Chapter 18: Chapter 11 (part 1)

Thanks to this incident, Ning Wan one-sidedly decided to tear up the Peaceful Coexistence Agreement between them and to break off diplomatic relations with Fu Zheng. For the next several days, she didn't say a word to Fu Zheng, but coolly watched him run around handling the fly-line charging infringement case.

Since he had forbidden her to step in, she could only stand by and watch, but deep down Ning Wan wasn't harbouring much hope for young master Fu Zheng. He was after all just a man who had gotten this post through nepotism, looking to do a little grass-roots work to brush up his resume. Who knew if he would have the sort of communication skill this case required?

But to her surprise, the steamrolling of Fu Zheng never came. Though he bit his lips ragged from all the running around he had to do, he eventually and unexpectedly managed to settle the case.

"Thank you, Mr. Fu. I thought it would drag on for a month. I never expected to get the compensation for my e-bike so soon."

Lu Yu was extremely grateful, and Uncle Mao, who had been responsible for the incident, even brought him fruit in thanks. "Thank you, young man. I didn't think my charging cable would cause a fire."

Embarrassed, Uncle Mao admitted, "I live on the 15th floor and the elevator is too small to fit my e-bike. I just wanted to charge it from my home somehow. In all the years I've been doing this I've never had a problem, I didn't expect that this time..." He stuffed fruit into Fu Zheng's hands. "I'm completely broke. Thank the heavens you were there to help me negotiate and have the property take on some of the costs, or I really wouldn't know what to do...." Uncle Mao's eyes were red as he said, "My pension is less than 2,000 yuan a month, and if I'd had to pay in full, I would be eating air this month... "

Having satisfactorily closed the case, Fu Zheng's face shone in accomplishment. He declined Uncle Mao's fruit, saying that he had merely done his duty.

Ning Wan was consulting on the telephone at this point in time, keeping an eye on them from afar.

Since his fruit had been turned down, Uncle Mao didn't try to make him take it. Having said his thanks, he sighed sadly. "Thanks to your efforts, young man, I got through it this time. I daren't charge using my extension cord anymore. The higher-ups in our building don't have a great opinion of me, and I don't think that they would give me any face if this happens again. But... sigh... the next time I have to charge..."

Thinking about charging his bike, Uncle Mao let out a long breath. His frail shoulders drooped, and he tottered out the door.

Right then, Ning Wan finally hung up the phone. She looked over at Fu Zheng, and sensing her eyes on him, he curled his lips up coldly. "I did well even without your guidance. In law, so long as one is willing to learn, experience can always be accumulated. What widens the gap is only how well you're able to to learn. Those with a good foundation are naturally more able."

Ning Wan didn't take the bait, but just looked at him. "You just let Uncle Mao go?"

Fu Zheng frowned. "What, are you going to chase him down and take his fruit?"

Ning Wan ignored him. Before his startled eyes, she got up, ran out of the office, and really ended up bringing Uncle Mao back.

Ignoring Fu Zheng's eyes on her, she sat Uncle Mao down and poured him a glass of water. "Grandpa, I heard you sighing just now. Are you worried about how you'll charge your bike in the future?"

Uncle Mao blinked in surprise. Then he nodded, sighing, "Yes indeed, I can't possibly keep using an extension cord after this. I'll have to figure out something..."

"I have confirmed with the property manager that there are charging areas for electric vehicles in our community," Fu Zheng interjected. "There are enough of them that you don't have to queue up, and they're not only safer, but also environmentally friendly. You can charge your bike there in the future."

His answer was perfect. He had done his homework. However, Ning Wan smiled mockingly at him. "Yes, there have been charging areas here in our community for the past year, but why doesn't Uncle Mao use them? Why does he insist on charging his vehicle with a troublesome, dangerous flying line instead? I'm sure you didn't ask, or maybe you just didn't care."

She turned to Uncle Mao. "Uncle, can you tell me why you don't use the charging areas? They're very convenient, aren't they? You can use your card or even coins to operate them, and if you want, I can show you how to use them so you'll know how to do it. Just bring some change along and we can set up a time."

Uncle Mao coughed. "Well, that thing is quite convenient, but... it has two options. One takes one yuan for four hours, and the other two yuan for eight hours. But for an e-bike, four hours isn't enough and eight hours is too much. One for five or six hours would have been perfect."

Hearing the answer, Fu Zheng frowned, obviously unable to understand the logic behind it. Ning Wan, however, showed an expression of clear understanding. She smiled at Uncle Mao. "Is this the reason behind the low utilization rate of the community's charging areas?"

"Yes," Uncle Mao nodded. "Everyone said it wasn't worthwhile."

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"I get it," Ning Wan smiled. "I'll talk to the community and have them add an option for $1.50. I'll let you know when it's been updated. It'll probably take a few days."

His old face beamed. "Thank you very much!"

Uncle Mao tottered out in satisfaction, and Ning Wan looked at Fu Zheng. "You handled this case very well, and sorted everything out according to law. What mediation had to be done has been done, both parties are satisfied, and without bad blood between neighbors. You've definitely improved since the previous case. However, just like all your other alumni who graduated from famous schools, you're still too dogmatic and rigid in your thinking."

"What are you trying to say?" Fu Zheng asked, his face ugly.

"This case ended well, and the legal dispute is closed, but don't you want to think about getting to the root of the problem instead of just trying to fix the symptoms? Uncle Mao is hardly the only one in the community charging by flying line. Today, you've solved the issue with Uncle Mao, but so long as flying line charging does not disappear, it will come up again. With so many people in the community, if you don't get to the heart of the matter, such cases will always repeat themselves."

Ning Wan smiled. "Of course, you're not obligated to do such things, but I feel that as a lawyer for this community, you should have a little sense of social responsibility. The job of community lawyer is not simply to practice law. You must do more than law to reduce the legal disputes within the community."

"This time you've made great progress, and Uncle Mao's case has been solved for now, but what happens afterward? Since Uncle Mao can no longer use an extension cord to charge his bike, what will he do? Why didn't he use the charging area before now? Did you know or care, young master?"

"One yuan means that his bike will not be fully charged, and two yuan means that fifty cents has been wasted. One yuan fifty would have been just right, but the charging area doesn't have an option for that. Can you imagine such a life, young master? A life in which to save fifty cents, a man would choose to charge his vehicle by running an extension cord down from the balcony of the 15th floor?"

Her smile was full of ridicule. "Ordinary people live much harder lives than you might think. Just like you can't imagine using a flying line to charge a vehicle to save 50 cents, what do you think you know about the lives of the poor, young master? What makes you qualified to censure and criticize them?"

"Aren't you just so proud of having gone to an Ivy League university, while I graduated from a second-rate law school. Of course I know it's good to go somewhere famous. It's a stepping stone to get into a good team and to be mentored by a partner. If I'd been as rich and privileged as you, do you think I would have spent my senior year of highschool working to pay the bills? If I could have spent my time and energy studying instead, forget a famous school, I could have graduated with honors from Harvard Law. Would you have been able to even speak to me then? "

“……”

Standing tall, Ning Wan turned a supercilious look upon Fu Zheng. "So don't think that your whole life will be smooth-sailing just because you won a battle right at the start and graduated from a famous school. One day, I'll be richer and better than you. And when that time comes, as the saying goes, since you didn't care about me when I was low, you can't climb me when I'm up high. In a few years, with my qualifications and a little luck, so long as some good judge of talent rests their eyes on me, I could be Partner Ning." She turned, giving him the cold shoulder. "And you'll still be Xiao Fu, not because you look young, but because you still haven't grown after years have passed. "

“……”

Though Fu Zheng opened his mouth, Ning Wan shut him down before he could say anything. "Don't try to befriend me even if I'll be a partner in the future. I don't care for academic elitists like you. If all we can hope for in life is what we were handed at birth, then those born in poverty would have no hope for a lifetime."

Her eyes blazed. "You look down on me because I came from a second-rate law school. That's fine, because I look down on you, too, for being a man whose prestigious academic background covers him in superiority. You're not superior to me."

……

In all his years, it was the first time Fu Zheng had been lectured in such a sweeping manner, the first time he had been told that he would never reach the heights, the first time in his life that he had ever been treated so rudely. The experience was so bizarre that he could only gape, completely unable to refute. He had always believed and taken pride in the importance of having gone to a famous school. However, under the cascade of Ning Wan's merciless ridicule, there was simply nothing to say.

He had never given a thought to tackling the root cause of a legal dispute after completing the case, so as to better maintain the environment of the community. He had never imagined that the low utilization rate of charging areas was due to a matter as small as setting the correct amounts. He had never before encountered anyone willing to take the risk of fly-line charging just to save a mere 50 cents per charge. He had truly never known that the life of many ordinary people could be like this...

...So petty, so stingy, so gruelingly practical.

In his years of experience working with cases worth millions or even billions, never had he thought that one day, fifty cents would mean so much.