I have to ask: when the author was writing this novel, did she know she'd assembled the perfect combination of story elements for making the radfems mad? In particular, a canonically bi protagonist who has canonically slept with multiple men who opens the novel by 'defending a rapist in court' (she's an expert witness, not defence counsel, and only in relation to the murder charge, and also even people who have almost certainly committed rape are entitled to legal representation, but these are not the sorts of things radfems pay attention to), and a love interest with masc-of-centre presentation (though it is interesting that the specific label the author uses is 双御姐).

When I first read this chapter, I spent most of it going, 'OMG Lin Yan STOP WASTING food/culturally significant antique rugs/expensive cars/the hard work of your assistant who is probably just doing his best.' On this reread, I did exactly the same thing. Also how is she a PROFESSOR?? My friends who are adjuncts/slowly crawling their way towards tenure would like a word???

Oh is 张董 a guy?
Yes, we're definitely not in a queernorm world here.

Re: Lin Yan's name — it's kind of perversely cool to name your character that I think (and yes, we find out the history behind it, eventually).

I continued to roll my eyes at Lin Yan here, although I found her response to the funeral wreath thing quite cool (somewhat against my better judgment). The using her assistant to block a literal shower of shit part would of course be appalling irl but I found it extremely in-character here.

I also, honestly, check in with myself every now and then as to whether I would hold a typical male protagonist in an action thriller up to the same level of 'moral' behaviour as I'm probably subconsciously holding Lin Yan to. Because I can envision registers of thriller writing where a male lead doing more or less the same thing would be portrayed as unequivocally badass (and an interesting thing here is that it ISN'T portrayed as unequivocally badass, what with the shaken assistant's musings about how Lin Yan would probably leave him for dead).

Things I enjoyed: Lin Yan's chronic inability to sit properly, the first appearance of her murder board/wall.

Also all the ominous 'IF ONLY SONG YUHANG HAD KNOWN' stuff. 酒大 you are not being subtle.

I'd forgotten that her provision of expert evidence in the 18th April case was supposedly part of a transaction with this guy.

This chapter also shows why the radfems screaming 'SONG YUHANG IS BASICALLY A MAN' are bad at reading. I'm sure it is extremely manly to have gone on a series of 相亲 dates with a guy.

酒大: Look at all these parallels! And contrasts! Song Yuhang having a home-cooked meal with people who love her vs Lin Yan drinking wine in front of her murder wall with only servants to prepare her lonely and impersonal dinner!

The intercutting is also a cinematic technique. More credence for my crack theory.

Ahah a classic meet cute. Or should that be a meet ugly? I love the early Lin/Song dynamic of 'Lin Yan implodes at Song Yuhang, Song Yuhang flummoxes her by being perfectly calm and by-the-book', and we get the first instance of it here.

For me Lin Yan leaned more 'entertainingly bitchy' than 'really bad employer' here. She could have been a lot meaner to the other members of the police force when they were asking her those personal questions.

The scene when Lin Yan walks into the police station and is quizzed by the rest of the Scooby gang, I mean her future colleagues on the force, is very visual. It's set up like a scene in a TV show or movie, from the 'each character gets a brief description with a defining trait and takes turns asking her a question' part right up to the bit at the end where she smiles sweetly at Zheng Chengrui's offer of his leftover baozi and then tells him to fuck off. Which leads me to my crack theory that the author mainly learned about storytelling from TV/movies rather than prose works, which also accounts for why her dialogue is generally several cuts above the narration.

It's interesting that the manhua adaptation softens (and IMO flattens) Lin Yan's encounter with the old lady, because the manhua makes it very clear that the old lady was indeed engaging in 碰瓷, while there's nothing definite about it in the novel.

Gee I WONDER who Lin Ge's 相亲对象 will turn out to be, I really do.

I have to say I enjoyed Lin Yan's coffee/face mask/soft music shenanigans. Was it deeply unprofessional, yes. Was it deeply on-brand, also yes.

Also more fun 'Lin Yan implodes at Song Yuhang, Song Yuhang flummoxes her by being perfectly calm and by-the-book' banter.

Song Yuhang, deadpan: those heels are in breach of the uniform code.

Lin Yan, screeching: FUCK YOU.

Lin Yan flings heels at Song Yuhang, Song Yuhang steps out of the way without missing a beat. The heels fly out of the room and into the corridor, scaring Duan Cheng who is passing by with a stack of papers. Duan Cheng drops the papers and ducks. The papers go everywhere, and one of the heels impales his manga (hidden within the stack) to the wall.