Chapter 22: Chapter 13 (part 1)

Ning Wan immediately regretted her momentary impulse after leaving Gao Yuan's office. Who knew if Fu Zheng and Gao Yuan were close? She should have submitted an anonymous report. But if she didn't at least stake her own name on it when facing an obvious injustice, she wouldn't be able to face herself.

It was at this time when Chen Shuo appeared.

Though he had already left for the day, when he heard that Ning Wan was at headquarters he had backtracked to invite her out to dinner.

Though he had lost the opportunity to work at the community, he remained sunny and cheerful. "Senior sister, a new Sichuan restaurant has just opened downstairs and I just got paid! Come on, it'll be my treat."

Over dinner, Ning Wan admitted in an embarrassed fashion, "Today I fought with Partner Gao over transferring that Fu Zheng out of the community. I'm afraid that it won't go smoothly, though..." Ning Wan sighed. "But if you think about it, being in headquarters is a pretty good position for you to be in. You're in a good team and can take on responsibility in major cases, not to mention the income and future prospects. It's probably not necessary for you to work on local cases in the community..."

Chen Shuo's chopsticks paused mid-air. He looked up. "You just went and... confronted Partner Gao? To his face?"

Ning Wan picked up a bite of . "Yes."

"God, senior sister, you can be such an idiot sometimes." Chen Shuo's voice softened. "Think about yourself a little before you stand up for me." He paused, then seemed to summon up his courage. "To tell you the truth, the real reason why I wanted that transfer was..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish his sentence, Ning Wan's phone rang. She looked down, saw that it was an unknown number, hesitated, then picked it up. Hearing Fu Zheng's voice coming from the other end, Ning Wan felt uneasy. She wondered if her complaint had already done its work. Was this Fu Zheng giving her his farewell before leaving the community? Or were Gao Yuan and Fu Zheng closer than she had thought, and perhaps this was Fu Zheng calling to denounce her behavior?

A hundred scenarios flashed through her mind and she formulated responses to them all. But to her surprise, what Fu Zheng actually said was completely unexpected.

The words spoken by that deep, cold voice across the line put her into a trance for a moment.

As she hadn't replied immediately, Fu Zheng repeated himself--

"I was kicked out by my landlord. I have nowhere to go."

For a second, Ning Wan thought that she might be dreaming, but Fu Zheng continued on. Though his words had come out with difficulty in the beginning, he seemed to have become less cautious after that first sentence. "I have no money and nowhere to live. Can you take me in for a night?"

“……”

Wasn't Fu Zheng a rich young master? Why on earth would he have nowhere to live?

Ning Wan choked on her food, but quickly collected herself. She wasn't currently in a place where it would be convenient to question him, but since he had come to her for help she couldn't turn him away heartlessly. "Give me the routing number to your bank account and I'll transfer you a little money. We can consider it a loan for now."

Unfortunately, Fu Zheng would not accept. "You shouldn't lend me money, " he told her frankly, "My credit cards are all at their limit, and I've taken out loans. I won't be able to pay you back."

Feeling swept along by the current, Ning Wan wanted only to no longer be involved in this strange and inexplicable matter. "Then you don't need to pay me back..."

"But the landlord threw me and all my things out without giving me time to pack. Even if you don't need me to pay you back, I can't move everything by myself."

Fu Zheng's tone coming from the other end of the line didn't sound like himself at all. Although she recognized his tone, there was a touch of lonely desolation in it. Seemingly mustering up his courage, he said, "I don't know anyone else here in Rong City. Ning Wan, please come over and help me out. The only person I know I can depend on is you."

……

Although it was said 'don't meddle in other people's business', now that Fu Zheng had said that...

In the end, Ning Wan excused herself from her meal with Chen Shuo apologetically. She slung her bag over her shoulder and took a taxi to the location Fu Zheng had given her.

It was an older suburb of Rong City, where rent was cheap and the atmosphere worse. Most of the houses were single-family homes illegally divided into several apartments for rent. Ning Wan arrived to see Fu Zheng standing at the door of one of them in his suit, two suitcases at his feet. In the intersection behind him were several stalls selling vegetables, and he stood out like a sore thumb in the bustling atmosphere.

Feeling like she was in some sort of strange and unrealistic dream, Ning Wan approached. "You..." she glanced at his suitcases. "Didn't you call to ask me to help you move? What else needs to be done?"

Fu Zheng regarded her calmly. "I packed while you were on your way. I finished right as you pulled up."

"Just two suitcases?"

"Um," Fu Zheng licked his lips. "I don't have much."

Full of doubt, Ning Wan was about to inquire further when Fu Zheng broke her train of thought. "Could we get something to eat?" he asked in an innocent manner. "I'm really hungry, and I haven't eaten since noon. It's freezing standing here in the wind."

“……”

His tone hadn't changed much, but she read between the lines of his plain words a trace of despair and a pretense of being strong...

And not having eaten since noon definitely was a bad thing...

Although she didn't care for Fu Zheng, Ning Wan had never been able to coldly turn away from even a stranger begging for help, let alone a coworker.

Ten minutes later, she brought him to a small mom and pop restaurant. "I just ate, so I'm not very hungry. Go ahead and order whatever you want."

A fully grown man who hadn't eaten since noon should have been starving, but after closely examining the menu, Fu Zheng ended up only ordering a plate of noodles.

"Aren't you going to order more?"

"No." Fu Zheng bit his lip. "I'm already imposing on you a lot. Noodles are cheap and filling."

"..." Was she having some sort of auditory hallucination? Was she really hearing from his mouth the sensible words of a child from a poor family???

Wasn't he a young master? How was he in such straits?!

Ning Wan was about to burst with curiosity, but it was awkward prying into someone else's private matters. Fortunately, as she agonized between tact and doubt, Fu Zheng finished his noodles and took the initiative to explain--

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"I'm sorry to have to bother you, but right now I'm really broke. I'll be getting my salary in two days and I can't afford rent before then. Could I stay with you for two nights?"

Without waiting for an answer, Fu Zheng rushed on, "I know that you'll have a lot of questions. Why would I look rich yet not be able to buy my own food? I know too that it's hard to talk about these things. You're my last resort. If I weren't desperate, I wouldn't want anyone to know, and I wouldn't have wanted to ask anyone for help. "

He bowed his head in a depressed manner, and in a heavy tone, said, "I'm sorry. I've been lying to you this whole time. Not only am I... not rich, but I'm in a great deal of debt."

? ? ?

"That can't be. Your food and clothing...?" Ning Wan was astounded. It was undeniable that Fu Zheng had the temperament of someone raised in a wealthy family. Was it also his dream to be an actor? Maybe after he had met Aunt Wu, he had realized that he would never get there and also settled for being a second best drama queen?

He was silent for a moment watching her. Then he finally said, "My family used to be very rich, and I really was a young master as you said. You may think that I still feel like one now, but in reality, my family has broken apart. The family business is bankrupt, and we owe the bank substantial debt. This was only a year or two ago, so I often still come off to people like how I used to be."

"When you said that I was dogmatic and academic, you were correct," he admitted heavily. "My dream was to become a professor of law working in academia. If it hadn't been for our difficulties at home, I would never have come out to work as a lawyer..."

"..." Ning Wan was somewhat overwhelmed by this sudden influx of information...

"To tell you the truth, I could not adjust to the sudden loss of wealth. I was vain and proud, so I've pretended to be rich in front of you, and even took out loans to maintain a false standard of living. I can only apologize. I was desperately afraid that you would look down on me if you found out I was poor."

Fu Zheng took a deep breath, "Due to my inexperience and foolish superiority, I've caused you a lot of trouble at work. I've failed to correct my own shortcomings in the time we've known each other. When I asked you for help after being kicked out by the landlord, I was clutching at straws. I never expected you to actually help me, and you didn't even ask why. I feel..." He pondered his words. "All I can give you is my thanks and my sincerest apologies for how I've acted."

"..." Ning Wan was completely caught off guard. "But aren't you from a well-connected household?"

Fu Zheng raised innocent eyes. "A well-connected household?"

"Didn't someone arrange for you to come to the community?" she asked directly. "My junior at school originally applied for the job and was approved internally, but you were sent over instead."

"Ah, that." An expression of sudden realization dawned on Fu Zheng's face. "You've misunderstood." He lowered his head and bit a lip. "I wasn't sent here because someone in my family pulled some strings. I'm here because I offended someone important."

"What happened?" Ning Wan asked, beset with curiousity.

"When my family went bankrupt, I could no longer support my studies and life in the United States. I decided to return to China as a lawyer and sent in my resume to Zhengyuan Law Firm. I was lucky enough to be admitted, but right after signing the contract, before I was even assigned a team, I offended a partner and was sent here as punishment." Fu Zheng's expression was serious, his appearance calm. He looked utterly trustworthy and very sincere. "I didn't understand that it was a punishment at first. It wasn't until I got here that I found out how difficult the work would be. I apologize for having looked down on it initially."

“……”

Ning Wan didn't know how to feel about this sudden development...

"You were assigned here under the name of Partner Gao. Was it him that you offended?"

Fu Zheng nodded.

"But Partner Gao has always had a stellar reputation in the firm! Even when he disagrees with his employees at work, he never retaliates or makes trouble for them. I know all the lawyers in his team, and they're each and every one full of praise for him and feel like he's a good boss to have, how could it..." Ning Wan frowned, questioning him closely. "What did you do to offend him? "

Although Fu Zheng had thought out his story in detail, he had not expected Ning Wan to grill him so thoroughly. Unable to think of any fabricated offense on the spot, he avoided the question, saying lightly, "It's hard to talk about and I really don't want to do it. Let's just leave it at that."

He thought that he had been vague enough that Ning Wan wouldn't ask again. However, he hadn't expected his words to strike her dumb for a moment. She examined him closely once more before shock and horror dawned upon her face--

Seemingly trying to make a subtle hint, she asked, "Was it... that sort of offense?"

'That' sort? What sort?

Although Fu Zheng had no idea what Ning Wan was talking about, he didn't want to go into too much detail about the issue, so he agreed vaguely. "Um, yes."

Ning Wan's face looked as though her three views on life had crumbled. Her voice became fervent and impassioned, and her initial hesitation upon hearing Fu Zheng's 'tragic' life story disappeared. Her entire being shifted into a friendly manner, as if she had finally accepted his story and was filled with indignation on his behalf. "My God! This is really like when they say 'knowing a man's face, but not his heart'! I never expected Partner Gao to turn out to be such an awful person!"

? What about Gao Yuan?

Fu Zheng didn't know, and so went with the adage that silence was golden. But this only cemented Ning Wan's assumption in her eyes.

Ning Wan looked as though she was boiling over. "Bring us some tea!" she called to the waiter. Her blood hot, she exclaimed vigorously, "I never thought that you might have gone through such an awful experience! Since I can't drink alcohol, we can only replace it with tea! Ugh! What a sinful, inhuman lack of morals!"

What on earth just happened? Confused, Fu Zheng had no time to process her words, so he could only try to go with the flow, maintain a calm expression, and stick with his initial strategy.

The tea soon arrived. It was chrysanthemum tea, and Ning Wan was immediately embarrassed. "Ah, I didn't mean to order this particular tea. The shop serves a different tea every day, depending on what the family feels like. Today it could be Iron Goddess teaTieguanyin, a type of oolong,  tomorrow Pu'er, and the day after rose hip, all depending on the owner's mood. They probably wanted something light and fresh for today and went with chrysanthemum tea. Don't pay it any mind."

"I don't mind," Fu Zheng smiled.

What was wrong with chrysanthemum tea? Although it wasn't as pricey as Iron Goddess or Pu'er, he wouldn't care about something like that. Just as he was picking up his cup and drinking some of the tea, he heard Ning Wan say across the table--

"It had never occurred to me that Gao Yuan would impose those hidden rulesThis is a euphemism for sexual favours demanded of an employee or supplicant, very similar to the English euphemism 'casting couch'. on you. I hope that looking at chrysanthemumChrysanthemum is Chinese slang for a butthole, though frankly I think that they are far too pretty a flower to be associated :) tea won't remind you of such unpleasant memories..."

Fu Zheng almost choked to death on his mouthful of chrysanthemum tea. He coughed for a long time before finally managing to say, "Gao Yuan imposed... hidden rules on me?"

Ning Wan nodded, looking heavy. "I'm sorry for having touched your scars."

"..." A complex, subtle, wholly indescribable expression spread across Fu Zheng's face.