CH 54.1

Ning Wan decided to take action that very night, and returned home after bidding Cai Zhen goodbye. She dug through her phone's address book. Jin Jianhua had been lying in her blocked list since that last time; gritting her teeth and enduring nausea, she unblocked him, put herself into the correct frame of mind, and then sent him a text--

"Partner Jin, I think I've straightened out my thinking about what happened before. I was in the wrong, and would like to tell you in person. When might you be free to have dinner together?"

After carefully considering the words, making sure that no hint of her true feelings showed through in this short message, and that it really looked like she was admitting to a mistake and yet hinting hard in a euphemistic way, she clicked Send.

Sure enough, half an hour later, she received a reply from Jin Jianhua's reply--

"I have some time at six o'clock tomorrow night. See you at Yuecheng Hotel's Chinese restaurant."

Concise, nothing superfluous, and no position involuntarily revealed. Even if held up as evidence and documentation of context, it could prove nothing. It was very in line with Jin Jianhua's style. He was extremely prudent about his dirty matters.

Her appointment with Jin Jianhua set up, Ning Wan placed her recorder in her bag and went to sleep calculating her plan for tomorrow in her head.

Thankfully, the community was quite calm the next day. Except for a few occasional consultation calls, no one came for in-person consultations. But as they were about to leave work, Chen Shuo stopped her on her way out--

"Senior sister, are you free tonight? If you are, why don't we have dinner together? I said early I'd take you out to celebrate, but we haven't gone yet. My friend just recommended a private restaurant to me where you can only make appointments if you know the owner, so I made us a reservation in advance. What about going there tonight? " He glanced at Fu Zheng. "Are you free too, Lawyer Fu?"

Although Chen Shuo hoped that Fu Zheng would shake his head, it was not as he wished. Fu Zheng was free.

If Fu Zheng was free, then he was free. Anyway, for the matter of the Shu Ning case, Ning Wan would expect Fu Zheng to be invited as well, so Chen Shuo didn't mind. So long as he could have a meal with Ning Wan, he would volunteer to send her home afterward and spend some time alone with her that way.

Alas, the VIP wasn't available to participate in his beautiful plan.

Ning Wan turned Chen Shuo down, looking somewhat embarrassed. "We'll have to do it another day. I have something on tonight."

She pulled out her phone and pulled up the map app. It would take her about 20 minutes to get from community to Yuecheng Hotel. She considered the rush hour; she should probably give herself a half hour.

Ning Wan didn't actually have a very broad social circle. Chen Shuo could almost always guess who she was going to dinner with, but who did she have an appointment with tonight? If it was Shao Lili she would just have said so, but Ning Wan was obviously being a bit secretive about her dinner date tonight. Chen Shuo fished a little, but Ning Wan, who had always been quite casual in her words, never said anything about who it might be. It made him confused and curious, and what troubled him even more was that before work ended, she went suddenly into the bathroom to do her makeup. Now that he thought about it, she was wearing a bright red skirt and black heels today, which meant that she was serious about her date tonight. It gave Chen Shuo a very bad feeling and lent a sense of crisis.

Could it be that besides his domestic troubles with Fu Zheng he had to worry about some mysterious foreign aggression as well? Perhaps Fu Zheng wasn't even a competitor worthy of attention, but merely a front for this mystery man! Chen Shuo got more and more worried.

Ning Wan checked the clock, grabbed her bag and hurried off. As soon as she left, Chen Shuo couldn't help himself. Looking at Fu Zheng, he asked, "Do you know who Ning Wan is meeting up with tonight?"

As a result, Fu Zheng pursed his lips and looked back, seemingly quite calm. "No idea."

How could he still be so calm right now?!

"Didn't you see that she dressed up specially tonight?" Chen Shuo prodded gently. "I feel like she must be meeting a man, and one to whom she attaches great importance. Aren't you curious about who it is?"

Fu Zheng remained lukewarm. "No, not really."

Originally, Chen Shuo had wanted to nudge Fu Zheng a little. After all, at the key moments they should be united against any external influences. But unexpectedly, the fellow was like a child who couldn't be taught1. While Ning Wan was out with someone else, he himself wasn't idle. Chen Shuo watched him place a phone call, also make an appointment with his friend, and then leave, leaving Chen Shuo alone in the office to wonder who was having dinner with Ning Wan...

Ning Wan arrived at the hotel restaurant punctually at six o'clock. Although this Chinese restaurant didn't have private rooms, each table is separated by a painted landscape screen, which gave a sense of privacy and blocked out the sight of adjacent tables. It was very nice-looking, and of course rather expensive.

Jin Jianhua arrived a half hour late, perhaps to leave her out to dry a little.

Ever since she had been "exiled" to the community, they had hardly ever seen each other. All dressed up for tonight with her red skirt and ruby lips, she was stunning. When Jin Jianhua caught sight of her, he seemed stunned for a moment.

But then he sat down quickly, hid away his expressions, and asked sanctimoniously, "It's been a long time, Xiao Ning. How has the community been these last two years? Has working and living there been difficult?"

It was the sentence she had been waiting for.

Ning Wan played with her hair, tilting her head just right. Her face looked as though she was in low spirits, and her tone was weak, but the volume of her voice was slightly raised so that the recorder could record it clearly. "Partner Jin, I'm here to apologize to you. I was young and unappreciative of your kindness back then. Now I've been in the community for two years, and I know how hard and tiresome it is. It's not just that there's less money, but that you'll never get promoted, and there's so little help. But now that I'm a lawyer, of course I want to take on large cases and expand my career..."

These were all reasonable words. If anyone else had wasted two years in the community, they might not have been able to take it either. Jin Jianhua had driven Ning Wan out precisely for the purpose of grinding down her spirit. Young people didn't know how difficult it was nowadays to mingle in law office politics nowadays, or how to cherish the olive branch he had given them. They needed to understand the reality of society.

Besides, with Ning Wan's academic background, she didn't have too many choices. She had been able to enter Zhengyuan due to them expanding that year, but she had never had a chance to participate in any major cases after entering. Her resume was still blank, so even if she wanted to switch jobs, she wouldn't be able to get anything good. Furthermore, she was a woman, and now that she was getting older, the next place she would be able to find wouldn't be as good as Zhengyuan Law. At least in a big institute like Zhengyuan, she might still be able to dream of joining a high-level team one day.

Indeed, as Jin Jianhua had expected, Ning Wan hadn't found a better olive branch, and hadn't rashly jumped ship. She had only been able to quietly stay in the community.

As a matter of fact, Jin Jianhua hadn't thought about her much these past two years. After all, a new crop of female interns came to the firm every year, and many of them were worthy of praise. But now that he had seen Ning Wan again, he found that she was still different, that she was more beautiful than they. Two years of living out in the grassroots had not worn away her beauty. On the contrary, Jin Jianhua even felt like that the Ning Wan of today had a little more flavor.

He actually wasn't a very patient man, but he had made an exception for her many times. No matter, he would think complacently inside, Ning Wan was so beautiful, it was understandable that she might be a little capricious and petty. Yes, she had hit him at the beginning, but two years had gone by and now that she had suffered some setbacks, she had obviously become mature, practical, and sensible. Taking her in at this time would save time and bother.

Thinking these things, Jin Jianhua got a little carried away. Although still holding onto his discretion, his tone became a little ambiguous. "Xiao Ning, you were just too young back then. You're such a pretty thing that I didn't want you to suffer either, but you know how people are - if they haven't had a taste of hardship, they just don't know what's right for them and who the people who're really good to them are..."

Ning Wan endured nausea and pretended to be cute and docile. The recorder in her bag had been running the whole time, but Jin Jianhua truly was crafty. The words he said were without flaw, without a single obvious admission to be found.

It can't go on like this. Ning Wan thought about it, then made up her mind. She would throw caution to the wind!

……

Fu Zheng hadn't wanted to go out tonight, but when he got off work, he received a phone call from Gao Yuan about dinner. Again reminded that Ning Wan had dolled herself up charmingly in red and gone out with exquisite makeup, he felt extremely upset inside even though on the surface he managed to sustain a calm look. He wanted to ask the very same question that Chen Shuo had - who was Ning Wan going out to see, dressed like this?

His thoughts roiling in this manner and in a bad mood, he agreed to have dinner with Gao Yuan. He was paying too much attention to Ning Wan. Even if he wanted her on his team in the future, the boss couldn't micro-manage every aspect of his employee's life. He had to loosen his grip in moderation.

"Let's go to Kaile Western Restaurant!"

As a result, Fu Zheng did not answer Gao Yuan's suggestion directly, but instead raised a strange question, "What's a fancy restaurant within a 20-minute drive of the community?"

Before Ning Wan had left, the voice prompt on her map app had indicated that the restaurant she was going to tonight was 20 minutes' drive from the community office. And judging from how she had dressed up, it was most likely a nice restaurant for an appointment with someone important.

Most of the places near Yuelan Community were mid to casual dining areas. Since they depended on the community's support, they were mostly good value for money, and there shouldn't be too many fancy restaurants within 20 minutes' drive.

He was definitely not curious about which restaurant Ning Wan was going out to eat at tonight. He absolutely wasn't concerned about it in the slightest. He just wasn't familiar with the local businesses in the neighbourhood after having been abroad, just inquiring about the current situation.

Gao Yuan deserves to be known as a local guide of Rong City. He soon thought of the answer, saying, "There aren't really too many high-end restaurants around 20 minutes drive from here. I have the impression that there's a Chinese restaurant in Yuecheng that has a nice atmosphere and isn't too crowded."

"Only one?"

"Maybe? Anyway, I don't know anything else around that's very classy."

"Then let's go there."

"?"

When choosing between Chinese and Western food, Fu Zheng had a definite preference for Western food. Yet today he had actually turned down Gao Yuan's proposal and suggested they eat at the Chinese restaurant in Yuecheng?

Under Gao Yuan's doubtful gaze, Fu Zheng pursed his lips. "I suddenly want to eat Chinese food. After all, we're from China, and we should support the Chinese food industry."

“……”