Although Fu Zheng's plan to abolish the talent pool had not yet been fully implemented, rumors about the matter soon began to spread in Zhengyuan Law. Aside from the lawyers who would benefit from this plan, one of the two with with the most intense emotional ups and downs was Chen Shuo.

After Chen Shuo had been discharged from the hospital, the person responsible for the dog falling onto him had come over to apologize with a fruit basket and bouquet, and paid all his expenses. What had been done was done, and this was considered a pretty decent ending to the saga. Unfortunately, Chen Shuo could not be happy. There was nothing anyone could do to make up for his sadness at having lost Ning Wan halfway.

After learning the news that Fu Zheng and Ning Wan had gotten together, he had stayed silent for a few days but quickly cheered up. Being in love did not mean getting married. Fu Zheng was already thirty, and it was possible that due to the age gap, he and Ning Wan might find themselves in different places in life and break up after going out for awhile. This was quite normal. Plenty of relationships didn't last the first three months. Once the novelty of a new relationship was gone, underlying issues would be exposed.

And he was young. So as long as they weren't married and he wasn't dead, he still had a chance!

As soon as Chen Shuo figured this out, he rallied. Although he still had some recuperation to do, he felt like he could no longer lie around at home but should return to the office as soon as possible, even if just to show his face. Ning Wan had now gone from the community to headquarters, and he had heard that the new senior partner would soon join as well. Fu Zheng had not been on the senior partner's released admission list. When Chen Shuo thought about this, he couldn't help but feel internally grateful to that senior partner. What penetrating insight, to have given that old thing Fu Zheng the boot with a single blow. Now Fu Zheng would no longer be an eyesore in headquarters, and once he recovered, he would be able to apply to be transferred back from the community. Then he would once again be together with Ning Wan day and night.

As for Fu Zheng? Let that annoying guy stay in the community to grow mold!

Due to his injury, the firm had granted Chen Shuo long-term leave. He did not need to go to either the community office or headquarters. However, he did still want to see Ning Wan, so limping, leg in a plaster cast, he made his way with difficulty to headquarters.

But alas, Ning Wan was not there.

"Ning Wan just went to meet a client with her boss."

Hearing that Ning Wan was on the right track and had started working with the senior partner, Chen Shuo couldn't help but feel happy for her.

While he had been absent from work, things at the office had really changed.

After inquiring with concern about Chen Shuo's recovery, his colleagues began gossiping--

“This sort of reform is truly unprecedented!”

"Yes, the talent pool system is going to be abolished as soon as possible. This new senior partner isn't bad, to have made such a big move as soon as he enters!"

Upon hearing this, curiousity sparked in Chen Shuo. He had always disagreed with the talent pool system. "That's true, this is definitely good!"

A few of his female colleagues immediately echoed, "That's right! This senior partner is a good one, and so handsome! Super handsome!"

Handsome?

Chen Shuo felt a little confused. Could it be that after getting rid of Fu Zheng, there was a handsome new senior partner on the scene? Wouldn't that make it easy for Ning Wan to idolize him, if she looked at him every day? And to be described as handsome, was he very young?

Pretending not to care, he asked, "Handsome?"

"Shouldn't you know?" His female colleague looked at Chen Shuo, puzzled. "You've been working together in the community for so long, shouldn't you know better than us how good looking he is?"

"Huh?"

Chen Shuo was truly confused. For a fleeting moment, he felt like his brain might not be very good.

"It's Fu Zheng!" The female colleague gave Chen Shuo a teasing look. "You didn't know who he was, did you?"

For an instant, Chen Shuo felt a little numb. His mouth dry, he asked subconsciously, "What about Fu Zheng?"

"You'll have to call him Partner Fu from now on! He's the new senior partner! Oh my God, he's so low-key to have been working in the community for so long. Lin Sheng even said that he played basketball with you and that he's great at it. And so concerned about other people's feelings, not at all the sort of person who only cares about looking good, in fact quite friendly. Lin Sheng and the others are super excited, saying that he was tall, long-legged and skilled..."

Skill? What skill? That was called playing cute! And friendly? That didn't exist. That was called a max-level white lotus disguise!

"I've seen him in the main office a few times in the past, apparently working with Partner Gao. At that time, I thought he was an intern from the community who had come to help out Partner Gao with some cases. Thinking that he was so handsome, I almost struck up a conversation, hahaha. Luckily I didn't, or I would have been doomed! I'm not brave enough to try laying hands on a partner..."

Why didn't you do it? If you had, he might not have laid hands on Ning Wan!

The female colleague was getting more and more enthusiastic as she talked, but Chen Shuo couldn't help but complain furiously internally. At the same time, his heart was getting colder and colder...

He didn't know what he had done so wrong for God to make a fool of him like this. After he got crushed by a dog, Fu Zheng first became Ning Wan's boyfriend. Then, after he had finally cheered up and decided to quietly wait, Fu Zheng suddenly transformed into the new senior partner and Ning Wan's future boss. Next time, would it be Fu Zheng once again exchanging a shotgun for a cannon¹Vastly improving a situation and becoming Ning Wan's future husband?

His colleague was still gossiping, "Did he not reveal his identity in the community all this time? Then didn't you and Ning Wan work with him forever without knowing anything? You didn't do anything to offend him, right??”

Before Chen Shuo could answer, someone rushed to do so for him. "No, I heard Ning Wan say that Chen Shuo and Partner Fu are really close, so much that they almost wear the same pair of trousers²An idiom for a very close relationship! The first time they met, they hit it off right away and immediately became fast friends. I hear that they have similar hobbies and many things in common!"

Chen Shuo wanted to get up and roar, We have nothing in common! Absolutely nothing! The only thing we might have that barely counts as a common interest is Ning Wan! But on that, Fu Zheng and I are sworn enemies!

But everyone was completely unaware of the turbulent emotions under Chen Shuo’s calm façade. Chattering on, they gazed at him with envious eyes, saying, “I heard that when you were crushed by a dog, it was Partner Fu who personally defended you. Oh my God! Chen Shuo, you'll have to thank him!"

They were all talking to each other, completely unaware that Chen Shuo's face was getting darker and darker.

Thankful? What should he say in thanks? Should he be grateful that the other man robbed him of Ning Wan while he was lying in the hospital?

If the culprit who threw the dog hadn't been found, Chen Shuo might even have bought into the conspiracy theory that the dog had been set up by Fu Zheng to mess with him.

If Fu Zheng was a thirty-year-old trainee lawyer, then Chen Shuo would have been quite confident in waiting for Ning Wan to break up with him and eventually being victorious. But now that the man had become a successful senior partner, the more Chen Shuo thought about it, the more miserable and angry he felt.

Why didn't that damned dog crush Fu Zheng instead?!

The more Chen Shuo thought about it, the sadder he became. He had no idea what Fu Zheng, that white lotus, had done to create such a good reputation and be so universally praised. Trying to calm his colleagues down, Chen Shuo interjected, "Actually, Fu Zheng isn't what you say he is. He's, well..." he described euphemistically, "You know what I mean?"

Now that Fu Zheng was a superior, he couldn't badmouth him openly. But given how wary everyone was about bosses, that should be enough to put a stop to the talk.

As he had expected, everyone seemed to suddenly realize something. "We get it, we get it!"

And just when Chen Shuo finally felt a little proud of having exposed that white lotus' true face, they continued--

"Partner Fu is far better than what we said, isn't he? More kind! More real! More handsome! More approachable! More caring about his subordinates, isn't he?"

"..."

Chen Shuo felt like all of a sudden he was getting old. He decided to go home and lie down a little. If he kept on staying in the office, not only would his injuries not heal, but he might even die.

 

In regards to Fu Zheng's plan to abolish the talent pool, besides Chen Shuo, the other person who had the most emotional reaction to it was, of course, Ning Wan.

That night, she and Fu Zheng had dinner together and walked along the river hand in hand. "Is the community legal service system really going to be implemented?" Ning Wan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. It might start out immature, but so long as we keep working on it, it will eventually become polished."

Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Then I have an idea. If the community legal service team matures further in the future, can it be subdivided? For example, special teams for different categories of cases? "

In fact, Ning Wan had already been thinking about this matter, and Fu Zheng's actions and the gentle look in his eyes had given her the courage to speak. Although the idea was still in its infancy, she still wanted to voice it. "After much consideration, I've realized that I've grown a lot through the community. Even if I'm not on your team, I would like to be a person who always keeps her original intentions in mind. If... If I have the time in the future, I would like to form a domestic violence legal aid team, and to use my own money to fund it."

"Because these types of cases concern marriage, they are often very thankless, and situations like with Shu Ning where the client refuses to cooperate in the early stages may crop up. Moreover, if the other side is violent, then the lawyer working on the divorce case may face some degree of personal danger, so most lawyers don’t like to deal with it, and can’t really understand clients who have been victims of domestic violence.” Ning Wan’s tone had an underlying urgency to it. “Sometimes such cases require psychological intervention, so I contacted Zhao Xuan and asked him if he would like to work together in his spare time. He agreed and seemed very interested in this project..."

"So you want to build a professional legal aid team to help victims of domestic violence?"

"Well..." Ning Wan was a little embarrassed, "I know that the idea may be a little naïve, and that the actual logistics may not be easy. It's alright if you don't agree with it..."

"Sure." Fu Zheng had no opinions or accusations. He said yes without any provisions or complicated words.

"Do you really think that's fine?"

"Yes. I think that your idea is both excellent and practical," Fu Zheng smiled, "The only thing we need is funds. I'm glad that I've worked hard for the last thirty years and accumulated some savings, because now I'll be able to support my girlfriend financially when she needs it to realize her dream.”

Fu Zheng paused. Then he added, "Because I'm using my own money, this is a private investment. It wouldn't matter even if the firm disagreed."

He had given her a hundred percent of his recognition, trust, support and freedom.

Ning Wan gazed into Fu Zheng's gentle eyes, feeling peaceful and warm in her heart. Love was passionate and impulsive, but those emotions buried deep in love were gentle and mild, and would never burn a person.