Chapter 14

"Well, thank you, Mr. Zhang! Also, I'd like to discuss the appropriateness of our entry. We might need a meeting room, as I plan to have seven to ten lawyers on-site, so it can't be too small."

As Li Ye spoke, she glanced at Xu Wanyi. Xu Wanyi was looking at the documents in her hand. When she heard this, she looked up at Li Ye, and their eyes met before quickly looking away. Li Ye couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Ah, that's it, Chairman. How about we give that large conference room next to the legal department to Attorney Li and his team? It's big enough, close to our department's office area, and tucked away in a corner—perfect. But that's where the sales department often holds meetings."

"This place will do. Have the sales department hold meetings in this conference room for the time being. Feng Jing, make the arrangements this afternoon. Then send out an internal notice saying that the conference room will be used as a temporary office for the legal project team. Let everyone know."

"Yes, Chairman."

"Attorney Li, is there anything else we need to cooperate with?" Xu Wanyi asked Li Ye.

"Uh, no for now. I'll let you know when I think of something."

Li Ye had regained his composure and spoke in his usual tone.

“Attorney Li had better think things through; explaining things point by point might be very inefficient.”

Xu Wanyi couldn't help but retort. She didn't know why, but hearing her say that made her want to argue back. She didn't even know what she cared about.

The other three people present panicked. Could it be that Li Lu had some kind of disagreement with the chairman on the very first day? Feng Jing was particularly puzzled. The chairman was definitely not like this usually. What was wrong with him today?

Only the person involved seemed completely unaware, saying without changing his expression, "Okay, thank you, Chairman Xu, I will definitely think it over carefully."

"Mr. Xu, is there anything else? If not, I'll be leaving now. I'll wait for your contract and arrangements. Once everything is settled, I'll have the lawyer come and be on-site." Li Ye felt like he was starving; if he didn't eat soon, he would faint in this damn conference room.

"Feng Jing, why don't you take Attorney Li and Attorney Jiang upstairs for a meal? Don't let them go hungry before we even start work."

Xu Wanyi knew that Li Ye had a large appetite and got hungry very quickly, but no matter how much he ate, he could never gain weight, which was quite infuriating.

Feng Jing was puzzled again. Was the chairman good to Lawyer Li or not? There was a small restaurant on the 50th floor, but it was actually Xu Wanyi's private kitchen. Apart from the Xu family and their close friends, no one else had ever eaten there, including the group's senior executives.

"Attorney Li, Attorney Jiang, please." Feng Jing didn't want to think too much about it anymore. She couldn't understand the thoughts of these important people, so she just had to do as they said.

Li Ye didn't stand on ceremony; besides, she didn't know anything about small or large restaurants, as long as she could eat immediately. She nodded slightly to Xu Wanyi and Zhang Gang, picked up the laptop bag Jiang Yu handed her, and followed Feng Jing out.

Zhang Gang didn't think much of it; he wasn't Xu Wanyi's assistant and didn't know such details. He just felt that Chairman Xu's mood was always unpredictable whenever she saw this lawyer, Li, and he didn't dare to offend her.

"Chairman, if there's nothing else, I'll head down now. I still need to assign these tasks."

"You can go now, thank you for your hard work."

Xu Wanyi was still in shock at her own arrangement. How could she have let Li Ye eat at her restaurant? She really didn't know what had blinded her! Sigh! The key question was, how did she even go? How could she have the nerve to go?

She had originally planned to go eat after saying those few words, but now that guy had gone upstairs so smugly, Xu Wanyi had no choice but to ask Feng Jing to bring her lunch to her office in order to avoid running into him.

Feng Jing had just seen Li Ye and Jiang Yu off to the elevator when he received a WeChat message before he even stepped out of the elevator: "Feng Jing, please bring my lunch to the office."

Completely bewildered, she turned around and entered the elevator again.

Li Ye had no idea about all this. When she and Jiang Yu came out after dinner, the rain had long since stopped, and a sliver of orange sun had even appeared on the western horizon.

I checked the time and it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.

At this time, the workers were still toiling away at their desks, and the bosses were still holding endless meetings, so traffic was incredibly smooth. Li Ye stepped on the gas and drove from Binjiang Avenue into the office's underground parking garage in just fifteen minutes.

"Jiang Yu, gather everyone and call a meeting in the main conference room."

Last night, she sent a notice in the group chat, stating that anyone not traveling out of town or on-site assignments must be in the office this afternoon. Even those with court hearings today must rush back from the courthouse, no matter how late! She had already asked Jiang Yu to book the largest conference room in the office, just waiting to get back and assign homework to everyone.

"Okay, boss." The two immediately went their separate ways after exiting the elevator.

Jiang Yu is indeed a person with a strong fighting spirit. After a whole day of fighting with Li Ye, she showed no signs of fatigue and even seemed eager to try again.

"Comrades, let's have a meeting in the main conference room."

She strode into their team's office area, shouted loudly, and headed straight for the main conference room without stopping.

The office area was bustling with activity. Apart from the three lawyers stationed at the client's location, everyone else was there. A dozen or so people sat together, and upon hearing Jiang Yu's words, they quickly stood up, grabbed their tools, and followed her in a grand procession toward the conference room.

This inevitably attracted the attention of other lawyers in the public office area, a sight rarely seen in law firms.

When Li Ye entered the large conference room, it was already full of people. Of course, this conference room was much smaller than Xu Wanyi's, but her team probably only held such a large meeting twice a year at most, for semi-annual and annual summaries.

She dislikes meetings the most, but with the team growing, she has to do some management, albeit reluctantly.

Evening is still the most formidable! Looking at the dozen or so people, she felt a little worried, wondering if she should scale down the business. Thinking of the tens of thousands of employees at Leguang Group, she realized that Chairman Xu's position was not easy to hold, and she sighed with emotion.

"I think everyone knows about the Leguang Group project, and that's what we're discussing at this meeting. This project is being overseen by Attorney Jiang Yu, with a legal team consisting of seven lawyers including Liu Shuang and Jin Haifeng. Once we receive the stamped contract, you'll be stationed at Leguang Group. Attorney Jiang will explain the specifics to you."

"The lawyers mentioned above, excluding Jiang Yu, will have their work temporarily handed over to the B or C roles in the team."

Li Ye divided her team into several groups, each with at least two people, divided into different roles (A, B, C) to prevent manpower shortages during such a large business operation.

That's about it. Ask me any questions now.

After Li Ye finished speaking, he leaned back in his chair, took a sip of mineral water, and caught his breath.

"Attorney Li, Haohai was originally represented by Attorney Wang and me. Is it possible for me to represent him alone now?" The speaker was Wang Xuan, a first-year lawyer who graduated the year before last and just got her license last year. She had not yet handled any litigation cases independently.

"Hmm, is that alright?" Li Ye asked back, looking at Wang Xuan seriously. This girl had a real talent for litigation; she was quick-witted and articulate, something Li Ye knew he couldn't do at her age. All she lacked was opportunity.

Looking into Attorney Li's eyes, Wang Xuan suddenly realized something.

"Yes, thank you, Attorney Li!"

Li Ye nodded in satisfaction. Her work arrangements were all carefully considered. She knew these children's strengths, abilities, and weaknesses like the back of her hand, so the adjustments she made were basically in line with their individual abilities and current stages. But to say there was no pressure would be impossible.

"Does anyone else have any questions? Don't worry, if you encounter any problems, you can come to Jiang Yu and me. Le Guang is in that corporate headquarters area, not far from here. It only takes about half an hour and forty minutes to get there and back, even with traffic." Li Ye knew they were under a lot of pressure, so he offered a token word of comfort.

No pain, no gain. These people will all become independent lawyers in the future, so she might as well be a little ruthless but also generous, giving them space to develop. As the saying goes, you become stronger when your friends and colleagues are strong.

Unfortunately, many lawyers fail to realize this point, relentlessly squeezing the development space of their junior lawyers, wishing they could tie them to themselves, completely unaware that forced relationships are never sweet!

In fact, most of her lawyers are capable of practicing independently. For example, Jiang Yu, who is young, would definitely be a partner in other firms. But Jiang Yu not only did not leave, but also showed no signs of leaving at all.

Speaking of this, Li Ye thought for a moment and realized that he should arrange for Jiang Yu to be promoted to partner by the end of the year.

"Alright, if there are no other issues, the meeting is adjourned. Everyone, get back to work and go home as soon as you're done."

Li Ye waved her hand, adjourning the meeting and letting everyone go back to their seats. She knew that everyone was busy with their work and there was no need to waste time talking nonsense.

After everyone had left, Jiang Yu finished organizing the documents she had brought back from Leguang Group that day and was about to leave when Li Ye called her back:

"Jiang Yu, the Leguang project may take a year to complete. We've put you in the main responsibility, and we haven't even eased your other burdens yet. Are you feeling any pressure?"

"No, that's not true. This way I can see the CEO every day!" After saying that, she glanced at Li Ye and added, "Besides, I'm working with the most handsome lawyer in Haixi. So many girls would love to be with me."

It's no secret in their law firm that Li Ye attracts women. Although Li Ye has never publicly come out as gay, young people these days are very perceptive and can tell at a glance what Li Ye's orientation is like.

Li Ye rolled her eyes inwardly. She was still thinking about the mature and sophisticated CEO, hoping she could handle such a heavy workload. However, she also knew that Jiang Yu was relieving her stress in her own way.

"Work hard, and I'll promote you to partner by the end of the year or next year."

"Thank you, Attorney Li!"

Although she knew it was a sugar-coated bullet, it was genuinely sweet, and Jiang Yu was very happy. Law is a profession that gets better with age; very few people her age are partners, and many of her classmates who are also lawyers still can't handle things independently and end up carrying their partners' shoes and bags all day.

She felt very lucky to be able to follow Li Ye after graduation. Li Ye sheltered her from the wind and rain, gave her opportunities, and gave her room to grow, which enabled her to become who she is today.

Therefore, even though many law firms and lawyers tried to poach her privately, she refused without hesitation. Besides, if she left, where would she find all of Attorney Li's gossip? So, unless Attorney Li forces her to leave, she won't go!

The first week after the May Day holiday was Li Ye's busiest week ever. After arranging the team's work, she personally communicated with each client she felt needed to speak with. By the time all this was done, Friday had already arrived.

Along with Friday came a notification from Leguang Group. Zhang Gang directly messaged her on WeChat: "Attorney Li, all the preparations are complete. The meeting room is arranged in the B2 room on the 21st floor. Is it okay to start work next Monday?"

"No problem, thank you for your trouble, Mr. Zhang. We'll be at the reception desk of Leguang Building at 8:30 sharp on Monday. See you then!"

"Okay, I'll arrange for Wang Du to pick you and the lawyers up. See you then!"

After settling the matter, she informed Jiang Yu to have everyone arrange their time, and the week was finally over. Li Ye could finally go back and have a proper weekend.