Qi Xi used to look down on couples who were all clingy and lovey-dovey with each other. Now that it was her turn, having experienced it firsthand, she found herself embarrassed by her former naivety.

She really, truly didn’t want to part from him.

On such a cold night, she and Gu Yan sat on a bench by the road in the residential complex where she rented, saying goodbye—and somehow managed to stretch it out for half an hour.

There always seemed to be more to say, more kisses to exchange.

By the time Gu Yan finally watched her head upstairs, Qi Xi felt dizzy from all the kissing, almost drunk on it.

And when Zhao Yiran got home not long after, she seemed to think the same thing. Sniffing at Qi Xi, she frowned slightly, looking puzzled. “Didn’t you say you weren’t drinking? Why do you smell like alcohol all over? Even your breath smells a little boozy.”

Qi Xi really hadn’t had any alcohol—but Gu Yan certainly had!

Feeling guilty, Qi Xi shot Zhao Yiran a couple of glances, nodding vaguely while trying to change the subject. “What’s that you’re holding?”

“Food! Still hot! Just delivered! Are you hungry? Want some?”

If Zhao Yiran hadn’t mentioned it, Qi Xi might not have noticed, but now that she had, Qi Xi realized she actually was a bit hungry—probably dating burned a lot of energy!

But once she opened the package and started eating alongside Zhao Yiran, the familiar taste jogged her memory—wasn’t this the same unmarked, no-brand takeout Gu Yan used to bring home during the time she’d stayed at his place?

Sure enough, when Qi Xi checked, the takeout containers Zhao Yiran had brought back also had no shop name or brand information—but the food tasted just as exceptional as before.

Qi Xi never cared much about how expensive her food was, but she was curious. “What little homestyle place did you get this from? It doesn’t look like it has any food safety license or anything, but it tastes amazing. Is it some internet-famous spot? Give me the name—next time I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll order from there too!”

“Internet-famous, my foot! This is an incredibly hard-to-book, high-end private kitchen, okay?!” Zhao Yiran shook her head, explaining to Qi Xi as if educating a child. “Honestly, do you not go online at all? You don’t know about this place? It’s notoriously hard to book—only VIP clients can even make reservations. It’s called Vbest. Not only is it hard to get into, it’s expensive too. Don’t underestimate these few dishes—they probably cost as much as a month of our salary.”

Staring at the “unmarked product” in front of her, Qi Xi was struck with disbelief. So the takeout she’d assumed Gu Yan had just casually picked up turned out to have quite the backstory. Along with the shock, she felt a sweet little flutter in her chest.

Gu Yan had never said a word about it—he’d just handed it to her as casually as if it were ordinary home-cooked takeout. And after seeing how much Qi Xi had loved it, how enthusiastically she’d eaten, he’d kept buying it for her every few days during the time she’d stayed there. Given that a single meal apparently cost close to a month of Zhao Yiran’s salary, that meant she’d probably cost Gu Yan tens of thousands of yuan just during her stay…

Qi Xi had always considered herself a reasonably frugal, down-to-earth person. She never imagined that, without even realizing it, she’d already started living an extravagant, pampered lifestyle thanks to Gu Yan.

It felt like there was a wild little deer running loose in her heart, and she could practically feel its hooves bounding across a spring meadow.

To hide her obvious embarrassment and nervousness, Qi Xi instinctively changed the subject, looking at Zhao Yiran. “That expensive? How could you afford it? Weren’t you saving up for a down payment on an apartment? Even if you’re happy to be done with overtime, isn’t spending a month’s salary on a late-night snack a bit much?”

If only she hadn’t asked—because now it was Zhao Yiran’s turn to look shy, flustered, and embarrassed.

She stammered, dodging the question. “Well… it’s not like I bought it myself. Someone insisted on buying it for me to celebrate finishing my overtime stretch…”

Once Zhao Yiran got that far, Qi Xi understood. She leaned in close, grinning slyly. “Is this the sports-car rich kid who lured you away from me at the bar last time? No wonder you’re praising him so much!”

“He’s not just some ‘sports-car rich kid’! He has a name—Lin Junhe. Sure, his family’s pretty well-off, but he doesn’t rely on them—he’s basically built his own business. The money for this private kitchen was actually his own performance bonus, from hitting his KPI this month.”

Now Qi Xi was truly curious. She propped her chin on her hand. “So how far along are you two?”

Zhao Yiran probably wouldn’t normally have said anything, but between having just seen Lin Junhe, having had a bit to drink, being in a rather emotional mood, and her genuinely close friendship with Qi Xi, she found herself—shyly but honestly—sharing her secret. “Honestly… he’s been pursuing me pretty seriously, and he doesn’t have that typical showy rich-kid attitude at all—he’s actually quite grounded. His character, looks, education, everything’s solid. I couldn’t very well hold his money against him and refuse to give him a chance, right? So we officially became a couple a week ago. And obviously, by now, we’ve done everything there is to do.”

…?

What did she mean by “everything there is to do”?

Sensing the confusion in Qi Xi’s eyes, Zhao Yiran gave her a mildly exasperated look and lightly smacked her on the head with a folder from the table. “My straight-A genius, are you dense? Everything there is to do—that thing, obviously.”

“What thing?”

“You know… the thing that gets cut or censored out when you’re reading novels or watching dramas!” Zhao Yiran gave her a look like she was hopeless. “Honestly, are you being intentionally obtuse? When a man and woman date, isn’t that basically what it’s about? You think dating is still like the old days, just chatting under separate blankets? Look, I’m not saying it should be casual, but when the feelings are there and you both like each other, sleeping together naturally follows, and it feels good for both people—it’s perfectly normal.”

At this point Qi Xi finally caught on. She wasn’t a particularly conservative person, and she didn’t believe in mandatory premarital chastity, nor did she object to premarital sex on principle—but as someone experiencing her first relationship, she still found herself a little startled.

“You two only got together a week ago—isn’t that moving a bit fast?”

Zhao Yiran didn’t think much of it, tossing her hair back. “If a guy really, genuinely likes you, once you’re officially a couple, he simply can’t hold back on that front—if he treats you with nothing but polite distance and never brings it up at all, that’s actually the real red flag. In our civil division at court, we get plenty of cases of wives who got scammed, suing for divorce. In most of these stories, the guy never brought up anything physical during the dating period, and the woman mistook it for old-fashioned refinement and gentlemanliness—only for problems to surface after the wedding.”

“We’ve also had a case in civil division—husband filed first, actually—where the couple never lived together or tested things out before marriage, and once they got married, it turned out the husband couldn’t really perform. Now it’s a huge mess, completely irreconcilable.”

Zhao Yiran took a sip of water. “It’s a modern society now, men and women are equal, and honestly, some guys really might not be able to perform. Living together for a short period before marriage is genuinely necessary—it lets you check whether your personalities mesh, whether you can actually live together day to day, and yes, also whether you’re sexually compatible. That’s a huge part of married life.”

Qi Xi looked like she’d just had a realization. “Is that really how it works…”

“Of course!” Zhao Yiran frowned. “Anyway, why are you even asking about this? Are you seeing someone lately?”

“I am seeing someone.” Qi Xi felt a little nervous as she explained. “Just recently.”

“When are you going to bring him around to meet me?”

“N-next time, maybe.”

Qi Xi felt a bit uneasy, but thankfully Zhao Yiran didn’t press her on who the boyfriend was. She just stroked her chin with an air of profound insight. “So has this boyfriend of yours made any moves in that department yet?”

Feeling a little shy and not wanting to keep discussing this, Qi Xi looked away and went back to eating. “We just got together, so it’s normal that nothing’s happened yet. He’s pretty shy—it’s his first relationship too.”

“Oh come on! Haven’t you heard the saying—’a teenage boy’s mind is dirtier than a public restroom’? The more innocent a guy looks on the surface, the more mischief he’s got brewing underneath, trust me! What era do you think we’re living in? You actually think ‘pure, innocent boys’ still exist? Ninety percent of the so-called ‘pure boys’ on the market these days are just knockoff brands—counterfeit goods manufactured by perverts, I’m telling you!”

“…”

Qi Xi thought about what Gu Yan was like and found it hard to imagine him as some knockoff manufactured by perverts.

She tried to defend him. “I think…”

Zhao Yiran cut her off without mercy. “Don’t give me ‘I think.’ Listen, you really need to pay attention here—if your boyfriend hasn’t given you any further hints beyond hugging and kissing, something’s definitely wrong!”

Not long after she said this, a call came in from Lin Junhe, and Zhao Yiran retreated into her room with a sweet smile on her face to talk on the phone.

Zhao Yiran had spoken carelessly, without thinking much of it, but Qi Xi found herself lingering on it.

Now that she thought about it, ever since they’d gotten together, aside from kissing, Gu Yan really hadn’t crossed any further lines—there hadn’t even been a hint of intention, or a moment where he seemed to lose control of himself.

Was that normal?

Qi Xi found herself puzzled.

Was she just not attractive enough?

Or… was something actually wrong with Gu Yan…

Qi Xi fell asleep tangled in these overthinking spirals, and showed up to work the next day with two dark circles under her eyes.

In truth, they’d only been apart for one night, but Qi Xi already missed Gu Yan intensely—wanted to see him, wanted to be by his side, wanted to share every moment with him.

But work was work.

Once she got into her assigned tasks, Qi Xi wasn’t so lovestruck that Gu Yan consumed her every thought—she was still able to settle down quickly and complete the tasks Gu Xuehan had assigned her to a high standard.

Perhaps heaven itself intervened to keep Gu Yan’s charms from leading her astray entirely, because just before lunch, Gu Xuehan called Qi Xi into her office and handed her an urgent temporary assignment—a business trip to a neighboring city.

“It’s about Yuanchen, one of our client companies. There’s a labor dispute—HR ran into serious pushback while trying to terminate an employee, and they need us to send a lawyer over to help mediate. You’ve always been the one handling Yuanchen, and you’re on good terms with their HR director, Old Dong. I’ve got something come up this afternoon, so I need you to go in my place.”

Gu Xuehan took a sip of tea and smiled at Qi Xi. “I’ve looked over the email and materials their HR department sent. It’s not an especially difficult dispute—basically, a female employee who hasn’t been there a year yet is being terminated for repeated unauthorized absences, which counts as a serious violation under company policy. But young people these days can be difficult to deal with, and negotiations over her severance terms have gotten a bit ugly. The company’s in the middle of preparing for its IPO and wants this handled smoothly.”

Gu Xuehan added, “Old Dong’s an experienced hand at this—sending you over is really just to back him up. The two of you can play good cop, bad cop: pay out whatever’s legally required, and since the employee’s a woman, you can offer a bit more emotional reassurance, woman to woman, and smooth things over so she leaves without a scene. Yuanchen’s preparing for its IPO right now and doesn’t want a lawsuit breaking out at a time like this.”

Qi Xi had been through this type of work with Gu Xuehan several times already. When it came to terminations, employees were usually guarded and resistant toward the company’s own HR department, but bringing in a lawyer—an unfamiliar third party—tended to make things feel a little more emotionally manageable, allowing all three sides to sit down and negotiate calmly, working toward a resolution everyone could accept.

Yuanchen was, in fact, the very first client company Qi Xi had ever been assigned to handle, and she and their HR director, Old Dong, really were quite close.

When Qi Xi first started handling corporate advisory work as an intern lawyer, she’d made plenty of rookie mistakes—not just occasional flaws in her legal advice, but more often a lack of awareness about Yuanchen’s internal organizational dynamics and office politics, nearly causing serious trouble with how she cc’d emails. Fortunately, Old Dong had privately and kindly given her pointers more than once, which was how Qi Xi came to realize just how much care went into who got cc’d on an email and who didn’t. Thanks to his guidance, she’d avoided offending various mid- and senior-level staff at Yuanchen over something as small as an email.

Since then, on matters of compliance and termination disputes at Yuanchen, Old Dong, drawing on his experience as a seasoned HR director, had also given Qi Xi plenty of pointers beyond the strictly legal side. Sometimes, when Qi Xi was uncertain how to handle other labor disputes, she’d privately ask for his opinion, and every time, he’d shared his knowledge generously, never once looking down on her for being a junior lawyer.

During holidays, whenever Qi Xi made small handmade gifts, she never forgot to send one to Old Dong as well.

Though Gu Xuehan was technically her real boss, Qi Xi had learned a great deal from these friendly working relationships too.

In the workplace, as long as you kept an open mind and stayed willing to learn, anyone could become a mentor and friend.

For this trip to Yuanchen, helping Old Dong handle the labor dispute, Qi Xi was more than happy to go.