After the meal, Song Xidan was about to take out her phone to call a taxi home, but Zhu Yun stopped her. “It’s not over yet. Come on, I’m taking you to sing.”
“Singing?” Song Xidan refused, “Sister Yun, I’m not a good singer.”
“It’s fine. I’ve invited a few friends who are great singers; we can just listen to them. You can’t refuse. I’m following ‘Adult Zhi’an’s’ orders, and you can’t let me fail to report back to her.”
“Sister Zhi’an?” Song Xidan was momentarily stunned.
“That’s right. She said you don’t have many friends, and she told me to take you out to play more. Don’t worry about having fun; I have plenty of friends, and I’ll definitely show you a good time. Ready to go?”
When Song Xidan heard this, a warmth welled up in her heart. She wasn’t particularly fond of KTVs, but she immediately nodded.
In her mind, she could refuse Zhu Yun, but she couldn’t let down Ying Zhi’an’s kindness.
So, Sister Zhi’an remembered. She remembered what Song Xidan had said. Song Xidan’s lips curled up slightly, making her look even brighter.
However, that smile vanished when Zhu Yun pulled her into a nightclub.
“Sister Yun, aren’t we… going to sing?”
“We are! My sisters booked a private room, and you can sing inside. The room is on the second floor. When the floor gets busy later, we’ll switch to a booth. Don’t worry, my sisters have arranged everything.” Zhu Yun was as pure as a blank slate in matters of the heart, but extremely seasoned when it came to socializing and partying. She immediately grabbed Song Xidan’s wrist and headed into the dazzling, decadent nightspot.
Zhu Yun’s friends were her closest confidantes since childhood, and they had arrived in the private room early.
As soon as Song Xidan walked in, she first saw a row of men standing inside, of all shapes and sizes.
Three women were seated on the sofa. One of them, holding a cigarette, shook her head through the curling smoke at the row of men, then turned to a man standing in the corner and said, “Change the batch. Higher quality.”
The man immediately offered a tablet, knowing his place. “The high-quality ones haven’t arrived yet. Here are some profiles and photos. Ladies, take a look.”
Song Xidan, who had gone straight from university to the grasslands, had never seen a scene like this. She was pulled along by Zhu Yun like a puppet and seated.
“Stop that. Let’s just entertain ourselves.” Zhu Yun pulled the tablet away from her friend’s hand. “Come and meet my colleague, Song Xidan.”
Zhu Yun was genuinely a very lively person. Song Xidan even felt she was a female version of Luo Qingcheng. Although she hadn’t interacted much with Director Luo, whenever he appeared, he would liven up the atmosphere. Once, he idly stopped by to look for Ying Zhi’an and ended up chatting in their office for over an hour.
Zhu Yun’s friends were not in law. The one who suggested hiring male models, whom Zhu Yun called Qianqian, was in the construction industry. Song Xidan followed suit and called her Sister Qian.
Sister Qian wasn’t angry that Zhu Yun took the tablet. She smiled, exchanged contact information with Song Xidan, and then immediately summoned people from her contact list. “I called three guys to come play with us, otherwise, we can’t finish this alcohol. Xiao Song, can you drink?”
Song Xidan nodded, then shook her head.
Sister Qian laughed. “That means you can drink! Come on, let me fill you up. Although this place is expensive, at least they don’t sell fake foreign liquor, so your head won’t hurt tomorrow.”
As expected, those who grew up playing with Zhu Yun were all warm-hearted. Surrounded by four older sisters, Song Xidan quickly drank quite a bit of alcohol at the beginning of the conversation.
She could drink. The weather on the grasslands turned cold quickly, and a bit of hard liquor helped keep one awake.
She would wrap herself in a coat, take a sip of liquor, look at the stars in the sky, and listen to the wind that howled and roared across the grassland at night, making her coat flap loudly. Eva would snort and puff in the stable, seemingly mocking Song Xidan, this bipedal human, for not going indoors yet.
When it gets dark, go home—this was an eternal truth.
But now, in this bustling metropolis, restless souls who couldn’t be soothed were packed into a dance floor, babbling and shouting.
The dazzling lights were disorienting. Even Song Xidan, with her excellent tolerance for alcohol, felt a little tipsy after a few glasses of foreign liquor.
They had moved to a booth. The men who were “shaken” over were also in place. Scantily-clad beauties were dancing on the stage, and the DJ was spinning records and shouting into the microphone. The entire environment was as loud as a monster in a frenzy.
The beams of light were scattered, colorful, and occasionally swept across her eyelids, like grabbing a handful of stars from a river.
When Song Xidan turned around, a game she didn’t understand had started at the booth. Zhu Yun was not participating, holding chopsticks and eating fruit and small dishes. She explained to Song Xidan, “It’s ‘finger-snatching,’ a very boring game.”
Song Xidan watched for a while and then saw Sister Qian and one of the guys feeding each other alcohol mouth-to-mouth. She immediately realized that no matter how flashy the form of the so-called “finger-snatching” game was, the essence was the same—the restlessness of hormones.
“It really is quite boring,” Song Xidan thought of Ying Zhi’an and couldn’t help but ask, “Has Sister Zhi’an ever come here with you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. How could Ying Zhi’an be interested in this? She’d probably prefer to look at a few more cases or read a few more books.” Zhu Yun knew her well. “So it’s normal that she succeeded. She doesn’t seem to care much about food, drink, or entertainment. If I hadn’t seen her completely relaxed with Brother Wang Yu before, I might truly believe she was born to dedicate herself to the legal profession.”
“Brother Wang Yu?”
“Her mentor who brought her into the field. He’s a judge now.”
“What was Sister Zhi’an like when she first started?” Song Xidan was too curious about Ying Zhi’an, and mentioning her immediately sobered up her slightly tipsy mind.
“You know what ‘sweet and naive’ is?” Zhu Yun smiled. “Zhi’an was even sweeter and more naive than I was back then! She believed everything people told her.”
Song Xidan was stunned. “Sweet and naive?” This was utterly unlike the current Ying Zhi’an.
“You know the type of person who looks utterly strong-willed, like nothing can defeat them? Because of that powerful strength, they don’t fear any unwritten rules or darkness, which makes them more pure and also more likely to trust. In my opinion, Zhi’an was that kind of person. It’s just that she’s changed a lot now, like she’s locked that door to her heart. She seems mysterious and much more formidable. But she’s been better recently. You’re her first apprentice, and you’ve added something interesting to her barren life. Otherwise, I was really afraid she’d end up growing old alone with nothing but the law.”
Zhu Yun wanted to say more, but Sister Qian noticed the two chatting idly and immediately squeezed between them. “Who comes to a bar just to eat fruit and chat! And you, eat less and drink more! Are you two not interested in this game? Then let’s play an old-fashioned one.”
Sister Qian quickly decided. “Truth or Dare! We roll the dice, and the person with the lowest number takes the challenge.”
Who knew that in the first round, Song Xidan would be the one with the lowest number?
Sister Qian seemed to have caught a big fish and beamed. “Xiao Song, I have the highest number in this round. Do you choose Truth or Dare?”
Song Xidan thought for a moment. “Truth.”
Sister Qian raised an eyebrow. “Good. I ask you: describe the person you currently like.”
Before Song Xidan could speak, Zhu Yun laughed. “How do you know Xiao Song even likes someone?”
Sister Qian replied, “Why else? If I asked if she liked someone and she just said yes, it would be a waste of a Truth opportunity.” She then looked at Song Xidan. “Xiao Song, I bet you do like someone.”
Ying Zhi’an’s face suddenly flashed in Song Xidan’s mind. She recalled Kahlil Gibran’s poem—The highest realm of love is like a flowing ocean between the two shores of your souls.
That night, the slightly tipsy Ying Zhi’an was captivating, like a kitten. Her eyes sparkled like the starlight, and her casual humming was like a distant spell, enchanting, enchanting the weary traveler.
And Song Xidan, called back from the grasslands by her parents, was that weary and out-of-place traveler.
“She is a very rational and restrained person, so she might appear cold, but in reality, she is very gentle and incredibly capable of giving those around her a sense of security and happiness. She might seem disdainful of many noble things, but often, the principles in her heart and her attitude towards the world are nobility itself.” Song Xidan smiled, her eyes also filled with tenderness. “I can’t fully articulate it, but I feel she is the constant in this ever-changing world.”
Zhu Yun couldn’t help but laugh. “Xiao Song, I didn’t realize you had someone you like this much! That smile on your face is so sweet!”
Sister Qian looked at it from another angle. “Xiao Song, meeting someone who can give you a sense of security is rare. Cherish them.”
Zhu Yun, recalling her own unfortunate encounter, sighed. “Indeed, meeting the right person is not easy.”
Sister Qian was quick to read the room and immediately interrupted Zhu Yun’s melancholy. “Drink, drink, drink! Next round.”
The game went on for an unknown number of rounds. When Song Xidan was tipsy again, she once again ended up with the lowest number.
Zhu Yun had the highest number. “Aiya! Xiao Song! You’ve fallen into my hands! Forget Truth; go straight for Dare!”
“Alright, Sister Yun.”
Zhu Yun and Sister Qian exchanged glances, both seeing mischief in the other’s eyes. They burst into laughter, and then Zhu Yun said mischievously, “Call the person you like! We won’t play too big; you don’t have to confess. Just chat with them a little and let us sisters experience pure love again, ha ha ha.”
Song Xidan’s drunk mind was like a rusty, jammed machine, but this gave her full audacity and courage. She immediately pulled out her phone and accurately dialed Ying Zhi’an’s number.
It was exactly midnight.
Ying Zhi’an’s sleep schedule was very fixed. She wouldn’t work overtime unless there was an extremely urgent case. At her level, there were plenty of practicing lawyers willing to help her with case details, providing her with more flexibility in her time.
So, she was on a business trip, feeling irritable because she missed her bedtime due to not being able to sleep well in a new place. Just as she was half-asleep and half-awake at midnight, the phone call from Song Xidan woke her up. Ying Zhi’an was very cranky.
“You better have a matter of extreme urgency.” Her voice was so cold it sounded like it was about to shoot out of the phone and materialize as ice picks in front of Song Xidan.