Chapter 133: Chapter 59 (part 2)

Shao Lili felt like she had been particularly unlucky recently. It was rare to have a full weekend off, but this week all their bosses had given them a holiday to attend Wang Zhe's wedding.

Wang Zhe was from the same batch as both Shao Lili and Ning Wan, and today he was wedding the girlfriend he had loved and been with for many years. She was both happy for him and envious of him, but just as soon as she sat down at the banquet next to Ning Wan, Cui Jing called--

"Lili, I accidentally left the original copies of the witness testimonies in the office, and Lawyer Zhang is anxious to see them, but as you know, I'm currently away on vacation... can you help me pick them up?"

"Sure, I'll go get them right after Wang Zhe's wedding."

"That will be too late. Mr. Zhang wants to see the originals in an hour, because there seems to be a slight mismatch between the originals and the translated versions. The case will be going to court soon, so it will have to be cross-checked on the weekend, and Lawyer Zhang will be leaving soon. Can you have it delivered to his door in an hour?"

It wasn't the first time that Shao Lili had picked up after Cui Jing's mistakes. Cui Jing had often in the past thrown her share of translation work to Shao Lili, and so now when she was traveling abroad on leave, she had thrown her work to her out of habit...

It had to be said that Cui Jing had also chosen a good target. Shao Lili was a hard worker with a strong sense of responsibility. Even the work belonged to someone else on her team, she couldn't bear to see it be unfinished. She was as diligent and conscientious as an old ox. Hanging up the phone, she readied herself to rise.

Ning Wan grabbed her. "Don't listen to Cui Jing. This isn't your job. When the time comes and it gets messed up, the person Lawyer Zhang comes looking for will be her. Let her get scolded by Lawyer Zhang, it might cure her."

Shao Lili knew that Ning Wan was right, but she had always been a straight-A student, when asked to do something, too embarrassed to refuse. "Forget it, forget it. I'll just help her one last time." She checked her phone. "There's still a little while before the wedding starts and the office isn't far. I'll be right back!"

Only when Shao Lili finally arrived at the firm did she realize that the light in the conference room was on. Looking around, she found Gao Yuan inside the conference room, apparently on a video call, and he was sitting next to Fu Zheng, the intern who usually followed Ning Wan around.

Since she was only interested in Cui Jing's original testimonies, Shao Lili didn't pay much attention. It was normal for Fu Zheng to be here; after all, he was an intern at the firm. Even if he was usually posted temporarily at the community, it was normal for a senior partner to call someone in for a case. Most intern lawyers couldn't wait to aid a senior partner. After all, if you started out by doing odd jobs for one and they became familiar with you, you would naturally be selected for their team in the future.

Cui Jing had said that the originals were on her desk, but Shao Lili couldn't find them, and she wasn't answering her phone. After searching high and low until Gao Yuan's video conference ended, she found the originals in a gap under the table.

Shao Lili crawled under the table, and just as she was about to wriggle back out with the documents, she saw four legs standing in front of her--

Gao Yuan and Fu Zheng had left the meeting room.

The worst happened. The two men stopped before her desk, still talking in technical terms.

Shao Lili felt quite embarrassed. If she crawled out from under the table now, she would be right at their feet. Not only would that be unladylike, but it would also be terribly awkward, so she was forced to stay under the table and listen to Gao Yuan and Fu Zheng talking.

But things didn't work out as she had hoped. Gao Yuan and Fu Zheng, whom she had thought would leave soon, obviously had a lot to say about the case. To Shao Lili's surprise, their discussion was so in-depth that she didn't understand it at all. In some places, it even seemed as though Fu Zheng was more accustomed to speaking only in English.

Unexpectedly, Ning Wan's little mentee actually had two sides to him. His attitude was quite arrogant. Why, if she hadn't known who he really was, she might have thought that he was even more self-confident than Gao Yuan!

As Shao Lili slandered him so in her heart, she finally heard a signal that the conversation was coming to an end--

"Thanks for all the trouble, Fu Zheng. Did you drive yourself? Do you want me to drive you back if you didn't?"

"No, it wouldn't be good if Ning Wan saw."

"Don't worry, Ning Wan will be at Wang Zhe's wedding, so she won't see. Anyway, why wouldn't it be good if I sent you back? It's not like she knows who you are..."

Upon hearing Ning Wan's name, Shao Lili perked up. Ning Wan? Were these two keeping secrets from Ning Wan? No wonder every time she had mentioned Gao Yuan recently, Ning Wan's eyes had looked strange...

At this critical moment, Shao Lili's straight-A student soul reared it's head. Even if Gao Yuan had some skeletons in his closet, it wasn't right for her to eavesdrop on them from under the table. Just as she was debating whether or not she should show herself, she heard Gao Yuan's enlightening words coming from above her head--

"Seriously, you, just hurry up and be straight with Ning Wan. She won't mind these petty little details. After all, you're the boss, and who's going to be mad at the boss? Plus, once she knows that you're the new senior partner and that she'll be selected as part of your team, what else will she have to be upset about?"

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Fu Zheng... Fu Zheng was the new senior partner?!?

 

Fu Zheng was chatting with Gao Yuan when he heard a sudden loud bang from underneath the desk next to them, as if a head had hit the bottom of the table.

Startled, Gao Yuan immediately grabbed the papers on the desk. "Who is it? A thief? Fu Zheng, call the police immediately. We can't have any confidential documents stolen. If  we don't immediately make a police report, we won't be able to explain things to our clients."

"Partner Gao, it's me... don't, don't call the police..."

Fu Zheng's brow wrinkled as he heard a familiar female voice, and then watched Shao Lili crawl sluggishly out from under the table like Sadako.

He remembered Shao Lili. She was Ning Wan's close friend, and she had obviously heard everything they had just said.

It was just that even though she was obviously the person who had just overheard a secret, Shao Lili seemed even more frightened than Fu Zheng himself. She crept out, rose to her feet, straightened her hair, and began to timidly, stealthily, size him up.

Fu Zheng looked at Gao Yuan, and Gao Yuan knew that this wasn't good. Laughing awkwardly, he asked, "How did you come to be in the office, Shao Lili? Shouldn't everyone be at the wedding?"

Shao Lili, who had just stumbled across a secret thanks to being sent to the office for some documents, was very eager to survive. She immediately explained why she was there, and then hastily added, "I never heard anything! Partner Gao, Partner Fu, please continue your conversation! I have something to do and will be leaving right now!"

"Hold on a minute."

Alas, Fu Zheng stopped her, so Shao Lili's dream of slipping away quietly never came true. Gao Yuan, on the other hand, took advantage of the chaos to claim that he had something to do and hurriedly ran away...

There were only two people left in the office, herself and Fu Zheng. Not only was Shao Lili embarrassed, but her blood was running cold. Although she was still keeping calm on the surface, on the inside she couldn't help but howl:

Isn't this Fu Zheng Ning Wan's little intern mentee?! How did he turn around and end up being the new senior partner at headquarters??? And it seems like Ning Wan doesn't know anything about this at all!!! How did I treat him last time I visited her in the community? Ning Wan said that he wasn't important, so I didn't really pay much attention to him...

In her heart, Shao Lili felt suspicious, embarrassed and regretful by turn. If you went by TV dramas, usually when a secret was found out, the person who found it out would be silenced. In this situation she probably wouldn't be 'silenced', exactly, but...

But just as Shao Lili was contemplating her tragic ending, Fu Zheng opened his mouth--

"I apologize."

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Fu Zheng's voice was composed and gentle, and he seemed to be quite sincere. He first apologized to Shao Lili, and then carefully explained how he had come to conceal his identity at the community.

"It wasn't that I meant to deliberately lie to you all, but that I was thoughtless at the beginning. I apologize to you all for the misunderstanding I created."

The spectacle Shao Lili had expected of getting lectured by a domineering boss didn't happen. Fu Zheng seemed to be just like the Xiao Fu who followed Ning Wan around in the community, gentle and humble, as if his personality hadn't changed at all with his identity. Shao Lili was faintly relieved. This senior partner seemed very dignified, not at all like someone who would embarrass little lawyers like Ning Wan and herself. She would have to quickly talk to Ning Wan later and tell her; there's no need to write honeyed emails! The senior partner was right there by your side!!!

"I will disclose my identity to headquarters later, but before that, can I ask a favour of you?" The new senior partner seemed so cordial, so sincere, so completely trustworthy that it made one feel like rejecting him would be a crime.

Then she heard him say--

"For the time being, I hope you will continue keeping my identity a secret, and not tell Ning Wan."

Shao Lili felt a little light-headed. "Huh?"