CH 35

Fu Zheng came to sluggishly, felt like he no longer wanted to die quite so much, and scrounged up some small desire for survival. He gave Gao Yuan a call. "Come pick me up."

Quite naturally, Gao Yuan couldn't help but gloat a little. Knowing perfectly well already what was going on, he asked, "Oh, but Fu Zheng, you're always so busy. If you just say 'come pick me up', how could I possibly know where you are?"

Fu Zheng gnashed his teeth. "Don't you already know that?"

"Oh, oh," Gao Yuan sniggered, "You must be in your new 'mansion', right? At Yuelan community? I'll come right to your front door."

"Mn," Fu Zheng grunted in agreement, then suddenly remembered something and changed his words, "Hold on, don't come to the door. Wait for me in the alley by the corner of Yuelan's south gate."

In the mood to watch a drama, Gao Yuan soon arrived at the spot Fu Zheng had mentioned. The alleyway wasn't too far from the south gate where Fu Zheng was walking over from, yet he still hadn't appeared even though Gao Yuan had been waiting for nearly a half hour.

With such long legs, shouldn't Fu Zheng be able to cover this distance pretty fast?

Gao Yuan got out of the car and dawdled around for another ten minutes before finally encountering Fu Zheng at the intersection.

It was just that..... Fu Zheng, that ordinarily cold-faced, haughty, brisk walker... Though his face was just as chilly and imposing as it had always been, his legs... were a little bit off...

Gao Yuan stared wide-eyed as he watched Fu Zheng limping slowly toward him...

He really wanted to ask Fu Zheng what was wrong with his leg. But before he could say anything, Fu Zheng looked at him in a rather deflated manner--

"Don't ask."

“……”

After saying that, Fu Zheng didn't look at Gao Yuan again. He only pursed his lips, stony-faced, and opened the car door. But when he bent to get in, who know what nerve he struck - pain flashed across his face for an instant. However, in the end he endured and got into the car, trying to look tough.

From observation, it looked like he had pulled his back, and maybe an injury to his leg...

Gao Yuan got back into the car as well, already quite clear in his heart about what was going on. "Got hurt moving furniture?"

Almost immediately, Fu Zheng denied it through clenched teeth. "No."

Right on the money.

"Aren't you stronger than a porter?" Gao Yuan teased, unable to help himself.

Fu Zheng leveled a death glare at him. "You're talking a lot today, do you happen to have any last words you'd like to say?"

"Hahahaha, why do you always get so angry when you're feeling embarrassed? Why didn't you say anything when you were playing porter for Ning Wan? It must have been difficult pretending to be normal just now with that foot and back, mustn't it?"

Loosening his tie, Fu Zheng gave Gao Yuan a long, hard look. "Do you or do you not believe that I'm capable of strangling you with this tie right now?"

Gao Yuan shut up while he was ahead. But before long, he had a new question. "But with your foot like this, why didn't you just let me pick you up at the door? Aren't you just hurting yourself by limping all the way to that little alley?"

After getting into the car, Fu Zheng seemed to relax. He pulled his shirt collar open and loosened his tie further. "There are too many people who know me in the community, and gossip spreads quickly. I was afraid that Ning Wan might eventually hear about you picking me up, and then she'll make another scene."

Gao Yuan blinked in confusion. "Fu Zheng, it's none of my business, but aren't you trying a little too hard to maintain the status quo? And what do you mean, Ning Wan will make a scene? What's wrong with you and I coming into contact? Even if you're currently an intern, isn't it normal for me to ask an intern to do something for me?"

“……”

Fu Zheng's reaction to this line of questioning seemed a bit odd. He glanced at Gao Yuan, looked awkward, and finally mumbled, "Let's just say it's a bit odd for me to be in contact with you right now. I mean, I'm just an intern in the community. I shouldn't normally have so many opportunities to contact a senior partner. We'd better keep away from each other in the future, so that Ning Wan won't see."

Gao Yuan felt rather confused. How had his friendship with Fu Zheng turned into some sort of secret affair?

"Why does Ning Wan kind of sound like your Empress1, while I'm some mistress who has to be kept out of sight?"

"What do you mean, 'Empress'," Fu Zheng said, stone-faced. "And what makes you think that you could be my mistress? With my taste, I'd never take you as a mistress. You're a drunken one-night-stand at most."

? ? ?

Gao Yuan felt like that this friendship might not be able to go on.

The two of them went to their usual restaurant to eat, where Gao Yuan promptly demanded that Fu Zheng repay his favour--

"I'm a partner, I can't just work as a chauffeur for nothing. Come on, it's time for you to repay my kindness." As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of paper. "Here I have a case of insolvency and restructuring, but I keep feeling like the client is hiding something, and maybe dug some sort of trap for our lawyer. Something feels wrong to me, but I can't quite pinpoint what. Give me your opinion."

Fu Zheng didn't refuse. He picked up the stack and took a look. Unexpectedly, the case was quite complicated. After reading through the materials, the two of them discussed and analyzed and finally came to a conclusion. By then it was time for the restaurant to close, and as Gao Yuan prepared to send him home, he found that it had gotten very late.

Because community lawyers began their shift very early, Fu Zheng had gotten into the habit of going to bed early and getting up early. When Gao Yuan looked in the rearview mirror, he found his friend looking visibly exhausted and rubbing his eyes in fatigue. But even though tired and in a moving car, Fu Zheng was nonetheless typing out something on his phone. He looked quite serious. By Gao Yuan's understanding of him, he was obviously returning some sort of professional email.

"You haven't officially started yet, have you? Your team isn't put together yet, and I haven't seen you picking up any cases at all. Why are you still writing emails at midnight?" Gao Yuan counseled, "Weren't you going to the community for a little vacation to give your mind a break? Don't put so much effort into it. There's no end to work, send the email tomorrow."

Although this guy had earned his place as a partner, he was by nature somewhat pampered and had the temper of a coddled rich young master. He had no major cases currently that would warrant him pushing through fatigue to reply to emails while in a car, and he definitely wasn't the type to be a workaholic racing against time to finish the work from today...

But despite Gao Yuan's guidance, Fu Zheng's hands didn't stop. He covered his mouth as he yawned again, tears coming to his eyes, but he forced himself to keep them open and kept on typing. A long time later, he finally put down his phone, taking a deep breath as if he had finally completed some task--

"I guess she won't have to wait any longer."

?

What did he mean by 'wait'? Gao Yuan was baffled. When had Fu Zheng ever cared about the lives of the clients waiting for his reply? It seems like the community experience has really grounded him; for him to have become so approachable! It brought tears to the eye!

But what Gao Yuan didn't know was that after Fu Zheng clicked 'Send', in a room on the other side of Rong City Ning Wan heard the 'ding' of an email prompt. She swept away her drowsiness and immediately turned on her phone.

She had been on tenterhooks ever since getting home, and now finally the next email from the senior partner had arrived!

What was truly touching though, was that in this new email, the senior partner had given her the new topic in exhausting detail, down to the evidence and contracts carefully listed in the appendix.

This was obviously special treatment!

Ning Wan downloaded everything in a state of pious gratitude, feeling like a poor student behind in their studies who had just been given a makeup lesson from the teacher for free. In addition to catching up with her classmates and gaining fame as repayment, Ning Wan felt obligated to meet the senior partner's requirements as quickly as she could, join his team, and then repay him in the future by slaving for him like an ox!

Caught up in this tremendous surge of grateful passion and fervour, Ning Wan stayed up all night to finish the case analysis. This time, she carefully wrote down all the various possible strategies she had thought out, analyzed them, marked the one she thought was the best, and sent it back before going to sleep.

As could be expected, thanks to staying up all night Ning Wan went to work the next day with dark circles under her eyes. Although she had only slept a little, however, she was in good spirits due to being very motivated. Fu Zheng, on the other hand, looked gaunt. He was also moving slowly for some reason, perhaps due to not having slept well. Although his countenance remained composed and unperturbed, today Fu Zheng was walking very, very slow...

"Are you okay, Fu Zheng?"

But when Ning Wan expressed her concern, Fu Zheng's face screamed "I won't admit anything". His lips pinched together, he said only, "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

It was an obvious refusal to communicate.

Ning Wan observed him carefully for a while as he was answer phone consultations, and saw no suspicious scars. But when she watched his posture as he walked, he seemed to be having some strange stiffness in his back and hips. And when she looked at his legs, he seemed to be having difficulty taking steps, as if he had been injured somewhere...

He was clearly feeling uncomfortable somewhere, yet he refused to talk about it. It must be something very private and sensitive to be so difficult to talk about. What injury or disease could possibly make a man so unwilling to speak about it? Then lightning struck. Ning Wan had a sudden flash of inspiration. She had it!

Hemorrhoids!

Nine out of ten men experienced hemorrhoids2. If Fu Zheng had such a condition, was that what it was? Was that why he was walking as if he had sprained both his foot and his back? In reality, he was just afraid that he might take too big a step and aggravate that unspeakable wound...

At that thought, even Ning Wan suddenly felt a little sympathy.

Hemorrhoids at only 30 years old, and it looks quite serious. Poor thing.

Following this line of thought, Ning Wan began feeling even more worried about Fu Zheng. When it was finally time to get off work, she hastily held him back. "Wait for me at your place!"

"What?" Fu Zheng frowned. 

"You head over to your new place, rest up, and wait for me. I'll go buy you some stuff from the supermarket." Ning Wan said unhurriedly despite Fu Zheng's stunned expression. "I know it's not too convenient for you to walk around at the moment. Don't worry, I've got you. Since I'm your mentor, I shouldn't only care about you at work, but also in life."

When Fu Zheng heard her words, he felt some surprise. Ning Wan was generally a little slapdash in ordinary life, who would have thought she would be so unexpectedly observant? After he had tried so hard to pretend that he was okay, she had actually seen through his sprained foot and back? It seemed like she was after all very attentive...

Although he couldn't quite contain his own expression, Fu Zheng felt rather touched. "Thank you. I didn't expect you to figure it out, but honestly, it's no big deal. I can take a few minor injuries. You don't have to buy me anything, thanks for the thought."

But Ning Wan insisted. "How can I let you do that! You'll definitely move into your new home as soon as possible if I have anything to say about it! Wait there, I'll be right back!"

Fu Zheng's newly acquired feelings of affection vanished immediately. Moving into that second-hand 'mansion' as soon as possible was completely unnecessary...

But Ning Wan had already run off with the shopping bags without allowing him the opportunity to dissuade her.

With no way out, Fu Zheng didn't even try to pretend anymore. Ning Wan already knew about his sprained ankle and back. He limped helplessly over to the second-hand house in Yuelan community that he had just bought.

Although he hadn't thought too highly of the house, and the second-hand furniture was shockingly cheap, he had to admit that Ning Wan had done a remarkable job decorating it. After they had bought second-hand furniture that day, she had bought a number of plants and flowers at nearby stalls. Now the whole house brimmed with lush greenery. Sitting down, Fu Zheng discovered that the whole place was full of life.

The feeling became even more obvious after Ning Wan came in, face flushed, with a bulging bag in each hand. Fu Zheng attempted to take them from her, but she waved him off--

"Don't, don't. You're hurt, and it won't be easy for you. Go rest, and I'll take care of it."

It seemed like she wouldn't let him work even over her dead body. A little red and sweaty, she put away the two bags. As Fu Zheng was just about to get her a glass of water, she hurried back downstairs, leaving behind only the drifting sound of her voice--

"There are a few more bags downstairs. I'll bring them up right away!"

Several back and forth trips later, Ning Wan finally finished moving everything. Fu Zheng took a closer look. Aside from the basic necessities, she had also bought him a 20kg bag of rice, oils, seasonings, pots and pans, and toiletries...

Fu Zheng watched her taking things out of the bags and putting them away, feeling a little dumbfounded. Was she buying him everything that he could possibly need?

"You..."

"You should move out of the room you were renting as soon as you can. I'll help you clean this place up, make it look nice, replenish anything else you need. Now you can live in your own house and feel like you belong." After helping him sort everything out, Ning Wan pulled a cushion from the shopping bag. "Here, this is for you. I saw the supermarket selling it, and thought you might need it, so I got you one."

Fu Zheng looked at the cushion. It was rather odd-looking, in a style he had never seen before. It was soft and comfortable to the touch, but there was a hole in the middle, making it look like a doughnut.

But since Ning Wan had just handed it to him, chances were she had bought it only because she had realized he had hurt his back. Fu Zheng put it behind his back and leaned back gently, raising his rating of her in her heart.

Frankly speaking, Ning Wan really was a nice person, cheerful and enthusiastic. Having carried several heavy bags back and forth, her hair was stuck to her cheeks from sweat and she was a bit of a mess. But when Fu Zheng looked at her, he couldn't help but feel like she was adorable, that her rosy cheeks and bright eyes were all without exception pleasing to the eye.

Although she was a little silly and gullible, Fu Zheng didn't think it would matter much. So long as she entered his team, he would be her mentor, and as her mentor he would protect her and prevent her from ever being conned or swindled. Busy thinking along these lines, he didn't even realize that he was already thinking of Ning Wan as his future team member...

But at that very moment, Ning Wan's voice interrupted his thoughts--

"Not behind your back! Put it under your butt!"

Stunned, Fu Zheng realized that she was talking about the cushion. "Is this really a cushion?" he asked, a little suspicious.

It didn't really look like one...

Ning Wan nodded as if implying something. "Yes! It's especially made for you-know-where."

Was this cushion particularly comfortable for the back?

Fu Zheng was a little confused, but he took her advice and sat on the cushion. But even after sitting on it for a moment, he didn't feel what it was supposed to be doing. Instead it felt a little weird, but when he thought of how Ning Wan had bought it just for him, Fu Zheng didn't move it away. He just sat and watched her bustle around his second-hand "mansion".

Ning Wan had a delicate and fragile type of beauty, but she was unexpectedly robust. In a very short time, she had put away all the things she had bought. Though Fu Zheng's back pain wasn't serious, she wouldn't let him stand. All by herself, she cleaned his second-hand house and put it in order, finishing off by running downstairs to throw away two bags of garbage.

Although he had wasted money on a small second-hand home and a bunch of second-hand furniture, Fu Zheng looked around and discovered for the first time that he might have found a treasure. Now that Ning Wan had decorated it, the apartment was surprisingly lovely.

Taking advantage of her taking out the garbage, Fu Zheng went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was stocked with drinks, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruit enough to last two days. Although the decor, furniture and layout were not of high quality, he no longer felt like they were quite so cheap. A small spider plant sat on the windowsill, and a wind chime hung on the balcony. In every detail shone the cozy, pleasant warmth of life.

For a moment, Fu Zheng's heart felt a little warm. He thought about the cushion that Ning Wan had bought just for him, and even felt that if she joined his team in the future and became his subordinate, she would likely turn out to be a devoted employee and confidante. It was just the strange shape of this cushion that that really made him curious. He searched online for "back cushion", but found no similar shopping results, so he didn't know if it was expensive or not.

But regardless, Fu Zheng felt like it was the thought that counted.

He put the cushion back on the sofa, took a few casual photos of the rather pleasant room, and proudly sent them to Gao Yuan--

"Look at the place Ning Wan just fixed up for me."

Gao Yuan's team consisted completely of nerdy male lawyers. They were competent, but not attentive. Fu Zheng had heard Gao Yuan grumbling about his subordinates' plenty of times. Not a single one of them was even insightful, much less as considerate as Ning Wan.

As expected, Gao Yuan returned the text very quickly.

Fu Zheng smiled a small smile, ready to bask in Gao Yuan's intense envy and hate. But when he opened WeChat, Gao Yuan's reply was exactly the opposite of what he had expected--

“???? Fu Zheng????? Do you have hemorrhoids????”

Fu Zheng frowned, pursing his lips. So it was true that 'envy made a man unrecognizable'. Gao Yuan was so jealous that he was actually cursing him with hemorrhoids.

"Don't be so jealous," he typed back.

"No? What would I be jealous of? Jealous of your hemorrhoids? Hahahaha!" Apparently, Gao Yuan was so jealous that he ended up simply calling Fu Zheng up. "No need to hide it from me, I get it," he said over the phone, his tone full of schadenfreude.

What do you mean, 'you get it'? Fu Zheng laughed in anger. You're just jealous!

But Gao Yuan said firmly and mockingly, "Your cushion has already explained it all."

Fu Zheng frowned. "What?"

I wanted him to look at the home decor, what was he looking at the cushion for?

"What about the cushion?"

"Fu Zheng, you can't fool me, that's a hemorrhoid pillow if I've ever seen one! You think I wouldn't know?! Don't you remember how my dad had to have his hemorrhoids removed? He had me buy this after the appointment! How are you having to use it at your age?"

"..." Fu Zheng felt like he couldn't breathe. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "Would you kindly tell me again what kind of cushion this is?"

"A hemorrhoid pillow hahahahahaha....."

Fu Zheng hung up amid the raucous sound of Gao Yuan's laughter. Poker-faced, he opened a shopping website on his phone and this time, searched for "hemorrhoid pillow"...

A minute later, a good number of colourful 'doughnuts' very similarly shaped to the cushion he was holding popped up in the search list. Fu Zheng bit his lip, found the one that looked exactly the same and clicked--

"Hip buttock cushion office sedentary posture-raising hemorrhoid prostate care chair cushion"

“……”

“…………”

“………………”

Fu Zheng didn't understand. When had he gotten hemorrhoids?!?

He felt like he had been blind. He had wasted his time believing Ning Wan to be observant, considerate and attentive. Was this being 'observant'? This was blind speculation1! All that was going on was that his ankle and back were strained from moving furniture, so he had a little limp. How had it morphed into hemorrhoids? How on earth had  Ning Wan arranged this 'obvious' part for him to play in her own little mental drama?

And was she a lawyer or wasn't she? Shouldn't a lawyer be able to analyze and think logically? Could a lousy cushion like this not only relieve hemorrhoid pain, but also change one's posture and maintain the prostate? Couldn't she have used her head a little when she was buying it?! This thing wasn't cheap!

Not only that, this one was the most expensive one on the Internet, made out of some sort of memory foam and breathable cotton. When Fu Zheng saw the price he almost laughed in disbelief - two hundred yuan! A full two hundred yuan! She could have bought a whole pile of second-hand home decor for that! If she was going to waste her money on something, why on the hemorrhoid pillow?! Was Ning Wan really qualified to teach him how to save money???

Fu Zheng, busy feeling like he was about to explode over a hemorrhoid pillow, didn't even realize that he was reduced to thinking it was good value for money to buy second-hand decorations for 200 yuan.