CH 12.2

Chapter 12 (part 2)

A complicated look crossed Gao Yuan's face. He glanced once again at his paneled screen, then cleared his throat and said persuasively, "Ning Wan, preconceptions often lead to prejudice. Fu Zheng is a good guy, really. No one's perfect, of course, and he has many shortcomings, but he does have plenty of strengths too, if you look for them. I'm sure in the time you've been together you've seen some of them."

It seemed that Gao Yuan wanted to play peacemaker. But having with great difficulty finally made her complaint, Ning Wan was determined to have something come of it. "Partner Gao, there really isn't anything good about him aside from his face1."

Though she had gone to some length to emphasize this, Gao Yuan didn't seem ready to give up. "Ning Wan, you're still a young woman," he said earnestly. "Perhaps you may have said or acted on impulse. Think it through carefully before you speak. Are you sure that Fu Zheng has no advantages besides his looks?"

She gave it some thought. "I've thought it through. He really doesn't."

"Are you sure?" Gao Yuan squeezed out.

"There's no need to reconsider." Ning Wan replied, poker-faced. "There really isn't."

"Think again! There must be something good about him!"

Ning Wan bit her lower lip and said, her face reluctant, "Well, aside from his face, his body is alright too, I guess."

Gao Yuan looked at Ning Wan, his expression suffocated. He desperately wanted to roar; I didn't ask you to think along the lines of those sorts of virtues!

Unfortunately, Ning Wan had obviously gotten the wrong idea. She added somewhat uncomfortably, "Well, to be completely fair, his figure isn't just alright. It's pretty decent."

“……”

Ning Wan wondered why Gao Yuan suddenly began coughing crazily. His eyes flickered back and forth between herself and the paneled screen, and then he winked at her desperately, as if trying to hint that something was going on. But when she looked at the silk-paneled landscape, she couldn't see anything special about it.

However, Gao Yuan seemed so concerned about the screen that she felt compelled to say something, so she said politely, "Partner Gao, your landscape is very fancy looking."

She looked expectantly back at Gao Yuan. She had met his needs. She had praised his screen. But for whatever reason, there was only a strange mix of despair and compassion etched into Gao Yuan's face.

?

Although she was forcing his hand and understood why he might be angry or unhappy, what was the compassion about?

Despite being a little confused, Ning Wan felt like she had done everything she could. "Partner Gao, please hear me out. Serving the community is complex and onerous. You don't get paid much, yet you have a great impact on the lives of the residents. I hope that the firm will do something about Fu Zheng. Even if Chen Shuo can't be transferred over in his place, I would be better off alone than with his help."

Gao Yuan met Ning Wan's eyes and tried tact one more time. "Oftentimes, people don't get along with each other right at first, but over time they knock the rough edges off each other and eventually become great partners. Is it possible for you to reconsider?"

She could see that Gao Yuan wanted very much for her to cooperate with Fu Zheng, but Ning Wan shook her head adamantly. "Impossible," she insisted. "I could make it work with anyone else, but not with him. I get upset and annoyed just looking at him."

"But I've heard that you've set your sights on joining the new senior partner's team. Just in case Fu Zheng is also in it... "

Ning Wan couldn't help herself. She let out a scornful laugh. "I believe that the new senior partner will have better judgment than that. He isn't blind."

"..." Gao Yuan once again gazed at her with compassion and gave up trying to rescue her.

Ning Wan had a straightforward temperament. She didn't bother trying to decipher the intricacies of Gao Yuan's expressions, but simply said what she had to say, thanked him, and left.

What she didn't know, however, was that...

As soon as she had left, the man she had just put in a complaint about emerged from behind the painted screen, his face as black as a pit.

Ning Wan had left, Fu Zheng was grim, and Gao Yuan was embarrassed--

"Didn't you say that you had an okay relationship with Ning Wan?"

Fu Zheng pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Forget it," Gao Yuan sighed. "Don't hold a grudge against her. Ning Wan is actually a very plain-spoken sort of person. She doesn't like to engage in backroom gossip and personnel struggles. That's why she came in here to put her complaint in upfront, instead of slandering you behind your back. Don't make things difficult for her in the future..."

"You seem to have quite a soft spot for her," Fu Zheng said coldly, "If you're asking me not to retaliate. Should I call your wife and tell her all about your moving, cross-class-differences friendship with Ning Wan? "

"..." Gao Yuan laughed nervously. "That's not what I said, Fu Zheng, don't lose your temper, now..."

"What about my temper?" Fu Zheng said, his face like a stone. "I have a great temper. Absolutely no problem."

"..." Gao Yuan had nothing to say to that. "Since it's become like this anyway... Did you still want to stay in the community?"

"Of course," Fu Zheng replied coldly. "The words 'giving up halfway' aren't in my vocabulary, and I don't acknowledge these supposed shortcomings of mine. Frankly, I'm insulted. It's just community law, I can't possibly do worse than that woman. Anyway, turning tail and running away right now would just be acknowledging my defeat. Even when I take back my true identity and join HQ, Ning Wan will forever look down on me in her heart, and that is unacceptable to me."

In his own heart, Gao Yuan groaned. Fu Zheng was burning up with the desire to win, but all he wanted to do was survive!

"She's given me a complaint under her real name and would be well within her rights to follow up on it. I have to do something, I can't just put this off. Why don't," Gao Yuan proposed sincerely, "You just pretend that you don't know anything about today and leave the community quickly? Take advantage of the fact that the two of you still have a working relationship with each other on the surface. Ning Wan isn't the sort who enjoys gossiping. If you came back to HQ right now under your true identity, she would stay out of your way. Everything would be smoothed over without a big scene being made. After all, you both will be colleagues in the future, and there's no need to make things awkward... "

"No." Fu Zheng was determined and confident. "I will continue in the community. She won't complain to you again."

"What, are you going to personally poison her?"

Fu Zheng's eyes bored into Gao Yuan's. "The true reason for her complaint is that she feels I used my connections to deny her junior an opportunity. She's been hostile and prejudiced against me right from the start because of this matter. I've been thinking about it, and I have an idea. So long as I reverse this misunderstanding, the rest will be easy." He humphed coldly. "And what's so difficult about doing that? Doesn't it just require some personal sob story? Can't I just make one up for her? "