Qi Xi and Gu Yan’s eyes met briefly in the air, like the eerie calm before two armies clash.

Qi Xi bravely offered Gu Yan a friendly smile. Gu Yan’s handsome face darkened almost instantly.

Gu Xuehan, oblivious to the strange tension, sighed. “Gu Yan, since Qi Xi’s your classmate too, you might as well stop hiding it. You’ve suffered such a huge injustice, and no matter how many times I ask who did it, you won’t say, and you flatly refuse to sue the person responsible. What’s wrong with you? Not even willing to defend your own rights — how are you supposed to be a lawyer like that? Qi Xi, don’t you agree?”

Qi Xi didn’t dare agree. She looked at Gu Yan and forced a laugh. “Well, mainly, Gu Yan’s an incredibly magnanimous person, generous enough to hold the whole world in his heart. Honestly, back in school I always admired that about him — I always held his tolerance up as something to aspire to…”

Gu Xuehan frowned. “So if it had happened to you, could you have let it go the way he has?”

Under Gu Yan’s icy stare, Qi Xi feigned composure. “I could, Lawyer Gu. I think that while lawyers should be sharp on the offense, most of the time you also have to learn restraint. I believe in mercy, in letting things go where you can.”

Gu Xuehan looked a little surprised. “Are all you young people this Buddhist about everything now?”

Qi Xi practically wanted to press her palms together and murmur love and peace. She nodded solemnly. “Yes, I’m a believer. Mostly it’s good for the body, good for the mind, and it makes success easier down the road.”

Gu Xuehan shrugged, not quite following. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you young people these days, but that’s certainly not how I operate. If someone wrongs you, you make them pay, and if someone’s good to you, you return the favor. Personally, if someone owed me fifty cents, I’d spend fifty yuan on a lawsuit to get it back.”

“Qi Xi, don’t hold back — just tell me that classmate’s name, and I’ll go have a word with her.”

You’re already having quite the word, ma’am.

…

Fortunately, a client call interrupted Gu Xuehan’s questioning, and she waved Qi Xi and Gu Yan out of her office.

Gu Yan walked ahead, his face cold, clearly with no intention of acknowledging Qi Xi. She had no choice but to take the initiative, grabbing his arm.

“Gu Yan… can’t we just let bygones be bygones…” Qi Xi looked at him pleadingly. “Your tolerance, your incredible restraint — I’ll repay it in my next life, as an ox, as a horse, whatever you need. Four years as classmates, and now coworkers too — there shouldn’t be grudges that last overnight. For what I did to you, I’m willing to make it right…”

Gu Yan looked at her. “Make it right how?”

Qi Xi put on her most pitiful expression. “I’m willing to compensate you financially. I’ll hand over most of my monthly salary — you can just leave me enough to live on.”

“And besides, that letter from Zhang Jialiang really was misleading — you’d probably have made the same mistake in my shoes.” As she spoke, she pulled up the photo of that damned confession letter on her phone.

Qi Xi decided to drag Gu Yan down with her. “I mean, think about it — Zhang Jialiang signed it that way, and then you were the one who actually delivered it to me. Wouldn’t anyone in my position have misunderstood? If you hadn’t delivered it for him, none of this would have happened…”

Her implication was clear — sure, the fault was mostly hers, but Gu Yan bore at least a little responsibility for carelessly running an errand for Zhang Jialiang.

Gu Yan pressed his lips together, his expression thoroughly unpleasant. “If I’d known he’d tucked a confession letter into your practice test book, I never would have delivered it to you.”

“So you see, you and I — we’re both victims of Zhang Jialiang!”

Excellent, excellent — shift the blame elsewhere, get everyone united in hating Zhang Jialiang together, that ought to close the distance between them nicely!

Flattery gets you everywhere, and seeing Gu Yan’s expression, Qi Xi pressed on. “Honestly, I’ve always thought there’s no one in this world with better character than you…”

Gu Yan cast a cold glance at Qi Xi’s phone screen, his expression somehow growing even worse. “You trust my character that much, and yet you didn’t even read the whole letter before deciding it was me? If I were confessing my feelings, would I write something this vulgar? And with handwriting that ugly?”

He glanced sideways at her. “And you’re a believer now? Since when? Didn’t the photography club organize a temple visit once, and you reported them for spreading feudal superstition?”

“…” Damn it, Gu Yan wasn’t even in that club — how did he know that?!

Qi Xi struggled to maintain her rapidly crumbling smile. “I just converted, this very moment. But I’m being very devout about it.”

“Very devout?”

Qi Xi nodded. “Yes. Extremely devout.”

Gu Yan gave her a mocking half-smile. “Good. My sister mentioned yesterday she wants to take the new hire out to lunch today — I’ll let her know we should go to a vegetarian place. Can’t have you taking any lives.”

“…”

Qi Xi lost control of her expression this time, her features twisting entirely. “Gu Yan, have mercy. Humanity climbed to the top of the food chain for a reason — to eat meat! Actually, thinking it over, nutritional science tells us a balanced diet with both meat and vegetables is the healthiest, and in order to maintain a healthy body while working hard for your sister, I’ve decided to set aside my spiritual convictions. I’ll still eat meat.”

Gu Yan said coldly, “How very considerate of you.”

“I know what happened before was entirely my fault, all on me, but it was mainly because I happened to witness a girl confessing to you and getting rejected, and then I heard you say you were going to confess to someone yourself, and that’s what deepened my misunderstanding…” Qi Xi said carefully, “So — did your confession end up working out?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted it, because Gu Yan’s expression turned even darker. He glared at her, then bit out two words through clenched teeth.

“No.”

Qi Xi regretted her own stupid question more than anything — of course it hadn’t worked, not after her impassioned speech at the ceremony. Who would have said yes to Gu Yan after that?

Not only had she ruined his reputation — she’d wrecked his love life too!

This particular debt to Gu Yan felt like it might never be settled…

Gu Yan pressed his lips together. “Qi Xi, work isn’t for reminiscing. I’m busy. Please don’t waste my time — go find your own desk, and stay away from me.”

With that, Gu Yan turned and walked, cold-faced, to his own desk.

Not long after, Qi Xi trailed obediently after him and sat right down at the desk beside his.

Gu Yan’s expression soured further. “I just told you to stop following me.”

Qi Xi laughed sheepishly, then sat down anyway. “This is the only open seat — HR just assigned me here…”

Because of the recent surge in new hires, desk space was tight, and the newly purchased desks and chairs were packed close together with no partitions in between — the slightest big movement risked bumping into your neighbor’s arm.

Looking at the gap between herself and Gu Yan — about the same distance as sitting next to someone in a high school classroom — Qi Xi’s voice came out weak and dry. “Sorry, this is as far away as I can get for now. I’ll be careful, and the moment another desk opens up, I’ll move immediately, get out of your sight as fast as I can…”

Gu Yan’s face was tight, as if he were struggling to breathe, but in the end he said nothing more, just pressed his lips shut and buried himself in his case files.

Though they’d been classmates for four years, honestly, Qi Xi had never once sat this close to Gu Yan before — close enough now that if she turned slightly, she could see his profile up close.

The fluorescent office lights fell across his face, filtering through his hair to cast light and shadow across his features. It was nothing but an ordinary office ceiling light, and yet it gave Qi Xi the strange illusion that Gu Yan, sitting quietly and saying nothing, looked like he was bathed in a thousand spotlights at the center of a stage.

His features had a kind of sharp handsomeness, his air proper and cool, and yet his eyes held an odd charm — when he glanced at people, they tilted up ever so slightly, and even in his coldest, most distant expression, there was a fleeting, hard-to-pin-down allure.

“Alluring” wasn’t usually a word used to describe men, but after being on the receiving end of a few of Gu Yan’s looks, Qi Xi couldn’t think of a better term for his eyes. Gu Yan was practically the walking mascot of Rongda Law School — both his face and his brain were the real deal, no faking it.

Sour as she felt, Qi Xi had to admit the talent scouts had good taste — in fact, she found herself resenting their lack of success. Why hadn’t they managed to actually recruit Gu Yan into showbiz already? If he’d become a celebrity, she wouldn’t have to sit here glaring at him across a desk at Jingzhe. And she’d have one less rival to deal with in the legal world going forward.

**

“Let’s go, lunchtime.”

Thankfully, noon finally arrived, and Gu Xuehan finished up her client call, then took Qi Xi and Gu Yan to a nice Huaiyang restaurant nearby.

Away from work mode, Gu Xuehan’s sharp edge softened somewhat, restoring her to her elegant self. She leisurely gave Qi Xi a rundown of the firm. “So, that’s the general situation. You’ve both passed the bar, so your first year at the firm is a licensed internship — only after that can you practice independently. My caseload leans commercial, but as interns, I’d recommend getting exposure to a bit of everything. There are all sorts of miscellaneous civil cases too, and I’ll have you both work on some of those together.”

Gu Xuehan smiled. “You’re both fresh out of school, still blank slates, really — you don’t yet know what area of law you’re actually suited to or interested in, so it helps to try a bit of everything before finding your direction. As interns, you’ll be handling smaller cases anyway. Compared to commercial matters, some everyday civil disputes might feel less distant from your own lives, and might be an easier way in.”

She glanced at Qi Xi as she said this. “Gu Yan started before you, and since you two are classmates, feel free to ask him anything you’re unsure about going forward.”

Qi Xi beamed. “Of course, thank you, Lawyer Gu! I’ll be sure to learn everything I can from Gu Yan. He’s always been my role model since school — he was always first place, I was always right behind him in second. Every step of the way, it felt like Gu Yan was leading me forward!”

Sadly, this whole speech turned out to be a solo performance — Gu Yan sipped his tea coolly beside her, showing not the slightest interest in playing along or offering her any face.

Even Gu Xuehan couldn’t quite stomach his attitude, and was about to say something to prompt him, when his phone rang.

He stood, lips pressed thin. “It’s a client who called earlier asking about our services. I should take this.”

The moment Gu Yan left, Gu Xuehan’s expression shifted to one of exasperation. She looked at Qi Xi. “Don’t mind him. He’s probably still shaken up from being slandered recently — he’s been a bit withdrawn.”

Not this again?!

Compared to Gu Yan, his sister was somehow even harder to deal with! At least Gu Yan hadn’t taken any action — his sister, on the other hand, kept relentlessly digging into it.

Gu Xuehan seemed determined not to let it go. She looked at Qi Xi. “So — who was that girl, actually? Can that video still be found anywhere?”

Suppressing the urge to bolt, Qi Xi calmly offered an explanation. “Actually, when that girl was speaking at the ceremony, I happened to be in the bathroom. By the time I got back, she’d already finished. As for the videos online, you’ve probably seen — they’ve all been deleted. I honestly never saw it and don’t know who it was.”

“Wasn’t that speech supposedly pretty long? You missed the whole thing? Stuck in the bathroom that entire time?”

Suppressing her own inner collapse, Qi Xi answered flatly. “I had constipation that day.”

Gu Xuehan seemed genuinely stunned by that answer. She paused for a moment, then moved the plate of premium beef away from Qi Xi and replaced it with a large bowl of vegetable salad instead. “This profession involves a lot of sitting. You’re still young — take care of your body. You’re eating vegetarian for this meal.”

“…” So through sheer effort of her own making, Qi Xi had ended up going vegetarian after all.

Gu Xuehan thoughtfully ordered several more vegetable dishes, then rubbed her temples and steered the conversation back to work. “Anyway, that’s the general atmosphere here. Gu Yan’s probably in a mood lately — I’ll try to talk to him, but he’s always had a rebellious streak…”

Wait. Gu Yan? Rebellious?

How on earth was Gu Yan rebellious, model student that he was…

Sensing Qi Xi’s confusion, Gu Xuehan shrugged. “Right after I made partner, I tried to convince him to join my team after graduation. He was dead set on studying in the US instead. Later I decided to respect his choice, and after all the effort of getting into such a great school, he suddenly turned around and told me he didn’t want to go anymore — decided to come work at a firm instead. He’s usually pretty steady, but suddenly making these huge, erratic decisions about his career — maybe it’s a late rebellious phase.”

Qi Xi found this equally baffling — especially given that Gu Yan’s family clearly wasn’t struggling financially, and his sister earned well and was fully supportive of him, so it wasn’t as if funding issues had crushed his study-abroad dream.

Still, Qi Xi was curious. “So what school had he gotten into, then? An LLM or a JD?”

“Columbia’s JD program.”

!!!

What kind of twisted fate was this?! Gu Yan had originally been headed to Columbia for his JD too?

Thank goodness she hadn’t gone! Getting crushed under Gu Yan for four years domestically had been more than enough — imagine getting crushed under him for three more years in a foreign country!

But just as she finished celebrating her narrow escape, Qi Xi suddenly remembered — Gu Yan hadn’t gone either, and in the end, fate had brought them both crashing together into the same firm, the same team.

Two tigers on one mountain.

This was, frankly, a tragic story.

“He hasn’t been very talkative lately, don’t take it personally. He’s been having a rough patch — he actually mentioned that if things went well, he’d bring his girlfriend to dinner with me in a few days, and then… nothing came of it.” Gu Xuehan said, sounding a bit sentimental. “Probably got dumped. And then right on top of that, the slander thing happened. No wonder his personality’s changed so much.”

Qi Xi figured this was undoubtedly her doing — his confession had failed, he’d lost the will to care about anything, including even pursuing accountability for what had happened to him…

Not even getting the chance to actually date someone — that was almost sadder than being dumped.

Guilt-ridden, Qi Xi offered, “Lawyer Gu, why don’t you assign me whatever extra work you have — let me take on more, give Gu Yan some breathing room to sort out his feelings…”

Gu Xuehan pressed her lips together. “Just focus on finding that girl who slandered him as soon as possible. Let him finally get some closure. Bottling it all up like this isn’t healthy.”

“…”

Qi Xi’s guilt evaporated instantly, her expression stiffening once more. Fortunately, right then, Gu Yan finally returned from his call, and Gu Xuehan shifted the conversation back to briefing them both on onboarding matters for new hires.

Lunch didn’t last much longer after that, since Gu Xuehan’s schedule was packed — she had another hearing across town that afternoon. She wrapped things up quickly, didn’t even have time for dessert, paid the bill, and left.

That left just Qi Xi and Gu Yan at the table.

Gu Yan continued to ignore her, but clinging to the hope of mending things between them, Qi Xi pushed on anyway, trying to make conversation despite the cold reception. “So you’d also gotten into Columbia’s JD program? I actually—”

Before she could finish, Gu Yan cut her off, his reaction unusually sharp. “Who told you that?”

“Your sister.” Qi Xi said, curious. “I mean, my family suddenly withdrew their support, so I couldn’t afford to go, which is why I ended up here for work. Why’d you give up your offer? Seems like such a waste.”

Gu Yan frowned, clearly unwilling to dwell on the subject further. “Just changed my mind.”

Just like that? So casually?

Still, none of that mattered much to Qi Xi — what she really cared about was—

“So look, we’re coworkers now, on the same team even. I’ve owned up to everything I did wrong before — give me a chance going forward to make it up to you, and maybe we can be friends?”

Somehow, whatever cold indifference Gu Yan had shown before, it now hardened into something far more complicated, almost gritted through his teeth.

“Qi Xi. I could never be friends with you.”

With that, Gu Yan’s face went cold, and he stood up and left.

That dessert never even got touched…