Chapter 3

The first thing Cheng Yao did when she left the meeting room was call Qin Qin and question her.

“What do you mean gigolo?! That was my boss! How could you mistake my boss for a gigolo?!” Cheng Yao was almost crying, “Do you know how miserable I am because of you?!”

“No way! I clearly heard his and the middle-aged rich woman’s entire negotiation. How could he be your boss? Are you sure they’re the same person?”

“Tell me exactly what you heard.”

“He said he charges 10,000 per hour, and if it lasts less than an hour, the fee would default to that of an hour. If he was to provide services elsewhere, then the time spent on the road would be charged too, 6000 per hour. He also said that if she needed his service, she would have to make an appointment in advance, because he has too many clients.” Qin Qin yelled, “Isn’t that a gigolo? Can you lawyers charge that much? When have lawyers been so rich? Don’t all lawyers work like a dog like you?”

Cheng Yao almost fainted. “In the Chinese legal market, the top 20% lawyers monopolize 80% of their business’ profits, this guy is one of the tops in JunHeng, so there’s nothing wrong with those fees!”

Now, Qin Qin also panicked. “Oh no, now what?!”

“Do me a favor and buy me a lifetime supply of anti-stress pills.” Cheng Yao feebly said, then hung up the phone.

*****

The lawyers in Qian Heng’s team came to say hello to Cheng Yao.

“Cheng Yao, welcome to our wealthy and glorious team.”

“Huh?”

“Joining Qian partner’s team is embarking on a lifelong romance with wealth and glory. As long as you work hard, you’ll never be short of money.” Talking to Cheng Yao was a chubby boy with very light skin. He wore glasses and looked like a reliable person. “My name is Bao Rui. I’ve been working in Junheng for four years. If you ever need anything, you can ask me. Come, I’ll show you around.”

Bao Rui was very enthusiastic and friendly. “JunHeng currently has five partners. Two are mainly responsible for decision-making. One is partner Qian Heng, and the other, partner Wu Jun. JunHeng was named after them. They were university classmates and both graduated from Anshin Law School.”

Cheng Yao was a little surprised. Unexpectedly, Wu Jun and Qian Heng graduated from the same university as her sister Cheng Xi. She curiously asked Bao Rui about their graduation dates. Qian Heng and Wu Jun graduated before Cheng Xi.

“However, in the institute, you won’t see partner Wu very often, because he’s responsible for JunHeng’s external business contacts and public relations in the media. He works in the exterior all year round.”

“Publicity relations? Media?”

Bao Rui nodded. “Yes, you may not understand. In layman’s terms, it’s about sending the right messages to the right places and the right people, creating a stronger brand reputation. It can transform the future and profitability of a business. That’s what partner Wu is responsible for. Partner Qian is responsible for leading the delivery of our services. He’s more focused on professional work, and thinks it’s too annoying to deal with customers. But partner Wu likes these social things, and prefers it, rather than boring legal services.”

Cheng Yao suddenly realized. Isn’t this the same as organized prostituition? Wu Jun is the charming and social guy who’d be responsible for organizing contacts for gigolos and prostitutes. Qian Heng has a bad temper but good technical skills, so he would be directly involved in the work. Thinking like this, mistaking him for a gigolo wasn’t that bad…

It was not until Bao Rui’s voice rang again that Cheng Yao finally stopped with her delirious thoughts.

“This is our resting area. There are tea breaks every day at 10 am and 3 pm. Partner Qian has a very high quality of life, so the desserts served in the tea breaks are all from the most expensive brands. Oh, and in our institute, don’t drink Starbucks. We only drink freshly ground coffee. The coffee beans were sent by air from Sumatra.”

Are you serious…?

“This is the archive room. All the case materials are filed here by category. And right here, is the gym.”

Cheng Yao was truly shocked. “There’s a gym too?”

“Yes, if you go to the gym often for a month, you’ll get a bonus.” Bao Rui shrugged. “… but no one has got it so far.”

“Because they’re too busy?”

“No, it’s because partner Qian is frequently there.” Bao Rui scratched his head and secretly said, “With his aura, even grass wouldn’t grow within ten miles.”

“…” Cheng Yao, who was going to live in the same house as Qian Heng, felt that she would need those anti-stress pills as soon as possible…

“This cubicle is where we keep Partner Qian’s loot.” Bao Rui said as he pushed the door of the cubicle beside the archive room.

When the door opened, she spotted all kinds of compliments written on papers. “Best of the industry”, “Exceptional legal spokesperson”, “Man of justice”… exaggerated compliments immediately came into sight.

Bao Rui coughed. “These were all sent by customers. There are too many, so we pile them all here.”

Cheng Yao was quite surprised. “It turns out that Mr. Qian is quite valued by his clients, and receives many praises…”

Then why is he known for being the cancer of the industry on the internet?

Bao Rui apparently understood the subtext in Cheng Yao’s comment. He coughed and pointed to a row of cabinets in the room. “In fact, in addition to these compliments, our partner Qian also receives a lot of threatening letters, curses, and even ashes. They’re all stored in that row of cabinets…”

Cheng Yao looked at the layout of the room. This row of cabinets occupied about 4/5ths of the room…

”

”

Ok….

Sure enough, Cheng Yao glanced at the row of cabinets and saw words such as “cancer”, “no bottom line”, “only sees money” and so on…

Cheng Yao had a rough idea of why Qian Heng was so criticized.

No matter the case, as long as the payment was enough, he would take it.

In his second year working as a lawyer, he accepted a divorce case from a rich businessman.

This rich businessman had consulted many lawyers in Anshin, and always got the same response. Because he had an affair, as a fault, the divorce would have split up a lot of his property to be given to his ex-wife. However, under Qian Heng’s defense, the rich businessman managed to keep everything, and the ex-wife was left with nothing.

Qian Heng became famous in one battle.

The case had a great impact at that time, and the media followed up. The verdict completely violated public morality and good customs. Hence, Qian Heng was scolded like a dog by the masses.

After that, he took on various family cases, and his clients were always proven innocent without exception. Under his defense, they all got on the law’s “good side”.

There was a time when Qian Heng’s name was equivalent to black-hearted lawyer.

*****

“Bao Rui, file this threatening letter for me.”

”

”

Just as Cheng Yao was thinking, Qian Heng opened the door and walked in. As he spoke, he dropped a bag of things to Bao Rui.

“This is from the last family I had a dispute with, their people sent it to me.”

Cheng Yao couldn’t help asking: “if it’s all negative anyways, why do you keep them?”

Could it be that “the cancer of the industry” aka Qian Heng actually had a conscience? Although he takes many cases purely for his own interest, maybe he still has a bit of a conscience in his heart. Maybe he keeps these complaints and curses out of sympathy?

Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao and answered, “In case these people retaliate against me, I can submit these threatening letters as material evidence. The more evidence, the better, so that a complete chain of evidence can be formed and the perpetrators are caught.”

“…”

I really did overthink it, this guy isn’t called the cancer of the industry for nothing…

After Qian Heng left, Bao Rui introduced Cheng Yao to the rest of her colleagues. Cheng Yao discovered that JunHeng was filled with elites. Most of them graduated from well-known law schools, and many had studied abroad, which helped when communicating with foreign clients. There were few undergraduates like Cheng Yao, and those that were had much more working experience than Cheng Yao.

Cheng Yao felt as if she was a lamb in the middle of wolves, and only shivered in the corner of the wall.

Bao Rui said, “Other than me, there’s one more in our team who is just like you. She’s a newcomer too and was also present in that meeting. She’s called Tan Ying, and has short curly hair. She entered the institute only 2 months earlier, in July. A graduate from Anshin Law School, just like partner Qian. She just went out to get some materials, I’ll introduce you when she comes back.”

Bao Rui showed a picture of Tan Ying to Cheng Yao, and she was impressed. Tan Ying was very pretty. She could see that she had a good family background by the way she was dressed.

Seeing all these amazing colleagues, Cheng Yao felt a bit nervous. If she wanted to stand out, it seemed she would have to work harder than ever!

___

An afternoon passed just like that, and Cheng Yao was anxious to get off work. With the help of Li Mengting and her boyfriend Zhang Hao, they finally moved all her luggage into her new home.

Not too long after saying goodbye to Li Mengting and Zhang Hao, the doorknob turned again, and Qian Heng came in.

His handsome face had a frown, cold but noble.

Cheng Yao hesitated for a moment before deciding to take initiative. She smiled and said: “Boss, you can have the southern room, it’s bigger and has good lighting.”

Qian Heng then narrowed his eyes and swept Cheng Yao lightly. “Yeah, sure.”

“…”

Calm down, Cheng Yao, you’re going to do big things, you’ll contribute to the construction of the socialist legal system! You can’t be arrested for beating someone up!

Compared to Cheng Yao, Qian Heng didn’t have much luggage, maybe because he was a man. He dragged his suitcase into the southern room. However, it didn’t take long before he ran out.

Qian Heng’s face was pale, so shocked that he could hardly bear it. “Do you know what’s inside there?!”

Cheng Yao had no idea.

“Cockroaches!” Qian Heng’s expression showed extreme disgust. “What is this place?! There are cockroaches!”

Cheng Yao was very calm. Isn’t it just a few cockroaches…?

“Cockroaches rarely live alone, if I saw 1 cockroach, who knows how many are hiding in this house?! There could be 20.000 lurking around without us knowing!” Qian Heng’s mouth turned down in a distinctly disgusted expression. “This place is too dirty.”

Then why did you choose to live here…

Under Cheng Yao’s judging eyes, her distinguished boss spoke again. “You, help me clean the room.”

Do you think that just because you’re my boss, you can make me do whatever you want?! I won’t let you!

Cheng Yao courageously said, “Although you’re my boss in the law firm, off work, you’re just my roommate. And even though my hourly consultation fee doesn’t match up to yours, I am still a lawyer, aren’t I? Boss, remember what you taught me today? As a lawyer, I shouldn’t succumb to my superiors. Professional lawyers shouldn’t waste time on low-end cheap labor…”

“How long do you think it would take to clean my room?”

Cheng Yao thought for a long time and spewed nonsense, “It’d take forty minutes. But I’ve read an article before that said what sets people apart is how they spend their time after work. 40 minutes could be used to improve my legal expertise. Within 40 minutes, it might be possible to bridge the gap between my colleagues and I…”

In order for them to get along, boundaries must be set from the beginning. Cheng Yao would stand firm, not letting him treat her like a servant. She would not dishonor her country!

“I’ll give you 1,000 yuan, will you do it? You charge 1,000 per hour, and cleaning my room takes 40 minutes. It’s reasonable.” Qian Heng said while pulling a handful of paper money from his wallet. “What do you think?”

“…”

“This is a one time deal, I’ll give you 1 minute to consider.”

“Thank you boss! Actually, I don’t think we should distinguish between different professions. They all contribute to our society and should be valued equally! Manual and intellectual labour are both worth celebrating!”

Cheng Yao completely abandoned her principles, and humiliated the country…

But, as soon as she finished cleaning Qian Heng’s bedroom, the house that had not been inhabited for a long time presented new problems.

Qian Heng was standing in the kitchen, his beautiful eyebrows scrunched up, looking very dissatisfied. “Why is no water coming out?”

Cheng Yao checked and said, “The water bill has already been paid, so it must be something else.” She thought for a while. “Maybe it’s because the house has been left empty for a long time and no one has used it. Either the faucet filter is blocked or the water pipe rusted. It should be a simple fix.”

Cheng Yao nodded, and looked at Qian Heng. However, Qian Heng didn’t move.

Wasn’t her handsome boss ready to solve the problem after she keenly discovered the cause of it?

Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao and extended his hands. “Do you see my hands?”

Chengyao nodded.

“Can you describe what kind of hands they are?”

“Um… light skinned?”

“Anything else?”

“Long-fingered?”

“Carry on.”

“Beautiful?”

Qian Heng narrowed his eyes. “What about the skin?”

Although Cheng Yao was starting to be a bit weirded out by her boss’ fixation on his hands, she continued, “Very delicate?”

“Does it seem like they can handle rough jobs?”

“Not at all.”

Qian Heng snorted. “So, with hands like mine, do you think it’s appropriate for me to fix these water pipes?”

“…”

“I’ll add 200 to your bill.” Qian Heng smiled slightly, and waved Cheng Yao with his prideful hands.

“…”

“Well? Are there any objections?”

Cheng Yao was dumbfounded. “Shouldn’t a man do these kinds of things, like fixing water pipes?”

Qian Heng glanced at her. “In our modern society, things men should do, things women should do, there’s no such thing. Men and women are equal, there should be no prejudice or sex discrimination. Women hold up half the sky*.”

(T/N: Women hold up half the sky is a proclamation made by Mao Zedong, mainly to prove that women are a resource that ought to be deployed outside of the homes and to the professional field. It is such a powerful statement, that affirms women can do just as much as men.)

“…”

“Go on. Believe in yourself, you can do it.” Qian Heng patted Cheng Yao on the shoulder and walked away.

Small Theatre:

Host A Fei: Cheng Yao, what aspect of you do you think impressed Partner Qian in the end?

Cheng Yao: I can satisfy some of his things that others can’t satisfy, such as…

Qian Heng interrupted: Don’t talk about such X-rated topics.

Cheng Yao: For example, my ability to repair water pipes.

Qian Heng:…