The moment their eyes met, Lin Wu’s brain went blank for a brief second, puzzled.
Fortunately she wasn’t the type to gasp or exclaim; even when shocked or caught off guard, she would never let it show on her face.
She was used to hiding her emotions.
After that split second of astonishment, Lin Wu pretended to be calm and walked into the elevator together with the colleague beside her.
She lagged two steps behind, standing at the outermost position, while Chen Zhuo stood all the way in the innermost corner.
As the elevator shot upward rapidly, several questions popped into Lin Wu’s head—
How could Chen Zhuo be here?
Why would he be here?
Was he here to look for her?
Impossible.
Lin Wu asked and answered herself in her heart, denying each possible answer that surfaced one by one, then she pressed her lips into a tight line.
The elevator that was usually quite noisy with all kinds of voices during morning rush hour was unusually quiet today. The colleagues weren’t chatting, and even the two girls who had been talking earlier fell silent.
An abnormal stillness enveloped the surroundings.
So quiet that in this open space, she could clearly feel that familiar, cool gaze coming from behind her.
“…”
The 26th floor arrived very quickly. The elevator doors opened, and Lin Wu walked straight out without letting her gaze waver in the slightest.
Upon entering the law firm, she greeted colleagues passing by the cubicles along the way, pushed open her office door, and instructed her assistant to come find her in ten minutes.
After closing the office door and pulling down the blinds, Lin Wu finally moved to her office chair and sat down. She raised her hand and rubbed her aching, swollen temples caused by insomnia.
Suddenly, the phone she had just taken out of her bag and placed on the desk chimed once.
Lin Wu lowered her lashes and looked at the WeChat message lighting up the screen. She paused for a few seconds.
As expected, the message was from Chen Zhuo. With just one concise sentence, he completely explained the “chance encounter” in the elevator today.
«There were some work adjustments made a while ago.»
At the same moment, Lin Wu recalled the topic her colleagues had been discussing since last week — that the investment banking firm upstairs had changed to a new boss.
Chen Zhuo worked in investment banking; Lin Wu had always known this. She just never imagined that he was the very same “parachuted-in” boss who had aroused so much curiosity and discussion among her colleagues. When they had exchanged information before, neither of them had gone into too much detail.
They only knew each other’s professions, but had no idea which specific company the other worked for.
In that instant, Lin Wu remembered the expression on his face when the elevator doors opened and he saw her from the inner corner — calm and composed, without the slightest trace of surprise in his eyes.
He had known for a long time that she worked here.
Having received confirmation, Lin Wu didn’t hesitate any further and directly exited their chat window.
“Yu Xin,” she put down the phone and pressed the desk phone intercom, “bring me a cup of coffee, please.”
Her assistant immediately replied, “Okay Lawyer Lin, still hot Americano?”
Lin Wu gave an affirmative hum.
After finishing the coffee, Lin Wu threw herself completely into work.
The entire morning, she stayed seated in her office chair integrating documents, barely moving from her spot.
It wasn’t until twelve o’clock when He Jiayun knocked on the door carrying an insulated bag that Lin Wu finally stopped.
“Very busy?” Noticing her haggard complexion, He Jiayun slightly frowned and asked, “Didn’t you just finish a major case? Can’t you rest for a bit?”
Lin Wu: “Can’t.”
She opened the lunch box He Jiayun brought, feeling her stomach empty and hollow. “Aunt Fang’s cooking has improved again.”
Aunt Fang was the helper at He Jiayun’s house who took care of her meals and daily life.
He Jiayun didn’t let her change the subject. “Why can’t you?”
She was genuinely puzzled. “It’s not like you have debt.”
“I like money,” Lin Wu said to her very frankly, “If I don’t earn money when I’m young, when am I supposed to earn it?”
He Jiayun choked, unexpectedly unable to refute.
She was silent for a moment before her lips moved slightly. “What I mean is, don’t push yourself too hard. Your health is more important.”
Lin Wu knew she was concerned about her and smiled lightly. “I know. I’m not tired because of work.”
“Insomnia again?” He Jiayun asked.
Lin Wu nodded.
After a few seconds of silence, He Jiayun asked curiously, “When you were with that person, you could always sleep very well, right?”
She knew everything about Lin Wu’s situation, including the fact that she met Chen Zhuo on Friday nights. She was fully aware.
Hearing her suddenly bring up the matter, Lin Wu raised her head and glanced at her.
He Jiayun pondered for a moment. “Since that’s the case, why don’t you consider him—”
“No,” Lin Wu cut her off decisively before she could finish the sentence. “I don’t have that great of a need yet.”
He Jiayun choked on her own words because of Lin Wu’s bluntness. After coughing several times, she finally said, “What I meant is, you two could just sleep together in a very pure way.”
Taking sleeping pills was bad for the body and could easily leave the mind muddled.
Lin Wu’s profession required her to stay clear-headed and sharp most of the time. So unless it was absolutely necessary, she would never take sleeping pills to force sleep.
As for the over-the-counter sleep aids on the market with relatively mild side effects—melatonin and the like—they hardly had any effect on her at all.
The sleep nerves in her brain were simply too stubborn, completely impervious to gentle coaxing.
Only Chen Zhuo was the exception.
The first time she was with him, after drinking alcohol and engaging in rather intense physical activity, she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow and didn’t wake up until one o’clock the next afternoon.
When she opened her eyes and saw the time, Lin Wu almost thought her phone was broken.
Except for when she was a very young child, she seemed to have never slept until the afternoon in her life. And the eight hours of sleep a human body supposedly needs each day? She hadn’t managed to get a full night’s rest in many years.
At first, Lin Wu thought it was just a fluke.
Maybe she had been too exhausted the night before, combined with all the alcohol.
A week later, after several days of getting less than five hours of sleep each night, Lin Wu went to the bar again, trying to use alcohol to hypnotize herself. When that failed, she couldn’t help but discuss it with He Jiayun—wondering whether that exceptionally good sleep she had was because she had sex, or… whether Chen Zhuo possessed some kind of magic that could make her fall asleep.
Unable to find an answer, He Jiayun egged her on to try meeting Chen Zhuo again and test it.
On the day she arranged to meet Chen Zhuo, alcohol had played a role in lowering her inhibitions. When she was fully sober, even though she liked Chen Zhuo’s voice and appearance, she wouldn’t have been able to bring herself to do something like that.
That was also why, after the first time, she and Chen Zhuo had not exchanged any contact information.
She had considered He Jiayun’s suggestion carefully, but in the end she gave it up. One absurd incident was enough; repeating it over and over didn’t feel right.
Until one very ordinary night.
After finishing the work at hand, Lin Wu received a call from He Jiayun, who said she thought she had seen the man Lin Wu had met that night.
She even sent a secretly taken photo and asked if that was the man Lin Wu had been with.
Lin Wu opened the somewhat blurry picture, looked at it, and replied hesitantly: «It seems like him.»
He Jiayun: «…The bartender said “seems like,” and now you’re also saying “seems like”? You can’t even remember what he looks like anymore?»
That was impossible. Lin Wu had an excellent memory.
Lin Wu: «The bartender told you?»
He Jiayun: «…Yeah. I wasn’t trying to pry into your private life, okay? I just asked the bartender whether this guy had come to the bar recently and what he usually does when he’s there.»
Lin Wu paused, hesitated for a moment, then asked: «What did the bartender say?»
He Jiayun: «The bartender said that the time you were there was only his second visit. The first time he came with two male friends, didn’t drink much, and rejected every woman who tried to hit on him.»
Before Lin Wu could respond, He Jiayun continued: «Tsk, he’s actually quite popular. In just a few minutes, three different beautiful women have already asked for his contact information.»
Lin Wu: «Oh.»
He Jiayun: «He’s pretty cold, though. Didn’t give his number to any of them.»
Lin Wu: «…»
He Jiayun: «Are you coming or not?»
Lin Wu froze. She stared at the chat window on her phone, feeling somewhat uncertain.
After a short while, she still got in her car and drove to the bar.
Just as Lin Wu arrived, Chen Zhuo was already preparing to leave.
The two of them met at the entrance. When he saw her, Chen Zhuo slightly narrowed his eyes.
They looked at each other for a few seconds. Lin Wu pressed her lips together, shifted her gaze away from him, and asked, “Leaving already?”
Chen Zhuo lowered his eyes and looked steadily at the woman in front of him. She was still wearing her professional skirt suit, revealing slender calves. Over it she had draped a wide matching blazer, cinched at the waist with a thin belt for accent. Her jet-black long hair was tied up low, fully exposing a very refined and beautiful face.
Her complexion looked a little haggard, and the dark shadows under her eyes were quite noticeable.
Chen Zhuo studied her. His eyes moved slightly as he spoke in a low, slow voice, “No brandy tonight.”
Lin Wu was momentarily stunned, then understood what he meant.
She gave a small nod, lowered those alluring, shimmering eyes, and said, “Then next time—”
Before she could finish the word “time,” Chen Zhuo slightly lifted his chin toward the outside and said, “I want to drink water.”
This time, Lin Wu didn’t have any vodka either.
There was a faint trace of alcohol on Chen Zhuo, but not strong. She, on the other hand, hadn’t touched a drop.
Yet when she clung to his shoulders and kissed him, a hazy, dreamlike drunkenness still rose inside her.
That night they didn’t do it very intensely.
When it ended, Lin Wu was still very clear-headed.
After washing up in the bathroom, she originally planned to put on her clothes and leave. But the moment she picked up her clothes, she suddenly wanted to confirm once and for all: was it the sex that hypnotized her, or was it Chen Zhuo himself?
The next day, Lin Wu got her answer.
When Chen Zhuo was by her side, she could sleep well. Even if she felt completely awake before bed, with not the slightest hint of drowsiness, she could still fall into deep sleep within half an hour of closing her eyes.
“…”
“Are you even listening to me?” Noticing her dazed state, He Jiayun raised her hand and snapped her fingers in front of Lin Wu’s face, pulling her wandering thoughts back. “Did you hear what I just said?”
Lin Wu came back to herself and spoke slowly, “Don’t think about it.”
He Jiayun: “What?”
Lin Wu lowered her head to eat and said unhurriedly, “He’ll think I’m sick.”
Although she really was sick, in a way.
He Jiayun choked, opened her mouth, then said, “Then how about meeting up two or three times a week at most? That should be fine, right?”
“No,” Lin Wu replied. “It would interfere with my work.”
He Jiayun had nothing left to say.
After a moment of silence, Lin Wu suddenly spoke again, “We might not even have that one time anymore.”
He Jiayun was stunned. She looked at Lin Wu in disbelief. “Why? He didn’t find another woman, did he?”
“No,” Lin Wu put down her chopsticks and looked at He Jiayun. After thinking for a few seconds, she said, “I saw him this morning.”
He Jiayun had met Chen Zhuo before and had even secretly taken a photo of him.
Although that photo was not very clear, she was very good at recognizing people. Once she saw someone, she could identify them again later. So Lin Wu had no need to hide it from her; she would find out sooner or later anyway.
“This morning?” He Jiayun’s eyes widened in shock. “Where? You two met again last night?”
Lin Wu: “…”
Hearing this, she almost wanted to laugh. “What do you think?”
He Jiayun blinked. “No.”
“We ran into each other in the elevator,” Lin Wu said concisely. “The new boss on the twenty-ninth floor.”
As soon as the words fell, the not particularly spacious office fell into silence.
After a long while, He Jiayun couldn’t hold back and let out a curse. “Fuck…”
She stared at Lin Wu with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing before she managed, “He’s the handsome parachute boss that your colleagues were talking about?”
Lin Wu nodded.
He Jiayun sucked in a breath, then slowly exhaled. “…What kind of magical fate do you two have?”
Lin Wu was also very curious about that.
After a moment of silence, He Jiayun remembered what Lin Wu had just said and asked hesitantly, “So the reason you don’t want to continue meeting him is because he’s started working here?”
Lin Wu gave a small hum of confirmation. “I’m considering it.”
“…”
He Jiayun paused for a second, then gazed at Lin Wu’s calm face for a while before speaking softly, “I think this doesn’t really affect anything. He should be someone who honors agreements. He wouldn’t expose those private matters just because you work in the same building.”
She stopped there for a moment, then added, “But I support whatever decision you make.”
He Jiayun understood Lin Wu’s concern.
Knowing each other’s name and occupation and meeting once a week was one thing. But working in the same building and potentially seeing your fuck buddy every day was something entirely different.
Shencheng was so big; the former wasn’t really something to worry about.
But the latter—seeing each other whether you look up or down, over time, accidents could easily happen.
Hearing this, Lin Wu gave a small smile. “Mm, I know.”
He Jiayun looked at her and let out a soft sigh. “Let’s eat first.”
Lin Wu nodded.
__
After finishing the meal, He Jiayun also lost all interest in going upstairs to look at the handsome guy.
She walked to Li Xiang’s office with a heavy heart, sighing repeatedly.
Li Xiang was on a phone call the whole time and heard her sigh at least ten times.
He raised his hand to rub the space between his brows, feeling somewhat helpless. “You didn’t even bring me any food, fine. But what’s with coming to my office after eating your fill in Lin Wu’s office just to sigh like that?”
He Jiayun cast him a resentful glance. “Wu Wu won’t let me sigh in her office.”
Li Xiang: “Reason.”
“She says sighing scatters wealth.” He Jiayun told him honestly. She was worried that her sighing would drive away Lin Wu’s good fortune, so she tried her best not to sigh in front of her or in her office.
The corner of Li Xiang’s mouth twitched. Completely baffled, he asked, “So sighing in my office doesn’t scatter wealth?”
He Jiayun was annoyed and glared at him. “You’re so rich anyway—what’s the big deal if you lose a little? Just treat it as doing a good deed and giving money to others.”
Li Xiang was rendered speechless. He wanted to retort with a couple of sentences, but he was afraid the already moody young miss would feel even worse, so he held back.
Lin Wu, on the other hand, was not as worried as He Jiayun. She simply continued doing whatever she needed to do. Many things would naturally straighten out once the boat reached the bridge.
In the afternoon, she left the office once to go meet with a client and discuss some matters.
By the time she finished and returned to the office, quite a few colleagues at the firm had already left for the day.
Lin Wu was a notorious workaholic, but she never required her assistant to stay late with her. The assistant only needed to prepare all the necessary materials within the stipulated time. Everything else, Lin Wu would handle herself.
She stayed busy in the office until past ten o’clock before finally getting up to leave.
When she walked out, the law firm was completely empty.
She turned off the lights and locked the door.
Lin Wu took the elevator down to the negative second floor.
Only after stepping out of the elevator hall on B2 did she suddenly realize that she had not driven to the firm this morning—she had taken a taxi.
The moment she registered this, Lin Wu was about to turn back toward the elevator hall when she heard the sound of a car horn first.
Lin Wu paused. Instinctively looking up, she saw the familiar vehicle parked across the passageway.
Immediately afterward, her phone started ringing.
After a brief hesitation, Lin Wu answered.
“Lawyer Lin, want to talk?” The man’s low, deep voice drilled into her ear, stirring her heart.
Lin Wu gave a very soft acknowledgment, then calmly reminded him, “President Chen, you’ve broken the agreement.”
After her words fell, the person on the other end went quiet for a moment. “It’s nighttime now.”
What they had previously agreed upon was that they would not acknowledge each other during the day, and they would only meet on Friday nights.
They had never explicitly agreed that on nights when they did not have an appointment, they should still pretend not to know each other.
A mistake.
How could she have left such an obvious loophole in the terms?
Upon hearing his words, Lin Wu’s mind wandered in a divergent way: if she were to continue with Chen Zhuo, she would have to add and tighten up that clause.
After a brief silence, Lin Wu looked at the man who had already stepped out of the car and was preparing to walk toward her. “Five minutes.”
Chen Zhuo stopped in his tracks. His dark eyes fixed on her steadily as his low voice sounded again. “You come over, or should I go to you?”