After staying at Gu Yan’s place for an entire weekend, Qi Xi decided it was time to go home.

“Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I think even in the honeymoon phase we need to keep some privacy. Plus—plus when we’re together, I feel like I can’t really focus on work. You’ve been distracted by me too, haven’t you?”

On this point, Gu Yan really had no argument. The two of them had spent the entire weekend wrapped up in each other. Since Saturday had been so unproductive, they’d agreed that Sunday they would properly study case files and discuss them, and at first they really did try. But soon enough, either Qi Xi would catch herself staring at him and lose focus, or he’d turn and pull her close—they did look at the case, but their minds kept wandering.

In the end, Gu Yan drove her back to her rented place. They kissed lingeringly in the car before she finally waved goodbye and got out.

**

Normally at this hour on a Sunday, Zhao Yiran would be out on a date rather than home. Ever since she’d gotten a boyfriend, her weekends were often spent elsewhere. But today, unexpectedly, when Qi Xi opened the door, she ran right into Zhao Yiran watching TV in the living room.

Zhao Yiran glanced back at her, then suddenly seemed to notice something and turned to look more closely, gossip written all over her face.

“Qi Xi, did you spend the weekend with your boyfriend?”

Qi Xi blinked. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

Zhao Yiran smirked wickedly and pointed at her neck.

Qi Xi checked herself in the full-length mirror in the living room and flushed. She’d told Gu Yan not to leave marks anywhere visible, and yet… She sheepishly adjusted her collar upward.

Still, despite the embarrassment, there was nothing shameful about it, especially since she’d already decided to tell Zhao Yiran that she and Gu Yan were together—after all, her possessive boyfriend was practically dying to announce his existence to all her friends.

She could still remember what he’d said in the car, very seriously—

“If we just casually mention to Zhao Yiran that we’re together, it feels too perfunctory. She’s your closest friend, after all. I’d like to be introduced a bit more formally as your boyfriend.”

Naturally, Qi Xi had decided to grant him this small request.

So she sat down next to Zhao Yiran and, quite solemnly, took her hand. “Zhao Yiran, which evening are you free soon?”

Confused, Zhao Yiran answered on reflex, “Day after tomorrow evening, why?”

“I—I want you to meet my boyfriend. Let’s grab dinner together, a proper introduction.”

At this, Zhao Yiran perked right up. “Yes! Yes! Too bad my boyfriend’s away on a business trip, otherwise we could’ve done a double date. But no time to waste—let me meet this boyfriend of yours first and vet him for you!”

She continued excitedly, “I never expected our little bookworm Qi Xi, who never paid attention to anything outside her studies, to move this fast. I’m curious what he looks like—from college to work, you’ve had so many admirers and never gave any of them a second glance. What kind of magic did this guy work to land our law school’s golden girl so quickly?”

Zhao Yiran’s gaze drifted teasingly to Qi Xi’s neck. “I thought you’d be conservative about this, given it’s your first relationship, but clearly things are moving fast. Wow, this guy’s got some serious skills!”

Qi Xi felt a little thin-skinned about it. “It’s not like that—he’s actually really good to me. He’s had a crush on me for a long time too…”

“Plenty of people have had crushes on you for a long time. You’re not exactly handing out charity—why haven’t I seen you soften up for any of them before?” Zhao Yiran scoffed. “You’re just biased because you’re in love.”

Thinking it over, Qi Xi had to admit that was fair—these days, everything about him seemed right, seemed good. Just seeing him, even doing nothing at all, even in silence, made her feel happy.

In the past, she’d always been chasing first place, always wanting to be better. But even after achieving good results, she never felt satisfied, always already thinking about the next ranking to chase.

For the first time in her life, being with him, she felt she could stop. Those hollow pursuits no longer held her interest; there was someone more important now to love. Even after everything with her father’s affair, she still felt grateful for her life, content with where things stood now, no longer greedy for more.

With him around, what she had already felt like enough.

**

As for meeting Zhao Yiran under his true identity, Gu Yan, though outwardly composed, was clearly taking it very seriously. On the day of the meeting, even though he had no court appearances scheduled, he put on an unusually formal suit.

But plans rarely survive contact with reality—just before he was set to leave, Gu Xuehan assigned him an urgent task: picking up a confidential document from a client.

“Go ahead without me. I shouldn’t be too late. If you two get hungry, order and eat, don’t wait for me.”

Qi Xi nodded, and they parted ways, she heading to the agreed meeting spot first.

She arrived earlier than planned, only to find Zhao Yiran had gotten there even earlier.

“Don’t you usually work overtime?”

Zhao Yiran flicked her hair. “I moved my work aside specially to meet your boyfriend. Touched? So where’s your boyfriend, anyway?”

Qi Xi looked a little sheepish. “He had something urgent come up at work, he’ll be a bit late. If you’re hungry we can start without him.”

Zhao Yiran didn’t mind, and instead launched into casual chatter—

“Did you hear? Meng Mei already got married! But not to the boyfriend she’d been with for eight years—apparently they broke up six months ago over family differences, and then she went on a blind date and ended up marrying someone else in no time!”

“And Zhang Xu, remember he was the academic slacker back in school? Now he’s running his own legal content channel and it’s actually doing really well…”

Even though they lived together, both were usually too busy with work to have long chats, so this rare opportunity to catch up on old classmates’ lives kept the conversation lively and pleasant.

But then…

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Zhao Yiran’s expression turned mysterious as she brought up Gu Yan.

“By the way, did you know? It seems Gu Yan has a girlfriend.”

Qi Xi blinked.

Before she could respond, Zhao Yiran lowered her voice. “You two see each other all the time at work—do you know? Have you seen his girlfriend? She must be a total knockout, right? Amazing figure and everything?”

“I know, but she’s not exactly some ‘total knockout’…”

Though Qi Xi knew she looked good, some modesty was still called for.

Still, with the conversation already going this direction, even though Gu Yan had wanted to keep it a surprise, she felt she should clarify things.

But before she could get a word out to gently reveal that she herself was this girlfriend, Zhao Yiran continued, “You’re probably just not sensitive to other pretty girls because you’re pretty yourself. Trust me, Gu Yan’s definitely dating some incredible bombshell.”

Mid-gossip, Zhao Yiran suddenly changed direction. “You know Clerk Shen at our court, right? The fair-skinned, delicate-looking one? She’s been the court clerk for several of Gu Yan’s cases recently, and, well, you know how he looks—she developed a crush on him. She tried to ask him out a few times, secretly, but he always turned her down citing work. She was pretty down about it for a while, didn’t dare make a move for months, but she never quite gave up either. Just recently she was finally getting ready to confess properly and try again—and then she ran into Gu Yan at a convenience store.”

There was more to this story?!

Qi Xi perked right up. “So did she confess? At the convenience store?”

That rotten Gu Yan, why hadn’t he reported this to her!

“Confess, nothing! Her heart just shattered on the spot!”

Seeing Qi Xi’s confused expression, Zhao Yiran deliberately drew out the suspense before lowering her voice further. “There he was, calm and composed, buying two big boxes of Durex!”

“…”

Zhao Yiran shook her head in disbelief. “So you see, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Here you’d think Gu Yan was all cold and reserved, practically allergic to the opposite sex—turns out he’s a perfectly normal man after all… Honestly, even I was shocked when I heard it from our Xiao Shen.”

Worried Qi Xi might not fully grasp the scale of it, Zhao Yiran even mimed the size in the air. “Boxes this big, you know? Gu Yan really is a hidden gem, I’m honestly impressed—looks all pure and innocent on the surface, but underneath he’s a total wolf in sheep’s clothing…”

Shaking her head with mock regret, Zhao Yiran continued, “So I’m telling you, his girlfriend has to be some sultry bombshell. Poor Xiao Shen’s confession died before it even began. Judging by how he looked, he’s clearly got a girlfriend, and they’re deep in the honeymoon phase, completely obsessed with each other physically. Our poor Xiao Shen came back and cried about it.”

Shaking her head once more, Zhao Yiran added, “No idea what kind of vixen managed to snag him—she must have some serious tricks up her sleeve. To think our school’s number one heartthrob would fall so hard!” She glanced at Qi Xi again. “Just imagine, the two best-looking people from our law school, both snatched up by scheming outsiders!”

“…”

Just as Qi Xi opened her mouth to explain, the restaurant door opened, and Gu Yan walked in, heading straight toward them.

He’d always carried himself well and had striking looks, and now, dressed formally in a suit, he’d shed the last traces of collegiate youthfulness, taking on a mature air, like fine wine finally reaching its peak.

Not just Qi Xi—even strangers who had no idea who he was couldn’t help but glance twice when they heard the commotion he caused walking in. Zhao Yiran was no exception; she instinctively looked toward the door too, and spotted him.

She froze for a moment, then began frantically signaling Qi Xi, whispering, “Hey, what a coincidence, Gu Yan’s at this restaurant too, and dressed to the nines—he’s definitely here to meet a woman.”

Zhao Yiran’s gossip instincts kicked into high gear. Ducking her head to avoid being spotted, eyes glued to him, she pulled out her phone. “Let me see what Gu Yan’s fox-spirit girlfriend looks like. I need to give Xiao Shen a live report so she knows exactly who she lost to. Let me get a shot of Gu Yan first, to show her…”

But despite all her ducking and dodging, Gu Yan was walking straight toward them. Seeing this, Zhao Yiran grew nervous. “Hey, hey, he’s coming this way. I didn’t even use flash, he couldn’t have noticed me taking a photo…”

“Qi Xi.”

He arrived at their table without so much as a glance at Zhao Yiran, looking only at Qi Xi. She said “mm,” and only then did he turn to Zhao Yiran. “Sorry I’m late.”

With that, he pulled out a chair and sat down right beside Qi Xi.

Zhao Yiran, who’d been trying so hard to seem composed, was completely thrown by this. “Huh?”

Clearly still not caught up, she stared at him blankly and laughed awkwardly. “What a coincidence, Gu Yan, you’re eating here too? Still waiting on someone? Haha.”

Still, being naturally outgoing, since he’d already sat down at their table, Zhao Yiran didn’t hold back. “By the way, do you have a partner now? Someone from our school?”

Gu Yan nodded calmly. “Mm.”

Zhao Yiran looked surprised. “Really, someone from our school? Keeping it in-house? Don’t tell me it’s someone from our law school?”

He nodded again. “It’s…”

But before he could finish, Zhao Yiran cut him off. “Wait, don’t tell me—let me guess!”

She thought it over. “It’s Qin Qihan, right? The entertainment officer for our law school class. I always thought there was something between you two—you two barely talked, but whenever you were together the air just felt different, like there was electricity, always exchanging glances. I had a feeling you two would end up together!”

But at this bold guess, she noticed both Qi Xi’s and Gu Yan’s expressions had darkened.

He, in particular, corrected her almost instantly. “When did I ever exchange glances with Qin Qihan? I barely even know her. Don’t slander me.”

He seemed almost desperate to clarify, a hint of nervousness on his face.

“Then Zhu Ya?” Zhao Yiran, having missed once, was convinced she wouldn’t miss twice. “It must be her—I even did your astrological compatibility once, your signs are a great match!”

But once again, Gu Yan’s face darkened as he corrected her. “Not her. The person I’ve liked has only ever been one person, from beginning to end…”

He tried several times to announce who his girlfriend was, but Zhao Yiran wouldn’t let him get a word in, insisting on running through practically every female classmate’s name from their year, refusing to believe she couldn’t guess it, because every single time, he shot her down flatly.

So…

Zhao Yiran looked at Qi Xi, then back at Gu Yan. “So…”

Qi Xi relaxed, thinking her friend had finally figured it out, and was just about to speak up and claim the title of Gu Yan’s girlfriend when Zhao Yiran’s eyes went wide with shock—

“Gu Yan, so—your partner is a man?! Which guy from our class did you end up with?”

She seemed to have an epiphany. “I’m sorry, I was being narrow-minded, assuming ‘partner’ automatically meant a woman. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t accept it or have any prejudice—Gu Yan, you go ahead and love boldly, I support you.” She looked apologetic. “Actually it’s not that surprising, now that I think about it—I always thought you were so immune to women that maybe you were actually conductive to men instead. My mistake…”

“…”

Qi Xi finally couldn’t take it anymore. Half exasperated, half amused, she said, “You’ve practically gone through every girl in our class, and now you’re moving on to guys—am I really the only one you didn’t think of? Do Gu Yan and I really give off zero chemistry?”

Zhao Yiran’s face showed genuine bewilderment. “You two? Weren’t you two always at odds? Haven’t you heard the saying—two tigers can’t share one mountain? There’s no way, absolutely no way between you two! Unless a miracle happens!” She turned back to him. “Gu Yan, so who is it, then?”

He pressed his lips together, saying nothing, simply lifting the hand he’d already been holding beneath the table—Qi Xi’s hand—up onto the table for all to see, and looked calmly at Zhao Yiran. “Well then, Zhao Yiran, today you get to witness a miracle.”???

Three literal question marks seemed to pop above Zhao Yiran’s head.

She stared, wide-eyed, at their clasped hands.

After a long pause, as if it had finally clicked, she slapped the table hard, eyes practically bulging out of her head. “Holy crap! Are you two even human?! How long have you been hiding this from me?! This is basically an ambush right under my nose!”

She continued, furious. “So Qi Xi is Gu Yan’s vixen girlfriend? And Gu Yan is Qi Xi’s fox-spirit boyfriend? Something’s off here—usually the female fox spirit goes after some plain, honest scholar, and the male fox spirit goes after some stubborn little innocent flower. How did you two, of all people—the most calculating people I know—end up scheming each other into a relationship? A mountain really can’t hold two tigers, unless it’s one male and one female! I can’t believe I never thought of it—you two, with all your tricks, went and used them on each other!”

Since the cat was out of the bag, Qi Xi no longer bothered with modesty. “Basically, it’s exactly what you’re seeing. Gu Yan’s hopelessly in love with me—the moment I said I wanted to be with him, he agreed.”

Zhao Yiran clearly didn’t buy it. “No way! Qi Xi, you definitely chased him down, didn’t you? Back at graduation, the way you talked about him, and then when you found out his sister was your boss at the firm, weren’t you terrified, practically groveling to get on his good side? There’s no way he pursued you! Qi Xi, we’re close enough that you don’t need to save face in front of me.”

But tonight was apparently a night for witnessing miracles, because the usually reserved and aloof Gu Yan suddenly spoke up. “What Qi Xi said is true.” He looked at her, his gaze soft and doting. “I really am the one who’s hopelessly in love. To the point where if she crooked her finger, I’d follow her anywhere.”

He turned to Zhao Yiran. “So, Zhao Yiran—allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Qi Xi’s boyfriend, Gu Yan.”

His smile was polite, but his words carried a certain edge. “Thank you for always looking out for Qi Xi. But going forward, no more matchmaking for her, please.”

“…”

Not to be outdone, Qi Xi added, pouting, “And I have something to say too—from now on, whoever tries to pursue you, you have to report it to me! Full disclosure!”

…

Watching the newly minted couple bicker back and forth, completely absorbed in each other and leaving no room for anyone else to get a word in, Zhao Yiran felt she really shouldn’t be sitting at this table—she should be hiding under it.

She felt thoroughly wronged. Here she was, giving up a perfectly good night to come have dinner with the two of them, and what kind of dinner was this? This wasn’t dinner, this was a mouthful of secondhand romance!