Although it was embarrassing to cry like that in front of Qian Heng, Cheng Yao found that after binge-eating sweets all night and having a good cry, she miraculously felt much better.
She finally mustered up the courage to call her sister, Cheng Xi. This time, since her sister had been dragged into the mess, she was prepared to grovel and take full responsibility. However, on the other end of the call, Cheng Xi showed no trace of blame or resentment—she was still as gentle as ever.
“Yaoyao, it’s okay. I don’t mind these things. Don’t lose heart, just keep going.”
Those were warm and comforting words, but the moment Cheng Yao heard them, she couldn’t help but burst into tears again.
And strangely enough, after talking to Cheng Xi, it was as if her luck had hit rock bottom and was now bouncing back—just like stocks that rebound as long as they don’t get delisted.
The next morning, while scrolling through her phone, Cheng Yao was shocked to find that all the slanderous posts about her had vanished, and any mentions involving Cheng Xi had also disappeared completely. The most dramatic part? The most aggressive ringleaders of Bai Xingmeng’s fanbase—the ones who had been the loudest in insulting Cheng Yao—had actually posted public statements on Weibo, apologizing to her and to Jun Heng.
The boss of the society—ruthless and efficient!
This was classic Qian Heng behavior.
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“Mbl xyvlakyzp qsa vbl zyopwkv ytykdpv Jyk Dkdtxldt okzz cl pwcxkvvle vs vbl nswav vbkp yqvladssd.” Jys Swk nyzzle Ubldt Zys lyazu kd vbl xsadkdt vs nsdqkax y qlo elvykzp altyaekdt bla kdqakdtlxldv zyopwkv. Mbld, bl alyppwale bla, “Mbkp kp bsdlpvzu vbl qypvlpv R’hl lhla plld Ckyd-rya xshl sd y nypl. Tl bydezle vbkp lhld iwknjla vbyd bkp ckzzksd-eszzya zyopwkvp. Ps usw jdso bso bl pldv zltyz dsvknlp vs vbspl aycke qydp obs yvvynjle usw vbl xspv? Tl wple FW Omralpp pyxl-eyu elzkhlau.”
Jys Swk’p vsdl oyp qwzz sq lmyttlayvle yexkayvksd. “Ps usw jdso bso xwnb FW Omralpp pyxl-eyu elzkhlau nspvp? Nlv xl tkhl usw yd lmyxrzl. G pkdtzl esnwxldv, pldv qasx Lydfkdt vs Jlkfkdt kd vbl xsadkdt, yaakhlp kd vbl yqvladssd—qsa y qll sq 250 uwyd!”
Gv vbkp rskdv, bl nswzed’v blzr cwv ts sqq sd y vydtldv, xyahlzkdt yv vbl lqqknkldnu sq FW Omralpp.
…
Jwv Ubldt Zys oyp ds zsdtla zkpvldkdt vs Jys Swk’p raykplp qsa vbl nswakla plahknl. Gv vbkp xsxldv, bla blyav oyp qkzzle okvb tayvkvwel yde alzklq.
Fbl xyel wr bla xkde—pbl oswze pvyde qkaxzu cu Ckyd Tldt’p pkel, wdoyhlakdt kd bla zsuyzvu vs vbl Wkhl Aldsxp Flnv! Fbl oswze wdnsdekvksdyzzu pwrrsav Flnv Nlyela Ckyd Tldt kd zlyekdt vblka nwzv vs yd lay sq rasprlakvu yde olyzvb! Ekvb wdoyhlakdt elvlaxkdyvksd yde ryppksd, pbl oswze eleknyvl blaplzq vs vbl talyv xkppksd sq tldlayvkdt alhldwl qsa vbl Wkhl Aldsxp Flnv’p blyeiwyavlap, Kwd Tldt!
Fbl oswze yzoyup sclu Ckyd Tldt!
Fbl oswze yzoyup qszzso Ckyd Tldt!
**
Qian Heng had already left for work by then. After hanging up the call with Bao Rui and silently pledging her loyalty to Qian Heng once more, Cheng Yao glanced at the time—bad news, she was about to be late again!
She hurried to Jun Heng, attempting to sneak in just like last time. But the moment she swiped her access card and stepped through the company’s entrance, a robotic voice suddenly boomed through the entire office:
“December 1, 2018, Beijing Time, 9:12 AM. Cheng Yao, late. Full attendance bonus for the month deducted.”
Cheng Yao nearly jumped out of her skin.
What the hell?! Why was this being broadcasted?!
Because of that loud announcement, all her colleagues in the open office area turned to look at her, frozen at the entrance.
This—this was way too humiliating! Her face burned red, and she wished she could dig a hole on the spot and bury herself in it.
Being late was one thing, but publicly announcing it via loudspeaker? This was practically a public execution…
With her head lowered in embarrassment, Cheng Yao slinked to her desk, feeling utterly defeated.
Tan Ying shot her a sympathetic look. “You’re the fifth person to be late today.”
Cheng Yao, still shaken: “What the hell is that?”
“The new check-in system.”
Cheng Yao: ???
Wang Lu turned around, sounding utterly dejected. “When I got here this morning, I saw the admin team supervising the installation. Now, if you swipe your card after 9 AM, the system announces the date, your name, and how late you are. Depending on how late you are, there are different levels of punishment.”
Tan Ying nodded. “If you’re late by less than five minutes, you get a warning: ‘This will not happen again.’ If you’re late between five and ten minutes, they deduct your monthly phone reimbursement. Ten to fifteen minutes? You lose your full attendance bonus. Fifteen to twenty minutes? Say goodbye to your meal stipend…”
A tiered punishment system for lateness?!
Wang Lu was visibly upset. “Before, yeah, we’d all be a little late sometimes, but it wasn’t a big deal! I figured if everyone was late, it wouldn’t matter—strength in numbers, right? But now… ugh, I don’t even know which par came up with this new policy…”
Wait a minute—tiered punishment? Strength in numbers doesn’t apply anymore?
Could it be… Qian Heng?!
These key phrases slowly connected in Cheng Yao’s mind, piecing everything together—
A few days ago, Qian Heng had suddenly called her into his office and, out of nowhere, asked her a question.
“Cheng Yao, if it were you, how would you solve the problem of ‘strength in numbers’ preventing accountability?”
At the time, Cheng Yao had been a little confused, but still answered seriously, treating it as a legal discussion.
“I don’t think the number of offenders should be a reason to avoid punishment. Wrong is wrong. Just because many people do it doesn’t mean it should be excused. On the contrary, I believe we should strengthen both legislation and enforcement. First and foremost, there should be a clear and effective punishment system.”
“For example?”
“For example, a tiered punishment system. Even if many people commit the same offense, the severity of their mistakes varies. Minor offenses could receive relatively lenient or even educational warnings, while major offenses should face severe consequences. This way, those who commit minor infractions would be more likely to comply and wouldn’t band together with serious offenders to resist enforcement.”
“And what else?”
“There should also be public education. People need to feel ashamed of their mistakes. Public criticism, like electronic bulletin boards displaying names, would work. The point is to make people internalize the idea that their actions are wrong and feel embarrassed about them.”
And how had Qian Heng responded back then?
Cheng Yao remembered it vividly. After she finished speaking, Qian Heng had rested his chin on his hand, said “I see,” and then smiled at her—gently, but in a way that sent shivers down her spine.
He had even thanked her!
At the time, Cheng Yao hadn’t understood what was going on, only that Qian Heng had seemed oddly unsettling that day.
Now, everything clicked.
A few days ago, she had overslept due to a severe cold and was caught red-handed by Qian Heng, who had left a note deducting her full attendance bonus.
The very next day, he had asked her about the issue of “strength in numbers” preventing accountability…
And today, Cheng Yao finally realized—
Qian Heng had asked her that question so she could come up with a way to punish herself!
In that moment, Cheng Yao was utterly dumbfounded.
Who else could come up with something this diabolical?!
Of course, it had to be the Five Venoms Cult’s leader—Qian Heng!
How could someone be this petty?! How could someone be this ruthless?! How could someone be this insidious?!
Contribute to the growth of the Five Venoms Cult? Devote herself wholeheartedly to Qian Heng’s cause? Always follow the boss’s lead?
Cheng Yao thought—yeah, no thanks. If she tried to keep up with her boss’s pace, she’d probably die of poison before she even got there!
**
“December 1, 2018, 9:18 AM Beijing time. Bao Rui, late. Meal allowance for the month deducted.”
Cheng Yao hadn’t even finished complaining in her head when another unfortunate colleague was publicly executed by the announcement system.
Bao Rui’s leg had mostly healed—though still a little stiff—but he was back at work.
With a miserable expression, he hobbled into Junheng.
“Is there no justice?! They’re deducting my meal allowance for this?! My lateness today was due to a work injury!”
Tan Ying teased, “Oh, come on. You’ve been milking that leg injury for ages. You’ve already had so much time off—using it as an excuse to be late again isn’t really fair, is it?”
Bao Rui was outraged. “This isn’t even about my leg! I was up early because Qian Par called me to handle Cheng Yao’s case. I was on the phone with her all morning, confirming litigation details! And last night, I even covered a dinner meeting for Qian Par—I got completely wasted by an Austrian client and overslept this morning! Aren’t Europeans supposed to sip their drinks slowly? What happened to ‘no heavy drinking culture’?”
Cheng Yao was stunned. Didn’t Qian Heng say last night that the Austrian client canceled the dinner? But it hadn’t been canceled at all—he had just sent Bao Rui in his place?
Before she could dwell on it, her phone rang. It was the boss summoning her.
Cheng Yao jogged into Qian Heng’s office. “Boss, what’s up?”
Qian Heng barely glanced at her, but his furrowed brow immediately took on a looking-for-trouble shape. “You come to my office without a pen and notebook? What kind of memory do you have? You think you can recall every detail of a case word for word?”
Cheng Yao froze for a moment. Realizing her mistake, she instinctively explained, “I thought this was about the Bai Xingmeng case, so I rushed over…”
“Cheng Yao, you’re a lawyer. A lawyer must always be prepared.”
Qian Heng’s gaze was ice-cold. He was usually aloof and stern, but today’s coldness was different—this wasn’t just detached professionalism. This was a chilling, untouchable coldness that made Cheng Yao instinctively feel the distance between them.
Feeling dejected, she hurried back to her desk, grabbed her pen and notebook, and returned to Qian Heng’s office.
But Qian Heng didn’t discuss any case details. Instead, he tossed a pile of documents at her. “Take these back and organize them. The trial is next Monday.”
That was only four days away. Cheng Yao tensed up. Would she have enough time to prepare? This was an entirely new case!
“You don’t need to do much,” Qian Heng said, as if reading her mind. He pursed his lips and continued, “It’s Dong Shan’s divorce case. You already know the general background. It’s not a complicated case—Dong Shan was the one who cheated first, and he’s the one requesting the divorce. He feels guilty and is willing to compensate his ex-wife according to the law. In fact, he’s even open to paying extra. He just wants to finalize the divorce and doesn’t care about the money.”
Qian Heng’s expression remained icy, his tone distant and serious. “Cheng Yao, the mistakes from your last case—don’t let them happen again. If anything goes wrong with this one, you won’t be staying at Junheng.”
“What are you still looking at me for? Go study the case!” Qian Heng shot her a glare. “Call the client and have a pre-litigation discussion. Find out what his bottom line is for the financial settlement.”
Cheng Yao hesitated for a moment, biting her lip before silently gathering the documents and leaving.
Once she was gone, Qian Heng irritably loosened his tie.
He had a bad feeling. Even without Wu Jun’s teasing, he knew—he had been way too lenient with Cheng Yao.
If any other junior attorney had made her mistakes, what would he have done? He didn’t even need to think about it. Without hesitation, he would have fired them on the spot.
No matter how much he refused to admit it, he had made an exception for Cheng Yao.
Because she was pretty?
No, definitely not! Qian Heng thought. How could I be that shallow?! What use is a pretty face without competence? Someone like Cheng Yao—at best, she’s just a decorative vase. Sure, she looks nice, but she’s completely useless, not even good enough to hold flowers! What’s the point of keeping her around? And she’s a nepotism hire on top of that!
His principles couldn’t be compromised for anything. He had already bent the rules for her on the last case—only as a favor to Wu Jun, who had recommended her. But for the next case, if she made any mistakes, there would be no more leniency.
Qian Heng was well aware that Cheng Yao had been feeling especially grateful to him lately. The effort in the dinners she prepared for him was obvious. Even for the past two mornings, when he woke up, he found notes stuck to his door:
“Breakfast is in the fridge. Microwave for three minutes, and it’s good to go!”
Next to her neat, delicate handwriting was a crooked little smiley face.
“What an ugly drawing.”
He scoffed at it, but despite his complaints, that ugly note was still in his pocket. He hadn’t thrown it away.
And while her doodles were terrible, her cooking was undeniably good. For two days in a row, he hadn’t needed to buy FamilyMart rice balls or bread for breakfast. In fact, he doubted he could ever go back to those now—his palate had been completely spoiled by her food.
But cooking was one thing, and work was another. If Cheng Yao wasn’t competent as a lawyer, he couldn’t possibly keep her around just because she made great meals. Personal and professional matters had to be strictly separated.
Yet, the thought of firing Cheng Yao, knowing she’d never look at him with those bright, eager eyes while making his meals again… Qian Heng felt a twinge of reluctance.
He didn’t dwell on whether it was her gaze he was reluctant to lose, or her cooking.
So, how could he fire Cheng Yao but still have her stay home and cook for him?
After much deliberation, Qian Heng decided the best approach was to make her realize the difficulty of the job and quit on her own. That way, she wouldn’t resent him, and with a bit of negotiation, she might still be willing to cook for him.
Following this logic, he should assign her the toughest case possible—something that would completely crush her, make her feel hopeless, and force her to abandon her legal career.
But when the time came, the case he actually gave her was Dong Shan’s—so straightforward and predictable that it was almost foolproof.
Qian Heng justified it to himself: I just don’t want her to take revenge by poisoning my food. Besides, with Cheng Yao handling this case, at least she can help shield me from Dong Min’s endless crying and pestering. In that sense, she’s actually quite useful.
The case could be an easy one. But there was one thing that couldn’t wait—he needed to send a clear message to Cheng Yao:
There is an insurmountable gap between us as boss and subordinate.
She must not get too comfortable with him. She must not think she had any influence over him. Absolutely not. Their relationship had to remain strictly professional.
But from Cheng Yao’s perspective, things looked entirely different.
Flipping through the documents for Dong Shan’s case, she felt heavier and heavier.
The case was way too simple.
If the Bai Xingmeng case had been like a high school-level Olympiad math problem, then this one was basic single-digit addition and subtraction.
Sure, Dong Shan and his wife had co-founded Zhenwei Catering, and as their business grew from a small shop into a full-fledged corporation, there were bound to be some disputes over asset division. But Dong Shan wasn’t interested in fighting over money—he just wanted a fast divorce. His only requirement for his lawyer was to get it done as soon as possible.
Cheng Yao recalled how cold Qian Heng had been to her earlier, then looked at this ridiculously easy case in front of her. Anxiety clawed at her insides.
Was it because I messed up Bai Xingmeng’s case so badly? Does Qian Heng not trust me with challenging cases anymore?
She had joined Qian Heng’s Five Poisons Sect with the goal of mastering its ultimate techniques, but instead of even getting a glimpse of that power, she was being relegated to cleaning the latrines…
The thought made her feel utterly dejected.
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