Laughter burst out from the audience, and even Gao Yuan looked helpless. The other partners were also laughing, and there was a relaxed air in the room.
"Us partners will take responsibility for systemic issues, and we will continue to work hard to improve the well-being of everyone here at the firm. Our hope is that no one who believes in what we're doing and works hard will ever feel let down..."
After that, Fu Zheng briefly introduced the community legal service team and the plan to abolish the talent pool. After having made all the necessary explanations, he smiled, said a few polite niceties, and then left the stage--
"I have something else to do and will have to leave immediately. There's someone very important I need to meet tonight. Please enjoy the evening."
Huh???
Not to mention everyone else being a little confused, Ning Wan was the first to question this. After having waited for so long, this man had just gone on stage, said a few words, caught her gaze inexplicably, and then disappeared again?
What was worth such a hurry? He had even left behind his girlfriend, whom he hadn’t seen for days! She knew there were no cases that Fu Zheng had been busy with recently, and nothing major was currently going on... Yet he still had important people to meet? Were they that important?
How much Ning Wan had missed him before was how lost she felt right now. Unable to help herself, she pulled out her phone and sent Fu Zheng a sour text--
"Is the person you're going to meet more important than your girlfriend?"
After sending, she regretted it. It was such a jealous thing to say. But just as she was about to withdraw the text, Fu Zheng's reply came--
"Yes, someone more important than my girlfriend."
"..."
As far as Ning Wan knew, Fu Zheng's mother had recently gone on a ten-day tour of New Zealand and wasn't in the country. Someone more important than his girlfriend, huh? Heh……
The man really had no survival instinct...
Tonight was the annual company party, and all around her was lively. Ning Wan couldn't help but seethe. She looked at the small, pitiful random gift in her hand, thought about how Fu Zheng had run off to meet someone more important than her, and felt depressed and abandoned.
When the annual meeting came to an end, those who had kids or partners waiting at home began trickling out. As Shao Lili was requesting Cai Zhen to help her carry her enormous random prize home, Ning Wan placed her little prize box in her bag, put on her scarf, and got ready to go outside.
Everyone else was getting picked up, but unfortunately she wasn't.
But just as she was thinking this, her phone rang. Ning Wan looked down to see that very same Fu Zheng who was currently meeting someone more important than herself.
As soon as she picked up, Fu Zheng spoke without giving her a chance to say anything. "Go out the door and turn left at the corner. I'll be waiting for you there. Come quickly, it's cold outside."
"..."
Although she was a little unhappy, Ning Wan pressed her lips together and followed his instructions. Fu Zheng was standing there waiting. He had even driven his particularly stylish and fashionable Pagani sports car.
"After meeting your very important person, did you think of me?" she asked, a little sourly.
Fu Zheng did not explain, but just smiled. "Why so jealous?" Without waiting for her to reply, he leaned down and kissed the tip of Ning Wan's nose, then ruffled her hair and lowered himself slightly so that he was eye level with her--
"I wasn't meeting anyone just now."
"?"
"But now I am."
Ning Wan was a little confused. "What?"
"I'm seeing the person more important than my girlfriend right now."
Ning Wan's expression turned suspicious. She strongly suspected that Fu Zheng was playing some sort of game with her.
He didn't explain, but stared very seriously at her. "You won a random prize at the annual meeting tonight, didn't you?"
"Yes, a tiny little box," she couldn't help but complain. "The difference between the random prizes is too big. Shao Lili got such a big box, while I got such a small one... really, as they say, 'inequality, not want, is the source of trouble'..."
"Open it up and take a look."
"Huh?"
"Open up your random prize and see what it is. Do it now."
Although Ning Wan was a little surprised, she still instinctively followed Fu Zheng's suggestion, taking out the little box from her bag and opening it.
Tearing open the wrapping paper, Ning Wan caught a glimpse of the box inside. Her hands began to tremble slightly. When the whole package had been unwrapped, she finally saw the box in its entirety--
It was small and red, an obviously festive color, and the name of a brand Ning Wan recognized was printed on it - Cartier.
"Open it up and take a look. Do you like it?"
Ning Wan's heart was pounding like a drum. Although she hadn't yet fully grasped what was going on, her hands moved before her head could catch up. She opened the box and saw the diamond ring inside.
Fu Zheng looked at her, smiling. "Not all small things are cheap. Do you know what's in Shao Lili's big box? It's just a money tree plant. That big box was actually the cheapest item in the whole random prize selection. You can't judge a book by it's cover; or by its size, for that matter."
Although it wasn't very appropriate, Ning Wan couldn't help but think of how furious Shao Lili would probably be, having dragged such a big box home just to open it and find a money tree...
But Fu Zheng didn't give Ning Wan a chance to imagine for long. Taking the box from her hand, he got down on one knee, looking for the first time a little nervous as if the person who had been speaking calmly on the stage just now was a completely different man.
"Ning Wan, will you marry me?"
Ning Wan stared at the man in front of her, still in shock. "Did you plan this random gift?"
"I did."
"And... the person more important than your girlfriend?"
"My future wife," Fu Zheng chuckled. "Just say yes."
Even at this moment, he hadn't forgotten to act cute. "It's so cold here on the ground. I'm all tired from kneeling. Won't you agree quickly so I can finally get up?"
"I mean, for the sake of my main wife, I even drove my little wife here."
Ning Wan was a typical weak to coaxing but not to coercion sort of person. By the time she realized, she had already nodded, and Fu Zheng had already gotten up from the ground. He kissed her on her forehead and placed the diamond on her finger without any further ado--
"There, now I have a main wife too."
"You once bought me a Gartier, so I've reciprocated with a Cartier." Fu Zheng kissed Ning Wan, "I've always wanted to buy one for you, and now I've finally gotten to do it."
Ning Wan looked at the diamond ring on her finger, and finally felt like being proposed to had become real. She suddenly became nervous. "This... then... this... this doesn't count! It happened so suddenly! I agreed too quickly! I wasn't even ready! Let me get myself together and do it again..."
"You can't go back on your promise." Fu Zheng put his arm around her waist, "It's cold outside. Get in the car, Mrs. Fu."
Just hearing this title made Ning Wan's heart soften. She was completely unable to resist.
When she got into the car, she still felt like it had all been a dream.
Fu Zheng had filled the carriage of the Pagani with red roses. As soon as Ning Wan entered, she felt as if she had entered a little garden. She didn't even dare stretch her legs for fear of damaging the flowers.
For a moment, she didn't know whether she should laugh or cry. "Isn't it too over-the-top to propose in a sports car?"
"I couldn't think of any other way." There was a rare blush of shame on Fu Zheng's face, and he said this in a rather unnatural manner. "So I could only put all my favorite things before you. This is my favorite car, and its passenger seat will be yours only from now on."
"This precious little car of yours, back when you drove it out to help me save face, were you already having some wild presumptuous thoughts about me? After all, you call it your little wife. You'd never bring it out for just any colleague to sit in, would you?”
"No." Fu Zheng was still stubbornly refusing to admit to his defeat until now. He looked away and calmly lied, "The car just drove there on its own. I don't know what happened."
? ? ?
Perhaps to avoid Ning Wan asking any further questions, Fu Zheng leaned over and kissed her lips.
"Alright, stop prying, I'm going to start the car."
"I'm driving my little wife to bring my main wife home."
Ning Wan rubbed the diamond ring on her hand and looked out the window at the bright lights, her heart filled with happiness, peace, and warmth.
Yes, let's go home.
FIN
Thanks for translating this amazing novel! I honestly thought it was gonna be a bit longer but I guess any longer and it would just be full of unnecessary dramas so really this is just perfect. The epilogues are one of the best parts about reading a novel so I can't wait for it.