She Was on the Fifth Floor

Harmony Building, nineteenth floor, Boheng Law Firm.

This was Han Luyi's third time at Boheng.

The last time had been two weeks ago, when BugKiller had just become operational and he had come to handle the copyright and trademark matters. That day, sitting in the visitor's chair, he had felt like he was doing something really cool.

This time, he had an EMS envelope in hand.

The receptionist recognized him. "Attorney Gu is in her office. I'll take you over."

He knocked once on the half-open door.

Gu Siyue sat behind her desk, flipping through a document. The spare shirt he had seen across the hallway last time was still there, only moved to a different spot. Two empty coffee cups sat on the desk.

"Sit." Gu Siyue did not look up.

Han Luyi sat down and placed Dingsheng's notice on her desk.

Gu Siyue glanced at the words "Prosperity Group Legal Department" on the envelope, then opened it and read the contents.

Han Luyi opened Sight as well and looked at the document.

A layer of translucent highlighted annotations surfaced over the legal text, like comments in a code review. The non-compete clause had been marked in red—

[Reason: The restricted fields—"artificial intelligence, data analysis, software development tools, and related fields"—are somewhat overly broad but do not clearly exceed industry norms]

Han Luyi frowned. A forty- to fifty-percent chance was about the same as flipping a coin. If it went to court, it was hard to say.

Just as he was about to speak—

Gu Siyue pulled open the drawer to her right.

She took out a thin blue folder and pushed it across the desk to him.

"Look at this first."

Han Luyi opened the folder.

There were three documents, arranged in chronological order, each clipped together with a paperclip.

The first one.

A copy of a demand letter, with an EMS delivery receipt attached.

[To: Ms. Zhang Wei, Human Resources Department, Dingsheng Digital Technology Group Co., Ltd.

Our firm has been retained by Mr. Han Luyi regarding the non-compete agreement entered into between your company and our client. Our client formally resigned on February 26, 2026. Under the agreement between both parties, your company should pay non-compete economic compensation monthly from the date of resignation. As of the date of this letter, the first compensation payment is overdue, and our client has not received any funds.

We hereby notify your company to fulfill its obligation to pay the compensation in accordance with the agreement within five working days of receiving this letter. If you fail to respond or make payment by the deadline, our client will regard this as your company's express refusal to fulfill its compensation obligation and will assert the corresponding rights in accordance with the law.

Attorney Gu Siyue, Boheng Law Firm

March 27, 2026]

Friday. He did the math. That had been exactly four weeks since he resigned.

Han Luyi turned to the second document.

A printout of an email. Sender: Zhang Wei. Recipient: Gu Siyue. Time: March 27, 3:17 p.m.

[Hello, Attorney Gu:

After verification, Mr. Han Luyi's position level (P7) is not within the scope of non-compete compensation payments. If you have any further questions, please contact our Legal Department.

Sincerely,

Zhang Wei

Prosperity Group HRBP]

Han Luyi stared at the email.

A standard HR template. Less than half a day had passed between receiving the demand letter and replying. Legal had not even been copied in. To Zhang Wei, this was probably no different from responding to an attendance inquiry.

P7. No payment. Process complete.

He turned to the third document.

A copy of a notice of termination of the non-compete agreement, along with the delivery receipt.

[Recipient: Legal Department, Dingsheng Digital Technology Group Co., Ltd.

Sender: Attorney Gu Siyue, Boheng Law Firm, on behalf of Mr. Han Luyi.

Date: Monday, March 30.

...Ms. Zhang Wei of your company's Human Resources Department informed our client in writing on March 27, 2026, that his position level was not within the scope of non-compete compensation payments. Through its actual conduct, your company has expressly indicated that it will not fulfill its primary obligation under the non-compete agreement to pay economic compensation.

Pursuant to Article 563, Paragraph 1, Item 2 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, our client, Mr. Han Luyi, hereby gives notice that the non-compete arrangement between both parties is terminated, effective upon delivery of this letter.]

Han Luyi put down the three documents.

He looked at Gu Siyue.

"...When did you do all this?"

"The night you came here last time," Gu Siyue said. "After you sent me the photos of your resignation agreement."

Han Luyi remembered coming to Boheng for the copyright consultation last time. As he was leaving, Gu Siyue had asked him to photograph the resignation agreement and send it to her. He had sent the photos that night, and Gu Siyue had replied with an electronic engagement letter for him to sign, saying, "Get the authorization done first. We might need it later."

"You knew then that they wouldn't pay the compensation?"

"P7, non-core position, standard layoff procedure." Gu Siyue's tone was like she was reading a case closing report. "For non-compete clauses at this level, nine out of ten companies don't actually enforce them. Even HR treats them as a formality."

"So the demand letter..."

"Of course it wasn't meant to collect money. It was bait," Gu Siyue said. "What I wanted was that rejection email from her."

Han Luyi did not follow. "...What do you mean?"

Gu Siyue leaned back in her chair, shifting into the rhythm she used when explaining a case to a client.

"A non-compete agreement is a bilateral contract. You don't join a competitor, and the company pays you compensation every month. Both sides have obligations."

Han Luyi nodded. He knew that part.

"Under normal circumstances, if a company fails to pay compensation for three consecutive months, the employee can request termination of the non-compete agreement. That comes from the Supreme People's Court's judicial interpretation, and it's the route most people take. But three months is too long. Your product can't wait three months."

"Then how did you get around that?"

"Article 563 of the Civil Code," Gu Siyue said. "If one party expressly indicates that it will not fulfill a primary obligation, the other party has the right to terminate the contract. The key words are 'expressly indicates.' Zhang Wei's email saying that 'P7 is not within the scope of non-compete compensation payments' is written evidence that Dingsheng expressly refused to pay. Once we had that, the right to terminate was established immediately."

Han Luyi finally understood.

"You sent the demand letter on Friday. For a case at this level, HR wouldn't seek approval from above. She just followed procedure and replied the same day."

He paused, then supplied the next step himself. "And if they didn't reply, that was fine too. The demand letter stated a response deadline. If they failed to respond by then—"

"It would be deemed a refusal," Gu Siyue finished. "Article 563 still applies. And in the worst case, if they didn't pay for three months, the judicial interpretation would still have us covered."

Han Luyi's fingers tapped the armrest twice without thought, a habit from running through logic while coding.

"There's one more possibility," he said. "They actually pay."

"Then you take the money," Gu Siyue said. "The non-compete agreement remains in force, but your agreement defines the restricted scope as 'artificial intelligence, data analysis, software development tools, and related fields.' That basically ropes in the entire IT industry. If that clause goes before an arbitration tribunal, there's every chance the scope will be ruled overly broad and partially invalid. Then we fight it there."

Han Luyi lowered his gaze to the notice sent by Dingsheng Legal on the desk.

"If your party has engaged in business activities within the restricted fields, please cease immediately."

Before leaving home, he had stared at that sentence for two minutes without moving. Looking at it now, it seemed a little ridiculous.

That piece of paper had already been worthless before it was even mailed.

"Didn't Dingsheng Legal know?" Han Luyi pushed the notice aside. "The termination notice is sitting in their files, and they still sent this?"

"The demand letter and the termination notice were both sent to the Legal Department's general receiving address. A P7 former employee's case would be filed away once it was handled. This notice was probably pushed by someone else. The person handling it might never have looked through that file."

Han Luyi nodded once.

His gaze drifted around the office before landing on the windowsill.

A small pothos sat by the window, its leaves limp and pathetic, the soil in its pot dry and pale—worse than the last time he had passed by.

"I noticed this pothos when I came last time. Can it still be saved?"

"It's not within my scope of practice."

"A cup of water would bring it back. Pothos are pretty easy to keep alive."

Gu Siyue did not respond.

But she reached for the half cup of water left on her desk and poured it into the flowerpot.

Han Luyi watched the water seep into the cracked soil and fell silent for a while.

"Attorney Gu, thank you so much."

Gu Siyue looked at him. "You paid for my services."

"But it was absolutely worth it." Han Luyi smiled.

"The copyright registration has already been approved," Gu Siyue said, steering the conversation back. "The trademark search found no conflicts either. There are no issues with your legal standing."

Han Luyi nodded.

Gu Siyue closed the folder in front of her.

"But the non-compete agreement is a minor matter."

She picked up her phone, pulled up a photograph, and handed it to him.

It was a picture of an internal document, shot at an awkward angle in poor lighting, as though someone had secretly taken it in a conference room.

Dingsheng Digital Technology Group: Former Employee Non-Compete Compliance Review.

It was a list of more than a dozen names.

Only one name was marked in red.

Han Luyi.

"This notice wasn't routine business from the Legal Department," Gu Siyue said. "Someone specifically pushed for it. Out of a review list with more than a dozen people, only you were marked in red."

Han Luyi said nothing. He thought of the line of data he had seen yesterday when Sight scanned the notice.

[Document initiation chain: Chen Bowen (recommendation) → Li Yang, Legal Department compliance specialist (execution) → Approver: Wang Zhiyuan (VP)]

But he could not tell Gu Siyue that.

Han Luyi put the report back on the desk and left Gu Siyue's office.

He leaned against the elevator wall, watching the floor numbers tick down one by one.

Zhang Wei had rejected the demand letter as usual. The termination notice had arrived at Legal and been filed away. No one had given it a second look.

But Chen Bowen still did not know.

He was holding a gun that had broken a week ago, still taking aim.

When would he realize the gun couldn't fire?