Chapter 51: “Oh.” Qian Heng looked at a pot of green plants and said naturally, “Gu Beiqing?”

In the end, Cheng Yao finally managed to check off most of the attractions at the impromptu beach carnival one by one. And although Qian Heng went along the whole way carrying a giant Pikachu with a look of disdain, he still—albeit reluctantly—joined her in checking them off.

It was just that he seemed way too invested in that Pikachu. No matter how many times Cheng Yao volunteered to carry it, he wouldn’t let go even a little. That huge, heavy, fluffy plush—he hugged it the entire time without loosening his grip. And to top it off, afraid it’d get squished or dirty during baggage handling, Qian Heng actually bought it a separate, jumbo-sized Samsonite suitcase…

Cheng Yao couldn’t help but look at her own weather-beaten luggage and sigh. She felt like she lived rougher than a plush toy. Forget being a person—maybe it’s better to be a doll…

But regardless of all that, when the plane bound for City A took off and Cheng Yao sat by the window watching City B shrink into the distance, all she felt was a deep sense of fulfillment.

Even with someone like Tang Bing, the walking piece of rat poop, messing things up a bit—she saw the ocean for the first time; faced her fear of heights and (likely for the first and last time in her life) rode a sky-high Ferris wheel overlooking the sea; she went all out playing whack-a-mole; ate her fill of street food; and even won a limited-edition Pikachu for her boss…

Right before the flight took off, Qian Heng even brought her a piece of good news.

In the case where Bai Xingmeng sued them, Junheng Law Firm had won. The court had uncovered the truth and ruled that Bai Xingmeng must continue paying Junheng’s attorney fees as per the contract, take actions to repair the damage done to Junheng’s reputation, and issue compensation. At the same time, in the case where Cheng Yao—represented by Bao Rui—was cyberbullied and defamed by netizens, a verdict had also been reached. Several users who had doxxed and hurled insults at her were ordered to publicly apologize and pay damages ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 yuan each, depending on the severity of their actions.

“Justice may be late, but it never skips the appointment.” Qian Heng gave a small smile. “As cliché as that sounds, it holds true.”

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*****

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“Yao Yao! Yao Yao! Are you free tonight? Let’s grab dinner!”

“I couldn’t get through to your phone so I left you a message! If you’re free, you have to come eat with me! Hahaha! I’ve got some explosive news to tell you!”

“Hey hey hey, why aren’t you replying yet? Ugh, forget it—I’ll just tell you now: HAHAHA I’M MARRIED!!”

“How are you still not jumping out of the woodwork after that kind of bombshell?!”

“But seriously, I’m not kidding—I really married Haozi!”

Cheng Yao froze for a second, a wave of mixed emotions washing over her. She was genuinely happy for Li Mengting, but at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling a tiny pang of loss—like a friend was being stolen away by a man. Still, she was full of heartfelt blessings as she walked with her luggage in one hand and typed out a reply with the other.

“Just got back from a business trip, literally just landed. What a surprise!! Big congrats to you and Haozi!! Of course we’re meeting tonight—we’re getting something expensive! Let that man who stole you bleed a little, yeah?”

Focused on replying, Cheng Yao wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking and accidentally bumped right into Qian Heng, who had suddenly stopped in front of her.

Qian Heng gave her a sideways glance. “Can you walk properly?”

Cheng Yao quickly apologized.

“Give it to me.”

“Huh?”

Qian Heng said irritably, “Give me your suitcase. I’d rather carry it myself than have you crash into me again, luggage and all.”

Before Cheng Yao could even react, her hand felt lighter—Qian Heng had already taken her suitcase without leaving her any say in the matter.

Now that the Pikachu was safely packed into his newly bought suitcase, Qian Heng had returned to his usual aloof and elegant self. Cheng Yao trailed behind him obediently, all while texting back and forth with Li Mengting to set up a time and place for dinner.

They hadn’t walked far before Qian Heng came to another stop.

He frowned slightly, as if thinking aloud, and said with casual indifference, “Given that you did win that Pikachu, I suppose I could buy you dinner tonight. There’s a pretty good Japanese place over by Jiayan Central Plaza…”

“No need, no need.”

Qian Heng gave her a look of great benevolence and said with a faint smile, “It’s fine. This is nothing to me—you don’t need to feel any pressure.”

“No no, boss,” Cheng Yao waved her phone, “I already made dinner plans with a friend.”

“Oh.” Qian Heng glanced toward a potted plant not far away and said in a perfectly casual tone, “Gu Beiqing?”

Cheng Yao answered without hesitation, “Not him. It’s a college classmate.”

“Oh.” For some reason, Qian Heng continued to stare at the potted plant like he’d suddenly fallen in love with it. Still looking at it, he said offhandedly, “That Tang Bing situation just happened. Don’t let your guard down just because they’re college friends. And definitely no drinking…”

“It’s fine, it’s my old roommate and her boyfriend,” Cheng Yao said with a grin. “She’s the one getting married!”

“Oh.”

It was still just a monosyllabic “oh,” but for some reason, Cheng Yao felt like this one sounded slightly more upbeat than the previous two…

She glanced up at Qian Heng, but his face remained unreadably calm, not a single emotion flickering across it. It made Cheng Yao wonder if she’d just imagined the whole thing.

What she did notice, though, was how fixated he’d been on that potted plant earlier. “Boss, that’s a money tree, you seem to like it. Want me to buy you one?”

Sadly, her thoughtful offer was not met with praise. Qian Heng just raised a brow and gave her a side glance. “Do I look like someone who needs a money tree to make money?”

“…”

Alright then. Cheng Yao thought to herself: Yep. That’s on me for overthinking it!

*****

After parting ways with Qian Heng, Cheng Yao headed straight to the restaurant where Li Mengting had made a reservation.

Funny enough, the Japanese food Qian Heng had oh-so-generously offered to take her to was the same type of cuisine Li Mengting and Zhang Hao had picked.

The place was nice, with private rooms and good privacy.

Li Mengting was already waiting inside. When she saw Cheng Yao, she waved with a big smile.

She hadn’t changed much—looked radiant, really—but maybe life had been too good to her lately, because she’d visibly put on some weight.

“Haozi’s still working overtime; he’ll come later. Let’s chat first,” Li Mengting said as she finished ordering, then looked up at Cheng Yao seriously. “Yao Yao, you really feel different now. Even your aura’s changed.”

Cheng Yao sipped her roasted Japanese tea and blinked, a little puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, just now, when you walked toward me in your business suit and heels, I kind of froze. For a second there, I felt like… like you and I aren’t living in the same world anymore.” Li Mengting thought for a moment. “You feel like one of those high-powered professionals from American dramas—like you’ve gone through a transformation or something.”

Cheng Yao chuckled. “You haven’t seen me in what, a few months? And I’ve already transformed? What do you think I am, a caterpillar? Fully metamorphosed or halfway through?”

Li Mengting scratched her head. “I don’t even know how to describe it. You just don’t give off that fresh-out-of-campus vibe anymore. When you walked in, it felt like you had this calm confidence, like you were totally in control.”

“Alright, alright, stop roasting me.” Cheng Yao laughed. “But yeah, I’ve definitely learned more in the past few months than I did all of last year. My boss has been great—willing to teach and super capable.”

“Isn’t your boss that notorious tyrant of the industry?”

“He’s actually a pretty decent guy.”

Li Mengting’s face clearly said she wasn’t buying it. She might not work in law, but she’d graduated from law school too—she’d definitely heard of Qian Heng’s reputation.

Cheng Yao smiled, realizing there was no quick way to explain, so she simply changed the subject. “Forget me. Let’s talk about you. What made you decide to get married? How did Haozi propose? Did you at least make him kneel and do it properly?”

“Propose what?” Li Mengting laughed. “We’ve been together so long already. What’s the point of a proposal? His job’s stable, we just bought our marital home, the timing felt right, so we just went and got our license.”

Cheng Yao was a little surprised. She’d always thought marriage—something that most people only experience once—should be treated as something sacred. Even if it was just a ceremonial thing, wasn’t a proposal something most girls dreamed about since they were young?

Still, when she looked at Li Mengting’s beaming face, she didn’t say anything more.

Well, only the person living it knows the warmth and cold of their own life. As long as you’re happy in your relationship, a proposal really doesn’t matter that much.

“We’re already planning the wedding banquet—aiming for next month. We’ll just do it in City A. Both our hometowns are too far away, way too inconvenient.” Li Mengting smiled. “We’re planning to invite our close friends and some of Haozi’s coworkers. You’d better get ready for my red bomb.”

Wedding banquets usually take half a year to plan. And while Cheng Yao and Li Mengting kept in touch regularly, Li Mengting had never mentioned a word about getting married. And now she’d not only registered the marriage—they were already prepping for the banquet next month? It all felt too rushed, not like the usual Li Mengting…

Cheng Yao glanced again at her friend, who was dressed in loose clothing and whose face had clearly filled out. A sudden realization hit her. “Wait… are you…?” Cheng Yao gestured in front of her belly as she spoke.

Li Mengting gave her a shy glance. “Wow, your eyes are sharp! I was hoping to fool you. Haozi said that sitting like this hides my belly pretty well—just looks like I put on a little weight.”

“Come on, stand up and let me see.”

Li Mengting stood up, holding her stomach. Without the cover of the table and chairs, Cheng Yao could now tell—yep, her belly did have a faint bump.

“How far along?”

“Three months.” Li Mengting patted her stomach and smiled happily. “It’s twins.”

Cheng Yao pulled a mock-tragic face. “You’re gonna be a mom, and I don’t even have a boyfriend…”

Li Mengting laughed. “Oh hush, you’ll still be an unmarried pretty girl while I’m just a married auntie.”

It had been so long since they last met—they chatted and laughed, reminisced about classmates, and gossiped about mutual friends. Just like that, over half an hour passed before Zhang Hao finally showed up, fashionably late.

He greeted Cheng Yao with a smile and sat down.

After he joined, he mostly just chimed in here and there. He didn’t talk much, but he was super attentive to Li Mengting—refilling her water before she even finished, switching it out the second it got cold, stopping her from drinking tea or coffee, and constantly picking out dishes for her and fussing over her. A textbook doting husband.

Cheng Yao was genuinely surprised.

She’d known Zhang Hao for quite a while. He was an IT guy, practically a block of wood in college—more into computers than people. Shy and awkward, and only someone like Li Mengting could’ve seen the good in him.

Even after they dated for years, his wooden personality never really changed. Back when Cheng Yao and Li Mengting were roommates, she’d hear daily rants like:

“Zhang Hao has zero sense of how to take care of someone.”

“He doesn’t know how to be sweet.”

“I told him I skipped lunch, he was nearby, but didn’t even think to send me takeout.”

“I had a sore throat so bad I couldn’t talk, and all he said was ‘drink more hot water.’ Didn’t come see me, didn’t take me to the hospital!”

Cheng Yao thought back to all those complaints and compared them with the completely transformed Zhang Hao sitting in front of her, and couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe getting married, becoming a soon-to-be dad, and a bit of career experience had finally knocked some sense into this blockhead.

Li Mengting noticed Cheng Yao’s look and nudged Zhang Hao, then grinned. “Haozi’s been a whole new person this past month—super doting. I don’t have to lift a finger at home now.” She thought for a second, then added, “He’s doing well at work too—just got promoted again. Too bad more money means more responsibilities. He often has to work overtime, even after getting home. Sometimes I barely get to talk to him.”

This new ultra-considerate version of Zhang Hao gave Cheng Yao a bit of whiplash, but seeing the happiness radiating off Li Mengting, she felt genuinely happy for her. For Zhang Hao to change this much for her—he must really love her.

…

Toward the end, it was mostly Li Mengting and Cheng Yao talking. Zhang Hao occasionally checked his phone or looked after Li Mengting. All in all, it was a relaxed, harmonious get-together.

When they left, Zhang Hao stood up, took Li Mengting’s arm, shielded her belly, draped his coat over her shoulders, and kissed her forehead, saying something with a smile.

Watching the two of them support each other as they walked away, Cheng Yao suddenly felt a little healed.

Ever since joining Junheng, all the cases she’d handled—or even just heard her colleagues talk about—were about people tearing each other apart over money or power. Some of them were so ugly, they made you question humanity. Sure, none of those people were short on cash, but Cheng Yao felt that even if you owned billions, it still couldn’t compare to the warmth between Li Mengting and Zhang Hao, just two people holding hands amid the simple joys of daily life.

You don’t have to be rich. If you have someone who loves you, and you love them back—that’s the most priceless kind of wealth there is.