She, and Her - Chapter 2

The dream had bled into reality, so abruptly that Shi Ye froze for three seconds, wondering if it was day or night, if she was awake or still dreaming. How else could someone who had been in her dreams yesterday be standing alive before her today?

The massive floor-to-ceiling windows let in the blinding midday sun—it was daytime, and she was awake.

The scratching of a pen across paper reminded Shi Ye of Cheng Yu Fan’s handwriting. Her calligraphy was exquisite, each stroke revealing her inner self. Shi Ye’s notebooks and the flyleaves of her textbooks were filled with poems copied in Cheng Yu Fan’s hand.

Shi Ye had imagined countless scenarios for their reunion, but none like this: herself embroiled in a lawsuit, and not even a respectable one.

“Cheng… Cheng Yu Fan?” Shi Ye ventured tentatively. It had been years since high school. She wasn’t sure if Cheng Yu Fan would even remember that summer. The woman didn’t even look up, so forgetting seemed plausible. After all, dreams were dreams, and reality was reality.

Cheng Yu Fan stared intently at the case file in her hands, her tone icy:

“I have no appointments today. Please leave.”

“I’m Shi Ye!”

The response remained coldly curt: “Leave.”

“Cheng Yu Fan!”

Before the words had even faded, Chen Ran arrived. As an assistant lawyer still in her internship, she was the type who handled any task assigned to her. She immediately offered Shi Ye a polite smile:

“Miss Shi, please come this way. General Manager Sun and the others are in the adjacent office.”

Shi Ye refused to budge, her gaze fixed on Cheng Yu Fan.

Chen Ran called her name several more times: “Miss Shi, Miss Shi…”

Snapping out of her daze, Shi Ye finally relented and left, her eyes lingering on the motionless figure across from her.

As they retreated, Wen Yaoyao whispered, “Sis, do you really know her?”

“Of course I do.”

“But… Lawyer Cheng doesn’t seem to recognize you at all. Could it be a mistake? Maybe it’s just the same name, but a different person?”

Shi Ye bit her lip. “There’s no mistake.”

“Then…”

“Maybe she just doesn’t remember.”

People continued to pass by the conference room door. After all, opportunities to see a female celebrity in person were rare; the last time had been on video. But the men’s gazes were too direct, especially their feigned casual stretches to peek inside, making Shi Ye extremely uncomfortable. It was as if she were a dish on a platter, and they were diners gathered around the table, chopsticks poised.

Shi Ye frowned, displeasure evident.

She didn’t say anything, but Wen Yaoyao noticed. Understanding her unspoken request, she turned and strode out, slamming the door shut. Standing rigidly before it, she forcefully drove back each curious gaze, one by one.

At that moment, Shi Ye’s mind was consumed by thoughts of Cheng Yu Fan. She hadn’t been listening to Sun Xudong at all when she suddenly interrupted—

“I want a female lawyer.”

Sun Xudong paused. “Currently, the lawyers in our firm with the most experience in handling cases like this are all men.”

“What about Cheng Yu Fan?”

“Uh… well…” Sun Xudong explained, “Lawyer Cheng doesn’t take sexual assault cases.”

“Who told you this was a sexual assault case? I’m being framed. The person in the video isn’t me, and I’ve already fired that lying manager.”

Sun Xudong remained silent, but Shi Ye could read his expression. The lawyers had likely already made up their minds about her—and not just made up their minds, but filled their heads with all sorts of colorful, ghostly nonsense!

Shi Ye curled her lips into a thin, disdainful line. “I only want a female lawyer. No male lawyers. As for whether Cheng Yu Fan takes the case, that depends on how sincere Starsea Law Firm is about renewing Haiyu Media’s contract next year.”

“This… Miss Shi, you’re asking for the impossible.”

“I trust General Manager Sun’s sincerity.”

Shi Ye crossed her arms, leaned back into the sofa, and leisurely sipped her coffee.

It was clear this man wouldn’t leave without a firm commitment today. Sun Xudong, a shrewd businessman, smiled. “I’ll do my best, Miss Shi. Please wait a moment.”

As soon as he left, Shi Ye’s composure crumbled, her palms sweating.

Sun Xudong wasn’t privy to the details of Shi Ye’s relationship with Cheng Yu Fan, but he had clearly seen Shi Ye’s frown just moments ago. Immediately afterward, her assistant had closed the door. Connecting these two actions, he could easily deduce why Shi Ye needed a female lawyer. Celebrities, after all, are first and foremost human beings—and she was a woman. Even if she wasn’t the person in the scandalous video, bearing such a strikingly similar face would be unbearable. People would assume it was her anyway. The internet’s collective fantasies were no joke; otherwise, the story wouldn’t have dominated the trending topics for so long. Shi Ye’s decision to seek legal counsel showed she refused to be treated like a spectacle. Yet even at the law firm, she was subjected to curious stares. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t be pleased either, Sun Xudong thought. Moreover, with the formidable Shi Jianping looming behind her, she was someone no one could afford to offend.

Without rules, there can be no order.

Sun Xudong beckoned Chen Ran over.

“Go to HR and have them review the security footage. Find out who passed by the conference room earlier and peered inside. Interns caught doing so should be immediately dismissed, and the rest will have their quarterly bonuses withheld.”

Chen Ran paused, then nodded briskly. “Understood.”

Cheng Yu Fan heard a knock at the door, and Sun Xudong entered.

“Busy?”

“What is it?”

“Shi Ye’s case. I want you to take it.”

Sun Xudong cut straight to the point.

“General Manager Sun, you know I have principles.”

“Don’t be so quick to refuse. Hear me out. This isn’t a sexual assault case; at worst, it’ll be a defamation suit,” Sun Xudong said. “I’ve already spoken to Shi Ye, and she claims the person in the video isn’t her. Shi Jianping called me and said the same thing. Remember when you told everyone at the meeting not to jump to conclusions? Aren’t you doing the exact same thing now? Shi Ye may have a lot of tabloid drama, but she’s a major draw, and she’s been at the peak of her career these past few years. In the entertainment industry, truth and lies are often intertwined, but we can’t rely solely on the media’s narrative. It’s already terrible enough that a young woman is being smeared with dirt. If no one speaks up for her, even her family’s wealth won’t protect her from the relentless rumors.”

“Just because of that? When did you become such a champion of justice?” Cheng Yu Fan asked, fingering the button at her wrist, her shirt cuffs fastened impeccably.

Exposed, Sun Xudong didn’t bother hiding his intentions. He laughed heartily, “I knew you’d bring that up. Alright, I’ll be straight with you. Starsea Law Firm’s contract with Haiyu Media expires in December. These days, money’s hard to come by, and this client specifically requested you for the case. Just do me this favor, old friend. It’s not like I wasted that deciding vote I cast for you back then.”

A year ago, Cheng Yu Fan had come to Hai City to interview at Starsea Law Firm. The initial vote was deadlocked at three for and three against, leaving Sun Xudong with the deciding vote. It was thanks to him that she had been hired.

Cheng Yu Fan hadn’t forgotten this debt, but she hadn’t expected Sun Xudong to bring it up now. It seemed the rumors were true: Shi Jianping intended to entrust all his business and personal legal affairs to Starsea Law Firm. If this case went well, the contract renewal in December would likely extend beyond just Haiyu Media. Sun Xudong wasn’t about to let such a juicy opportunity slip through his fingers.

“Lawyers are just businessmen,” Cheng Yu Fan said. “That describes you perfectly.”

“You flatter me,” Sun Xudong replied. “Compared to being a lawyer, I prefer being a businessman.”

Cheng Yu Fan had no interest in businessmen; she was simply repaying a debt.

“Fine, I owe you one. Alright… I’ll take the case.”

Within the time it took to drink a cup of coffee, Cheng Yu Fan arrived.

Shi Ye wore a baseball cap, her hair cascading over her shoulders. A khaki trench coat accentuated her porcelain-like skin, while the light filtering through the blinds bathed the room in a soft glow.

The woman, with her bare face, looked less like a seasoned veteran who had debuted at eighteen and spent years navigating the entertainment industry, and more like a recent college graduate entering the workforce and encountering the wrong people.

It could be said that a beautiful face is both a bargaining chip for success and a source of potential disaster.

Sun Xudong greeted them and left.

Now, only Cheng Yu Fan and Shi Ye remained in the vast conference room.

Shi Ye, no longer acting rashly, refrained from rushing to acknowledge their connection. Instead, she simply gazed at Cheng Yu Fan, her dark eyes and distinct lashes seeming to convey unspoken words with every blink and movement.

Cheng Yu Fan remained composed, showing no indication that she sensed Shi Ye’s unspoken plea. She focused on fulfilling her duties as a lawyer with unwavering seriousness.

“Miss Shi, as your legal representative, I must insist that you tell me the complete truth.”

Cheng Yu Fan didn’t look intimidating, and her voice wasn’t loud, but the combination of the two created an unusually stern and authoritative presence.

Shi Ye had little prior experience with lawyers. She wondered if all lawyers were like this, or if it was just Cheng Yu Fan. She probably doesn’t remember me, Shi Ye told herself. If she did, she wouldn’t be acting this way. Yet even with this reassurance, the lawyer’s coldness still stung.

Shi Ye stopped standing awkwardly and sat down, pulling her trench coat tighter around herself. A staff member refilled the coffee cup on the coffee table. After the staff member left, Cheng Yu Fan broke the silence with a direct question:

“What’s your relationship with Chu Yang?”

“No relationship.”

“Lovers? Friends? Colleagues?”

“Colleagues, I suppose.”

“Have you ever had sexual relations?”

Thinking she had misheard, Shi Ye asked, “What do you mean by ‘sexual relations’?”

Cheng Yu Fan looked up, her gaze steady. “I mean sexual intercourse.”

Completely unprepared for such bluntness, Shi Ye’s face flushed with shock. “What did you just say?!”

Cheng Yu Fan naturally noticed the change in Shi Ye’s expression, but she saw nothing wrong with it—or at least, nothing important. Since Shi Ye had come to the law firm, honesty was the simplest requirement. Cheng Yu Fan had seen too many clients who cried and wailed, acting like they were wronged beyond measure, like the legendary Dou E, yet from the moment they stepped into the firm, not a single word they uttered was true. Even when Cheng Yu Fan appealed to their emotions and logic, explaining that she couldn’t help them without the truth, they would still spew lies. When she finally exposed their deception, they would immediately fly into a rage, glaring and shouting, “You’re my lawyer! I’m paying you!”

When dealing with such clients, Cheng Yu Fan never got angry like others might. Getting angry only hurts oneself. Instead, she would raise her fees, pushing them as high as possible. This served as both a way to console herself and a small punishment—after all, nothing is more satisfying than making someone “cut off their own flesh.”

Shi Ye, seeing Cheng Yu Fan’s prolonged silence, initially thought she might back down. But to her surprise, Cheng Yu Fan showed no restraint whatsoever, instead becoming even more brazen.

Ignoring Shi Ye’s displeasure, Cheng Yu Fan repeated and elaborated, as if afraid she hadn’t understood:

“Have you ever had sexual relations? Once, occasionally, or regularly?”

Shi Ye choked with anger, her face contorted with disbelief. “What do you take me for?!”

“My client,” Cheng Yu Fan replied, her voice clear and precise, her composure so unnervingly calm it seemed inhuman. Shi Ye wondered if she was hearing things correctly and repeated her question:

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell the truth.”

“The truth is nothing happened! I’ve never slept with anyone!” Shi Ye gritted her teeth, raising an eyebrow. If it were anyone else, I’d have already cursed them out.

“What else do you want to ask? Go on.”

Cheng Yu Fan swiped twice on her laptop, and the video appeared on the screen, the volume set just right to hover between them. “Is that you in the video?”

“No.”

“Then who is it?”

“You’re asking me?” Shi Ye’s voice rose slightly, her tone instantly sharp. “Isn’t that your job?”

She sneered at the flickering images on the screen and snapped at Cheng Yu Fan, her words clipped and harsh:

“My time is precious, Lawyer Cheng. Get to the point.”

With that, she turned to leave.

But halfway to the door, she stopped and turned back.

Shi Ye ground her back teeth, her smile contemptuous and bitter.

“Oh, I almost forgot one truth, Lawyer Cheng… I did sleep with you.”