Chapter 18
Shen Bining felt she should go to the temple to pray, as she hadn't had anything go right for several days in a row.
She first failed to persuade Tang Hui, and after his explanation, she didn't even have the courage to go and try to persuade him again.
Secondly, there's that annoying woman, Xu Jie. Whether she's guessed correctly or not, Xu Jie seems certain that Shen Bining is about to suffer a major setback. For the next two days, every time they met, Xu Jie would ask her sarcastically about how the case was going.
Finally, my mother's distant cousin came to H City for a visit. Upon hearing that her 27-year-old niece was still unmarried, she first made sarcastic remarks, and then maliciously tried to arrange a blind date for her.
The blind date partners were either unemployed, divorced with children, or hadn't graduated from junior high school and had criminal records... In short, they were full of malice, as if they were afraid that their niece was doing too well and they wouldn't be able to take advantage of her.
In the words of this aunt, "You're already 27, you should be lucky if any man wants you, why are you being so picky?"
Unable to bear it any longer, Shen Bining finally lost her temper. Disregarding the fact that the other person was an elder, she berated him mercilessly at the dinner table. With her parents' support, the three of them put down their chopsticks and left.
What's more, she didn't pay the bill and then blocked all of her aunt's contact information, making it impossible for her to find her to settle the score.
The next day at lunch, Shen Bining poured out her grievances to Chen Nian, which naturally earned her another round of urging from this happy young woman to get married.
Shen Bining angrily put down her chopsticks, glared at Chen Nian, and shouted, "Chen Nian, are you trying to provoke me too? If you keep pressuring me to get married, believe me, I'll kill myself."
Chen Nian quickly and kindly calmed her friend down, and the two were finally able to eat normally.
After eating a few more bites, Chen Nian's phone rang. She picked it up, glanced at it, and then typed out a bunch of text messages and sent them.
"Qi Wangfa? Look at your beaming smile," Shen Bining teased.
After sending the WeChat message, Chen Nian looked up with a smile and asked, "Ningning, do you have any plans for tonight? Would you like to go out for dinner with us?"
"I'll pass, I'm not going to be a third wheel," Shen Bining said with a smile.
Chen Nian shook her head and continued, "It's not just me and Qi Wang, there are some other people too. Oh, right, Ruoruo is going too. Qi Wang's senior from the US has returned to China to develop his career, so it's a good opportunity for everyone to get together. I've been wanting to introduce you to everyone for a while now, just to make some more friends. You also went to university in the US, so you'll definitely have things to talk about when you meet."
Chen Nian's plan was actually quite simple: she wanted to introduce Qi Wang's friends to Shen Bining to see if there was any possibility of a future relationship. Even if it didn't work out, getting to know more people wouldn't hurt; she trusted the character of anyone who could be good friends with Qi Wang.
One night, she told Qi Wang about this idea. Qi Wang, based on the principle that "my wife's business is my business, and my wife's best friend is my sister-in-law", immediately patted his chest and guaranteed that he would handle the matter.
The next day, Qi Wang contacted several close friends and arranged the gathering. The time was set for tonight, and the location was a very popular Japanese restaurant in the city.
Shen Bining was well aware of Chen Nian's plans, but she didn't mind cooperating. Just like Chen Nian said, it wouldn't hurt for everyone to get to know each other if there were suitable matches, and maybe things would develop further. If there was no spark, she could just consider it making more friends. She trusted that Chen Nian wouldn't betray her, and the people she introduced to her would definitely be good. Whether as lovers or friends, she wouldn't lose out.
Shen Bining readily agreed, and Chen Nian quickly sent Shen Bining the time and place of the dinner party. Just as she was about to introduce the men who would be having dinner with Shen Bining, her phone suddenly started ringing incessantly.
The caller was the head of Chen Nian's department. The only reason the head of the department would call during lunchtime was if a major medical accident had occurred, requiring all medical staff to be on duty immediately.
Chen Nian didn't dare to delay and quickly answered the phone. By the time she finished listening to the call with a serious expression, she had already stood up and walked to the office door.
"What happened?" Shen Bining was also a doctor and was very familiar with this situation. She knew that something serious must have happened.
"There's been a major car accident on the highway, and there are many injured people. Ambulances are already taking people to our hospital, so I have to get there right away." Chen Nian hurriedly said this and left in a hurry.
Looking at the empty office and the lunch that Chen Nian had barely eaten, Shen Bining suddenly lost her appetite.
"Why are there accidents every day in this world? Why do people have to face all kinds of natural and man-made disasters? How wonderful it would be if everyone could grow old peacefully." Shen Bining stared at the lunchbox in front of her, murmuring to herself, her eyes unconsciously reddening.
*
A major car accident occurred on the highway, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries. The entire hospital was in chaos. Chen Nian worked tirelessly to save patients all afternoon, and did not get off work until nearly 7 p.m.
Since they had agreed to have a get-together, Shen Bining didn't leave. Instead, she waited for Chen Nian at the hospital, and then the two of them drove together to the dinner location.
"Yeah, I'm off work. Ningning and I are on our way. You guys order something to eat first. I'm not too tired, umm, I didn't drive, Ningning drove. Okay, see you in a bit." Chen Nian called Qi Wang from the car, her gentle voice barely concealing her exhaustion.
"You're so tired today, don't go to the dinner party. Shall I take you home? Let them eat by themselves," Shen Bining said with some concern. As a doctor herself, no one knew better than her how enormous the workload was, spending an entire afternoon rescuing the injured.
Chen Nian shook her head, closed her eyes for a short rest, and said weakly, "I've already made plans to introduce you to everyone. If I don't go tonight, it will be hard to get everyone together like this again. Everyone is very busy."
Shen Bining was both amused and exasperated. After all that fuss, it turned out that Chen Nian was dragging her exhausted body to a dinner party just to play matchmaker for her. She had thought Chen Nian was only going to the social gathering because she didn't want her boyfriend to lose face, and she was also quite dissatisfied with Qi Wang. She never expected it was all for her sake.
If she had overheard the phone call between Chen Nian and Qi Wang, she would know that Qi Wang had spent a long time trying to persuade Chen Nian to go home and rest, but Chen Nian insisted on taking Shen Bining to meet new friends. Qi Wang even joked, "You care about this best friend more than your own mother."
*
After hanging up the phone, Qi Wang returned to the private room, where quite a few people were already seated, chatting, drinking, and eating snacks, creating a lively atmosphere.
"How is it? Has Niannian gotten off work yet?" Lin Ruoruo asked hurriedly.
"They're on their way. It shouldn't be long. This restaurant isn't far from the hospital," Qi Wang said as he sat down.
Song Ziyi immediately understood what was going on and pointed at Qi Wang, yelling, "No wonder you insisted on booking this Japanese restaurant! I suggested our usual place, but you rejected it. It turns out it's because this restaurant is close to your wife's workplace! You're such a womanizer! Do you even know how far this restaurant is from our law firm? I even got stuck in a huge traffic jam!"
"Since you have nothing to do all day, shouldn't you leave work early and drive over? My wife works so hard all day, do you expect her to accommodate your schedule?" Qi Wang retorted irritably.
Song Ziyi was displeased and rolled up his shirt sleeves, ready to argue with Qi Wang. "Who are you calling idle? I'm a lawyer, a messenger of justice. How dare you look down on lawyers? Qi Wang, if you're so capable, why don't you hire a legal advisor for your company?"
"My wife is a doctor, saving lives and healing the wounded. Isn't she more admirable than you? If you're so capable, why don't you never go to the hospital for treatment again?" Qi Wang retorted, completely disregarding the sharp-tongued lawyer Song.
One sentence directly hit Song Ziyi's weak spot. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he was indeed at a disadvantage. After all, many people never need to go to court in their lives, but no one can go through life without seeing a doctor.
Song Ziyi was completely outmatched, and his usually stern face flushed slightly. He grabbed a shot of sake from the table and took a big gulp to cover up his embarrassment and defeat.
Seeing her boyfriend, who was usually unbeatable in verbal sparring, suffer a setback, Mu Ci couldn't help but burst into laughter. She could never win an argument with this lawyer, Song Ziyi, but today someone actually managed to make Song Ziyi lose a verbal battle. How could this not be considered a way to vent her anger?
Song Ziyi was first confronted by Qi Wang, and then ridiculed by Mu Ci, which made him lose face. However, he dared not offend the law firm's "landlord" or his fiancée, so after his eyes darted around, he turned his attention to Tang Hui.
"Old Tang, say something! We lawyers have been looked down upon by this rich kid Qi Wang. You have to stand up and face the challenge head-on. Use your professional knowledge and silver tongue to fight back and show this rich kid what a lawyer is capable of. Let him know that being a lawyer is a very noble profession." Song Ziyi nudged Tang Hui, who was calmly eating his snacks next to him, with his elbow, and encouraged him with ill intent.
Tang Hui was the matchmaker for the three friends. Simply put, Tang Hui first became friends with Song Ziyi, who was three years older than him, and then became sworn brothers with Qi Wang, a junior who was two years younger than him.
Then, through Tang Hui's introduction, Qi Wang and Song Ziyi naturally became buddies.
Qi Wang is a man with a rather legendary background. He was born and raised in the United States, and he and his mother depended on each other for survival from a young age. For the first seventeen years of his life, there was no "father" in his life.
During his senior year of high school, his mother, who was an outstanding worker, was assigned by the head office to H City as the general manager of a newly established branch.
And coincidentally, his mother was a native of H City. She was born, grew up, studied, and fell in love in this city, where she met Qi Wang's father. After becoming pregnant with Qi Wang, she separated from her lover and went to the United States to make a living, where she gave birth to the child and raised him alone.
Because of his mother's honesty, Qi Wang knew about his father's existence. In order to meet this man who was connected to him by blood, he gave up his studies in the United States, returned to China with his mother, and planned to take the college entrance examination in China.
His fiancée, Chen Nian, was his classmate in his senior year of high school.
Later, Qi Wang met his father and received an unexpected surprise—his half-sister who was born with congenital heart disease.
After meeting his frail, adorable, and obedient younger sister, Qi Wang instantly became a "sister-obsessed" brother. He had originally intended not to acknowledge his father's family, but he immediately changed his mind.
He wanted to take his sister to the United States, where medical technology was more advanced, for a heart transplant. To do this, he needed a legal and legitimate identity. So, for his sister's sake, he changed his mind and reunited with his father.
Qi Wang's grandparents were renowned local tycoons, but their vast family business was facing the prospect of having no successor. Their son was idle and irresponsible, neither managing the family business nor having children. He spent his days traveling and taking photos, turning himself into a vagabond artist. Their daughter-in-law had died of heart disease many years ago, leaving behind a granddaughter who also suffered from heart disease and was at risk of dying at any moment.
So when their healthy, intelligent grandson Qi Wang, who was almost an adult, appeared at home, the two elders practically treated him like the Jade Emperor.
Later, some unexpected events occurred, and Qi Wang was forced to return to China and was barred from entering the country for four years. As a result, he had to finish his university studies in the United States, which is how he met Tang Hui and Song Ziyi during his university years.
Unlike Song Ziyi and Tang Hui, Qi Wang's family and lover were all in China, and all his attachments and longings remained in H City. After graduating from university, he refused to stay even a day longer and returned to China almost overnight.
Then came the formal takeover of the family business. The entire commercial building where "Tang Song Law Firm" was located belonged to the Qi family.
Later, when Tang Hui and Song Ziyi returned to China and opened a law firm, Qi Wang generously rented an entire floor of office space to them for a pittance. From then on, Qi Wang became their "landlord".
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