Chapter 23
After listening to Jiang Yu's description, Li Ye quickly understood the key points.
“Jiang Yu, I’m not going to Leguang today, nor am I going into the office. If General Manager Zhang comes to ask again later, just tell him exactly what I said, that I have something to discuss tomorrow.”
"Ah, Li Lu, you... I'm under pressure." Jiang Yu wasn't actually under any pressure; she was just annoyed by people who kept interrupting her work, like Chen Chunlin.
"You can do it, I believe in you." Li Ye knew that this was no problem for Jiang Yu.
"I'm hanging up now, I'm going back to sleep."
"Hey, hey, Lawyer Li, Lawyer Li." A beep came from the other end of the phone, followed by silence.
Before he could even hang up the phone, Zhang Gang came in again. "Attorney Jiang, did you get in touch with Attorney Li? What did she say?"
“Li Lu has something to do today and won’t be coming to the office. She’ll come tomorrow. You can look for her tomorrow; she’ll definitely be there,” Jiang Yu said irritably.
Zhang Gang touched his hair and sullenly left. To put it bluntly, Jiang Yu wasn't her subordinate, so he couldn't do anything to her!
Ever since Zhang Gang saw Jiang Yu and figured out the key point, he has been thinking: Since the chairman doesn't give me any face, why should I give face to an external lawyer like you?
So, text messages, WeChat messages, and phone calls were bombarded with messages to Li Ye.
He was furious, waiting for Li Ye to come trembling and give him an explanation. If he didn't say something to my liking, I'd make him pay! He had even prepared his speech in his mind.
Unfortunately, Li Ye didn't react at all; her WeChat chat interface remained silent.
Zhang Gang fumed alone for a long time, then stormed into the conference room, his expression unusually grim. He found Jiang Yu and barely managed to suppress his anger. He asked, his face dark, "..."
"Attorney Jiang, where is Attorney Li? The project isn't finished yet, where is she? Why isn't she here?"
Jiang Yu was baffled. Isn't it normal that Attorney Li isn't here? She's not your employee, she's our boss!
"Mr. Zhang, hello! Attorney Li is probably busy with other team matters today. Is there anything you need? Why don't you tell me first?"
“We’ve hired Li Ye, Attorney Li Ye! The lead attorney for this project, not anyone else.”
Zhang Gang became increasingly angry as he spoke, and eventually even launched a personal attack on Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu was displeased upon hearing this.
“Mr. Zhang, Attorney Li has assigned me to be the lead lawyer for the Leguang project. If you are not satisfied with this arrangement, you can tell her to change someone else, but until then, I will still be in charge of this project.”
Zhang Gang is essentially a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong. He yells at the young women in his department with great enthusiasm, and no one dares to talk back to him like that.
He hadn't expected Jiang Yu, who usually seemed so gentle, to be so blunt, and he instantly felt a little intimidated. He also remembered that this project was personally selected by the chairman, unlike previous projects where he could easily change them and manipulate the lawyers.
"Attorney Jiang, that's not what I meant. I'll come back to check later." Zhang Gang, not wanting to make a fool of himself, quickly slipped away.
After Zhang Gang left, the people from the legal department of Leguang Group in the conference room silently looked at Jiang Yu and quietly gave her a thumbs up. These kids had all been scolded and manipulated by him to some extent.
Seeing Jiang Yu confront him directly was incredibly satisfying. You have to understand, their CEO Zhang is usually so powerful and high-spirited, practically the tyrant of the group's legal department; he's never suffered such a humiliation before.
He then retreated dejectedly, and everyone wore enigmatic smiles. The members of Li Ye's team now had a general understanding of Le Guang's internal situation and could understand their smiles; several of them chuckled along. They thought to themselves, "Attorney Li is truly amazing!"
The next day, Li Ye arrived at the Leguang project team's meeting room at 9:00 AM sharp. Zhang Gang arrived right after him.
"Attorney Li, come to my office for a moment, we need to discuss something."
Zhang Gang has completely returned to normal, showing none of the exasperation he displayed yesterday.
Li Ye recalled Jiang Yu's description and looked at his demeanor today; he was indeed an old fox.
"Ah, okay, Mr. Zhang, just a moment, I'll be right there after I put down my computer."
"Li Lu, what happened to him?" After Zhang Gang left, Jiang Yu came over and asked quietly.
"The chairman probably realized the valuation was wrong and scolded Zhang Gang. That's why he came to me crying about it."
Li Ye covered his mouth with his hand and spoke to Jiang Yu in a lower voice.
Jiang Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this.
Attorney Li has this ability: she can make something that is very tense and stressful seem like an ordinary thing, or even come across as funny, by talking about it so casually.
"Shh," she said, glancing at Jiang Yu who was laughing hysterically, before walking out.
"Mr. Zhang, is there something you need?"
"Uh, yes, that report. The chairman talked to me about it. The chairman is still the chairman; he definitely noticed something was amiss. I've thought about it, and we should make some adjustments. Rewrite this chapter in the next couple of days, and show it to me when you're done."
Zhang Gang barely slept a wink yesterday. After his daytime fit of rage, his anger had subsided somewhat by evening, though he was still somewhat angry.
Since Li Ye can report this crucial issue directly to the chairman, it means that their relationship is not too distant, at least not as unfamiliar as it seems.
He had worked for the group for so many years and had hired at least ninety or a hundred external lawyers, but none of them had ever been able to bypass all of them and speak directly to the big boss.
"Is Mr. Zhang sure you want to make the changes?" Li Ye asked casually.
Zhang Gang's barely suppressed anger surged up again. After all, he had been the head of legal counsel for the client for so many years, and no external lawyer would dare to speak to him like that.
This is a huge incident! An accident! A business accident! Does Li Ye even understand? I'm the legal head of Leguang, I'm in charge of this line of work, anything that doesn't go my way is a business accident! I said it's a business accident, so it's a business accident, and you're still standing there so nonchalant, who do you think you are!
"Yes, go back and take a good look at this yourself!" He couldn't control his temper and threw a stack of documents at Li Ye.
The stack of reports was first slammed heavily onto the desk, then scattered due to inertia.
Unfortunately, one of the pieces of paper flew towards Li Ye's face, and its sharp edge struck her forehead slightly to the left, causing blood to flow immediately.
Li Ye caught a glimpse of a few familiar words; this was the valuation section of the report concerning that Northwest wind power company. In just a few seconds, dozens of pages of A4 paper seemed to overwhelm Li Ye completely.
Just as blank sheets of paper were flying everywhere, the door to Zhang Gang's office suddenly opened.
Hearing the door open, Li Ye turned around and saw Xu Wanyi standing at the door, wearing high heels and a black skirt suit, with a long blazer, looking inside expressionlessly.
Feng Jing stood to the side, looking completely bewildered.
Xu Wanyi did hope that Zhang Gang would make things difficult for Li Ye and prevent her from completing everything smoothly, but she didn't expect him to do something so humiliating... She looked at the specks of blood on Li Ye's forehead and tried her best to suppress the urge to rush over and check on him.
"Chairman, what brings you here? I was just discussing with Attorney Li how to adjust this section."
Zhang Gang was caught off guard by Xu Wanyi's sudden appearance and felt a pang of panic.
"This is how you adjust it?" Xu Wanyi looked at the papers scattered on the floor, then at the two people standing stiffly.
"Regarding the valuation issue you mentioned, Attorney Li and I discussed it, and there are indeed some problems. Perhaps I didn't express myself well enough, which is why Attorney Li was a little angry."
From the moment Xu Wanyi appeared at the door, Li Ye's eyes never left her. Now, hearing Zhang Gang's counter-accusations, he was filled with questions.
When did I get angry? It seems Zhang Gang is so enraged that he's trying to distort the truth. He knows he can't blame himself for the valuation issue, so he's now pinning the blame for starting this trouble on me.
"Mr. Zhang, Attorney Li, you are both senior professionals in the legal field. Can you please stop acting like kindergarten children?"
After hearing Xu Wanyi's words, Li Ye knew that she did not intend to pursue the matter. Although she felt a little wronged, she was not too upset. After all, this was not the first time that someone had smashed her things. The wound on her forehead was just a small cut, not even a minor injury.
Xu Wanyi was her client, so she had no responsibility to pay compensation, nor any obligation to take care of her feelings.
"Understood, Chairman Xu. Mr. Zhang and I have already discussed it and will revise the valuation chapter according to the latest data released by the state. I will send you the first draft when it is ready."
Li Ye wasn't going to tolerate Zhang Gang either. "I'll show you what I've written? Dream on. If you want to do anything else, go and make a scene with your chairman."
"Yes, yes, Chairman, we have already discussed what to do next and will ensure that the task is completed on time." Although Zhang Gang was very unhappy, he had no choice but to go along with Li Ye's words.
"Good. Now that you two have reached a conclusion, why don't you go back to work?"
"Then Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhang, you two continue your conversation. I'll head back now."
After saying that, Li Ye closed his notebook, stepped aside to let Xu Wanyi pass, and left without looking back.
The bleeding on Li Ye's forehead had stopped. It was probably because the paper had pierced a place with abundant capillaries. A long trail of blood flowed down from his forehead to his cheek, and some blood was also soaked into his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes.
Xu Wanyi couldn't help but glance at her face, and that's what she saw.
She knew Li Ye was angry, but now was not the time to take action against Zhang Gang. Judging from the evidence, the report was given to him by his lawyer. If they were to pursue accountability now, Li Ye would likely be the first person to be dealt with.
"Mr. Zhang, as the group's general counsel, you bear a heavy responsibility. You need to cooperate well with the external lawyers, and you must carefully review all their materials from now on."
"Yes, Chairman, this kind of thing will not happen again."
Zhang Gang was initially very uneasy, but after hearing Xu Wanyi's words, he felt relieved. He knew that the chairman did not intend to pursue the matter, so he was at least safe for the time being.
After Xu Wanyi left, he plopped down in his office chair, thinking to himself that although he was safe for the time being, Li Ye was a ticking time bomb. He was too unreasonable and uncooperative.
It seems it's time to take action.
Feng Jing followed behind Xu Wanyi and asked in a low voice, "Chairman, should we go and see Attorney Li?"
She certainly saw the bloodstain on Li Ye's face. Based on her understanding of Zhang Gang and Li Ye, she knew that Zhang Gang must have started the incident. Even if Li Ye was an outside lawyer, it was impossible for him to do such a thing to General Manager Jia.
The chairman clearly cares a lot about Attorney Li, so why didn't she say a word in her defense earlier? Therefore, she tentatively asked Xu Wanyi about it.
Xu Wanyi really wanted to go to the conference room right now to see how badly she was injured, and also to explain why she had done what she did. But for both professional and personal reasons, she couldn't do that, and she believed Li Ye understood that too.
"After we get back to the office, you should call her assistant, Jiang Yu, and ask what's going on."
However, before she could return to her office, she bumped into Li Ye as soon as she stepped out. Her hair was wet and her face was damp, indicating that she had washed her face in the restroom.
"Chairman Xu, President Feng, you two are going up now."
Li Ye didn't avoid them; he walked over directly and chatted with them normally, as if nothing had happened.
After she came out of Zhang Gang's office, she went straight to the restroom. If she walked through the public office area with this bloodstain on her face and then entered the meeting room, who knows what strange rumors would be spread.
"Li Lu, are you alright here?" Feng Jing pointed to her forehead and asked.
When Li Ye touched his hand, it was covered in bright red blood. He must have accidentally knocked off the scab while washing his face, and now it was bleeding again.
"Oh, it's okay, it'll be fine in a bit."
Seeing that the chairman seemed to want to say something but didn't, Feng Jing immediately understood what the chairman meant.
"Why don't you come with me to the 49th floor? I have a first-aid kit in my office, and we can stop the bleeding."
"Oh, really, no need. This little injury is nothing. I have a lot of things to do. I'll report back to Chairman Xu when things are progressing."
After saying that, she took out a tissue to cover her forehead, smiled politely at them, and walked away without looking back.
"Chairman?" Feng Jing looked at Li Ye, then at Xu Wanyi.
"Let's go. It's not a serious injury. She can handle it." Xu Wanyi's voice sounded somewhat tired.
The conference room was in complete chaos. After Li Ye was called away by Zhang Gang, someone kept a close eye on the situation in Zhang Gang's office. Not long after, Li Ye was seen walking out "with his face covered in blood".
That's how rumors start. What was originally just a small bloodstain, after traveling only a few dozen meters, has become "a face covered in blood."
Li Ye wiped the bloodstains clean, then found an empty corridor to wait for a while until the bleeding completely stopped before returning to the conference room.
The conference room fell silent as soon as she entered. Everyone stared at Li Ye with curiosity. Li Ye knew they had definitely seen everything, but she didn't intend to pay any attention or explain.
"Li Lu, are you alright?"
Jiang Yu handed Li Ye's water glass to her, glancing at her forehead. Because of the repeated bleeding and wiping with water and tissues, her entire forehead was red and seemed a little swollen.
"It's nothing, I just bumped into something. I'll take care of it when I get home tonight. Don't worry."
When Li Ye noticed that everyone was looking at him, he added, "Hurry up and get to get off work. Don't you want to get off work early? Are you not getting enough work? Maybe I can give you some more assignments."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly buried themselves in their work, not wanting to create extra work for themselves because of gossip.
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