Chen Zhuo had not even had time to respond when Lin Wu already walked into the elevator hall without looking back.
Watching her disappearing back, Chen Zhuo lightly tugged at the corner of his lips and gave a mocking little laugh before stepping on the accelerator and driving away.
After exiting the parking lot, Chen Zhuo made a U turn at the intersection ahead, then turned into a high end residential compound diagonally opposite.
Before Lin Wu gave him her address, Chen Zhuo had never imagined they lived so close to each other.
“…”
After getting home and washing up, Lin Wu temporarily set aside the exhaustion covering her whole body.
The phone screen lit up and dimmed several times. She picked it up and glanced at it. It was several messages from He Jiayun: «Workaholic, are you off yet?»
He Jiayun: «Need your boss to order you some late night snacks and have them delivered?»
A few minutes later, she sent another: «The security guard said the lights on the twenty sixth floor are all off. Are you home yet?»
He Jiayun: «If you don’t reply in another ten minutes, I’m calling the police.»
Lin Wu laughed quietly and quickly replied: «Just finished showering.»
He Jiayun: «…Figured as much.»
Lin Wu smiled: «Why aren’t you asleep yet?»
He Jiayun: «It’s only what time? Are you actually sleepy?»
Lin Wu: «…No.»
She glanced at the time. It was not even twelve yet, still far from when drowsiness usually hit her.
With that thought, Lin Wu slipped on her slippers and walked toward the study next door. If she could not sleep, she might as well get more work done.
He Jiayun: «I figured. What time are you planning to sleep?»
Lin Wu thought for a moment: «Trying for two at the latest.»
He Jiayun: «So what are you about to do now? You’re not going to look at evidence materials again, are you?»
Lin Wu: «Can’t sleep anyway.»
He Jiayun: «I give up. Can’t you just watch a movie or something to help you fall asleep? Looking at case files only makes you more excited, right?»
She knew Lin Wu well.
Lin Wu: «Finish the materials early, move on to the next stage early.»
He Jiayun: «…Fine. I can’t hold back Lawyer Lin’s ambition. Just take care of yourself. When the time comes, take your meds and sleep.»
Lin Wu: «I know.»
After ending the conversation, Lin Wu pulled out the evidence materials.
The lighting in the study had been specially designed, bright but not glaring, yet full of atmosphere.
Lin Wu very much enjoyed reading through documents in this kind of environment.
All was silent. Even the sound of the wind was shut out beyond the window.
Lin Wu concentrated fully, bending over the desk and poring over the documents for quite some time. Only when her eyes felt tired did she pick up her phone to check the time. It was already past two in the morning.
Thinking about having to go to work the next day, Lin Wu closed the documents, stood up, and walked out of the study.
After taking her medication and lying down in bed, she still felt no trace of drowsiness. Involuntarily, a cold, deep, and sharp face surfaced in Lin Wu’s mind.
Recalling the conversation they had in the car, Lin Wu felt a tiny bit of regret. Had she agreed too hastily? Yet she had to admit to herself that she truly did not want to end this “see you on Friday nights” relationship with Chen Zhuo.
In the more than half a year she had been with Chen Zhuo, Lin Wu’s mental health had noticeably improved.
Her sleep quality on other days remained as poor as ever, but at least once a week she had a full, completely relaxed, and deeply restorative night’s sleep.
She did not quite dare to imagine what would happen if even that one day of relaxation disappeared. Would she return to those lifeless, mechanical days from before?
Lost in random thoughts, Lin Wu gradually fell asleep without realizing it.
When she woke up, it had just passed six o’clock.
Outside the window, rain had started falling at some point. Raindrops hit the windowsill with dull thuds, the sound soft and not at all annoying.
Lin Wu closed her eyes and pulled the blanket up a little higher.
She closed her eyes again, trying to catch a bit more sleep, a morning nap. On rainy days, Lin Wu could usually sleep fairly well too. Listening to the sound of the rain, she unknowingly drifted back to sleep.
The next time she woke up, it was because of the alarm clock.
Lin Wu opened her eyes and lay still for about half a minute before decisively throwing off the blanket, getting out of bed, washing up, putting on makeup, and heading out.
When Lin Wu drove into the company parking lot, got out of the car with her bag, and walked toward the elevator hall, she casually glanced diagonally across.
As expected, Chen Zhuo’s car was already parked in the same spot as last night.
“…”
He arrived really early, Lin Wu thought.
There were no arrangements to meet clients outside in the morning, and the rain outside was quite heavy.
Lin Wu stayed busy in her office all morning until close to lunchtime, when Zhao Yu Xin knocked on her door and asked, “Lawyer Lin, are we ordering takeout today?”
Only then did Lin Wu realize how time had passed. She looked out the window, hesitated for a second, then said, “No need. I’ll go down to eat.”
Zhao Yu Xin’s eyes lit up. “To the restaurant downstairs? Then do you want to join us?”
Lin Wu raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, “There’s a new restaurant downstairs?”
Zhao Yu Xin nodded. “There’s a Yunnan cuisine place that opened today. The first three days have a seventy percent discount.”
“Alright,” Lin Wu did not hesitate much. “How many of you?”
Zhao Yu Xin: “Me, plus two assistant lawyers from Lawyer Yu’s team. Probably four or five people.”
Lin Wu nodded. “Okay. Tell them I’m treating today at lunch.”
Zhao Yu Xin agreed cheerfully and quickly went out to share the good news with the others.
Xianghe Law Firm did not have overly strict control over employees’ time. In most cases, to avoid the lunch rush, colleagues would go downstairs to eat ten or twenty minutes early.
At eleven forty, Zhao Yu Xin came to call Lin Wu.
Lin Wu closed her documents, stood up, and went downstairs with them.
In this CBD financial center building, the area from basement one to the sixth floor was the commercial zone, mostly filled with restaurants, beauty shops, clothing stores, and so on. There was also a very reasonably priced cafeteria on the sixth floor.
The newly opened Yunnan restaurant was on the fourth floor. Lin Wu and her colleagues walked over together and sat at a large round table.
“Let’s order first.” Lin Wu took the menu from the server, glanced at it, and said softly, “Don’t stand on ceremony with me. Order whatever you want to eat.”
Zhao Yu Xin knew her best. With smiling eyes, she said, “Right, Lawyer Lin hates it when people are polite. Let’s order a lot. The goal is to bankrupt Lawyer Lin.”
Lin Wu rested her chin on her hand. “That might be a little difficult.”
The other colleagues heard this and could not help laughing.
While they were ordering, a colleague sitting diagonally across from Lin Wu took a phone call, then looked toward her.
Lin Wu was puzzled. After the call ended, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Lawyer Yu is back,” the person who spoke was the assistant to Lawyer Yu Xinzhi from the firm. “He asked me to pack a lunch for him later and bring it up.”
Lin Wu understood. After a brief pause, she said, “Ask him if he wants to come down and eat with us.”
The colleague was stunned. “I’ll ask him.”
After getting a positive reply from Yu Xinzhi, Lin Wu asked the server to add one more set of bowls and chopsticks.
A few minutes later, Yu Xinzhi arrived.
“Lawyer Yu,” several colleagues stood up to greet him. Lin Wu’s assistant even gave up the seat next to her.
Yu Xinzhi sat down and gave a faint smile. “Thanks. Lawyer Lin is treating today?”
Lin Wu gave an affirmative hum and joked, “Giving Lawyer Yu one chance to slaughter me. See if there’s anything else you want to add.”
She handed the menu over to him casually.
Yu Xinzhi waved his hand. “We can add more later if it’s not enough. I’m guessing you’ve already ordered quite a bit.”
He was not wrong.
Since he did not want to order anything extra, Lin Wu did not insist.
Soon after, the dishes they ordered arrived one after another. The group chatted and laughed, the atmosphere very relaxed.
The lawyers at Xianghe Law Firm were all quite young, so the relationships between the firm’s lawyers, assistants, and other colleagues did not have overly strict hierarchical boundaries. Outside of work hours, Lin Wu and the other lawyers could chat freely with assistants, receptionists, finance staff, and pretty much everyone else.
When Chen Zhuo and his colleagues passed by outside the restaurant, he caught sight at a glance of the exceptionally rare radiant smile inside the uniquely decorated establishment.
Lin Wu’s temperament leaned toward coldness, but her facial features were strikingly beautiful. So when she smiled, it was exceptionally bright and dazzling.
Chen Zhuo’s footsteps paused slightly. His assistant Wang Liqun, who was following beside him, immediately reacted and followed his line of sight toward the restaurant in front of them. Not entirely certain, he asked, “President Chen, this is a newly opened restaurant. How about we try it for lunch today?”
Chen Zhuo glanced at him, his expression indifferent as he gave a low hum. “Ask if there are any seats available.”
A few people walked into the restaurant together.
There were no private rooms left, but Chen Zhuo did not mind sitting in the main hall.
“President Chen, where would you like to sit?” Wang Liqun asked in a low voice.
Chen Zhuo scanned the room once and chose a fairly decent spot to sit down.
After sitting, he lifted his eyelids and looked toward the far end diagonally opposite. Lin Wu sat with perfect posture; even when laughing, her body never leaned to either side.
But the man sitting beside her was different.
When the colleague opposite Lin Wu took out his phone to prepare for a photo, his body noticeably shifted a little closer toward Lin Wu’s side.
Chen Zhuo watched intently, his eyes narrowing slightly as a faint, mocking smile curved his lips.
Hearing the subtle dissatisfaction, the vice president sitting beside Chen Zhuo looked puzzled. “President Chen, what’s wrong?”
This vice president had always been stationed at the branch office and was not very familiar with Chen Zhuo, who had been transferred from headquarters. Naturally, during this recent period, he had made inquiries from various sources and learned that this newly parachuted-in managing director was notoriously known as a workaholic, extremely strict in his work, both internally and externally. Moreover, he despised workplace unspoken rules. Under his leadership, those shady, under-the-table business tactics were completely ineffective.
He belonged to the type of leader who was impervious to flattery or coercion; it was hard to figure out his temperament or preferences.
That was also why, when his assistant had just suggested eating at this ordinary restaurant, the vice president had been bewildered but did not dare to say much.
“…”
“Nothing,” Chen Zhuo withdrew his gaze, his tone slightly cold. “Order the food.”
Wang Liqun had been transferred together with Chen Zhuo from headquarters, so he understood Chen Zhuo relatively well. Noticing the deep, somber look on Chen Zhuo’s face, he glanced around the room. When his eyes landed on the person sitting diagonally opposite, he looked a second time and immediately formed an estimate in his mind.
The vice president sat there nervously, unsure of what to do.
Chen Zhuo handed the task of ordering food to his assistant and lowered his head to fiddle with his phone. He opened their WeChat conversation box several times, but in the end he still did not send any message.
At the same time, Lin Wu inadvertently caught sight of Chen Zhuo’s presence.
At first glance, she thought she was seeing things.
Only when she looked again and saw that familiar expression not far away, with lowered lashes and tightly pressed lips, did she suddenly realize… it really was Chen Zhuo.
On second thought, since the two of them worked in the same office building, there were only so many restaurants downstairs. Running into each other was actually quite normal.
But Lin Wu had not expected that a man who disliked ordinary hotels, finding them unclean and unhygienic, and therefore rented an entire suite in a high end hotel style apartment on a yearly basis, would eat something so down to earth.
This was completely unlike Chen Zhuo.
Lost in her thoughts, Lin Wu did not even notice that her gaze had lingered and failed to withdraw.
It was not until the man himself lifted his eyelids and looked toward her, their eyes colliding, that Lin Wu belatedly reacted. Pretending to be calm, she shifted her gaze away.
Noticing her evasion, Chen Zhuo silently curved the corner of his lips.
When they had eaten enough, Lin Wu stood up to go to the restroom and, by the way, settle the bill.
Coming out from the inner area, she walked straight to the sink without looking sideways, completely ignoring the person standing beside her.
The water flowed in a gentle trickle.
Lin Wu washed her hands thoroughly, pulled a piece of hand towel from the side, wiped the water marks off her hands, and threw it into the trash bin.
Only when she was about to walk out did the person beside her finally fail to hold back and speak. “Lawyer Lin.”
Lin Wu turned her head and reminded him in a roundabout way, “President Chen has a lawsuit to handle?”
If it was not for a lawsuit, there was no need for them to converse at this moment. They were supposed to be strangers who did not know each other.
Chen Zhuo: “…”
Hearing the implication in Lin Wu’s words, Chen Zhuo felt somewhat helpless, and also a little amused.
As expected of the industry’s most difficult to pursue, completely unmoved iceberg beauty.
“President Chen?” Seeing the slight rise at the corner of Chen Zhuo’s lips, Lin Wu felt a little puzzled. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”
Chen Zhuo spoke at just the right moment. “There is.”
Lin Wu tilted her head, her eyes showing confusion.
Chen Zhuo: “There is indeed a collaboration I would like to discuss with Lawyer Lin. When does Lawyer Lin have time?”
Lin Wu was stunned for a moment. Suddenly she remembered something her colleagues at the firm had discussed before. The investment banking company Chen Zhuo was now taking over seemed to have encountered a major internal error or problem. She had not looked into the specifics of which aspect it was; she had too many cases on hand and no time to spare.
She had only overheard it once in the pantry.
Hearing Chen Zhuo mention it now, she reacted belatedly. “Your current company?”
Chen Zhuo nodded.
Lin Wu was surprised. “What about your company’s in house legal team?”
Chen Zhuo smiled faintly and said without any politeness, “They are not capable enough.”
Hearing this, Lin Wu instinctively wanted to ask: President Chen is looking for me because he thinks I am capable enough?
But saying that out loud would sound like she was belittling herself. Since Chen Zhuo had come to her, he must have already investigated her background and looked into the cases she had handled. He would not approach her because of the hidden ambiguous relationship between them.
They had known each other for quite some time. Although they had never delved too deeply into each other’s work, Lin Wu could still sense that Chen Zhuo was not an impulsive person.
He was decisive in his actions and very methodical.
Thinking of this, Lin Wu said, “I have been very busy lately.”
Chen Zhuo raised an eyebrow.
Lin Wu glanced at him. “If President Chen is truly serious about cooperating, you can contact my assistant to schedule a meeting time.”
After dropping those words, Lin Wu did not linger in the restroom any longer and walked straight out.
Back at the firm, Lin Wu glanced at that profile picture which was extremely quiet and only had a few exchanges on Fridays. She opened her computer and searched for information about the investment banking company upstairs.
There was not much disclosed online, so Lin Wu’s understanding was limited.
She had originally thought that since Chen Zhuo had already said everything, he would have her assistant schedule an appointment that very afternoon.
But until the end of the workday, Lin Wu did not receive any scheduling message from her assistant.
For a moment, Lin Wu was not sure whether Chen Zhuo was just teasing her, or… he simply had not had the time yet.
Realizing she was thinking about this person too much, Lin Wu quickly drove the name Chen Zhuo out of her mind. People and matters that were not important were not worth spending too much of her time on.
When she got home from work at ten o’clock that night, Lin Wu felt a restless irritation in her heart. But she could not quite pinpoint exactly what was making her uncomfortable.
This restless mood continued into the next morning. Not long after Lin Wu arrived at the office, Li Xiang notified her of a small meeting.
She agreed, gathered her things, and walked toward the conference room.
Once she sat down in the conference room, before she could even exchange a few words with the lawyer next to her, Li Xiang walked in with someone.
“Let me introduce everyone. This is Chen Zhuo, the managing director of Fengxing Investment Bank, President Chen…”
Hearing the familiar name, Lin Wu instinctively looked up.
Her eyes met those of the man in the impeccably tailored suit.
Li Xiang introduced the lawyers present to Chen Zhuo.
When he reached Lin Wu, Chen Zhuo extended his hand toward her. His face was handsome and refined, his voice low and slow. “Lawyer Lin, I have long heard of your great reputation.”