Chapter 44

Chapter 44

◎Sweet agony, delightful torment—nothing compares.◎

At nine in the evening, as the inky blackness of night descended, the ship's grand banquet officially commenced.

Shen Ruzhen leaned against a secluded corner of the beverage area, her figure obscured by a massive potted plant. Standing at the threshold of light and shadow, she observed the mingling crowd.

A glass of wine suddenly appeared before her. Shen Ruzhen looked up to see a sharply dressed man holding the glass. He appeared to be in his forties, exuding maturity and composure.

"Care to dance?"

Shen Ruzhen picked up the glass she had long neglected, and their glasses met with a faint, almost inaudible clink.

She offered a slight smile. "I don’t care for it."

The man chuckled. "Lawyers are supposed to thrive in such settings." His tone carried a subtle implication: "Even if you don't like it, you should adapt."

Just then, a heavyset man approached and addressed the suited gentleman. "Lawyer Gao, regarding the contract we discussed earlier..."

The man referred to as Lawyer Gao readily agreed: "Mr. Xia, I’ll email you both the Chinese and English versions of the contract tonight."

"Lawyer Gao’s efficiency is truly unmatched," Mr. Xia remarked, walking away satisfied.

Lawyer Gao turned back to Shen Ruzhen with a beaming smile. "Now that’s a successful lawyer—adept at both socializing and getting work done."

"Lawyer Shen, if you don’t network, you’ll only get scraps of cases. How much money can you possibly make that way?"

Before Shen Ruzhen could respond, Lawyer Gao pulled out his phone and stepped aside to take a call. Though she stood nearby, the ambient noise allowed her to catch only snippets—words like "must," "all-nighter," and "quality assured."

The system sounded exasperated. "What’s his deal?"

Shen Ruzhen pondered for a moment before sighing. "Probably just bored, showing off the superiority of a 'successful lawyer' to me."

Then, a hand appeared in her line of sight—extended in an inviting gesture.

Shen Ruzhen looked up to see a complete stranger, young and handsome, with eyes so deep they created the illusion of profound affection when he gazed at someone. His nose was prominent, his lips rather thin.

Though his face was unfamiliar, there was something about his presence that felt intimately known.

A slow smile bloomed on Shen Ruzhen’s face. "When did you arrive?"

Chao Wendao wanted to say he’d never left, but remembering his current "transmigrator" identity, he replied, "Not long before boarding."

Shen Ruzhen gazed into his eyes. "What did you do when you returned to your world?"

The dim lighting of the banquet hall reflected in Shen Ruzhen’s crystalline eyes, making her gaze appear even softer and more ethereal. Under such a look, Chao Wendao’s heart skipped a beat.

Just as he was about to speak, he felt a sudden warmth in his palm. He instantly looked down to see Shen Ruzhen’s right hand resting atop his. Though their fingers weren’t intertwined, the warmth spreading through his palm made his heart pound like a drum.

Stunned, Chao Wendao completely forgot the excuse he had just concocted.

Shen Ruzhen, however, continued to gaze at him unblinkingly, a hint of laughter in her voice: "Hmm?"

Chao Wendao, flustered, temporarily banished the fanciful thoughts from his mind and clumsily changed the subject: "Shall we dance first?"

They glided across a corner of the dance floor.

Chao Wendao felt a burning heat—scalding blood surged through every vein, every organ clamored to burst from his body and reign supreme, each breath drew in air thick with warmth. His feet moved reflexively, driven by this overwhelming energy.

He had lost all capacity for rational thought; only instinct remained.

He mused that he had written countless love stories—some true, some false, some dreamlike, some fantastical—and created worlds brimming with intertwined love and hate, yet he had never experienced a sensation quite like this.

Sweet agony, delightful torment—nothing compares.

After finishing his call, Lawyer Gao looked up to see Shen Ruzhen dancing with a man not far away.

...Didn’t she just say she didn’t like dancing? Was she possessed?

...

Shen Ruzhen’s cabin was on Deck Three. After dancing, she left the banquet hall, intending to return to her room. As she passed a certain cabin on the third deck, she noticed its lights were still on. This was somewhat unusual, as almost all guests were still enjoying the nightlife in the banquet hall. She paused for a moment, then heard a sob.

The sobbing didn’t come from inside the room, but from diagonally ahead of her.

The corridor was dimly lit, but a few steps away, a young woman sat on the stairs, a laptop balanced on her knees. The glow from the screen was the sole light in the dim surroundings.

The young woman looked up and saw Shen Ruzhen, startled. She quickly wiped away her tears, then stood up, clutching her laptop. "Am I in your way? I’m sorry—the Wi-Fi signal isn’t great in my room, so I had to work out here."

Shen Ruzhen’s gaze swept across her laptop screen, then she frowned. "You have a translation error here."

"Huh?" The young woman blinked, then meticulously checked and re-checked the text for a long time before making the correction.

She said gratefully, "You’re amazing! This is a legal term; I searched online forever but couldn’t be sure."

She then asked, "May I ask where you practice?"

Shen Ruzhen replied, "Red Circle Law Firm. Shen Ruzhen."

After introducing herself, she was about to leave the young woman’s side when the girl suddenly grabbed her arm.

Shen Ruzhen frowned, about to pull away, but then she looked down and met a pair of sparkling eyes.

"Lawyer Shen—it’s really you!"

"I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to meet you!"