Although a beautiful woman’s life could be simple, the situation right now was anything but simple.
You Jue arrived on an autumn night, carrying a trace of the cold air with him. Even the scent of geraniums on his clothes seemed especially cool and crisp.
It was practically a scene straight out of a romance novel.
Ni Xia really did not know how to respond to his subtle expression of affection.
She could only step aside and gesture for him to come in.
You Jue said nothing. He calmly walked into the entryway and glanced toward the shoe cabinet.
Ni Xia quickly explained, “I don’t have any men’s slippers at home. Just come in like this. The cleaner will come tomorrow morning.”
You Jue gave a quiet “Mm,” and Ni Xia closed the door.
She looked at his back, trying again and again to suppress the smile at the corners of her lips. She failed in the end and asked in an almost deliberately sweet voice, “Why did you come here?”
“It takes Lai Min two hours to get here and back.”
You Jue usually wore only a shirt when he worked, so he casually took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack.
“It’s too late. It isn’t safe for a girl to travel alone.”
His tone was so casual that he sounded as if he were merely stating a fact.
If it were anyone else, they might really believe he had no ulterior motives at all.
He was really too stubborn.
Ni Xia let out a small laugh and lifted her chin.
“Come with me.”
The woman walked lightly ahead of him. Her thick hair swayed as it brushed against her waist.
You Jue looked away, and the layout of the living room came into view.
This probably was not Ni Xia’s own house.
The house was located in one of Jiangcheng’s old wealthy neighborhoods, and the residential complex itself was already more than twenty years old.
The style of the living room also showed its age. Fortunately, although the solid-wood furniture was no longer fashionable, it did not look outdated.
Old-style large apartments were never stingy with space. The connected living and dining areas were nearly a hundred square meters, with ceilings more than three meters high, making the entire house look even more spacious and luxurious.
That was precisely why the clutter throughout the house seemed especially out of place.
Though, technically, not all of it could be called clutter.
Apart from the materials and documents that clearly belonged to the film crew, the tables and cabinets were filled with professional books.
You Jue took a quick look. Books on fluid mechanics, materials science, and other technical subjects could be found everywhere. The shelves beneath the television were also packed with books on engineering and core technical sciences.
There was even a whiteboard placed in the corner between the TV wall and the window.
It was covered with formulas related to fluid mechanics, although the writing from the marker had already faded.
If You Jue remembered correctly, science had never been Ni Xia’s strong point.
Throughout high school, she had relied on English and Chinese to pull up her grades.
As for her artistic talent—
You Jue raised his eyes.
Every unobstructed wall in the living and dining area was covered with imaginative artwork.
Some were storyboard sketches casually pinned to the wall. Others had been carefully colored, framed, and hung in prominent places.
The most eye-catching one was the painting above the fireplace.
From several meters away, You Jue could not tell whether it was watercolor or oil paint. He could only see a girl with twin ponytails piloting a rusty modified submarine.
Sharks surrounded her, while colorful coral seemed to bare its teeth from every direction. Yet the way the water was painted made it clear that the submarine was speeding forward at full force, without slowing down at all.
Since taking over the case, You Jue had not yet had time to find out what Baili’s Underwater World was actually about.
But at this moment, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of that underwater world.
The house was large, but its soundproofing was excellent.
In the quiet living room, where the only sound was almost their breathing, Ni Xia noticed that You Jue had been staring at the painting for a long time.
She could not suppress the little feeling of pride in her heart.
“I painted it. What do you think?”
“Not bad.”
It was a very objective assessment.
Ni Xia curled the corners of her lips. She really wanted to ask him how it compared with the painting in his office.
But she held herself back.
“If you like it, I can paint one for you.”
You Jue glanced back at her.
“No need. I’m not really interested in paintings.”
Stubborn again.
“Then what are you interested in?”
You Jue turned around unhurriedly and walked toward the dining table.
“Work.”
Just as Ni Xia was wondering whether he had actually answered her question, You Jue suddenly asked, “Are you the only one here?”
“Huh?”
Ni Xia froze for a moment.
“No. There’s another producer, but she had something to do and isn’t in Jiangcheng.”
The confusion in You Jue’s eyes deepened.
“Only the two of you?”
Anyone familiar with the film industry knew that even a small production could easily involve one or two hundred people.
Ni Xia’s expression dimmed. She smiled faintly.
“Yeah. There are only the two of us left. Everyone else has even left the group chat.”
You Jue said nothing more. He bent down and looked at the computer on the dining table.
“All the electronic files are on this computer?”
“Yes.”
Ni Xia walked over and unlocked the screen.
“I organized them a little this afternoon. They’re all in this folder called ‘Evidence.’”
You Jue nodded and sat down.
Ni Xia dragged the chair beside him over and was just about to sit next to him when he said without even looking at her,
“You probably haven’t found everything yet. Go look again. I’ll organize the files on your computer.”
“…Okay.”
Ni Xia reluctantly stood up.
She glanced down at You Jue, silently poured him a glass of water, and then returned to the living room.
It was frustrating.
Really frustrating.
It felt as if a ball of cotton were stuck in her throat.
How could someone go through all the trouble of coming to her house and still act as if nothing could move him?
Couldn’t he take advantage of the situation for personal reasons?
Couldn’t he be a little less obvious about hiding his intentions?
But Ni Xia had absolutely no way to deal with him.
She could only endure it.
After thinking for a while with her arms folded, she decided to start by gathering the tedious financial records.
She turned and went into the study.
A while later, she came running back into the living room and searched through every drawer.
She went back and forth several times before finally gathering all the receipts and documents she could find.
Then she dropped onto the carpet and began arranging them one by one in chronological order.
Every payment that had come in and every expense she had made had once been another brick in Ni Xia’s dream.
Now, every document she organized felt like she was personally tearing down a castle that had been almost built.
Her hands simply could not move quickly.
In the enormous living room, the only sounds were the rustling of paper and the tapping of fingers against the laptop keyboard.
Eventually, when her neck had become too sore to continue, Ni Xia slowly raised her head.
It was already ten o’clock.
For all this time, You Jue had not said a single word to her.
If this continued, tonight really would turn into nothing more than a productive night of overtime.
Ni Xia gritted her teeth and stood up.
But when she turned her head and her eyes landed on You Jue, she immediately forgot what she had intended to do.
The dining room light shone down from above, making his features look especially deep and defined.
His clean, elegant profile seemed to glow faintly under the light.
His striking appearance and refined presence stood completely out of place against the messy surroundings.
Yet his focused expression and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows gave him a sense of security, as if he could build a bridge wherever there was water and clear a path wherever there was a mountain.
In the end, Ni Xia did not disturb him.
She simply picked up the empty glass beside him.
After filling it halfway, she quietly placed it back within his reach.
You Jue did not lose focus even once from beginning to end.
Ni Xia held her own glass and silently watched the computer screen.
Just then, the phone lying face down on the table began to ring.
The vibration was obvious, but You Jue still did not notice it.
Ni Xia had no choice but to poke him on the shoulder.
You Jue turned his head.
“What is it?”
In the next moment, their eyes met unexpectedly.
They were so close that even their breaths seemed to brush faintly against each other’s noses.
Ni Xia did not realize just how subtle the distance between them had become.
She did not even blink as she stiffly pointed at the phone and spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Your phone.”
“…”
You Jue immediately looked away and finally noticed the vibrating phone.
He picked it up and glanced at the caller ID before getting up and walking toward the window.
He was clearly trying to avoid letting Ni Xia hear his conversation.
But Ni Xia had no idea what there was to hide.
The entire living room was within view, and the balcony had been enclosed during the renovation. Every word he said reached her ears clearly.
“Mm. They came to move it this morning.”
“They packed it very carefully. They also sent me a video after delivering it to your house. There’s no problem.”
The moment she heard the words “this morning” and “move it,” Ni Xia immediately thought of the two workers she had encountered that morning.
Could he be talking about the painting that had been moved?
What did he mean?
What did he mean by “delivering it to your house”?
Where had he sent it?
The phone call was very short.
Ni Xia had only begun to form half a theory when she heard You Jue say quietly,
“I’m still working overtime. Let’s talk later.”
Then he really did hang up, decisively, as if he were about to walk into court the very next second.
When he turned around, he saw Ni Xia still holding her glass and staring at him.
She looked as though she wanted to ask something.
You Jue looked away again.
With nowhere else to look, his eyes landed on the clock on the wall.
“It’s getting late. I’ll head home first.”
With that, he walked straight toward the entrance.
He took his jacket from the rack and draped it over his arm. Without even putting it on, he opened the door.
He was leaving just like that?
Before Ni Xia could react, You Jue had already stepped outside.
She hurried after him.
“Are you coming tomorrow?”
“No. I’m busy tomorrow.”
“What about the day after tomorrow?”
“I have something to do.”
“Then—”
“I’ll come when I have time.”
“Okay.”
Under the dim, warm light at the entrance, Ni Xia’s eyes curved into a smile.
“Then I’ll wait for you.”
You Jue had only said that to stop Ni Xia from relentlessly questioning him.
But at this moment, her smile was really too inappropriate.
You Jue’s expression remained indifferent.
“Lai Min will come too when she has time.”
“Fine.”
Ni Xia immediately lost interest and pouted.
“You worked hard tonight.”
Ni Xia’s home really was on the way between the law firm and You Jue’s home. Once he left the neighborhood, there were less than five kilometers left to drive.
The transportation was also convenient, with complete facilities nearby. No wonder Fang Jialin had chosen to rent a place here.
However, the road conditions had been particularly bad lately.
Road repairs had closed off half a lane with construction barriers, so even at ten-thirty at night, traffic was still heavy.
Fortunately, autumn in Jiangcheng brought plenty of rain.
When the traffic lights became slightly blurred behind the misty rain, You Jue lowered the car window.
The cold wind mixed with raindrops and blew into the car.
Only then did he let out a long, heavy breath.
At that moment, several messages came in one after another.
You Jue ignored them.
It was not until he stopped at the next red light, which lasted ninety seconds, with cars passing orderly in both directions, that he finally picked up his phone.
He stared at the streetlight for a long time.
Only forty-five seconds had passed.
In the end, he still picked up his phone.
Besides messages from clients, there were also several messages from Fang Jialin.
[Fang Jialin]: You hung up before I could finish talking.
[Fang Jialin]: Still working overtime? I just wanted to tell you that I booked a flight back for Saturday.
[J]: Okay.
After sending that one word, You Jue was about to put down his phone when Fang Jialin sent another message.
It had nothing to do with their previous conversation.
He sent a screenshot of Ni Xia’s social media post.
It was a photo she had just taken.
She was probably still sitting at the dining table. The camera was pointed toward the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, with fine rain streaking down the glass.
At the bottom of the photo was a familiar laptop and two half-full glasses of water.
The caption read:
“In my world, the weather is clear.”
Posted five minutes ago.
You Jue had no idea what Ni Xia meant by posting such an ambiguous update.
He also had no idea why Fang Jialin had specifically taken a screenshot and sent it to him.
All he could reply was a question mark.
[Fang Jialin]: Look at those two glasses of water on the table.
[Fang Jialin]: My instincts tell me the other glass belongs to a man.
[Fang Jialin]: Do you think she’s dating someone?
[J]: …