Qi Xi felt as if she had suddenly drunk too much, the alcohol fumes surging, causing a sudden head rush. At this moment, she only wished she could find a place to hide.
Gu Yan was really something; how could he just casually say such things?
She glanced at Gu Yan, feeling both amused and a little sweet: “I was only on a business trip for one day! And I didn't even stay in a neighboring city. It’s only been half a day since we last saw each other, right…”
“Yes, a full half-day.” Gu Yan’s tone was very restrained and serious, but his words carried a hint of sourness, “You were in the neighboring city for half a day and barely contacted me. I felt like half a day was very long.”
He said with a touch of sarcasm, “But looking at you, it seems like you thought half a day was quite short. It seems you didn’t experience what I felt.”
Qi Xi looked at Gu Yan’s profile as he earnestly complained, and suddenly, as if inspired, she reached out. Before she could even react, Qi Xi touched Gu Yan’s head.
Gu Yan was clearly not expecting this action from Qi Xi. He was stunned for a moment, but he didn’t move his head away. Instead, he gave her some encouraging hints with his eyes.
Qi Xi chuckled a little, then patted Gu Yan’s head again, like she was petting a large dog.
“It’s not that I didn’t miss you. It’s just that today I dealt with a matter involving a former HR director who I was very close to. Because I wanted to rush back early, I was working every minute and every second at Yuanchen.”
Gu Yan was taken aback: “Why were you in such a rush?”
“Because I wanted to come back and see you sooner.” Qi Xi looked at Gu Yan, her tone a little helpless, “After all, there’s a man in Rong City who misses me so much that he can’t even bear half a day apart.”
“…”
Qi Xi let Gu Yan play with her fingers. She didn't tease Gu Yan any further, but instead began to simply narrate the events she had encountered at Yuanchen that day and her own internal struggles. Regarding this, she frankly said, "Actually, while handling this matter, I kept thinking about you. There was indeed a moment when I doubted whether I was doing the right thing, but when I thought of you, I felt that if it were you, you would definitely support my actions. And if you were experiencing this, you would also choose to do the same as me. So, although it was indeed the first time I encountered such a conflict between human relationships and the law, and I was also very apprehensive and nervous, in the end, I didn’t regret it. I feel I made a decision that was true to myself.”
“I heard that Old Dong’s fate will be very miserable. He might hate me forever, but…”
Gu Yan took Qi Xi’s hand back into his own: “But you did nothing wrong.”
He looked at Qi Xi firmly, his voice very convincing and comforting: “You only did what you, as a lawyer, should do. You were sent to Yuanchen as a lawyer to assist in resolving Yu Nana’s dismissal dispute. In the entire event, you must handle this matter from the objective perspective of a third-party lawyer. So, Qi Xi, you did very well.”
“Many people face such choices, but only a few can make a fair decision without being bound by human relationships. It is precisely because of this that such a minority seems great. For example, parents who learn that their child has committed a crime and choose to report it to the police instead of covering it up. This is very difficult, but because it is difficult, it seems all the more precious.”
Gu Yan gently touched Qi Xi's face, then looked away a little shyly: “Of course, in my eyes, you have always been the most precious.”
Qi Xi pecked Gu Yan’s cheek, then also feeling a little embarrassed: “You are also the most precious.” After she finished speaking, she began to change the subject, feeling a little awkward, “But it was still hard on you to come pick me up so late tonight, making it so you couldn’t sleep well.”
“It’s not hard.” Gu Yan’s face flushed a little after Qi Xi’s surprise attack. He looked away, his voice low and pleasant, “I’ve always forgotten to tell you, my lucky number has never been seven. I like the BMW 7 Series, simply because the pronunciation of ‘7 Series’ sounds like your name. Being able to drive this car to pick you up, I don’t feel any hardship, because this was a scene I always only dreamed of before.”
Note: Qi (七) means seven.
Qi Xi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then looked at Gu Yan: “Then you mean that you usually dream of me when you sleep at night?”
Gu Yan was stunned, clearly not realizing that Qi Xi’s focus would shift in this direction, but he still “hmmed” in agreement. He lowered his gaze, looking at the car’s interior: “I guess so.”
Qi Xi leaned closer, wrapped her arm around Gu Yan’s and rubbed her nose against his clothes, coaxing him in a very coquettish tone: “Then what do you dream about? Is my image in your dreams good?”
It was unclear what he had thought of in his dreams, but Gu Yan’s expression became awkward, his gaze a little evasive, and his tone became a little nervous. As if he didn’t want to discuss this topic any further, he used a concise answer to express his avoidance:
“I’ve forgotten what I dreamed about.” Gu Yan explained somewhat contradictorily, “Your image in my dreams is good, I guess.”
Qi Xi quickly caught the loophole in Gu Yan’s words. She was a little dissatisfied with Gu Yan’s perfunctory attitude, and said somewhat petulantly, “If you’ve forgotten, how can you still remember that the image was good?”
Moreover, the use of the word "I guess" was very telling.
Qi Xi reasonably suspected that Gu Yan must have made her look bad in his dreams. Therefore, as she continued to question him, the awkwardness on Gu Yan’s face seemed to become more and more intense, even giving Qi Xi the illusion that he wished he could jump out of the car window and escape right now.
Then Qi Xi watched Gu Yan pretend to look at his watch, indicating that it was getting late and that he should send Qi Xi home as soon as possible, thus abruptly changing the topic.
Now Qi Xi was very certain that she definitely hadn’t done anything good in Gu Yan’s dreams. She felt a little sulky and decided that tonight she would also have a dream and torment Gu Yan, severely whipping him in her dreams.
**
Finally, the journey was smooth, and Gu Yan successfully dropped Qi Xi off at her doorstep.
The next day was the weekend, and Qi Xi’s mother’s birthday was also approaching. Therefore, Qi Xi decided not to stay in her rented apartment this weekend, but instead chose to go home.
Ever since Qi Xi very uncooperatively ruined the two blind dates arranged by her father, Qi Ruiming, Qi Ruiming had become furious. Qi Xi heard from her mother that he had been raging after returning home, criticizing and belittling Qi Xi from head to toe, vowing to see how far Qi Xi could go on her own.
For this reason, Qi Ruiming had clearly decided not to provide any financial support to Qi Xi, who had moved out to rent an apartment, waiting for Qi Xi to give in first. Therefore, during the period when Qi Xi was renting an apartment and working, her father had not provided a single penny of support. In fact, since Qi Xi had broken up with him for not cooperating with the blind dates, he hadn’t even proactively shown any concern for Qi Xi’s life.
“You’re really something, your dad has such a stubborn temper. He’s not a bad person, but he has a fiery personality and high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure really have a hard time controlling their emotions, sometimes their temper is just bad. And your dad is a partner in a law firm. Although it’s not a big firm like Jinghe, his business pressure and client pressure are usually very high. There’s no overnight feud between a father and daughter. Xi Xi, actually, as long as you give your dad a little face, he’ll have a way to step down.”
Early the next morning, Qi Ruiming had a client from out of town who suddenly needed a lawyer to witness something, so he had already left early to catch a train. Qi Xi didn’t even get to see him.
However, with him gone, the tense atmosphere at home had eased up.
Qi Xi’s mother, Xi Wen, also tried to take this opportunity to work on Qi Xi’s mindset. She took Qi Xi’s hand: “You father and daughter have exactly the same temper.”
Unfortunately, Qi Xi was holding her breath: “Come on, he just looks down on women. Look at his old-fashioned ideas. He always thinks that men should manage external affairs and women should manage internal affairs. Women should return to the family to be a good wife and mother. Then what’s the point of me studying hard and getting into Rong University? If I studied so hard, is it just to get married and have children?”
Qi Xi’s mother patted the back of Qi Xi’s hand gently: “You can’t say that. Your mother, like your father, also graduated from the Law School at Rong University, but now I’m a full-time housewife at home, and I feel very happy. I’m very grateful to have given birth to a daughter like you. I chose to leave my career to accompany you, and I have never regretted it. I don’t feel forced at all. It was all my own choice, and I don’t feel like my education and experience have been wasted. I also feel very happy with my current life.”
Qi Xi couldn’t help but rest her head on her mother’s shoulder.
Xi Wen was always very gentle, and Qi Xi’s heart became a little more peaceful because of it, but she was still not convinced: “But Mom, I think how women want to live should not be dictated by a predetermined set of rules. Our choices should be free and completely up to us. If you feel that family life and raising children bring you more happiness than success in the workplace, then you don’t have to worry about your education. Even if you have a Ph.D. from a prestigious university, society should respect your choice to be a full-time housewife, instead of criticizing you for wasting your education and ruining your future, because this is your life, your choice.”
“But similarly, women like me, who feel that success in the workplace is the most important part of my life’s value, should also be respected, instead of being squeezed out of the workplace and having our space to exist in the workplace suppressed by so-called traditional ideas of ‘men manage external affairs and women manage internal affairs.’”
Qi Xi’s tone was very serious: “As long as it’s not illegal or a crime, women should be free to make any choice, as long as she can bear the consequences of her choice. They should not be interfered with by any member of the opposite sex, who thinks they should give up their career pursuits and return to the family; nor should they be interfered with by any member of the same sex, who thinks they must enter the workplace and work hard, as this is what it means to be a woman of the new era.”
Xi Wen smiled and nodded: “I know, I know. My reasoning is not as good as yours, and my eloquence is far worse than yours. Your dad’s thinking is a bit too traditional, but that’s just his belief. His starting point is indeed that he doesn’t want his child to work too hard. Look at him, last night when you came home from your business trip in the early hours, he was still working overtime at the firm. You and I had already gone to sleep, and he just got home. And then early this morning, before you even got up, he was already gone on a business trip.”
“Lawyers who want to make a name for themselves have to sacrifice some of their personal time and give it to their work. And you’re still an intern lawyer, so you might not feel that kind of pressure yet, but when you become more experienced and have more clients, and every client is rushing you, that pressure is really something you can’t imagine right now. You still have your supervising lawyer to bear the pressure for you right now. You haven’t directly faced clients yet.”
Xi Wen gently brushed away the stray hair from Qi Xi’s forehead: “With other jobs, as long as you are familiar with the work, with age and experience, many things are repetitive, and you can rely on past experience to deal with them. It’s easier and more familiar as you do it. But it’s not like that for lawyers. Lawyers’ cases become more and more complex as they age, and the facts of each case are completely different. There’s no way to be able to rely on the experience of a past case to repeat the same method of handling things. There’s no shortcut like that.”
“As parents, we certainly don’t want our children to repeat such a hard life.”
Xi Wen looked into Qi Xi’s eyes, patiently guiding her: “We parents work so hard, isn’t it all so that our children can live more easily? As your mother, I naturally hope that you won’t be so tired, just like your father. But I’m also a woman, so I can understand you from another perspective. So I’m willing to respect and support your choices. It’s just that you shouldn’t take some of your dad’s occasional words too much to heart.”
Xi Wen smiled: “That’s just how your dad is. He sometimes speaks a bit impulsively, but he’s very kind-hearted.”
When her mother talked about her father, her face was filled with an unconscious smile.
Qi Xi knew that although arranged marriages and even arranged marriages were still popular in her parents’ era, Xi Wen and Qi Ruiming had fallen in love freely. They had met in the debate team at Rong University’s Law School. Xi Wen was already a well-known debater at that time, while Qi Ruiming was a rookie who had just joined the debate team. But Qi Ruiming, who was still a greenhorn at the time, had managed to win Xi Wen over with a burst of energy, sending her a love letter every single day. These love letters, collected together, were now still a memento of Qi Xi’s parents’ love. Qi Xi often saw her mother taking them out to savor and read them from time to time, with happiness overflowing from her expression.
Qi Xi had heard her mother’s friends say that Xi Wen’s grades were better than Qi Ruiming’s when they were in school, but in the end, Xi Wen gave up her career and returned to the family. Instead, her father, with Xi Wen’s support, gradually gained experience and connections in a large law firm. He eventually left to start his own small law firm.
Although it was a small firm, he was still a partner after all. So, although his income was not as high as that of a partner in a boutique firm like Jinghe, it was still considered a high income compared to ordinary salaried workers.
Qi Xi had also witnessed her parents supporting each other and starting from scratch. Her grandparents were farmers, so they couldn't provide any support to this small family. Qi Xi was able to have her current standard of living because of Qi Ruiming’s hard work.
Thinking about it this way, and with Xi Wen’s persuasion, Qi Xi’s resentment towards her father lessened a little, but she still didn’t let up: “He’s the busiest one. It’s been like this since I was in high school. He basically doesn’t come home for dinner every day. He’s almost always working overtime at the firm. It’s finally the weekend, and the courts are closed, but he, well, he has a bunch of social engagements, this client needs to be maintained, that client needs a gift.”
Although she had a lot of opinions about Qi Ruiming, there was indeed no overnight feud between father and daughter. It was just that as she talked about the past, Qi Xi became more and more heartbroken: “He didn’t come home on the night I filled out my college applications. He didn’t come when I gave a speech as a student representative at my high school graduation. It was the same during college. Will I have to find a time when he’s not working overtime and make an appointment with him in advance for my wedding?”
Xi Wen shook her head helplessly: “You child, your dad isn’t having an easy time either. There are indeed a lot of things at the firm. He also wants to take advantage of the fact that he’s still young to earn more, so that he can leave more for you in the future.”
When Xi Wen said this, she seemed to quickly find some details that had been inadvertently revealed in Qi Xi’s words. She stared into Qi Xi’s eyes: “Xi Xi, do you have a boyfriend?”
Qi Xi was stunned for a moment, and immediately tried to cover it up by talking about other things: “Huh? What? Mom, why are you suddenly asking such a question?” She put on an angry face, “You’re not going to introduce me to someone on a blind date like Dad, are you!”
Xi Wen couldn’t help but smile mischievously: “I was only suspicious at first, but now it seems that you should at least have a boy you like. If you don’t feel ready yet, you can not tell your mom for now, but you have to bring him to your mom for approval as soon as possible.”
Qi Xi naturally still didn’t admit it. She tossed her hair, looked away, and pretended to be calm as she retorted: “That’s all baseless speculation, and why are you suddenly saying that?”
“You usually get angry at anyone who mentions marriage to you, as if marriage is some kind of terrifying monster that will prevent you, this legal elite, from shining. But listen to what you just said, saying that you’ll have to make an appointment with your dad for your wedding…”
Qi Xi had to admit that although her mother had been out of the workplace for a long time, she had still graduated from the Law School at Rong University. Her ability to grasp the key points was simply outstanding.