CH 48.1

But regardless, the honey trap did end up working. Yao H, defeated by that gaze, finally nodded and said, "Senior Yu Feiyuan has always had a good attitude about his studies. Teacher Gu said too that he was very conscientious, but even though both he and Senior Shu Ning are doctoral students, Teacher Gu has an obvious preference for Senior Shu Ning, because she published a number of articles in highly regarded journals during her time at school."

"But Professor Gu doesn't judge Yu Feiyuan to be too bad?"

"In the beginning it was alright, but then..." Yao H bit her lip. "The last time we hosted a celebration for Professor Gu's birthday, he drank too much and then ranted about Senior Yu Feiyuan. That's how I found out that Professor Gu actually hates him."

"Why does he hate him? Is it because of Shu Ning? Since they're married they're tarred with the same brush?"

Yao H glanced up at Fu Zheng, then shook her head. "Teacher Gu said that Senior Yu Feiyuan looked honest on the outside, but was unexpectedly calculating. He told us a lot while he was drunk."

"We always used to envy Senior Shu Ning and Senior Yu Feiyuan, because both of them had already had several works published in well-known journals by the time they graduated. Most of them had Senior Shu Ning as the first author and Senior Yu Feiyuan as the second; however, later on there were a few where Senior Yu Feiyuan was the first and Senior Sister the second1. In short, it appeared to us at the time that they were a true power couple, but Teacher Gu told us that this wasn't the case..."

"Teacher Gu said that, in fact, Senior Brother wasn't good at his studies at all. He got listed as second author all because he was courting Senior Shu Ning at the time. Senior Shu Ning was in love with him and felt like she should help her boyfriend out. Also, Senior Shu Ning was the actual writer of the works in which Senior Brother was first author in. She had been the ghostwriter all along but she let him take the title of first author..."

It did seem very much like Shu Ning's style. Sacrificing herself for love, paving the way for her loved one's future, without desire for power or reputation. Because of that, she had been willing to hand over even the credit of first author to Yu Feiyuan.

"Professor Gu used to praise Senior Shu Ning, but now he regards her as a cautionary tale. Every time he drinks, he can't help but nag at us female students, worrying about us and telling us not to lose all our brains just because we're in love. We should always put ourselves first, love ourselves before loving others, put our careers first; we aren't getting a PhD just to go back home, assist our husbands and educate our sons2..."

Even through Yao H's paraphrasing, Ning Wan could imagine Professor Gu's inner regret while saying this. For an elderly professor who treasured talent, it must have been like fate to have come across a talented student like Shu Ning. However, not only had this student not chosen to stay in academia, but she hadn't even chosen business. Instead, she had married and had children, caged herself up at home with her family, and even cut off her teacher and all her previous contacts, as if wanting to make a clean break with the past and concentrate on being a canary...

Fu Zheng asked Yao H about a few more details, ending the investigation, then thanked her.

Blushing a little, Yao H asked nervously, "Lawyer Fu, could you add me on WeChat? If I remember anything in the future, I can tell you then."

Fu Zheng of course took out his phone, smiling, and added her as a contact.

This was normal for a case, but for no reason at all Ning Wan felt like casting him a reproachful look. When they left the school, she could finally no longer contain herself--

"Women need to use their brains when falling in love, and so should men." She glanced at Fu Zheng, then pretended to look away carelessly. "Cases first, love second."

When she said this, Fu Zheng first looked stunned. Then immediately after, he looked at her and smiled. "Got it."

Ning Wan coughed uncomfortably. "It's just that... I can kind of be half counted as your teacher, so to prevent you from repeating Shu Ning's mistakes, if you're about to fall in love and not sure if the other person is suitable or not, you should first let me take a look. I have a... how should I put it? A much more cynical eye than you..."

"I'm not in love." Fu Zheng met her eyes, then lowered his gaze. "I'm just an intern lawyer at thirty. I haven't achieved anything in my career yet, so I'm not qualified to talk about falling in love."

Ning Wan didn't understand what was going on with her. When she saw Fu Zheng seemingly showing signs of love, she wasn't happy. When she heard Fu Zheng say that he wanted to concentrate on his career and had no intention of falling in love, she wasn't happy...

She dumped the idea and decided to first focus on the Shu Ning case--

"Now that we have a better understanding of the situation, what do you think of this case?"

Fu Zheng pursed his lips. "It won't be an easy fight, and it may drag on for a long time. Yu Feiyuan probably won't agree to a divorce, but he's quite intelligent, and there's hardly any evidence to prove the emotional split between them. Even Shu Ning's injury will be hard to use as evidence because she didn't report it to the police in time. Also, I've looked up the legal precedents. So long as the man admits that he was the one at fault, even in the case of domestic violence, many courts won't grant a divorce the first time it's requested3."

The case had progressed to this point, so they still had to seek another avenue for breakthrough.

"But no matter how difficult, Shu Ning and Yu Feiyuan must get divorced." When Ning Wan thought of Shu Ning, her heart felt heavy. "Did you notice? Yu Feiyuan was not only physically violent to Shu Ning, but also emotionally abusive. He fell in love with her, yet took advantage of her to support himself. On the one hand he used her, and then on the other he suppressed her, envied her, and guarded against her. He brainwashed her into thinking that men should go out and women should stay at home. I even suspect that Yu Feiyuan was the one to brainwash her into cutting off contact with her former friends and relatives after marriage, passively shrinking her social circle. On top of that, at first Shu Ning was going to go out to work and put off having children, but then out of the blue she gets pregnant for no reason. Doesn't it sound suspicious if you think about it?"

Fu Zheng nodded. "Even when she wanted to go back to work and was sending out her resume, Yu Feiyuan went to great lengths to discourage it. And after she started at Deep Blue Machinery, he took every opportunity to amplify her mistakes and play down her ability."

Ning Wan hadn't had much hope for this evidence-seeking trip to the university. She had doubted herself, thinking that it would be a waste of time and lead to no inroads in the case. However, after talking with Yao H, she was glad that she had come.

She had thought that Yu Feiyuan and Shu Ning were just having general family and marriage disputes. However, the more they dug up on Yu Feiyuan, the more terrifying  she felt he was. He wasn't a simple scumbag who beat his wife, but a PUA master4!

Step by step, he had cut off Shu Ning's future path, cut off her past friends and relatives, discouraged her from working, and suppressed her self-esteem, so that even though Shu Ning had been subjected to domestic violence for many years, she didn't have anyone to turn to. After being beaten, an apology, a kneel, and some honeyed words was enough for her to choose to continue living in the same situation. Over time, she had even accepted his brainwashing to be true, completely losing her independence, and begun feeling like it was right and proper for a woman to serve and wait upon men.

Almost as soon as she got back to the community office, Ning Wan called to make another appointment with Shu Ning. She still had a few details to confirm--

"After you got married, did you delete the contact information of your former classmates and teachers? Why?" Ning Wan didn't feign politeness by beating around the bush, but asked straight out, "Did Yu Feiyuan ask you to do it?"

Shu Ning was obviously taken aback. "What does this have to do with getting a divorce?"

"Is it inconvenient for you to tell us?"

"No, it's nothing," Shu Ning smiled bitterly. "You went to my university, didn't you? Was it that when you mentioned me to Professor Gu, he wouldn't see you?"

Ning and Fu Zheng looked at each other and said nothing.

Shu Ning let out a long sigh. "I did indeed remove them for Feiyuan's sake." She reminisced, "In the beginning although I already graduated, I was in a group with several of my peers whom I was friends with, and we would chat from time to time. Mechanical engineering is mostly male, so most of the group consisted of boys. Honestly, we were just friends, but Feiyuan wouldn't believe that. He was jealous of anyone I talked to."

"He loved me so much then... He would get so jealous if I even spoke to someone else a bit longer than usual. Even if I chatted with Professor Gu, he could be unhappy for days, saying that he felt insecure, worrying that I might leave him at any time. He actually quarreled with me a few times over it. I was even willing to let him check my phone whenever he wanted. What did he have to be worried about? Then later, there was one time that he attempted suicide over the matter. I thought hard about it, and concluded that anyway, he's the one I'll be with in the future. It's more than enough to have one  lifelong companion, the rest of my friends are really just passers-by. Afraid of him doing something stupid again, I deleted all my previous friends and classmates, even Professor Gu."

Unexpectedly, Shu Ning was speaking about this horribly morbid, possessive past with regret and wistfulness written on her face. "You see how good our relationship used to be? He loved me so much that he would go green at the drop of a hat. He lived and died for me; he was willing to even give up his life for my sake. But now, he doesn't even feel distressed when he raises his fist to me..."

Ning Wan wanted to shake her hard and scream at her to wake up. Why should he give you his life or live and die for you? This wasn't some soppy romance novel. In reality, if you encountered someone with such a terribly paranoid personality, there should only be one word on your mind--

'Run!'

But sadly, Shu Ning hadn't run. She had indulged in the dream of love that Yu Feiyuan had woven for her and obediently cut off contact with her former friends and teacher. She had allowed herself to be mediocre, and placed herself at his mercy,  so much so that now, wanting a divorce due to domestic violence, she didn't even know the details of the property her family owned.

Thankfully, at least she had decided to get a divorce. So long as she kept away from him, she could always start a new life.

Ning Wan wanted to tell her everything about Yu Feiyuan's true self right then and there, but Shu Ning interrupted her. She checked the time a little haggardly and said, "I have to pick up my daughter soon. It's almost time for school to let out. Lawyers, if anything else comes up, I'll call you."

Ning Wan checked the time too and didn't want to stubbornly delay Shu Ning any longer. Anyway, she was trying to get a divorce. The next time they talked, there would be plenty of time to expose Yu Feiyuan's true face.