That afternoon, Qian Heng left on a business trip and wasn’t due back until Saturday, so the rest of the staff with no pressing work let their hair down entirely — some browsing Taobao, others chatting away, the whole office at Junheng basking in cheerful peace. Cheng Yao, though, couldn’t calm down no matter what she tried. She couldn’t focus on the case files in front of her, had no mood to go online, and just felt restless.

She felt like nothing good had happened today at all. Li Mengting and Zhang Hao’s relationship had hit trouble, and now Qian Heng was off on a blind date too.

Nothing was going right.

Cheng Yao tried to distract herself, glancing at her phone over and over, but no one reached out to her — not Li Mengting, not Qian Heng.

And, to Cheng Yao’s own surprise, this restlessness carried straight through to the weekend.

On Saturday, Cheng Yao’s parents arrived early for Sunday’s class reunion. They summoned Cheng Yao to their hotel, dumped all the food she’d previously asked for on her, and then, hand in hand, the two of them prepared to head off and explore downtown City A together.

“No need to escort us, you work so hard, just rest at home this Saturday. Your mom looked up some trendy new spots online before coming, she wants to check them out with me — our anniversary’s next month, so today we’re getting a head start on our little date.”

By the time her father finished talking, even Cheng Yao, slow as she sometimes was, understood — her parents thought she was a giant third wheel.

Inwardly weeping, Cheng Yao thought: family affection, also nonexistent.

Her mother did remember something, though. “Oh right, where’s little Qian? Why isn’t he with you?”

Little Qian? Ha — little Qian was off on a blind date today!

Though seething inside, Cheng Yao explained on the surface, “He’s on a business trip.”

Her mother lit up. “He found a job? What kind? Where’s the trip?”

Cheng Yao, spitefully, said, “Oh, he’s off hauling bricks at a construction site in Dongguan. Rush project over there, so the hourly wage for brick-hauling is good.”

“…”

Cheng Yao went home alone after that.

Being alone was actually fine — a good chance to rest. She just wasn’t sure why her thoughts kept wandering.

Qian Heng was said to be coming back Saturday from this trip. Sister Zhu in admin had gossiped that, judging by his flight time, Qian Heng was probably going straight from the airport, luggage in tow, to his blind date.

So Cheng Yao probably wouldn’t get to see him until after the date was over.

Ha — not that she’d necessarily get to see him even then. What if they hit it off, went straight to a hotel that very night, and got married on the spot? Maybe the kid would already be born by tomorrow. Then the happy family of three would just move straight back into the big villa.

While Cheng Yao was spending her single weekend home alone, feeling gloomy, Qian Heng was on the other side of town, irritable and dragging his suitcase to the upscale Western restaurant his parents had arranged in advance.

This particular restaurant operated on a membership basis, situated in the heart of the city where land was worth its weight in gold, lavishly decorated, though the food itself wasn’t especially remarkable. The owner, however, was skilled at marketing, and half a year ago had managed to hype this mediocre-tasting restaurant into one of City A’s famous trendy spots. Since then, despite the steep prices, people had kept flocking in to check it off their lists, and the limited reservation policy — a bit of scarcity marketing — had only made people more curious to try it.

Qian Heng took his seat and checked his watch. It was already twelve minutes past the agreed noon meeting time.

Just that alone was enough to stir up his displeasure.

No sense of time whatsoever — wasting his precious time on their very first meeting. Unforgivable.

By the time his date finally arrived, fashionably late, Qian Heng’s expression had already turned quite ugly.

The girl looked to be around Cheng Yao’s age, wearing extremely elaborate makeup, every pore seemingly plastered with a mask of cosmetics, thick false lashes framing her large eyes with a distinctly plastic sheen, dressed head to toe in expensive designer wear. As she walked over, a wave of perfume trailed with her.

So young, why wear makeup like that? Qian Heng decided at once — her skin must be bad underneath. Just look at Cheng Yao — did she wear makeup? And her skin was still snow-white and radiant, no visible pores at all.

Why the perfume? So mechanical, so contrived. Not only did it fail to make her seem alluring — it just felt like overkill, practically assaulting his nose. Look at Cheng Yao — she never wore anything, just a faint scent of shampoo trailing after her as she walked. Wasn’t that so much better?

If someone’s looks and figure weren’t up to par, no amount of expensive designer clothing could save them. Look at Cheng Yao — she just wore an ordinary, conservative business suit day to day, and it carried an air of its own regardless.

“Sorry, Lawyer Qian, there was some traffic on the way, I’m a little late. I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

She blinked, trying to draw the somewhat distracted Qian Heng’s attention back to her.

The girl’s tone was sweet and soft; most other men, presumably, would have at least said something like “not too long, I just got here myself” to smooth things over.

But was Qian Heng like other men?

No.

Qian Heng stared at her, expressionless. “You’ve kept me waiting quite a while.” He checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes and forty-eight seconds. Converted to RMB, that’s 2,579.99 yuan. Let’s round it up to an even number — 2,580.” Having said this, he looked up at her. “That’s the value of the time you’ve wasted of mine. I’ll pay for this meal, but afterward, please transfer me back the money I’ve lost.”

“…”

Given Qian Heng’s family background, any date his parents arranged would have to be from a wealthy or well-connected family too, and this girl wasn’t unattractive either — used, ordinarily, to being fawned over. She’d never encountered someone quite like him before, and stood there stunned for a moment before finally reacting with a laugh.

“Lawyer Qian, you’re so cute. You said that so seriously, I didn’t even realize you were joking at first.”

“I wasn’t joking.” Qian Heng smiled. “I meant it. You have my number, right? My Alipay account is linked to my phone number — just transfer it whenever, and remember to add a note so I know which payment it is.”

“…”

And yet, oddly enough, the girl before him wasn’t scared off in the least. Her mind clearly worked in curious ways — she just smiled and shot Qian Heng a coy, sidelong glance. “I get it, Lawyer Qian. This way, once I’ve transferred you the money, you’ll have an excuse to invite me out a second time to pay you back, right? Honestly, plenty of guys chasing me before have tried this exact same trick.”

“…”

For the first time, Qian Heng had met his match. No matter how coldly he tried to challenge her boundaries, she simply took it as a game of hard-to-get, her eyes glinting with knowing amusement as she watched him.

Round after round, whatever move Qian Heng made, she countered with some equally bizarre interpretation. No matter what he did, she remained convinced this was all just his roundabout way of chasing her…

Just as Qian Heng was on the verge of despair, a voice came to his rescue—

“Little Qian? What are you doing here? Weren’t you hauling bricks at a construction site in Dongguan?”

Cheng Yao’s mother and father, reminiscing about their younger days, had strolled around a bit before arriving at the previously reserved trendy Western restaurant. They had just finished commenting on the ambiance when their attention was suddenly drawn to a familiar figure.

Huh?! Wasn’t that Qian Heng, dressed to the nines, sitting there by the window — the very same Qian Heng Cheng Yao had said was off “on a business trip” to Dongguan?

Qian Heng, who was supposedly living off of Cheng Yao’s support — how had he suddenly afforded such an expensive restaurant?!

And why was there a woman sitting across from him, dolled up to the nines?!

The answer seemed obvious!

Faking a business trip to fool Cheng Yao, while secretly bringing someone else to a restaurant meant for couples?!

Cheng Yao’s mother glared at Qian Heng, ready to explode right then and there, but her husband managed to hold her back.

Facing the scene, Cheng Yao’s father, though furious himself, still managed to keep his anger in check. Trying his best to stay reasonable, not wanting to wrongly accuse an innocent bystander, he pointed at the girl across from Qian Heng and asked, “Little Qian, who’s this?”

The girl on the blind date, taking in Cheng Yao’s parents and the “little Qian,” mistook them for friends of Qian Heng’s family. She smiled brightly. “Uncle, Auntie, I’m—”

But before she could finish, Qian Heng cut her off, launching preemptively into a solemn confession. “Uncle, Auntie, this is entirely my fault. I’m the one who’s been sneaking around behind Cheng Yao’s back.”

The blind date girl: ???

She had no idea what this meant, but Cheng Yao’s parents understood instantly.

Cheng Yao’s mother exploded on the spot. “Little Qian, do you have no conscience at all? Our Cheng Yao’s been working herself to the bone supporting you, feeding you, housing you — and here you are cheating on her?!”

Cheng Yao’s father, equally heartbroken, added, “I never would have guessed — all looks and no substance, jade on the outside and rot within! Every last one of you Qians is trash!”

…

If the blind date girl had been struggling to follow the plot up until now, this outburst from Cheng Yao’s parents made everything click. So while going on this blind date, Qian Heng was actually seeing someone else! Not only seeing her — living with her, for a long time! And even mooching off her!

Before coming today, she’d already heard bits and pieces about Qian Heng — that he was arrogant and difficult, on poor terms with his father Qian Xin, cold and merciless, a family law expert who’d surely walk away with nothing if he ever divorced. But she hadn’t expected he’d also be a serial cheater! And practicing law apparently didn’t pay much either — after falling out with his billionaire father, he needed a woman to support him just to maintain appearances!

How could she possibly stand for this?! She’d only ever had wealthy young men fawning over her — how could she accept someone like Qian Heng? Even if he got down on his knees begging her, trying to prove his sincerity with all those little tricks earlier, absolutely not!

The blind date girl was not one to mince words. She stood up on the spot, picked up the wine glass beside her, and dumped its contents — red wine, all of it — straight onto Qian Heng.

“Scum!” Then she grabbed her bag, spun on her stiletto heels, and walked out without a backward glance.

This whole farce left Cheng Yao’s parents thoroughly soured, appetites ruined, with no desire whatsoever to keep dining at this restaurant. After shooting Qian Heng a few more furious glares, they stormed off in a rage.

And so this melodramatic scene came to a close, leaving only Qian Heng, calmly wiping the wine stains off his suit, utterly indifferent to the stares of everyone around him, and looking thoroughly pleased with himself as he drained the rest of the red wine in one satisfied gulp.