Cheng Yao grabbed dinner at the convenience store downstairs from the firm, then dragged her exhausted body, case files in tow, back to her rented apartment.
Even though she’d been forbidden from watching TV, Qian Heng wasn’t home tonight — he had an overseas marriage dispute client he needed to consult with, and due to the time difference, he had to stay late at the firm for a video call.
Cheng Yao flopped down on the couch, savoring this rare moment of freedom.
Five minutes later, she resigned herself to getting up and heading to her room to study.
Even though Qian Heng’s put-downs were purely self-serving, they had genuinely sparked Cheng Yao’s competitive streak.
Unfortunately, she’d barely finished reading through one case before a burst of urgent knocking interrupted her.
“Qian Heng! I can see the light in there! I know you’re home! If you don’t open this door, I’ll stand here knocking all night!”
Cheng Yao peered through the peephole and got a look at the visitor.
It was a good-looking, fashionably dressed young woman, her face a mix of grievance and fury, standing there relentlessly pounding on the door.
Cheng Yao’s interest was instantly piqued.
What was going on here?! Could this be Qian Heng’s legendary girlfriend? Ex-girlfriend? Showing up and banging on the door like this — there must be some history between them! Had Qian Heng gotten caught cheating before?
Her inner gossip radar fully activated, she immediately grabbed her phone and called Qian Heng.
Qian Heng was apparently busy — it took a long while for him to pick up, his tone icy. “You’d better have a good enough reason for interrupting me. My time is expensive.”
“Partner Qian, there’s a woman here blocking your door!” Cheng Yao said, gleefully. “Is she your girlfriend? Ex-girlfriend? Should I invite her in?”
Qian Heng was silent for a second, then said coldly, “No. Ignore her.”
“She won’t stop knocking! At this rate, the neighbors are going to call the police!”
“Then let them. Have her taken away. I’m busy. Hanging up.”
True to his word, Qian Heng hung up right after.
So cold-blooded! Truly Qian Heng, through and through!
But the knocking outside continued.
Cheng Yao’s curiosity was burning. Qian Heng had told her not to open the door, which made her want to open it and see for herself all the more. What exactly was the relationship between this woman and Qian Heng?
She spent a moment mentally rehearsing a few justifications for herself, and preparing an explanation for the whole cohabitation arrangement, before finally walking to the door and opening it.
She put on a smile. “Hello.”
“I’m not doing well at all,” the woman at the door said. Her makeup was flawless, but her expression was thunderous.
“…”
Cheng Yao decided to break the silence with an introduction. “So, I’m—”
“Never mind, you don’t need to say it. And don’t bother gloating in front of me either. I already know — you’re Cheng Yao, Qian Heng’s current live-in girlfriend.”
Cheng Yao: ???
Wait, this was taking an odd turn…
The woman lifted her chin. “I don’t want to admit it, but Qian Heng is the man I, Dong Min, happen to be in love with. At least his taste in women isn’t bad.”
“I appreciate you saying I’m good-looking, but let me explain — Qian Heng and I—”
“You don’t need to explain. I know you two are deep in the honeymoon phase right now — Qian Heng’s given up his fancy villa neighborhood and moved here just to be with you. But feelings like that don’t always last.”
“It’s not—”
“Don’t get too confident. There’s still time. I’m not giving up on Qian Heng easily.”
“What’s between Qian Heng and me is purely—”
“You don’t need to preach to me about how pure and innocent your love is. I, Dong Min, came here today just to tell you: as long as Qian Heng isn’t married, I will keep competing with you until the end.”
Dong Min was clearly a hot-tempered person — every time Cheng Yao tried to start explaining, she got cut off almost immediately. This time, Cheng Yao finally managed to jump in first. “I’m really not Qian Heng’s girlfriend!”
Dong Min scoffed and pulled out her phone. “See for yourself. He’s already openly admitted it. What’s there to hide?”
Cheng Yao leaned in and looked. It was a text message.
“I’m not home right now — please don’t bother my live-in girlfriend Cheng Yao.”
???
Wasn’t this basically telling the other party, “I’m not home, feel free to go take out all your frustration on the person inside”?!
Truly, disaster striking while just minding one’s own business at home!
Dong Min had clearly taken this as absolute proof. She pressed her lips together, delivered her declaration of war to Cheng Yao, and left with her head held high.
By the time Qian Heng finished his overseas video call and got home, opening the door, Cheng Yao was sitting on the couch looking thoroughly aggrieved.
Seeing the one responsible for all this, Cheng Yao jumped to her feet. “Why would you send a text like that?!”
Qian Heng glanced at her. “Because I calculated that you, being someone who thrives on chaos, would definitely open the door.” He undid his shirt buttons and loosened his tie.
Cheng Yao said indignantly, “I was afraid she was someone you were involved with, and that a misunderstanding between us would cause problems, so I specifically opened the door to help explain things for you!”
“So since you wanted to show off that much, I gave you a chance to perform.”
Cheng Yao thought, that’s not the kind of performance opportunity I wanted — being used as a human shield!
Qian Heng took a sip of water. “Also, I’m only ever involved with money.”
“…”
“So who is she?”
“The daughter of one of my major clients.” Qian Heng frowned, looking somewhat pained. “I’ve already turned her down, but she won’t listen. She found out my address from her father and keeps stalking me, showing up wherever I am. I only moved here to avoid her, and now she’s tracked me down here too.”
For someone who never cared about anyone else’s feelings or read the room for anyone, Qian Heng was apparently still willing to show some deference just because she was a client’s daughter? Not confronting her head-on? Resorting to something as evasive as moving apartments?
“Is this client that important to you?”
“He was my very first client after I started practicing.”
Cheng Yao was somewhat surprised. So even someone as toxic as Qian Heng had a sentimental, nostalgic side. Because they’d known each other since Qian Heng was still starting out, and this client had been willing to trust him back then, he apparently held special significance to Qian Heng — enough that he was willing to endure more than usual, even lowering himself to move apartments just to avoid the man’s daughter’s obsessive pursuit. Cheng Yao had no doubt that if it had been anyone else, Qian Heng would have already cut them off with brutal honesty, poisoning them to death without a second thought…
“But you think just because he’s my first client, I’d give him special treatment?” Qian Heng seemed to read exactly what was on Cheng Yao’s mind. He smiled faintly. “Not a chance.”
“…”
Then why not just confront the daughter directly?
“It’s because he currently has a family case with seven hundred million at stake, and I’m representing him.” Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao, answering the question in her mind. “He dotes on his only daughter. If I want to get rid of her, I certainly have the means — being coldly, mercilessly blunt would do the trick. But if I did that, Dong Min wouldn’t be able to handle it and would go crying to her father, and he’d definitely come and try to mediate on her behalf. Especially since we still have a case we’re working on together right now. I don’t want him wasting my time with these personal matters — I don’t enjoy having to navigate around this kind of thing. I’d rather put my limited lifespan entirely toward making infinite money.”
“…”
“Anyway, the groundwork for this case is all done. We’re just waiting for the right moment to file — probably about another month. Once we file, since he’ll be relying on my legal services, he’ll have to listen to me.” Qian Heng said this cheerfully. “Then I can do whatever I want.”
“…”
So even someone as toxic as Qian Heng apparently had some sense of humanity — she’d overthought it after all!
Thinking about Dong Min, Cheng Yao suddenly felt an inexplicable pang of sympathy, wondering just how much of a storm awaited her once the case was resolved…
“But if you can’t stay at your own place, couldn’t you just stay at a hotel?” Cheng Yao thought about it, a little puzzled. “There are five-star hotels everywhere. I mean, this complex we’re in — how could it possibly match your standards?”
Qian Heng pressed his lips together. “I don’t like the cold, impersonal feel of hotels. There’s no sense of home.”
Was that so? Because from where Cheng Yao stood, the cold, impersonal feel of a hotel matched Qian Heng one hundred percent!
In her mind, Cheng Yao raged silently: Don’t you own a mirror? Have you seen your own face? It’s practically sub-zero! I feel like I could see the northern lights just standing next to you sometimes! You get your sense of home here, sure, but what about me?! I’ve lost mine!
But despite the torrent of complaints running through her head, Cheng Yao didn’t dare let a hint of it show on her face.
“But now that your address here is exposed too, doesn’t that mean there’s no point renting here anymore for avoiding Dong Min? And besides, this complex really doesn’t suit someone of your caliber — honestly, living here is an insult to yourself! It’s irresponsible to yourself!” She gave Qian Heng a fawning look. “Boss, if you need help moving and packing, I’m happy to help!”
Cheng Yao practically wanted to shout her true feelings out loud: since that’s the case, why not just move back to your own grand estate already? Why keep cramming yourself into this little shack with me?
Qian Heng gave Cheng Yao a glance. “I honestly didn’t expect her to track down my address this quickly. I underestimated my own charm, and how obsessed she is with me. I specifically picked this neighborhood because it’s so completely beneath my usual standards, precisely to throw her off.” He paused, then glanced at Cheng Yao again. “But now that you live here too, it’s turned out to be useful as a shield, unexpectedly.” Qian Heng’s tone was cheerful. “Once the case gets filed, Dong Min will probably stop bothering me, and I can move back around then — it should line up nicely with when the renovations on my villa are finished. Perfect timing.”
“…”
Was it really okay to be this blunt about calling someone a human shield?
But Cheng Yao wasn’t ready to give up just yet. She continued, coaxing gently, “So besides this apartment that’s beneath your status, doesn’t the boss have any other place to move into? After all, your own place would have more of a sense of home, wouldn’t it?”
Qian Heng’s answer was refreshingly direct. “No, I don’t.”
Cheng Yao’s heart found a small, rare sense of balance at that answer. So even someone as full of himself as Qian Heng, after years of work and making partner, had apparently only managed to afford one villa…
But before she could finish savoring her small victory, Qian Heng continued—
“I have three other villas and four unfurnished penthouses, none of them renovated yet.” He looked genuinely troubled. “I’ve just been too busy. Far too much business coming in — every client practically throws money at me, begging me to take their case. I really haven’t had time to get any of them renovated.”
“…”
Qian Heng, infuriating — if you’re ranked second in that category, no one would dare claim first.
“I originally planned to kick you out — I don’t like sharing an apartment. But once I found out you were the new associate hired at the firm, I decided to keep you around and give it a try. It’s quite a coincidence, but sometimes coincidences are a form of luck too, and I shouldn’t deprive you of such rare good fortune.”
Cheng Yao said, “What good fortune?”
Qian Heng gave her a look that said, obviously. “Don’t play dumb. Getting to share an apartment with me — you must feel like you’ve hit the lottery.”
Excuse me??
What kind of “luck” was this?! The lottery, really?! Cheng Yao wanted to weep. What did I do in a past life to deserve this?!
“I’m not used to sharing an apartment, but sharing with an associate does have some advantages. When I need to work overtime, I don’t have to rush back to the office — I can just do it here.”
What kind of devilish “advantage” was that?! I don’t want to work overtime with you at home!
“And sometimes, I like to experience what an ordinary person’s life is like.” Qian Heng frowned, looking somewhat troubled. “I’ve heard that some judges lately have been saying behind my back that I’m out of touch, hard to communicate with — probably because our standards of living are just too far apart. But as a family lawyer, staying on good terms with family court judges is necessary.” At this, he glanced disdainfully around the apartment once more, looking every bit the picture of noble sacrifice. “For the sake of work, I can endure it.”
Buddy, that’s them politely calling you out — just in more roundabout terms! And please, I beg you, there’s no need to “endure” it! Let me go!
“Anyway, make the most of this precious month.”
“Hm?”
Qian Heng pressed his lips together. “Once I’ve dealt with Dong Min in a month, I won’t need to live in a place like this anymore. So the time you have left to share this apartment with me is only one month.”
“…”
“Make the most of it. Not everyone gets the chance to be this close to me for a whole month,” Qian Heng said with a faint smile. “Getting to talk to me for an hour every night without paying a cent — at my rate, that’s a net gain of ten thousand yuan a night. Genuinely striking it rich. Even I’m a little envious of you.”
“…”
Qian Heng, I’ll give you ten thousand yuan — just please stop talking to me!
“What are you glaring at me for? Go read your case files already.”
With no choice but to swallow her pride under someone else’s roof, Cheng Yao trudged dejectedly back to her room.