Chapter 138: Chapter 61 (part 1)

Despite running around for the better part of a day, in the end Ning Wan and Fu Zheng returned fruitless. Raising her wrist to check her watch, Ning Wan saw that the time was close to when they would get off work.

Although she still felt like she hadn't done enough to give Chen Shuo satisfaction, she should keep him abreast of the recent progress. Anyway, she hadn't visited him for several days now, so she planned on going to visit Chen Shuo in the hospital that day.

In the past, every time she went to visit Fu Zheng had always campaigned eagerly to go as well. She had no doubt that if she mentioned visiting Chen Shuo, Fu Zheng would certainly want to go as well.

It's just that Ning Wan didn't want to go with Fu Zheng today. After switching from work mode to personal mode, looking at Fu Zheng made her heart feel like food had lost its taste. When she thought about it, not only did she feel bad for herself, but also for the wasted cherries.

Thank goodness she had bought discounted Shandong cherries instead of imported ones. At least she didn't have to first shed blood, then tears; no love and no money. Did you know that the price of imported cherries was several times that of Shandong cherries?!

But well, it was cheap for a reason. These discounted Shandong cherries weren't sweet at all, but so sour that it felt like your teeth were going to fall out. Ning Wan had eaten a few last night and could still recall that puckering feeling until today. Thanks to Fu Zheng's rejection, she now felt like whole pot of fermented, sour cherries had been stuffed into her heart.

Not only did it make one's chest tight, but also a general feeling of being unwell.

When she compared how uppity and conceited Fu Zheng had been upon his arrival to the community to how he was now, a considerate gentleman, grounded yet cultured, it felt like she had given someone else a boyfriend that she had carefully groomed for herself.

The more Ning Wan thought about it, the more upset she felt. She had lost a lot this round. Fu Zheng, that pig, was just about ready for the slaughter, and she was about to give him away without having even had a bite of pork!

Thanks to this, although she did like eating pork, even looking at the pig wasn't pleasing right now.

And as if he didn't know what he should be leaving well alone right now, that pig himself was still ignorant enough to ask, "What are you doing tonight? Do you have any plans?"

You turned me down, what do you care what I do at night?!

Although Ning Wan felt angry at first, after thinking about it, she just couldn't be angry at Fu Zheng. She laughed and said, "I'll going home to sleep."

"You've been working quite hard recently, make sure to rest."

……

Ning Wan absently exchanged a few polite words with Fu Zheng before they parted. She wasn't ready to go home and sleep, of course. Instead, when Fu Zheng was gone, she  turned and made her way toward the hospital.

She decided to first visit Chen Shuo, then go home to review and prepare for the senior partner's written examination.

 

Meanwhile, Fu Zheng's mother was being discharged tonight. She was in the same hospital as Chen Shuo, but in the VVIP ward, so he had specially confirmed Ning Wan's itinerary for fear that she might be at the hospital visiting Chen Shuo while he was there. Before he worked out a complete confession plan, Fu Zheng didn't want his identity to be uncovered by Ning Wan, and he didn't want her to spend quiet time alone with Chen Shuo, either.

It was just that Ning Wan's attitude toward him was very strange today. Fu Zheng kept sensing her looking over at him.

But it wasn't the sort of look he wanted. To be precise, Fu Zheng had turned his head a few times while Ning Wan was staring at him, and when she hadn't looked awau quickly enough, he found that her eyes were ever so slightly murderous. It made a chill run down Fu Zheng's back.

Did Ning Wan have a problem with him?

But upon reflection, Fu Zheng felt like he hadn't done anything out of line recently. He  had kept in line, seemingly content with his lot. Perhaps he was just being paranoid because he was too concerned about Ning Wan...

But just ten minutes later, Fu Zheng realized that he wasn't overthinking--much-

When he went to bring his mother her medicine, he spotted Ning Wan, who claimed that she was going to home and sleep, in the hospital hallway. She was carrying a fruit basket and walking towards the inpatient department of orthopedics...

She was meeting up with Chen Shuo privately behind his back!

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The moment he realized this, Fu Zheng's heart sank.

Fu Zheng suppressed his emotions and sent his mother home. By the time he settled her in, his willpower had reached a critical point.

Perhaps there would never be a best time, only the soonest time.

Fu Zheng felt like he couldn't wait any longer. If he did, Ning Wan would be gone. He  had to put confessing his identity and his feelings on the agenda. Once this case was over with and Chen Shuo settled, he would plan his confession.

 

The next day, the two naturally returned to the community office and met once more in a decidedly stiff and unnatural manner.

Ning Wan's heart was in turmoil, and Fu Zheng wasn't much better. Both had ideas in their hearts, but fulfilled all the superficial niceties, so the clouds were calm and the breeze was light, with no great waves.

However, Fu Zheng was not occupying a large proportion of Ning Wan's internal drama at the moment, as she had more important things to worry about. In one day, the new senior partner would be holding a written examination for the selection of their team members. Although Ning Wan had pretended to be confident in front of Shao Lili, she was actually a little nervous.

The case of a falling dog had entered a bottleneck, and although Chen Shuo had been very understanding and reasonable about it, Ning Wan still blamed herself. She was usually pretty good at defending the rights of the community residents, but now she couldn't even help her schoolmate when he needed it most. She was feeling a little incapable and ashamed of herself.

In a case like this, it was actually quite reasonable to say that Ning Wan had done everything she should have. Lawyers weren't omnipotent, and at this point there was nothing more to be done. The situation now was quite clear - since the dog wasn't owned by the residents of the building where the accident had happened, it was obviously inappropriate to seek a claim from the residents. Before falling from the building, the dog had been lost under Tao Xing's watch, and because Wu Lie had stolen it, so since there was no evidence that a third person had deliberately intervened in its fall, in theory Wi Lie and Tao Xing together should be sharing the responsibility for the Chen Shuo's claim. As for how much they would each owe, it would be decided by a judge if negotiations failed. And if in the future, evidence of the third person was found, then Tao Xing and Wu Lie could recover their losses from them then.

It was just that...

It was just that neither Wu Lie and Tao Xing would ever agree to anything of the sort. Negotiation would probably be very difficult indeed.

Tao Xing was obviously unable to accept the fact that she might have to pay compensation. "If Wu Lie hadn't come to steal Duoduo, would Duoduo have been frightened enough to run away? It's wrong for me to have to pay for it! On top of that, Duoduo isn't stupid, he would never have jumped off a balcony by himself. If it wasn't Wu Lie, then there must be someone else who did this to him!"

Wu Lie as equally resistant. "Lawyers, look at what's happened to me. I'm a victim too! There are still wreaths at my door. Because of this damn dog, I've had to change the phone number I've used for over ten years. The landline had to be unplugged or I would get harassing calls in the middle of the night and have a nervous breakdown. I'm the one who should be defending my rights! There's no way I'll pay for that stupid dog, no way! I still have get my money's worth out of that woman Tao Xing, if she hadn't posted anything online, would I be like this? Isn't she the one doing something illegal?"

……

When Ning Wan and Fu Zheng met to talk, both sides were so adamant that they nearly got into a fight over it.

Negotiation seemed to be at a dead end, but prosecution wouldn't be the best way. For one thing, it would take too long, and for another, neither Wu Lie nor Tao Xing would believe the verdict. When you looked at the ups and downs of Tao Xing's emotions, she seemed very impulsive. Wu Lie currently being at the mercy of the Internet had much to do with her accusatory video.

"In Chen Shuo's case, even if we go the prosecution route and Tao Xing, the dog owner is found responsible for her pet injuring someone, what if she refuses to accept it, writes a little composition online and sends a video of her crying? Chen Shuo is a lawyer, and she might suggest that he's relying on relationships within the legal system. Then even if Chen Shuo isn't subjected to cyber violence, his reputation might be affected. Rong City is a small market, and in the future he'll still need to work and grow within the lawyer circles here."

Ning Wan frowned. She racked her brains, but still couldn't come up with anything good. "On top of that, if you disregard the ups and downs of Tao Xing's emotions, she's actually very smart. In actual fact, she didn't really disclose Wu Lie's personal information, and even mosiac'd him out of the video. Instead, she intensified public opinion and let the netizens do the dirty work to find out his details. Wu Lie can't sue her. I'm worried that this is what will happen to Chen Shuo in the future."

Lawyers were also human beings, and lawyers could also be victims. However, being a lawyer put them at a disadvantage in public opinion when defending themselves against laymen. From the public perspective, a lawyer was steeped in the legal environment, how many contacts might they have in the field? If they won the case, they might have done so by leaning on a relationship!

When Ning Wan thought of this, she speechlessly spat, "Seriously, the legal system is becoming more and more standardized these days. Even judges are afraid of being criticized online because they're acquainted with a lawyer. They desperately want to avoid suspicion, so if something crops up they immediately apply to withdraw. We lawyers aren't that powerful."

But despite the facts being so, the public didn't think that way. So Chen Shuo's case, prosecution was not the best solution.

Fu Zheng also agreed. "I think there is likely a third person involved in this case who either threw the dog or drove it off the balcony, because under normal circumstances, a pet dog would never just run upstairs and jump off a building without some sort of external interference. Maybe we can think about it from a different angle? Were there any kids chasing the dog around the building that day? Sometimes we overlook children. It's not impossible for a dog to jump off a building if it's afraid and trying to hide."

Ning Wan nodded. Perhaps she could ask Tao Xing if there were any children in the community who often chased her dog.

The two turned around back to Tao Xing's door, and as luck would have it, they ran into Tao Xing and her ex-husband Xia Junyi having a fight right in front of the door--