Chapter 4

After Jiang Yu and An Yue left, Li Ye asked, "Lawyer Chen, now that no one's around, tell me the truth, where did this project come from?"

Chen Chunlin wasn't stupid. Although he didn't understand the professional aspects, he knew very well how to protect his own interests. The reason he had been going around in circles was because he only wanted to utilize Li Ye's abilities, letting Li Ye handle the tasks while he handled contacting clients, thereby achieving complete control over the clients.

Typical legal pimp style.

Unfortunately, Li Ye is not one of those lawyers who can be easily manipulated. Not knowing the source of the case means there are unknown risks. In this case, she would rather not earn the money.

Although he had known Li Ye for several years, this was the first time Chen Chunlin had truly dealt with her professionally. After the tactful maneuvering just now, he knew that she wasn't like the other lawyers he had worked with before, who would do anything as long as they were paid. If he didn't explain the ins and outs of the matter clearly, Li Ye wouldn't cooperate with him.

“Attorney Li, I’ll be frank with you, but you have to keep it a secret first. The company hasn’t made this public yet. This case was introduced to me by a childhood friend who works in the company’s strategic management department. So, he’s well-informed and knows about this important matter earlier than most people.”

Li Ye glanced at Chen Chunlin, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the plaque above his head, which bore the five large characters "Deeply Hiding Merit and Fame" written in clerical script. These few words contained considerable information.

First, Attorney Chen wanted to emphasize that his control over this case was "at a very low level"; second, only large corporations would set up a department like the Strategic Management Department, which sounds impressive but has no real function; third, it can be basically determined that this company is a private enterprise, otherwise an employee of the Strategic Management Department would not feel that he had the opportunity to introduce a lawyer; finally, and most importantly, this matter is still in its infancy!

“I understand, Attorney Chen. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll have Attorney Jiang take a look at the documents first. You can continue to follow up, and we’ll communicate again when we have further news.”

"No, Attorney Li, this project is absolutely real. They've already made a decision internally. It'll be too late if we delay." Chen Chunlin may not be a professional, but he's very shrewd and immediately understood what Li Ye meant.

"Let me tell you, here's what we'll do. Tonight, I'll invite my childhood friend over for dinner. I'll have him sneak out the original internal notice so you can see it directly. How about that? Is that alright?"

Li Ye thought for a moment. He had originally planned to invite Xiao Chenyue to dinner tonight, but Xiao Chenyue showed up uninvited, and he happened to have some free time that evening.

"Alright, since Attorney Chen has said so, let's discuss it in detail during dinner tonight."

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll talk to my friend about it, and I'll message you the time and place on WeChat later."

Chen Chunlin beamed with joy. If Li Ye were to handle the matter, there was a high chance they could secure the project. She was highly experienced in investment and finance, meticulous and professional, and well-known in the industry. He knew that with his own limited abilities, his childhood friend would never pass the project to him. Therefore, whether this matter could be accomplished depended first and foremost on Li Ye.

The beginning is always the hardest, but now that he's made progress, Chen Chunlin feels as if he can see several more zeros in his bank account.

"Then I'll go back to my office now and wait for Attorney Chen's notification."

Li Ye strode back to the office quickly. Jiang Yu and An Yue had just finished organizing the documents in the box and were closing it.

"Li Lu, why so fast? I haven't even had a chance to go find Gong Xiaoxiao yet!"

"Don't go yet. Chen Chunlin is as unreliable as ever. This project is still in its infancy, and I don't know where he got those documents. But they certainly weren't obtained through legal means. Let's put this on hold and wait for me to make arrangements."

"Ah? Oh, okay." This is one of the many things Jiang Yu likes most about Li Lu: she can anticipate risks, so she feels very safe following her.

“Then we’ll head out first. Why don’t you take a nap? I see…” She pointed to her eyes, meaning that Li Ye was currently sporting dark circles under his eyes.

Li Ye didn't say anything, but waved his hand.

After the two left, Li Ye opened his suitcase. There were still some contracts in his personal suitcase, which he had to sort out himself.

She sat on the sofa, entered the password, and opened the suitcase. The suitcase was divided into two compartments. The left compartment contained a neat stack of contracts, while the right compartment was filled with several duffel bags. She unzipped the left compartment and took out the thick stack of contracts.

Li Ye checked the contract again and found no problems. He got up to put it in the filing cabinet.

Just as she stood up, something fell to the ground with a "thud." Li Ye turned her head and saw a rectangular object lying next to the coffee table. She squatted down and picked up the little thing. It was a small stamp that could be clipped to a schoolbag. The back was a pin, and the front featured a manga version of the vermilion gate of Yasaka Shrine.

"When did you put this thing in this suitcase?"

This stamp is much older than the suitcase; she thought she had thrown it away a long time ago.

She gently stroked the smooth surface of the seal, as if she could feel the breeze of her university days and smell the scent of that summer. Long-lost scenes floated into her mind like a movie.

It turned out he hadn't forgotten anything. Li Ye gave a bitter smile.

"Don't dwell on it, it's all in the past. You can't live in the past, look forward."

She initially intended to throw the stamp in the trash, but hesitated at the last second. "Since it's all in the past, I'll keep this little stamp as a souvenir." For some reason, Li Ye then pinned the small stamp to the compartment of her suitcase.

Because she was going to have dinner with Chen Chunlin that evening, Li Ye didn't go home after tidying up her files and luggage; instead, she took a nap in her office. While she was half-asleep, there was a knock on the door.

She sat up, took a sip of water, straightened her clothes, and opened the office door. An Yue was standing outside.

"What's wrong?" Li Ye's voice was a little hoarse, with the distinctive tone of someone just waking up. Although she had tidied herself up, she still felt incredibly lazy.

An Yue was a little stunned. When she heard Li Ye's question, she quickly said, "Two hours ago, Attorney Chen said that you didn't reply to her WeChat message. She wanted to come to see you, but Attorney Jiang stopped her. Attorney Jiang was called away by a client around five o'clock. Before leaving, she asked me to tell you that dinner is scheduled for 6:30 tonight at the Ziguang Hall of the Jia Yan Hui restaurant by the river."

"What time is it now?"

It's almost six o'clock.

Have you eaten? Do you have anything else planned for tonight?

Looking at the pretty young girl, Li Ye wondered why she seemed so reserved when she was with Jiang Yu and the others, but so quiet and reserved around him. Was he really that scary? He decided to take her out for a meal.

"Uh, ah, I..." It seems he's not too willing.

"You have plans?" Li Ye looked at her with a half-smile. Putting himself in her shoes, who would want to have dinner with their boss? That would be like working for free.

"No, no, I want to go, I want to go," An Yue said hurriedly.

Li Ye raised an eyebrow. "You agreed so quickly, aren't you afraid I'll sell you out? But what was that hesitation just now?"

"Okay, go pack your things, we'll leave right away." The building isn't far from the river, it's only a ten-minute walk away.

Li Ye quickly finished packing and strolled leisurely to the common office area. Their team's area was completely empty; they had many projects recently, and most people were away on business trips. Li Ye's work style was that as long as the results satisfied her, she didn't interfere where her employees worked. However, her team members loved coming to work; it was practically the liveliest spot in the common office area, with a dozen or so people sitting neatly together—it hardly looked like a law firm.

An Yue isn't at her workstation. Where did this girl go?

An Yue was putting on makeup in the restroom at that moment. This was the first time her boss had taken her out to eat, and he couldn't let her lose face. Her family was in business, and she understood these principles even earlier than Li Ye.

"Li Lu, I'm all better now."

Hearing the voice, Li Ye turned around. An Yue had actually put on a full face of makeup in such a short time, making her look much older than her actual age.

"Okay, go now. Take what you need to take home, you might not be coming back."

An Yue looked at the computer with a troubled expression. Li Ye was very tall, so she specially changed into the highest heels and put on a full face of makeup. She couldn't very well carry a laptop bag, could she?

Li Ye noticed her predicament. "Leave the computer in my office. Jiang Yu has the key; ask her to open the door tomorrow."

The two took the elevator down to the first floor.

"An Yue, we're going to walk to the riverbank, are you sure this will work?" After entering the elevator, Li Ye saw the two figures in the elevator mirror and noticed that An Yue was wearing such high heels. An Yue originally only reached Li Ye's chin, but now she was almost as high as his ear, so he kindly reminded her.

“It’s alright, Attorney Li, I’ve always worn this high heel.”

An Yue lowered her heels after joining Li Ye's team because she realized that lawyers often had to go out on fieldwork, and she was often accompanied by senior lawyers. It wasn't convenient to take a taxi or drive herself, so wearing such high heels was just making things difficult for her. The place to eat this time was only ten minutes away, which was no problem for her at all.

The New Year had been over for a while, but the spring chill lingered. It was only six o'clock, but it was already dark. A cold wind blew, and people on the street tightened their coats. The two of them were waiting for the green light at a large intersection. A gust of wind blew, and Li Ye quickly wrapped his scarf around his neck. An Yue, who had only been holding her coat, shivered from the cold, and Li Ye helped her put it on.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were fixed on them from a car waiting at the green light next to them.

Xu Wanyi almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. How could this person on the roadside look so much like Li Ye? After staring at the person for ten seconds, she realized it wasn't just a resemblance; this person was indeed Li Ye. She had finally returned to Haixi.

She attended university in Haixi, and after graduating, she rarely came back to Haixi. Firstly, she didn't like the damp and cold weather there, and secondly, the place left her with very unpleasant memories.

But Haixi is the most prosperous city in the country. This year, their group is focusing on expanding into East China, so she has to come to Haixi every month to personally oversee the progress.

As usual, after picking her up from the airport, the driver took her directly to their hotel, Yunman. Yunman is a global chain of ultra-five-star hotels, and this one in Haixi is located by the river, at the end of the road where they were waiting for the traffic light.

She usually works in her car, but today she suddenly wanted to see the bustling financial city at night, and unexpectedly saw this person.

A pang of pain welled up in Xu Wanyi's eyes. She thought she had buried the past in the dust of time, but the moment she saw Li Ye, the dam in her heart collapsed unexpectedly, and wave after wave crashed against her heart.

She couldn't help but stare at her. She hadn't changed much; she was still so thin and tall, and that face that always attracted attention was still so young. The only difference was that her face looked more tired, and her eyes weren't as innocent as they used to be.

Soon, Xu Wanyi noticed An Yue standing with Li Ye. She was a young, beautiful, and tall girl who would occasionally say a word to Li Ye, then stare at him silently, making it impossible to discern their relationship. However, Xu Wanyi immediately realized that this girl was very fond of Li Ye; her intense gaze was obvious to almost everyone except Li Ye himself.

When Li Ye picked up the coat for An Yue to wear, Xu Wanyi's eyes were practically spitting fire. But before she could take any action, the light turned green, the driver stepped on the gas, and the car sped across the road, leaving Li Ye behind.

"Stop the car!" Xu Wanyi shouted. The driver didn't know what had happened or why the young lady was suddenly so angry, so he quickly found a taxi stand and stopped.

When Xu Wanyi got out of the car and ran to the intersection, Li Ye was nowhere to be seen.

"You wait, Li Ye, as long as you return to Haixi, I will definitely find you!" she roared in her heart, turning around with a frosty expression and walking back to the car.

Seeing this, the driver didn't dare say a word and silently drove the car towards the hotel.