The elevator came down from the upper floors, taking only a little over ten seconds.
But to Ni Xia, those few seconds felt like ten hours.
She could still feel the indescribable look from the receptionist burning into her back.
As soon as the elevator stopped, Ni Xia walked in stiffly and hurriedly.
The moment the doors closed, she covered her face and leaned against the wall.
She had never been this embarrassed in her life.
Last night, she had spent an hour going through information about her old classmate, You Jue. She had been very impressed by his abilities and felt that fate had finally shown her some kindness by sending help when she needed it most.
So, armed with a thick stack of documents, she had confidently gone to see him.
Only to be told that he did not know her.
They had been classmates for two years. Although they had barely spoken, their names had been next to each other near the top of the class rankings for two whole years.
And now, only a few years after graduation…
He didn’t remember her???
Fine, maybe he really didn’t remember her.
So she had swallowed her pride and asked the receptionist to call him again, explaining that she wanted to consult him about a legal case.
The answer from the other end of the phone had been a firm and emotionless:
“No time.”
Even the receptionist had been left speechless, unsure how to smooth things over.
The way the receptionist looked at Ni Xia had also become complicated, as if she had already decided that Ni Xia had deliberately come there to use an old connection and get free legal help.
Even investors who did not want to spend a single cent had never rejected her so bluntly.
There was nothing left to say.
Ni Xia had immediately turned around and left.
Unfortunately, even her attempt to leave with dignity had failed. She had nearly walked straight into the glass door.
Even now, with the elevator slowly descending, the heat in her cheeks continued to rise.
After holding it in for a while, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and lightly punched the elevator wall.
Why had she been so unlucky lately?
Her investor had suddenly broken their agreement, leaving her with no clear source of funding. And now, even finding a lawyer had somehow turned into a complete humiliation.
Could it be that all the smooth sailing she had enjoyed during the first twenty-something years of her life had merely been a loan from heaven?
When the elevator reached the underground parking garage, Ni Xia stepped out of the elevator lobby with her face still red.
Looking at the identical glass doors on both sides only made her feel even more frustrated.
She had been in such a hurry when she arrived that she hadn’t bothered to remember where she had parked. All she vaguely remembered was the yellow-painted wall.
There was no way she could find her car in such a huge parking lot just by memory, so Ni Xia took out her phone and tried to locate it.
The underground signal was poor, and the car’s location refused to refresh.
Just as Ni Xia was anxiously shaking her phone, a soft ding came from the elevator lobby behind her.
She didn’t pay much attention at first.
But when a figure entered the corner of her vision, her attention was somehow drawn toward him.
Before she even understood why she had looked up, she saw a man in a perfectly tailored suit walking briskly through the bright elevator lobby.
Broad shoulders. Long legs. Large, steady strides.
Even though he was looking down at his phone, his posture and presence were undeniably attractive.
Perhaps Ni Xia’s gaze was too obvious, because the man noticed it.
When he was only two or three meters away, he looked up.
Their eyes met unexpectedly.
Ni Xia froze.
…You Jue?
Unlike Ni Xia’s stunned reaction, You Jue merely glanced at her before continuing to walk without slowing down.
Wait.
He couldn’t remember her name, fine.
But now that he was looking directly at her, he still had absolutely no reaction?
In a panic, Ni Xia called after him.
“You Jue!”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but in the empty underground parking lot, it sounded especially clear.
You Jue stopped walking.
However, his body didn’t turn around until two seconds later.
When his eyes met Ni Xia’s, he said nothing. He simply looked at her calmly.
There was no surprise at seeing an old classmate.
No confusion about being called by a stranger, either.
Ni Xia had no idea what he was thinking.
But the important thing right now was her lawsuit, and she had no energy to worry about anything else.
She braced herself and said, “I’m Ni Xia. We were in the same class in high school. You really don’t remember me?”
Her voice was full of uncertainty.
In the quiet parking garage, she even sounded a little pitiful.
But You Jue didn’t bother with any polite small talk.
He simply asked, “Is there something you need?”
Ni Xia was speechless again.
After holding back her frustration, she forced a stiff smile.
“I want to file a lawsuit recently. My cousin told me you’re very good at this, so—”
“The Zhongyue Huitou case?”
You Jue interrupted her.
Ni Xia’s eyes widened.
“How did you know?”
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.
You Jue raised one hand, signaling her to wait, then turned around to answer the call.
Ni Xia had come all this way, and after finally running into You Jue, she still hadn’t been able to finish what she wanted to say.
She stood there with her arms crossed, frustrated, taking several deep breaths.
Fortunately, You Jue’s call didn’t last long.
“I’ll be in Birmingham next Wednesday. After I finish handling things there, I’ll go to London with Xu.”
He said “Mm” twice before hanging up.
But before he even turned around, his answer came straight at Ni Xia.
“I can’t take your case.”
Ni Xia was stunned again.
After a moment, she asked, “…Why?”
You Jue didn’t answer.
He simply raised the hand holding his phone.
Oh…
He was probably going to England for work.
“When will you have time, then?”
If he only needed a few days, she could wait.
But You Jue didn’t leave her any room for discussion.
He didn’t even look at her again.
“Find someone else.”
With that, he turned and walked toward a parking space nearby.
“…”
Even though Ni Xia had gotten used to being rejected lately, she had never encountered such a complete brick wall.
For a moment, she didn’t even blink.
She actually wondered whether she had come to ask You Jue to handle her lawsuit or to borrow money from him.
By the time she came back to her senses, a black SUV had already sped past her, leaving only the roar of its engine behind.
“He doesn’t remember you?”
Inside the quiet car, Gu Yusheng sounded as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“How is that possible? With that face of yours, you’re not exactly easy to forget!”
When Gu Yusheng landed at the airport, she had received Ni Xia’s message saying that she needed to pick her up.
She had assumed the meeting with the lawyer had gone smoothly.
She never expected this result.
“And that attitude! Who’s the client and who’s the lawyer here?!”
But that wasn’t even the worst of it.
What Gu Yusheng had heard from Ni Xia about You Jue’s attitude wasn’t even one-tenth as cold as what she had personally witnessed.
Ni Xia pressed her lips together and said nothing, staring angrily at the road ahead.
The airport expressway was unusually clear that afternoon.
But Ni Xia felt completely blocked up inside.
Anyone who didn’t know the situation might have thought she was You Jue’s sworn enemy.
Gu Yusheng thought of the same thing and slowly turned toward her.
“Did you do something to offend your old classmate?”
That single question hit the exact thought Ni Xia had been unable to explain.
Her mind suddenly went blank.
“Otherwise, there’d be no reason for him to treat you like that,” Gu Yusheng said. “Think about it. He even knew about the Zhongyue case. He was obviously pretending not to know you. And even if he didn’t have time to take your case, he could have recommended another lawyer. That way, he would still be helping you and might even get a referral fee. Why wouldn’t he do that?”
Gu Yusheng sounded so certain that Ni Xia couldn’t think of another possibility either.
But…
“How could I have had the chance to offend him?” Ni Xia said. “We haven’t seen each other for seven or eight years, and we never kept in touch. How could I possibly have offended him?”
“Then maybe you two had some kind of conflict back in high school and you forgot about it?”
“Impossible.”
Ni Xia answered firmly.
“You know what I’m like. Besides, I wasn’t even close to him. We barely spoke to each other. How could we possibly have had a conflict?”
Even Ni Xia, the person involved, couldn’t figure it out, so Gu Yusheng had even less of an idea.
She clicked her tongue irritably and turned to look out the window, her eyebrows furrowing into a deep frown.
“It’s bad enough that we can’t even meet the investor. Now the lawyer won’t even give us the time of day,” she said. “Maybe we should go to a temple and pray. Nothing has gone right lately.”
Ni Xia didn’t answer.
Her mind was still stuck on Gu Yusheng’s theory.
Her high school life had been incredibly boring. She had either been studying or secretly watching movies on her phone under the desk.
During school breaks, she only hung out with a few girls who sat in front of or behind her.
When would she ever have had the chance to offend You Jue?
And even if she had accidentally done something, would he really hold a grudge for so many years?
“Oh, right.” Gu Yusheng suddenly remembered something important and interrupted Ni Xia’s train of thought. “Did you try talking to any of the other lawyers at his firm today?”
“…”
Ni Xia only blinked at her without saying anything.
“Wait. You didn’t even ask another lawyer before leaving?”
Ni Xia looked embarrassed.
“…I was too angry to think straight.”
“Seriously…”
Gu Yusheng pulled out a bottle of mineral water, took two large gulps, then let out a heavy sigh.
Staring through the windshield, she muttered, “If necessary, let’s try someone else. That Autumn Thief case definitely wasn’t handled by your old classmate alone. We can contact the other lawyers on his team. Maybe someone there will be willing to talk to us.”
“I checked last night,” Ni Xia said reluctantly. “He was the only lead lawyer. The others were just assisting lawyers.”
Hearing the words “assisting lawyers,” Gu Yusheng became troubled too.
“Then we could try the supervising lawyer on their team,” Ni Xia said. “That senior partner surnamed Xu.”
Gu Yusheng hesitated.
“A senior partner…”
Ni Xia understood why she was hesitating.
A senior partner’s fees would certainly be expensive.
And the balance in their account had already fallen below zero.
Ni Xia stared at the road ahead and gritted her teeth.
“I’ll figure out the money. You just go talk to her first.”
Gu Yusheng didn’t answer for a long time.
Knowing that she was worried, Ni Xia comforted her.
“It’s okay. I still have some bags and jewelry at home. If I sell them, we should be able to—”
“Hello, is this Lawyer Xu?”
Gu Yusheng raised her left hand to stop Ni Xia while holding her phone in her right hand.
“I’d like to consult you about a case. Oh, yes. Yes, okay.”
Ni Xia: “…”
Five minutes later, Gu Yusheng hung up and leaned back in her seat with a relieved sigh.
“I explained the situation to her assistant first. We don’t know exactly when we can meet yet, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Okay.”
The lawyer issue was temporarily settled.
Ni Xia’s thoughts returned to You Jue again.
She stared at the intersection ahead.
“I still can’t figure out what I did to offend him. I even apologize when I accidentally disturb a stray cat sleeping at school.”
Gu Yusheng fell silent again.
Ni Xia turned her head.
Gu Yusheng had her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open.
She was clearly asleep.
Ni Xia turned off the car’s music and eased off the accelerator.
Even when changing lanes, she was extra careful.
She drove smoothly all the way home.
Just as they were about to enter the parking garage, a phone suddenly rang inside the car.
Gu Yusheng woke up instantly.
Still half-asleep, she reached for the phone and answered.
“Hello?”
She didn’t know what the person on the other end said, but Gu Yusheng’s sleepy eyes suddenly widened.
Then she slowly turned to look at Ni Xia.
“They said Lawyer Xu is free today and tomorrow. They’re asking when we can come to meet her.”
Ni Xia didn’t even need to answer.
The two exchanged a glance.
Gu Yusheng immediately said into the phone, “We’ll come right now!”
Even after walking into the Hengtuo Law Firm building, Ni Xia and Gu Yusheng still found it hard to believe.
On the way there, they had even checked the phone number again, making sure they hadn’t somehow called some random, insignificant law office.
A famous senior partner had actually agreed to meet them just like that?
Not only that, Xu Shaoxin’s assistant had personally come out to greet them and led them to the pantry.
“Ms. Ni, Ms. Gu, please wait here for a moment.” She pointed toward the office opposite them. “Someone just came to see Lawyer Xu about something. It shouldn’t take long.”
She then poured them two cups of hot water.
Ni Xia and Gu Yusheng awkwardly accepted the cups and repeatedly thanked her.
After the assistant left, Gu Yusheng couldn’t help looking around.
“This law firm looks really expensive. The legal fees must be outrageous, right? If it’s too expensive, we’ll just leave.”
Ni Xia immediately shushed her.
There was a cleaner working nearby.
It would be embarrassing if she heard them.
Gu Yusheng fell silent, but her eyes continued wandering around.
The desks at Hengtuo weren’t packed together. The pantry was spacious and bright, and there were no open workstations nearby.
Across from them was a row of private offices with their doors closed.
The largest office in the middle was obviously Xu Shaoxin’s.
The one right next to it had a nameplate that read:
You Jue.
Gu Yusheng nudged Ni Xia’s shoulder.
“Hey, isn’t that your classmate’s office?”
Ni Xia looked up.
The moment she saw the two characters “You Jue,” her brows unconsciously furrowed.
“Yeah. That’s him.”
“He isn’t even a senior partner yet, and he’s already acting that important?”
Tell me about it.
The two whispered to each other without noticing that the sound of a vacuum cleaner was getting closer.
The cleaning lady reached their feet and said, “Ladies, could you move aside for a moment?”
Ni Xia and Gu Yusheng quickly stopped talking and moved aside.
The cleaning lady bent down and picked up a piece of tissue from the corner.
When she looked up and saw Ni Xia’s face, she smiled.
“Waiting for Lawyer You to finish work? It’ll probably be a while.”
Both women turned toward her at the same time.
The confusion in their eyes was impossible to hide.
Ni Xia had never even met this cleaning lady before.
How had she somehow been connected to You Jue just by sitting there?
And not just connected—
She had been given such an inexplicably intimate relationship with him.
Gu Yusheng obviously sensed that something was wrong too.
She leaned toward the cleaning lady and pointed at Ni Xia.
“You know her?”
“This is actually my first time seeing her in person,” the cleaning lady said with a smile.
Then she looked at Ni Xia and asked,
“You’re Lawyer You’s girlfriend, right?”
The words “girlfriend” made Ni Xia jolt.
She immediately shook her head.
“No, no! You’ve misunderstood. I’m not his girlfriend.”
“Oh… I see.”
The cleaning lady looked embarrassed after realizing her mistake and gave an awkward smile.
“I saw a huge portrait of you in Lawyer You’s office, so I thought…”
A huge portrait…?
Of Ni Xia…?
Ni Xia and Gu Yusheng fell silent.
Slowly, they turned to look at each other.