Speaking of which, Shi Wu's company had made many big moves this year, the most important of which was the current merger, acquisition and reorganization. As a listed company, they would certainly seek out the best team of lawyers on the market for their M&A, and the legal department that Shi Wu worked for was in charge of finding this team. Her boss had been quite worried about which law firm to choose. The company they wanted to acquire was an American enterprise, so it would be best if they could find a team of lawyers familiar with both domestic and American commercial law, as well as with a great deal of practical experience. Unable to find such a lawyer in Rong City and reluctantly about to settle for just one of the two, her boss had suddenly informed Shi Wu and others joyfully a few days ago that someone had been found--

“What a blessing! After contacting so many law firms, I was finally lucky enough to find a team with both Chinese and international experience!”

Busy chatting with her new boyfriend, Shi Wu didn't pay much attention to her boss's words. It wasn't until she contacted the law firm about the merger and reorganization case that afternoon that she realized that this law firm was Zhengyuan Law, where Ning Wan worked.

What good timing, Shi Wu thought with some pride. Now she could inquire about Ning Wan's current situation. She must still be working away tirelessly in the community. Compared to herself, who could easily get in touch with the top team in the institute, the very best of the best. This team from Zhengyuan Law was very, very expensive, according to her boss. The senior partner who led it was also quite young, only thirty, but his resume glittered and the cases he had handled were all major projects. He was undoubtedly a young talent.

But what Shi Wu never foresaw was that while she sat and waited in the company conference room, the person they had waited for would be Ning Wan...

To be precise, Ning Wan and that man, the man Ning Wan had brought to her birthday party last time, Fu Zheng.

This way of meeting was so unexpected that Shi Wu almost blurted out "Why are you here?". However, before she could say anything, her usually stern and unsmiling boss stood up respectfully--

"Lawyer Fu, Lawyer Ning, welcome. Sit, sit..."

“Thank you very much for your willingness to take on our case. Because we haven't been able to find a suitable team of lawyers and have had to change around our legal team several times, the entire M&A process has been somewhat delayed. I'm afraid we'll have to bother the two of you to work overtime…”

…

Shi Wu's company, as Party A, had always been in the advantageous position and had the arrogance to match. It was the same for her boss. After all, Party A was the one paying to hire an external team, so they were the customer in this transaction. Whoever holds the purse is the ancestor, so their legal department had always been top-dog. Her boss would sometimes even order around external lawyers, who came and went at his beck and call. She hadn't expected that upon coming to Zhengyuan Law, her boss would switch to being humble and cautious. Let alone respectful, his attitude was as if he were Party B...

This meeting was a preliminary kick-off meeting, mainly for the company to hand over the documents related to the M&A case to the external lawyers and to touch base on a few details. Once the legal department had approved the contract, the bosses of their business departments will take turns speaking to the team.

Shi Wu felt as though she was in a trance. The man across from her looked cold, his speech concise. Every sentence was to the point, and the analysis he gave was professional and meticulous. Even though he had obviously seen Shi Wu before, he seemed to not see her at all, as if Shi Wu was just air. Ning Wan, sitting next to him, also seemed to be a different person.

Shi Wu had once felt a sense of superiority over Ning Wan, but at this moment, even just in terms of momentum, she felt completely outclassed.

Ning Wan wasn't wearing an expensive suit, but she seemed much more professional than Shi Wu. Although she didn't speak much during the whole process, instead apparently responsible for recording, during the breaks between Fu Zheng's speech, she would ask questions or explain details. One could easily see that she was following the meeting very closely. She even answered on the spot several questions that Shi Wu's boss asked, showing that not only had she done homework, but that she was very skilled. The longer the meeting wore on, the more satisfied her boss's face was looking...

On the other hand, as the meeting progressed and the content deepened, Shi Wu became increasingly unable to keep up. At first she could figure it out through context, but later on she began only to understand a few professional terms here and there but not the meaning of the entire sentence. Shi Wu became confused, while Ning Wan became bright-eyed and clear-headed...

That entire touch base meeting nearly suffocated Shi Wu to death. Ning Wan and Fu Zheng treated her like air the whole time, and she minded it intensely. How? How had Ning Wan snuck into the core team of Zhengyuan Law from her place in the community? Why was she here, engaging in such high-level business?

Although Ning Wan and Fu Zheng behaved very professionally throughout the meeting and were completely in work mode, Shi Wu was not stupid. The tiniest of details and the unintentional meeting of eyes revealed the tacit understanding between the two. Full of love and appreciation, Ning Wan looked at Fu Zheng with admiration and devotion, while Fu Zheng looked at Ning Wan dotingly and affirmingly.

They hadn't broken up at all, and that man had even turned out to be... so capable, to be giving Ning Wan such good cases...

As the meeting wore on, smiles wreathed the face of Shi Wu's department head, while Shi Wu grew distracted.

The most unacceptable thing was for the person you hated and envied not only having a better life than you, but even flaunting it to you. Although Ning Wan was not showing off intentionally, in Shi Wu's point of view everything Ning Wan did had been done deliberately for her to see.

When they got to the time for a tea break, all the participants left the conference room one after another to refresh themselves with a cup of coffee and some dessert. Shi Wu sullenly followed Ning Wan and her party out of the conference room.

Ning Wan and Fu Zheng had become the focus of attention. The senior executives of her company vied to exchange business cards with them, surrounding them on all sides like the stars surrounding the moon. After a while, Fu Zheng had to take a call and temporarily left the venue. The executives around them dispersed, leaving Ning Wan alone.

"Isn't that girl amazing? She's doing so well professionally at such a young age and has such a handsome boss. It must be bliss."

"Yes, yes, and I don't know if it's just me, but it feels like the little details in the way she and her boss interact are so sweet. Are they a couple?"

"It would be quite suitable for them to be a couple. 'The man is talented and the woman beautiful', they match each other. Sure enough, all the excellent guys go for excellent girls..."

All the members of the legal department had attended the meeting to observe, and the female colleagues around Shi Wu were staring at Ning Wan's back, twittering. The content of their gossip consisted solely of envy, admiration and praise.

The more Shi Wu listened, the more uncomfortable she felt, as if a hundred ants were gnawing at her body. Finally, because Ning Wan was making her way to the machine not far from Shi Wu and her group for coffee, her female colleagues shushed each other and stopped their discussion and praise of her.

But the closer Ning Wan got, the more unbalanced Shi Wu felt.

They were so close that it was obvious that Ning Wan would hear her so long as she spoke loudly, but Shi Wu had no scruples about it. Deliberately, she raised her voice, pretending not to see Ning Wan, and looked toward her colleagues--

"Oh, that Lawyer Ning is actually an old classmate of mine. She used to work as a community lawyer, and the school she graduated from was just average. But what can you do? She's beautiful and she found a good boyfriend, so she got carried up to the top.”

When she said this, Ning Wan's eyes drifted over.

Shi Wu didn't care at all about the frantic winking of her female colleagues. She finally felt relieved. Her colleagues were afraid that Ning Wan would overhear what she had just said, but in her heart, Shi Wu knew that she had meant these words for Ning Wan to hear--

"It seems that it really is true, it's better for a woman to marry well than to study. In fact, sometimes even if she studies and works hard, she still can't compete with the sorts of women who dress up and flaunt their looks to catch a man. There are times when men are quite superficial and only look at the outside.”

Her colleagues, embarrassed and afraid of being affected, quickly excused themselves and walked away, leaving only Shi Wu and Ning Wan in the area. Shi Wu waited for Ning Wan to get angry and rush up to quarrel with her. According to her understanding, now that Ning Wan had Fu Zheng as a backer, she would surely be arrogant. However, as she waited fully armed for Ning Wan to take the bait and make a scene, Ning Wan just glanced lightly at her, and then without the slightest change in her expression, she turned around and left silently as if she had never heard anything.

Shi Wu felt as though her fist had hit cotton. She had just delivered her best attack, but her opponent had not even responded...

She looked at the colleagues who had just walked away and blustered, "Did you see that? She has nothing to say after hearing me, because what I said was the truth. She's a woman who relies on a man for her position. Since she dared do it, then shouldn't she dare to accept the consequences? What are you all so afraid of? She's not the one who's so good, the competent one is Fu Zheng. She used to mediate trivial little affairs for those in the community. Since she's just that, why shouldn't other people talk about it?"

It was an open secret throughout the company that Shi Wu was well-connected. Her colleagues in the legal department didn't dare say anything. They only made awkward noises of agreement and immediately changed the subject.

Although they did not join her in stepping on Ning Wan, thanks to Ning Wan's silence, Shi Wu felt both unhappy and a little proud. Wasn't she right? Wasn't all this just because Ning Wan had hooked up with that Fu Zheng? That was why she didn't dare step up and confront her! But they weren't married, so who knows - Fu Zheng might dump her as soon as he came back to his senses.

At the thought of that, Shi Wu's mood improved once again. Humming a little song, she poured herself a cup of coffee and walked back to the conference room...