Chapter 34: Chapter 18 (part 1)

Ning Wan was contemplating the dinner menu when in a burst of exhaust, a luxury car halted in front of her, blocking the road ahead.

In the passenger seat, a young and expensively-dressed woman rolled down the window and called out to her in a charming tone, "Oh, c'mon, Ning Wan, really, what could you possibly be so busy with?" Cardamom-painted lips parted gently. "How many phone calls and text messages have I sent to you? Why didn't you reply? What could you possibly be doing?"

Ning Wan licked her lips nervously. She hadn't expected Shi Wu to hound her to the point of stopping her at the community gate. All she could do was frown and say, "I didn't have time to keep an eye on my phone."

Shi Wu was Ning Wan's classmate from high school, and amongst all her high school classmates, probably the one most concerned about Ning Wan. Sadly, it wasn't the good kind of concern. Ning Wan had offended her greatly while they were both in school, and ever since them she had made it a point of revenge to target and exclude her. Despite them both having long graduated and begun working, Shi Wu was still 'deeply in love' with Ning Wan. Her hobby was setting Ning Wan up to touch porcelainThe practice of crooks placing ostensibly expensive, fragile items in places where they may easily be knocked over, allowing them to collect damages when the items are damaged. --Wikipedia,  then finding every opportunity to ridicule her.

At that moment, Shi Wu was looking at Ning Wan through her meticulously groomed eyelashes. "My dear old classmate," she gushed, pretending to be puzzled and innocent, "I never expected the life of a community lawyer to be so full! I hear community lawyers just take on a few trivial cases here and there. The income's not too high, but neither is the labour, a very easy job wouldn't you say? After all, the cases aren't that important, and neither are you handling much money. So why are you so busy that you couldn't keep an eye on your phone?"

On the surface she sounded concerned, but between the lines, her malice overflowed.

Still looking up at Ning Wan from under lowered lids, she complained falsely, "Oh, well, forget it, you may be busy, but since the legal affairs for my publicly listed company are quite simple, I'll just have to come to you. I called you ever so many times and sent you ever so many texts just to invite you to my birthday party tonight. You never replied, but you see, today my darling took his new car out for a little spin and I remembered that you didn't have one! It must be so difficult, trying to catch a taxi after work. Even if you saw my invite you'd only be able to take the bus to where the party is, so I begged my darling to give you a lift."

Here we go again.

Ning Wan wished she could give her a proper set-down, but Shi Wu was the stereotypical example of a highschool girl from a well-connected, upper-class family. Because of that, though she was ignorant she had entered into a decent university through family connections  and studied law. After graduation, she had entered the legal team of a publicly listed company in Rong City, also through family connections. Ever since then she had been using Ning Wan as entertainment. To still be so shallow and boring at her age was honestly quite a feat.

When Shi Wu saw the annoyance on Ning Wan's face, she became quite cheerful. "You're a girl too, aren't you? You have to know how to watch out for yourself! Why, you're already too busy to check your phone when you're just a community lawyer. How are you ever gonna find the time to fall in love? Look at you, all covered in street dust, how will you ever find a boy like this... You know, a girl's golden age is just a few years long... "

Ning Wan had basically memorized this routine already. Shi Wu liked to make it seem as though she cared deeply about a sister and had specially extended an invitation to her birthday party, but she was actually inviting Ning Wan there to show off her happy life and pass ridicule as each blow landed. Of course Ning Wan didn't want to go.

No money, no future, no man. That was the general outline of Shi Wu's usual dance routineMinor pun here: the 'Wu' in Shi Wu's name means 'dance'.. Most of the time, Ning Wan was too lazy to pay attention, but today she was annoyed enough to fight back. She glanced at Fu Zheng, who was watching from behind, and decided to pull an extra actor into the play.

"What do you mean by that? My boyfriend is right here!" Plastering on a fake business smile, Ning Wan pulled Fu Zheng over by the hand. She pretended not to see his astonished eyes and continued, "Shi Wu, I'm afraid that we have a date tonight and he's here to pick me up. So I really can't go to your birthday party, but I wish you many happy returns."

Without a doubt, Fu Zheng was right at the top of the list when it came to appearance and temperament. Ning Wan watched Shi Wu take him in and as her face went from shock to frustration and finally distorted in jealousy, she suddenly felt the dark, yet refreshing feeling of victory.

But Ning Wan had underestimated Shi Wu after all. The woman bit a lip, opened the car door, and stepped out to approach them. "Why are you acting so distant? My boyfriend and I came here just to pick you up. Just bring your boyfriend along with you tonight! Isn't it just one more plate of food? And you'll even save money on dinner!"

She smiled and glanced at Fu Zheng haughtily. Then she gentled her manner once again and said, "My boyfriend has booked Xinyue Hotel for us tonight. They have amazing seafood, and I'm sure you never get to eat that. You must come, it won't even cost you anything!"

She made it sound like Ning Wan and Fu Zheng were begging to go and had never had such things before. Ning Wan was now angry enough that her fist curled, but she didn't expect that something even more annoying was yet to come--

Shi Wu glanced first at Ning Wan and then at Fu Zheng. Then she sighed sympathetically, sidled up to Ning Wan, and lowered her voice. "Ning Wan, I do so hope that your boyfriend isn't just some random guy you pulled off the street for the sake of not losing face. I mean, you've never even mentioned him before! And look at how you two stand away from each other. You don't say sweet things and don't seem familiar with each other... why, I've come all this way to pick you up and invited you both, yet you still don't want to go! I sure hope this isn't why... but don't worry, we're old classmates, I would never make fun of you for something like this. If you're still single, I'll introduce you to a few rich friends tonight!"

Although she knew that Shi Wu was taunting her on purpose, she was still really getting under Ning Wan's skin. Yes, Fu Zheng really was just a fake boyfriend, but he was also the little brother she was mentoring. Wasn't it just a birthday party? It's not like he wouldn't go along if she said so! Then they might as well both go all out playing tonight and take Shi Wu down a peg!

"Since you've put so much effort into this invitation, I suppose I'll have to respect it." Ning Wan put on a tolerant smile and leaned her head back against Fu Zheng. "My boyfriend and I will be happy to attend."

Now Ning Wan was no longer in the position of being able to be reserved with her body language. She leaned on Fu Zheng. This close, she could smell his light cologne. It was difficult to describe with her limited vocabulary, but she felt vaguely that it was very complex, with an exquisite base note...

To be honest, the smell... was quite attractive. Mature and steady, cold and sexy. Under attack, Ning Wan couldn't help but blush...

Thanks to how suddenly this whole thing had happened, she hadn't had time to run this by Fu Zheng or even hint it to him. She could only look at him hopefully. Fortunately, Fu Zheng was quite good at picking up cues. After a brief period of shock, he quickly picked up the script, placed his hand lightly on her back, and smiled casually down at her, looking for all the world like a noble scion who had never had to worry about the mundane matters of peasants.

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Perhaps because he had pretended to be rich for so long, Fu Zheng was not only good at acting, but knew all the right lines to say. Holding Shi Wu's gaze, he said as indifferently as if he had reluctantly descended to earth to deliver a sermon to the mortals, "Ning Wan is slow to warm up, and easily embarrassed. Unlike some girls, who love to shallowly throw themselves on their men in public, she's an independent woman. She doesn't need a man to make her complete, so it's quite normal if she hasn't gone around talking about me. Anyway, as they say, 'love shown off is quick to die'. I've been chasing Ning Wan for a long time now, and if she prefers to keep our relationship private, I'll respect her choices."

He smiled a small smile. "After all, she isn't my arm candy. I'm hers."

At that moment, held in his embrace, listening to his charming words and deep, husky voice, Ning Wan suddenly felt like she understood Gao Yuan a little better.

Damn, she hadn't expected that pervert's eyes to be so sharp. Fu Zheng might not have much money, but he was otherwise a rare, superior product. No wonder Gao Yuan was drooling over him, risking his career to try to pursue him through underhanded means. I can't blame him, Ning Wan thought dizzily. In all fairness, if she was rich, she might have thought about doing it too...

When she came back to her senses, she was already sitting beside Fu Zheng in the BMW 7 Series belonging to Shi Wu's boyfriend. As soon as she calmed down, however, Ning Wan felt a wave of deep regret overtaking her. As the saying goes, a little neglect leads to great mischief. She shouldn't have lied...

Almost as soon as they got on, Shi Wu began showing off non-stop--

"Just introducing you two to each other, this is my boyfriend Yang Pei. Coincidentally, he also practices law! He's at Tianheng Law. and though he's only a little older than we are, he's already almost a partner. With another little push, he'll be promoted within three years."

Shi Wu looked back meaningfully at Fu Zheng. "Ning Wan, why don't you introduce your boyfriend?"

"Ah. This is Fu Zheng."

Sadly, the more one doesn't want to talk, the more the other wanted to know, so Shi Wu said directly to Fu Zheng, "Oh, and what do you do?"

Fu Zheng was glacially calm, cherishing words like gold. "Lawyer."

"What a coincidence! All four of us practice law! Then, Fu Zheng, which law firm are you at? "

"He hasn't yet decided." Afraid of Fu Zheng getting revealed, Ning Wan quickly cut off the conversation, then lied without blinking, "Fu Zheng graduated from Penn LawThe University of Pennsylvania Law School is an Ivy League university located in Philadelphia. It is among the most selective and oldest law schools in the United States, and is currently ranked sixth overall by U.S. News & World Report. --Wikipedia and worked in New York for several years as a senior lawyer for Weil & TordsWhich doesn't exist, AFAIK.. If it weren't for something coming up here at home, he wouldn't have come back from the United States, and perhaps he would have been partner by now. But since he's back in China, he wanted to relax a little before taking up a position. He's had quite a few offers for the position of senior partner, but he hasn't yet decided."

Ning Wan's remarks were a mix of truth and lies. Fu Zheng's educational background was true, but his resume and status were complete nonsense.

A partner from a foreign institutes was more valuable than one of a small domestic firm, such as Tianheng, and not just by a little. Sure enough, judging by the daggers in her eyes when Shi Wu heard those words, Ning Wan would have been dead by now if jealousy could kill.

When Yang Pei, Shi Wu's boyfriend, heard the name of 'Weil & Tords', he looked at Fu Zheng in the rearview mirror in astonishment.

Ning Wan hadn't paid much attention Yang Pei earlier. But now, looking in the rearview mirror, she found him to be quite a normal-looking man, one who could be considered handsome if you passed him on the street. But when you set him next to Fu Zheng, he paled in comparison.

'No harm occurs if you never compare'. A very true saying. When you put him up against Fu Zheng, Yang Pei's handsome face looked insignificant. And more importantly than mere looks, he was completely suppressed in terms of temperament. Though his features were regular and his face well-formed, Yang Pei did not look like a man from the upper-crust. Where his clothes were all branded in a showy manner, flaunting his money, Fu Zheng was quietly wealthy, restrained and elegant. If the latter was a genuine luxury brand, the former was a cheap knockoff.

Jealousy and hostility aren't feelings unique to women. Yang Pei was in a relationship with Shi Wu, and birds of a feather flock together. Here in this confined car, he had met a man with a stronger aura than himself, and he began feeling competitive.

"Oh, so you're from Weil & Tords!" he said casually. "One of my classmates is from their New York office too! His name is Shicheng. Since you were going to be promoted to partner, you must know him. Do you know what field he's currently in? Or which team?"

It was obvious that Yang Pei, just like Shi Wu, was instinctively unable to believe that a peer could be so much better than himself. He had the feeling that Ning Wan was just bragging...