Chapter 32 Chapter 32

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Good times don't last every day

The ladder to heaven cannot just be climbed upwards

Is there no lifelong love for the one you love?

—— Kay Tse, "Invitation Street"

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Luo Ming is on the phone screen.

Yes, it was Wen Ying’s last assistant at Zhongsheng Law Firm.

He sat in a small room with a familiar background, his face grim as he recounted the events of the past. It all started with Zheng Di asking him out for dinner through an intermediary, and ended with him stalking Wen Ying and taking photos, and ended with Luo Ming suddenly and unexpectedly being offered the position of legal advisor by the Minshi Justice Bureau.

Zheng Di felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave, and her cheeks quickly turned pale.

He stared at Zheng Di's stiff face, his fingers bent, and his knuckles tapped the smooth tabletop, making two crisp "thumps." "Zheng Di, think not only of yourself, but also of Director Zheng. I heard there's going to be a mid-term adjustment soon, and Director Zheng has a good chance of making another push."

Zheng Di was most proud of two things: her well-off family, or more precisely, a father who brought her honor. She also possessed a brilliant mind. This intelligence helped her achieve high academic scores, triumph in court, and earn her a respectable reputation and ample wealth.

Now, even if she was angry, she knew that she had no hope of winning against Shen Li.

Zheng Di's anger seemed to dissipate in an instant.

She lowered her head and stared at the cup in front of her in a daze. After a while, she raised her head, with a touching look of grievance in her eyes: "Chen Li, I didn't mean it."

Chen Li said nothing, tilting his head back to drink the remaining coffee in his cup. He pursed his lips, removed the USB drive from his phone, and slid it across the table to Zheng Di. Then he lowered his head, picked up his briefcase, and stood up. "I've said everything I need to say. I have something else to do at work, so I'll be leaving now."

His tall figure walked past Zheng Di, and she suddenly reached out and tightly grasped Shen Li's arm, looking at him pleadingly and saying, "Shen Li, we have known each other for so many years. Even if I am not even your friend in your heart, we still have the friendship of classmates, right?"

Shen Li struggled for a moment and was surprised to find that Zheng Di was very strong. She almost used all her strength to hold his forearm with both hands.

One man and one woman, one standing and one sitting, one walking and one staying.

There weren't many people in the coffee shop, but they were already whispering over here.

He frowned and whispered, "Let go first."

Zheng Di shook her head: "If I let go, you will leave. I won't let go. At least let me finish what I want to say."

Shen Li's eyebrows were full of impatience. He looked away and said, "You say."

"I've never done anything like this before. This is the only time. I swear," Zheng Di vowed, feeling aggrieved at the same time. "I wanted to win this case, I wanted to win against Wen Ying. I was obsessed with it. Shen Li, I know you're an upright person. Since you showed me these things today, it means you won't give them to Zhou Boyu or the police, right?"

"I said, as long as you stop making things difficult for Wen Ying," he looked down at her with a warning in his eyes, "Zheng Di, I keep my word. I hope you can remember this."

"I know, I know," she quickly agreed, then continued, "But... even if you can avoid showing it to others, it doesn't mean that others won't accidentally see it. These things..."

Shen Li really lost his patience and used his other hand to push her hands away: "Just ask whatever you want to ask, there's no need to test me like this."

"Are these things safe in your hands?" she immediately said cautiously, "I know that since you can give me this USB drive, it means you must have more than this one. I have to ensure the safety of me and my father. Please forgive me."

Chen Li chuckled softly and ruthlessly pushed Zheng Di's hand away. "Wouldn't it have been safer if you had done nothing? Zheng Di, I hope you understand what 'there's no free lunch' means. I'll spare you this time, but the price is that you'll live in fear forever. You're right, I'm an upright person. Precisely because of my integrity, I can't bear to see you act complacently as if nothing happened, while Wen Ying suffers an unprovoked disaster in vain. This isn't fair, Zheng Di, it's not fair."

Wen Ying and Yu Jiaran came out of the SPA club. Yu Jiaran smiled and took her arm and said, "Thank you, boss. I just had the most comfortable nap ever."

Wen Ying said, "I want to thank you. Without you, I would never have been able to complete Zhou Boyu's lawsuit."

Yu Jiaran saw a coffee shop facing the street in front of him and became interested. He pointed it out to Wen Ying and said, "Can I go buy two cups of coffee?"

She hurriedly stopped talking, but Wen Ying and her gaze had already irretrievably penetrated the floor-to-ceiling glass of the coffee shop along the street.

Shen Li stood next to a woman. His profile was clear, but the woman only showed her waist-length curly hair.

The woman's hand was on Shen Li's forearm. Shen Li lowered his head and said a few words to her, then strode out of the coffee shop.

The woman sat for a while, then turned back to get her bag. She lightly tossed her hair, revealing her bright and charming features.

Wen Ying was very familiar with that woman.

------

The door opened with a click, and the light from the corridor cast Shen Li's figure into the entrance.

The room was pitch black and he thought Wen Ying had not returned home yet.

Shen Li casually turned on the light in the cloakroom next to the door, went in to change his clothes, and came out to turn on the light in the living room.

When the light was turned on, Shen Li was startled - Wen Ying was sitting alone on the sofa, hugging her knees, looking at him with no expression on her face.

"Why don't you turn on the light?" He was still frightened.

God knows how creepy it is to go home after looking at gory photos all day and suddenly find someone staring at you in the dark without saying a word. "You scared me! I thought you were not home."

"Oh, I'm at home, just thinking about something." Wen Ying seemed to have just come back to her senses and asked him, "Are you working overtime again today? Are you very busy?"

Chen Li walked over to the kitchen counter to get some water and said, "It's been quite busy. Your case was swapped with another team. We got a homicide case instead. It's a bit tricky. I've been on the phone with Hou Liping for almost the entire day."

"Working on the case all day?"

Chen Li tilted his head back to drink from the water, then nodded. "The chain of evidence isn't complete, so we have a disagreement. He thinks we can just go straight to prosecution, but I suggest the police supplement the evidence." He casually wiped the water from the corner of his lips. "You know Hou Liping. He's like he has a phonograph in his throat. Once he starts talking, he can't stop."

"You spent the whole day talking about this little disagreement?" she asked again.

"Yes," Shen Li paused, his eyes piercing over, "What's wrong?"

Wen Ying didn't say anything else. After a long while, she shook her head and forced a smile. "I'm probably too tired. I didn't understand what you said, so I asked you twice. I'm going to sleep."

She stood up and walked towards the bedroom. Shen Li called her: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Or did something happen to you?"

Wen Ying stood at the door frame, holding the wooden frame with his hands, and his face looked a little bleak.

"I'm fine," she said. "How about you? Did anything happen to you?"

Shen Li looked at her steadily, his expression normal: "No."

"Oh," Wen Ying nodded, expressionless, "I'm going to sleep."

Her figure disappeared behind the door. Shen Li was still standing behind the kitchen counter. He looked at the closed door, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

The phone vibrated twice. It was a WeChat message from Liang Ji: "You're welcome. It's just a small favor."

Then another message: "Please pay attention to your wife's emotions and don't let her make a big deal out of this. I arranged to collect evidence for you privately. If you make a big deal out of this, it will be difficult to resolve."

Shen Li replied, "Don't worry, Director Liang, I haven't told her about this. I can handle the rest. The whole matter ends with me. Thank you again."

Liang Ji quickly replied with an OK gesture. Chen Li exited the chat page and deleted Liang Ji's dialog box with a swipe of his finger.

------

When Chen Li entered the room, it was quiet and dark. He lay down gently, and Wen Ying was some distance away from him.

He scalded for a while, then asked softly, "Are you asleep?"

Wen Ying's breathing changed slightly, but she didn't answer.

Chen Li didn't know what was wrong with her. After thinking for a moment, he leaned over and hugged her. "I saw the headlines today. Bosheng Group posted on Weibo admitting that Zhou Boyu has completed the divorce procedures. And Bosheng's PR team seems to be guiding the online trend, because I saw many entertainment accounts online saying that the reason for the divorce was because Guan Qianqian cheated. I carefully read the comments, and everyone is speculating about how the property between Zhou Boyu and Guan Qianqian will be divided, and guessing who Guan Qianqian cheated with. However, almost no one mentioned the scandal between you and Zhou Boyu anymore."

He put his arm around Wen Ying's waist and said, "Internet rumors are like that. They come and go quickly. You don't have to take them to heart."

After a long while, Wen Ying finally moved, allowing herself to move a little away from Shen Li's fiery chest. Her voice was a little hoarse, "Yes, I know."

After a while, Chen Li said softly, "I need to recuse myself from your case, but I can follow up on the daily progress. When I left tonight, I happened to run into your prosecutor. He knew about our relationship and told me that both the police investigation and Wen Lei's own confession pointed to attempted murder. You..."

"Chen Li," Wen Ying suddenly interrupted him, "You shouldn't be telling me this."

"I know, but," he exhaled, and a burning sensation spread along his earlobe to Wen Ying's cheek and neck, "We are husband and wife, Wen Ying, don't forget this fact."

Wen Ying changed her position and left Shen Li's embrace. She lay flat on her back, a fist's length away from Shen Li, her tone very calm and composed: "It is precisely because we are husband and wife that you should not tell me the progress of the case and the prosecution plan."

Wen Ying's silhouette lay quietly in the darkness, without any movement.

It was not just an illusion or a hallucination, a bottomless ravine appeared in the middle of the double bed, separating the two people into two islands with no intersection.

The first thought that came to Shen Li's mind was that he regretted buying such a wide double bed.

He propped up his arm and held his cheek, looking at Wen Ying's outline in the darkness.

"Wen Ying, what's wrong with you?"

Shen Li saw Wen Ying close her eyelids.

After a few seconds of silence, Wen Ying turned her back to him and let out a barely audible sigh: "Nothing, just a little tired. Shen Li, I have to go on a business trip to Jiangcheng in a few days."

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