They surrounded me right after the breakup.

As night falls, the neon lights of Beijing illuminate the city.

As Xia Yutong stepped out of the gym, she took a deep breath of the damp and slightly cool air.

Her body, fresh from a hot shower, exuded a faint scent of grapefruit shower gel, and a few strands of damp hair clung unruly to her fair neck.

She subconsciously pulled her light gray turtleneck sweater tighter.

The black high-waisted shorts she wore made her long legs appear even straighter under the streetlights.

"Beep beep!"

The short, sharp horn sounded particularly jarring on the empty street.

Xia Yutong turned around, and the Maybach was quietly parked on the side of the road.

The car window rolled down, revealing Jiang Han's somewhat roguish face.

His hand rested on the windowsill, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, as he looked at her with a smile.

"Teacher Xia, it's dangerous for you to walk on the street looking like that."

Upon hearing the words "Teacher Xia," Xia Yutong's heart, which had been calming down, began to race.

The scene from the pool half an hour ago involuntarily flashed through my mind…

She placed her palm on Jiang Han's strong waist, trying to help him regain his balance, but Jiang Han seemed to be really unbalanced, his large hand brushing against her leg several times.

What made her blush the most was that Jiang Han kept pinching her toes...

For more than 20 years, Xia Yutong has never had such physical contact with any man.

"You haven't left yet?" She tried to suppress her chaotic thoughts.

"I'm hungry and want to get something to eat." Jiang Han leaned back in his leather seat. "I need a meal buddy, would you do me the honor, Teacher Xia?"

Xia Yutong wanted to refuse, but somehow she opened the passenger door.

At the entrance of the fitness center, two men who had arranged to go swimming were standing on the steps.

"If I had known he drove a Maybach, I would have smoked half a pack of cigarettes and still not understood what I was lacking." The man shook his head with a wry smile.

"When that girl was teaching inside just now, I felt my face flush and my heart race just by glancing at her, but then she turned around and got into her luxury car."

"Alright, stop looking." His companion patted him on the shoulder.

"The rich end up together, while the poor just watch. These days, you either live off the economy or you have to build a business. People like us who do pure manual labor shouldn't even think about it."

"I'm so unwilling to accept this..."

"Listen to me, bro, let's go to Sichuan and train hard. With our size, we're sure to have a bright future!"

Are you sure?

"I'm missing a butt!"

The two people inside the car were unaware of the discussions outside the window.

"If I had known you were going to invite me to dinner, I wouldn't have removed my makeup."

Xia Yutong looked at herself in the mirror on the sun visor.

Her cheeks still had a natural blush from just taking a shower.

"It's nothing, just grabbing a quick bite." Jiang Han gripped the steering wheel with one hand. "Besides, I don't think there's much difference between you with and without makeup."

Xia Yutong turned her head, her professional instincts as a lawyer allowing her to grasp the key words.

"So there's still a gap, or you just think you look bad without makeup?"

"Each has its own advantages. When you're wearing makeup, you're Attorney Xia—professional and calm. But when you're without makeup..."

Jiang Han paused deliberately: "You are Xia Yutong, a Xia Yutong who blushes when her toes are touched."

"You..." Xia Yutong was so angry that her face turned red to the roots of her neck.

"Which one do you like?" she blurted out.

After asking the question, she wanted to bite off her own tongue; this was textbook-perfect coquettishness.

"Do I really have to choose one? I want them both."

Xia Yutong lowered her head, her voice barely audible, "Okay..."

In her mind, a woman's bare face is an extremely private matter.

Aside from being with her parents, she usually only relaxes at home, in the bathroom after a shower, or... beside her lover's pillow.

Jiang Han said he wanted it all, what does that mean?

She dared not think any further, and could only turn her head to stare at the receding trees outside the window, her mind in turmoil.

The car drove out of the bustling CBD and turned into the quiet old town.

The hotel's private room is named "Listening to Zen" and is decorated in a minimalist style.

A square table, two round-backed chairs, and a few dried lotus pods stuck in a white porcelain vase on the table.

During the meal, the two ate and chatted.

What should have been a romantic date turned into a subconscious attempt by Xia Yutong to steer the conversation toward work in an effort to calm herself down.

"The 'Nezha' project." Xia Yutong put down her chopsticks, her expression turning serious.

"Are you really planning to invest all 6000 million? I've been studying the domestic animation market for the past five years, and the ceiling is too low. The highest-grossing film only grossed less than a billion yuan, and that's an extremely rare phenomenon."

"Most animated films lose a lot of money and have a very low rate of return."

Jiang Han stopped what he was doing: "What? If I lose money, won't you be able to win that bet you made back then?"

Xia Yutong was stunned; she hadn't considered this aspect at all.

"I...I was just conducting a risk assessment from a professional perspective." She avoided his gaze.

"To be honest," Jiang Han tapped the table.

Xia Yutong took a deep breath and said in a low voice, as if resigned to her fate, "I just don't want to see you lose money..."

Jiang Han's expression became somewhat complicated, and he spoke slowly after a long while.

"Yutong, for me, the money I invest isn't money anymore, it's chips. You can earn chips again if you lose them, but once an opportunity is missed, it's gone forever."

"The ceiling for domestic animated films is indeed low, but precisely because it is low, no one dares to make a big bet. When everyone is watching and waiting, whoever dares to be the first to break through the ceiling will be able to set the rules for a new world."

Xia Yutong stared blankly at Jiang Han.

She suddenly felt a tremendous sense of powerlessness, not from the gap in wealth, but from the difference in vision and courage.

She's a lawyer, and her focus is on how to use the rules to avoid losses.

Jianghan already possesses considerable resources, and their focus is on how to define victory by breaking the rules.

This gap cannot be bridged by reading any number of legal articles.

"Alright, let's not talk about these unpleasant things anymore."

Xia Yutong picked up her wine glass and drank the rest of the white wine in one gulp.

The wine is slightly sweet with a fruity aroma, but after swallowing, a warm sensation spreads through the stomach.

She didn't know if Jiang Han had specifically ordered this low-alcohol sweet wine according to her preferences, or if it was just a coincidence.

But this feeling of being taken care of is more intoxicating than the wine itself.

As she stepped out of the restaurant, the cool night breeze blew in her face, making the slightly tipsy Xia Yutong shiver.

Jiang Han naturally walked to the position upwind of her, his tall figure blocking most of the cold wind for her.

Instead of heading to the car, he took out his Dupont lighter, which made a crisp click.

"Jiang Han, have you always been this confident?" Xia Yutong followed behind him, watching his back.

Jiang Han exhaled a smoke ring.

"Confidence stems from a sense of control. When you can see the underlying logic of most things in the world, you will also be confident."

He turned his head, his gaze falling intently on Xia Yutong, "Like you right now."

"I?"

"You're scared."

Jiang Han took a step closer, and the oppressive aura of a mature man made Xia Yutong involuntarily retreat until her back pressed against the cold, red-lacquered pillar.

"You're afraid of losing to me, and you're also afraid... of winning against me."

Xia Yutong's breathing became completely disordered.

The aftereffects of the alcohol finally kicked in at that moment.

She looked up at the man in front of her.

He was very close, his breath carrying a faint scent of tobacco.

Jiang Han reached out his hand, and Xia Yutong tensed up, thinking he was going to hug her.

However, he simply extended two fingers and tucked a strand of wet hair that had been ruffled by the wind behind her ear.

Jiang Han's fingertips were icy cold as they brushed against Xia Yutong's burning skin, sending a slight shiver down her spine.

Xia Yutong knew that after tonight, the calm and restrained person who only believed in the law would never be the same again.