The next day, Nan Qi slept in far later than usual.
Bo Ranying had already gotten up and prepared breakfast for two, but Nan Qi’s bedroom door remained firmly shut, without so much as a sound from within.
She waited a moment, then remembered that Nan Qi was still recovering from her illness. Worried that something might have gone wrong, she knocked gently on the door.
A muffled voice came from inside, too indistinct to make out clearly. Bo Ranying twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. There she saw Nan Qi clutching the quilt, her eyes bleary as she blinked awake. She looked utterly adorable in her drowsy state, her hair fanned out across the pillow like scattered blossoms.
Bo Ranying lowered her voice. “Time to get up and have some breakfast.”
“No.”
Nan Qi waved her hand dismissively, accidentally smacking Bo Ranying’s snowy-white arm with a sharp crack. Bo Ranying stared in a daze at the faint red mark that bloomed instantly on her skin.
The next moment, Nan Qi buried her face completely in the quilt and refused to look up. “I want to keep sleeping. I’m not driving you to work today.”
“All right…” Bo Ranying’s throat tightened. “Get some good rest.”
She tiptoed out of the room as quietly as she could.
When she returned to the living room, the sight of the buns and pastries on the table suddenly killed her appetite.
She gathered her things for work, realizing she would have to brave Linxi’s crowded morning rush hour alone today. Leaving early seemed like a wise move.
Nan Qi slept deeply and woke feeling utterly refreshed, her fatigue completely gone. The house was empty; she was all alone.
It was the first time she had experienced a workday morning like this.
It felt strangely wonderful.
After a brief moment of surprise, she realized she was adapting to it quite easily.
She approached the dining table and saw that the breakfast was completely untouched—exactly as Bo Ranying had left it.
Now that she had sorted out her feelings, the first lesson Nan Qi had learned was that she could no longer shortchange herself.
Of course she would eat the breakfast Bo Ranying had prepared.
She wasn’t about to head to work on an empty stomach.
She sat down casually and enjoyed the meal at her leisure. Only afterward did she drive to the office unhurriedly, her radiant mood lingering around her the whole time.
Even though her expression remained serious and composed, anyone could sense that she was in high spirits.
She even greeted everyone she encountered along the way, leaving her colleagues dumbfounded. Had she really shown up for work today? Or was she running late and trapped in some bizarre dream?
Nan Qi ignored their astonished stares and dove smoothly into her tasks.
During breaks in her work, she browsed rental listings on her housing app.
In the afternoon, Wenwen called ahead according to Nan Qi’s schedule, reminding her that it was almost time for her meeting with President Li of Xinyang Real Estate.
Wenwen headed off to prepare the reception room.
Fifteen minutes later, President Li arrived right on time, and Nan Qi appeared in the reception room at the same moment.
President Li of Xinyang Real Estate, Li Xin, was a woman in her mid-forties with a head of chestnut curls. Time had not diminished her beauty; though fine lines creased her face and the corners of her eyes, it was clear she had once been a stunning beauty.
She moved with brisk energy, exuding a straightforward competence that marked her as highly capable.
Impressive as Li Xin was, the woman who entered with her left an even deeper impression on Nan Qi.
They had met not long ago—and had nearly become WeChat friends.
It was the same woman whose lost business card had sparked an argument with Bo Ranying.
Tang Lian cut a tall, striking figure in a camel-colored overcoat over a solid satin blouse. A loosely knotted scarf revealed the elegant line of her neck, where a small brown mole traced a tantalizing path from the hollow of her throat to her collarbone. Paired with retro glossy high-heeled shoes, the simple ensemble drew the eye effortlessly.
Spotting Nan Qi, a surge of interest welled up inside Tang Lian. Today’s Nan Qi looked vibrant and poised, radiating the austere allure of an elite lawyer—cool, detached, untouchable. Tang Lian ached to shatter that calm facade and see what Nan Qi looked like when emotions broke through.
It made her heart race with delight.
She had learned from chatting with her auntie that morning that the lawyer in question was named Nan Qi. At first, she had dismissed it as a coincidence of names, but she had decided to test her luck anyway and accompany her aunt to the law firm.
To actually encounter the very person on her mind—Tang Lian felt her luck was exceptional.
She noticed Nan Qi’s recognition in the way her gaze lingered just a beat too long.
With a quick turn of thought, Tang Lian shot Nan Qi a plaintive glance. “Lawyer Nan, long time no see. Why haven’t you responded to me at all?”
Li Xin was stunned by her niece’s familiar tone and forgot what she had been about to say. “Lianlian, you two know each other?”
Tang Lian tilted her head playfully. “You’ll have to ask Lawyer Nan about that~”
Li Xin immediately turned her attention to Nan Qi.
“We’ve met once,” Nan Qi replied with prim propriety. To clear up any misunderstanding with Tang Lian, she added, “I didn’t ignore you. It’s just a personal habit—I don’t add people I don’t know well.”
The implication was clear: they weren’t close.
That was the reason she had rejected Tang Lian’s friend request.
Tang Lian: “…”
She nearly choked on her own breath. This woman was as ruthlessly aloof as ever.
But Tang Lian refused to be discouraged. She was convinced there was a fated connection between them, and she would make it onto Nan Qi’s friends list eventually.
Li Xin had no idea what convoluted history existed between her niece and the lawyer. She wasn’t one to meddle in the affairs of the young; her niece had a bold, distinctive personality that even her parents didn’t try to rein in, so Auntie Li certainly wouldn’t.
She gave Nan Qi a brief introduction to her relationship with Tang Lian.
Through Li Xin’s explanation, Nan Qi pieced it together. Li Xin was Tang Lian’s aunt, and the two families were quite close. Tang Lian had always been particularly fond of her auntie. With Li Xin’s own daughter away at university out of town, Tang Lian had come along of her own accord to provide companionship upon hearing about the divorce.
Xinyang Real Estate was a rising star in the property sector, with strong momentum. Five years ago, it had successfully listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and its share price had only climbed higher since.
Li Xin and Gao Yang had been each other’s first loves, university classmates who had dated after she pursued him for an entire semester. They married right after graduation and even managed to stay on for graduate studies at the same school, remaining both classmates and spouses for several more years. Their relationship had been enviable.
They were the campus’s golden couple, with old forum threads still buzzing about them.
Gao Yang came from a modest background but excelled academically, consistently winning top scholarships. Li Xin’s family owned a small company and had some means.
After completing their master’s degrees, her family provided startup capital, and Li Xin and Gao Yang built Xinyang Real Estate from the ground up together. Supporting each other through thick and thin, they transformed it from an obscure venture into a household name.
Once the company had gained some scale, Gao Yang arranged a lavish, romantic wedding for Li Xin, complete with a hall full of guests offering joyous blessings. In that moment, Li Xin had truly believed Gao Yang was the man she could entrust her life to—that she was the happiest bride in the world.
A few years after registering their marriage, they welcomed a daughter.
The birth had been a brush with death for Li Xin, leaving her body depleted and doctors informing her she could no longer bear children. Gao Yang made no demands of her.
He held her close with profound gratitude that she had survived, declaring that sons or daughters were all the same to him—their girl would be the sole heir to Xinyang Real Estate.
Clients often grew emotional when recounting their love stories, just as Li Xin did now. Her face still held a girlish blush as she spoke of the past, but as the timeline advanced, that softness faded into bitter hatred born of love betrayed.
She seemed on the verge of slamming the table in a furious rant, but lingering rationality—and Tang Lian’s soothing presence at her side—held her back.
Nan Qi remained level-headed. She sifted key details from the client’s subjective, jumbled account without getting swept up in the emotions. Even if the client broke down, Nan Qi could engage as an objective outsider and a professional lawyer, conversing and analyzing the case.
“So, what made you decide on divorce?”
Nan Qi’s calm voice flowed like a spring breeze melting snow, its soothing magic quickly calming Li Xin’s agitation.
With her thoughts clarified by the question, Li Xin pulled an envelope and a USB drive from her bag.
“I’ve got proof of Gao Yang’s affair.”
Nan Qi opened the envelope while plugging the USB into her computer to transfer the files.
“Everything in here is from the private investigator I hired—evidence of him checking into hotels with his mistress. Photos from every angle, his face fully visible. There’s no way he can deny it.”
“The dashcam footage only saves for a limited time before it auto-deletes,” Li Xin said. “So I installed a camera on the car he takes for his outings. The video streams straight to my phone. I’ve recorded tons of clips of him flirting with that mistress.”
Li Xin was smug one moment and gnashing her teeth the next. “How did I never see it before? The guy’s two-faced—sweet and devoted to your face, but utterly repulsive in reality!”
Nan Qi paid no attention to Li Xin’s venting. She pointed out gravely, “Miss Li, this does prove your husband’s infidelity, but it can’t be submitted as evidence in court. Hiring a private detective for secret recordings is illegal. Gao Yang could sue you outright for invading his privacy. We’ll need to gather fresh evidence, and it absolutely cannot come from covert filming.”
“Ah?” Li Xin stared in disbelief. “He’s the one acting shameless with his mistress, and the law still protects him?”
“The law isn’t a weapon for attacks,” Nan Qi replied. “It’s a set of constraints that equally safeguards everyone’s legitimate rights.”
Li Xin and Nan Qi talked for a long while. She wasn’t the type to reject reason out of hand. Though she regretted the effort she’d wasted on evidence that couldn’t be used, she quickly pulled herself together. She shared more details, offering Nan Qi fresh leads to tackle the problem.
Three hours later, Nan Qi informed her that an assistant would schedule their next meeting.
That thorough conversation had given Li Xin a real shot in the arm.
Her niece mentioned she had plans that evening, so after a few parting words of advice, Li Xin left the meeting room in high spirits.
Tang Lian remained seated without stirring, and Nan Qi ignored her.
She unlocked her phone. The screen was still on the rental app, and out of habit, she scrolled down a little.
The moment Tang Lian saw her pick up the phone, the little voice in her heart began blaring the call to charge, urging her to seize the moment.
Tang Lian was sitting some distance away and couldn’t make out Nan Qi’s screen clearly.
But she could guess the gist from the familiar layout. “Huh, is Lawyer Nan thinking of buying a house?”
Nan Qi wasn’t her lawyer, but after tagging along with Auntie and using the title a few times today, Tang Lian had grown rather fond of it.
For the moment, she had no desire to change.
