Dinner ended in a lively atmosphere. Several new hires at the firm were attending a team retreat for the first time, and some were even leaving the country for the first time, finding everything about Japan fresh and delightful.

Once in Japan, Qian Heng naturally spent his time with Wu Jun and the other partners, chatting about this year’s business and next year’s plans, while young lawyers, associates, and interns like Cheng Yao gathered elsewhere to chat idly. Though unspoken, the line between boss and subordinate remained naturally distinct. During a lull in the conversation, Cheng Yao couldn’t help sneaking several glances at Qian Heng, and every time, her eyes met his—he was looking at her too, at exactly the right moment.

No one knew, but she and Qian Heng were actually dating. The feeling was secret and wonderful.

When everyone finished dinner and set off for the Gion Corner hall, Wu Jun and the other partners naturally took the lead as bosses, walking ahead of everyone else. Only Qian Heng deliberately slowed his pace.

He drifted back, slowly passing by Cheng Yao’s side.

“Cheng Yao, did you finish revising that property division agreement?”

Looking at Qian Heng’s serious expression, Cheng Yao was momentarily confused. “Huh?”

When had he asked her to revise a property division agreement recently?

Qian Heng leaned in and lowered his voice. “Before we go into the hall, find an excuse to fall behind and come in with me.”

“Hm?”

Though he was discussing something private, Qian Heng’s face remained so businesslike that none of the colleagues passing by would ever imagine he wasn’t talking about work.

“The performance hall at Gion Corner doesn’t have assigned seats—just go in with your ticket and sit wherever there’s an open seat. Come in with me and sit together.”

“Qian Heng, we’re on vacation, and you still won’t let Cheng Yao off work?” Wu Jun, walking ahead, turned and called back to Qian Heng. “Hurry up and catch up—give your little associate a break.”

Qian Heng glanced at Wu Jun, then looked at Cheng Yao again, raising his voice and warning her seriously, “Just do the overtime work for me after we get back tonight from the show. Vacation is vacation, but the work still has to get done.”

“…”

Cheng Yao watched Qian Heng finish speaking, then stride ahead to Wu Jun’s side with his usual boss’s demeanor.

Qian Heng’s acting was so skilled that their colleagues all expressed deep sympathy for Cheng Yao’s sudden misfortune.

Bao Rui in particular was very consoling. “Seeing Qian Par come down that hard on you actually makes me feel better—turns out I’m not the only one.”

“…”

Cheng Yao was genuinely afraid that if Bao Rui ever learned the truth, he’d drop dead on the spot from the shock.

Qian Heng managed to keep a perfectly serious, solemn face, but his low voice had scattered sparks across Cheng Yao’s heart. She held on to a small flutter of excitement and joy, all while being careful not to let anything slip. On the way to Gion Corner, she could only endure it, half listening to her colleagues chat.

Just as Qian Heng had said, the tickets for the Gion Corner performance weren’t assigned seats—once inside the hall, seating was open. Cheng Yao made an excuse about going to the restroom, deliberately splitting off from Tan Ying and the others, but unfortunately ran straight into a group of Western tourists, who instantly surrounded her. Just as she was anxiously searching for Qian Heng, a hand reached out from the crowd and firmly took hold of hers.

“Finally lost Wu Jun and the others.” Qian Heng chuckled softly, leaning down to kiss Cheng Yao’s ear. “Let’s go.”

Using the tour group as cover, the two slipped into the performance hall amid the crowd. The show had already begun; besides the stage lights, the rest of the hall was dark. Qian Heng led Cheng Yao to a row of seats that were still empty around them, and they sat down.

It had to be said, Bao Rui had been telling the truth—apart from the opening kabuki performance, arts like tea ceremony and flower arrangement, which required a calm mind to appreciate, really weren’t suited to a large stage show.

“Actually, Bao Rui wasn’t entirely wrong…” Cheng Yao thought of Bao Rui working overtime back at the hotel, feeling a bit of sympathy for him.

“He wasn’t.” Qian Heng leaned in close to Cheng Yao’s ear, his voice low. “There wasn’t actually anything scheduled for tonight—I meant for everyone to rest properly. But I thought about it and specially arranged this.”

Qian Heng’s warm breath lingered by Cheng Yao’s ear; she felt her ears growing hot. “Why?”

“So I can hold your hand out in the open like this.” In the dim light, she couldn’t make out the expression on Qian Heng’s face, but that awkward mix of wanting to be open about his feelings while also wanting to hold back appeared again in his voice. He glanced at her, seeming to try to restrain himself, but in the end gave in, saying with a kind of self-deprecating resignation, “I didn’t want to organize this second team retreat specifically for you and then not even get the chance to hold your hand the whole trip. Otherwise, wasn’t all the money I spent bringing the whole firm on this trip wasted? And all those extra people I dragged along as cover, for nothing?”

“Huh?”

“Even that makeshift beach carnival in City B seemed like a good idea to you.” Qian Heng lowered his gaze. “So I specially brought you out here to broaden your horizons—to see Universal Studios in Osaka.”

Qian Heng looked away, watching the performer onstage acting out a kyogen piece for a while. Just as Cheng Yao thought he no longer wanted to continue the conversation and was ready to focus on the show, she heard his quiet voice again—

“I specially avoided all those third wheels at the firm, and now that I’m finally alone with you, don’t you have anything you want to do to me?”

There was an unnatural restraint in Qian Heng’s voice, yet despite trying to disguise and hold back, the thick undertone of grievance and suggestion in it might as well have been subtitled across his face.

Since holding hands, their fingers had been interlaced the whole time, never once separating. Cheng Yao felt a little shy and instinctively tightened her grip on his hand.

“Idiot.”

This gesture clearly didn’t please or satisfy Qian Heng in the slightest. He glanced at her. “How did I end up with such a slow-witted girlfriend?”

His expression was somewhat helpless, but held even more indulgence. Before Cheng Yao could react, Qian Heng’s lips had already covered hers.

Onstage, the performance seemed to be reaching its climax, but neither Cheng Yao nor Qian Heng had any interest left in watching. The two leaned into each other, kissing passionately under the cover of darkness and music.

By the time the show ended, the warmth hadn’t faded from Cheng Yao’s lips and face. To avoid suspicion, as the crowd dispersed she deliberately separated from Qian Heng again, and the two returned to their cold boss-subordinate routine. If not for the faint flush still on Qian Heng’s face, there wouldn’t have been the slightest trace of the intimacy from moments before.

Only this feeling—loved by each other while no one else knew—was like a secret rose blooming between their hearts, belonging only to the two of them.

Mixed in among their colleagues on the way back, Qian Heng once again walked with Wu Jun and the other partners, without a chance to say another word to Cheng Yao. But some affection and care needed no words—the way their eyes followed each other, the tacit understanding of a glance held just long enough, a gesture, a turn of the head—it was enough to say everything without a sound.

Some feelings didn’t need to be spoken.

Though she hadn’t walked beside Qian Heng, Cheng Yao felt as if she were wrapped in his presence the whole way, safe and warm.

—

Back at the hotel, some colleagues went to rest, while others, not yet satisfied, went in groups to the nearby Nishiki Market for a late-night snack, and still others ran straight to the drugstores to stock up.

Cheng Yao declined Tan Ying’s invitation to join the late-night outing. Qian Heng had just handed her that family trust case, and she’d only gotten through half the materials. The case involved a large sum and represented Qian Heng’s trust and recognition of her—whatever it took, she had to do it well.

In the past, she would have thought that as long as she worked hard during her eight working hours, once quitting time came it was clearly leisure time, and watching TV in the evening was nothing wrong. But now, though she’d made much more progress than before, she’d instead come to realize just how precious time was.

If she wanted to become as successful a lawyer as Qian Heng, she needed to wring every minute for all it was worth. Without a doubt, at this very moment, Qian Heng himself was surely handling work matters too—someone as excellent as him was still working hard, so how could she afford to slack off?

Mental work apparently consumed a great deal of energy—after an hour of intently studying the materials, Cheng Yao began to feel her stomach was empty. In the end, unable to bear the hunger any longer, she decided to go downstairs to the nearby convenience store to buy some rice balls to tide herself over.

The hotel they were staying at this time had an elegantly designed Japanese-style garden; to reach the main entrance from the lobby, one had to go around it. Japanese gardens emphasized shifting views with every step, cultivating an atmosphere of tranquil Zen ambience—hence the abundance of rock formations and dense greenery, giving it a winding, secluded feel. The garden wasn’t small, with many branching paths, giving it a strong sense of privacy as one walked through; even if you could hear soft voices nearby through the rocks and trees, you couldn’t see the speakers, avoiding any awkwardness and giving guests more of a private experience.

At night the hotel garden was completely quiet, the old-fashioned stone lanterns casting a dim, ambiguous glow, everything utterly serene. Because of this, even the faintest sound carried with striking clarity. Cheng Yao hadn’t walked far before she heard a familiar voice from behind a rock formation nearby.

“Ugh, I’m ruined, I’m ruined—I went bankrupt again this time. Why didn’t any of you stop me? I told you, the moment I see cosmetics I completely lose control…”

The voice was clearly their colleague Li Meng from the firm.

Wang Lu spoke next. “Come on, didn’t we all buy a ton of stuff together? We can go bankrupt together, haha.”

“Not really, though—didn’t Cheng Yao skip it? She didn’t come shopping with us shopaholics, cleverly guarded her wallet.”

Just as Cheng Yao was about to call out to the group, she heard Li Meng speak again—this time, her tone was distinctly odd. “Cheng Yao? Cheng Yao isn’t on the same page as us reckless shoppers. Isn’t she still back at the hotel going over case materials?”

Wang Lu, not catching the undertone, marveled, “She’s so dedicated!”

Li Meng gave a light laugh. “You don’t actually think she’s really back at the hotel looking at case materials, do you?”

“Huh?”

Li Meng sighed knowingly, as if imparting hard-won wisdom. “Wang Lu, you’re still young. Once you’ve been in the workforce as long as I have, you’ll understand. With so many colleagues going out for a late-night snack and shopping, and her alone saying she needs to review a case instead—don’t you think that leaves a pretty deep impression on the firm’s senior partners? Makes them think this new hire is so sensible, so driven?”

“…”

“I used to be in-house counsel at a state-owned enterprise before switching to Junheng—I saw plenty of this back then. You can put your head down and work diligently without a word, and leadership might not even notice. But if you know how to play it like Cheng Yao does, show yourself off at just the right moment—whether or not she’s actually studying the case back at the hotel, as long as leadership thinks she is, she’s already halfway to success. In the end, it’s always these savvy operators who get promoted fast, while the hardworking plow-horses never get their chance to shine.”

Wang Lu defended Cheng Yao. “Cheng Yao’s not like that—she really is quite conscientious. Before our flight took off for this trip, she was still bent over her phone replying to a client’s email. She made call after call to the client too, worried she might not be reachable while abroad, and went through all the possible scenarios and countermeasures the case might run into with the client beforehand…”

Li Meng, however, wasn’t convinced. “You should learn a thing or two—you’re all still too naive. Do you know that Qian Par recently gave her a family trust case worth 2.3 billion yuan, and even made her the lead on it, with Qian Par himself overseeing it? Let that sink in.”

At this, the group couldn’t help but let out an envious exclamation. “Wow!! That’s amazing!”

Li Meng’s tone turned sour. “I joined Junheng half a year before Cheng Yao. I specifically quit a comfortable, stable job as in-house counsel at a state-owned company to come here. I’ve been diligent at work too, but look—I still haven’t gotten the chance to handle a case independently, let alone something worth 2.3 billion!”

Wang Lu tried to comfort her. “Li Meng, don’t worry, your chance will come soon too.”

“There’s no use in me being anxious—after all, I’m not as pretty as Cheng Yao.” Li Meng sighed, her tone dejected. “A young girl who knows how to play the game and is good-looking too really does get an advantage. Pretty people really are luckier than us ordinary folks.”

Wang Lu, who normally got along well with Cheng Yao, still wanted to defend her, but a few interns who had just joined the firm, standing near Li Meng, didn’t understand the subtext and simply went along with whatever Li Meng said.

“Attorney Cheng really is gorgeous—between us, the first time I saw her at Junheng, I thought she was a celebrity, thought she must be one of our firm’s clients. She really is beautiful, doesn’t even look like a lawyer, and seems so young—if I were the client, I wouldn’t feel confident having Attorney Cheng handle my case…”

Li Meng gave a light snort. “She is young, and she’s only got a bachelor’s degree—the average education level at our firm is a master’s. Besides, her bachelor’s is only from a Project 211 school, not even a Project 985 one, and she has no impressive work experience to speak of, never studied abroad either. By rights, someone with a résumé like that, our firm wouldn’t normally even hire. As for why she got hired, and got lucky enough to be assigned to Qian Par, and now even landed such a huge case—you can figure that out for yourselves.”

These newly arrived interns hadn’t had much contact with Cheng Yao herself; they only knew Li Meng, as a senior, had been looking out for them, so they trusted her almost without question and accepted her view.

“Could it be that she’s got connections? Like her family has some kind of background?”

“I’m so jealous of Attorney Cheng. If I were even half as pretty as her, I’m sure I’d get to stay on at Junheng after my internship.”

“If I were that pretty, I wouldn’t even bother being a lawyer—being a lawyer is exhausting.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I heard Junheng’s clients are all either rich or powerful, the very top of the social ladder. Who knows, maybe one day Attorney Cheng will fall for some client and go straight from colleague to our firm’s client. My senior at Dewei Law Firm told me they used to have a female lawyer there who was gorgeous and knew how to work the room—she ended up marrying a wealthy client, successfully marrying into money, got a family trust set up in her name too, and turned into an important client the whole firm had to fall over themselves to please.”

“…”

The group chattered on and gossiped some more, and before long the topic drifted from Cheng Yao to shopping and celebrities, gradually moving further away from where Cheng Yao stood.

For them, the topic of Cheng Yao was probably just one insignificant little aside among many, but for Cheng Yao herself, the subject of the conversation, it was hard to stay calm after Li Meng and the others had walked off.

Only now did Cheng Yao truly, deeply understand what Qian Heng had meant.

People’s hearts were far too complicated. Even in a law firm with as pleasant an atmosphere as this one, even among such harmonious colleagues, human nature still couldn’t be held back. The moment a peer, or even a junior, developed faster and better than you, people inevitably felt some measure of resentment and complicated emotion, however hard they tried to suppress it.

Very few people could calmly accept reality, or coolly examine whether the other person genuinely had qualities superior to their own. Li Meng’s reaction was almost the instinctive first response of many people. They couldn’t accept that a newcomer with less seniority and less experience could really surpass them in such a short time; unable to look inward and compare themselves honestly, they instinctively attacked the other person’s weak points instead, questioning their abilities, to gain some comfort and satisfaction for themselves.

Cheng Yao had to admit that keeping her relationship with Qian Heng private at the firm had been an entirely correct decision. She hadn’t given it much thought before, but now she realized that office romances—especially ones between superior and subordinate—really were delicate and quite dangerous.

If Li Meng and the others found out about her and Qian Heng, what would they think? It was almost predictable.

—

Weighed down, Cheng Yao bought her rice balls, but after eating them, she found she no longer had the mood to look over the case materials. Unable to help herself, she called Qin Qin.

As a seasoned veteran of the workplace, Qin Qin wasn’t at all surprised by this development. “That’s just how office romances go. Unless it ends in marriage, if you two ever break up—even if you can stay friends afterward—things will still feel awkward between you and your other colleagues.” She sighed. “Of course, I hope your relationship goes smoothly and ends happily, but you also need to stay alert. Even if the two of you never break up, dating your boss like this—you can’t keep it hidden from your colleagues forever, can you? Once it’s discovered, your situation will only get more delicate.”

Cheng Yao bit her lip and said nothing.

“The fact that you two haven’t broken up is a good thing emotionally; career-wise, it has no impact on your boss, but for you, it’s a different story entirely. All the achievements you’ve earned at work, all your effort, your ability, the late nights you’ve pulled, all the hardship and bitterness you’ve been through—all of it will get overlooked. You’ll likely no longer be known as ‘talented young lawyer Cheng Yao,’ but instead get labeled as ‘famous lawyer Qian Heng’s girlfriend, Cheng Yao.'” Qin Qin paused. “I’m your friend, so of course I know how much you’ve put in to get where you are. But most people don’t know you, don’t understand you. More and more people will assume that whatever you achieve in the future is only because you have your boss backing you up. Because of this relationship, it’ll get harder and harder for you to prove yourself in your career…”

“Qin Qin, is it really going to turn out like that…?”

Qin Qin sighed, reining in her emotions. “It really will. Don’t ask me how I know this so well. Because I’ve been through it myself.”

Cheng Yao felt a pang of warmth in her chest—she vaguely knew Qin Qin’s previous relationship had hurt her badly. Qin Qin hadn’t originally worked in PR and marketing; her earlier career had been in finance, and just as her prospects there were looking bright, she’d chosen to resign, cutting all ties with the finance industry, and switched into public relations instead.

“Thank you for telling me this.”

“Hey, what’s there to thank between friends?” Qin Qin’s voice carried a note of weariness. “You asked me back then why I resigned, and I never told you. Now I can tell you—it was because I wanted to shed his label. I wanted everyone to know that everything I, Qin Qin, achieved was through my own effort, that without that man, in a completely different field, I could still do just as well.”

“It’s just a shame that I was too young back then. I was so desperate to break free of his fame and protection, too determined to prove myself at every turn, and I never once considered his feelings. In the end, I wore both of us out.” Even though this relationship of Qin Qin’s had ended half a year ago, recalling it now, she still couldn’t help sighing with regret. “The reason I’m telling you this is because I hope you won’t repeat my mistake. Dating your boss means you really have to balance your relationship and your career carefully—it’s genuinely not easy, Yaoyao.”

Cheng Yao knew she couldn’t keep relying on Qian Heng forever; these delicate matters with her colleagues and their interpersonal dynamics naturally weren’t something she could bring up with him either. Because the moment she told him, and he stepped in to defend her, wouldn’t that just confirm even further that everything she had was thanks to Qian Heng?

“Qin Qin, do you think I have to become as strong and outstanding as Qian Heng himself, so that when our relationship finally does go public, no one can say I’m just riding on his coattails?”

“Mm, if you were also a female partner and started dating him, people would naturally say the two of you were a perfect match, evenly matched rivals joining forces. But right now you’re a junior associate, and his subordinate—so what people say becomes a lot more delicate.”

After hanging up with Qin Qin, Cheng Yao’s heart was even more of a tangled mess.

Whether for her own sake or for Qian Heng’s, it seemed she needed to work even harder.