CH 41.2

Though inside Fu Zheng was feeling dissatisfied, he didn't say anything, bowing his head and drinking his soup. He was a partner, not a little man who haggled over every little ounce.

But just as he resolved not to care about it, Chen Shuo went out of his way to provoke him--

"Lawyer Fu, it seems like you got a much smaller bowl of soup compared to me."

“……”

"It seems like Senior Sister is still very considerate," Chen Shuo smiled.

Considerate? Fu Zheng sneered inside. She was considerate to you! You didn't deserve that big bowl, yet you're still here flaunting it...

Chen Shuo had been falling behind in casework, and now that he had found a weakness, he was clearly unwilling to let it slide. As Fu Zheng drank his chicken soup with a poker face, Chen Shuo continued kicking him while he was down--

"Don't you see how Senior Sister Ning Wan is thinking of you here, Lawyer Fu?" he said brightly. "Actually, it makes a lot of sense for you to have less and for me to have more, so Senior Sister must be doing it for your own good. You see, chicken soup is very high in purine, and that's not very good for older folk to drink too much of. That's especially so for men in their thirties - drinking too much purine raises uric acid and makes it easy for them to get gout. Senior Sister must have taken this into account, and left the larger portion of chicken soup to me, since I'm younger. After all, you can't fool others with the state of your health...."

Fu Zheng felt like he was about to explode. Thirty was the flower of a man's youth! Why was he all of a sudden too old to drink chicken soup for fear of gout? This Chen Shuo, just a few years younger than himself, harped on about his age every day. Wouldn't he be thirty in the future too? Look how anxious he was being now, but when thirty came he wouldn't even be as good as Fu Zheng currently was!

He kept telling himself that he should be magnanimous, that he should keep his composure, that he shouldn't argue with his juniors. He was a senior partner, and he should be tolerant and broad-minded like a senior partner should be. How could he possibly lower himself to argue with Chen Shuo, a haughty little rooster in the throes of courtship? He was only being naturally hostile because Fu Zheng himself was so excellent. It was normal for a young man to feel challenged when up against a powerful rival...

But even though he kept telling himself these things constantly to comfort himself, Fu Zheng was in very low spirits. He could accept Chen Shuo's hostility, but Ning Wan couldn't do this to him. He and her had handled this case together, the bowl of soup Chen Shuo had drank was something he had earned. So why had Ning Wan given him more? Did she also feel that he was too old to drink something high in purine? Did she also think he was old?

Although he had defeated Chen Shuo in both quality and efficiency at work, thanks to a bowl of chicken soup Fu Zheng felt like he had lost a crushing defeat.

No matter how delicious it was, he couldn't drink another mouthful.

Gao Yuan had been feeling very accomplished lately. He found that he had become a very essential man who was needed by his friends nearly every day. After having called him several days in a row, Fu Zheng had asked him to dinner together again today.

But for some unknown reason, his friend was looking very unhappy today.

"What's wrong? Feeling tired of the community? Thinking about leaving early?"

Fu Zheng shook his head. "No."

……

Gao Yuan asked a few more questions, probing tentatively. Unfortunately, Fu Zheng didn't seem to be in high spirits. His answers were monosyllabic and he obviously had something on his mind, but he wouldn't say anything about it. Nothing improved until Fu Zheng received an email notification and bent his head to read the email on his phone--

At first, he frowned in a dignified manner, but as time went on and he continued reading the email, his face lit up once again, sweeping away his previous depression and even looking rather proud. For a moment, Gao Yuan had a rather inappropriate mental association - if the Fu Zheng of just now was like a defeated rooster, then now he was like a refreshed one, ready to fight his next cockfight!

But for an email to make Fu Zheng's mood fluctuate so greatly, Gao Yuan felt that he had come to understand why he had been in such a bad mood previously - he must have encountered some difficulty at work!

He knew Fu Zheng quite well. He was a man who rarely had big emotional swings about personal matters. The only thing that could have made him so down must be work. The man had a fanatical desire for victory with regards to his career. It was very likely that he was feeling agitated because some case wasn't going smoothly. Now he had gotten an email in which he had obtained some sort of enlightenment, or perhaps gained the client's recognition, so he was once again sitting up straight.

Gao Yuan heaved a sigh. He still had a lot to learn from Fu Zheng!

To have one's emotions tied to one's professionalism and persistence at work! He was still far away.

Fu Zheng had really been feeling depressed when he had invited Gao Yuan out to dinner. No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't reconcile himself.

He had worked in the community for several months, carefully hiding his identity, never resisting Ning Wan's many lectures, actively helping with cases, even giving up his high-flying, elite tastes for the sake of seeming down-to-earth! And yet, Ning Wan still suspected that he was...

Fu Zheng had not yet allowed the word "old" to reach the edges of his mind before his phone buzzed with an email notification.

He pressed his lips together and opened it. In the 'Sender' column, in big bold font, was "Ning Wan".

Ever since the last time they had done case analysis, he and Ning Wan had kept up email exchanges in which he tutored her. Ning Wan responded to him very quickly every time, and she had grown a great deal from her initial carelessness to a much more thorough analysis of cases and a smoother approach. Of course, every time she replied, she couldn't help but throw in a little bootlicking.

This time was no exception. In her reply, Ning Wan did her level best to butter him up thoroughly...

Regrettably, Fu Zheng was not at all happy this time, because the more he read her flattery, the more he felt like something felt off--

"Listening to your words is better than reading books for ten years! Your opinion on this case is so original, and I've benefited so much from hearing it!

"You're surely a boss worthy of respect!"

"You have so much experience! I hope that by the time I reach your age, I'll be half as good a lawyer as you!"

Reading between the lines, this was absolutely the respectful manner of a junior to her senior generation! 'By the time I reach your age'?! Fu Zheng fumed. What was wrong with his age? How old was he? Was he really so old as to have one foot in the grave?!

Although Ning Wan was complimenting him on being amiable and approachable, an elite at work who was willing to go out of his way to groom his subordinates, if you read between the lines, didn't she obviously feel in her heart that he was an old man?

Fu Zheng took a deep breath, held it in, and decided not to reply to Ning Wan's email tonight. He just wasn't in the mood.

But when he scrolled down to the bottom, he found that this email hadn't ended in the usual flattery. Ning Wan had added a paragraph at the end--

"In addition, I would like to recommend to you my colleague Fu Zheng. He graduated from a well-known law school in the United States, and has an excellent resume and education. In addition, he's very practical and willing to work. Even when taking on the little cases here in the community, he is proactive, dedicated and learns very fast..."

"He treats his colleagues well, has a reliable character, and is very capable professionally. If in the future you form a team, perhaps you might also consider including him? If it's convenient for you, I could ask him to send you his resume later."

……

Fu Zheng gazed down. One side of his mouth was rising unbeknownst to himself.

Who cared about a bowl of chicken soup? Chen Shuo was just so much rubbish!

Chicken soup was no more than some superficial gesture. Willing to write an email to the senior partner on his behalf was true recognition!

Fu Zheng suddenly felt great.

He was second to none in Ning Wan's heart after all.

Even though she herself had not yet successfully joined the 'senior partner's' team, she had still been willing to put in a good word in for him. She hadn't even held back for fear that he would push her out by taking up a slot in the quota. Even if he had to drink a smaller portion of chicken soup for a whole year, Fu Zheng felt like it was worth it.

Furthermore, for a lawyer, the most important thing was knowing how to think outside of the box. One had to treat guests in a more reserved manner, while being more casual with one's own. Perhaps Ning Wan had given Chen Shuo more chicken soup because she thought of him as a guest? And less to himself because she felt like he was one of the team, so it didn't matter if he took one for it? She hadn't even explained the matter to him, which told him that she was quite confident that he wouldn't be upset over a bowl of chicken soup. Meanwhile Chen Shuo got the bigger portion - was she worried that he would kick up a fuss if he got the smaller bowl?

Who was a close friend and who was a distant acquaintance was immediately apparent.

Ning Wan was still a talent worthy of cultivation, Fu Zheng thought lightly. Such foresight wasn't bad. When comparing himself and Chen Shuo, her sharp eyes must have distinguished his own excellence, and instead of Chen Shuo, she had recommended himself.

He felt that insight like this should be encouraged and rewarded. Ignoring Gao Yuan, he began writing his reply to Ning Wan.

Gao Yuan had watched Fu Zheng's every move. Sure enough, once that unfamiliar case had been solved, a smile returned to Fu Zheng's eyes. But he didn't stop there. Right then and there, he began to reply to the email, a slight smile bending his mouth, working so selflessly that he even forgot about Gao Yuan himself sitting right there. However, Gao Yuan didn't feel left out at all. With admiration in his heart, he marveled at Fu Zheng's dedication to his work. Sure enough, he was a model for their generation, a man worthy of respect!