Chapter 15
Monday. The sky was clear and the breeze was gentle.
When Li Ye arrived at the foot of Le Guang Building, he found only Wang Du standing in the lobby. He was very puzzled.
Before she even got close, Wang Du saw her and immediately came to greet her.
"Attorney Li, hello! Mr. Zhang asked me to pick you up here."
"Oh, Mr. Wang, hello! Thank you for your help." As she spoke, she glanced around at the surroundings.
"Attorney Li, your team's lawyers arrived a while ago and are already in the conference room," Wang Du said quickly, noticing Li Ye's confusion.
The lawyers in Attorney Li's team were so dedicated. He later heard that they started arriving at their building one after another as early as 8:00, and everyone was there by 8:15!
He had just come up from the parking lot elevator when he was startled by the neatly arranged crowd of people outside. His building housed legitimate businesses whose employees started work at 9:00 AM; he had never seen so many people gathered in the lobby at 8:15 AM before.
He couldn't help but take another look, and accidentally saw Jiang Yu standing in the crowd with a bright and energetic look on her face.
"Damn it, Yuande Law Firm's lawyers are here so early! Do they even want people to live?"
He finally understood why Li Ye was able to land so many big projects, and cursed inwardly. He had started working as a legal counsel right after graduation and had never experienced the pace of work in a law firm before. He was worried about getting overwhelmed by these people in the future.
Wang Du's career path was slightly different from that of his other colleagues in the legal department. While the others came in through legal recruitment, the job he interviewed for was not in the legal department but in the board office. After the chairman personally recruited him into the group, he heard that he had graduated from the China University of Political Science and Law with a degree in civil and commercial law and directly assigned him to work in the legal department.
Despite his thoughts and criticisms, he genuinely admired the tireless spirit of these lawyers, especially since the chairman had instructed him to treat them well.
So Wang Du didn't go upstairs first, but walked directly to them and greeted Jiang Yu and the group of lawyers warmly.
"Attorney Jiang, fellow lawyers, good morning! You're here so early. Come, let me take you upstairs."
Jiang Yu knew Wang Du would come to pick them up, but she didn't expect him to arrive so early. Generally speaking, as clients, especially in large companies, the lower the employee's level, the more arrogant they tend to be. This Wang Du seems alright.
"Hello, Mr. Wang! You're at work so early too. Let me introduce you. This is our team: Attorney Liu Shuang, Attorney Jin Haifeng... We'll be relying on you for guidance from now on!"
"Not at all, it's all about helping each other. I also studied law and have long heard of Attorney Li's team's reputation. I'm really looking forward to working with you."
There were too many people, and after exchanging pleasantries for a while, the group finally entered the B2 conference room on the 21st floor under Wang Du's guidance.
Jiang Yu noticed an A4 sheet of paper pasted on the conference room door from afar, with the words "Project Team Lawyer" written in bold bold letters. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were there for an IPO.
On second thought, given Leguang's size, it's no smaller than two IPOs of other companies. Fortunately, this project doesn't have the time span requirements of securities law and regulatory agencies, otherwise it would really be stuck here forever.
When Li Ye arrived, everyone was already in their places, and there were quite a few unfamiliar faces, presumably from Le Guang's legal department. To make their work easier, they had simply asked for a seat for themselves in the conference room so they could easily communicate with the lawyers.
People were constantly coming and going in the conference room; some were carrying documents, while others were leaving with laptops. In short, it was a bustling scene.
Not long after Li Ye sat down, while he was carefully checking the list of core documents, he suddenly noticed that the conference room had become completely silent. He was wondering about this when he looked up and saw Zhang Gang accompanying Xu Wanyi into the conference room, standing in front of the door looking at everyone.
"Hello, Chairman!" the crowd exclaimed in response.
"Thank you all for your hard work. This project is the most important plan for the group in the past few years. The task is heavy and the time is tight. We rely entirely on all of you. I would like to thank you all for your efforts!"
Before the three armies set out on a campaign, the lord always needs to boost morale, and that's what Chairman Xu is doing now.
"Everyone, keep up with your work and don't worry about me. I just came to see you all. I'll hold a special celebration for you when the project is finished."
After saying that, Xu Wanyi waved her hand, turned around and walked out.
Cheers erupted in the conference room. Everyone understood the meaning of those words, especially since it was said by the chairman himself, which was completely different from what Zhang Gang had said.
Everyone was energized and threw themselves into their work with even greater enthusiasm.
Li Ye didn't even have time to say a word to her before she left! The company's boss didn't say a word to the legal team leader after the lawyers entered?
This doesn't follow the usual rules!
Forget it, she didn't expect Xu Wanyi to really forgive her, nor did she intend to explain anything. Judging from Chairman Xu's behavior, he certainly hadn't forgiven her, and probably didn't want any personal dealings with her from the bottom of his heart.
That's good; simpler relationships mean more efficiency.
Thinking of this, Li Ye buried herself back in the list she had just read. However, less than two minutes later, after only reading half a page, she was interrupted again.
"Attorney Li, Attorney Li, over here?" Zhang Gang stood across the conference table and waved at her.
Well, being too focused can be a good thing, but sometimes it can also be a bad thing.
When Li Ye is working, he is always oblivious to his surroundings, which has led clients to perceive him as arrogant on many occasions—"because Attorney Li always ignores us," according to his own words.
"Oh, Mr. Zhang, is there anything I can help you with?"
“Attorney Li, come to our office for a moment. I’d like to have a chat with you.”
What the hell? Is there something you can't say here? He's the legal director for the client! What are you thinking!
Li Ye cursed inwardly, closed his laptop, and stood up. Zhang Gang had already reached the conference room door, and Li Ye quickly followed.
Zhang Gang's office is very close to this conference room; it's just a few steps away.
After the two went inside, Zhang Gang closed the door and invited Li Ye to sit in the chair opposite his desk.
"Mr. Zhang, is there anything I can help you with?"
“Lawyer Li, to be honest, I did call you here to discuss something with you.”
"You really need my cooperation?" Li Ye thought to himself, "I was just being polite, don't take it seriously. I don't accept bribes, I certainly don't help people siphon off company assets. I can offer kickbacks, but we've already missed the window for that. So, Mr. Zhang, what exactly do you want from me?"
“That’s right.” Zhang Gang glanced outside. “I contacted a law firm on our group’s lawyer list, and they’ve already started some work.”
Li Ye's eyes darted around. Was I poaching someone's talent? No, wait a minute. If there had been a lawyer on this project before, even if Miss Xu hated me, she wouldn't have kept such an important matter from me.
"But don't worry, Attorney Li, I only contacted that law firm to speed up the process. They also submitted a bid, but Chairman Xu didn't like it, so it's nobody's fault. Don't misunderstand, it wouldn't be good to cause a misunderstanding."
"Ah, I understand. Mr. Zhang is ultimately thinking about the company. This project is so big, it makes sense to consult a lawyer in advance."
"I asked you to come here so that I could give you the materials they had reviewed and the preliminary results of their work. This will benefit the overall progress of the project and also reduce your workload," Zhang Gang said earnestly.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang! This is a real lifesaver. With your support, I feel much lighter on my shoulders."
Zhang Gang saw that Li Ye was very cooperative. He then said, "However, I need to tell you about this first. Chairman Xu doesn't know about this. After all, Chairman Xu didn't choose that firm. The final decision still depends on you, Attorney Li, so we won't tell Miss Li about this. What do you think?"
"Oh, I understand, I understand. Mr. Zhang is right. But I'll remember this favor!" Li Ye clasped his hands in a gesture of brotherhood, a gesture commonly used to express loyalty and camaraderie.
Zhang Gang beamed and got up to take a portable hard drive from the drawer and give it to Li Ye.
"Li Lu, it's all inside. I hope it can help you."
"Thank you, thank you! You go ahead with your work, I won't bother you any longer."
"Okay, you go ahead and get busy. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know."
Zhang Gang got up and escorted Li Ye to his office door. He watched Li Ye take the portable hard drive into the conference room, stood there for a while, and then turned around and went in, closing the office door behind him.
Li Ye returned to his seat and stared at the portable hard drive for a long time, pondering what Zhang Gang really meant.
He was clearly unaware that he and Xu Wanyi had known each other for a long time, let alone that they had a close past. Therefore, he believed that he could be won over and hoped to manipulate the matter through himself.
But what's the big deal?
Li Ye was absolutely certain that this was definitely not meant to lighten her workload. Rather, it was adding to her burden. What she could have written after reviewing the materials once had become reviewing and revising reports for others. Anyone who has done this knows how time-consuming and labor-intensive it is.
Most importantly, she didn't know Zhang Gang before. In this world, who would help you for no reason? There's no such thing as a free lunch.
So, the answer is in this plate!
Li Ye guessed that Zhang Gang might want to guide her in writing something, or perhaps he wanted to convey some information to her through this preliminary report. Even more boldly, he might want to use the lawyer's report to dictate the direction of this business plan.
Having thought all this through, Li Ye found a clean computer, plugged in the external hard drive, and opened it to take a look.
There was only one folder inside, labeled "Leguang Group".
She clicked on it and saw that there were three folders, a Word document and an Excel file inside. The folder names were: Legal, Financial and Business.
Li Ye continued clicking through until he reached the smallest folder. The documents inside were clearly labeled and ordered, but upon closer inspection, it became apparent that there was no logical relationship between them; their connection lay solely in their file names.
No wonder Miss Xu didn't take a liking to them; it's completely different from her thinking. Moreover, for a diversified enterprise like Leguang Group, it's impossible to operate according to this logic. It would inevitably lead to chaos, let alone providing legal support for the group's business development; it would be a miracle if the report didn't further confuse those reading it.
Li Ye didn't intend to look at these basic documents. She went back to the second level of the directory and opened the Word document, "Draft Legal Report on the Integration Plan of Leguang Group's XX Enterprises".
Well, it seems that President Zhang has even thought of a name for Miss Xu's plan. In his eyes, Xu Wanyi's plan is a "corporate integration plan".
The report wasn't long, only about a hundred pages. She then scrolled through the table of contents, skipping the formatted sections. Suddenly, her gaze fell on the "Asset Valuation" section, which was under the "Asset Analysis" chapter.
The report is just over a hundred pages long, but after removing the beginning and end, there are only five chapters with substantial content. The asset valuation section alone takes up sixty pages, making the entire writing style very strange and giving the impression that the report's form is used to cover up its substance.
Strictly speaking, asset valuation is not a lawyer's job at all.
That's the answer!
Li Ye highlighted and bolded the words "asset valuation." Then he clicked into this section and began to read it carefully. From this chapter, it was clear that Leguang Group had already made initial contact with several target companies it intended to acquire and had obtained a considerable amount of information.
After reading the entire passage, Li Ye had a preliminary impression.
The former lawyer, or Zhang Gang, wanted the former lawyer to first legally define the core assets of the industries involved in Leguang Group and the target of the proposed acquisition, and to make a preliminary estimate, and then have the appraiser conduct a value assessment of these assets based on this.
This is not in line with industry practice!
However, due to time constraints, the asset valuation section only analyzed target companies in the new energy industry; the others were not yet written.
The report involved four companies in total. The one that impressed Li Ye the most was a wind power company in Northwest China, which also had the highest valuation among these target companies.
Based on the information already obtained and the analysis of the report, Li Ye also believes that acquiring such a company is very appropriate if the wind power industry is to be developed.
However, this valuation, well, it's not the highest in this industry, because some large companies in the industry are indeed very valuable. But considering the size of this company, it's particularly outrageous.
Li Ye clicked the mouse back onto the company's page and looked at it more carefully.
This report provides a detailed analysis of the company and includes a list of indicators such as the number of wind turbines, their serial numbers, and their individual capacities.
Li Ye's fingers hovered over the mouse, and something suddenly flashed through her mind! Her list didn't have any accumulated installation capacity.
Li Ye pulled up an Excel file, calculated the total capacity, and added a comment to the list header. She roughly knew where the problem lay.
"Jiang Yu, come here for a moment."
Jiang Yu was talking to someone from Leguang Group when she heard Li Ye call her and give her a wink. So she quietly walked over to Li Ye's side.
"Li Lu, what's wrong?"
"I have some documents here. Bring me a clean USB drive and I'll copy them for you. Read the report inside and check the relevant data. I've already looked at it and highlighted the key points. Don't let anyone else know about it for now, especially not the people from Leguang."
“Okay, Lawyer Li.”
While Jiang Yu was analyzing the data, Li Ye quietly went downstairs and bought a coffee at the Starbucks in the park. There was coffee in Le Guang's office, but she wanted to go out for a walk, get some fresh air, and also think about what had happened that day.
After all, this is only the first day of the event, and such a strange thing has already happened.
She ordered a large pour-over coffee, took her cup, and found a corner to sit down. This corner was backlit, making it the darkest spot in Starbucks; you could barely see her face even standing at the bar.
She took a sip of coffee and gazed aimlessly at the lobby. This Starbucks was quite large, and there weren't too many people, nor too few. Sunlight streamed in through the tall glass curtain wall, making it bright and warm.
Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure appear at the order counter. She tried hard to remember where she had seen him before, but couldn't recall.
As she grew older, Li Ye found herself looking at strangers with a sense of familiarity, yet unable to recall where she had seen them before. She initially assumed this person was experiencing the same thing.
Later, when she saw those big ears, she finally remembered that this was the person she had seen in the car that day who greeted Jin Haifeng. So he worked here!
Just then, a WeChat call came in: "Attorney Li, the data has been found. This company has a problem. I'm in conference room A5 on the 21st floor."
Alright. His guess had been confirmed. Li Ye took his coffee, went to the bar to buy Jiang Yu a latte, and strode back.
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