50: Chapter 50 Choosing to Believe

The moment the question left her lips, Lin Wan regretted it.

She was not the type of person to ask such questions.

It was too blunt, too explicit, and not at all like something a rational and restrained law school top student would say.

Just as she was preparing to add a "Never mind" to ease the awkwardness, Jiang Chen had already spoken.

"It depends on the person." He said.

"The person?"

"Mm."

His gaze fell upon her face, his tone as indifferent as if he were answering the most ordinary question, "Some people, you know they aren't right the moment you meet them; some people..."

He paused for a moment.

"Some people, the first time you meet them, you know you will keep thinking about them from then on."

Lin Wan's fingers paused on the rim of her glass.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something in response, but found her language system completely crashed at this moment.

The rhetoric she could easily summon in a debate, the flawless logic she used in the courtroom—all of it failed her now.

She could only look at him, look at the calm sea in his eyes, and look at her own reflection in that sea.

"...You win." She finally said only these three words, her voice as light as a sigh.

Jiang Chen tilted his head slightly: "Win what?"

"You won over my composure."

Lin Wan said, the corners of her mouth curling into a somewhat resigned arc, "The composure I'm so proud of doesn't seem to be enough when I'm in front of you."

What she didn't say was:

She didn't dislike this feeling of it "not being enough."

Time slipped to ten-thirty without them realizing it.

Wang Hao glanced at his phone, and although he looked reluctant, he still took the initiative to speak: "It's about time, isn't it? We have class tomorrow."

Chen Xue nodded obediently.

Jiang Chen got up to pay the bill, and when he returned, Wang Hao had already called a car on his phone.

"Chenzi, you've been drinking, what about your car?" Wang Hao asked.

"Designated driver."

As Jiang Chen said this, his gaze naturally fell on Lin Wan, "How are you getting back?"

"Taxi." Lin Wan said.

"Let's go together."

Jiang Chen's tone was casual when he said this, as if he were stating the most natural thing in the world, "I'll have the designated driver drop you off first."

Lin Wan glanced at him and didn't refuse.

The four of them walked out of the bar, the night wind carrying the humidity of the river rushing toward them, blowing away the tipsiness brought by the alcohol.

The plane trees at the entrance of the alley cast mottled shadows under the streetlights, and the cruise ships on the river in the distance were brightly lit, like moving castles.

The car Wang Hao called arrived first.

He pulled open the car door, naturally shielding the top of the door frame with his hand, and after Chen Xue got in, he climbed in himself.

The window rolled down, and Chen Xue poked her head out to say to Lin Wan: "Wanwan, send me a message when you get there."

"Got it." Lin Wan waved at her, "Have a good time."

The car door closed, the car merged into the traffic, and its taillights drifted further and further away in the night.

Only Lin Wan and Jiang Chen were left at the alley entrance.

The designated driver hadn't arrived yet.

The streetlights stretched the shadows of the two of them very long, overlapping and then separating, like some kind of silent dance.

Lin Wan stood at Jiang Chen's side, about half a step away from him.

The night wind sent the fragrance from her hair over to him; she didn't know if he had smelled it, but she smelled it herself.

It was the shampoo she had specifically changed to today, white tea scented.

"Are you cold?" Jiang Chen's voice came from her side.

"I'm fine." Lin Wan said.

No sooner had she spoken than a gust of river wind blew over, and she subconsciously hunched her shoulders.

Jiang Chen didn't say anything, just silently stepped a little closer to her side, exactly blocking the direction the wind was blowing from.

Lin Wan lowered her head and smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Jiang Chen asked.

"Smiling at you."

She raised her head, the light of the streetlamps reflected in her eyes, "Even blocking the wind is done so low-key."

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and answered seriously: "The coat is too expensive, I'm afraid you'll get it dirty."

Lin Wan froze for a second, then laughed out loud.

This was the most open she had laughed all night—not the reserved, restrained smile, but a genuine smile from the bottom of her heart, with the corners of her eyes curved up.

Only after she finished laughing did she realize that it had been a long time since she had laughed like this.

"Jiang Chen." She suppressed her laughter and looked at him, "Do you know, you are the first person who dared to joke with me about a coat."

"Why? Others don't dare?"

"It's not that they don't dare."

She thought for a moment, "It's that they feel that joking with a lawyer requires bearing legal risks."

Jiang Chen chuckled softly, his voice low and deep, like the night wind brushing against strings.

"Then should I be thankful that you haven't filed a lawsuit against me yet?"

"Yes." Lin Wan raised an eyebrow.

The two looked at each other and then looked away at the same time.

The designated driver appeared at the alley entrance on a foldable electric bike, breaking this moment of ambiguity.

"Boss, are you the one who called for a designated driver?"

"Mm."

Jiang Chen nodded, took the car keys, and handed them to the driver, "The car is at the intersection, a volcanic ash Porsche."

The driver took the keys and walked quickly toward the intersection.

Jiang Chen turned his head to look at Lin Wan: "Let's go."

Lin Wan nodded and followed him toward the intersection.

The two walked at a steady pace, the distance between their shoulders fluctuating, like two planets orbiting in their own paths, yet being pulled by some gravity, moving closer involuntarily.

The driver soon drove the car over.

Jiang Chen walked around to the back seat as usual to open the door for Lin Wan.

Lin Wan suddenly remembered her requirements for newcomers when she was training them at the law firm.

"Professionalism is not something you do for others to see; it is a habit carved into your bones."

Jiang Chen's gentlemanliness was probably the same.

It wasn't done for her to see; it was a habit carved into his bones.

And a person who could carve gentlemanliness into their bones was likely not someone who would treat feelings with indifference.

This logic might not necessarily hold, but Lin Wan chose to believe it.

She bent over to get into the car and took her seat in the back.

Jiang Chen got in from the other side and sat down next to her.

This time, he didn't deliberately keep a distance.

There was only a fist's distance between them.

She could even feel the warmth coming from his arm, through the fabric, faint and elusive.

The driver started the car, and an old song was playing on the radio, a female voice singing lazily in French.

The car drove out of the alley and merged into the traffic on Binjiang Road.

The neon lights outside the window began to flow again; it was the same as when she came, yet it felt completely different.

When she came, she was in the back seat, secretly looking at him through the rearview mirror, and every time they made eye contact, it felt like a cautious probe.

At this moment, he was sitting in the same row, his breathing audible.

Lin Wan leaned against the back of the seat, turning her head to look out the window, but her peripheral vision was always on him.

She was thinking about one thing.

Something she had been thinking about since the bar, but had never had the courage to say out loud.

"Jiang Chen." She spoke suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Have you ever thought..." She paused, weighing her words, "about ending tonight just like this?"

Jiang Chen was silent for two seconds.

"No." He said.

He answered crisply and cleanly, without any hesitation.

Lin Wan turned her head to look at him and just happened to meet his gaze.

The interior of the car was dim, with only the faint glow of the dashboard reflecting on his face, outlining his features to be deep and gentle.

"Then have you ever thought..." She continued, her voice softer than before, "about not ending tonight just like this?"

This time, Jiang Chen was silent for even longer.

The driver was focused on driving, and the French song on the radio changed to the next one.

The melody was slow and gentle, like some kind of unspeakable emotion flowing in the car at this moment.

"I have."

Jiang Chen finally spoke, his voice so low it was like he was telling a secret.

Lin Wan's heartbeat became incredibly clear at that instant.