Chapter 6

Being selected into Qian Heng’s team, Cheng Yao was envied by the other newcomers. After all, Qian Heng’s team always received harder cases than the others, but always solved them successfully.

In the future, even if you had to change jobs, your resume would be very impressive.

Although Qian Heng was hard to deal with, he was excellent at what he did. If you had the chance to work with him, you’d certainly learn a lot.

However, that was just its glorious outside appearance.

Cheng Yao came out of the printing room. When she saw the other newcomers immersed in their work, she sighed. Although she was in Qian Heng’s team, she still wasn’t assigned to any cases. All she was asked to do was print and bind documents, which were in essence just manual work.

Cheng Yao saw that some of the newcomers were already involved in revising prenuptial agreements, and some in divorce cases…

Matching Cheng Yao’s mood, the weather outside was stormy and a small typhoon made its way to Anshin.

Fortunately, Cheng Yao left home early today. Work started at 9:00 and she arrived at work at 8:30, successfully avoiding the heavy rain.

Unfortunately, not all her colleagues were so lucky. At 9:30, some people still hadn’t arrived.

“Cheng Yao, come to my office.”

Cheng Yao looked at a case file last night and wanted to find Bao Rui to discuss it. Unfortunately, he didn’t come. Instead, Qian Heng came.

*****

As soon as Cheng Yao entered the office, she decided to take initiative.

“Boss, I want to participate in the case we discussed earlier. I don’t want a share. I just want a chance to learn from you.”

“Okay.”

Qian Heng was sitting behind his desk, looking at some files, not even bothering to look up at Cheng Yao.

He agreed, just like that?

“D-do you mean that I can participate too?” She could finally leave the benches and join the game! Cheng Yao was quite surprised, “Thank you, Boss! Thank you for seeing my efforts and for giving me a chance! From now on, I’ll be more active-”

“I didn’t see it.”

“Huh?”

Qian Heng finally raised his head and glanced at Cheng Yao. He slowly said, “I just let you participate. Don’t feel good about yourself. Your foundation is relatively poor compared to the office’s average, and you have little work experience. You’ve only had an internship in another law firm for a year, and never independently undertaken a case. I only swiftly looked at the case file you worked on last night. Don’t think too highly of yourself and claim that you worked hard, got it?”

As long as she could participate in the case, she was even willing to call Qian Heng Baby if he wanted too. A few hurtful words weren’t a problem at all!

“Alright, you’re dismissed.”

“Wait, but didn’t you have something to tell me before?”

“Oh, I was just gonna let you know that you could participate in this case.”

Cheng Yao: !!!

It turns out that even if she hadn’t mentioned it, Qian Heng was already prepared to let her participate in this case. Then, could it be… that Qian Heng’s sharp eyes saw potential in her?!

“Wipe that narcissistic look off from your face, will you? I let you get involved because Bao Rui slipped and sprained his leg on his way to work this morning.”

Even so, Cheng Yao was still very excited, “It doesn’t matter, I’m willing to become Bao Rui’s fill-in!”

“No, Bao Rui did not withdraw from this case. He just can’t come to work, but he’ll continue to follow up via email and phone calls.”

“So I…”

“So you can stop trying to find a reason to feel good about yourself. Even if you try your entire life, you won’t ever reach queen or king, you’ll be at most a jack.”

“…..”

“Because of his leg injury, he can’t go to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce to check the company’s archives and equity situation. So you’re responsible for that now.” Qian Heng clasped his hands in front of his chest, “I thank you in his stead.”

Cheng Yao scratched her head and was about to say that colleagues should help each other anyway until Qian Heng said with a cheeky smile, “Thank you for voluntarily giving up your share. Now, Bao Rui doesn’t have to divide his share with you anymore.” Qian Heng raised his eyebrows, “Didn’t you just say that as long as I let you participate, you didn’t even want a share.”

“…..”

“So according to your own request, it’s settled. You’re dismissed.”

*****

Cheng Yao was a bit deflated after dealing with Qian Heng, but her excitement of being able to participate in the case didn’t wither. After receiving the case information and materials from Qian Heng, she returned to her desk and immersed herself in researching.

The material this time was much more detailed than the ones she had previously received from Qian Heng to study. Qian Heng’s client was called Li Yan. Cheng Yao naturally didn’t recognize this ordinary name, but Li Yan’s ex-husband on the other hand had a thunderous reputation. It turned out to be Xu Jun, the founder of Tuantuan Online, a well-known video website.

Cheng Yao herself often watched funny videos on Tuantuan Online and knew more about Xu Jun from the entertainment industry than from the financial industry.

He had a long-term scandal with her favorite actress, Bai Xingmeng, who played Ling Yao. It happened right when Bai Xingmeng was starting to become popular. Soon the paparazzi found out and broke the news about Bai Xingmeng’s love affair with Xu Jun.

Back then, Tuantuan Online was still a small website, but it was brought to the public’s eyes because of this scandal, and more and more people discovered its existence.

Bai Xingmeng and Xu Jun were constantly photographed shopping together, making clay sculptures together, traveling together… In the end, the two had no choice but to confirm their relationship.

However, after half a year of trouble in this relationship, the interaction between the two decreased, which meant less photographs of them together were taken. Bai Xingmeng also had a new scandal with the singer from a popular boy group called Xiao Xianrou. And the previous scandal with Xu Jun was finally gradually being forgotten.

Cheng Yao printed out all the materials Qian Heng sent her through email, and then carefully read them. Only after reading through them did she discover that Xu Jun had married Li Yan three years ago. More than a year ago, they had divorced. According to this time speculation, when he and Bai Xing Meng were in an affair, he was already married! But he concealed it!

Gosh! What a scumbag! As Bai Xingmeng’s fan, Cheng Yao was filled with righteous indignation. She flipped over the materials and made up her mind, no matter what, she would definitely help this cheated ex-wife, Li Yan, to get back what she deserves!

*****

However, as much as she was motivated, in reality, it really didn’t do much. Although a marriage case lasted less than a year to resolve, all kinds of detailed materials were involved. It was like a vast sea capable of engulfing people. The materials sent by Qian Heng, plus Bao Rui’s investigation against several of Xu Jun’s enterprises were all printed out. There were more than 300 pages to read, and they were still only the preliminary information. Cheng Yao flipped through the materials, and the more she looked at them, the more confused she felt. She had never come into contact with such a complex case.

Li Yan wasn’t a legal professional, so she provided whatever she thought could be useful. Often after reading 20 pages of materials, only 1 page of useful information could be extracted. Cheng Yao felt as if she had fallen into the sea, but couldn’t find any driftwood to hold on to. She wanted to handle this case well, but all the information she had to sort out left her stumped.

Her determination was strong, but her body was weak.

Cheng Yao only had an internship in the previous law firm for a year. When she got her lawyer’s certificate, she entered JunHeng. Therefore, it could be said that she had never practised as a real lawyer before, while Bao Rui had been working at JunHeng for four years. The gap between them was bigger than Cheng Yao had imagined.

When she first got the materials, Cheng Yao was full of ambition to show off her skills. She refused the rest of the colleagues’ invitation to go out for lunch together and insisted on reading the materials. So at this moment, she could only feel depressed. Depressed and hungry.

Of course, this was to be expected. The road to becoming a lawyer had never been easy.

She had made pain-staking efforts to pass the judicial examination. After her hard work, the income she earned in the early stage of practicing was just a fraction of what students from other industries earned.

Most of the young lawyers new to the workplace, in their first few years of their practice, had a measly salary of a thousand RMB a month. The work was hard and stressful, they often had to work overtime, and the psychological pressure was huge. The legal industry was a high-risk, high-intensity, and highly competitive industry.

Just like the traditional practice of raising Gu1, the new lawyers were thrown into a tank like worms. Just like how the most poisonous ones ate the less poisonous ones, The young lawyers had to compete with mature lawyers who had been practicing for a long time. In the end, the ones who persisted in this industry must all have been sufficiently tempered.

And the cruelest thing about this industry was that working hard wasn’t always enough to get ahead.

Cheng Yao finally couldn’t hold back, and sent Qin Qin a message on WeChat.

[Qin Qin! I don’t know if I can survive the terrible curse of changing law firms with only a year of practice…]

Feeling low, Cheng Yao sent a series of crying emoticons after the message.

Qin Qin was very busy on weekdays, so naturally she couldn’t reply right away.

Cheng Yao lowered her head and dejectedly walked into a Japanese ramen shop downstairs.

She ordered a pork ramen, then sat down and depressingly ate it.

There were many commercial buildings and companies in the area. Because of that, the ramen shop’s business was doing very well. Cheng Yao was lucky. After waiting for only a minute, a table of four seats was vacant.

Not too long after she sat down, the vacants seats in front of her were occupied.

Cheng Yao, still feeling depressed, wasn’t interested in raising her head at all, and just continued to eat her ramen.

“Is that delicious?”

It wasn’t until she heard Qian Heng’s cold voice that she realized that the one sitting opposite to her was her difficult boss.

Qian Heng had just finished a meeting with his client, so he came to eat here.

Facing Qian Heng’s question, Cheng Yao just nodded subconsciously.

Since they were eating at the same table, Cheng Yao felt that she should say something to avoid awkwardness, but before she could speak, someone called her name.

“Cheng Yao?”

“Eh? Wu Chen?” Cheng Yao looked up at the speaker, and found out that the person who called her was Wu Chen, a former high school classmate.

Wu Chen apparently also came to eat. “I was worried that I wouldn’t find a place to sit. Is that seat next to you free? If so, do you mind if I sit with you?”

After Cheng Yao said yes, Wu Chen sat down. Before his meal arrived, he wanted to chat, “I’m working in the nearby Minsheng Bank, what about you?”

“I’m working in JunHeng Law Firm.”

Wu Chen became interested, “Are you working as a lawyer?”

Cheng Yao nodded honestly, “Yep.”

“That’s great! Then Cheng Yao, can I ask you a favor?”

“Huh?”

“So, in my bank, there’s a leader right? His mother used to invest in p2p. She invested about two million yuan in it. But the p2p company had a sudden crisis and the company’s top executives ran away, along with the money. At that time, I went to looked into the original contract and discovered that it wasn’t an actual financial investment contract, but a health care product purchase contract. It was obviously a scam aimed at the elderly who didn’t understand the contract and didn’t read it carefully! I wanted to ask you how I could get the money back. You’re a lawyer, can you tell me how they should defend their rights? The leader’s mother was so angry that she was hospitalized, and my leader’s dying of anxiety…”

Facing this overwhelming problem, Cheng Yao was very uncomfortable. This was the type of situation she was most afraid of encountering.

Most people didn’t know a lawyer’s work process. They always thought that if they retold any case in a few words, the lawyer could give them a professional answer within ten seconds. But there were specialties. Cheng Yao’s specialty, for example, was in marriage law and inheritance law. So she had no knowledge about how to deal with this kind of financial fraud case.

Cheng Yao decided to tell the truth, “I don’t know much about this field… I suggest you ask your leader to consult a professional lawyer engaged in financial fraud.”

“Why is your answer so official, huh?” Wu Chen smiled, and joked, “Since you’re an old classmate of mine, I trusted you so I asked you. Are you lawyers reluctant to answer questions with no fees? It’s not that complicated of a question, I just wanted a bit of advice, do you really have to be like this?”

While Cheng Yao was still considering how she would reply to Wu Chen, Qian Heng, who was sitting opposite to him just now, raised his head, and said in a cold voice, “Which department do you go to if you have an upset stomach?”

“Of course I should go to the Gastroenterology Department.” Wu Chen subconsciously answered, but was a little surprised, “Who are you?”

Qian Heng mocked, “So you know that you have to go to the Gastroenterology Department if your stomach is upset.”

Wu Chen looked at Qian Heng with displeasure.

“She clearly said that she doesn’t engage in financial fraud, yet you force her to give you legal advice. Then when you have a stomach problem, how come you don’t go see an anorectal doctor?”

Hearing those sudden vicious words, Wu Chen’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Qian Heng didn’t often take action, but when he did, it was fatal. Ignoring Wu Chen’s expression, he continued, “Anorectal doctors will not diagnose patients with gastric diseases, because that is not their specialization. The same thing goes for different legal fields. Besides, even if you do go to an anorectal doctor, you have to first make an appointment, right? Yet you, without even paying a penny, are forcing another to give you advice?” Qian Heng pointed to Cheng Yao, “What did she do in her past life for her to owe you anything?”

Regarding Qian Heng’s words, Wu Chen had no power to fight back. He could only scratch his neck and ask, “Who are you? I’m just chatting with my old classmate, what does it matter to you?”

“Because I’m her boss.” Qian Heng was very cold. “And because I spent money for her time, I won’t allow her to waste her time on people like you.”

At this moment, for some unknown reason, Cheng Yao had unconsciously held her breath and felt her heart thumping violently. Maybe because she was nervous, maybe because she was surprised or maybe… because it was thrilling.

As a lawyer, it wasn’t her first time encountering someone like Wu Chen. But Cheng Yao had never had the courage to refuse someone so coldly like Qian Heng.

In China, most people weren’t willing to pay for nonmaterial things such as professional consulting services from lawyers or accountants. They didn’t recognize the value of these services. They often thought that since they knew them previously, the professional would help with this kind of tricky work, and if he or she charged them for money, it’d be shameless.

“Free consultation? How could you seriously expect that from her? It’s the same thing as asking her to survive by breathing air. If everyone asked for free consultation like you, the profession of lawyers would be extinct.”

“Also, her field of expertise is family law. If you ever want to get a divorce, then you can look for her. As her boss, I’ll even allow her to give you a discount.”

Against his words, Wu Chen was speechless. Instead of prolonging the conversation any more, he lowered his head, awkwardly made an excuse about having to go to a work meeting, and feebly walked away.

Small Theater

Host A Fei: Many readers and friends are very concerned about your first love, can you please tell us about it? Can you talk about your relationship history?

Qian Heng: Ha.

Cheng Yao: Hahahahahaha, do you have any misunderstandings about him? Can he find someone like this? Can such a person have first love? You seem to be joking with me! Hahahahaha! Who wants to be his first love? Hahahahahahaha

A few months later:

Cheng Yao: Hello everyone, I am the one with shit for brains.

2

(Laughs)

Qian Heng: To conduct oneself, one shouldn’t go too overboard with some words.

Cheng Yao: Hmm…