On the same night, on the other side of the city—
City Hospital Emergency Room, 1:30 a.m.
Shen Yan (Lu Tingchen's childhood friend, a womanizing doctor) had just stepped off the operating table. Blood stained his white coat as he leaned against the corridor drinking Red Bull.
"Doctor, please fill out the form." A cool, detached female voice cut through the air.
He looked up— A woman in a smoky gray suit, her ponytail neat and precise. Her almond-shaped eyes were icy cold, frosty as frost, and the lawyer's badge on her chest gleamed with a sharp, cold light.
Tang Qing, Su Wan's best friend, a sharp-tongued lawyer, had just finished assessing her client's injuries.
Shen Yan raised an eyebrow, pushing the forms back. "My pen's out of ink. Can I borrow yours?"
Tang Qing pulled a fountain pen from her bag, clicked it open, and a string of ink splattered from the cap, landing squarely on the front of his white coat.
"Oops, slipped," she said expressionlessly. "Suggestion for the doctor: steady hands, steady mind."
Shen Yan chuckled softly, his tongue touching his cheek. "Miss Lawyer, someone with steady hands needs a drinking partner tonight. Care to join me?"
"No time." Tang Qing turned away, her retreating figure sharp and decisive. "Next time we meet in court, I hope it's not on the defendant's side."
Shen Yan watched her slender waist recede, licking his lips. "Interesting."
The next day, Tang Qing received a package—
A brand-new white lab coat embroidered with a cartoon fox on the chest, flanked by red thread reading: [To Thorned Rose]
The card bore a flourish of calligraphy: [Shen Yan, 139xxxx, Your Service Anytime]
Tang Qing sneered, tossing the card into the trash bin, yet inexplicably kept the white coat.