Chapter 54

Chen Xi rubbed her hair, ignored the text message sent by Xie Nanzhou, pressed the screen to turn off her phone, lifted the bed curtain, climbed down from the bed while holding onto the railing, and turned into the bathroom.

When she came out, she happened to see Lin Fan pushing the door open, carrying her handbag and a pile of gift bags printed with various English logos. Seeing Chen Xi, Lin Fan paused for a couple of seconds and took the initiative to greet her: "I heard from Li Qing that you went on a date. I thought you wouldn't be coming back to the dorm tonight."

Lin Fan was an art student with a somewhat arrogant personality and rarely spoke to Chen Xi in daily life.

Perhaps because their temperaments clashed, or perhaps out of disdain, every time it had been Chen Xi who initiated the greeting, and Lin Fan would just give a perfunctory nod and leave it at that.

Now, seeing Lin Fan break her usual routine to greet her, Chen Xi recalled the scene at the school gate that afternoon and was momentarily at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond.

A faint curve tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she said naturally, "Examinations are coming up soon, so I don't have that much time to mess around."

Lin Fan tossed the newly purchased LV Mahjong bag and the pile of gift bags onto the desk, then braced her hands on the back of the chair, bent down to take off the silver-gray high heels on her feet. Her heels were already worn to the point of bleeding, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she lifted that pretty face and turned the conversation toward Chen Xi: "True, good students like you all love to study. Unlike me, hanging out and wasting time outside every day."

This remark made Chen Xi somewhat embarrassed. She touched the tip of her nose and pretended not to hear it.

Ever since moving into this dormitory, Lin Fan had rarely returned, mostly living off-campus.

Chen Xi was occasionally curious about what Lin Fan did off-campus and where she got her financial support.

As far as she knew, Lin Fan's family background was not particularly wealthy—just barely enough to send her to an art academy, with a living allowance of a little over a thousand yuan a day—which, in the exorbitant city of Beijing, was barely a drop in the bucket.

Once, when Li Qing learned of Chen Xi's doubts, she shrugged with a look of disdain: "How could she possibly afford to buy these? Naturally, her boyfriends buy them for her."

Chen Xi was enlightened on the spot, yet she felt the world was far too surreal.

Back then, she still possessed the mindset of a student, always feeling that even in college, one's studies should take precedence, unaware that not everyone thought the same way.

During those two years, she had witnessed and heard quite a few rumors about Lin Fan. Some were half-true, some were absurd, and some were exaggerated enough to make one half-believe them.

Only, Chen Xi had not expected that she and Lin Fan would share a fated entanglement of misfortune.

Lin Fan also seemed to realize that although she and Chen Xi shared a dorm, they were not close to each other.

After a brief greeting, Lin Fan said nothing more.

She dug out a silk slip dress from her wardrobe, changed out of the high-end designer spaghetti-strap dress she had been wearing, pulled out a chair, sat down heavily, retrieved a bottle of makeup remover from the small storage box on the right side of the desk, pumped it twice, and began removing the makeup from her face bit by bit in front of the mirror.

With her face mottled with cosmetics, Lin Fan caught sight of Chen Xi's bare face, completely free of any face powder or rouge, in the mirror.

At that moment, Lin Fan felt a trace of jealousy toward Chen Xi.

She was jealous that Chen Xi rarely used skincare products, yet her skin was as flawless as if it could be broken by a breath; she was jealous that Chen Xi looked gentle, weak, and non-contending, yet never yielded an inch when dealing with matters concerning her own interests; she was jealous that Chen Xi could effortlessly possess a face with exquisite features and superb proportions without needing to deliberately learn makeup techniques.

Of course, she hadn't cared about Chen Xi before, always feeling they belonged to different worlds. Yet even Lin Fan herself hadn't expected that someone could arise to make her feel a sense of vigilance toward Chen Xi.

So much so that she, who rarely returned to the dormitory, was actually willing to travel a long way back just to confirm a possibility.

That night, with an extra person suddenly in the dorm, neither Li Qing nor Chen Xi spoke much.

It was Lin Fan who occasionally asked a couple of questions about Chen Xi's current situation, asking them in a haphazard, illogical manner.

Chen Xi was distracted, gave a few dazed answers, and then excused herself by saying she was sleepy.

Seeing this, Lin Fan had no choice but to shut her mouth.

After the lights went out, Li Qing, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly sent a private message. Chen Xi clicked on it and couldn't help laughing.

[Lin Fan hasn't taken a fancy to you, has she?]
Hidden inside her bed curtain, Chen Xi held her phone and replied with a deadpan expression: [Classmate Li, surely not.]
During that period, Chen Xi had been busy looking for internships and was constantly running around off-campus.

She saw Zhou Yanzhou again at a law firm.

The teacher of her economic law class shared the same surname as Chen Xi. Coupled with the fact that Chen Xi listened attentively in class, served as the study committee member, and had previously helped him organize project materials a few times, she had won his deep favor. Learning that Chen Xi was recently looking for an internship, the teacher specifically recommended that she try her luck at Fanghui Law Firm, mentioning that the owner of this firm was one of his former students.

With that, the teacher even called the person personally to say that he had a student under his wing who wanted to intern for a while.

Who knows what the other party said, but after hanging up the phone, the teacher told her with a smiling face to go to the firm for an interview this Friday.

The firm was located near Guomao. Chen Xi got up early to tidy up and, before leaving, remembered to bring her carefully crafted resume.

The interview was scheduled for ten in the morning. Chen Xi left the school early, took the subway, transferred to a bus, and finally walked to the building where the law firm was located.

She looked up at the towering skyscraper, hesitated for a good few seconds before taking a step forward.

The firm was on the 26th floor, and there were several companies in this building. When Chen Xi walked into the lobby, she was stopped by the security guard for registration. She placed her resume to the side, took the signing pen and registration log handed over by the guard, and dutifully wrote down her name and identification information.

After she finished writing, the guard took back the pen and paper, glanced at the identity information on it, and said with a kindly smile, "My daughter is the same age as you, a junior this year, and she's also looking for an internship recently. Keep it up, young lady, you'll definitely succeed in the interview."

Chen Xi smiled faintly and whispered a thank you.

Perhaps due to the stranger's encouragement, Chen Xi's nervous fluttering completely vanished.

She took a deep breath, turned around, and walked into the elevator alcove on the west side.

All six elevators were in operation. Chen Xi pressed the up button, stood in front of one of them, and quietly waited.

A few young people emerged from the neighboring elevator in the middle. Chen Xi curiously glanced at the blue employee badges hanging around their necks, which bore the characters "Xinchuang Games".

Must be a gaming company, right?

By 2017, several breakout games had already appeared on the market, and gaming company owners were making fortunes, with some even successfully going public purely on the back of a single game.

However, there were also plenty of parents reporting them, claiming that games interfered with children's studies.

As she was thinking this, the elevator doors slowly opened. Chen Xi took a deep breath and plunged inside.

She pressed the number 26, stood alone in the elevator, held her breath, and waited for it to ascend.

Throughout the ride, she kept practicing for the upcoming interview, wanting to present her best self.

After simulating a few questions, the elevator reached the 26th floor. Chen Xi grasped her resume and stepped out of the elevator without changing her expression.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw the words "Fanghui Law Firm" written on the gray wall not far away, in golden regular script, looking very stern.

Chen Xi stood for two seconds, then slowly shuffled over.

Passing through the ajar glass doors, the first thing she saw was the reception desk.

Standing behind the desk was a pretty young woman dressed in a professional suit skirt. Seeing Chen Xi, the receptionist asked warmly how she could help and took out a registration log to remind her to sign in.

Chen Xi explained that she was here for an interview while signing in.

Hearing the word "interview," the other party's expression remained neutral as she instructed, "Please have a seat and wait a moment. The boss is currently in a meeting."

Chen Xi smiled and said okay.

She found an empty seat, sat down with her legs tucked together rigidly, and carefully sized up the law firm.

The overall interior design of the law firm leaned toward cool tones, with gray and white dominating the wall colors and floor tiles.

To the right of the reception area was an entire open-plan studio, dotted with cubicles of various sizes where everyone was dressed in formal attire and working hard.

The reception hall featured a massive floor-to-ceiling window, with several sets of sofas arranged in the middle. Hanging on the walls were personal resumes of several lawyers and the growth trajectory of Fanghui Law Firm.

Chen Xi had searched Fanghui Law Firm online and seen that its partners all came from Red Circle firms, along with the cases they had handled, vaguely realizing that this firm possessed immense strength.

Suddenly, she lost her confidence.

After waiting for who knows how long, a middle-aged woman wearing a dark uniform suddenly emerged from the office on the left.

Chen Xi instinctively stood up. The woman paused upon seeing Chen Xi, then asked benignly, "Are you Chen Xi by any chance?"

Chen Xi nodded politely.

The woman smiled and said in an amiable tone, "The boss is still in a meeting with a client. Would you mind chatting with me first?"

Chen Xi was in no position to refuse. She picked up her bag, followed the woman through the glass door, and turned into the small room on the left.

The woman handed Chen Xi a form and reminded her to fill it out.

It was nothing more than basic information. Chen Xi took the pen, bent her waist, and naturally squatted on the floor to fill it in.

Halfway through filling it out, the door to the neighboring office suddenly opened, and two tall figures walked out.

With her line of sight blocked, Chen Xi only heard a warm, rich male voice speaking with utmost politeness: "Rest assured, I will definitely handle the matter you entrusted to me. I will certainly give your lawsuit my all."

"Shall I see you out?"

Having finished the last section of the form, Chen Xi heard the vague dialogue, looked up instinctively, and instantly froze upon seeing a familiar profile.

With a soft clatter, her signing pen dropped to the floor, producing a crisp sound.

Zhou Yanzhou hadn't expected to run into Chen Xi at the law firm either. Hearing the noise, he looked in the direction of the sound and found himself locked in gaze with a fair, delicate face.

Seeing her dressed in a mint-green knit top paired with white suit trousers, her waist-length hair neatly clipped back with a claw clip to reveal a full forehead, Zhou Yanzhou wore a slightly surprised expression, as if he hadn't anticipated running into her here.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and Zhou Yanzhou looked away first.

Noticing Zhou Yanzhou's attention being captured by Chen Xi, Fanghui quickly explained, "This must be the student Elder Chen recommended over the phone, here for an interview today."

Zhou Yanzhou withdrew his gaze after a single look. He raised his chin slightly, exchanged a few brief words with Fanghui, and turned to leave, paying Chen Xi no mind whatsoever.

Chen Xi had initially worried that Zhou Yanzhou would sabotage her, but she never expected him to walk straight out of the law firm without making things nearly as severe as she had imagined.

Only after he walked away did Chen Xi feel the surrounding air begin to circulate again.

Fanghui glanced at the departing figure of Zhou Yanzhou, then turned back to cast a probing, scrutinizing look at Chen Xi's face, his attitude suddenly shifting completely: "You are Chen Xi? The student recommended by Elder Chen?"

Chen Xi nodded awkwardly.

Fanghui beckoned, "Come in, I'll ask you a few questions."

Chen Xi stood up stiffly and followed Fanghui through the neighboring wooden door bearing the sign "Partner's Office."
Upon entering, Chen Xi was immediately drawn to a lawyer's letter resting on the desktop. She instinctively glanced at the content, catching only the words "Client: Zhou Yanzhou" before Fanghui swept the letter away into a folder.

The man politely invited Chen Xi to sit in the chair opposite the desk, then picked up her resume, glanced over it cursorily, and tossed it aside.

Seeing this, Chen Xi's heart sank.

Pretending not to notice Chen Xi's reaction, Fanghui asked with indifferent casualness, "Have you passed the bar examination?"

Chen Xi drew a breath and shook her head: "Not yet."

Fanghui frowned: "Do you have any relevant internship experience?"

Chen Xi shook her head again: "No."

Fanghui's frown deepened. Just as he was about to speak, the screen of the phone he had tossed aside suddenly lit up.

Glancing at the screen and seeing the sender's remarks, Fanghui's expression changed.

He picked up the phone, and it bore just a few brief words: [Lawyer Fang, do me a favor and let her pass.]
The word "her" left Fanghui baffled, and it took him a good while to figure out who it referred to.

The next second, Fanghui's expression abruptly shifted. He raised his eyes to give Chen Xi a meaningful, lingering look, and asked subtly, "Xiao Chen, where are you from?"

Though puzzled, Chen Xi replied earnestly, "Xiping."

Fanghui smiled dismissively and instructed in a gentle tone, "Alright, you can report for duty next Monday."

That day, she muddled her way through the interview and walked out of that building alone, holding onto zero hope.

After the interview concluded, Fanghui had sat with one leg crossed over the other opposite Chen Xi, flipped through her resume with a disdainful attitude, and finally closed it, saying euphemistically: "Logically speaking, the interns we recruit here are basically all graduate students. However, your qualifications are indeed quite good, so I'll make an exception."

"Now that you haven't passed the bar exam, it's somewhat..."

The latter half of the sentence was left unsaid, but Chen Xi understood his meaning all too well.

It was nothing more than the fact that she was a candidate recommended by a teacher, making it awkward for him to reject her outright.

At that time, Chen Xi had yet to realize just how crucial connections, resources, and family background were to a law student.

She had naively believed that she could find an ideal job relying solely on her own abilities.

It wasn't until she ran into walls everywhere that she realized she was utterly insignificant.

Nor did she know how much weight certain individuals had pulled behind the scenes to secure this coveted internship for her.

Stepping out of that suffocating building, Chen Xi stood at the intersection, taking a deep breath against the gray, overcast sky overhead.

It was not yet noon. Thinking of eating back at school since meals outside were rather expensive, she planned to retrace her steps, but was blocked at a traffic light by a Porsche, forcing her to stop in her tracks.

It was precisely lunchtime, and many white-collar workers passing by cast sideways glances at the Porsche parked with its hazard lights flashing.

Chen Xi originally intended to wait for the vehicle to move on before leaving, but the car stubbornly refused to budge.

Puzzled, she looked up, only to meet a pair of indifferent, deep eyes.

The moment she saw Zhou Yanzhou, Chen Xi was somewhat stunned.

Didn't he already leave?

Giving her no room for thought, Zhou Yanzhou rolled down the car window and commanded coldly and indifferently, "Get in the car."

Chen Xi stood frozen, unmoving.

Zhou Yanzhou seemed to have endless patience. Seeing Chen Xi remain still, he didn't urge her further, yet the drivers behind him began honking their horns incessantly.

Realizing the surrounding cars and people were multiplying, Chen Xi anxiously stepped forward and pulled open the rear door.

Just as she placed one foot inside, the man in the front seat abruptly stated, "Sit in the front."

Chen Xi didn't want to engage, but she couldn't withstand the oppressive weight of Zhou Yanzhou's gaze. Under his silent compulsion, she hesitated for two seconds, shut the rear door, and instead climbed into the front passenger seat.

Hardly had she gotten in, before she even had time to fasten her seatbelt, the man beside her suddenly asked, "How did the interview go?"

Chen Xi couldn't fathom why this man could always manage to appear so completely at ease. After such a long time apart, she stubbornly failed to detect a single trace of awkwardness in him.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said with a tone of absolute self-abandonment, "Leave it to fate."

Amused by her, Zhou Yanzhou gave her a disgruntled sideways glance and remarked with calm composure, "Since when did you become so pessimistic? Weren't you quite confident in the past?"

The pent-up fire in Chen Xi's chest was instantly ignited. She snapped her eyes open, glared fiercely at the man before her, and retorted angrily, "That was when I was young and ignorant."

Hearing this, Zhou Yanzhou fell into a rare silence.

The traffic light turned green. Zhou Yanzhou re-engaged the engine, merged into the flow of traffic, and neither of them spoke for the remainder of the drive.

For a fleeting moment, Zhou Yanzhou felt a twinge of regret for playing such idle, meaningless jokes on her.

Realistically speaking, he shouldn't have gotten involved with her again.

Yet seeing her reappear in his world, he always felt something ought to transpire between them.

Harboring this notion, Zhou Yanzhou had genuinely waited patiently for a while, never expecting to truly see her emerge from that building looking completely dejected.

Presumably, the interview hadn't gone well; otherwise, she wouldn't be wearing such an expression.

With his thoughts resting there, Zhou Yanzhou turned his head to glance at the young woman in the passenger seat. Seeing her numb expression, pale complexion, and looking like the embodiment of "leave me alone," Zhou Yanzhou checked his wristwatch and probed tentatively, "It's still early, want to grab a bite together?"

Chen Xi scrunched up her face and ignored him.

Zhou Yanzhou wasn't angered. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he maintained his consistent gentleness: "To be fair, you haven't proactively contacted me once in all these years."

"Beijing isn't too big, nor is it too small. The fact that the two of us could cross paths again is pure fate. Don't you agree?"