I keep thinking about that apartment. The fact that Lu Yanzhou has a nearly empty, unfinished apartment in one of Beijing's most exclusive complexes—and that it's specifically prepared as a marital home—feels like the author is screaming thematic information at us and we're only just starting to catch it. The emptiness represents potential, something not yet claimed, a space waiting to be filled by the right person. And Shen Shuhe, of all people, ends up in that space on day one of their real interaction. She can't even decorate it because there's nothing to decorate. She's told her taste isn't needed because the home is meant for its future mistress. But here she is, literally under the covers of the only furnished room, becoming the unintended occupant of a space meant for someone else.
Then there's the contrast between this apartment and Xishan Villa. Xishan Villa is the Lu family's old, established, formal space—where their previous meeting took place in an elegant tea room. It represents tradition, family expectations, the public face of the Lu family. Ruijing represents something private, personal, unfiltered. This is where Lu Yanzhou actually lives when he's in Beijing. The fact that he chose THIS location for a secret meeting about Shen Corporation's survival tells us everything about where his priorities lie. He's willing to bring her into his private world, even in its unfinished state.
And Chen Lin—his assistant, the gatekeeper—being left outside while the door shuts behind them? That's symbolic too. The boundary between the public/professional world and the private/intimate world just got crossed, and there's no going back.
