as long as you don’t push it too far. I can reluctantly accommodate you. Even if you wanted to ask something more personal of me, I wouldn’t necessarily refuse to consider it…”

He cleared his throat once more: “Don’t read too much into it. Me sacrificing my time to accompany you this time is meant as compensation for what you went through.”

Cheng Yao’s eyes brightened: “Anywhere at all?!”

Qian Heng cleared his throat, nodding somewhat awkwardly: “Mm.”

“That’s great!” Cheng Yao laughed, a little shy. “There’s actually somewhere I really want to go.”

Qian Heng had fully expected this reaction from Cheng Yao—he felt he could have guessed where she wanted to go without even asking.

As an ancient capital, City B had numerous historic sites—imperial tombs, museums, several artists’ former residences and exhibitions, and a street with old Republic-era charm. Wherever Cheng Yao wanted to go was surely among these.

Although this wasn’t Qian Heng’s first business trip to City B, he’d always been too busy with work to visit any of these sites himself. He thought it over and figured these attractions would at least be barely compatible with his taste—accompanying Cheng Yao to one wouldn’t be entirely out of the question.

“Go ahead, tell me where you want to go.” He smiled. “I’ll cover the full cost.”

Cheng Yao got so excited she nearly bounced out of her chair, her eyes shining: “I want to go to the annual carnival!”

Qian Heng thought he’d misheard: “What?”

A carnival? What on earth was that?

Cheng Yao helpfully explained: “The carnival! City B’s annual event! Every year around this time, they set up a temporary carnival amusement park near City B’s beach! I heard the roller coaster is thrilling! And best of all, there’s this Ferris wheel by the sea, built right on the beach—you can see the whole beach from up there, and at dusk you can watch the sunset from the Ferris wheel, it’s supposed to be gorgeous! I’ve seen photos from other people’s travel blogs and have been dying to go! This is the last week before they tear it down!”

Qian Heng confirmed with difficulty: “So, in other words, this is an amusement park?”

Cheng Yao nodded: “Pretty much!”

“No way.” Qian Heng, who just moments ago had said anywhere was fine, went back on his word without a hint of guilt. “An amusement park is way beneath my taste. Not going. I’m exercising my veto.”

Cheng Yao was so exasperated she laughed: “You literally just promised I could pick anywhere. Is this how you men keep your word?”

Cheng Yao had expected this comment would at least make Qian Heng feel a bit embarrassed, but instead, he remained completely unfazed, not even lifting his eyelids: “What did I just say? I didn’t say anything.”

“…”

Under Cheng Yao’s stunned gaze, Qian Heng continued: “You claim I promised you could go anywhere—do you have evidence of that?”

Qian Heng, oh Qian Heng, if you’re going to be this shameless, don’t blame me for being ruthless in return.

Without a word, Cheng Yao pulled out her phone and turned on the speaker.

“So I suppose I could reluctantly accompany you somewhere.”

…

“Any request is fine, as long as you don’t…”

From the phone came Qian Heng’s unmistakable voice…

Cheng Yao let the recording finish playing, then smiled the way Qian Heng usually did when being insufferable: “Want evidence? Here it is.” She looked at him. “Boss, do you have anything to say?”

“…”

What goes around comes around—today it was finally Cheng Yao’s turn to feel triumphant. She struck a smug, victorious pose: “Boss, anything else to say?”

“…”

Qian Heng had never been this cornered in his entire life. In the past, he was always the one holding evidence to expose others—he never imagined that one day, he’d be the one getting called out face-to-face with recorded proof.

“Cheng Yao, you’ve really got some nerve. I don’t remember ever teaching you to record our conversations.”

Cheng Yao smiled fearlessly: “The teacher opens the door, but the student walks through it on their own, haha.”

Qian Heng, expressionless: “Go on, what else did you record?”

Cheng Yao, feeling proud of herself, couldn’t resist adding: “I also recorded last night. I was hoping to catch you saying you’d give me a large sum of money as compensation, so I could use it later as evidence to ask you for that money—but you never said it…”

“…” Qian Heng said through clenched teeth, “You obtained all these recordings without my consent as the party involved, that’s not…”

Cheng Yao laughed: “Boss, don’t try to scare me. I already researched this—the admissibility of recorded evidence obtained without one party’s consent. The Supreme People’s Court’s Provisions on Evidence in Civil Litigation state that legally obtained private recordings should have their evidentiary value recognized by the court. As long as recording doesn’t infringe on others’ legal rights and doesn’t violate any prohibitive legal provisions, even secretly recorded evidence is legal and admissible in court. This recording is completely legal and valid.” Cheng Yao added smugly, “And I specifically looked up court precedents too—they all confirm this is completely fine.”

The girl before him looked crafty and lively, blinking her bright dark eyes like a fox who’d just successfully stolen a chicken. Qian Heng was practically shaking with anger. Cheng Yao, oh Cheng Yao, you really have grown—outshining even your teacher, trying to climb onto my head now?

In the past, faced with his criticisms, Cheng Yao had been essentially defenseless, completely outmatched by him in professional knowledge and problem-solving. Qian Heng hadn’t expected that at some point, this little rookie had quietly been growing right under his nose—not only learning to keep evidence for everything she did, but also learning to research beforehand whether that evidence would hold up. Her wings had grown strong enough to openly defy him.

Good. Very good. Excellent.

Qian Heng repeated “good” three times in his mind, plotting how to deal with Cheng Yao, but then, glancing up at her without meaning to, he suddenly forgot what he’d been thinking.

In that moment, he had to admit—this confident, cunning Cheng Yao in front of him was more beautiful than usual, as if her whole being was glowing.

“Also, that night you promised that if I kept your succulent plant alive, you’d waive unpaid overtime, full attendance bonus, salary raise, excellent probation review, year-end bonus, early contract renewal, and give me big cases—I recorded that too!”

“…”

“Since that’s settled, then it’s decided!” Cheng Yao waved her phone. “After breakfast, we’re going to the beach carnival!”

Qian Heng pressed his lips tight, his face filled with the will to live drained out of him.

Cheng Yao, completely oblivious to his mood, boldly continued: “Oh, boss, I actually have medicine for your condition.” As she spoke, she rummaged excitedly through her bag and pulled out a small package, handing it to him. “Golden Throat Treasure lozenges, you deserve them! I noticed you kept coughing and clearing your throat earlier, hahaha.”

“…”

Qian Heng said, nearly gritting his teeth: “My throat is perfectly fine.”

He had never regretted hiring this associate lawyer more than he did right now. So she’d noticed him coughing and clearing his throat earlier after all? Couldn’t she tell that was a hint from him? He’d said any request would do, even something more personal—and she’d chosen an amusement park?

Qian Heng felt like he was going to die of frustration.