To Qi Xi’s surprise, the head of that film and television company actually showed up at the law firm on time the next day, and had also stopped cursing and grumbling. This time he brought a lawyer with him, finally adopting the attitude of discussing business as business.

Once it came to negotiation, Gu Xuehan was extremely capable. She had already communicated with Chen Xiang beforehand about the bottom line for Chen Xiang and Ai Xiang’s side, and moved almost with lightning speed to lay out several feasible breach-of-contract compensation plans for the film company. To express regret over the unilateral breach, Chen Xiang’s side was willing to offer additional compensation beyond the amount specified in the contract, as a gesture to soothe the other party’s feelings.

Once cooperation on a film and television project began, it involved enormous investment. If the original author’s side threw up obstacles right from the start, then once real money had actually gone in, disputes breaking out later would put them in an even more passive position. So this time, the head of the film company reluctantly accepted the compensation plan that was most favorable to himself.

Still, as he was leaving, he couldn’t help but voice some resentment: “Lucky for me I’d only just bought the rights and hadn’t formally put money into moving things forward yet. Otherwise, if things had progressed too far, I might have had to eat these losses myself.”

“But Ai Xiang won’t get far — too shortsighted. For this new book project of his, I’d already lined up a top-tier team to handle production. Sure, the price for the screen rights wasn’t the highest on the table, but he wasn’t famous yet at the time, and by the standards of that moment, what I offered was made in good faith. And look, I may talk rough, but I’ve been in this industry for over twenty years — my production quality and my casting are never going to be second-rate. I was even planning to bring in a well-known screenwriter for the script. We were about to sign. Now that he’s pulled a stunt like this, fine, whatever he wants.”

He sneered. “There are no secrets in this business — I already know which company can afford a price like twenty million these days. All I’ll say is, they’re new money from real estate playing at being film producers, and their team doesn’t have a single person who’s ever seen a project through from start to finish. I’ll be curious to see what they manage to turn it into. Twenty million is a tempting number, sure, but anyone willing to breach a contract with zero business ethics just for money — sooner or later, they’ll fall into a pit of their own making.”

When two parties strike a deal, they inevitably say every nice thing to each other; the moment they split, naturally, no insult is too ugly to hurl.

Chen Xiang didn’t seem to take it too much to heart. Even though she was the one in breach, she clearly came across as well-educated, her whole manner remaining gentle throughout. Even when the other party’s words veered close to personal attacks several times, she simply kept apologizing and taking it.

Qi Xi thought that if it hadn’t been for her attitude, the film company might not have agreed to terminate the deal so quickly.

Chen Xiang was clearly very satisfied with how the negotiation had gone, and thanked Gu Xuehan again and again: “My husband should sign the engagement agreement today and it should reach the firm by mail. I left Lawyer Qi’s contact information — I’ll have my husband settle the legal fees as soon as possible. Thank you so much for this.”

Her very first case, and it had resolved far more smoothly than she’d expected — Qi Xi let out a breath of relief.

Not long after, sure enough, she received the courier package containing the engagement agreement, already signed by Ai Xiang.

Except…

Qi Xi glanced at it casually, then noticed the courier was a local, same-city delivery.

Hadn’t Chen Xiang said Ai Xiang was away on a business trip out of town?

But this clearly…

Maybe he’d come back?

Qi Xi quickly followed the firm’s procedures to get the agreement stamped and processed, then contacted Chen Xiang to mail back one of the two copies.

Qi Xi asked tentatively, “Ms. Chen, should I send it to you, or to your husband?”

On the other end of the line, Chen Xiang’s voice was warm and gentle. “Just send it to me. He’s still out of town negotiating a deal.”

…

After hanging up, Qi Xi still felt a bit conflicted inside.

She’d heard from Zhao Yiran that Chen Xiang had originally worked as a university lecturer — a stable, respectable job. Before Ai Xiang became famous, it was this job that had supported the two of them. But after Ai Xiang made his name, there’d been a flood of interviews, collaborations, and miscellaneous work, so Chen Xiang had quit and taken on the role of his assistant, handling all these trivial matters — including everyday proofreading, fixing typos and awkward sentences, and now, as today, hiring a lawyer to negotiate a contract termination.

Except… it didn’t seem like Ai Xiang’s money was actually in Chen Xiang’s hands. Because if she’d been handed not just his work affairs but financial authority too, the legal fee wouldn’t need to wait until Ai Xiang got back from his “business trip.”

The case was over, but Qi Xi still felt a bit curious.

During lunch break, she looked up information about Ai Xiang online.

Ai Xiang was, of course, a pen name — its meaning tied to his wife, taken from a homophone of “loving Xiang.”

Qi Xi scrolled through Ai Xiang’s Weibo and found that aside from promoting his own work, nearly everything else was about his wife — including an unfailing daily love message to her, and frequent posts showing off their affection.

Thanks to the recent explosive popularity of Meeting the Immortal, Ai Xiang had been invited to numerous on-camera interviews, and in almost every single one, he couldn’t help bringing up his wife — earning him the nickname “the wife-flaunting maniac” among fans.

It was precisely because of this that Zhao Yiran felt she’d stumbled onto a fairy-tale romance.

Ai Xiang, in truth, wasn’t good-looking — you could even call him plain, or worse. He’d clearly given up entirely on weight management after years of writing from home; his skin was dark, and his eyes had a slightly triangular set to them. But his manner of speaking really was witty and engaging, and his devotion to love and to his wife had won him not only a huge following of female fans like Zhao Yiran, but also a large base of male supporters who found in him a sense of vicarious triumph, of climbing to the peak of life against the odds — proof that as long as you had an interesting soul, you could win a beautiful face.

On the surface, it was a lovely, wholesome story. But the more of Ai Xiang’s interview clips Qi Xi watched, the more uneasy she felt—

“Yes, I basically give in to my wife on everything. I’ve taken her to the most expensive rotating restaurant on the top floor, prepared nine hundred and ninety-nine roses, even had red wine flown in from France…”

“I just want her to not have to work anymore, because with what I earn now, I can easily support her.”

“Actually, back then, I applied for a job as a security guard at her residential complex, and it was love at first sight. To win her over, I really put in the effort — wrote her love letters every day, camped outside her door every day. She was pretty, she had plenty of other suitors, the type who drove luxury cars, so I’d make up excuses every day to keep them from getting into the compound… At first she wasn’t interested in me at all, kept turning me down, even warned me she’d call the police. But in the end, she gave in to me anyway.”

In the clip, the host laughed and teased Ai Xiang for being a “jealousy king,” and the comments below were full of laughing emojis too, but Qi Xi found it deeply uncomfortable.

Wasn’t this behavior just harassment, just creepy stalking? Why did it get whitewashed into “love” simply because it ultimately worked out? And those wife-flaunting posts of his — rather than praising his wife, weren’t they really, at their core, all about praising himself? Look how impressive he was — poor, not much education, yet he’d still managed to pull off an against-the-odds win with a wealthy, beautiful wife; look how much money he made now, showering his wife with all this seemingly extravagant romance…

But did Chen Xiang actually want any of this?

Qi Xi kept feeling that, based on Chen Xiang’s whole demeanor, she wasn’t the type who craved material things or a flashy, extravagant lifestyle. If anything, it was the faint exhaustion around her eyes that was hard to hide — the image of her rushing off in a fluster to pick up her child still lingered in Qi Xi’s mind.

It was at this point that the sound of a chair being pulled out beside her drew Qi Xi’s thoughts back.

Gu Yan was back.

Gu Yan had gone to file a case at the court that morning, so he hadn’t taken part in the Chen Xiang–Ai Xiang termination negotiation.

Qi Xi immediately filled Gu Yan in on the successful settlement, and then thanked him: “Gu Yan, you really had a way with it — they showed up right at ten-thirty like clockwork after all.”

“Mm.”

Unfortunately, Gu Yan didn’t react much. He simply sat down, opened his laptop, and looked ready to bury himself in work.

But Qi Xi noticed something out of the ordinary.

Gu Yan, who always favored cool-toned clothing, was actually wearing a pink shirt today!

Most guys couldn’t pull off a pale pink shirt, but Gu Yan, with his flawless cool-toned fair skin, genuinely could carry the color off.

Honestly, he looked really good in that pink shirt.

Qi Xi had never been able to picture him in pink before, but now that she’d actually seen it, her earlier flattery had somehow come true.

“Pink really suits you, Gu Yan!”

“Do you have nothing better to do? Can you focus on something professional for once?”

But despite his icy tone, Qi Xi keenly noticed his expression had visibly brightened.

“The Complete Guide to Gu Yan” truly doesn’t deceive me — Gu Yan really does like pink! He also likes having his preferences recognized and praised!

Looks like her efforts before hadn’t been for nothing after all! If Gu Yan hadn’t taken her compliments to heart, would he really have had the courage to be himself and wear a pink shirt to work for the first time in his life?

Clearly, her encouragement, her understanding and acceptance, had given Gu Yan enormous inner support.

Qi Xi felt a surge of determination to keep at it — with enough persistence, even the coldest, most difficult person could be worn down eventually. No matter how aloof or hard to handle Gu Yan was, if she kept catering to his tastes like this every day, surely they’d eventually reach peaceful coexistence.

Gu Yan always came in first, but wasn’t being unbeatable terribly lonely? If he had someone by his side who was just as accomplished as him and who could support and approve of even his oddest preferences, wouldn’t the two of them quickly become kindred spirits?

The thought had barely crossed her mind before she pulled out the whole fresh durian she’d specifically gone out to buy during her lunch break and set it down heavily on Gu Yan’s desk: “Gu Yan, I got this specially for you!”

Perhaps because she’d hit his taste so precisely, the moment she pulled out the durian, Qi Xi felt certain Gu Yan’s heart must be reeling. His gaze fixed on the durian, startled and complicated, and he was silent for a long moment before he seemed to find his voice and his composure again—

“What’s the meaning of you buying this?”

The first step to growing close and becoming good friends was becoming fellow enthusiasts. When two people shared the same tastes and interests, they always hit it off quickly.

Even though Qi Xi didn’t actually like durian — was even a little afraid of the smell — she still said calmly, under Gu Yan’s gaze, “Because my favorite fruit is durian! Sure, a lot of people don’t like the smell, but I still can’t help wanting to spread the word to the whole universe! I’m sure I can find someone out there who loves durian as much as I do!”

Gu Yan didn’t answer directly, just looked at Qi Xi: “You really like durian?” His dark, bright eyes stayed fixed on her. “Then why have I never once seen you eat it back in university?”

She really hadn’t eaten durian in university, but the way Gu Yan said it, it was as if he’d been paying close attention to her every move.

Qi Xi laughed awkwardly. “We lived in dorms in university — you know how it is, the smell carries even before you open it up. If I’d actually cracked one open, wouldn’t it have knocked out my roommates? Besides, eating this kind of thing, you need someone who shares your love for it to eat it with — that’s when it actually feels right. None of them liked it, so even if they didn’t mind the smell, eating it alone would’ve been lonely.”

The groundwork was pretty much laid. All that was left was the final push.

Qi Xi glanced at Gu Yan as if the thought had just occurred to her: “If you like it, we could eat durian together from now on! One whole durian is way too much for one person anyway! I never have anyone to share it with normally, so I don’t really get the chance to eat it! So, Gu Yan — do you like durian?”

Gu Yan stared at the enormous durian on the desk — perhaps too overwhelmed with surprise to speak. He sat there completely still for a long moment before finally looking back at Qi Xi and forcing out, as if squeezing the words out against resistance—

“It’s decent.”

Qi Xi hadn’t expected Gu Yan to actually be shy about it. She’d laid it on this thick, and this man was still keeping up appearances — faced with a whole premium Mao Shan Wang durian, he still managed an unmoved “it’s decent,” and said it so reluctantly, too. What a convincing act!

If she hadn’t had “The Complete Guide to Gu Yan” in hand already, she really might not have seen through Gu Yan’s saying one thing while meaning another — she’d have actually believed he was that reluctant.

Gu Yan stared at the durian, his expression hard to read, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, he turned back to Qi Xi: “So is this durian for the two of us to eat together?”

“No, no! No need! I bought two! There’s another one already sent to my place! You can just take this one home! We’ll each eat our own at home!”

Honestly, just the smell wafting off this durian right now was enough to make Qi Xi want to hold her breath — let alone actually eating the thing. She genuinely could not fathom Gu Yan’s fondness for this kind of fruit.

Gu Yan looked at Qi Xi: “Didn’t you just say eating alone feels lonely?”

“No, no! Now that I’ve found a fellow enthusiast in you, I don’t feel lonely anymore! Even if we’re not eating it in the same room, knowing that somewhere in the same city, someone who loves durian just as much is savoring this incredible fruit with the same feeling I have — it gives me a real sense of belonging!”

Gu Yan pressed his lips together, looked at the durian, and said nothing more.

Still, even though the durian was now his to enjoy alone, Gu Yan didn’t look particularly happy about it. Could it be… could it be that she’d bought too small a one?

Qi Xi quickly tried to make up for it: “Next time you can come with me to the supermarket, and we’ll get an even bigger one. Today I was carrying it back by myself at lunch, so I could only manage a small one.”

He must be upset she’d bought too small a durian — Gu Yan completely stopped responding to her.

But Gu Xuehan’s internal line rang before long, breaking the silence between them—

“There’s a contract with a partner company that needs to be signed tomorrow. The other side is requesting a bilingual version, so you two need to translate an English version tonight. It’s a bit urgent — I’ll email it over shortly. Split the work between yourselves — you might have to stay a bit late.”

As a newly hired trainee lawyer, Qi Xi was still in that state of restless energy with nowhere to burn it off, and now that she had an assignment, she was practically buzzing with enthusiasm — she’d done extremely well in legal English during undergrad and was fully confident about contract translation.

Wasn’t this the perfect chance to score points with Gu Yan?

Qi Xi immediately turned to Gu Yan, her expression the picture of sincerity: “Gu Yan, you should just head home and rest as usual tonight. You don’t need to bother with the contract translation — leave it all to me! Take the durian and go enjoy it at home!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Gu Xuehan’s email notification popped up.

Still wearing her considerate smile for Gu Yan, Qi Xi casually opened the attachment, and saw—

A fifty-page contract.

The smile still lingering on Qi Xi’s face gradually froze as she scrolled down through the document.

This fifty-page contract was no ordinary boilerplate agreement. It was a bulk procurement agreement for optical instruments, and because it involved equipment models and specifications, most of the terminology was highly technical — the “Definitions” section alone, which Qi Xi couldn’t even fully parse in Chinese, ran two full pages…

Qi Xi laughed awkwardly and looked at Gu Yan: “Gu Yan… maybe…”

Gu Yan had also seen the email, and now looked calmly at Qi Xi: “Didn’t you just tell me to leave early? In that case, I’ll head off first.”

“…” Qi Xi couldn’t bring herself to openly go back on her word, so she scrambled for an excuse instead. “Actually, looking at this durian, it’s really quite big — eating it alone might give you heatiness. Come to think of it, durian really is better shared. Why don’t you stay, and we eat it together?”

Not giving Gu Yan a chance to refuse, Qi Xi went on: “But everyone’s still here right now, and the smell would be too much. Why don’t you stay and help me translate the contract instead, and once everyone’s gone home later, we’ll find a conference room and eat the durian together.”

By this point Qi Xi was just making things up as she went — she hadn’t really expected Gu Yan to stay. But to her surprise, Gu Yan set down his laptop bag and sat back down at his desk: “Fine.”

He didn’t look at Qi Xi again, but he cleared his throat lightly, as if offering an explanation: “My parents don’t like durian — the smell’s too strong for the house. It’s fine in the conference room later; we can air it out after.”

Then Gu Yan opened his laptop and downloaded the contract attachment: “I’ll translate the first twenty-five pages, you take the last twenty-five.”

He glanced casually at Qi Xi as he said it: “I’ve got nothing else to do while we wait for everyone to leave anyway, might as well translate while I’m at it — that way you’ll finish sooner and can get to opening the durian sooner.” He paused, then added, “Since I don’t know how to open one, anyway.”

That was wonderful news.

And besides… though splitting it twenty-five pages each sounded fair on its face, the technical terminology and “Definitions” sections in the contract were concentrated almost entirely in the first twenty-five pages that Gu Yan had taken. The latter twenty-five pages were mostly standard legal boilerplate — rights and obligations of both parties, liability for breach, confidentiality clauses, and the like.

It had to be said, Gu Yan’s work efficiency really was formidable — as an opponent, he was frightening, but as a teammate, he was the kind of person you could lean on with complete peace of mind—

“I skimmed it — your section also has some technical terms that need translating. Since I’ll be covering those same terms in my section anyway, for consistency you can just leave those blank for now, and I’ll fill them in once I’m done with my part and unify the terminology. Then we’ll cross-check each other’s sections and polish things up a bit.”

Qi Xi gave an almost instant thumbs-up: “Sounds good.”

Once the two of them settled into work mode, they both threw themselves into it completely.

Although this was the first time she’d worked alongside Gu Yan, they turned out to be surprisingly in sync — their legal English levels were closely matched, so communication between them was completely seamless, and their pace and efficiency were about equal.

Qi Xi had always disliked group work, preferring to work solo, because other group members usually couldn’t keep up with her pace or her thinking. But this time, working with Gu Yan, for the first time she tasted the benefit of having a partner — together, the two of them finished translating the entire contract remarkably fast.

By now, it was nearly nine at night, and indeed, there was no one else left at the firm.

This…

Much as Qi Xi didn’t want to, she knew it was time to open the durian for Gu Yan…

That durian smelled so awful… she didn’t even like eating it herself…

But… she’d said herself that she loved durian, and she’d promised that once they finished translating, the two of them would share it…

Qi Xi could only force a cheerful, delighted smile and steel herself to carry the enormous durian toward the conference room: “Come on, Gu Yan, time to enjoy life! Happy durian time begins now!”

Gu Yan seemed to have been so absorbed in translating that the technical terms had worn him out a little, and he didn’t quite register it at first. It was only once he clearly saw the durian in Qi Xi’s hands that he looked almost dazed.

But dazed or not, Gu Yan still followed Qi Xi into the conference room.

Qi Xi put in tremendous effort prying the durian open with a fruit knife, and the instant it cracked open, an indescribable smell flooded the entire conference room. Qi Xi barely managed, through sheer willpower, to keep her expression composed, even forcing out a few smiles at Gu Yan as she tried once more to bond over their shared “love”—

“Gu Yan, smelling this familiar fragrance already puts me in such a good mood. Honestly, I really don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like durian — it’s just so delicious. But from now on, I’ll have you to share the joy of eating durian with — guess we’re fellow enthusiasts now!”

But maybe a single durian wasn’t enough to win over the ice-cold Gu Yan. Faced with his supposedly favorite fruit, the man’s expression was almost blank — yet the faint furrow of his brow betrayed some flicker of emotion beneath that blank exterior. He looked like he was forcing himself to endure something.

Well, of course — he must be holding back the sheer joy and satisfaction of facing something so delicious!

Gu Yan really was someone unwilling to face his own true desires! Such a faker!

Look at him — faced with a whole ripe durian this size, and still putting on that unshakable composure, as if the whole point were to send Qi Xi a message: he wasn’t going to forgive her that easily, not just because of one durian.

But none of that mattered.

Qi Xi held her breath and thought confidently — if one durian wasn’t enough, then two; if two weren’t enough, then three…

As long as she kept it up — a durian offensive every week if she had to — surely Gu Yan would eventually reveal his true feelings about durian?

As she thought this, she immediately dug out the biggest chunk of durian flesh, placed it on a disposable plate, and handed it to Gu Yan: “Here! The biggest piece is yours!”

Perhaps because of her proactive gesture of goodwill, as Gu Yan took the plate, his expression stayed blank on the surface, but his eyes seemed to grow even deeper and more complicated. Looking closely, there seemed to be a hint of…

A hint of wanting to die?

So — the saying about not being able to strike a smiling face applied here too? Faced with her durian offensive, even though he didn’t want to forgive her deep down, even Gu Yan couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed about it?

Between his resentment toward Qi Xi and this newfound kinship over their shared love of durian, was Gu Yan so torn and conflicted that he actually wanted to die a little?

Looked like this move of hers had really paid off.

To fit in with this new team, Qi Xi felt, every sacrifice she was making right now was worth it.

Thinking this, she cut herself a large piece of durian too, and — under Gu Yan’s complicated gaze — held her breath, forced on an expression of pure delight, and took a huge bite.

In that instant, tears nearly sprang to Qi Xi’s eyes.

Gu Yan blinked, startled. He hadn’t eaten his yet — he just looked at Qi Xi. “Why do you look like you’re about to cry? Doesn’t it taste good?”

Tears welling in her eyes, Qi Xi said, “It’s delicious! Why wouldn’t it be delicious? So delicious! Absolutely heavenly! Just thinking that this time I actually have someone to share it with, I almost teared up from happiness!”

Someone save me… this smell is way too intense… how does it taste even worse once it’s actually in my mouth… will I even be able to get this taste out of my mouth after brushing my teeth at home…

But under Gu Yan’s gaze, terrified of being caught, Qi Xi threw herself dramatically into performing her love of durian: “It makes you want more after every bite! I just can’t stop!”

Why did her own stupid hands have to go and buy such a huge durian? Next time, definitely getting a small one…

Heaven rewards those who persevere — her performance seemed to have finally worn down Gu Yan’s guard, fully convincing him that she really was his fellow durian enthusiast. The man finally lowered his head, looked at the durian in his hand, and, as if steeling himself through considerable internal effort, took the first step toward forgiving Qi Xi—

He took a bite of the durian she’d bought.

Yes! The first step of a long journey, taken!

Qi Xi, choking down the unbearable texture in her own mouth, could barely resist the urge to applaud Gu Yan on the spot.

Soon, wearing an indescribably complicated expression, Gu Yan took a second bite, then a third…

Only, perhaps because this man loved durian so much and hadn’t had it in so long, Qi Xi noticed for the first time that Gu Yan was eating remarkably fast — fast enough to call it wolfing it down. And this was the same man everyone considered the picture of gentlemanly elegance, known for his unhurried, measured way of eating.

Looked like the durian she’d bought was genuinely high quality, exactly to Gu Yan’s taste! Look how fast he was eating — like he was barely even chewing before swallowing it down.

This gave Qi Xi, who’d made such a huge sacrifice, a small measure of comfort, and she kept up her forced smile, continuing to eat durian alongside Gu Yan.

By the time most of the durian was gone, Qi Xi felt like her sense of taste and smell were one step away from total collapse.

Gu Yan had eaten quite a lot too, but he didn’t look at all energized by it — if anything, he looked like he’d been through an ordeal, thoroughly worn out.

Must still be from all that exhausting translation work earlier!

Today’s twenty-five pages of technical terminology — she really did owe Gu Yan for that!

She looked at Gu Yan: “Was the durian good?”

Gu Yan seemed to take a moment to recover, gazing out the window with a somewhat dazed expression, before finally forcing out two words—

“It’s decent.”

Saying one thing, meaning another!

Qi Xi thought it over and decided she’d need to buy durian for Gu Yan more often as a reward.

A little more of this self-sacrifice, and Qi Xi felt certain she and Gu Yan would be friends in no time.