Amid all these musings, Cheng Yao made her way home, only to find, right at her own door, the very Pikachu that Qian Heng had been practically inseparable from earlier — the one he wouldn’t let her so much as touch.
What was going on? Did he want it washed? Or did he want her to personally courier it to whichever girl it was meant for?
Puzzled, Cheng Yao picked up the Pikachu and knocked on Qian Heng’s door.
“Boss?”
Qian Heng opened the door, glanced at the Pikachu, and said, expressionlessly, “It’s yours now.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t want it anymore.”
Cheng Yao thought it over, then ventured, “I thought you were going to give it to someone — to some pretty girl with a great figure…”
Qian Heng shot her a wary look. “You heard that?”
“No, no, I didn’t hear anything!”
“Oh. That was just something I made up on the spot at the time,” Qian Heng said, pressing his lips together. “I needed some excuse to turn down that kid.” He put on a disdainful expression. “And besides, even if I were giving something to someone, why would I give them something like this? I just don’t want it anymore, that’s all, which is why I’m giving it to you. Don’t go reading anything into it just because it’s yellow.”
“…”
Cheng Yao couldn’t help muttering, “You suddenly don’t want it anymore just like that? You carried it around so lovingly the whole way back, why—”
Qian Heng looked away, lowering his eyes to the book in his hand. “Thinking about it now, I’m about to move out soon, and dragging that thing along everywhere would be a hassle. Besides, something that garishly yellow doesn’t suit my villa’s aesthetic at all.”
Speaking of moving out reminded Cheng Yao of something. “Oh, right, boss, when exactly are you moving out?”
It was an entirely ordinary question, and yet Qian Heng’s reaction was to explode on the spot. He raised an eyebrow dangerously. “What, does a legally paying tenant need to file a formal request with you before deciding when to move out?”
“…”
Cheng Yao, rebuffed, muttered to herself all the way back to her own room. What on earth was that about? Hadn’t Qian Heng himself said he was only staying in a place that didn’t suit his taste out of necessity, and that he’d move out the moment the Dong Min case was resolved and his villa’s renovation was done?
Dong Min had, admittedly, come by more than once to cause trouble over her brother Dong Shan’s case, and Cheng Yao had done everything she could to run interference for Qian Heng. But now that the Dong Shan case had been fully settled, Dong Min had gone abroad on a study trip with her mother, Jiang Wenxiu, and wasn’t coming back anytime soon — so there was no longer any risk of her continuing to harass Qian Heng.
As for the villa Qian Heng was having renovated, Cheng Yao remembered that just a week or two ago she’d overheard him on the phone with the renovation contractor, confirming a time for the site inspection.
She turned it over in her mind but couldn’t make sense of it, so she just played on her phone instead. At least, through some strange twist of fate, she’d ended up with a beloved limited-edition Pikachu plush — pretty good luck, all things considered.
She looked at the large Pikachu perched on her headboard, and amid her happiness, a sudden flash of insight struck her—
She’d figured out why Qian Heng was in such a bad mood today!
He’d been rejected!
He’d cared about that Pikachu so much, cherished it the whole way home clearly meaning to give it to someone — and yet at the last moment he’d tossed it to her instead, flatly and irritably denying he’d ever meant to give it to anyone, and outright refusing to acknowledge what he’d said on the beach. He’d been visibly agitated even about the topic of moving out.
Why would that be?!
Wasn’t it obviously because Qian Heng had poured his heart out and it had gone to feed the dogs?!
That Pikachu — he must have gone straight to present it as a gift the moment he got back, only to have it turned down!
Truly a case of casting one’s heart toward the bright moon, only for the moon to shine on the gutter instead!
Cheng Yao practically ran to share this major discovery with the “Wealth and Glory Squad” first thing.
“BREAKING NEWS ALERT! Qian par’s mood has been terrible lately — possible, maybe, quite likely he’s been dumped!!! Everyone please tread carefully, do not provoke Qian par! If Qian par is heading your way — detour!”
Tan Ying and Bao Rui, as always, materialized instantly and unleashed another round of exclamation-mark-riddled shrieking. These two devotees of the Five Poisons Cult clearly had zero sympathy for their leader’s romantic misfortunes — nothing but heartless cackling and gleeful schadenfreude…
Colleague solidarity — nonexistent at Junheng.
After returning from her business trip, Cheng Yao took some time to settle back in before diving into work again.
She noticed a clear shift — ever since the Dong Shan case, Qian Heng had loosened his grip on her considerably. For most cases now, he’d only offer a simple overview, leaving all the actual execution entirely to her.
She stumbled her way through every case, but she found that handling things hands-on herself — even when she took wrong turns along the way — meant she gained something valuable each time, thanks to the practical experience. And what put her even more at ease was that whenever her approach to a case went astray, Qian Heng would somehow appear like a savior, effortlessly steering her back onto the right track.
At the same time, Qian Heng nearly always paired her with Bao Rui. Though Bao Rui joked around a lot in ordinary times, he was reliable when it counted — thorough and professional — and the ways he differed from Qian Heng taught her a great deal too.
When dealing with clients who made unreasonable demands, Qian Heng always turned them down flat, without a shred of mercy, while Bao Rui somehow always managed to steer clients around, smoothly and skillfully, until they came around to his way of thinking.
Cheng Yao knew she didn’t have Qian Heng’s abilities, and so she didn’t have his confidence to refuse people so bluntly — which meant Bao Rui’s gentler approach taught her a great deal as well.
Cheng Yao also noticed that Qian Heng wasn’t assigning her cases at random. He carefully selected categories she hadn’t handled before, and would drop hints, prompting her and Bao Rui to keep learning.
Ever since the Dong Shan case, Cheng Yao felt like a sponge every day, greedily soaking up knowledge and experience.
Just as she’d once again finished a custody dispute case alongside Bao Rui, and was gearing up to welcome her parents, who were coming to City A that Sunday for a high school reunion, Cheng Yao received a call from Li Mengting.
But this time, Li Mengting wasn’t calling with a laugh to invite her to the wedding banquet in City A. On the phone, her voice was falling apart, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.
“Rat says he doesn’t want to be with me anymore.” Li Mengting’s voice choked. “He’s dead set on it now — he told me to get an abortion. Yaoyao, I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Cheng Yao froze completely. Hadn’t Zhang Hao changed himself for Li Mengting’s sake? How could this suddenly happen?
“You’re pregnant, don’t let your emotions swing too much, it’s not good for the baby,” Cheng Yao said, forcing her voice steady. “Where are you? Let’s meet up and talk.”
Cheng Yao found Li Mengting at a dessert shop. Her belly had grown even more, unmistakably that of a pregnant woman from any angle. Her eyes were swollen and red like a pair of peaches, her face pale, her whole appearance haggard — even Cheng Yao felt a pang of sympathy just looking at her.
“What exactly happened?”
Li Mengting sniffled. “Remember I told you last time we were still planning to have a small banquet here in City A to invite friends and coworkers? Last night I brought it up with Rat again, and he put it off again — this has already happened several times now. And I’d already told my friends here in City A about it, how can he just decide not to do it anymore? On top of that, he’s been working overtime nonstop for the past half month — sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and he’s still not home. I felt like all he cared about was his work, that he didn’t care about me or the baby at all, and we got into a fight over it.”
Li Mengting’s tears started falling again as she continued. “I just wanted him to admit he was wrong, coax me a bit, and settle the plans for the banquet in City A — but instead he lost his temper at me. He said I hadn’t earned a single cent all this time, spending his money and still complaining, that I shouldn’t think being pregnant meant I could boss him around. He said he couldn’t stand me anymore, that he didn’t want to be together anymore. He even shoved me down, pregnant as I am, and smashed a bunch of things around the house.”
Cheng Yao waited until Li Mengting’s emotions had settled a bit before beginning to reason with her. “Think about it first — when two people fight, isn’t it possible you’re at fault too, at least in part? Like, has Rat’s job really been busy lately, has he really been under a lot of pressure? And once you’re married, especially before having a baby, there’s a lot more to spend money on — he might be feeling overwhelmed too. You can’t just expect him to be the one coaxing and caring for you all the time. A relationship goes both ways — have you been giving him enough care too? Like, do you make him breakfast or dinner at home?”
Li Mengting froze, clearly not expecting Cheng Yao to skip past blindly taking her side and instead point out, sharply, whether she herself might be part of the problem.
Cheng Yao caught the look on her face at once. “It’s not that I’m not on your side — but if I just go along with whatever you’re feeling and call Zhang Hao trash, egging you on to break up with him right away, does that actually solve anything? Besides, he’s clearly at fault this time, but does he really deserve to be branded ‘trash’? Or is it possible there’s a problem on your end too? Last I saw, he really did seem to care about you — this kind of sudden turnaround shouldn’t happen out of nowhere.”
Li Mengting bit her lip. “I… I’m pregnant. Are you saying a pregnant woman should still be running around the house cooking?”
Cheng Yao looked at her. “Then what have you been doing at home since you got pregnant?”
“Just watching dramas, reading novels, relaxing.”
Well, there it was — the root of the problem.
Cheng Yao took a bite of the brownie in front of her. “Being pregnant shouldn’t become some kind of special privilege — being able to watch dramas and read novels, but suddenly incapable of lifting a finger. Making breakfast or dinner is just a gesture, it doesn’t have to mean cooking up a big elaborate meal — occasionally boiling a bowl of noodles or steaming some buns, is even that too much to ask?”
“It’s your marriage, your call. If you feel like what Zhang Hao’s done is beyond saving, or if something else has crossed your bottom line, and you want to get an abortion and a divorce, I’ll go with you. But if you think you have some responsibility too, and Zhang Hao’s a decent enough person that it’s still worth trying to make it work, then go have a real talk with him.”
The relationship between the sexes in society and in daily life still isn’t entirely equal — in the workplace and elsewhere, men often have the advantage in many respects, and over time, this has shaped a certain kind of public sentiment.
In relationships between men and women — especially in marriage — the moment a man does something wrong, if it comes under public scrutiny, that wrongdoing tends to get amplified endlessly, until public opinion drifts entirely toward slogans like “don’t go dumpster-diving for a husband” or “safety lies in never marrying, never having kids,” and the man gets branded “trash” without further thought.
And yet very often, it might just be a man coming home irritable after back-to-back overtime, or forgetting his wife’s birthday because he was swamped, or an argument and misunderstanding born of a couple simply not communicating enough.
Wrong, yes — but not a capital offense.
When a friend runs into relationship trouble, taking her side unconditionally, absent any real matter of principle, is really just a way of fanning the flames — trapping her in the illusion that “I’ve done nothing wrong, it’s all his fault.” Not only does that fail to solve the actual problem, it makes things worse.
Marriage isn’t as wonderful as people imagine, but it isn’t as terrible either. Marriage isn’t a fairy tale — marriage takes tending. Whatever seeds you plant, that’s the fruit you’ll harvest.
“If you’ve already decided in your heart that Zhang Hao is trash, and you treat him with hostility, he’ll sense it too, and the relationship between you two will just spiral into a vicious cycle, with no chance of repair,” Cheng Yao said, her tone calm. “You just need to think clearly about whether that’s really the outcome you want. I know pregnant women’s emotions run high, but you’re a mother now — you owe it to yourself and the baby to think this through, not act out of stubborn spite.”
Li Mengting, who moments ago had been lost in a fog of grief, finally began to come to her senses under Cheng Yao’s calm analysis.
Looking at Cheng Yao, still dressed in her sharp suit, Li Mengting suddenly felt a flash of envy.
Over these past few months, Cheng Yao really had transformed. In the past, at a time like this, she might only have been able to comfort herself and share in the same helpless panic — but now she faced things calmly and steadily, with a composure and maturity Li Mengting hadn’t seen in her before.
Li Mengting suddenly felt a pang of inferiority. She’d turned into a weepy, helpless pregnant woman, while in that same span of time, Cheng Yao had been steadily working her way toward becoming who she was now. In that moment, Li Mengting felt she suddenly understood, a little, the disdain in Zhang Hao’s eyes during their fight.
Zhang Hao really had been diligent and serious about his work, improving every single day, while she herself had stayed exactly where she was since graduation — and without realizing it, the gap between them had widened enormously. The two of them had started at the same line the day they graduated, and now they weren’t even on the same platform anymore. During this stretch of staying home, not only had her social circle shrunk, Li Mengting felt her whole outlook had narrowed too.
She wasn’t sure why, but she suddenly regretted telling Cheng Yao all of this. Compared to the accomplished Cheng Yao in front of her, Li Mengting felt she looked even more inferior, even more embarrassing.
“I understand, thank you, Yaoyao. I… I think I really was at fault too, I’ll go back and have a proper talk with Rat.”
“Mm.” Cheng Yao patted Li Mengting’s hand reassuringly. “Reach out anytime if anything happens. Don’t worry, things will work themselves out.”
Cheng Yao thought it over, then added, gently, “Of course, you should keep an eye on him too, in the meantime — figure out why he suddenly…”
Before she could finish, Li Mengting cut her off. “You mean, you think something’s going on with Rat?” Her expression was resolute, and a small smile finally crept onto her face. “That’s impossible. Sure, his attitude’s been unusually bad lately, but he’d never do anything to betray me — he’s not tall, not handsome, not rich, plenty plain — who else would ever want him besides me!”
After stepping out from the firm to comfort Li Mengting, Cheng Yao returned to find that, though she’d only been gone two hours, the office at Junheng had been thrown into complete uproar.
Almost everyone had gathered in the main office area, chattering excitedly about something.
The moment Cheng Yao took in the scene, she knew at once that Qian Heng must not be around.
Curious, she moved closer, only to discover, at the center of the crowd, packed three layers deep, none other than Bao Rui, looking mysteriously smug.
“I, Bao Rui, guarantee it! Absolutely, one hundred percent true! Qian par said it himself on the phone!”
Tan Ying couldn’t help but sigh. “Who would’ve thought Qian par would live to see this day.”
“Hey, Lawyer Bao, do you know where Qian par’s meeting up on Saturday? I really want to fake a chance encounter.”
Bao Rui glared at Wang Lu. “You want a chance encounter with him? Are you tired of living? And besides, I risked my life eavesdropping on that crucial piece of intel — you want me to have caught where exactly they’re meeting too? You trying to get me killed?”
Cheng Yao, thoroughly lost, couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”
Tan Ying grabbed Cheng Yao’s hand excitedly. “Qian par! This Saturday! He’s going on a blind date!”
Cheng Yao: ???
Bao Rui said proudly, “I was so tired today I hid in the conference room to nap. You know how they just moved a new Junheng promotional roll-up banner in there a few days ago? I hid a folding chair behind it and lay down — and would you believe it, Qian par actually walked into the conference room to make a phone call! I just happened to overhear! His parents set him up on a blind date this Saturday, and if he doesn’t go, they’re cutting him off as their son!”
“Since when has Qian par cared about a threat like that?” Cheng Yao said, feeling her attention getting dragged along too by the Five Poisons Cult. “And besides, there’s a logical gap here — why would Qian par leave his own office to make a call in the conference room instead? I have doubts about the authenticity of this version of events.”
“Good question!” Bao Rui clapped. “Contestant Cheng Yao, plus ten points!” He put his hands on his hips and laughed. “The AC in Qian par’s office broke, and technicians happened to come by at noon to fix it — too noisy, so he moved to the conference room instead. As for the whole cutting-off-son business, Qian par really is fearless, but his parents said if he refuses to go on this date, his mother’s planning to hire a dozen or so people to go put up flyers with his information at the matchmaking corner of the People’s Park. His profile and résumé are apparently already printed, and they even put his phone number on it! So all the single women there can hound him to death!”
“…”
Of course. This was probably the fruit of Qian Heng’s upbringing after all…
“But didn’t you say Qian par just got dumped recently?” Tan Ying thought about it. “So maybe he’s so heartbroken now that he’s just given in to an arranged blind date and marriage?” She smiled mysteriously at Cheng Yao. “You might not know this, but this Saturday is basically Qian par’s blind-date debut! I’m feeling a strange, motherly worry about it.”
Bao Rui teased, “Debut? What is he, a newcomer going into porn? And honestly, forget worrying about Qian par — worry about the poor girl he’s meeting instead.”
“Not necessarily — you saw how Qian par’s clearly been getting soft-hearted lately, and even though the one he had his eye on didn’t work out, maybe this blind date will be love at first sight. There’s always one or two blind people out there after all!”
“…”
Tan Ying and Bao Rui carried on bantering for a good while, while Cheng Yao found herself distracted.
Qian Heng was going on a blind date?! Qian Heng? A blind date?!
She wasn’t sure why, but she suddenly felt a sense of betrayal, of being deceived.
She’d been slaving away for Junheng, cooking meals for her boss, and she was still single as a dog — how dare Qian Heng go get himself a date?! Who gave him permission to end his single status?!
I, Cheng Yao, officially object!
A blind date?! Let him go! I hope his date turns into a complete farce, thoroughly ruined!
“But I heard another piece of explosive news!” Bao Rui quickly changed the subject, his tone smug. “I heard from Sister Zhu in admin — this year, we’re getting a second team-building trip!”
“Wow, amazing!”
“Oh my god! I have to sing Qian par’s praises! Let’s hope his blind-date debut goes perfectly, and in his great mood he funds us a third team-building trip too!”
“Wait, where’s this team-building trip to??”
Speaking of that, Bao Rui deflated a little. “Japan. Japan again. Why is it always Japan! Apparently Qian par insisted Universal Studios Osaka was a must-visit!”
Cheng Yao blinked, then interjected, “Weren’t you the one who wanted to go to Japan? When Qian par was on his business trip, he actually told me it was because you wanted to go to Japan, especially Universal Studios Osaka — he said you’d brought in great revenue this year, and picked Japan for the second team-building trip specifically to reward you!”
Bao Rui froze for a moment, and then a bashful, embarrassed expression crept over his face. “Really?” His expression was a mix of joy and anguish. “So I actually hold that important a place in Qian par’s heart. So this second team-building trip was made an exception just for me.” He looked stirred. “For a moment there, I really felt like some femme fatale swaying a king into a foolish decision!” He continued, “Except I’m a man! Except I’m already married! Ugh!”
“…”
Bao Rui, what exactly is going on with the genuine regret in your voice right now?!
“But surely Qian par’s just overworked and confused! He must’ve gotten it mixed up, right?!” Bao Rui lamented. “I’ve been to Japan with my wife five times already! I don’t even want to go to Japan anymore! We’ve already done Universal Studios Osaka twice!” He muttered, “Maybe next time I’ll find a chance to hint to Qian par that what I actually want is to go to Thailand instead? Since it’s supposedly to reward me anyway, as long as the flights aren’t booked yet, surely Qian par would be willing to change the destination! Especially since Thailand’s way cheaper than Japan!”
Even though she’d never been to Phuket herself, for some reason Cheng Yao found she’d rather see the Japan Qian Heng had described, and thought, a little regretfully, that since Bao Rui had already been, this trip’s destination might well end up changing after all.
Bao Rui was still going strong. “Honestly, ever since Qian par got back from his business trip, he’s dumped five cases on me in a row, each with a claim amount of only three or four million or so — I wasn’t thrilled about it at first. But now that I think about it, there must be some deeper meaning behind it!”
Tan Ying was curious. “Only three or four million? What kind of cases are they?”
“Inheritance law, all of them,” Bao Rui said, scratching his head. “And oddly enough, or maybe it’s not a coincidence, the opposing counsel on all of them is the same guy.”
Tan Ying asked casually, “Who?”
“Someone named Yao Feng,” Bao Rui said, puzzled. “Never heard of him before — I actually asked around in the field just to make sure there was no history between him and Qian par, otherwise I’d have assumed the guy owed Qian par five hundred grand or something. Though apparently his character isn’t great.”
“How so?”
Bao Rui rubbed his chin. “Qian par told me these five cases can’t be lost — if I lose, my year-end bonus is gone. And not only do I have to win, I have to win in a way that leaves the other side with zero face — go all out, don’t worry about offending them, humiliate them thoroughly, vent all my negative emotions onto them…” Bao Rui trailed off, then suddenly lit up, slapping his thigh, his tone excited. “I get it now! I finally understand why Qian par gave me these cases!”
Cheng Yao instinctively shrank back a little, a tangle of feelings — touched and sour at once — rising in her chest. So Qian Heng had remembered after all. That “okay” of his — that’s what it had meant.
Even though the whole thing sounded frankly childish — like sending your own goons out to rough up whoever’d bullied someone under your wing — Cheng Yao couldn’t deny that, deep down, she found it deeply satisfying.
Back when Cheng Yao had been harassed and Yao Feng had brushed her off, she’d tried to console herself with the idea that “good and evil are always repaid in the end.” But now she realized: no amount of that kind of chicken soup for the soul came close to matching how satisfying it was to have Qian Heng handle things this simply, this directly.
So satisfying.
Cheng Yao had to admit — as a boss, Qian Heng was genuinely excellent to her, his subordinate. It was just strange, still, that despite that, she still hoped his blind date wouldn’t go well…
Could it be that she liked Qian Heng?
No, no! The moment that thought crossed her mind, she shot it down herself. Qian Heng! What on earth had gotten into her, daring to have such thoughts about him?! She must be tired of living!
She reasoned that it was only natural to feel this way — after all, if Qian Heng started dating, he probably wouldn’t have as much free time to mentor her hand in hand anymore, and given the girlfriend, he’d have to be more careful around female subordinates too, and probably wouldn’t want to work cases with her anymore.
But she still had so much left to learn from him!
Just as she was lost in her tangled thoughts, Tan Ying’s voice pulled her back.
“So why would he do that? Give you cases like that?”
“Qian par must have realized that after all these years in practice, dealing with so many nasty family disputes, I’ve seen too much of the ugly side of humanity, and it’s left me jaded, full of negative energy.” Bao Rui was practically tearing up. “He must have worried that if this kept up, I’d end up bottling it all inside and it’d wreck my health, so he specifically found me these small-stakes cases, and specifically picked out a lawyer with poor character, so I could thoroughly crush and dominate the other side and their client without any guilt, as an outlet for all my negative energy, to bring the sunshine back into my heart!”
Cheng Yao held her tongue — she really wanted to tell Bao Rui that the truth was probably not quite what he imagined…
But Bao Rui was already deeply moved, raising a finger to the heavens and swearing an oath. “For this kindness alone! I, Bao Rui, will follow Qian par for the rest of my life! I will be Qian par’s little ray of sunshine forever! Shining in all directions for him!”
“…”
Wake up, Bao Rui — Qian Heng probably doesn’t want a little ray of sunshine like you at all!