Chapter 35

While Li Ye reassured Jiang Yu about drinking her milk tea, Chen Chunlin, Chen Fang, Huang Peng, and Zhang Gang found a place by the river to have breakfast early in the morning. Few restaurants by the river open before 10 a.m., but Zhang Gang was a regular customer, so the owner lent them the space for a meeting.

The weather in July was already very hot, but today a gentle breeze was blowing along the riverbank. It was still early, and the tourists hadn't come out in large numbers yet; only a few joggers occasionally passed by. Four people sat on the open-air balcony, under a parasol, drinking coffee and eating bread, their faces beaming with smiles as they enjoyed the beautiful summer day.

"Let's toast General Manager Zhang with coffee instead of wine. This was a brilliant move. Li Ye slunk back to the office. I've never seen her look so dejected before." Chen Chunlin hadn't even seen Li Ye return to the office. He was really going all out to flatter Zhang Gang.

"Yes, Mr. Zhang truly lives up to his reputation as a veteran in the legal field; he turned the situation around in just a few moves. I really admire him," Huang Peng added.

"This is all thanks to you all, and of course, our General Manager Chen, oh, your junior brother, his name is Jin, Jin something."

“Jin Haifeng,” Chen Fang replied.

"Yes, Jin Haifeng." Zhang Gang slapped his thigh. Who would have thought such a coincidence? It's truly a stroke of luck.

"Really, I never expected that Jin Haifeng was actually President Chen's junior brother. Fortunately, we have this inside man, which has saved us a lot of trouble."

"Haha, I'll have to trouble Attorney Chen to take good care of my junior brother from now on." Chen Fang was quite happy. This matter not only made him money and helped his boss, but also helped his junior brother. It was truly killing three birds with one stone.

“However, it’s too early to celebrate. The chairman has given Li Ye two days to investigate, and I reckon she’ll thoroughly search all your documents and communications. Do you have a plan?” Zhang Gang swallowed the bread in his mouth and said to Chen Chunlin.

Chen Chunlin glanced at Huang Peng, who quickly said, "Mr. Zhang, I have thought of a solution, but it might require your intervention. We at this level can't handle it."

This flattery hit Zhang Gang right where it hurt; he loved it when people praised his status and ability. "How so?"

“I’ve discussed it with Jin Haifeng. I’m not worried about the emails, but I’m worried about the data in the internal system. Our internal system works like this: when you upload a new file, it overwrites the old one. You can see the replacement action, but you can’t see the contents of the previous file. But if IT checks from the backend, they can find it,” Chen Chunlin explained.

"But querying backend data requires the director's approval?" Chen Fang continued, following up on this statement.

“President Chen is wise! That’s how it is. So Lao Huang and I discussed it and decided that President Zhang still needs to come out. You are the legal director of Leguang, and it is our honor to discuss cooperation with such a large group. Besides, we have already presented sufficient evidence. With our director’s personality, he will definitely agree to your request.”

Zhang Gang thought about it and realized that this was a good idea. Besides, he and Li Ye had already fallen out, so he didn't care whether he had to show his face or not.

"Attorney Chen, please arrange for me to meet with your director as soon as possible."

"No problem, I'll try to invite him here to talk directly. If he's in Haixi, I guarantee he'll come right away as soon as he hears it's Mr. Zhang. Please wait a moment."

After saying that, Chen Chunlin dialed the phone number of Zheng Shengmao, the executive director of Yuande Law Firm, and the call was answered quickly.

"Director, this is Chen Chunlin. I'm having lunch with General Manager Zhang from Leguang Law Firm by the river right now. We discussed some cooperation matters, but I'm thinking it's a bit big and I can't make the decision on my own. Do you have some free time? If so, please come over and we can discuss it. The address is..."

Zheng Shengmao was driving to his office. Of course he knew about Leguang's project; it was their star project this year. Wasn't this Liye's project? Why was Chen Chunlin getting involved? Ah, right, Chen Chunlin was the source lawyer for the case, and it was even listed in the lawyer's profile.

It seems that Chen Chunlin has a close relationship with Le Guang. Thinking of this, Zheng Shengmao immediately agreed: "Attorney Chen, no problem. I don't have any appointments today. I'm on my way to the office now, I'll be there soon. See you later."

"See you later!" Chen Chunlin hung up the phone and said smugly, "See? I told you the director would definitely come. If he didn't come after hearing General Manager Zhang's name, then he must have something wrong with his head."

After hearing this, the group burst into laughter, as if Chen Chunlin were spouting some profound truth. Having already made arrangements, they continued chatting and even asked for more dishes, much to the owner's delight—they managed to charge dinner prices for a breakfast.

Zheng Shengmao was indeed on his way to the institute. Fifteen minutes later, he wobbled up the small stairs, his six-month pregnant belly protruding. Zhang Gang and the others were sitting across the runway from the riverbank; he had to walk up from the road below after parking his car. This was very close to the place where Xu Wanyi had seen Li Ye and An Yue last time; the riverbank truly was a place where stories always unfolded.

"Director, this way please, what would you like to eat?" Chen Chunlin was naturally in charge of entertaining him. As soon as he saw Zheng Shengmao's round figure appear in front of him, he immediately went to greet him.

"I'm not eating anymore, I've already had breakfast. How about a black coffee? My sister-in-law has been trying to control my weight lately, saying that if I keep eating and drinking like this, sooner or later even insulin won't be able to control my diabetes!"

“Sure, no problem. Waiter, another cup of black coffee. Director, this is Zhang Gang, the general manager of Leguang Group. Mr. Zhang, this is Zheng Shengmao, the director of our Yuande Law Firm. Attorney Zheng is a leading expert in civil and commercial law.” He led Zheng Shengmao to Zhang Gang and introduced them.

"Mr. Zhang, I've heard so much about you. I've wanted to visit you for a long time, but I haven't had the right opportunity."

"Hello, Attorney Zheng! I've heard so much about you. Under your leadership, Yuande Law Firm has become the best law firm in the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone!"

After some mutual flattery, the group got down to business.

"Mr. Chen, could you tell me about the current progress of the project?" Zhang Gang asked Chen Fang to explain the whole story.

After listening, Zheng Shengmao's face turned serious. His chubby face was contorted with worry, his eyebrows, nose, and eyes almost indistinguishable from one another. "According to President Chen, after such a serious incident involving Attorney Li, would Chairman Xu really allow her to conduct a self-investigation?"

“This is just Chairman Xu being polite. Have you ever seen a company that gives two days to conduct a self-investigation? What could they possibly find out? It’s clear that Chairman Xu didn’t really intend for her to investigate anything; he was just being considerate of her hard work and didn’t want to embarrass her on the spot,” Zhang Gang added.

“That’s right, Mr. Zhang makes a good point.” Zheng Maosheng smoothed his hair back, lost in thought.

Zhang Gang gave Chen Chunlin a wink.

Chen Chunlin continued, "Director, we have witnesses and evidence, and Chairman Xu has made the decision, so Attorney Li's case is a done deal. But have you considered why Chairman Xu didn't fire our firm?"

Zheng Shengmao was called to the riverside for morning tea early in the morning, and then he was brainwashed by several people. His brain, which was already slowed down by drinking too much, became even slower. "Why?"

"First, it must be because of Mr. Zhang's kind words; second, it's because our law firm team has done a very solid job; and third, it's because Ms. Xu doesn't really want to replace our firm. I guess she's implying that we should handle it ourselves."

“That’s true.” Chen Fang chimed in, feeling he had to respond; he couldn’t let the leader personally confirm it.

"According to our Chairman Xu's usual practice, when faced with this situation, he would definitely give you a severe dressing down, then kick your firm out, and even make you pay compensation! Yesterday, General Manager Zhang proposed a solution at the meeting, and Chairman Xu did not deny it, but only symbolically gave Li Ye two days to conduct a self-examination."

Chen Fang paused for a moment, then concluded: "I think that these two days are less about letting her conduct a self-examination and more about letting Attorney Zheng and your firm handle it themselves."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shengmao thought it made perfect sense, especially since it was said by someone from the Leguang Group, which greatly increased its credibility.

"What solution did Mr. Zhang propose yesterday?"

“Replace Attorney Li, keep the original team, and let Yuande continue to provide services to Leguang,” Zhang Gang said leisurely.

Hmm, this is a good idea; it doesn't harm the firm's interests at all. But what about Li Ye? After all, he's the firm's top star lawyer; he'll be difficult to deal with.

"Director, think about Attorney Li's behavior. She's never been very obedient. How many times have you asked her to represent the firm to speak or attend meetings, and she's refused? This is a challenge to your authority, and to put it bluntly, she looks down on you! If this continues, she'll definitely be even harder to manage in the future. Why don't we take this opportunity to put her in a good position and make her more obedient in the future, so that she'll do whatever business we give her?"

Zheng Shengmao thought about it and realized that it was true. Li Ye was a good person, but she was not obedient. Other lawyers were all vying for my attention, but she didn't pay much attention to me. I could teach her a lesson.

"Hmm, I think this is a good idea. As for Attorney Chen, you're already the project team's lawyer, why don't you step in? I'll handle things with Li Ye."

Chen Chunlin was actually unsure of himself; he knew nothing about investing. But since the original legal team was retained, Jiang Yu was at least still involved. With Jiang Yu there, nothing serious could go wrong. Li Ye would definitely teach Jiang Yu how to handle things.

"No problem, I guarantee I'll complete the task. But Director, if Li Ye tries to investigate anything else, you'd better keep an eye on her. Don't let her do anything else that might affect our plan. It's best to prevent her from touching any data or systems; it's better to avoid trouble."

“Okay, I can do that.” Zheng Shengmao readily agreed. If he couldn’t control people, he could certainly control the system.

With Leguang temporarily shut down, Li Ye took the opportunity to quickly handle other cases. Time flew by once she started working; she was so busy she forgot to eat lunch, and it wasn't until 5 PM, when her stomach was growling, that she remembered to go downstairs to find something to eat. Just as she was putting on her coat, Jiang Yu brought An Yue into Li Ye's office.

"Li Lu, are you about to leave work?" Jiang Yu looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"No, I just want to eat something. I forgot to eat lunch. I'm starving."

"Attorney Li, wait a moment, I need to tell you something. Please listen before you go down; it's very important." Jiang Yu rarely insisted like this, and Li Ye stopped buttoning his shirt. Seeing this, An Yue turned and left Li Ye's office, disappearing to do who-knows-where.

She knew perfectly well that they had discovered a mole. She took off her coat and sat down on the office sofa.

"Sit down and tell me slowly."

At this moment, An Yue also came in and closed the door behind her. She was holding a delicate alkaline bread in her hand. "Li Lu, eat this first. I just bought it at noon."

Jiang Yu glanced at her. No wonder An Yue dragged her to that high-end supermarket near the subway station to buy alkaline bread at noon; it turned out it was for Attorney Li. I knew it; Attorney Li was the only one in the whole team who liked alkaline bread.

Li Ye was quite surprised that this girl actually knew she liked alkaline bread. It seemed she really cared. She should be careful to keep a distance from her in the future.

"Thank you, then I won't stand on ceremony. Please sit down." Li Ye was indeed hungry, so he took the food, tore open the packaging, and started eating.

Seeing this, An Yue couldn't help but smile. "You're welcome."