Gu Siyue

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Gu Siyue (顾司玥)
Alias(es)	Attorney Gu; Lawyer Gu; Director Gu; Siyue 5 167 175 236
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Siheng Law Firm — Founder and Director; formerly Boheng Law Firm — Senior Partner 14 94 108 236
Occupation/Role	Attorney; law-firm founder; corporate legal adviser and contract negotiator
Relationship	Han Luyi’s girlfriend 350 352 402
Status	Active 402
First Appearance	Chapter 4: “Don Quixote's Charge” (mentioned); Chapter 5: “One in Twenty-Three Million” (in person) 4 5

Background / History

Gu Siyue was born in Shaoxing but spent her school years in the capital. Although her family wanted her to study politics and law, she chose to attend Fuda University through early admission; she later reconciled with her family. 176 198

Her first independent court appearance and appeal concerned the Little Duck Dictionary infringement case. She took over after Fang Zhengping had lost at trial and pursued evidence through a consortium blockchain operator, personally visiting the data extraction center with her authorization and case materials. She won the appeal against an experienced opposing legal team. The publicly circulated hearing attracted attention as a purported “first blockchain evidence case,” although Gu pointed out that the Hangzhou Internet Court had accepted blockchain-preserved evidence in 2018. Shen Yuwei warned that overturning the result of Fang’s case had offended him. Gu later explained that she had accepted the case without certainty of victory because she believed it was right to do so. 371 377

By age twenty-eight, Gu had become a senior partner at Boheng Law Firm. She independently sourced, negotiated, and handled her own cases, ranking third among the firm’s senior partners in quarterly revenue and first in client satisfaction. Her lack of factionalism and the strength of her personal client relationships made her difficult for managing partner Fang Zhengping to control. 75

Her promotion had been supported by Boheng’s former director, Old Xiao, over objections. Fang resented both her independence and the way her success vindicated his predecessor’s judgment. Before her departure, he reassigned her lucrative Qingyue trademark-licensing case to Wang Kaiming and gave her Hengda’s burdensome financing-lease compliance review. Gu continued working through the handover and other cases until she collapsed during a late-night call with Han about patent documents. 54 75

Gu first met Han Luyi when he sought legal counsel over Flash’s alleged collection and sale of user data. She constructed a three-part strategy: anonymous reporting, evidence notarization, and a legal firewall that would prevent Flash from tracing the case back to Han. 5 6

At Boheng, she became Source Code Technology’s legal adviser, handling BugKiller’s copyright and trademark registration, patent matters, contract reviews, data-security positioning, and disputes connected to Dingsheng. 14 17 35 43 53

Boheng later chose to pursue Dingsheng as a major client and terminated its representation of Source Code without completing a formal partner-meeting decision or conflict-of-interest review. Gu responded by leaving Boheng and opening her own practice, initially contracting with Source Code in her personal capacity before Siheng Law Firm was established. 75 79 80 94

Her exit was prepared rather than impulsive. She recorded Boheng’s procedural violations in a private practice-violation memorandum, presented a signed withdrawal application, and cited Article 47 of the partnership agreement when confronting Fang. When he threatened to enforce her non-compete, she invoked Article 14’s supplementary provision, under which a partner’s prior fault invalidated that restriction. Han had already assured her that he valued her ability rather than her affiliation with Boheng. 64 79

At Siheng, Gu rebuilt her practice alongside Shen Yuwei and Song Jianing. Within its first months, the boutique firm’s retainers, family-law referrals, and non-litigation work allowed it to cover its operating expenses without drawing further on the partners’ initial capital. 94 153

Leaving Boheng nevertheless reduced the usefulness of some of her professional contacts. Gu accepted that former colleagues and contacts would now weigh requests that previously required only a phone call, describing the need to rebuild her network and credibility as an expected consequence of leaving a major platform. 108

During the Lunar New Year, Gu visited her parents in Haicheng and resisted her mother’s pressure to return to Beijing or participate in matchmaking. Though emotionally guarded about Han’s messages, she chose to comfort her mother after their argument rather than escalate the conflict. 218

When Zepeng Capital pressured Source Code, Gu called her father after attending its meeting. Pei Youqian subsequently apologized to Han, who inferred that Gu or someone she knew had intervened. Han reflected that she had seldom relied on her family connections despite their apparent influence; the precise circumstances of the intervention remain undisclosed. 247 248

Gu continued handling increasingly complex work for Han’s companies, including urgent acquisition documents, the transfer of Heavenly Craft technical assets, and cooperation with Hanlian Microelectronics. Her tendency to miss meals while working remained a concern to Shen even after Gu became her own firm’s director. 276 313

Her relationship with Han eventually developed into a romance. During an outing after Glutinous Rice Ball’s launch, she abandoned a carefully prepared itinerary after traffic disrupted their reservation; an improvised meal and riverside walk culminated in Han taking her hand and Gu interlacing their fingers. By their subsequent hurried lunch before his Beijing trip, they were explicitly a newly formed couple. 336 350

Gu later met Han’s university friends as his girlfriend and, subsequently, his mother, Zhou Min. The family dinner was warm, although Gu briefly appeared uncomfortable when Zhou mentioned future Lunar New Year visits to Lu’an. She said she would like to visit, but the reason for her momentary discomfort was not explained. 383 402

Appearance

Gu is usually seen in sharply tailored business attire, projecting an exacting and restrained professional image. Outside work, her clothing is noticeably softer and more casual. 5 80 167

• Long black hair, commonly tied in a low ponytail for work; she also wears it loose or in a high ponytail off-duty. 5 167
• Thin-rimmed glasses and a very fair, sharply defined face. 5
• Favors black, white, gray, and other understated professional colors in the office. 5 103
• Her New Year’s cinema outfit included a dark green coat, beige cashmere scarf, gray wide-leg pants, and camel-colored snow boots. 167
• Carries a large Goyard tote bag during professional meetings. 103
• Attended Source Code Technology’s annual meeting in a light-blue women’s suit, which softened her otherwise stern professional image. 212
• For her birthday dinner with Han, she wore a dark-gray turtleneck sweater, left her hair loose, and went without her glasses. 198
• On an informal visit to Source Code, she wore a loose light-gray hoodie and sneakers rather than her usual client-meeting attire. 259
• Deliberately wore a blue shirt and pale-yellow knit cardigan rather than her usual black business suit for the meeting with Chen Bowen. 105
• Changed into a shirt, cardigan, and casual trousers, with her hair loose, before meeting Han’s friends as his girlfriend. 383
• For her first dinner with Zhou Min, she wore a pale-blue knitted dress, pearl ear studs, and lighter makeup, presenting a gentler image than her usual commanding professional appearance. 402

Personality

Gu is concise, disciplined, and intensely work-focused. Her first meeting with Han is defined by minimal gestures, direct questioning, and an immediate focus on whether his case is legally viable. She routinely works late, keeps her documents in exact order, and even maintained spare shirts at her Boheng office. 5 14 54 108

She is principled and independent. At Boheng, she refused to court clients socially or align herself with internal factions; when the firm mishandled its conflict with Source Code, she chose to start over rather than accept its decision. 75 79 113

Although outwardly cool, Gu is attentive to the safety and interests of her clients. She warns Han against exposing himself, gives practical advice during crises, and quietly continues to support cases beyond her narrow specialty by referring them to appropriate counsel. 6 20 80 85

Her professional caution does not make her passive. She is willing to challenge powerful counterparties, expose imbalanced contract terms, and refuse vague answers during negotiations. 154 183

Gu maintains clear professional boundaries even as her relationship with Han becomes more personal, insisting that he use her professional title during work matters and negotiations. 169 175 182

She is protective of colleagues and clients facing pressure. During Zepeng Capital’s visit to Source Code, she interrupted Sun Hong’s veiled threats to ensure they were preserved in the meeting record, then supported Su Niannian after the confrontation. 247

Gu is also candid about conflicts affecting her own advice. When Han asks whether his growing companies need an in-house legal team, she points out her conflict of interest as their external counsel rather than immediately recommending a course of action. 270

Her commitment to work can become self-neglect. Even after leaving Boheng, she continues to work through dinner, prompting Shen to warn her against repeating the habits that previously ended in a collapse. 313

In private, Gu displays dry humor, playfulness, and increasing emotional directness. She jokes about Han’s chauffeur expectations, uses legal-agreement metaphors to describe their developing relationship, and later tells his friends that she pursued him because he would otherwise never make a move. Her affection also appears in small acts such as holding his hand throughout a meal, reminding him to eat, and traveling to Beijing because she misses him. 313 350 352 355 383

Gu remains attentive to professional confidentiality even while dating Han. Rather than sharing private information about her own clients, she entertains him with anonymized stories from Shen’s divorce cases whose judgments are publicly available. 350

Her idealism is tempered by experience rather than dependent on guaranteed success. In discussing her first case and Han’s technological ambitions, she argues that pursuing a chosen, worthwhile path gives the effort meaning even if the final outcome is uncertain. She offers Han a space to express fears he cannot share with investors or employees, without pretending that his problems are easy to solve. 377

Gu can adapt her manner to different social settings. With Liao Botao’s wife, she uses warm conversation and a playful story to facilitate an encounter; with Zhou Min, she is courteous, sweet-spoken, and thoughtful about an appropriate gift. 313 314 402

Abilities & Skills

Legal Strategy and Evidence Analysis

Gu breaks complex disputes into legally actionable steps, distinguishing useful evidence from information that cannot be submitted through proper channels.

• Designed the reporting, notarization, and identity-protection plan for the Flash data-leak case. 6
• Directed Han to preserve Git logs, cloud bills, notes, drafts, and successive design documents to establish that BugKiller had been developed independently of Dingsheng. 20
• Identified that Su Niannian’s listed “Operations Support Specialist” role conflicted with the non-compete agreement’s restricted technical fields, creating a key opening in her case. 32
• Examined the timing of Su’s loss of document access, dashboard permissions, technical-review invitations, and membership in the core product group to reconstruct her separation from restricted work before resignation. 32
• Determined that information on Wang Zhiyuan’s offshore structure lacked a lawful public source and could not itself serve as formal evidence. 94
• Developed a strategy to secure Chen Bowen’s voluntary testimony and use it to open an economic-crimes investigation. 94 105
• Adjusted Source Intelligence Technology’s strategy after Han produced Kun Yuan’s logic-watermark response, recognizing that the evidence could be obtained when needed and was stronger than initially expected. 231
• Distinguished between the courtroom value and commercial leverage of evidence, advising Han to time the disclosure of Dingsheng’s unauthorized use of Source Intelligence’s dataset for maximum impact. 232
• Obtained blockchain-preserved evidence for the Little Duck Dictionary appeal and won her first independently handled appellate case. 371

Corporate, Intellectual Property, and Data Counsel

Gu provides ongoing legal support for technology companies, particularly on intellectual property, employment, contracts, and data compliance.

• Initiated BugKiller’s software copyright registration and trademark-conflict review, later confirming that both had cleared without legal-standing issues. 14 17
• Assisted with patent substantive-examination materials. 53
• Advised Source Code to emphasize end-to-end encryption, deletion after inference, and zero human access as structural data-security advantages. 35
• Distinguished founder non-competes in acquisition agreements from employee restrictions under labor law when reviewing Zhao Wenyuan’s situation. She explained that drag-along rights compel share transfers, not necessarily personal obligations, and requested his original acquisition agreement and a declaration that he had brought no former employer’s trade secrets. 64
• Reviewed employment, option, investment, and full-time commitment clauses affecting Source Code’s executives. 131
• Prepared business-registration materials for Haicheng Yuanzhi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. 157
• Agreed to review the data-center proposal and an unusual employment contract, subsequently supplying a revised employment agreement and legal opinion. 196 198
• Drafted the legal response to Dingsheng’s unauthorized use of Source Intelligence Technology’s private annotated dataset, including a lawyer’s letter setting out the infringement allegations and demands. 232 234
• Prepared Han for negotiations with Lü Yun by recommending a dispute-settlement agreement and a supplemental agreement voiding the prior computing-power investment agreement. 235
• Joined Han in Beijing as his legal counsel for proposed Strategic Emerging Fund investment terms, following his verbal acceptance of the fund’s proposal. 270
• Handled urgent transaction paperwork during the Ximing acquisition process; Han also requested that she prepare the subsequent acquisition agreement. 276
• Worked on a supplemental agreement transferring Heavenly Craft-series AI code-generation-model technical assets from Source Code to Source Intelligence, as well as a technical-cooperation framework between Source Intelligence and Hanlian Microelectronics. 313
• Helped Han draft and publish an AI-industry safety-standards initiative during the May Day holiday and prepare his approach for a closed-door seminar on generative-AI safety and tiered agent governance. 350

Contract Negotiation

Gu is particularly effective at identifying vague, one-sided, or strategically revealing terms in commercial agreements.

• Revised Source Code’s cloud-service contracts to specify promotional placement and duration, preventing ambiguous performance. 43
• Used Boheng’s partnership provisions and documented prior procedural violations to counter Fang Zhengping’s attempt to enforce her non-compete upon withdrawal. 79
• Characterized an overbroad data-use provision as a “gentleman-villain clause”: harmless to a compliant party but revealing if the other side resists narrowing or removing it. 153
• Refined Han’s proposed data-leak remedy by shifting the standard from deliberate misconduct to failure to prove reasonable care. She recommended explicitly providing for recovery of the equity without compensation and excluding reimbursement of computing-power costs. 153
• Pressed Dingsheng to define the entities covered by its “related business providers” data clause rather than accept its standard wording. 154
• Challenged investment terms that combined broad investor veto rights, undelivered resource commitments, and founder-level repurchase liability. 183
• Required State Grid Investment to link its resource commitments to concrete delivery deadlines and to extend the performance-bet period if promised resources were delayed. 183
• Exposed the imbalance created when State Grid Investment retained veto rights over Source Intelligence’s technical route, computing-power procurement, data-center construction, financing, mergers and acquisitions while assuming no corresponding delivery obligations. 183
• Coordinated an aggressive opening demand with Han’s narrower concession to secure reduced veto rights, a ninety-day green-electricity-contract deadline, and founder liability limited to controllable misconduct such as false statements, fund misappropriation, malicious breach, and technology-ownership defects. 183

Corporate Governance and Shareholder Advice

Gu distinguishes between the interests of a company and those of an individual shareholder, tailoring her advice to the capacity in which the client seeks representation.

• Explained special voting rights, acting-in-concert agreements, and voting proxies when Su Niannian sought advice on preserving Han’s control following Source Code’s proposed merger into Origin Group. 399
• Warned that an acting-in-concert arrangement could make Su a joint actual controller, increase her share lock-up from twelve to thirty-six months, and subject her to stricter oversight. 399
• Described an irrevocable fixed-term voting proxy and advised against granting one without a strong financial incentive. From the standpoint of Su’s personal interests, she recommended taking no action. 399
• Accepted Su’s instruction to represent her in discussing an acting-in-concert agreement or voting proxy with Han, leaving the ultimate decision to her client despite her own reservations. 399

Political and Business Counsel

Gu can interpret the indirect signals and procedural sensitivities involved in government-linked business discussions.

• Explained that Lu Zhengping’s invitation for Han to meet Beijing leaders was an unofficial exploratory contact, allowing either side to withdraw without the implications of a formal negotiation. She advised Han to prepare his report without pressing for details Lu had not volunteered. 259
• Helped Su Niannian compare Beijing and Haicheng as possible locations for Source Intelligence. They also examined a dual-headquarters arrangement, warning that it could disappoint both sides if their respective priorities were not understood. 265 266
• Recognized that Han’s night-market visit was intended to approach Liao Botao. Drawing on her work on the Hanlian Microelectronics agreement, she invited Liao and his wife to share their table and framed Han’s career experiences in a way that echoed Liao’s early life, creating an opening for the semiconductor-cooperation discussion. 313 314

Languages and Martial Arts

• Speaks English well enough to converse comfortably with Liao Botao’s wife when the latter’s limited Mandarin makes communication difficult. 313
• Holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A colleague who trains with her describes her as far ahead of the other practitioners at their gym; during an unusually intense practice session, he is unable to resist her and has to tap quickly. 327

Relationships

• Han Luyi — Client and long-term legal-advisory partner, later boyfriend. Gu protects his identity in the Flash case, supports Source Code through its major legal disputes, and later accepts “Siyue” as his off-hours form of address. Their relationship grows increasingly personal through a New Year’s film outing, Beijing dinners, and Han’s birthday celebration for her, though Gu continues to enforce work-related boundaries. She later helps him navigate Beijing’s interest in Source Intelligence and accompanies him for Strategic Emerging Fund investment discussions. 6 80 167 181 182 184 198 259 270 After facilitating his meeting with Liao Botao, she asks whether he has been avoiding her because of an earlier personal question and urges him not to keep postponing his thoughts. Their riverside hand-holding marks a decisive step toward intimacy, and they are subsequently identified as a couple. Gu openly acknowledges having pursued him, visits him unexpectedly in Beijing because she misses him, and becomes a trusted confidante for his private doubts. She later meets his mother and shares a passionate kiss with him after the family dinner. 314 336 350 352 377 383 402
• Su Niannian — Client whose non-compete dispute Gu analyzes through inconsistencies between her employment records and restrictive covenant. Gu later serves as a legal safeguard during Zepeng Capital’s pressured investment approach and comforts Su afterward. Their relationship becomes less formal: they agree to call each other Siyue and Nian Nian, share a meal, and work together at Gu’s home on Source Intelligence’s possible relocation. 32 247 259 265 266 During the Origin Group merger consultation, Gu prioritizes Su’s interests as an individual shareholder, warns her about the costs of helping consolidate Han’s control, and accepts representation when Su chooses to proceed. When Su tries to explain that she respects the boundaries around Han, Gu reassures her that she does not need to explain. 399
• Shen Yuwei — Friend, senior colleague, and mentor figure. Gu refers family-law cases to Shen, who later retrieves Gu after she collapses at the office; both work at Siheng. 20 55 94 Shen supports Gu during the Little Duck Dictionary appeal, warns her about offending Fang, and continues watching over her health at Siheng. She also notices Gu’s conspicuous happiness after her romance with Han begins. 313 339 371
• Song Jianing — Siheng colleague who handles non-litigation matters and joins Gu on the Beijing financing trip. 153 176
• Fang Zhengping — Boheng’s managing partner. He viewed Gu’s independent client base as a threat and pushed through Source Code’s termination in favor of Dingsheng. 75 79 Their history also includes Gu winning the appeal in the Little Duck Dictionary case that he had lost at trial. His later attempts to marginalize her included stripping away the Qingyue case and assigning the difficult Hengda review; she ultimately countered his non-compete threat through the firm’s own partnership agreement. 54 79 371
• Chen Bowen — Potential whistleblower against Wang Zhiyuan. Gu carefully manages the pace of negotiations to obtain credible, voluntary testimony. 94 105
• Zhao Wenyuan — Source Code executive whose employment and non-compete exposure Gu reviews when Han considers a separate model-company venture. 131 She had earlier analyzed his founder obligations following CodeSafe’s acquisition and cautioned Han to establish clear trade-secret and contractual boundaries before recruiting him. 64
• Lü Yun — Dingsheng chairman who meets Han at Siheng after receiving Source Intelligence Technology’s lawyer’s letter. Gu organizes the meeting, briefs Han on settlement structure, and serves as Siheng’s founder and director. 235 236
• Sun Hong — Zepeng Capital director whose vague warnings to Su Niannian Gu ensures are captured on record during the firm’s investment visit. 247
• Pei Youqian — Zepeng Capital’s managing partner, whose name Gu recognizes when investigating the firm’s background amid its approach to Source Code Technology. After Gu calls her father, Pei apologizes to Han; the connection behind his change of attitude is not explicitly established. 246 247 248
• Gu’s parents — Her mother urges her to return to Beijing and consider a match with a family acquaintance, while her father’s work interrupts the family’s Lunar New Year visit. Gu later calls her father following Zepeng Capital’s visit to Source Code. 218 247
• Huang Qihang — Client in the Little Duck Dictionary infringement appeal, Gu’s first independently handled appellate case. Although initially disappointed by the two young lawyers who came to meet him, he entrusts the case to Gu, who wins the appeal. 371
• Liao Botao and his wife — Gu establishes rapport with the semiconductor leader’s wife in English and helps Han secure an opening to discuss cooperation with Huaxia Icecore. She initially presents Han as her boyfriend in a playful conversational story; Liao recognizes Han’s deliberate attempt to meet him and later agrees to advocate for the proposed partnership. 313 314
• Ma Xiaofei and Zhang Haoran — Han’s university friends. Zhang originally supplies Han with Gu’s business card, while Ma coordinates with her during the Flash media strategy. Gu later joins their gathering as Han’s girlfriend, openly states that she pursued him, and pays for the meal before learning that the group normally takes turns treating. 4 383
• Zhou Min — Han’s mother. Gu eagerly accepts the invitation to meet her, brings Buddha’s hand citrons and monk fruit in consideration of Zhou’s work as a teacher, and quickly bonds with her over stories about Han. Zhou welcomes her warmly without questioning her family circumstances or career. 402
• Xiao Zhou — Gu’s assistant, who notices her condition during her Boheng overwork period and later helps manage her schedule at Siheng. Gu asks Xiao Zhou to block off two hours so she can watch Glutinous Rice Ball’s launch. 54 313 336

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Little Duck Dictionary appeal — A retrospective account of Gu’s first independent court appearance shows her taking an uncertain infringement appeal, extracting blockchain-preserved evidence, and overturning a trial result despite an experienced opposing team. The case establishes both her commitment to worthwhile causes and an early source of friction with Fang Zhengping. 371 377
• Flash data-leak case — Gu turns Han’s technical findings into a protected legal and media strategy while keeping him anonymous. 5 6 7
• Source Code’s legal foundation — She handles BugKiller’s IP registration, patent work, security framework, and early commercial contracts. 14 17 35 43 53
• Break with Boheng — After Boheng sacrifices Source Code’s representation for Dingsheng business, Gu leaves the firm and establishes an independent practice. 75 79 80
• Wang Zhiyuan investigation — Gu assesses the limits of Han’s intelligence, seeks an internal evidentiary breakthrough through Chen Bowen, and reports the BVI matter through Dingsheng’s whistleblower channel. 94 105 113 She coordinates information releases with Han after his meeting with Wang and updates him when Dingsheng’s internal investigation reaches Chen and implicates Wang. 109 112
• Dingsheng and Beijing negotiations — She represents Han in computing-power and investment negotiations, resisting loose data provisions, excessive veto rights, and unfair founder liability. 153 154 176 183
• Kun Yuan data-theft dispute — After Han verifies that Dingsheng’s Kun Yuan model contains Source Intelligence’s logic watermark, Gu formulates the disclosure strategy, issues the lawyer’s letter, and prepares the settlement framework for negotiations with Lü Yun. Dingsheng ultimately agrees to take Kun Yuan offline and provide idle domestic graphics cards as part of the resolution. 231 232 235 237
• Zepeng Capital pressure campaign — Gu attends Zepeng’s meeting with Su Niannian, records Sun Hong’s threatening remarks, investigates managing partner Pei Youqian, and helps protect Source Code Technology during the attempted pressure tactic. She calls her father afterward; Pei’s subsequent reversal prompts Han to thank her. 246 247 248
• Beijing–Haicheng negotiations — Gu interprets Beijing’s unofficial approach to Han, then works with Su to assess the competing advantages of Beijing, Haicheng, and a possible dual-headquarters structure. She later joins Han in Beijing for the Strategic Emerging Fund’s proposed investment. 259 265 266 270
• Acquisitions and semiconductor cooperation — Gu handles urgent transaction work and technical-cooperation agreements as Source Intelligence expands beyond model development. At the night market, she recognizes Han’s plan to approach Liao Botao and creates the conversational opening that helps him obtain an invitation to Icecore’s headquarters. 276 313 314
• Romance with Han — Their longstanding professional trust develops into a confirmed relationship after Gu actively pursues him and they hold hands during an improvised holiday outing. Subsequent scenes show affectionate lunches, her surprise Beijing visit, integration into his circle of friends, and her first dinner with his mother. 336 350 352 383 402
• AI-safety initiative — Gu helps Han formulate and publish proposed industry safety standards, then encourages him before the government-organized seminar on generative-AI safety and tiered agent governance. 350
• Han’s crisis of resolve — Gu listens to the technological and commercial anxieties Han cannot reveal to his investors or employees. Drawing on Sisyphus, her own first case, and his earlier Flash report, she helps him recover his determination to pursue domestic AI development despite uncertain odds. 376 377
• Origin Group merger and voting control — Gu advises Su as an individual shareholder on tools for preserving Han’s control after the planned merger. She explains the personal costs, recommends inaction from Su’s own-interest perspective, and nevertheless accepts Su’s instruction to negotiate a possible acting-in-concert agreement or voting proxy. 399

Notable Quotes

“Do exactly as I say. They won’t find you. If you try to be clever, even I won’t be able to save you.” 6

“There were things I wanted to do. I couldn’t do them there, so I left.” 113

“With me here, rest easy.” 176

“It’s not a formal meeting. Just treat it as visiting a friend’s friend.” 259

“I want you to be happy.” 350

“I missed you.” 352

“Life has no inherent meaning. Working toward the path you've chosen is itself the meaning. So you don't have to worry about the outcome. Even if you fail in the end, I'll know you tried.” 377

“Because I thought it was the right thing to do. Someone has to do what needs doing, don't they? To me, doing it mattered more than succeeding.” 377

“He wouldn't make a move, so of course I had to. Otherwise, I might have had to wait until the end of time.” 383

Trivia

• Gu keeps a pothos plant; its poor condition at Boheng improves after Han waters it, and the plant later appears lush in her Siheng office. 17 20 108
• She is a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, admiring Holmes for pursuing his own definition of justice. 168
• She plays Honor of Kings, though she describes herself as poor at it due to lack of time. 198
• Han gifts her a yellow LAMY Safari fountain pen for Christmas; she later uses it. 157 198
• For her birthday, Han gives her a book, a Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen, and a vanilla cake. 198
• She and Han unexpectedly attended the same Detective Conan screening on New Year’s Day and switched seats so they could watch together. 167
• She lives in a high-rise apartment in Lujiazui and makes coffee for Su Niannian during Su’s visit. 265
• Uses cat stickers in messages to Han, including smiling, eating, curious, and mock-angry cats. 248 276 355 402
• Watches Glutinous Rice Ball’s launch after reserving the time on her work calendar, then registers, downloads the app, and pays for its professional version in support of a major client. 336
• Tells Han that she cannot cook; he admits to himself that he cannot either, and they arrange takeout instead. 377
• She and Han discover a shared enthusiasm for durian. After an indulgent weekend, she tells him to stop drinking cola and join her for weekend workouts, teasing him about maintaining his abdominal muscles. 384
• Does not like sweet food, although Han otherwise knows of few foods she avoids. 402
• Brings Zhou Min Buddha’s hand citrons and monk fruit for steeping in water, choosing the gift because a teacher frequently needs to use her voice. 402