Chapter 1

"Attorney Jiang, when is your top lawyer Li coming back? Is she coming to the office today?"

Hearing the voice, Jiang Yu stopped typing and looked up from among a pile of documents. A man in a three-piece suit was leaning forward, holding onto the partition in front of her workstation, and looking at her with a smile.

The man was about forty years old, with a round, plump face, a mustache, and slicked-back hair. His slicked-back hair gleamed under the bright LED lights, and the mustache on his lips jiggled with his saccharine smile.

That damned traitor, does he really think I have nothing better to do? He always brags so much, why did he need to hire Lawyer Li? Couldn't he have handled it himself?

Jiang Yu rolled her eyes hundreds of times in her mind. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, and Lawyer Chen, who claimed that there was no business he couldn't handle, had already asked her three times.

But despite her thoughts, Chen Chunlin was a senior partner at Yuande Law Firm. Who knew when it would be his turn to score her second-in-command? So no matter how annoying he was, Jiang Yu couldn't afford to offend him.

Jiang Yu, without revealing her true feelings, adopted the lowest level of smile used when greeting clients, and respectfully spoke for the third time that day:

“Attorney Chen, Attorney Li is returning from Xining today and is currently on a plane. If all goes well, she will land in Haixi this afternoon. I've already asked her if she'll come to the office, but she hasn't replied. Why don't you just ask her directly?”

"Oh, I know that. I just wanted to ask why she didn't reply to your message before boarding the plane? Did she agree or disagree?"

"No, Attorney Li is on a business trip with a client this time, so it might be inconvenient for him to reply to messages."

"Okay, then you keep an eye on things for me. Let me know as soon as you have any news. If it works out, I'll treat you to coffee." Chen Chunlin was quite adept at ordering people around.

"Okay, Attorney Chen, I'll let you know as soon as I have any news." Jiang Yu tried her best to open her mouth wider, because she really couldn't bring herself to smile at Chen Chunlin.

After Chen Chunlin left, Jiang Yu was about to continue writing when the phone suddenly rang, startling her.

Since Attorney Li went on a business trip, she, as the most senior lawyer in the team, was forced to shoulder an unbearable responsibility—the task was indeed very heavy—to deal alone with difficult clients that only Attorney Li could handle before.

Recently, she has been tormented to the point of near death by Xiao Chenyue, the vice president of Chengye Group, to the point that she gets a headache whenever she sees a phone and is almost somatically depressed whenever she hears the phone ring.

Jiang Yu had intended to go downstairs to buy a cup of milk tea, so she pretended not to hear the phone call. She just didn't understand why a vice president of a group would need to personally handle such trivial legal matters, and what were all those people under him doing?

But when she thought of that arrogant older sister's attitude, she decided that a short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one! She stretched her arms, took a deep breath, and tightened her leg muscles. After a full three breaths, she finally mustered the courage to pick up the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Xiao! How can I help you?"

"Attorney Jiang, you left the contract amount blank. I gave you all the documents, we held a meeting, and you know all the data. What does it mean to leave it blank now? Are you telling me to fill it in myself? What's the point of having a lawyer then?!" Jiang Yu could almost see Xiao Chenyue's sarcastic tone through the phone.

"President Xiao, please wait a moment. We'll fill it out right away and send you another copy." Jiang Yu was furious. Didn't you tell us not to fill it out? You said something like, "Leave the amount blank, we'll fill it in ourselves after the chairman confirms it." Now you're going back on your word.

Based on Jiang Yu's experience, it must be one of the departments under Xiao Chenyue's supervision. Either the legal department or the marketing department forgot to fill in the amount and went through the internal process directly, and was criticized by a leader as a negative example. They are now trying to fix it.

As external lawyers, does the company only pay you to draft contracts? No, they mainly want you to take the blame.

"Send it to Xiao Liu as soon as possible, before lunch." There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then the voice continued: "Has Attorney Li returned from her business trip? I need to ask her for her opinion on something."

Upon hearing Attorney Li's name, Jiang Yu knew she had passed this hurdle. This older sister's habit was that as long as she asked about Attorney Li, she would stop tormenting them, the small fry.

"Reporting to President Xiao, Attorney Li returned today. As soon as he got back, I told him not to worry."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yu took a deep breath. "Attorney Li, when are you coming back? I can't take it anymore!" she screamed internally, wanting to bombard him like Chen Chunlin had, to blast him back to the firm as soon as possible.

But when she thought about the even more troublesome problems that Li Lu might be facing now, she withdrew her thoughts, silently opened Word, and started typing.

In their line of work, not only is overtime a constant occurrence, but clients often deliberately create difficulties. Attorney Li consistently handles these situations with a calm and collected demeanor, never losing her temper due to external pressures, and unlike many lawyers, she never makes her subordinates suffer. While she can be quite formidable with some unprofessional or unethical lawyers, honestly, where can you find a boss like that these days? Especially considering Attorney Li possesses a face that could be a celebrity and a figure that could be a model!

She couldn't understand why someone who could easily make a living based on their looks insisted on relying on their talent. Being a lawyer is just a seemingly glamorous profession; to put it bluntly, it's often worse than being a food delivery driver. At least food delivery drivers have some freedom, but lawyers are practically crucified. Clients practically expect you to live in their office storage room so they can be there whenever they need you, or else you're out.

"Aaaaaah!" Jiang Yu couldn't help but roar inwardly again, but she was in the firm, surrounded by other lawyers and interns on the team, and she couldn't show her childish side. So she could only hold back, and couldn't help but sigh.

"An Yue, find the purchase contract from Chengye Group, add the total price, check it again, and send it to me when you're done."

Their team had a heavy workload; the other lawyers all had their own clients, so they hired several interns. An Yue was the most cautious and meticulous among them, and also had a pretty face, so Jiang Yu liked to have her work with her.

"Okay, Sister Jiang Yu. Just add a total price?" An Yue looked confused. Did the client not have fingers or couldn't count? Even a simple number needed to be filled in by a lawyer.

She is a senior in college this year. As a law student, this is her first internship at a law firm. Originally, she did not plan to intern at a law firm at all. Because her family is in business and has its own legal counsel, she knew that lawyers were not even considered ordinary lawyers, so why should she suffer like this?

But after accidentally hearing Li Ye's speech at their school, she immediately became a fan. This lawyer was not only handsome, but also had clear logic, articulate speech, and precise expression—he was simply her dream guy. Because of this, she had her father pull countless strings and finally got her into Attorney Li's team.

"Just the total price, check it again. Be quick, this lady asked me to give it to her before dinner. I need to check it again after you give it to me, so she doesn't use it as an excuse to cause trouble again," Jiang Yu replied.

After checking, Jiang Yu and An Yue went through all the numbers to confirm that the correlation was accurate and that the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were all correct. Then they sent it to Xiao Liu in the legal department of Chengye Group and copied Xiao Chenyue.

"Let's go eat." Jiang Yu felt a sense of relief, as if she had accomplished something significant.

Looking back, what's the big deal? This kind of thing is a waste of life. She's worked for so many years and she's still so exhausted by this. You can imagine how much pressure Xiao Chenyue puts on people. I wonder what the mental state of her employees must be like.

At lunchtime, white-collar workers from nearby office buildings came out to find food, and all the buildings and shopping malls were packed with people. The two of them spent half a day wandering around the basement, but there were long queues everywhere. They had no choice but to splurge and go to the second floor of the building next door. Their team was busy and tired, but their salaries were much higher than other lawyers of the same level, which gave them more options for lunch.

The two were incredibly lucky; a window seat in the lobby had just become available, and they sat down and ordered a set meal. From there, they could see the river flowing slowly eastward in the distance, its surface shimmering with silver light, and boats occasionally gliding by.

"Sister Jiang Yu, do you think that's...that one?" An Yue suddenly whispered urgently, as if she had spotted some kind of amazing person.

Which one?

"Shh, keep your voice down. She can only hear you from the private room diagonally behind you."

An Yue quickly changed seats. She was originally sitting opposite Jiang Yu, but now she quietly moved to Jiang Yu's left, with her back against the window and facing the corridor.

Jiang Yu turned her head slightly, glancing to her side behind her where the door to the private room was wide open.

"Damn, Xiao Chenyue is like a persistent ghost. She's chased me all the way here just to get a contract? Is that too much to ask?" Jiang Yu was speechless.

"Attorney Li!" Jiang Yu had just turned her head back when she heard An Yue's excited yet puzzled voice. From her vantage point, she could see the commotion in the corridor. However, this time her voice was even lower.

"Shh. Don't talk, let's eat." Jiang Yu didn't want the boss to see her.

She didn't know if the rumor was true, but bumping into her boss having dinner with Xiao Chenyue was never a good thing. For a nobody like her, the safest thing was to know nothing; ignorance is bliss.

Just then, their food arrived, and the two quickly lowered their heads and pretended to eat, but neither of them moved a hand; their ears were perked up, as if they wished they could plant a bug in that room. Unfortunately, after Li Ye went in, he closed the door behind him.

Now there was no more conversation. The two picked up their chopsticks and began to eat obediently.

"Sister Jiang Yu, you mean Li Lu and this guy," she pointed to the private room, "is it true?"

Jiang Yu glanced at her. Chengye Group is one of the leading companies in the new energy industry. Countless lawyers are eager to become their legal counsel. In the end, Li Ye won out from the fierce competition and signed with Chengye Group.

From then on, a legend circulated that Li Ye was able to secure this business deal because she was Xiao Chenyue's lover. That's right, that's what people were saying. As long as Li Ye had a handsome face, it didn't matter whether Xiao Chenyue was male or female; what mattered was that Li Ye got business by relying on his looks and sleeping around.

Rumors flew thick and fast, claiming things like Li Ye had picked up Xiao Chenyue for a vacation in the suburbs, and that Xiao Chenyue and Li Ye had gone to a hotel together late at night. Because the rumors were so detailed, Jiang Yu finally mustered the courage to ask Li Ye. Li Ye glanced at the information and asked, "Do you believe it?"

Startled, Jiang Yu jumped back, never daring to ask the question again. However, as the lawyer directly responsible for liaising with Chengye Group, Jiang Yu could sense from Xiao Chenyue's behavior and words that regardless of whether Li Ye was interested or not, Xiao Chenyue was definitely interested in him! No matter how angry Xiao Chenyue was, or whether she was in the right or not, as long as Li Ye intervened, Xiao Chenyue would eventually accept the solution. What else could this be but love?!

The boss has a good-looking face and can bring in business to support the team, so she doesn't care whether he's male or female and is enjoying the gossip. But when An Yue asks, it's a different story.

"Of course it's not true. Where did you hear that? There are tons of these rumors in the legal profession. If they were written into novels, all those online writers would be out of a job."

"Oh, that's good." An Yue breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Why are you sighing? Is it because you regret that they aren't a couple, or do you have other thoughts?"

"No, no, I didn't have any other thoughts," An Yue stammered, then deliberately emphasized after a while, "I just heard this rumor back in school and always wanted to verify it with insiders like you, that's all."

Jiang Yu felt that the girl was behaving strangely today, but didn't think much of it. Each lost in their own thoughts, they began to eat seriously.