Fu Zheng couldn't believe his ears. "Me?"

"Of course you." Ning Wan looked as though it was the most natural thing to say. "You're a big tall dude, you should be pretty strong, right? For three hundred yuan, you could move all this yourself. Think about how much takeout you could eat with the money you save! You're the one who will have a mortgage in the future, so you'll need to be very careful with your money from now on! I'll help you move these little bits and bobs."

"......" Fu Zheng stared wide-eyed at her for a moment. When he realized that she was serious, he raised his voice slightly, "You want me to move them? Me? Move this second-hand stuff? For 300 yuan¹about 50 USD?"

Ning Wan nodded. She looked puzzled. "Of course, you. Who else would be willing to carry all these chairs and tables to the sixth floor for one or two hundred yuan?"

Fu Zheng had put so much thought into it, but who knew that in the end, the man he had looked down on would turn out to be himself?

He ground his teeth. "If no one else will, then why should I? Am I that cheap? It would be better to look for the the driver from just now!"

"You can't say that! First, this 300 yuan is money you'll save. Second, if someone else moves it for you, they might bump it into the wall or the railings and break your furniture. What would you do then? It's not like second-hand goods are as sturdy as new."

So you actually know that second-hand goods are of poor quality?!

Ning Wan didn't notice. She just patted Fu Zheng on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Come on, move them."

Furious, Fu Zheng stared at the furniture sitting there on the ground and insisted, "I won't move them. Find someone else to do it. I won't. I can't. I..."

He was about to say that a man couldn't sell himself so cheap when he saw Ning Wan looking in surprise at his waist, and then interrupting--

"No way..." her tone sounded hesitant. "You're just thirty, but you already have a bad back?" She lowered her voice slightly and muttered to herself, "Old ginger really is spicier. I thought that a 30-year-old man was still very young, but it seems like Aunt Xiao had the right idea. Once a man reaches thirty he starts going downhill. Just look at this tall long-legged guy, you'd never think that he had a bad back and couldn't move a little furniture. Sigh! Well, wait here. I'll move the small stuff for you if you'll give me a hand with the bigger items."

She sighed and looked sympathetically at Fu Zheng. "No wonder you and Chen Shuo have so much in common on the topic of men's health. It must be pretty miserable for you men once you start getting up there. Life is hard on you..."

“……”

It could not be borne. For a man, being suspected of having a bad back was nothing less than an insult to his dignity!

"Who said I couldn't move them?" Fu Zheng said through gritted teeth. "My back is just fine!"

Wasn't it just moving some shabby little chairs and tables?! Three hundred yuan wasn't worth much, but a man's dignity was worth a lot!

Without another word, he took off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to start with the desk.

"Wait, wait!" Ning Wan hastily interrupted, "Don't move them just yet."

Oh? Did her conscience finally kick in and see how unsuited something like this was for his temperament?

Fu Zheng let out a cold humph internally. Finally, Ning Wan was starting to have a little vision. He, a high-ranking senior partner, moving a few hundred yuan worth of second-hand furniture. What if word got out?

But just as he was thinking so, her voice interrupted his thoughts--

"You should warm up first." Ning Wan's tone was concerned. "You're already thirty after all, and you don't usually exercise much. You can't sprain your back."

“……”

Fu Zheng felt that this was no longer a problem of whether or not he was being sold cheaply. He held back his emotions, pursed his lips, and ignored Ning Wan's 'well-intentioned advice'. Instead, he simply heaved the second-hand desk over his shoulder and walked upstairs without a word.

The first time around, he walked fast, was vigorous, and finished in good condition. However, after having gone back and forth several times, something happened as he was coming back for the last time for that dining table. Although he didn't sprain his back, Fu Zheng accidentally twisted his foot...

A pile of second-hand furniture had been built up in the living room of that second-hand "mansion". Fu Zheng endured the pain in his ankle. Face taut, calm and self-sustaining, he strove to appear as light as a cloud.

When Ning Wan saw this, she clapped her hands together. "Fu Zheng, you're unexpectedly strong!"

Fu Zheng smiled coldly. "Piece of cake."

"Gosh, you probably don't need to worry about your health just yet. You've really been maintaining your youth very well!"

What do you mean, 'maintaining your youth'?! Fu Zheng thought. I am a youth! However, just as he was about to say so, he stepped forward and felt a severe twinge in his sprained ankle... truly, it was laughable.

Completely unaware that Fu Zheng was injured, Ning Wan enthusiastically directed him to move the desk into the room, move the dining table into it's position, and then set up the chairs around it. Bent on preserving his reputation at all costs even if he had to suffer for it, Fu Zheng endured the pain of the sprain while doing so. He dimly felt some unexpected empathy for the little mermaid in the fairy tale. Like her, he had given up a fishtail for a prince, and was being forced to smile even though every step he took was like walking on the edge of a blade.

More and more, Fu Zheng felt like he had no one to vent his sorrows to. What had he done in his last life to have to bear all these things that shouldn't be borne at such a young age? Even his allergic finger hadn't healed yet!

He didn't foresee that the worst was yet to come.

Ning Wan helped Fu Zheng clean up the house. Just before she left, however, his cell phone rang. He had taken it out of his pocket and put it on the table to move furniture, and the bright screen showed the caller's name as clear as day - Gao Yuan.

Fu Zheng immediately looked at Ning Wan. Sure enough, her face had darkened. He felt like something bad was about to happen...

Ning Wan had glimpsed Fu Zheng's phone screen completely by accident, but there are some things that you just can't pretend not to see.

She didn't expect that philanderer²She actually calls him a 'hungry ghost for colour', an insult which implies that he is obsessed with sex. It's probably closer to 'debaucher', but then I felt like I was translating a Regency romance novel to still be pestering Fu Zheng!

What a tenacious pervert, to not have given up after all this time.

Ning Wan felt that it couldn't be allowed to go on like this. "Don't answer it," she urged Fu Zheng. "Shall I decline it for you?"

Fu Zheng seemed to want to take care of it himself, but as soon as he took a step toward the phone, pain flickered across his face. Ning Wan saw it and felt even more sympathetic toward him. That damn Gao Yuan! Look what he had tortured such a handsome man into. He probably had PTSD just from hearing that name! For pain to flash on his face just from taking a step toward the phone, how much must there be hidden underneath...

Ning Wan had been about to go home and check on whether she had received an email from the senior partner, but when she saw the look in his eyes, she couldn't just stand by. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone for Fu Zheng.

"Hi."

On the other end, Gao Yuan seemed stunned to hear Ning Wan's voice. "Did I dial the wrong number? I'm looking for Fu Zheng."

With a false smile on her face, Ning Wan replied, "This is Ning Wan, Partner Gao. Fu Zheng has just gone downstairs to move some furniture and isn't here for the time being. He left his phone in his house, and I was afraid that it was urgent, so I picked up the call for him."

"Moving furniture?" Gao Yuan said, stupefied as expected. "He's... he himself... personally moving furniture?"

Ugh, could Ning Wan not know what Gao Yuan was thinking that very moment? This wretched man, pestering Fu Zheng even though he had already been refused. It was clear to see that since persuasion didn't work, he wanted to try force. She was afraid that he was currently plotting to do something to Fu Zheng; just watch her dispel his evil thoughts!

"Of course! Fu Zheng is only 30. He's full of strength. There was a lot of furniture, but he didn't need the help of a porter at all. He moved all the furniture by himself in several trips! Did you know that this house doesn't have an elevator? He went up and down from the sixth floor by himself. He might even be stronger than a  regular porter!"

Ning Wan humphed coldly in her heart. Did you hear that? Our Fu Zheng is a tough nut to crack. You won't be able to make him bend!

“……”

Sure enough, at the other end of the line, Gao Yuan was as silent as the grave. Then he confirmed disbelievingly, "Are you saying that Fu Zheng moved his own furniture? Like a porter? And it took several trips? Without an elevator?"

So he was scared!

Proudly and calmly, Ning Wan replied, "That's right!"

Gao Yuan really was scared. He didn't know what to say for a moment. Then after a long silence, he suddenly remembered something and inquired, "No, that can't be? How did Fu Zheng end up in a house without an elevator? He... "

My, my, Gao Yuan really deserved to be a senior partner. He had investigated Fu Zheng with the same due diligence reserved for customers. Not even Ning Wan knew where Fu Zheng had been renting from, but from his tone, Gao Yuan must know. He was even aware that Fu Zheng had had an elevator there. His sinister intentions were showing!

"Yes, the place he rented before did have an elevator, but Fu Zheng has now bought a house with his own money. He soon won't need to pay rent anymore. In the future, he'll be living in his own home."

Ning Wan wasn't saying these words meaninglessly. She was telling Gao Yuan by implication that Fu Zheng had a good life, was on the right track, and had bought a house by himself. He was no longer a broke, penniless man who might sell himself for money, but a man with capital! Without money on his side, she hoped that Gao Yuan would see the obstacles in his path and retreat.

But unfortunately to her surprise, Gao Yuan was a stubborn man with no EQ. Even after she had laid it out for him, he asked in amazement, "What?! Fu Zheng bought a house?! Where? And one with no elevator? How old is this house for there to be no elevator?"

Look at these greasy partners. Was it so unbelievable that young newcomers in the legal field could buy houses that weren't old and small?

"It's in our very own Yuelan community! Sometimes buying a house depends on fate. There just happened to be an excellent place with an owner who was in a hurry to sell."

Yuelan community was a school district, and not too old. It was a good place for a starting point. It should be enough of a shock to deter Gao Yuan. At least he would know that Fu Zheng was no longer the man in his imagination who had never seen the world, who could be bought and sold for a little money.

"Yuelan?!” Gao Yuan seemed truly alarmed, probably at finding out that Fu Zheng could actually afford a place there. He stuttered out, "You're saying that... Fu... Fu Zheng... bought... bought a second-hand house in Yuelan?"

"Yes." Ning Wan smiled. "By the way, what can I do for you, Partner Gao? Should I pass on a message?"

"No... no need..."

Sure enough, after she had finished talking, Gao Yuan finally gave up on his evil intentions. Ning Wan hung up the phone and looked at Fu Zheng smugly. "See? Now he won't contact you again. I've said everything that should be said. I'm sure he'll have to weigh his options before coming back. Does he think that no one else has seen money before? Fu Zheng, you're no longer in poverty! You're one of the middle-class now!"

This was a good thing, but for some unknown reason, or perhaps because he was still sensitive to Gao Yuan's presence, Fu Zheng looked like his heart was a dying ember of despair. He looked like he had given up on living.

Ning Wan patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much. Gao Yuan will surely give up once he knows a little more about you! You can set your mind at ease!"

After saying so, she helped Fu Zheng to sort out the final odds and ends in the room. Then she bid farewell to him, taking out the garbage as she did so.

Unfortunately, the more she took care of Fu Zheng, the worse he felt. He looked at his finger still recovering from the allergy, endured the terrible pain in his ankle, rubbed his sore back, looked around at his tiny second-hand mansion, and then at his second-hand furniture that had cost 2,200 yuan in total. He thought about how Gao Yuan would soon be flocking over to ridicule him, and the injustice and despair in his heart just about reached its peak.

He really might die.

frostcrystal

Last weekend this Empress signed the imperial decree raising her most favoured Imperial Concubine to the status of Prince Consort. He is skillful and generous, virtuous and of outstanding character, able to fix a toilet and take things down from high places. He shall be carried in this summer through the main door, a match made in heaven.

This Empress is beside herself with happiness. ^-^