Chapter 14 Don't Gamble with Human Nature
When Shang Wu went to Dingfeng and the prison last time, Zhou Yanci only asked her about her trip to see her brother.
It's clear that Zhou Yanci is keeping an eye on the prison, not her whereabouts.
This time, she can go to Dingfeng with peace of mind to sign the agency contract.
Ten minutes later, Shang Wu and Lu Rang sat facing each other, signed the contract, and solemnly handed it to each other.
"Attorney Lu, I'm entrusting my brother to you."
Lu Rang took the contract and signed his name.
This contract with such an unreasonable fee is something they all know what it means.
"You said your brother is being closely watched."
Lu Rang looked up at Shang Wu: "Won't it attract attention if I go to investigate your brother's affairs?"
Shang Wu said casually, "Yes, but if Attorney Lu doesn't even have the ability to handle this, then he shouldn't be the pillar of Dingfeng."
"Do you know how to handle this?" Lu Rang leaned back in his chair. "Tell me about it."
Shang Wu paused, looking at him seriously: "Jinshui's lawyer has been in charge of my brother's case for three whole years, and hasn't managed to get him even a single day of reduced sentence. This is enough for their rivals to laugh at them, enough for Dingfeng to step in and show them their true strength."
Both law firms hold top positions in the industry.
The Jinshui legal team behind Zhou Yanci consists mostly of top students who have returned from studying law schools abroad.
As for Dingfeng.
Shang Wu was unaware of Dingfeng's legal expertise, and hadn't even bothered to find out how Lu Rang became Dingfeng's best lawyer.
But she knew that someone who could compete on equal footing with the law firm supported by Chengzhou, without any capital intervention, must have something extraordinary about them.
Shang Wu snapped out of her thoughts, smiled at Lu Rang, and asked, "How was my analysis?"
Lu Rang stirred his coffee, his features blurred by the steam.
The woman's pale face from last night is still vivid in my mind.
He said calmly, "If you have this kind of energy, you should deal with the messy people around you."
Shang Wu's smile froze.
When she first met Lu Rang, she felt that he was a man of few words and few deeds, making him very suitable to do things for her.
But she didn't expect that Lu Rang would repeatedly mock her for doing nothing about her fiancé's infidelity.
There's no need to bring up these shameful secrets, the scars of betrayal, and the reasons for enduring them.
Since they couldn't agree on anything, Shang Wu got up and left.
Lu Rang suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.
Lu Rang's palm was very hot, so hot that Shang Wu was stunned.
"A word of advice: don't get too deeply involved in any relationship. Don't gamble with human nature. The people you care about will only turn into knives that stab you in the back."
Shang Wu frowned slightly.
Undeniably, she felt that what Lu Rang said made a lot of sense.
Before being betrayed, she thought anyone could hurt her, except Zhou Yanci and Ji Yu.
Lu Rang released Shang Wu's arm: "This is just my experience, a reminder, don't overthink it."
Shang Wu said, "What Attorney Lu said was very authoritative; I learned a lot."
She opened the door and went out.
Two minutes had passed since the person left, but Lu Rang was still sitting at the table.
He looked at the water glass that Shang Wu had touched; there was still a faint lipstick mark on the rim.
Yan Yue came in, looking curious: "What's going on?"
"without."
Lu Rang stood up: "I'm going to Aoki Prison this afternoon. You handle the auditing matters."
Yan Yue was speechless. "You're leaving everything to me? You're way too concerned about Shang Wu's brother! No, it seems like you're very concerned about her!"
Lu Rang ignored him and walked away quickly.
...
Shang Wu didn't go back to the company; instead, she went to the gym to work out.
She was sweating profusely on the treadmill, and her fitness watch showed her heart rate soaring to 166 and remaining there.
The more you sweat, the clearer your mind becomes.
Shang Wu slowly sorted out all the things in her mind.
The headset indicated an incoming call.
She answered the call.
"explain."
Aying: "Director Shang, the 300 million yuan marketing fund has been received."
"So fast?"
Shang Wu raised an eyebrow.
I thought that before the new product launch, I could only get this money by the last minute.
Those old guys on the board are incredibly stingy.
Aying laughed on the phone: "The approval was a bit difficult. It was President Zhou who guaranteed that this money would definitely generate ten times the company's revenue, and that's why the shareholders agreed."
Shang Wu's eyes turned cold.
Ah Ying exclaimed, "President Zhou really likes you! No matter what requests you have in the jewelry department, he fulfills them without hesitation. He even gave you the 300 million yuan allocation without any pressure from the shareholders!"
Shang Wu changed the subject, her tone indifferent: "Find some well-known video bloggers with high online popularity and promote the timing and style of this new product launch. Make sure they praise Ji Yu and emphasize her design skills."
"Understood!" Ah Ying replied repeatedly.
Shang Wu continued, "From now on, don't make fun of my private matters with Zhou Yanci without my permission."
"I understand, I understand!" Aying was taken aback, not knowing what was wrong with her.
In the past, when she remarked on how good Zhou Yanci was to Director Shang, Director Shang would blush and nod with a smile, appearing very shy.
But now it's like he's suddenly become a completely different person...
Aying didn't dare ask any questions; she did whatever the big boss told her to do.
Shang Wu hung up the phone, and the treadmill began to slow down gradually.
She put her hands on her hips, held her breath, and slowly calmed her heart rate. She felt nauseous just thinking about what A-Ying had said.
Every time Zhou Yanci helped to obtain various funds, she would make grand promises, saying how the jewelry department could generate revenue with this money.
On the surface, it seems like he's endorsing her, but in reality, achieving the goals Zhou Yanci casually mentioned would require an immense amount of effort.
Now Zhou Yanci says that jewelry can bring in ten times the return, but isn't it all thanks to her work that she speaks for herself?
You think you can make a lot of money with a marketing budget of 3 billion?
Shang Wu got off the treadmill, wiped her sweat, and took a hot shower.
When she came out after changing her clothes, it was already completely dark outside.
Shang Wu got into the car to rehydrate and was about to go back when Zhou Yanci called.
She casually pressed the answer button, and before she could even speak, she heard a burst of laughter and deafening music.
Gu Ziqian yelled into the phone, "Hey Yanci, what are you doing? Don't hold your phone upside down! I'm really fed up with you!"
Shang Wu frowned.
Gu Ziqian took the phone and laughed, "Sister-in-law, Yanci is drunk. Now she insists on calling you."
A flash of disgust crossed Shang Wu's eyes as she rubbed her temples.
"Take it easy on him, don't let him get completely drunk, he has to go to work tomorrow."
"yes……"
Zhou Yanci immediately snatched the phone, pressed his face against it, and drunkenly called out to her.
"Mianmian."
Shang Wu slowly tightened his grip on the phone.
On the other end of the phone, someone clearly gasped.
Gu Ziqian quickly laughed and said awkwardly, "What Mianmian? What are you talking about? This is my sister-in-law!"
"Isn't your sister-in-law Mianmian?"
Zhou Yanci held her phone, chuckled softly, and spoke with a touch of longing.
"Mianmian, please come pick me up? I'm drunk, and all I want to see is you..."
"Do you know how much I miss you? It's been three years, and I think about you every single day. What about you? Did you come back because you saw me as the heir, or are you truly unable to forget me?"
Shang Wu's gaze grew colder and colder.
Then, a noise came from the other end, and Gu Ziqian snatched the phone away.
"Sister-in-law, he's drunk, please don't be angry with him! I'll hang up now, we'll contact each other again!"
The call was abruptly ended.
Shang Wu sat in the carriage, looking out at the street.
From the moment she discovered Zhou Yanci's betrayal until now, she has been sustained by hatred.
But she couldn't stop the people she hated from provoking and disgusting her time and time again.
How long will this mask of pretense and deceit last?
Whenever Shang Wu closes her eyes, Zhou Yanci's face will uncontrollably appear in her mind.
Her mood worsened, and the more she thought about Zhou Yanci calling out another woman's name in the bar, drunk and clutching his phone, the harder she tried to fight against her subconscious.
No, this can't continue.
Clear your mind of distractions and don't let such people affect your mood or your thoughts.
Shang Wu kept giving herself a suggestion, and suddenly the scene in her mind changed. It was no longer the dimly lit environment of a bar, but a bright conference room.
The man had his back to her, dressed in a well-tailored, impeccably clean gray suit without a single wrinkle, and stood ramrod straight.
Who is it?
Shang Wu's eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Outside, the traffic was still winding and congested.
She gripped the steering wheel, started the car, and drove away, blinking slowly.
I can't believe I thought of him.
That's pretty strange.
...
Shang Wu returned home, turned off her phone, and went to sleep.
No one disturbed us that night.
The next day, she rushed to the jewelry department and saw Ji Yu waiting at the door.
Seeing her approach, Ji Yu's eyes lit up, and she quickly waved to her.
"Here! Here!"
Shang Wu paused, then walked over.
"What's wrong?"
Ji Yu smiled mysteriously: "The company allocated 300 million yuan because of you, and is now searching the entire internet for internet celebrities and stars with high popularity who can be featured in promotional content, right?"
Shang Wu nodded.
Ji Yu put her arm around her arm and said, "I found a very suitable influencer for this promotion. She runs an account overseas and has two million followers. She is a fashion blogger."
Shang Wu narrowed her eyes.
"With her influence, even overseas, she would definitely attract a lot of attention from international students. What do you think about inviting her?" Ji Yu looked at her expectantly.
As Shang Wu listened to her, she went to sit down in the conference room.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, she nodded slightly as a greeting and sat down.
Amidst repeated greetings, she looked up at Ji Yu.
"Who is this person? Why did you come all this way so early to recommend him to me?"
"Listen to me first," Ji Yu smiled even more broadly, sitting down and tugging at her. "This blogger is very selective about the products she promotes, and her prices are very high, twice that of other bloggers of similar size in China, but..."
“She’s an overseas blogger, and her price is so high, it’s not good value for money.” Shang Wu disagreed, tidied the documents in her hand and casually put them aside, “Let’s not consider this person.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Yu quickly said, "I haven't finished yet. Trust me, I've never recommended anyone to you before. She's someone you should consider!"
Shang Wu hesitated and did not nod.
Seeing that Shang Wu was not buying it, Ji Yu's eyes flashed with displeasure.
Previously, Shang Wu would listen to her every word and every opinion she raised.
Even when she felt that Shang Wu's design contained butterfly elements that she disliked, and she threw a tantrum, Shang Wu stayed in her room for a whole day and night without eating or drinking, and temporarily adjusted the design.
Given their ten-year friendship, Shang Wu should have listened to her and given her face in front of everyone.
A dark glint flashed in Shang Wu's eyes, but she asked calmly, "What's this person's name? Why did you recommend him like this?"
"Her name is Chenmian."
Ji Yu looked at Shang Wu eagerly and blinked, "So? What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Wu gave her a deep look, her eyes growing even colder.
They really think she's a fool.
She curled her lips into a slight smile and said casually, "Chen Mian? I know this person. Why would you recommend her?"
"You know him?" Ji Yu tilted her head, pretending to be clueless.
Shang Wu glanced at the others and said in front of everyone, "She is Zhou Yanci's ex-girlfriend."
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