Shen Moran’s hand froze mid-meal. She raised her elegant brows to stare at Sun Heng, discovering that the woman’s gaze was sincere and distressed, as if she truly did not understand why Shen Moran would act this way.
In truth, Shen Moran frequently encountered such questions. Why defend “bad” people? Why not sympathize with the victims? Why must lawyers earn this kind of “blood money”?
Shen Moran tapped the edge of her plate with her chopsticks, creating a rhythmic sound as she deliberated. After a moment of silence, she spoke. “Before a court reaches a verdict, no one can be declared guilty. Therefore, strictly speaking, I am not defending a bad person. I am defending my client, a citizen, as is my professional duty.”
Sun Heng did not quite understand. “But you must have seen what kind of person Yuan Haiqiang is. He ruins the market with various threats, and his private life is chaotic with seven or eight young mistresses. You should know exactly what kind of person he is.”
“Yuan Haiqiang certainly has his issues, but as a lawyer, I have no right to question the personal lives of my clients,” Shen Moran replied.
“Then you could have refused,” Sun Heng said. “You could have chosen not to take this case. You did not have to hurt those innocent girls, and you did not need to work until midnight.”
Shen Moran frowned, looking displeased. “This is my job. I choose which cases to take, and staying late is part of the territory. What does this have to do with you? Why are you pointing fingers? Are you a lawyer? A partner in the firm?”
Sun Heng’s expression soured, but she persisted stubbornly, “I just cannot stand the type of person he is—scum of society who only knows how to bully girls!”
Shen Moran also frowned. “Do you know the facts? Do you know the full picture? Are you just following the herd because the media reported that Yuan committed sexual assault? How are you any different from those ignorant netizens?”
Sun Heng glared at her. “Shen Moran, what do you mean?”
“The average education level of netizens is middle school, and their psychological age is nine. It does not matter what kind of mindless people say on the internet, because in reality, they are cowardly and never strike back. But what about you? You are an adult with your own work and career. Is your education level also only middle school?”
Shen Moran spoke quickly and aggressively. Sun Heng was so stunned she could only stare. When the comment about her “middle school education” hit, her expression shifted. Sun Heng pursed her lips, staring intently at her.
Click.
The master bedroom door opened. Su Nian rubbed her eyes and stood in the doorway, wearing her yellow pajamas and clutching her giant white goose plushie. She looked at the two of them in the dining room and asked softly, “Sister, are you arguing?”
Shen Moran turned to look at her. Before she could decide what to say, Sun Heng stood up, walked around the dining table, and headed into the guest bedroom without looking back. She hooked the door with her foot and slammed it shut with a loud thud.
Su Nian was startled by the sound. She looked at Shen Moran, bewildered and lost, and called out, “Sister?”
Shen Moran had not expected Sun Heng to be genuinely angry. Sun Heng had always been all smiles toward her; no matter how cold Shen Moran was, Sun Heng never seemed to lose her temper, always finding opportunities to please her. Just a moment ago, Sun Heng had been leaning on her and had even heated up her dinner.
“I…”
Shen Moran felt a wave of confusion. She looked at Su Nian and said, “It is adult business. It has nothing to do with you. Go back to sleep.”
Su Nian pouted, clutching her goose, and headed toward the guest room. “I want to sleep with Sister Sun Heng. You must have scolded her! Sister Sun Heng has such a good temper; how could she get angry otherwise?”
Shen Moran hurriedly walked over, pulled Su Nian away from the door, stuffed her into her own room, and pointed at the door frame. “Go to sleep. Do not make me say it twice.”
Su Nian was unhappy, but Shen Moran was her older sister and was currently terrifying, so she had no power to resist. Finally, she stomped her foot. “You will never have friends this way!”
Shen Moran stole a glance toward the guest room, feeling completely at a loss.
The next day, Shen Moran woke up early. She had spent the entire night thinking but could not figure out whether Sun Heng was angry because of her defense of Yuan Haiqiang or because of her snide comment about Sun Heng’s education.
While brushing her teeth, her gaze fell on the orange toothbrush next to hers and Su Nian’s. The matching orange toothbrush cup looked completely out of place against Shen Moran’s minimalist decor, as if an eccentric intruder had suddenly joined her otherwise unchanging routine.
Shen Moran felt a twinge of resentment and reached out to poke Sun Heng’s orange toothbrush.
After brushing her teeth, Shen Moran began to prepare breakfast.
The freezer was mostly stocked with instant food. Shen Moran opened it, and her eyes fell on the disposable container on the top shelf. Opening it, she realized it was the wontons Sun Heng had brought from home the other day.
“It has been several days. Can these still be eaten?” Shen Moran muttered, carrying the container to the kitchen.
As she waited for the water to boil, she heard a commotion from outside. Looking back, she saw Su Nian running toward her in a panic, so rushed that she had lost one of her slippers.
“Do not run in the house.” Shen Moran frowned, hands on her hips. “Walk properly. The place is small enough as it is; why are you running around?”
Su Nian stood before Shen Moran, looking up at her, and pointed to the guest room door, which had been left wide open. “Sister Sun Heng is gone!”
Shen Moran was stunned.
At the same time, Zheng Qing dragged a suitcase in, typed the code to open the door, and gestured for Sun Heng to follow. “Sister Heng, we are home.”
Sun Heng yawned, lazily stepping back into her house. She collapsed onto her large leather sofa and refused to move.
“Sister Heng, do not lie like that; you will hurt your arm.” Zheng Qing pulled the suitcase in, only to see Sun Heng sprawled out. Zheng Qing had received a call at dawn from Sun Heng asking to be picked up. She had thought something terrible happened and rushed over immediately.
Upon arrival, she found Sun Heng shivering in her coat in the freezing wind. Because the cast made it difficult to wear clothes properly, she had simply draped her coat over her pajamas; her lips were purple when Zheng Qing arrived.
“I have not slept all night, folding laundry with one hand.” Sun Heng raised her mobile right hand to gesture. “Like this, then this, then this. Eventually, I got annoyed and shoved everything in. You will have to help me sort it out. Put everything in the laundry basket in the bathroom; I will have the cleaning lady wash it later.”
“Understood.” Zheng Qing replied and headed into the room to pack.
Sun Heng lay on the sofa, eyes closed. After returning to her room yesterday, she had sat on the bed in a daze for a long time. She heard Su Nian try to check on her, only to be stopped by Shen Moran. She had heard Shen Moran packing and brushing her teeth, but in the end, Shen Moran had never once checked on her.
Sun Heng felt pathetic. She did not claim to be the most thoughtful person, but she could not understand why Shen Moran had to be so cold. Especially when Shen Moran asked if her education level was only middle school—Sun Heng felt as if the woman was slapping her in the face.
A highly educated, beautiful, sophisticated, and elite lawyer carried an inherent air of superiority that looked down on everyone else. Sun Heng had originally liked that distance; she found Shen Moran’s aloofness charming and graceful. But when that arrogance was directed at her, Sun Heng felt only scorn.
Sun Heng lacked the confidence to win over someone like that. And she lacked the confidence to believe that such a person could sincerely love her.
Forget it, Sun Heng thought. Some people would always be on a pedestal—they only know how to choose, never how to change.
Zheng Qing finished tidying up and was closing the storage room door when she heard a ringtone. She scanned the room and realized it was Sun Heng’s phone.
“Sister Heng,” Zheng Qing poked her head out. “Where is your phone? I will get it for you.”
Sun Heng stood up from the sofa, thought for a moment, and said, “It is in the pocket of that black cashmere coat. I remember putting it there.”
Zheng Qing searched the laundry basket. She quickly found the ringing phone, glanced at the caller ID, and turned to Sun Heng. “Sister Heng, it is someone called Shen Moran. Should I answer?”
Sun Heng froze, quickly stopping her. “Do not answer!”
But she was a step too late. Zheng Qing had already swiped the screen, held the phone to her ear, and said “Hello.”
Shen Moran heard a strange woman’s voice and remained silent for a few seconds before asking in a low, heavy voice, “Where is Sun Heng?”
Zheng Qing replied, “Sun is home now. Wait a moment, I will pass the phone to her.”
Shen Moran said, “Fine.”
Zheng Qing walked to the sofa and looked at Sun Heng’s sour expression, her heart skipping a beat. She asked with a silent mouthing: Should I not have answered?
Sun Heng glared at her, looked at the active call, and reached out to grab it. She did not say a word, simply hanging up.
After hanging up on Shen Moran, Sun Heng finally felt a bit of her pent-up anger dissipate.
“Do not answer any more calls from this person.” Sun Heng silenced her phone, tossed it aside, and leaned back. “Every call from her is just trouble.”
Zheng Qing was close to Sun Heng, having worked under her for years. She knew her boss’s sexual orientation perfectly well. Hearing the cold, aloof voice on the other end, Zheng Qing raised an eyebrow. “Sister, fighting with your girlfriend?”
“What girlfriend? Do not talk nonsense.” Sun Heng sighed helplessly, feeling a sense of loss. “She is a top-tier scholar with a high degree and a great career. How could she possibly look favorably upon someone like me—uneducated and only interested in making money?”
Zheng Qing blinked. “I do not understand what you mean.”
Sun Heng spread her hands. “Simply put, she looks down on me.”