The meeting was held in the smaller reception hall.
That alone told Su Nian it was a test.
The Duan family had many rooms designed for authority—grand halls meant to impress, conference rooms built to intimidate, dining rooms where alliances were sealed over wine and measured smiles. This room, however, was intimate. Warm wood. Soft lighting. Chairs arranged in a circle instead of a hierarchy.
A room meant to make people feel reasonable.
Su Nian noticed it immediately.
She took her seat without comment, hands folded loosely in her lap. Yichen sat beside her, not at the head of the gathering but close enough that no one could pretend she was alone.
Across from them sat Duan Yichen's aunt—Duan Meilin.
She was elegant in a quiet way, silver hair pinned neatly at the nape of her neck, posture impeccable. Her eyes were sharp, not unkind, but accustomed to weighing people for usefulness. She had survived long enough in this family to learn how to ask without demanding.
"Miss Su," Duan Meilin said warmly, "thank you for coming."
Su Nian inclined her head slightly. "Of course."
Duan Meilin smiled. "We won't take much of your time."
That, too, was deliberate.
They spoke first of small things.
Yichen's recovery. The press response. Investor confidence stabilizing. Each topic circled closer to Su Nian without naming her directly, like hands hovering near a flame to test its heat.
Su Nian listened.
She always listened.
Finally, Duan Meilin folded her hands. "There's a situation," she said gently. "A minor one, we hope."
Su Nian did not respond.
Duan Meilin continued. "A subsidiary manager collapsed yesterday. Sudden paralysis. No prior conditions. The doctors are… confused."
Su Nian felt it then.
A faint tug beneath her ribs.
Black qi—distant, not present, but echoing.
She kept her breathing steady.
"And?" Su Nian asked calmly.
Duan Meilin's smile softened. "We were hoping you might take a look."
The room was quiet.
Yichen did not speak.
He had promised himself he wouldn't.
Su Nian looked at Duan Meilin carefully.
"How urgent is it?" she asked.
"Medically?" Duan Meilin replied. "Stable. But politically…" She hesitated. "The timing is unfortunate."
Su Nian nodded.
Unfortunate meant visible. Visible meant people asking questions. Questions meant patterns. Patterns meant attention.
Attention fed the black qi.
"I see," Su Nian said.
Duan Meilin leaned forward slightly. "You helped Yichen. Word spreads quickly."
Su Nian met her gaze. "Word spreads faster than wisdom."
Duan Meilin laughed softly. "True."
She paused, then said, "This wouldn't be public. Quiet. Discreet."
Discreet.
The word landed heavily.
Su Nian felt the pull again—stronger now. Her senses wanted to open, to reach, to fix. That instinct had been trained into her since childhood: if you could prevent suffering, you did.
Her grandmother's voice surfaced gently.
If they ask nicely, be careful.
Urgency can be manufactured.
Su Nian lowered her gaze to her hands.
Yichen watched her closely—not to push, not to decide for her, but to see what she would choose when no one forced her.
"If I go," Su Nian said slowly, "it won't stay quiet."
Duan Meilin's brows knit slightly. "Why?"
"Because black qi doesn't appear once," Su Nian replied. "It appears where conditions allow it to grow."
She looked up. "If I intervene now, you'll bring me the next case. And the next. And eventually, I'll be the solution people expect."
Silence followed.
Duan Meilin studied her for a long moment.
"You're afraid of responsibility," she said carefully.
Su Nian shook her head. "I'm afraid of erasing my ability to choose."
That answer shifted the room.
Duan Meilin leaned back, reassessing.
"And if you don't help?" she asked. "If this man worsens?"
Su Nian's chest tightened.
That was the blade hidden in the silk.
Yichen's jaw tightened, but he stayed silent.
Su Nian took a slow breath.
"I'll help," she said quietly.
Relief flickered across Duan Meilin's face.
"But not today," Su Nian continued. "And not directly."
The relief vanished, replaced by confusion.
Duan Meilin frowned. "I don't understand."
Su Nian met her gaze steadily. "I'll review the medical records. I'll speak to his doctors. I'll advise on containment, not correction."
"You won't treat him?" Duan Meilin asked.
"No," Su Nian replied. "Because if I do, I teach everyone here that my first response to pressure is compliance."
The room fell silent again.
Yichen felt something like pride settle quietly in his chest.
Duan Meilin exhaled slowly. "You're very firm for someone so young."
Su Nian smiled faintly. "I was trained early."
Duan Meilin studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "Very well. We'll proceed as you suggest."
The meeting ended shortly after.
As they walked back through the corridor, Yichen finally spoke.
"You could've said no entirely," he said.
Su Nian nodded. "I know."
"Why didn't you?"
She paused. "Because refusal can also become a pattern."
He considered that. "And you don't want patterns."
"No," she said. "I want space."
They stopped near the window overlooking the garden.
"You did well," Yichen said quietly.
Su Nian looked at him. "I felt it pulling. That part of me that wants to fix everything."
"And?"
"I didn't let it lead," she said.
The warmth beneath her ribs pulsed faintly—not demanding, not disappointed.
Waiting.
"That's the first boundary," Yichen said.
Su Nian nodded.
Outside, the camphor leaves stirred in the wind.
And somewhere in the city, black qi shifted—confused, frustrated, sensing resistance for the first time.
The test had passed.
But it would not be the last.