The atmosphere was both romantic and touching. Held in Fu Zheng's arms, it was Ning Wan's first time having such an experience. She was both nervous and a little scared. Were they going too fast?

Although she had been working with Fu Zheng for a while, it hadn't been long since they started dating...

But forget it, in this modern society, so long as you liked each other, it didn't matter if you slept together!

Ning Wan struggled for a few seconds before finally deciding to let nature take its course, but she still had to say something. She didn't want Fu Zheng to misunderstood her attitude as being easy or casual.

So during the break between kisses, as if urgently needing his affirmation, she pushed Fu Zheng away slightly, raised her head to look at him, and expressed her feelings to him seriously once more. "Fu Zheng, it's because I really like you that it's okay.”

His eyes were dark and his breathing unsteady, but when Ning Wan was speaking, Fu Zheng still met her gaze gently and respectfully, and waited patiently.

Feeling a little braver, Ning Wan ventured, "What I like is you as a person, nothing to do with anything else."

At that moment Fu Zheng was feeling split. His body was burning, but reason made him control himself. He wanted to kiss her mouth immediately and silence her words, but he also felt that he should listen to everything she had to say.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't moved. Under such circumstances, who would stop the girl you liked from confessing her love?

He understood what Ning Wan was trying to say, of course. He had suddenly become a senior partner, and she was probably trying to explain that she wasn't with him because of his status, but that she liked him as a person.

Thinking so, Fu Zheng's heart softened. Kissing Ning Wan on the cheek, he said huskily, "I know."

He knew exactly what sort of person Ning Wan was.

Seeing him like this, Ning Wan was obviously relieved and finally signaled him to continue. Blushing, she averted her eyes unnaturally and said, "Anyway, even though neither of us are rich, we're both young. If we work hard together, we'll achieve anything we want."

Fu Zheng couldn't wait any longer. After receiving her signal, he bent to kiss her neck. But when he heard these words, he stiffed abruptly...

Not rich? He wasn't considered rich?

Fu Zheng wasn't stupid. Thinking of the news program that Ning Wan had casually mentioned just now, a bad feeling arose in his heart--

"Ning Wan, what was that secret of mine that you got?"

Ning Wan was stunned. She obviously hadn't expected Fu Zheng to spoil the show with such a question. "Just... that you're afraid of the dark, fragile inside, and a crybaby?"

Carefully observing Fu Zheng's expression, she comforted, "Don't worry, I don't care about things like that. You can be yourself around me. My shoulders aren't very broad, but they're still enough for you to cry on..."

Ning Wan felt that she was being very reasonable and tactful, and there was no chance of her hurting Fu Zheng's self-esteem. However, Fu Zheng's face turned dark in an instant. All at once the fiery aura around him seemed to cool, the hand that had been on her waist was pulled away, and then he drew back, deliberately distancing himself from her--

"I think we need to calm down." Fu Zheng pressed his lips together tightly, "There's something I must confess."

? ? ?

The car was about to start and you're telling me this now? For a moment Ning Wan felt like this was getting a little unreal. A girl might be fine with this sort of thing, but a man... she had heard that at this sort of time, a normal man might not be able to take it¹I feel like I probably don't need to explain this to you all, but she's referring to blue balls :)...

Thinking  these things, Ning Wan eyed Fu Zheng's lower body suspiciously.

Stopping at a time like this and solemnly saying that he had something to tell her, she was afraid...

Afraid that Fu Zheng couldn't get it up???

Being a crybaby was okay, but if he couldn't get it up... that might be problematic... Although this would probably be a little hurtful to a man's ego, for the sake of future happiness, he might want to have that looked at...

Probably because the way Ning Wan had looked at Fu Zheng and where she was looking were too obvious, Fu Zheng's face darkened even further. "Don't worry," he said drily, "This area isn't the problem I'm confessing about."

Then what was?

Clearing his throat, Fu Zheng explained solemnly, "Do you remember the news about the amusement park just now? What you said about being afraid of the dark and being a crybaby wasn't the secret I wrote to you. The amusement park got mine wrong, too.”

"Huh?"

Now that the beautiful atmosphere had been swept away, Ning Wan became seriously curious. Although Fu Zheng seemed to have received the secret she had written just fine, according to the theory that general mistakes were never isolated cases, what happened to the boy on TV shouldn't have been the only time this had happened. After all, as long as one case had occurred, that meant that there must be something wrong with the process of the secret exchange activity in the amusement park, and it was normal for a mistake to happen more than once...

Could it be that the secret Fu Zheng gave her had also been wrong?

Looking at Fu Zheng, Ning Wan asked directly, "So what's your secret? The secret you were originally going to tell me."

She gave it some earnest thought. As long as it wasn't a matter of principle, it could be forgiven. But just as she was guessing wildly at his real secret, she heard Fu Zheng himself throw a bombshell at her--

"I'm very sorry. I've been lying to you all this time. I'm not some poor, older intern lawyer."

Fu Zheng looked a little nervous, but was still trying very hard to stay calm. It was as if he was afraid that if he lost his composure,  the outburst of Ning Wan's emotions might be overwhelming enough that she might run away after his confession.

"So you're a super poor older intern lawyer?"

Was he poorer than what he showed himself to be? Or maybe even saddled with debt?

Fu Zheng paused, the expression on his face a little hard to describe. "Do I really look that poor?"

"Just okay..." Ning Wan thought for a while, then added, "That wouldn't matter, I don't mind."

"Are you able to forgive me for anything?"

"So long as it wasn't a matter of principle."

Fu Zheng tightened his lips. "I lied to you about my identity. In the Secret Exchange activity, I actually wrote you a long confession letter, but obviously you didn't get it in the end."

"Is your name not Fu Zheng???" Ning Wan gasped, shocked.

"That wasn't made up. I am indeed Fu Zheng, but I also have another identity at the same time."

"Such as?" she probed patiently.

"Such as your future boss."

"Oh! It turns out that you're my future boss..." Fu Zheng's confession was so shocking that at first, even if her ears received the information, her brain couldn't keep up. Ning Wan repeated his words very naturally and calmly. Only after some time had passed did she actually realize what Fu Zheng had just said.

"Huh? My future boss?" She seemed a little off. "Did you mean future husband, not future boss²'husband' and 'boss' are only one syllable different? Did I hear you right? You're pulling my leg, aren't you, Fu Zheng? I do get that as a man, you desire to make partner in the future, but shouldn't we be a bit more pragmatic? Why don't you begin by becoming a full-time lawyer first, instead of an intern?”

Fu Zheng looked a little helpless. Choosing his words carefully, he said, "Ning Wan, the person who wrote you emails every day, who helped you deal with Shen Yuting and her team, and who dealt with Jin Jianhua, was me."

"..."

Ning Wan fell into silence. Apparently, the truth was so stimulating that she still hadn't yet completely processed it.

Fu Zheng rubbed his forehead. "I first came to the community wanting to switch from business to civil affairs. Hoping to quickly understand the domestic legal environment, I wanted to be exposed to as many types of civil disputes as possible. Gao Yuan told me that the community was the best place for what I was looking for."

"I did not originally intend to deceive you, but even though I faked my identity, my love for you is real. If possible, not only do I want to be your future boss, but your future husband as well."

The more shocked and flustered Ning Wan was on the inside, the calmer she appeared on the outside. Looking at Fu Zheng, she inquired, "Do you have any proof to show me that you're a high-ranking employee?"

Fu Zheng didn't speak, simply took out his phone, opened a number of banking apps, and handed it to Ning Wan.

She looked at the countless number of digits in the account total, and was both surprised and envious. "So much money? And it's all yours?"

Fu Zheng nodded.

It had to be said that Fu Zheng's trick worked. Ning Wan hadn't believed him at first, but his bank balance had calmed her down immediately. No words were needed - RMB always made it easier for people to understand each other.

This time it was Ning Wan's turn to be silent.

Because the facts were so horrifying, once the first shock had passed, Ning Wan's emotions had not yet had time to settle. The only thing that she could feel was dull embarrassment.

Fu Zheng seemed to want to continue explaining, but before he could, he was interrupted by the ring of his phone. He apologized to her before picking up.

The call was from Gao Yuan, who was currently out of town to discuss an acquisition. However, as a lawyer for the incoming, hostile acquirer, Gao Yuan had suffered retaliation from the shareholders of the acquired company, and on his way back to the hotel, he had been beaten with a stick, suffering a slight concussion and several stitches on the head. He was urgently requesting Fu Zheng’s help.

After hanging up, Fu Zheng's expression sank. He briefly explained Gao Yuan's situation, and then looked Ning Wan in the eye. "I'm going to rush over now to help. In Gao Yuan's current condition, I don't think that he's going to be able to continue working on this case, but later tonight, there is going to be a video conference with the foreign shareholders of this acquired company that requires the presence of a lawyer. I'm going to go over and help wrap things up, and I'll deal with Gao Yuan’s injury claim and check in on him while I'm at it.”

This incident had happened very suddenly. It was an hour's drive to Gao Yuan's location, and the video conference would be held in an hour and a half. Fu Zheng had to leave immediately so that he would have time enough to get the details of the merger and acquisition from Gao Yuan. The only good thing in this situation was that Gao Yuan had previously consulted Fu Zheng on this case, so Fu Zheng was not completely ignorant of what was going on.

"Ning Wan, I know that I've gone too far in deceiving you, and I also know that this news may be difficult for you to digest, but I can't continue explaining right now. Let's take some time to calm down, and I'll come right back to talk to you after dealing with Gao Yuan’s matters. Is that okay with you?”

There was a power in his tone such that by the time Ning Wan realized it, she had been unconsciously swept up in his pace. She nodded, expressing her approval.

Fu Zheng leaned over and kissed her forehead. Then he turned and left.