Over the past two days, Ni Xia had worn a full face of makeup more often than she had in the entire previous year.
Her makeup skills had become rusty, and she was missing some of the tools she used to have, so she always felt that the final look wasn’t quite good enough.
When she arrived at Hengtuo’s underground parking lot, she used the car lights to touch up her makeup again.
After making sure that no flaws could be seen on her face from a normal social distance, Ni Xia sent You Jue a message saying she had arrived. Then she opened the car door and got out.
Signs marked “Hengtuo Law Firm” could be seen all over the underground parking lot.
Now, whenever Ni Xia saw those four words, she couldn’t help thinking of the portrait in You Jue’s office.
Then she had an idea…
Once she entered his office, she could pretend to be surprised when she saw the painting and ask You Jue why he had put her portrait in his office.
No matter how clever You Jue was with his words, there was no reasonable excuse he could come up with for something like that.
Once his feelings became obvious and he could no longer stubbornly deny them, the obstacle between them would naturally disappear.
Then Ni Xia could take the opportunity to express her own feelings and extend an olive branch.
Wouldn’t the two of them then be able to rush toward a life of wealth together?
Ni Xia was happily planning everything in her head when she reached the elevator area and happened to see two men in work uniforms carrying a huge box out.
The box was so large that Ni Xia stepped aside to make room and even helped hold the door open for them.
At that moment, You Jue replied.
[J]: Meeting Room C019. Wait a few minutes for me.
Meeting room?
Was he deliberately trying to keep her out of his office?
Ni Xia simply slipped her phone back into her bag, then strode into the elevator.
When she reached the right floor, she walked straight toward his office without hesitation.
The door was partly closed, but through the frosted glass, she could see You Jue’s figure.
Ni Xia knocked on the door.
You Jue was sitting at his desk, completely focused on his computer. He didn’t turn around and casually said,
“Come in.”
But as the person outside pushed the door open, perhaps because of the uniquely soft presence of a woman, or perhaps because of some inexplicable intuition, You Jue’s fingers stopped typing.
He instinctively glanced at the sofa across from him.
Only then did he turn around.
“Why did you come to the office?”
“I couldn’t find the meeting room.”
Ni Xia smiled as she answered, while secretly glancing toward the sofa as well.
Wait—
Where was the painting?
Where had that enormous painting gone?
“Then wait a moment. I need to finish something.”
Ni Xia said nothing.
She turned her head and stared at the empty sofa in disbelief.
After a long moment, the stiffness in her expression gradually faded, and she began searching the office with her eyes.
The space wasn’t large. Everything was clearly visible.
Documents were neatly packed into the cabinets and across the desks, while there wasn’t even enough wall space to accommodate such a huge painting.
The answer was obvious.
The painting was no longer in You Jue’s office.
Only then did Ni Xia remember the two men she had seen in the elevator area downstairs.
Could it be that You Jue knew she was coming this morning and had deliberately timed it so that someone would move the painting away?
Was that really necessary?
Her perfect plan had completely fallen apart.
What a mood killer.
You Jue, meanwhile, quickly finished what he was working on. He gathered the documents and stood up.
“Come with me.”
The plan she had imagined hadn’t worked out, leaving Ni Xia feeling as though she had suffered a terrible setback right from the start.
When they arrived at the meeting room, she became especially cautious and decided not to speak recklessly.
You Jue hadn’t said a word since entering either.
He first turned on the display behind him and connected his computer, then sat down and organized the contracts in his hands.
This wasn’t a formal occasion. He was only wearing a white shirt without a tie, with his sleeves rolled up slightly.
His movements were neat and efficient, and his expression was calm and composed.
For some reason, his presence made Ni Xia feel incredibly reassured.
She rested her face in both hands and stared at You Jue for quite a while.
Then she had another idea.
“Hey, do you remember the school outing when we were in our second year of high school?”
The question successfully caught You Jue’s attention.
When he looked up at her, Ni Xia continued,
“Everyone in our class had gone to the playground to have fun. I went back to the classroom to get something and saw you sitting alone at your desk reading.”
“You were so focused that I didn’t want to disturb you, so I just stood at the door.”
She smiled.
“There were so many classmates running around and playing, but you weren’t affected at all. You had the strongest concentration of anyone I’d ever seen.”
“Really?”
You Jue lowered his eyes. The corners of his lips curved slightly, but there was no real smile in his eyes.
Ni Xia couldn’t figure out what his expression meant, so she decided to push a little harder.
“Of course. Even back then, I thought you were different from all the other boys in our class. No wonder you learned everything so quickly.”
“Later, every time we elected class officers, I secretly voted for you. Too bad you didn’t want to be a class officer. Otherwise, our class would definitely have ranked first by a huge margin.”
After saying this, she looked at him with sparkling eyes.
But You Jue simply gathered the contracts in front of him and pushed them toward Ni Xia.
“The school outing in our second year of high school was when my grandfather passed away. I took leave and stayed home.”
Ni Xia: “…………”
The air in the meeting room suddenly felt unbearably stuffy.
The autumn sunlight was painfully bright.
Ni Xia turned her head and let the noise in her mind explode like thunder.
She shouldn’t have gotten carried away and assumed You Jue wouldn’t remember such a small event from years ago.
Now look what happened.
Other than saying, “I must have remembered it wrong,” she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Look over the contract.”
Amid Ni Xia’s silence, You Jue returned to business.
He tapped the contract lightly with two fingers.
“If everything looks fine, sign it.”
“Oh…”
The service agreement wasn’t long. Including the signature page, it was only four pages.
There were also three authorization agreements.
Besides You Jue and Xu Shaoxin, another lawyer named Lai Min was assigned to the case.
Lai Min came in while Ni Xia was signing the contracts.
She was a young, somewhat inexperienced-looking woman carrying a laptop. She quietly sat beside You Jue.
Ni Xia behaved herself after that.
During the case discussion, You Jue asked questions and she answered them. She didn’t dare let her mind wander toward anything else.
Before she knew it, the entire morning had passed.
Ni Xia had finished an entire bottle of mineral water, and You Jue showed no intention of getting her another.
“That’ll be all for today.”
You Jue gestured toward Lai Min.
“Send the evidence checklist to the group chat.”
Lai Min agreed.
You Jue then looked at Ni Xia.
“Your next task is to organize the evidence according to the checklist. Sort everything by date and category.”
Afraid that Ni Xia wouldn’t take it seriously, he emphasized,
“Evidence is the foundation of any lawsuit. Especially in a contract dispute like this, the completeness and evidentiary value of the evidence directly affect the outcome of the case.”
“I understand.”
After embarrassing herself so badly at the beginning of the meeting, Ni Xia wanted to restore some of her dignity.
She asked seriously,
“When do you need everything?”
“Preferably within a week.”
“No problem.”
After packing up their things, the three of them walked out while continuing to discuss the case.
Lai Min’s workstation was in a different direction from You Jue’s office, so they went their separate ways after leaving the meeting room.
As You Jue walked through the break room, he noticed that Ni Xia was still following behind him.
After all, she was now a client who had signed a contract with the firm, so You Jue stopped without being too direct.
“Then I’ll see you in a week.”
“Okay… Huh?”
Ni Xia suddenly looked up.
“We have to wait a whole week before seeing each other again?”
It was lunchtime, and people were coming and going through the break room.
But You Jue was the only one who clearly understood the subtle meaning behind Ni Xia’s words.
To prevent her from saying anything more, he said,
“If you need anything during that time, contact me or Lai Min anytime.”
“Oh.”
Ni Xia nodded, but she really couldn’t accept leaving today empty-handed.
She held it in for a long time, unable to think of a roundabout way to say it.
So she finally asked directly,
“Then tomorrow night I need to have dinner and watch a movie with you. When should we contact each other?”
He still hadn’t managed to stop her.
A colleague nearby, who had been making coffee, immediately turned his head.
After taking a quick glance, he turned his head back, but his ears were practically standing up.
You Jue didn’t look annoyed.
He simply raised his hand and pointed toward the side.
Ni Xia followed his finger and saw the entrance of Hengtuo.
“I suggest you go home now, organize your evidence, and then think about whether you’ll have time to have dinner and watch a movie with me tomorrow night.”
When Ni Xia left Hengtuo, she still hadn’t realized how serious You Jue’s words were.
She simply couldn’t understand what he wanted.
The food had practically been delivered to his mouth, yet he refused to eat it.
Did he really enjoy the feeling of having a one-sided crush?
Fine.
If he didn’t want it, so be it.
Ni Xia drove to a restaurant by herself.
She had actually invited Gu Yusheng too, but Gu Yusheng was busy packing her luggage at home and couldn’t come.
The previous night, someone from a film and television company had contacted Gu Yusheng and talked with her for a while. They seemed quite interested in Baili’s Underwater World and had invited her to meet and discuss the project in detail.
The two of them hadn’t had much hope.
After all, they had dealt with too many film and television companies over the past few years. Almost all of them only wanted to sign Ni Xia as a newcomer and train her themselves.
As for the science-fiction movie she already had?
They could put that aside for now.
But now that they were at a critical point where everything was at stake, how could they let such an opportunity pass?
They weren’t in a position to be picky.
So Gu Yusheng immediately booked a flight for that evening.
At two in the afternoon, Ni Xia finally returned home after eating her fill.
She changed into loose home clothes, removed her makeup, and slowly printed out the evidence checklist before sitting down at the table.
She stayed there for five hours.
Ni Xia had never been involved in a lawsuit before and had no idea that organizing evidence could be so complicated.
The checklist alone contained contracts, emails, chat records, financial documents, and all kinds of written materials.
Even taking out just one item required an enormous amount of tedious sorting.
And she didn’t even know which things counted as evidence and which didn’t.
By the time it was completely dark outside, her home was a mess, with things scattered everywhere, while Ni Xia was still running around like a headless chicken.
At this rate, forget one week.
She might not even finish organizing everything in a month.
Overwhelmed, Ni Xia sent a message to the group chat.
[Ni Xia]: I can’t figure out how to organize all this evidence. Could someone guide me? [Crying]
After confirming the cooperation that afternoon, Lai Min had created a WeChat group that included Xu Shaoxin.
It happened to be morning in London, and Xu Shaoxin saw the message and immediately gave an instruction.
[Xu Shaoxin]: Have someone go over and help her organize it.
Wait.
Lawyers could actually come to a client’s home to help?
[Ni Xia]: Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?
[Xu Shaoxin]: It’s fine. Helping clients organize evidence is quite common.
In that case…
Ni Xia stared intently at her phone screen, waiting for You Jue to take advantage of the opportunity and volunteer.
If she had known that filing a lawsuit came with this benefit, she wouldn’t have worked so hard today.
Several minutes passed.
There was still no response in the group.
Maybe You Jue hadn’t seen the message.
Ni Xia was just about to tag him when Lai Min’s message popped up.
[Lai Min]: I’ll go! Lawyer You is still at the firm, so he’s probably too busy.
“…”
Ni Xia still wanted to struggle a little, but Lai Min immediately asked for her home address and said she could set off right away.
Fine.
Ni Xia could only give her the address and tell her to take a taxi over. She would reimburse the fare.
Exhausted, Ni Xia collapsed onto the sofa.
She stared at the ceiling, thinking back over the entire day, and felt miserable.
As the person You Jue supposedly had a secret crush on, why was it so difficult to take their relationship any further?
Even people who chased after their crushes didn’t have to work this hard.
Ni Xia really wasn’t willing to give up.
Several times, she opened her phone, hoping to see that You Jue had stopped Lai Min from coming.
Unfortunately, he remained completely silent from beginning to end.
Ni Xia waited on the sofa until she became drowsy.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before the security desk finally called to ask whether she was expecting a visitor.
Ni Xia finally gave up on the idea.
She checked the time.
Only twenty minutes had passed.
She hadn’t expected Lai Min to move so quickly.
After telling security to let her in, Ni Xia hurriedly got up and began cleaning things up.
She had been busy all afternoon, and things were scattered everywhere. Several chairs were covered with materials, leaving barely anywhere to sit.
When the doorbell rang, she hurried over to open the door.
On the way, she grabbed a brand-new pair of women’s slippers from the shoe cabinet.
“You’re here?”
The moment Ni Xia opened the door, her eyes froze on the man standing in front of her.
He was still wearing the clothes from that afternoon, but he had added a suit jacket.
The hallway lights were dim and yellow, partly hiding his expression and making it difficult to see clearly.
As their eyes met through the hazy light, Ni Xia suddenly smiled in relief.
A beautiful woman’s life really was that simple.