Qi Xi and Gu Yan’s gazes briefly met in mid-air, like the strange calm before two armies went to war.
Qi Xi bravely gave Gu Yan a friendly smile, while Gu Yan’s handsome face darkened almost immediately.
Gu Xuehan, however, did not notice the strange atmosphere at all. She even sounded a little emotional.
“Gu Yan, since Qi Xi is also your classmate, stop hiding it. You suffered such a huge injustice, yet when I asked who it was, you refused to say. You’re also determined not to sue the other party. What is wrong with you? You won’t even protect your own rights. How are you supposed to be a lawyer like this? Qi Xi, don’t you agree?”
How could Qi Xi dare to agree? She looked at Gu Yan and gave a dry laugh.
“The main thing is that Gu Yan is a magnanimous and tolerant person, someone with the broad-mindedness of a prime minister. It is precisely because of this that, during university, I actually admired Gu Yan very much and always regarded his generosity as my learning goal…”
Gu Xuehan frowned.
“If it were you, could you endure something like this the same way Gu Yan did?”
Under Gu Yan’s cold gaze, Qi Xi pretended to be calm.
“Yes, Lawyer Gu. I think that although lawyers need to be good at attacking, most of the time, we also need to learn restraint. Besides, Buddha is merciful, and the Lord is generous. We should forgive whenever we can.”
Gu Xuehan looked a little surprised.
“You young people are all this detached now?”
Qi Xi was one step away from pressing her palms together and saying “love and peace.” She nodded solemnly.
“Yes. I believe in Buddhism. Mainly because it’s good for the body, good for the mindset, and also makes success easier in the future.”
Gu Xuehan shrugged, not quite understanding.
“I don’t know what’s going on with young people like you nowadays, but I’m not that kind of person. As a human being, you should repay grievances with vengeance and kindness with kindness. In any case, as far as I’m concerned, even if someone owed me fifty cents, I’d spend fifty yuan on a lawsuit to get it back.”
“Qi Xi, don’t have any concerns. Just boldly say that female classmate’s name. I’ll go meet her.”
You’re meeting her right now.
…
Fortunately, a client’s phone call interrupted Gu Xuehan’s questioning. Very soon, she waved Qi Xi and Gu Yan out of her office.
Gu Yan walked in front, his face cold the entire time, looking as though he had no intention of paying any attention to Qi Xi. Qi Xi had no choice but to take the initiative. She grabbed Gu Yan’s hand.
“Gu Yan… why don’t we just let this part of the past drift away with the wind…” Qi Xi looked at Gu Yan pitifully. “Your great kindness of tolerance and enduring humiliation—I’ll repay it in my next life by working like an ox or a horse. We were classmates for four years, and now we’ll be colleagues too. There’s no hatred that needs to last overnight. As for the crime I committed against you, I’m willing to take responsibility…”
Gu Yan looked at Qi Xi.
“How will you take responsibility?”
Qi Xi said pitifully, “I’m willing to compensate you financially. I’ll hand over the majority of my monthly salary to you. You only need to leave me enough living expenses.”
“That letter from Zhang Jialiang really was too misleading. If you don’t believe me, look. If it were you, you’d easily misunderstand too.” As Qi Xi spoke, she pulled up the photo of that damned confession letter on her phone.
Qi Xi decided to drag Gu Yan into the water.
“Zhang Jialiang wrote that kind of signature, and on top of that, you personally delivered the love letter for him. Under those circumstances, it really would have been difficult for me not to misunderstand, right? If you hadn’t delivered the letter for him, this wouldn’t have happened…”
Qi Xi’s implication was very clear. Although the fault lay with her, Gu Yan also bore a tiny bit of negligence for running an errand for Zhang Jialiang.
Gu Yan pressed his lips together, his expression extremely ugly.
“If I had known he’d put a love letter inside your LSAT practice book, I absolutely would not have delivered it to you.”
“So you see, you and I are actually both victims of Zhang Jialiang!”
Good, good. First shift the conflict. Everyone could unite in hatred and curse Zhang Jialiang together. That would immediately bring them closer!
Flattery never failed. Looking at Gu Yan’s expression, Qi Xi pressed on.
“Actually, I’ve always felt that there’s no one in this world with better character than you…”
Gu Yan coldly swept a glance over Qi Xi’s phone, and sure enough, his expression became even uglier.
“If you trusted my character so much, why did you decide it was written by me without even reading the whole letter? Even if I confessed to someone, would I write something that disgusting? And with handwriting that ugly?”
He glanced at Qi Xi.
“And you believe in Buddhism? Since when? Before, when the photography club organised an activity that included going to burn incense, didn’t you report them for promoting feudal superstition?”
“…”
Damn it. Gu Yan wasn’t even in that club. How did he know?!
Qi Xi stubbornly maintained her smile, which was close to collapsing.
“I just converted to Buddhism on the spot, but my belief is very sincere.”
“Very sincere?”
Qi Xi nodded.
“Yes. Extremely sincere.”
Gu Yan looked at Qi Xi with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“Good. My sister said yesterday that a newcomer was joining today and that we’d have lunch together. I’ll tell her we should go to a vegetarian restaurant. You can’t kill living things or eat meat.”
“…”
This time, Qi Xi failed to control her expression. Her entire face twisted together.
“Gu Yan, have mercy. Didn’t humanity evolve to the top of the food chain precisely so we could eat meat? I just thought about it, and nutrition tells us that a balanced diet of meat and vegetables is the healthy way to eat. In order to have a strong body to work for your sister, I’ve decided to let go of my inner obsession and still eat meat.”
Gu Yan said coldly, “How considerate of you.”
“I know what happened before was an unforgivable crime and entirely my fault. But mainly, that day, I accidentally saw a girl confessing to you and getting rejected. Then I heard you say you were going to confess to the girl you liked, and that deepened my misunderstanding…” Qi Xi said carefully. “So, did your confession succeed afterwards?”
The moment Qi Xi asked, she regretted it, because Gu Yan’s expression clearly became even uglier. The man glared fiercely at her, then spat out two words through gritted teeth.
“No.”
Qi Xi felt extreme regret over her foolish question. She did not even need to think about it. After that passionate speech she had given at the graduation ceremony, who would still dare to accept Gu Yan’s confession?
She had not only ruined Gu Yan’s reputation, she had also destroyed his romantic fate!
This grudge with Gu Yan seemed… not very easy to resolve.
Gu Yan pressed his lips tightly together.
“Qi Xi, work hours aren’t for reminiscing. I’m very busy. Please don’t waste my time. Find your own desk and stay away from me.”
After throwing down those words, Gu Yan walked coldly to his own desk.
Very soon, Qi Xi followed closely behind him.
Sure enough, Gu Yan’s expression turned unpleasant.
“I told you not to follow me.”
Qi Xi gave an awkward little smile, then sat down beside him.
“This is the only empty seat next to you. HR just happened to arrange for me to sit here…”
Because quite a few new hires had recently joined, desk space was extremely tight. The latest batch of office desks and chairs the admin department had purchased were all rather compact. There were no partitions between workstations either, so if someone moved even slightly too much, they could easily bump into the other person’s arm.
Qi Xi looked at the distance between herself and Gu Yan, which was practically like being desk mates in high school. Her voice was dry and powerless.
“Sorry. So the furthest I can stay from you is about this far. I’ll be careful. As soon as there’s another empty workstation, I’ll move immediately and swiftly disappear from your sight…”
Gu Yan’s face was stern, and he looked as though he was about to have trouble breathing too. But in the end, he said nothing. He only pressed his lips tightly together, then lowered his head and began reading through the case files.
Although they had been classmates for four years, to be honest, Qi Xi had never sat this close to Gu Yan before. Close enough that if she turned slightly to the side, she could see Gu Yan’s profile right beside her.
The office’s fluorescent lights fell on his face, passing through the fine strands of his hair and casting patches of light and shadow across his features. It was only an extremely ordinary ceiling light in an office building, yet it gave Qi Xi the illusion that even when Gu Yan sat there quietly without saying a word, he looked as if he were seated at the centre of a stage beneath ten thousand beams of light.
His features had a sharp, handsome elegance. His aura was proper and cool, yet his eyes were unexpectedly charming. Occasionally, when he looked at someone, the corners of his eyes lifted slightly. Even with an extremely cold and distant expression, it added one or two fleeting, elusive traces of allure.
“Alluring” was not usually a word used to describe boys, but after being looked at by Gu Yan a few times like that, Qi Xi felt that she could not find a better word to describe his eyes. Gu Yan had been treated as the living signboard of Rong University’s law school. His face and brain were both genuinely impressive; he did indeed have some real ability.
Although her heart felt sour, Qi Xi had to acknowledge the talent scouts’ eye for potential. If anything, she rather resented their lack of ability.
How had they failed to successfully dig Gu Yan out and make him debut as a celebrity? If he had become a star, she would not have to sit here at Jinghe Law Firm staring at him, and there would be one less competitor walking around the legal world in the future.
**
“Let’s go. Time for lunch.”
Fortunately, they finally endured until noon. Gu Xuehan ended her client call and took Qi Xi and Gu Yan to a nearby Huaiyang restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere.
Temporarily leaving work mode behind, Gu Xuehan’s sharpness lessened slightly, and she returned to her elegant manner. She slowly introduced Jinghe Law Firm’s situation to Qi Xi.
“In short, that’s how things are. You’ve both passed the judicial exam, so your first year at the firm will be your internship period while your licence is registered. Only after the internship period ends can you officially practise independently. My practice area leans toward commercial matters, but as trainee lawyers, I suggest you get exposure to a bit of everything. There are some varied civil cases, and I’ll also bring you along to work on some of them.”
Gu Xuehan smiled.
“After all, you’ve only just graduated. You’re still blank sheets of paper. In truth, you still don’t know which specific legal field you’re good at or interested in. Only by doing all kinds of cases can you find the right direction in the future. As trainee lawyers, the cases you can handle are small ones anyway. Compared with commercial cases, some everyday disputes may feel less distant and closer to your own lives, so they’ll be easier for you to get started with.”
At this point, she looked at Qi Xi.
“Gu Yan joined before you. You’re also classmates, so in the future, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask him.”
Qi Xi’s face filled with smiles.
“Okay, thank you, Lawyer Gu! I’ll learn properly from Gu Yan! Ever since we were at university, he has always been my role model. He was forever first place, and I was forever the second place following closely behind him. Every time, it was as if Gu Yan was guiding me forward!”
Unfortunately, Qi Xi’s words were destined to be a solo performance. Gu Yan sat to the side, coldly drinking tea, with absolutely no intention of responding and giving her any face.
Even Gu Xuehan could not bear watching him act like this. Unfortunately, just as she was about to speak and give Gu Yan a hint, his phone rang.
The man pressed his lips together and stood up.
“It’s a call from a client who previously consulted our firm by phone. I’ll take this.”
Once Gu Yan left, Gu Xuehan showed an expression of helpless exasperation. She looked at Qi Xi.
“Don’t mind him. Maybe because he was recently slandered, he suffered quite a shock. He’s been a little withdrawn.”
How had they circled back to this matter again?!
Compared with Gu Yan, Gu Yan’s older sister seemed even harder to deal with! After all, Gu Yan himself had not done anything, but Gu Xuehan kept watching this matter all day and insisting on getting to the bottom of it.
Gu Xuehan seemed determined to pursue this question to the end. She looked at Qi Xi.
“So, who exactly was that girl? Can the video still be found?”
Qi Xi suppressed the urge to flee and pretended to be calm as she explained, “Actually, when that girl was speaking at the graduation ceremony, I happened to be in the bathroom. By the time I came back, she had already finished. As for the videos online, as you saw, they’ve all been deleted. I really didn’t see it and don’t know anything about it.”
“Wasn’t that speech supposed to be quite long? You didn’t hear any of it? You were in the bathroom the whole time?”
Qi Xi held back her inner collapse and said calmly, “I was constipated that day.”
Gu Xuehan was probably stunned by Qi Xi’s answer too. She froze for a moment before moving the marbled beef in front of Qi Xi away and replacing it with a huge bowl of vegetable salad.
“Lawyers already sit for long periods in this profession. You’re still so young, so you need to pay attention to your health. For today’s meal, you should eat vegetarian.”
“…”
Unexpectedly, through her own hard work, Qi Xi had ultimately succeeded in eating vegetarian food after all.
Gu Xuehan considerately ordered several more vegetarian dishes, then rubbed her brow and shifted the topic back to work again.
“Overall, Jinghe’s atmosphere is like this. Gu Yan may be feeling a little withdrawn lately. I’ll try to remind him, but his personality has always been rebellious…”
Wait?
Gu Yan’s personality was rebellious?
Where was Gu Yan rebellious? Was he rebellious in the way a model student excelled in every category?
Perhaps seeing Qi Xi’s confusion, Gu Xuehan shrugged.
“When I was first promoted to partner, I advised him to join my team after graduation and help me, but he insisted on going to America to study. Later, I decided to respect his choice. But after finally getting accepted into such a good school, he suddenly turned around and told me he wasn’t going anymore and was planning to work at the firm instead. Usually, he’s such a steady person, so how did he suddenly become so unpredictable when it came to something as important as his career choice? Maybe it’s a late rebellious phase.”
Qi Xi also could not figure this out no matter how much she thought about it. Especially since Gu Yan’s family background seemed good, his sister earned well, and she clearly respected and supported him. His dream of studying abroad would not have been cut short because of money.
But Qi Xi was a little curious.
“What school did Gu Yan get an offer from? Was it for an LLM or a JD?”
“Columbia University’s JD.”
!!!
What kind of cursed fate was this?!
Gu Yan had originally been planning to go to Columbia University for a JD too?
Thank goodness she had not gone! Otherwise, being crushed beneath Gu Yan for four years in China would not have been enough—would she have had to go abroad and be crushed by him for another three years in a foreign country too?
But shortly after feeling relieved, Qi Xi suddenly remembered that Gu Yan had not gone either. In the end, the two of them had still arrived at the same destination by different routes, ending up in the same law firm and on the same team.
If Yu was born, why was Liang born too?
This really was a damn tragic story.
“He hasn’t liked talking to people lately, so don’t take it to heart. He really has been rather unlucky recently. Before, he even said that if things went smoothly, he’d bring his girlfriend to have dinner with me in a few days. Then there was no follow-up.” Gu Xuehan said sadly, “Maybe he got dumped. And then he was slandered too, which caused a huge change in his personality.”
Qi Xi felt that this was probably all her fault.
Gu Yan’s confession had failed, leaving him with no will to live. That was probably why he had lost interest in everything, including even mustering the energy to hold her accountable…
He had not even managed to start dating the girl. That was simply an even sadder story than being dumped.
Feeling guilty, Qi Xi could only take the initiative and say, “Lawyer Gu, if you have any work recently, please assign as much as possible to me. I’ll do more so Gu Yan can have an easier time and have time to sort out his emotions…”
Gu Xuehan pressed her lips together.
“You just need to find the girl who slandered him as soon as possible. At least let him vent a little. It won’t do for him to keep everything bottled up all day.”
“…”
Qi Xi’s guilt vanished without a trace, and her expression became extremely stiff. Fortunately, at that moment, Gu Yan finally finished his call and returned. Gu Xuehan also shifted the topic back and began telling Qi Xi and Gu Yan about some things new employees needed to pay attention to.
This lunch did not last long, because Gu Xuehan’s schedule was packed. She had another court hearing in a different district that afternoon. After briefly giving a few more instructions, she did not even have time to eat dessert before paying the bill and leaving first.
And so, only Qi Xi and Gu Yan were left at the table.
Gu Yan still seemed unwilling to pay much attention to her, but Qi Xi was determined to smooth over their past conflict. So she took the initiative, offering a warm face to his cold shoulder as she tried to find a topic.
“You also got accepted into Columbia University’s JD programme before? I also…”
But before Qi Xi could finish speaking, Gu Yan interrupted her with an unusually intense reaction.
“Who told you that?”
“Your sister.” Qi Xi was very curious. “For me, it was because my family suddenly stopped supporting me. I didn’t have the money to study there, so I came to work instead. Why did you give up your offer? It’s such a pity.”
Gu Yan frowned. He clearly did not want to discuss the subject any further.
“I suddenly didn’t want to go.”
He could be that wilful?
But none of that was the important thing. The only thing Qi Xi cared about was—
“Then look, we’re colleagues now, and we’re teammates on the same team. I admit all my past mistakes. In the future, give me a chance to make up for them, and then we can still be friends?”
But for some reason, if Gu Yan’s expression earlier could only be described as cold, now the way he looked at Qi Xi was complicated and almost gritted with resentment.
“Qi Xi, I will never be friends with you.”
After saying this, Gu Yan stood up coldly.
But they had not even eaten dessert yet…
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