After Fu Zheng left, Ning Wan subconsciously poured herself some water. After downing three glasses, she finally realized--

Fu Zheng was a boss???

Fu Zheng was her boss???

Fu Zheng was actually that mysterious big shot???

This was what human beings were like. Once they knew the truth of a matter and started thinking about the details, they began feeling like everything was suspicious and that there had been clues everywhere all along.

She hadn't thought so before, but now that she thought about it, it was true that Fu Zheng had often behaved quite suspiciously. It was just that she had trusted him wholeheartedly right at the start, and so she had beautified or turned a blind eye to many obvious holes in his story.

Ning Wan felt a little depressed, a little panicked, a little nervous and empty. All her emotions were swarming in, so complex and subtle that for a moment, she couldn't figure them out.

Fu Zheng was indeed a senior partner in terms of insidiousness.

Starting just now, he had advanced cautiously step by step. Although one could say that he had apologized and confessed, his words had been full of routine and rhetoric--

He had first disclosed his identity, then immediately after, put on the cloak of self-justification, and explained his dedication and silent care for her during the time when he had "traveled incognito" - dealing with Shen Yuting, getting rid of Jin Jianhua, helping her out via private tutoring.

Although he hadn't spoken like he was taking credit, he had still done the same thing - strengthening her perception of his contribution and reminding her of his good deeds.

Then what had that man done next?

Then he had begun to ply her with honeyed words, saying that not only did he want to be her future boss but also her future husband.

Then he had shown her the balance of his bank accounts, using money to crush her willpower.

In the end, even when something had cropped up and he hadn't been able to continue besieging her, he had apologized to her tenderly and humbly, and set a time for her to calm down and to give her some space. All the while paying attention to his tone to avoid strengthening Ning Wan's conflicting feelings toward his identity as a boss...

Heh.

I really am blind, Ning Wan thought. What was Fu Zheng if not a high-ranking Green Tea White Lotus?

Silly and sweet? Nonexistent.

As expected, no capitalist boss was good or cunning. How else could one become a senior partner at the top of the legal pyramid?

The more Ning Wan thought about it, the angrier and more embarrassed she became. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. What had she done in the community before? Never mind how she had recommended the senior partner to himself. Why had she bought an 'elegant' Mediterranean blue plastic stool for the senior partner, and even 'cleaned up' his words and behaviour?

As the old sayings went, 'be kind to others', 'be honest and don't deceive'...

Oftentimes, those seemingly ordinary people around us were hidden masters...

Ning Wan was furious at Fu Zheng's deception, yet also felt a little regretful. Had she known that he was the boss, she would have been a little nicer to him.

Fu Zheng was gone and left herself with this mess. Upset and unable to sleep, Ning Wan took out her anger on the remaining cherries and then gave Shao Lili a phone call to harass her--

"Lili, I've had it."

Ever since her boss has begun to appreciate her more, Shao Lili had been in high spirits. Her back was no longer painful, her legs were no longer sore, and she was full of energy at work. After the workday ended, she would stay up late hammering professional knowledge into her head. She was lively and animated even on very little sleep.

From over the phone came Shao Lili's enthusiastic inquiry. "What's wrong?"

"Just... take a deep breath, keep calm, don't be shocked, don't scream."

"What?"

Pursing her lips, Ning Wan lowered her voice, "I'm afraid of scaring you to death by telling you! Fu Zheng is that mysterious big shot!"

"Oh, yes." Shao Lili's tone wasn't surprised at all, but instead almost relieved. "So he finally told you. I've been holding it in for so long. I've wanted to tell you forever, but Partner Fu said he wanted to explain it to you in person. After all, he values you so much. I was wondering why he didn't say it yet. I was even speculating that he just liked this sort of thing and was all tangled up about maybe dropping you some hints..."

? ? ?

"You knew?!" Ning Wan's voice rose an octave. She had been the only one kept in the dark?

"Shao Lili! Are we even friends?! If you already knew, then why did you encourage me to make a pass at him?! What have I done! You even gave me bad ideas about pretending to be drunk to confess! What sorts of benefits did Fu Zheng give to make you sell me out like that?"

Ning Wan was absolutely furious. When she looked back on it, what had she done the night of her confession? Could that even still be called the conduct of a human being? When she thought about it now, she was so embarrassed about it she thought she could just die.

"Even if the waiter who delivered the cocktails had made a mistake that day, you could still have stopped me from being stupid! But what did you do? You ran away on the spot! The sister who promised me that she would never harm me!"

The result of Ning Wan's questioning was that Shao Lili felt very falsely accused. "When did I ever encourage you to do such a thing? I never told you to make a pass at the senior partner! Do you think I didn't want to stop you? I was so shocked that day I was rooted to the spot. You scared me out of my wits! How was I to know that you had a dog's courage¹to be as audacious and foolhardy as a dog?!”

A dog's courage? Ning Wan laughed angrily. "Wasn't it you who encouraged me to be nice to him, that I couldn't possibly be too kind? That there was no need to be subtle or tactful, but that I should be proactive and frank? Wasn't it you who told me to show Fu Zheng my heartfelt feelings? Go fuck yourself!"

"I asked you, his 'mentor', to show care to your 'subordinate'! Although you didn't know his true identity, it's precisely because of this that any kindness you show towards him right now is even more precious! That way, the senior partner would value you even more because you had a wonderful personality!”

"..."

Shao Lili sounded quite aggrieved. "Well, in the end it's my own fault. I misjudged your character. How was I to know that what you were talking about so seriously was not the care of a boss for her subordinate, but an 'I want to bone that man' kind of care? How was I to know that your true heart would be so frightfully indecent?!"

Indecent? Ning Wan was infuriated. Unexpectedly, it was still her own fault. Was it her who had not been proper? Who had cast her greedy little eyes on Fu Zheng?

Now that Ning Wan knew the truth, Shao Lili no longer felt the pressure of having to keep any secrets and quickly began chattering. "To be honest, after you took turns intimidating and bribing the senior partner that day, I was sweating bullets. I was so worried that he would be unhappy and kick you out of the team, but  then the next day you told me that you were together now?"

"It took me almost a week to accept that..."

Now that she had started talking, it all came pouring out of Shao Lili's mouth. Her heart still fluttered with lingering fear. "I've got to say, the senior partner has quite unexpected taste. You treated him like that, yet he still fell in love with you... I was afraid that he would take advantage of your feelings to get revenge? But actually now that I think about it, it was unnecessary. His time is worth so much more than yours and you're both putting in the same amount. It would be uneconomical, unfeasible, and unnecessary for him to string you along and deceive you."

…

Ning Wan would like to ask: Was Shao Lili her friend or Fu Zheng's?

But soon, that worrywart Shao Lili thought of something else. "But Ning Ning, even though I'm very happy for you being in a relationship with the senior partner and not being single anymore, I was thinking that you're dating your future boss, and he's currently selecting his team. I know that you studied hard to get first place in the written examination on your own. It wasn't nepotism, since you didn't even know who Fu Zheng was, but I’m worried that some people in the firm won't think so.”

"Especially those who also tried their best to join his team, but failed..." Shao Lili lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "I've heard that there seem to be many people with connections who wanted to join Partner Fu's team this time, the daughter of the president of the Intermediate People's Court, and several law professor's relatives. But Fu Zheng ignored them all, resisted the pressure the other partners put on him, and selected his team based solely on merit."

"But here you are at this juncture, starting a relationship with your future boss. Although there was nothing fishy between you two, there'll definitely be rumors saying that you got the position by relying on your close relationship or your skills in bed," Shao Lili said earnestly. "They'll definitely question your ability and say that you relied on connections..."

"Bullshit!" Although she was still raging about Fu Zheng's deception, Ning Wan instinctively retorted, "What do you mean, 'relying on connections'? I obviously relied on my own abilities!"

"That is!"

"Let's not even mention how Fu Zheng didn't disclose any of the test questions to me at all. If anyone isn't convinced, I would be willing to let them apply to see my answer sheet to make sure that no extra points were given while it was being corrected. I have a clear conscience here. And I'm not afraid of the interview either, even if the written test accounted for the bulk of the points. Even if you take a step back and say that I got the position completely based on the interview and that Fu Zheng viewing me romantically made him give me a higher score, that's my ability, too! "

Shao Lili was nodding along, but when she heard this sentence, she unconsciously got a little confused. "Huh?"

She then heard Ning Wan say enlighteningly, "I relied on my charisma, my beautiful face, my gorgeous figure, and my shining soul to make a domineering CEO fall in love with me, go crazy about me and bang his head against a wall for me²These are the lyrics to a song :). Isn't that my talent, too? Can they do it? This is also a skill! This is also ability! Why wouldn't this be ability? Huh? Xiao Li, don't you think it's my ability?"

"Right..." Shao Lili said, sounding a little suffocated. "Sure..."

"Even when you go to the supermarket to buy pears, you choose the best looking ones. Of course appearance is a factor when selecting an employee. Also, is it easy to be beautiful? For me to be as gorgeous as I am and have such a good figure, wasn't it because I worked out, restrained myself from eating sweets, paid attention to my skin, and protected myself from the sun? Why shouldn't that count as my own hard work, too? Surely it can't be said that the boss would favour you for being ugly? Even if Fu Zheng and I had nothing to do with each other, do you think he would have chosen someone who was hideous to look at?”

"..."

Shao Lili didn't know what was going on to have led Ning Wan's thoughts onto this route...

Fortunately, Ning Wan quickly returned to her normal train of thought. "Let's not talk about that for now. Xiao Li, let me ask you. Since you already knew Fu Zheng's identity, did you secretly sell him any of my information?"

"No!" If it weren't for them being on the phone, Shao Lili would have sworn it to the heavens. "I really didn't! Ning Ning, don't worry, don't you know who I am? I know the difference between close and distant relationships! We've known each other for such a long time, we've fought together through thick and thin. If anything requires me to take sides, I'll definitely stand by you even if Fu Zheng's the boss! I would never sell you out!"

Ning Wan said a few more words of confirmation and was comforted by Shao Lili's words. Although Shao Lili had known who Fu Zheng was for a long time, it was understandable that she hadn't dared to tell her rashly since he was the firm's future big shot. But now that the truth was revealed, thanks to their friendship, Shao Lili would naturally be biased toward her. She couldn't blame her for what had gone on before. If there was anyone to blame, it was that cunning piece of garbage, Fu Zheng.

But what Ning Wan didn't know was that merely a few minutes after Shao Lili hung up the phone, her good sister dialed Fu Zheng's number with trembling hands--

"Partner Fu, Ning Wan contacted me. Yes, yes, she seems relatively stable at the moment. Compared to past times in which she was agitated, she should be fine. No, she didn't curse you, no, really! She didn't criticize you either... In her heart? You want to hear the truth? Yeah, she's probably cussing you out in her heart..."

"Okay. I understand. If she contacts me again, I'll comfort her. Yes, yes, Partner Fu, you must be busy. Goodbye!"

…

frostcrystal

Today I have been privileged to read the snippiest and most sarcastic court document ever written by an annoyed Ontario judge. I present it here for everyone's perusal, just in case you're tired about reading drama about fictional lawyers and feel like reading drama about real life lawyers for a change.

Morland-Jones v. Taerk, 2014, Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Also, "In her heart? You want to hear the truth? Yeah, she's probably cussing you out in her heart..." LMAO