上海安全生产监督局

Chapter 27

Privately, Lu Lingchuan had requested that she accept and execute his demands unconditionally and without reason.

For example, if Lu Lingchuan wanted to see her, she had to rush over immediately.

The apartment she was living in now was bought by Lu Lingchuan, so it was Lu Lingchuan\'s home. Naturally, he could come back anytime he wanted.

Suppressing the fleeting surprise in her eyes, Shen Nian resumed her usual calmness and nodded, "Okay."

Ming had rinsed the rice three or four times, so there was no need to rinse it again. Shen Nian poured the washed rice into the rice cooker, took some more rice out of the cabinet, and continued rinsing.

She had only taken enough rice for one person, planning to eat alone. Now that Lu Lingchuan was back, she naturally had to prepare his portion too.

This time she rinsed it three times before pouring the rice into the cooker. She added some water, plugged it in and pressed the button, waiting for the rice cooker to operate on its own.

She also washed the vegetables she had cut earlier and put them on a plate. Knowing that Lu Lingchuan was still standing at the door watching her, she deliberately ignored his gaze and focused on stir-frying the dishes.

Neither of them mentioned the A University centennial celebration.

Shen Nian put the wok on the stove, added oil, and completed the preparatory steps correctly. When the oil was hot, she poured the vegetables in.

The vegetables were rinsed clean but still wet. When the water met the hot oil, it sizzled noisily and splattered oil everywhere.

Shen Nian was distracted and the noise startled her. She immediately took two steps back, almost dropping the plate in her hand.

Lu Lingchuan strode forward swiftly. With one hand, he supported her lower back. Shen Nian stared at him, surprised and puzzled.

How could he...

Lu Lingchuan didn\'t look at her shocked expression. Instead, he said lightly, "Let me do it."

Since he had already said so, Shen Nian naturally wouldn\'t compete with him. She silently took a step back to give him space, then went to the side to wash the plates to be used later and wiped them dry with paper towels.

With nothing else to do after finishing her task, and Lu Lingchuan still there, she couldn\'t leave either.

So she just stood there, watching Lu Lingchuan cook.

To be honest, Lu Lingchuan\'s movements were not standard compared to professional chefs, but still much better than hers.

He carefully inspected the ingredients while she quietly watched him from behind. There was an awkward harmony between them.

The dishes Lu Lingchuan stir-fried looked quite appetizing. After cooking, he glanced sideways and said very naturally, "Plate."

Shen Nian immediately brought the plate over.

After scooping the dishes into the plate, she went to wash the wok. Shen Nian didn\'t idle either. She brought the dishes to the dining table.

The two of them had made four dishes and a simple seaweed egg drop soup. The rice happened to be cooked as well. Taking the washed bowls and chopsticks out, they sat face to face across the table.

After their last fight, Shen Nian didn\'t expect that they could still sit together like this to have a meal peacefully.

Taking a deep breath to steady her uneasy state, she scooped him a bowl of rice, then scooped one for herself.

Sitting down, she lowered her head and ate quietly without speaking.

The only sounds at the dining table were of the two people using their chopsticks. The dishes Lu Lingchuan made were not particularly amazing, but the taste was decent too. Shen Nian had an unexpectedly good appetite and soon finished a whole bowl, leaving just the bottom.

She tried her best not to lift her head and meet Lu Lingchuan\'s gaze, because she didn\'t know what to say or could say.

She had acted like a madwoman and threw a tantrum in front of him last time. Now when she thought back it was so embarrassing.

"I was only helping her shop that day. It wasn\'t a date."

Lu Lingchuan suddenly spoke.

Shen Nian, who was spacing out, looked up and met his sincere eyes. She was stunned.

It took a full five seconds before she reacted to what Lu Lingchuan was talking about.

It was the time she went shopping with Jiang Lingling but bumped into him with Liang Jinghe.

They were not on a date. He was just doing Liang Jinghe a favor.

So was he explaining?

Shen Nian looked dazed for a few seconds before resuming her normal expression.

She pursed her lips and gave a soft "hmm" in response.

Then... the two had nothing more to say again.

He had explained and she nodded to indicate she understood, but it seemed like the conflict between them was resolved yet unresolved at the same time.

Just like the previous period, they had no topics except work. When they didn\'t know what to say, they would rather keep silent.

However, Shen Nian\'s mood was definitely much better than the previous period, even Jiang Lingling noticed it.

"Sister Nian, you seem to be in a pretty good mood these days," Jiang Lingling suddenly said while looking at Shen Nian.

Shen Nian glanced up from the documents she was sorting and curved her lips. "Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm!" Jiang Lingling nodded in agreement.

Shen Nian continued bowing her head to work busily while asking casually, "How do you know I\'ve been in a good mood recently?"

"Intuition," Jiang Lingling answered frankly. "The past few days, although Sister Nian was working diligently, you gave off a preoccupied vibe. But now it\'s clearly different. It\'s like, um... you don\'t have worries anymore and are much happier overall."

Amused by her peculiar description, Shen Nian couldn\'t help but chuckle. "No idle chitchat during work. Have you finished your tasks on hand?"

"Done," Jiang Lingling hurriedly handed the documents over to Shen Nian, "This is the information on Lawyer Xu Xiping that Boss Lu asked me to investigate. Sister Nian, you\'ll need to check it again before I can pass it to Boss Lu."

"Lawyer Xu Xiping?"

Shen Nian looked at her, puzzled.

"Yes," Jiang Lingling replied.

Taking the documents from Jiang Lingling\'s hands, Shen Nian seriously flipped through them.

Xu Xiping was a renowned lawyer domestically and abroad. He had been working overseas until two months ago when he returned to China and opened a law firm in City W.

With many years of experience under his belt, he had taken on hundreds and thousands of cases, even the most complex ones. He had never lost a case and was absolutely legendary in the legal community.

But the more outstanding one was, the more eccentric their temperament. Ordinary lawyers were easy to persuade as long as the price was right. But Lawyer Xu was different. He took cases as he pleased, depending on his mood. When he was in a bad mood, he wouldn\'t take a single case for a whole year.

Lawyer Xu was unmarried and childless, and his parents had passed away many years ago, so he had no family ties. He wasn\'t addicted to women or money either. It was very difficult to bribe him.

Jiang Lingling asked doubtfully, "Why did Boss Lu suddenly ask me to investigate Lawyer Xu? Our company already has professional legal advisors. Is Boss Lu planning to change advisors?"

Shen Nian looked at the information above - Lawyer Xu\'s date of birth, household registration, favorite foods, social circle etc., even some trivial details were found.

It was obvious Lu Lingchuan attached great importance to this person.

While Jiang Lingling was puzzled, Shen Nian understood very clearly.

If this Lawyer Xu Xiping was as outstanding as rumored, the only reason Lu Lingchuan looked for him was for one matter, one person -

Lu Lingrui.