Chapter 17
Li Ye was completely unaware of this. The Le Guang project had just started, and she had to work on-site during this period, while also handling other team affairs. She was so busy that she didn't even have time to drink water.
And so, time flew by in the midst of his busy schedule. For Li Ye, weekends and weekdays no longer held any meaning; they were simply the difference between working from home and working in the office.
Li Ye's team was very efficient. They had basically outlined the main points of the report in a week. On Monday afternoon, she spent the whole afternoon reviewing the report outline, deleting the chapters that she thought were not reasonable, and refining the key chapters.
When she finished her work, she realized it was raining heavily outside. The sky was filled with thick clouds, and the whole world was darkened. When the wind blew, the dense raindrops hit the window and slid down the glass, leaving watermarks.
No one spoke in the meeting room; everyone was engrossed in their work, the only sound the clatter of fingers on keyboards. Li Ye listened intently; she had never imagined that the sound of rain hitting the window and the tapping of keyboards could be so harmonious.
At six o'clock sharp, people began to leave one after another. The lawyers in Li Ye's team were full of energy; they were paid project bonuses, the more they worked, the more they earned. The employees of Leguang Group, on the other hand, received fixed salaries and bonuses, and they still needed to eat well.
Li Ye dealt with two other matters, and it was 6:45.
"Li Lu, shall we go eat?"
Although Jiang Yu also received a bonus, her philosophy was practical and simple: you need to be well-fed to have the energy to work. So even though she ate a little later, she never missed a meal.
"I'm not going, you guys go ahead."
After saying that, Li Ye shut down the computer and glanced at the door, where Feng Jing's clean but expressionless face flashed by.
After most of the people in the conference room had left, Li Ye strode out.
"Let's go, Mr. Feng."
“Li Lu, just call me Xiao Feng or Feng Jing. That’s what Chairman Xu always calls me.”
Li Ye glanced at Feng Jing casually. This girl seemed a little different today. She was usually very friendly, but Li Ye could clearly sense that this friendliness stemmed from years of professional training. In other words, Feng Jing was friendly to everyone she encountered in the workplace—a fundamental skill she possessed as Chairman Xu's personal secretary.
When Xu Wanyi said that today, Li Ye sensed something different in her words. How to put it? It felt like, before you could only enter through the main gate, now you can enter the main hall. Needless to say, this reflected Xu Wanyi's attitude.
"Hmm, let's just call you President Feng. Your Chairman Xu is very clear about this. But you are indeed quite a bit younger than me, so calling you Little Feng won't hurt you. I'll keep that title in mind."
Hearing this, Feng Jing turned to Li Ye and smiled, saying, "Lawyer Li, you're quite young too. The young ladies in our office are eagerly awaiting your arrival every day."
Meanwhile, she thought to herself, "It seems that Attorney Li not only has a pretty face, but also a sweet tongue. No wonder Chairman Xu treats her somewhat differently."
Before they could exchange more than a few words, they had arrived at Xu Wanyi's office. The office was closed, but the lights inside were bright.
Feng Jing dialed the phone, "Chairman, Lawyer Li has arrived."
"Let her in."
Feng Jing opened the door and gestured for him to enter. Li Ye went in and saw Xu Wanyi wearing a white suit, with exquisite makeup and long hair draped over her shoulders, staring intently at the computer screen.
But the moment Li Ye saw her, he felt something was off.
"Feng Jing, you can go home now. You stayed up all night last night. Go home and get some rest today."
"Okay, Chairman, please call me if you need anything." After saying that, she left and closed the door behind her.
Xu Wanyi looked up from the computer screen and glanced at Li Ye.
"sit."
Li Ye didn't stand on ceremony and sat down in the chair opposite her.
"Attorney Li, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry to see me?"
Xu Wanyi thought to herself, "You'd better actually have something on your mind, otherwise my rush all the way from Beijing won't have been in vain. Otherwise, you'll be sorry." Thinking this, she glanced at Li Ye. Li Ye felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze.
"Um, good evening...Ms. Xu," Damn, that was close! I almost called her by her name without realizing it, Li Ye thought to himself.
"I've discovered something, and I think it would be best if you saw it in person. But first, I have a question to ask."
"What's the problem?"
Which department is responsible for the valuation of assets within the group?
"Finance Department."
After hearing this, Li Ye understood everything.
Seeing that Li Ye was somewhat stunned, Xu Wanyi sensed something. "However, for this project, President Zhang said to have the lawyer give a preliminary estimate first, which is not really a valuation. This way, the finance department will have another reference when making a valuation later."
This was Zhang Gang's suggestion at the end of last year when she had just shifted her focus to Leguang Group, and she had almost forgotten about it. Looking back now, she actually found it strange when Zhang Gang told her about it, but since an appraiser was ultimately needed to conduct the assessment, it wasn't unreasonable for a lawyer to give a preliminary estimate first.
“Mr. Xu, do you know that lawyers, accountants, and appraisers are all third-party service providers? We actually refer to each other's reports. No matter what the reason, on the same matter, the three reports will not be drastically different.”
After saying that, she took the USB drive out of her coat pocket and handed it to Xu Wanyi.
Xu Wanyi understood Li Ye's words. Only now did she look directly at Li Ye. Today she was wearing a camel-colored thin coat, her hair was still so thick, but there were quite a few white hairs mixed in. Her face still had distinct lines, her jawline was clearly visible, and there was not a single wrinkle, just like in the old days.
What's wrong with this person? Is age only reflected in their gray hair? Xu Wanyi took the USB drive while lost in thought.
"You seem to have had a bad night's rest? Did you stay up all night last night too?" Li Ye suddenly said this.
Even though Xu Wanyi was wearing full makeup, Li Ye could still tell she was tired when they got close.
"This has nothing to do with Attorney Li, does it? I'm only concerned about your 'discovery' right now," Xu Wanyi replied coldly.
Li Ye touched her nose but didn't say anything. Xu Wanyi knew this little habit of hers; she liked to touch her nose whenever she felt a little embarrassed.
She plugged the USB drive into another computer on the table, opened a folder, and found a Word document titled "Draft Legal Report on the Integration Plan of Leguang Group's XX Enterprises".
"Attorney Li is really efficient. In just one week, the first draft is already out. Corporate integration plan? When did you ever hear that this plan was called an 'integration plan'? How come you even came up with a name on your own?"
Li Ye sensed Xu Wanyi's dissatisfaction, but she didn't explain.
"Mr. Xu, please open Word and take a look at the parts I've highlighted in yellow. After you've read them, I'll explain in detail."
Xu Wanyi opened Word, turned to the table of contents, and saw that Li Ye had highlighted the title of the asset valuation section and a portion of its content in yellow.
Of course she knew about this company; it was the target she personally selected for acquisition.
She clicked directly into the main text of that section, where she was greeted by a dense array of annotations. She glanced at them at first, then suddenly sat up straight and slowly began to read the section and the annotations.
Xu Xuanchen's office was large, and the whole room was quiet except for the sound of rain hitting the windows outside. Li Ye turned his head and saw that it was completely dark. Judging from the force and frequency of the raindrops hitting the window, the rain was getting heavier and the wind was getting stronger.
Li Ye snapped out of her daze, sat up straight, and began to look at the person in front of her. This was the first time in so many years that she had seen her so closely and clearly. No matter when or where, Xu Wanyi was always the most beautiful person in the world in her heart, even if the other person disliked her so much right now.
However, as she turned the pages, Xu Wanyi's expression grew increasingly serious. She realized that the report wasn't written by Li Ye.
"Li Lu, what...are you trying to say?"
"I would say that this company's value is greatly overestimated. It is indeed an excellent company, but it is not worth this price."
"You show me a report with this valuation and then tell me it's not worth that price. Why don't you just give me a report with what you consider a reasonable valuation?"
Li Ye tapped on the surface of his desk.
“One reason is that I don’t think valuations should be done by lawyers. Another reason is that I didn’t write the report.”
She spread her hands, leaned back in the chair, and pushed off slightly with her feet, moving the chair back a little. Xu Wanyi knew the table was in the way of her long legs, and she could imagine that she was stretching her legs out to relax.
"So, who wrote this? And how did you get it?" Xu Wanyi had a guess in her mind, but she wasn't sure. She needed Li Ye to give her a clear answer.
“This was given to me by Zhang Gang, the legal director of your group.” Li Ye didn’t hesitate at all.
"Moreover, he told me that he hoped I would refer to this report. To put it bluntly, he wanted me to copy the contents verbatim."
Xu Wanyi's inner suspicions were confirmed, but she didn't expect that this was the trap waiting for her.
Why do you think Zhang Gang did this?
"Sigh." Li Ye sighed. Why is Wan Yi still like this? Isn't this a bit too much? She clearly understands everything, but she insists on waiting for him to say everything.
Forget it, she's the boss now, let her speak if she wants to.
"The most common reason is that Zhang Gang is colluding with the company's shareholders, and he directly benefits from selling it for more money. But this valuation is too outrageous. If people buy it even at this price, it can only mean that everyone involved in this project is so incompetent that they have something wrong with their brains."
Li Ye knew that such things were done for either fame or profit, with no other motive. However, the relationships within the Leguang Group were complex and intertwined. She had only been there for a week and didn't understand many things, making it impossible for her to make any judgments.
"Okay, I understand. This information you provided is indeed very important. I will consider it carefully."
"That's it? Is that all?" Li Ye thought to himself. Su Che was absolutely right. Xu Wanyi was definitely not the rich young lady who used to say whatever she wanted without any restraint. She didn't reveal any of her emotions at all.
"Chairman Xu, won't you give some instructions on the next step?"
"To whom are you giving instructions?"
Li Ye pointed to himself.
"You're not my employee, how dare I give you instructions?"
That sounds really strange. In principle, it is true, and Li Ye can't refute it.
"Chairman Xu, I have a favor to ask."
She had no idea how Xu Wanyi would handle the situation, but she risked telling her. If Zhang Gang found out, he would definitely make things difficult for her. That was a huge taboo!
"Tell me what you think," Xu Wanyi said, her gaze already returning to the computer screen.
“Our project has just begun, and there will be many areas where we will need Zhang Gang's cooperation and support. I don't know how Chairman Xu will handle this matter. But Zhang Gang clearly told me that he hopes I will write the report according to this plan. So…”
"So you plan to write the report according to this method, and then have me veto it?"
"That's the plan." Li Ye looked at her very seriously.
Xu Wanyi couldn't stand Li Ye's gaze—so earnest, focused, and innocently naive, it was irresistible. Countless times, it was under that gaze that she had inexplicably agreed to many things, including things in life, and… she thought of the scenes with Li Ye in bed.
She suddenly jolted awake. What was she thinking? Her already hot face grew even hotter. Why was she thinking about these things?
"Okay, I promise you. Is there anything else? If not, you can go now, I'm going home too."
All she wanted now was to get Li Ye away as soon as possible, so she couldn't let her keep showing up in front of her.
As she spoke, she kept her eyes on the computer, waiting for Li Ye to get up and leave, but there was no movement from the other end for a long time. After a while, there was finally some noise from the other end, and Li Ye stood up. She breathed a sigh of relief. Hurry up and leave!
When she came to her senses, she realized that Li Ye had already walked around the desk and stood beside her. She still carried that clean and dry scent, which was Xu Wanyi's favorite scent, well, it used to be.
Before she could react, Li Ye squatted down, kneeling on one knee, very close to her. Then, she placed her left hand on the back of the chair and her right hand on Xu Wanyi's forehead.
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