Chapter 35 (part 2)
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Following this line of thought, Ning Wan began feeling even more worried about Fu Zheng. When it was finally time to get off work, she hastily held him back. "Wait for me at your place!"

"What?" Fu Zheng frowned. 

"You head over to your new place, rest up, and wait for me. I'll go buy you some stuff from the supermarket." Ning Wan said unhurriedly despite Fu Zheng's stunned expression. "I know it's not too convenient for you to walk around at the moment. Don't worry, I've got you. Since I'm your mentor, I shouldn't only care about you at work, but also in life."

When Fu Zheng heard her words, he felt some surprise. Ning Wan was generally a little slapdash in ordinary life, who would have thought she would be so unexpectedly observant? After he had tried so hard to pretend that he was okay, she had actually seen through his sprained foot and back? It seemed like she was after all very attentive...

Although he couldn't quite contain his own expression, Fu Zheng felt rather touched. "Thank you. I didn't expect you to figure it out, but honestly, it's no big deal. I can take a few minor injuries. You don't have to buy me anything, thanks for the thought."

But Ning Wan insisted. "How can I let you do that! You'll definitely move into your new home as soon as possible if I have anything to say about it! Wait there, I'll be right back!"

Fu Zheng's newly acquired feelings of affection vanished immediately. Moving into that second-hand 'mansion' as soon as possible was completely unnecessary...

But Ning Wan had already run off with the shopping bags without allowing him the opportunity to dissuade her.

With no way out, Fu Zheng didn't even try to pretend anymore. Ning Wan already knew about his sprained ankle and back. He limped helplessly over to the second-hand house in Yuelan community that he had just bought.

Although he hadn't thought too highly of the house, and the second-hand furniture was shockingly cheap, he had to admit that Ning Wan had done a remarkable job decorating it. After they had bought second-hand furniture that day, she had bought a number of plants and flowers at nearby stalls. Now the whole house brimmed with lush greenery. Sitting down, Fu Zheng discovered that the whole place was full of life.

The feeling became even more obvious after Ning Wan came in, face flushed, with a bulging bag in each hand. Fu Zheng attempted to take them from her, but she waved him off--

"Don't, don't. You're hurt, and it won't be easy for you. Go rest, and I'll take care of it."

It seemed like she wouldn't let him work even over her dead body. A little red and sweaty, she put away the two bags. As Fu Zheng was just about to get her a glass of water, she hurried back downstairs, leaving behind only the drifting sound of her voice--

"There are a few more bags downstairs. I'll bring them up right away!"

Several back and forth trips later, Ning Wan finally finished moving everything. Fu Zheng took a closer look. Aside from the basic necessities, she had also bought him a 20kg bag of rice, oils, seasonings, pots and pans, and toiletries...

Fu Zheng watched her taking things out of the bags and putting them away, feeling a little dumbfounded. Was she buying him everything that he could possibly need?

"You..."

"You should move out of the room you were renting as soon as you can. I'll help you clean this place up, make it look nice, replenish anything else you need. Now you can live in your own house and feel like you belong." After helping him sort everything out, Ning Wan pulled a cushion from the shopping bag. "Here, this is for you. I saw the supermarket selling it, and thought you might need it, so I got you one."

Fu Zheng looked at the cushion. It was rather odd-looking, in a style he had never seen before. It was soft and comfortable to the touch, but there was a hole in the middle, making it look like a doughnut.

But since Ning Wan had just handed it to him, chances were she had bought it only because she had realized he had hurt his back. Fu Zheng put it behind his back and leaned back gently, raising his rating of her in her heart.

Frankly speaking, Ning Wan really was a nice person, cheerful and enthusiastic. Having carried several heavy bags back and forth, her hair was stuck to her cheeks from sweat and she was a bit of a mess. But when Fu Zheng looked at her, he couldn't help but feel like she was adorable, that her rosy cheeks and bright eyes were all without exception pleasing to the eye.

Although she was a little silly and gullible, Fu Zheng didn't think it would matter much. So long as she entered his team, he would be her mentor, and as her mentor he would protect her and prevent her from ever being conned or swindled. Busy thinking along these lines, he didn't even realize that he was already thinking of Ning Wan as his future team member...

But at that very moment, Ning Wan's voice interrupted his thoughts--

"Not behind your back! Put it under your butt!"

Stunned, Fu Zheng realized that she was talking about the cushion. "Is this really a cushion?" he asked, a little suspicious.

It didn't really look like one...

Ning Wan nodded as if implying something. "Yes! It's especially made for you-know-where."

Was this cushion particularly comfortable for the back?

Fu Zheng was a little confused, but he took her advice and sat on the cushion. But even after sitting on it for a moment, he didn't feel what it was supposed to be doing. Instead it felt a little weird, but when he thought of how Ning Wan had bought it just for him, Fu Zheng didn't move it away. He just sat and watched her bustle around his second-hand "mansion".

Ning Wan had a delicate and fragile type of beauty, but she was unexpectedly robust. In a very short time, she had put away all the things she had bought. Though Fu Zheng's back pain wasn't serious, she wouldn't let him stand. All by herself, she cleaned his second-hand house and put it in order, finishing off by running downstairs to throw away two bags of garbage.

Although he had wasted money on a small second-hand home and a bunch of second-hand furniture, Fu Zheng looked around and discovered for the first time that he might have found a treasure. Now that Ning Wan had decorated it, the apartment was surprisingly lovely.

Taking advantage of her taking out the garbage, Fu Zheng went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was stocked with drinks, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruit enough to last two days. Although the decor, furniture and layout were not of high quality, he no longer felt like they were quite so cheap. A small spider plant sat on the windowsill, and a wind chime hung on the balcony. In every detail shone the cozy, pleasant warmth of life.

For a moment, Fu Zheng's heart felt a little warm. He thought about the cushion that Ning Wan had bought just for him, and even felt that if she joined his team in the future and became his subordinate, she would likely turn out to be a devoted employee and confidante. It was just the strange shape of this cushion that that really made him curious. He searched online for "back cushion", but found no similar shopping results, so he didn't know if it was expensive or not.

But regardless, Fu Zheng felt like it was the thought that counted.

He put the cushion back on the sofa, took a few casual photos of the rather pleasant room, and proudly sent them to Gao Yuan--

"Look at the place Ning Wan just fixed up for me."

Gao Yuan's team consisted completely of nerdy male lawyers. They were competent, but not attentive. Fu Zheng had heard Gao Yuan grumbling about his subordinates' plenty of times. Not a single one of them was even insightful, much less as considerate as Ning Wan.

As expected, Gao Yuan returned the text very quickly.

Fu Zheng smiled a small smile, ready to bask in Gao Yuan's intense envy and hate. But when he opened WeChat, Gao Yuan's reply was exactly the opposite of what he had expected--

“???? Fu Zheng????? Do you have hemorrhoids????”

Fu Zheng frowned, pursing his lips. So it was true that 'envy made a man unrecognizable'. Gao Yuan was so jealous that he was actually cursing him with hemorrhoids.

"Don't be so jealous," he typed back.

"No? What would I be jealous of? Jealous of your hemorrhoids? Hahahaha!" Apparently, Gao Yuan was so jealous that he ended up simply calling Fu Zheng up. "No need to hide it from me, I get it," he said over the phone, his tone full of schadenfreude.

What do you mean, 'you get it'? Fu Zheng laughed in anger. You're just jealous!

But Gao Yuan said firmly and mockingly, "Your cushion has already explained it all."

Fu Zheng frowned. "What?"

I wanted him to look at the home decor, what was he looking at the cushion for?

"What about the cushion?"

"Fu Zheng, you can't fool me, that's a hemorrhoid pillow if I've ever seen one! You think I wouldn't know?! Don't you remember how my dad had to have his hemorrhoids removed? He had me buy this after the appointment! How are you having to use it at your age?"

"..." Fu Zheng felt like he couldn't breathe. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "Would you kindly tell me again what kind of cushion this is?"

"A hemorrhoid pillow hahahahahaha....."

Fu Zheng hung up amid the raucous sound of Gao Yuan's laughter. Poker-faced, he opened a shopping website on his phone and this time, searched for "hemorrhoid pillow"...

A minute later, a good number of colourful 'doughnuts' very similarly shaped to the cushion he was holding popped up in the search list. Fu Zheng bit his lip, found the one that looked exactly the same and clicked--

"Hip buttock cushion office sedentary posture-raising hemorrhoid prostate care chair cushion"

“……”

“…………”

“………………”

Fu Zheng didn't understand. When had he gotten hemorrhoids?!?

He felt like he had been blind. He had wasted his time believing Ning Wan to be observant, considerate and attentive. Was this being 'observant'? This was blind speculation1Original term is Internet slang called 'brain supplementing'. It refers to our delightful ability to conjecture facts that aren't there to supplement a rather bare but juicy piece of drama/news, and then take that as fact.! All that was going on was that his ankle and back were strained from moving furniture, so he had a little limp. How had it morphed into hemorrhoids? How on earth had  Ning Wan arranged this 'obvious' part for him to play in her own little mental drama?

And was she a lawyer or wasn't she? Shouldn't a lawyer be able to analyze and think logically? Could a lousy cushion like this not only relieve hemorrhoid pain, but also change one's posture and maintain the prostate? Couldn't she have used her head a little when she was buying it?! This thing wasn't cheap!

Not only that, this one was the most expensive one on the Internet, made out of some sort of memory foam and breathable cotton. When Fu Zheng saw the price he almost laughed in disbelief - two hundred yuan! A full two hundred yuan! She could have bought a whole pile of second-hand home decor for that! If she was going to waste her money on something, why on the hemorrhoid pillow?! Was Ning Wan really qualified to teach him how to save money???

Fu Zheng, busy feeling like he was about to explode over a hemorrhoid pillow, didn't even realize that he was reduced to thinking it was good value for money to buy second-hand decorations for 200 yuan.

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