Because of Gu Xuehan’s interruption, the earlier charged atmosphere had completely evaporated. After drinking the water Gu Yan brought her, Qi Xi actually did stay and have a proper discussion about a case with him—except partway through, a difference of opinion turned into an argument, neither willing to concede, until finally Gu Yan, at the end of his patience, pinned her against the wall and kissed her into silence, putting an end to the debate.

In the end, Gu Yan drove Qi Xi back to her rented apartment, and true to Gu Xuehan’s instructions, he even packed up some of the braised dishes for her to take along.

The next morning, sharing Gu Xuehan’s braised dishes with Zhao Yiran, Qi Xi’s mind was preoccupied with how she’d manage to hold her own in front of Gu Xuehan.

Fortunately, though Gu Yan had fieldwork that morning, Gu Xuehan was in the office—apparently with a case to assign—and she called Qi Xi on the internal line, asking her to come to her office.

This was exactly the opportunity Qi Xi had been waiting for. She’d deliberately worn a buttoned outfit today. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her notebook, and just before stepping into Gu Xuehan’s office, deliberately misaligned a few of her buttons, then walked in wearing an expression of practiced, oblivious calm.

**

“It’s a straightforward traffic accident case. Our client was driving when the other party ran a red light, forcing her into an emergency swerve that resulted in a single-vehicle accident. The windshield shattered, and glass fragments hit her in the face—she’s still in the hospital being treated, and there may be permanent scarring. Beyond filing an insurance claim, we’re also suing the party who ran the red light for civil damages. You haven’t handled a traffic case before, have you? Good chance to try one out. The amounts involved aren’t large, but cases like this are great for building your skills and helping you grow.”

Seeing Qi Xi, Gu Xuehan showed nothing out of the ordinary. As usual, she handed over the case materials and briefly walked her through the situation, seemingly absorbed in reviewing something else, barely even glancing up at her.

Heart pounding with nerves, Qi Xi asked a few questions about the traffic case based on the materials, then hesitated repeatedly before, right as she was about to leave the office, finally steeled herself and decided to go for it.

“Oh no.” Qi Xi said, her tone perfectly natural, feigning surprise. “My buttons are wrong again.”

Her expression showed genuine embarrassment and chagrin. She glanced up slightly before quickly offering a sheepish explanation. “I can never seem to get up in the morning, always rushing to the office in a hurry, and I keep buttoning myself wrong.”

Qi Xi felt her performance was quite convincing, since Gu Xuehan’s expression showed nothing unusual either—if anything, it seemed like it was only because Qi Xi had brought it up herself that Gu Xuehan even noticed the misaligned buttons.

Gu Xuehan glanced at Qi Xi’s chest and smiled. “You really did button it wrong. Be more careful next time—how a lawyer dresses conveys the kind of trust you can offer clients. Getting your buttons wrong like that is a little too careless for a lawyer.”

Qi Xi nodded repeatedly, sounding apologetic. “I’ll definitely be more careful next time.”

But nerves and guilt got the better of her. Despite having rehearsed this a thousand times beforehand, reminding herself countless times not to panic, when the moment actually came, Qi Xi still lost her composure. Even though the timing made no sense at all, before she quite realized what she was doing, she’d already blurted out something that practically confessed to the previous night’s events—

“Might be because I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, not sleeping well, that’s probably why I’ve messed up my buttons two days in a row now. But it definitely won’t happen again. Last night I realized I was pretty out of it too, ended up not buttoning things properly then either.”

The moment she said it, Qi Xi regretted it. Who in their right mind would voluntarily bring up “last night” out of nowhere? Way too deliberate, way too suspicious!

But to her surprise, Gu Xuehan looked genuinely taken aback at this. “You had your buttons wrong yesterday too? I didn’t even notice.”

She hadn’t noticed?!

Gu Xuehan’s surprise didn’t seem faked at all, and the tension Qi Xi had been holding suddenly eased. A wave of relief washed over her—apparently Gu Xuehan wasn’t quite as sharp-eyed as Gu Yan had made her out to be.

If Gu Xuehan hadn’t even noticed the buttons last night, then surely she couldn’t possibly have suspected anything about what she and Gu Yan had been doing in the living room? So last night really had been nothing but a false alarm after all?!

Qi Xi felt like she’d been granted a full pardon. She let out a huge sigh of relief, turned to smile at Gu Xuehan, and suddenly felt like she could hold her head high again. “Yeah, I messed them up last night too—when I went to Gu Yan’s place to grab a book, I noticed on my way home afterward. So embarrassing.”

Gu Xuehan smiled. “Is that right? I didn’t notice at all. Though I have to say, I didn’t realize you and Gu Yan were on such good terms privately—borrowing books that late at night. Honestly, I thought you two might be dating.”

Since Gu Xuehan clearly hadn’t noticed anything, Qi Xi decided to simply deny everything outright. “No, not at all, Attorney Gu. Gu Yan and I are just close old classmates and colleagues. Gu Yan isn’t seeing anyone.”

“Oh, is that so?” Gu Xuehan tilted her head. “Do you have a boyfriend then? Thinking about dating anyone?”

Feeling a bit steadier now, Qi Xi lied without so much as a blush. “I’m still focused on my career for now. No rush on the dating front—I’m still young, after all.”

Gu Xuehan seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded at her. “I see.”

Then she smiled at Qi Xi again. “In that case, I might need to assign you some of the upcoming overtime work.”

At the mention of work assignments, Qi Xi immediately straightened up. “Of course, Attorney Gu, that’s no problem at all.”

Gu Xuehan pressed her lips together, her gaze returning naturally to her computer screen as she added, almost offhandedly, “Since you’re not planning on dating anytime soon, you can take on a bit more of the team’s workload.”

Qi Xi found this a little curious—even though Gu Yan was Gu Xuehan’s own brother, given how scrupulously even-handed she usually was, most tasks had always been assigned to Qi Xi and Gu Yan together. Seeing Gu Xuehan apparently deciding to split their workloads now, Qi Xi couldn’t help asking, “Is Gu Yan going to be busy with a lot of assignments too?”

“No, not really.” Gu Xuehan’s red lips parted slightly. “Gu Yan’s single, after all. I noticed back in college he always seemed eager to date, just never managed to for various reasons. A friend of mine has a younger sister who just met him and apparently fell for him at first sight—I was thinking of setting them up.”

Gu Xuehan smiled warmly at Qi Xi. “I actually had someone suitable in mind to introduce you to as well, but since you’re clearly focused on building your career, I won’t get in your way there. I might just end up bringing Gu Yan along to a few more blind date gatherings instead, so you’ll need to pick up a bit more of the workload during this stretch. Of course, the more cases you handle, the faster your skills will grow too—seems like that lines up nicely with your ambitions, doesn’t it?”

She took a sip of tea and looked at Qi Xi. “You’re fine with that, right?”

Qi Xi felt a small measure of relief that Gu Xuehan clearly hadn’t caught on to anything between her and Gu Yan—but the moment she heard about setting him up with someone, her stomach churned with discomfort, like she’d eaten something bad.

Still, having told the lie, she had no choice but to see it through to the bitter end. Suppressing her turmoil, she nodded stiffly. “No problem at all.”

Just as Qi Xi, mind racing, turned to leave, Gu Xuehan called her back. “Since you two are so close, why don’t you help me out—what type of girl does Gu Yan usually go for?”

With that, Gu Xuehan pulled up photo after photo on her phone. “Out of these, which one do you think Gu Yan would most likely be drawn to?”

Several?!

“Wait, didn’t you say it was just your friend’s younger sister who fell for him at first sight? Why are there so many—”

Gu Xuehan flicked her hair back. “Oh, there’s actually quite a few, I left out the rest. There’s also a client’s relative, a young court clerk, and this childhood neighbor Gu Yan grew up with…”

The flames of jealousy in Qi Xi’s chest kept climbing higher. Exactly how many people had fallen for Gu Yan at first sight?! And he had a childhood neighbor friend too?! Why hadn’t he ever mentioned any of this to her!

Holding back her frustration, but unable to react openly with Gu Xuehan right there, Qi Xi leaned in with feigned composure. She’d barely glanced at the first photo on Gu Xuehan’s phone before feeling a fresh wave of unease and displeasure.

The girl in that first photo was stunningly beautiful—Qi Xi even thought she looked like the same general type as herself, though with an even gentler, more approachable air in her eyes. Genuinely likable, warm at first glance.

Before Qi Xi’s sense of alarm could even peak, Gu Xuehan swiped to the second photo, and this one showed a girl who looked even more striking and mature. Then the third, the fourth…

Why did they keep getting prettier?!

Qi Xi felt increasingly suffocated.

If Gu Xuehan really believed Gu Yan was single and sent him off to meet an entire lineup of gorgeous women like this, what if… what if he actually lost his composure and got tempted by one of them!

And even setting aside the question of temptation—why should he even be allowed to go meet all these women who were interested in him in the first place! He already had her!

The more Qi Xi thought about it, the more suffocated she felt, but Gu Xuehan seemed to think this wasn’t quite dramatic enough yet, adding with a sigh, “A few of these girls have actually been pretty forward about it too, saying they want to pursue Gu Yan themselves. Honestly, you have to admire how bold young women are these days, going after what they want. Someone as quietly reserved as Gu Yan—who knows, maybe persistence would actually pay off.”

“…”

Qi Xi stood frozen, but inside, the flames were burning hotter and hotter.

Only then did Gu Xuehan seem to notice Qi Xi was still standing there. She blinked, looking genuinely surprised. “What’s wrong, Qi Xi? Something else you needed? Why do you look so upset?”

Qi Xi felt like a long-suffering undercover agent who could have gracefully retired with honor intact—but instead, at the very last moment, in defense of her own lofty principles, chose to blow her own cover in a kind of suicide mission…

Her mouth moved faster than her brain could keep up. Words came out before her thoughts had even caught up—

“Attorney Gu, please don’t set Gu Yan up on any blind dates.”

Gu Xuehan looked startled. “Hm?”

Well, it was already out there.

In for a penny, in for a pound—Qi Xi figured she might as well go all in now.

“Gu Yan already has a girlfriend. So there’s no need for blind dates.”

Gu Xuehan’s interest was clearly piqued now. She raised an eyebrow. “But didn’t you just tell me Gu Yan was single?”

Bracing herself under Gu Xuehan’s knowing gaze, Qi Xi pushed on. “He just, um, recently and secretly got into a relationship. Since he’s worried it might not look great, it’s still being kept under wraps for now…”

Though she’d already started down this path, when it came to actually admitting that Gu Yan’s girlfriend was her, Qi Xi still hesitated, trying to figure out how to phrase it more confidently and convincingly. But before she could settle on the right words, Gu Xuehan spoke first, laughing softly—

“Qi Xi. His secret girlfriend is you, isn’t it?”

Wha—

Wh-what?!

Gu Xuehan watched Qi Xi’s eyes go wide, her tone turning faintly amused. “I’m a little hurt you two kept it a secret from me too. I’ve always been a firm believer in keeping things in the family, so to speak.”

“B-but how did you know…” Qi Xi felt completely thrown off balance, her face flushing deep red. “You said you didn’t notice…”

“I didn’t notice your buttons.” Gu Xuehan took a sip of tea. “But you two left way too many other clues.”

Qi Xi wanted to disappear into the floor. “Was it because Gu Yan’s explanation had so many holes in it?”

“Not really.” Gu Xuehan smiled slyly. “I didn’t need him to say a word. I already knew.”

How could that be…

Gu Xuehan glanced at her. “You know Gu Yan’s front door has a motion-sensor light, right?”

Qi Xi nodded, but couldn’t see what that had to do with anything.

“After you two headed upstairs, the light came on, then went off. But it stayed off for a long while, and you still hadn’t come inside.” Gu Xuehan smiled. “Funny enough, I happened to be standing right by the door at the time, about to let myself out, when I saw through the gap by the door that the motion light outside had switched on.”

Qi Xi stared at Gu Xuehan, bewildered. Gu Xuehan just kept smiling at her, watching.

It took a few moments before color began creeping across Qi Xi’s face in waves.

She understood what Gu Xuehan meant now.

The motion light had gone dark for a long stretch, yet they still hadn’t come inside—and there’d been no more talking outside to trigger the light again either. Which meant they must have been doing something in that darkness that didn’t involve talking…

Gu Xuehan didn’t say anything further, but by now Qi Xi understood everything perfectly. Gu Xuehan had known, from that very moment, that Gu Yan was outside kissing someone—she just hadn’t known who. And by the time Qi Xi and Gu Yan had finally opened the door and come inside, they’d been caught red-handed regardless. Gu Xuehan hadn’t needed to notice any buttons, hadn’t needed Gu Yan’s flimsy excuses—she’d already seen straight through it all, far more perceptive than Qi Xi had ever imagined.

“The girl who gave the speech at the graduation ceremony—that was you too, wasn’t it?”

Faced with this question, all Qi Xi could do was lower her head and admit it. “Yes. I’m sorry, I misjudged Gu Yan back then.”

Gu Xuehan didn’t seem to mind at all, breaking into delighted laughter instead. “Now I finally understand why Gu Yan absolutely refused to say who it was back then, wouldn’t take any action, and was so determined to protect her identity. Honestly, thinking about what my brother must have gone through emotionally—it’s almost too pitiful not to laugh about.”

“…”

“But I really am surprised it turned out to be you. My brother really can keep a secret.” Gu Xuehan mused. “I was genuinely shocked when I saw you last night, but thinking back on it, I suppose there were signs all along. I just never imagined an office romance was happening right under my nose… No wonder Gu Yan’s been acting so strange lately—I’d ask him to help translate a document on weekends a few times, and he kept saying he was busy, which wasn’t like him at all, given how he used to practically live at the office…”

Was this Gu Xuehan coming to settle scores?

Qi Xi asked nervously, “So, Attorney Gu, how do you feel about office romances…” She reconsidered her wording. “Will you be asking one of us to transfer off the team? Gu Yan really did want to focus on his work—it was me who pulled him into this relationship in the first place. If Gu Yan’s been distracted from his responsibilities, that’s on me. If there’s going to be any consequences, I really hope they won’t fall on him.”

Unable to gauge Gu Xuehan’s reaction, Qi Xi kept talking, faster and faster. “That night at Gu Yan’s door too, it was me who pulled him into it—it had nothing to do with him…”

Although Jingheng didn’t have any formal rule against office relationships, many bosses generally frowned on colleagues within the same team or department dating, worried it might affect productivity, and would often require one party to at least transfer departments. Some firms, to set an example and make management easier, even issued internal warnings or reprimands.

Qi Xi felt deeply anxious inside, already mentally preparing herself to accept a transfer. But before she could volunteer for one herself, Gu Xuehan spoke up cheerfully. “I actually support office romances. It works out great, doesn’t it—you two won’t have to worry about not having time to see each other, since you can just work overtime together! Two people working overtime together get things done faster too! And with a date waiting at the end of it, you’ll both be extra motivated to wrap up early—more efficient all around!”

“…” Though Gu Xuehan’s answer came as a relief, Qi Xi found herself curious. “Aren’t you worried that if Gu Yan and I have a falling out and break up, it’ll affect our work?”

Gu Xuehan smiled, her voice completely certain. “No. Gu Yan will never break up with you.”

Qi Xi blinked, caught off guard.

Gu Xuehan closed her laptop, about to say something more to Qi Xi, when an abrupt sound of the door opening interrupted her—

“Sis.”

Standing in the doorway was, unmistakably, Gu Yan.

He must have just gotten back from fieldwork, looking like he’d rushed over in a hurry, his voice still carrying the breathless unsteadiness of someone who’d been running.

Gu Yan walked straight into the office, over to Qi Xi’s side, and positioned himself in front of her. “Sis. A colleague told me you’d called Qi Xi in and she’s been in here a while.”

His brow furrowed slightly. Though his expression stayed composed, there was a note of unmistakable unease in his voice. He glanced at Qi Xi and said softly, “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m here.”

Then he turned to face Gu Xuehan. “Sis, don’t give Qi Xi a hard time.”

Qi Xi tugged desperately at his sleeve, but Gu Yan seemed to have made up his mind. Not only did he ignore her tugging, he didn’t budge either, standing his tall frame squarely between her and Gu Xuehan, blocking Qi Xi’s view so completely that all she could do was listen to Gu Xuehan’s rather wistful-sounding voice—

“You’re always so careful at the firm, never once calling me ‘sis’—always ‘Attorney Gu.’ And now, for Qi Xi’s sake, suddenly it’s ‘sis’ this and ‘sis’ that, trying to play the sympathy card.”

Caught out, Gu Yan visibly stiffened for a moment, but he pressed on regardless, his tone almost urgent in its earnestness. “I’ve liked Qi Xi for a long time—since college. She didn’t want to date at first. It was me who kept pursuing her until she finally agreed to be with me. Don’t blame her for this. And if there’s ever an issue with her work, you shouldn’t be pressuring her about it—talk to me instead.”

“The two of you, coming at me together, putting on this whole tragic little performance to guilt-trip me into backing off?” Gu Xuehan sounded thoroughly exasperated. “Qi Xi says she’s the one who dragged you into this, you say it was you who dragged her in—your little ‘criminal partnership’ sure has some strong team cohesion.”

“Go on, both of you, get out of my sight, I’m swamped. If you want to do some ‘team bonding,’ take it somewhere else after work.” Gu Xuehan rubbed her temples. “Close the door behind you on your way out.”

Ignoring the obvious embarrassment on both their faces, Gu Xuehan simply waved them off, dismissing them like a queen granting leave to her subjects.

Just as Qi Xi, moving in near-perfect step with Gu Yan, was about to escape the office, she heard Gu Xuehan add one more thing—

“Oh, and once you two have some free time, bring Qi Xi home for dinner.”

…

Did that mean meeting Gu Yan’s parents?

Just the thought of it made Qi Xi’s heart start racing, her breathing quickening. She practically fled Gu Xuehan’s office, suddenly feeling utterly foolish for ever thinking she could pull one over on her—the two of them combined couldn’t outmatch Gu Xuehan.

Face burning bright red, she walked back to her desk, wanting nothing more than to smack herself twice.

Having just lived through such a mortifying scene, Gu Yan seemed far more composed than Qi Xi—though the way he kept reaching for his water glass to hide his own awkwardness once he sat down gave away that he wasn’t entirely at ease either.

Qi Xi didn’t know what to say, especially during work hours, so she just shot him a fierce-but-hollow glare and turned to start reviewing the traffic accident case Gu Xuehan had assigned her.

Gu Yan didn’t say anything more either, opening his laptop to check his email, his expression a picture of composure.

Qi Xi almost believed he’d already put the whole embarrassing episode behind him—until, hidden beneath the cover of the desk, his right hand reached over and gently caught hold of her left pinky finger.