Tan Wenxi quickly came to regret it, because he hadn’t expected that when Gu Xuehan said “assistant,” she meant it literally. He’d assumed it was just an excuse she was using to save his pride while quietly helping him out, that there wouldn’t be much actual work involved. As it turned out, for a part-time job paying four thousand yuan a month, she handed him a workload worthy of forty thousand—

“These case files are everything I’ve handled since I joined the firm after graduation. I’ve been organizing and categorizing them on and off, but the old ones still aren’t done, and new ones keep coming in. Since you’re here, use this month to sort and bind all of these properly, then file them in the archive room.”

“Also, remember to water and maintain the plants on my desk every few days—admin’s already warned me that if my plant turnover rate stays this high, they’re going to start charging me for it separately.”

“You’re also responsible for collecting all packages addressed to me from the front desk, and arranging them chronologically…”

On his very first day, Gu Xuehan rattled off a whole list of tasks for Wenxi, without any mercy.

“And bring your ID and a photocopy—go through the process with admin. Even though it’s only a month-long part-time position, you’ll still need to go through the contract process, including signing a confidentiality agreement, since during your time here you might come across information about clients or past cases.”

…

Once she finished, Gu Xuehan left the temporary workstation she’d arranged for him and headed straight back to her office, shutting the door to get to work.

Staring at the closed door, Tan Wenxi began to question his own intentions—he’d wanted a reasonable excuse for more contact with Gu Xuehan, but not only had that failed to materialize, he’d had to spend ages cleverly stalling admin about the contract, since he couldn’t provide his real ID. And the worst part…

Looking at the mountain of case files piled in front of him, Tan Wenxi felt something close to genuine despair.

Gu Xuehan was far busier than he’d imagined—constantly in video conferences with clients, or off in court or meeting clients in person. Tan Wenxi practically camped out at the firm every day, but his chances of actually seeing or chatting with her were slim.

Still, if you wanted to make an impression, you could always find a way.

Even in the brief moments he did see her, Wenxi found ways to make his presence known—

Warm milk every morning, coffee after lunch, and in the evenings, whenever Gu Xuehan stayed to work overtime, a pot of soup pre-prepared for her—since Wenxi’s family housekeeper made excellent soup, he simply presented her efforts as his own.

Sure enough, this quickly earned Gu Xuehan’s approval.

After drinking the soup, she rarely bothered with thanks, but this time she actually sent him a message specifically to express her gratitude.

Naturally, this made him even more motivated.

But no matter how much soup he made, or how well he looked after her daily needs, or how thoroughly he helped organize her case files, he always felt it wasn’t quite enough to make her truly take notice of him.

Wenxi thought it over and decided he needed to step things up further.

Gu Xuehan felt hiring Wenxi as a temporary assistant had been one of her better recent decisions. She had to admit, this young man’s work ability was quite strong, and he picked things up remarkably fast. Even organizing case files—a task she found tedious—he handled excellently, correctly filing even entirely English-language cross-border documents onto the right shelves.

He was probably far smarter than she’d initially assumed, and diligent, hardworking, and meticulous besides.

Gu Xuehan wasn’t naive—the morning milk, the afternoon coffee, the sweets, the soup or congee in the evenings—she knew exactly what he meant by all this.

He’d persisted longer than any of the men who’d pursued her before.

Gu Xuehan currently had no plans for a relationship, let alone with someone younger than herself. She hated wasting time, and felt dating someone younger would require a certain amount of guidance and “training” on her part. She wasn’t running a charity and had no interest in molding some green young man into someone mature and refined.

But Wenxi was clever besides—since meeting her, he hadn’t shown a single hint of ambiguous signals or made any inappropriate moves. Everything he did left her with nothing to criticize—it could all be reasonably explained away as exactly what a part-time assistant eager to please would naturally do.

Precisely because of this, Gu Xuehan had no real grounds to say anything—had he actively confessed his feelings, she could have clearly rejected him. As things stood, if she brought it up first, it would seem like she was reading too much into things.

Fortunately, Gu Xuehan was extremely busy, so even with Wenxi as her temporary assistant, he didn’t get many extra chances to be close to her.

That changed just before his one-month contract was set to expire. That evening, in the middle of handling several cross-border marriage cases, she’d just retrieved several suitcases’ worth of case files from overseas. Gu Yan, off having dinner at his future mother-in-law’s, was unavailable, so, with no other choice, she called on Wenxi to help carry things.

Because her case files happened to be packed in expensive-looking suitcases, it gave the impression the cases contained something valuable.

Just as Gu Xuehan was pulling one of the suitcases out of the car, suddenly, from a blind spot behind and to the side of the vehicle, a young man wearing a baseball cap and a mask sprang out, and without hesitation, tried to snatch the case from her hand.

This was crucial evidence she’d just retrieved!

The man’s intent was clearly robbery—he’d meant to simply grab the case and run, but Gu Xuehan refused to let go, instinctively yanking back hard.

If he wanted to rob her of money, fine, but evidence critical to a client’s case could absolutely not be lost!

But Gu Xuehan hadn’t expected that the man, apparently genuinely believing she was some wealthy target and having come prepared, would suddenly pull a folding knife from his side and swing it toward her hand.

She paused for only half a second, still determined to protect the evidence rather than let go, her lawyer’s instincts overriding everything else, and shouted furiously—

“There’s nothing valuable in here, just documents!”

But the man was in no state to listen to reason; the blade continued its arc toward her without pause.

Gu Xuehan braced for the incoming pain, preparing to kick back in retaliation, when someone rushed forward first, pulling her away and taking the blow meant for her.

It all happened too fast; all Gu Xuehan knew was that she hadn’t been hurt.

Wenxi had pulled her back from behind, and then, his own hand cut by the blade, swung and landed a fierce punch on the assailant, managing to save the case of evidence that had nearly been stolen. By the time Gu Xuehan regained her composure and turned toward him, she found that the normally obedient-seeming Wenxi had the man—guilty of this crime of passion—completely subdued in a textbook-perfect kneeling takedown.

Blood dripped from one of his hands, but he seemed entirely indifferent to the pain, glaring down with fierce, ruthless intensity at the man pinned beneath him.

In that instant, Gu Xuehan felt Wenxi seem like a stranger; that nagging dissonance about him surged up again—she kept feeling this was Wenxi, and yet, somehow, not Wenxi at all.

Her lawyer’s instincts told her something about him was suspicious.

If she hadn’t been so quick to accept his stated identity at face value from the start…

But there wasn’t time to dwell on that now. Not long after she called the police, officers arrived and took the suspect away. After arranging to give a statement the following day, she planned to take Wenxi to get his wound treated.

But he was strongly resistant to the hospital, acting rather childish, all his usual obedience gone, sounding instead like a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum: “I don’t want to go to the hospital, I hate hospitals. It’s not even serious, just a surface cut—just find a pharmacy, get some hydrogen peroxide or iodine to clean it, and slap on a bandage, that’s fine.”

In the end, Gu Xuehan couldn’t talk him out of it, but since he’d been hurt protecting her and the evidence, she couldn’t just let him casually go handle it himself at some pharmacy. It was too far from her place to his, and she happened to have a well-stocked home medicine kit—

“If you won’t go to the hospital, come home with me, and I’ll clean it up myself.”

Sure enough, the moment she mentioned taking him home, Wenxi perked right up—having just insisted moments earlier it was only a minor scratch, he suddenly turned fragile: “Oh, sister, I do think I should get it treated. I’m a bit scared of hospitals, but going to your place is fine—that kind of atmosphere makes me nervous, I’ve had a thing about hospitals since I was little. But the wound really is pretty shallow—maybe you could disinfect and bandage it carefully, don’t do it too simply, okay…”

He blinked. “I’m still young, after all—if it scars, I’m worried it might affect me later.”

Gu Xuehan was already too tired to argue. She brought him inside, pulled out the medicine kit without further ado, and began cleaning his wound.

Though it clearly couldn’t hurt that much, Wenxi still cried out dramatically, as if he’d sacrificed half his life protecting her.

The noise made Gu Xuehan pause, and she looked at him, expressionless: “You’re crying like you’re about to lose the arm.” She glanced disdainfully at the wound. “Save the screaming—my hand’s steady, and it’s already stopped bleeding and starting to scab.”

“…”

He looked somewhat embarrassed, but his behavior showed not a shred of actual shame.

Once she finished treating him, and just as she was about to usher him out, he brought up a new request—

“Sister, I helped you work overtime tonight and carry all those materials. I haven’t even had dinner yet…”

Gu Xuehan thought about it—true enough, she’d been so absorbed she hadn’t finished her own dinner either. “Then I’ll order takeout for us to share. What do you want?”

“Takeout’s too healthy.” Wenxi returned to his obedient demeanor. “Besides, it’s expensive and wasteful. Whatever you’ve got at home, let me just make something simple.”

As he spoke, he headed straight for her refrigerator. “Anything’s fine, even a boiled egg… if it’s too much trouble, I’ll just do it myself.”

To be fair, Wenxi wasn’t a particularly skilled cook, but having lived abroad for years, he had some experience fending for himself, and could manage basic cooking. Determined to showcase his domestic virtues at every turn—

As he spoke, he opened her fridge, and then went quiet.

Because besides Perrier and a few drinks, her fridge was completely empty—forget vegetables, meat, or milk, there wasn’t even a single egg.

Wenxi stared into the empty fridge in disbelief. “Are you some kind of fairy? Living off water?”

Gu Xuehan had felt a flicker of irritation at him rummaging through her fridge uninvited, but hearing that, she couldn’t help but suppress a laugh, quickly reining it back in and returning to her usual calm, composed demeanor.

“I’m very busy—I don’t have time to cook. Rather than buying groceries that just go bad, it’s better not to buy any at all.”

Wenxi raised an eyebrow, and since they’d drifted into casual conversation, he stopped calling her “sister” so obediently and switched to a tone more like talking to a peer: “You could always hire a housekeeper, then.”

Being a bit presumptuous was typical of young people, so Gu Xuehan didn’t mind. She simply opened the fridge, pulled out a bottle of Perrier, opened it, and took a sip. “I’m rarely home—most of my time’s at the firm. Even with a housekeeper, the odds I’d actually be there to eat would still be slim.”

“There’s a supermarket on the ground floor of this complex—I noticed it on the way up. Let’s go get some ingredients.”

At his suggestion, Gu Xuehan looked disdainful. “Even though your hand got hurt because of me, if you’re expecting me to cook for you—not every woman’s skilled in the kitchen. Even if I tried, first, I don’t have time, and second, I’m genuinely bad at it. I get no sense of accomplishment or joy from cooking.”

But Wenxi didn’t seem discouraged at all, sounding as if it were the most natural thing in the world: “You don’t need to cook—I will!”

Thoroughly unwilling, Gu Xuehan still ended up dragged along to the supermarket downstairs.

She wasn’t quite sure how things had gotten to this point—here she was, buying napa cabbage, carrots, and green peppers alongside a rather suspicious young man.

She realized she hadn’t bought such mundane, everyday household items since high school.

Wenxi, meanwhile, picked through everything with real care, even giving her a rundown on the nutritional value of each vegetable, sounding remarkably knowledgeable about it.

Gu Xuehan was already starting to find him suspicious, but kept her expression steady, quietly observing his every move.

A person can maintain a facade for a while, but over enough time in close contact, their true nature tends to slip through—Wenxi might not be quite as obedient as he presented himself, and much of what he’d told her probably wasn’t entirely true either.

Judging from how he selected vegetables, the way he moved, his efficiency—

First, he definitely hadn’t grown up in genuine poverty, because a child from an ordinary background instinctively gravitates toward the discount or promotional sections, but Wenxi did no such thing—entirely indifferent to the concept of discounts, he headed straight for the expensive imported and organic sections, barely glancing at the price tags, and spoke knowledgeably about how to prepare imported deep-sea fish.

Second, he definitely wasn’t the timid, needs-protecting younger-brother type he presented—the way he chose items was clearly purposeful, knowing exactly what he wanted, without a second’s hesitation. In daily life, he was likely someone with clear goals, not the indecisive type at all.

Third, he certainly wasn’t as obedient as he seemed. From the moment tonight began, that composed, steady, unshakeable air had started subtly showing through—a normal young man who’d never seen much of the world probably wouldn’t have handled the aftermath of a robbery so quickly and decisively, but Wenxi’s thinking had been clear, with no trace of nervousness, seeming to have plenty of real-world experience and the mental fortitude to handle emergencies.

But to say he wasn’t obedient at all wasn’t quite right either.

Because in the end, once he’d finished shopping, he followed Gu Xuehan straight back to her apartment, and this young man headed into the kitchen without a second thought for his own injured hand, insisting on cooking her a proper meal.

“Don’t feel obligated—I need to eat too, so I’m making enough for both of us anyway.”

He smiled and pointed her toward the sofa. “Go relax and watch some TV—I’ll be quick.”

With that, he turned and headed into the kitchen.

Listening to the chopping sounds from the kitchen, Gu Xuehan suddenly felt a bit dazed—since she’d started working and living alone, moments filled with this kind of domestic warmth had been rare. But listening to the rhythmic chopping, followed by vegetables hitting a hot wok, and the crackle of oil heating up, she suddenly realized she actually missed and cherished this kind of cozy atmosphere.

She didn’t dislike cooking as much as she thought—she just needed the right person doing it for her.

In old folktales, it was always some snail fairy who did the cooking; nowadays, things had modernized—the cook could just as easily be a snail companion.

If Wenxi was willing to be her servant, that seemed fine too.

As for whatever he was deliberately concealing, Gu Xuehan wasn’t concerned—she had a hundred ways to do her due diligence; after all, she was a law firm partner.

Her philosophy had always been simple—if you run into a con artist, give them a chance first: confess honestly and be treated leniently, resist and face the consequences, followed by some education. If they cooperate and can be properly reformed, fine; if not, might as well break their legs and bring them home, ensuring they have no way to keep swindling and settle into living an honest life.

Simple. Wise.