Chapter 62.2: A kiss completely off guard

After returning from visiting sister Zhaoxia’s grave on ShangLing Mountain, Bai Duanduan’s mood had been quite low. Throughout the whole process, she and Lin Hui didn’t communicate much. Both of them were feeling heavy-hearted, and the only topic they talked about more was probably Ji Lin.

It was on the ride back when Lin Hui suddenly spoke up about this topic. He looked at Bai DuanDuan and said, “Last time when you went back, you suggested that Ji Lin and I should meet up and get to know each other over dinner, but Ji Lin didn’t agree, right?”

Lin Hui’s tone was declarative, very certain.

Almost instinctively, Bai DuanDuan began to explain for Ji Lin. “He’s been really busy lately, always working overtime. And not just him, I’m in the same situation too. But he didn’t say that it’s not possible. Let’s wait until we have some free time, and then I’ll invite him out.”

Unexpectedly, this answer made Lin Hui stunned. “He didn’t get upset with you about this or have any argument with you?”

Bai Duanduan furrowed her brows. “Why would we have an unpleasant time together? Ji Lin and I are pretty good, and we don’t have any disputes.” She keenly felt that this question from Lin Hui wasn’t as simple as it seemed, so she looked at him and asked, “What do you mean by this question? Do I have to have an unpleasant time with him? Mr. Lin, is there something that happened between you and Ji Lin that I don’t know?”

Lin Hui averted his gaze and looked somewhat uneasy. “It’s nothing significant.”

He didn’t want to continue with this topic, so he quickly turned on the car’s music.

After listening to several symphonies in silence and returning to the entrance of Bai Duan’s residential area, when she was getting ready to get out of the car to say goodbye, Lin Hui couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up again—

“Be careful with Ji Lin, DuanDuan.”

Lin Hui carefully chose his words, “Don’t let him get too close to you, and don’t get too intimate with him. Be cautious in all your communication with him, especially when it comes to cases. Even if there is no written proof of receipt, you must record everything. You are my most admired student and the lawyer I trained myself. If he is unhappy with me, he may also have ill intentions towards you.”

Bai DuanDuan had an urge to refute him. Although Ji Lin might have had some misunderstandings with Lin Hui, they were both in the legal industry and inevitably had some friction when competing for cases. However, Ji Lin was not that kind of person. In fact, he was completely the opposite of Lin Hui’s estimate. Ji Lin not only didn’t set traps for her, but even indulged her. Bai DuanDuan had a key to his house and even knew his password. Once when she was there with her cat, Ji Lin went to open the safe to get something and didn’t avoid her when entering the password.

It is absolutely impossible to have any ill intentions towards her, besides, Bai Duanduan believes in him, Ji Lin is not such a person at all.

It’s just that Lin Hui didn’t give Bai Duanduan time to explain. He quickly answered a phone call, which seemed to be an urgent matter with a client. So, he nodded to Bai Duanduan and drove away.

Bai DuanDuan was left alone, feeling depressed.

Every time Bai Duanduan finished cleaning Ye Zhaoxia’s grave, she would feel low for a few days. But today, her mood was worse than ever. She never expected to feel so upset because of Lin Hui’s misunderstanding of Ji Lin. She didn’t want anyone to think of Ji Lin that way, not even Lin Hui, who had been her mentor.

Ji Lin was a good person, and he shouldn’t be subjected to such defamation and baseless speculation.

If it weren’t for Lin Hui’s hurry to leave today, Bai Duanduan would definitely have a good discussion with him. Moreover, why did Lin Hui have a grudge against Ji Lin? Lin Hui didn’t want to talk much about it, and Ji Lin seemed to be avoiding the topic in front of her.

Bai Duanduan made a decision. When she had free time next time, she would definitely have a good chat with Lin Hui, at least to clear Ji Lin’s name. He was not the kind of person Lin Hui thought he was.

Fortunately, amidst all these depressing things, there was one joyful event recently.

Zhang Junda was getting married.

Zhang Junda was one of the few colleagues that Bai Duanduan was familiar with at ZhaoHui Law Firm. Not long after the Bai Duanduan left ZhaoHui, Zhang Junda could not tolerate Du Xinyi and decided to switch jobs and join a smaller but more harmonious firm. As the smaller firm had lower revenue requirements, Zhang Junda quickly rose to become a partner and his career flourished. Shortly after, Bai Duanduan received news that Zhang Junda was dating a new assistant at his firm, and only about a month later, Bai Duanduan received an invitation to Zhang Junda’s wedding.

“It’s not a formal wedding, just a party. I rented a big villa in the suburbs and invited my current colleagues and some former colleagues who I have a good relationship with.” When Zhang Junda came to deliver the invitation, he seemed afraid that Bai Duanduan would not come, so he added, “Don’t worry, I didn’t invite many of my former Chaohui colleagues. I didn’t invite Lin Par, Du Xinyi, and her little group either. Don’t be too polite and bother to give a red envelope. I won’t accept any.”

Zhang Junda was a very reliable person. Since he also said that he would not invite someone who would make things awkward and embarrassing, Bai Duanduan naturally felt relieved and agreed to come.

Although the journey was a bit far, the villa in the suburbs was decorated very well. Zhang Junda even arranged for piano and violin performances. The atmosphere in the venue was both lively and elegant, making for a unique wedding scene.

What surprised her even more was that, upon entering the villa, apart from a few former colleagues from ZhaoHui who had been invited by Zhang Junda, Bai Duanduan also saw many familiar faces—Wang Fangfang, Rong Sheng, Yang Fan, and Cai Xiao…

She asked around and found out that Zhang Junda’s new wife, Li Min, had previously worked at Sheng Lin and was the assistant to the previous manager. It seemed that Zhang Junda had been in a rush when sending her the invitation and forgot to mention this.

It really was fate at work.

But now that so many guests with overlapping social circles had come, would Ji Lin also be there?

Because she went to ShangLing Mountain to visit Ye Zhaoxia’s grave, Bai Duanduan hadn’t contacted Ji Lin for two days, which was almost impossible in the past, so Bai Duanduan even felt a little uncomfortable.

However, since most of the guests were familiar faces due to the overlapping social circles of the bride and groom, as soon as Bai DuanDuan entered the backyard of the villa, she was stopped by several former colleagues from ZhaoHui. They had all left ZhaoHui not long after she did. These male colleagues had been the target of Du Xinyi’s hostility in the past. She had mainly targeted same-sex colleagues, but now Bai Duanduan realized that Du Xinyi’s annoying personality was indiscriminate, attacking and undermining any capable colleague who she couldn’t turn a blind eye to, regardless of gender.

Chen Xun, being straightforward, couldn’t stand Du Xinyi’s behavior and had a verbal conflict with her. Therefore, when he was still working at ZhaoHui, he suffered the biggest blow from Du Xinyi. He told Bai Duanduan from start to finish about Du Xinyi’s disgusting behavior and then finally informed him of Du Xinyi’s recent actions.

“As for the case of Guifeng Communication that she was in charge of, isn’t the opposing lawyer you? She not only lost the case but also her reputation. After the article from the famous Vloggers account came out, the public opinion completely turned against her. You know how some netizens have nothing better to do, and as a result, some people tracked down her information and phone number. I don’t know what harassment software they used, but Du Xinyi receives text messages and phone calls insulting her all day long, even her home phone hasn’t been spared, and she receives calls even in the middle of the night. After changing her phone number, it didn’t stop, and someone even sent her insulting letters to Chaohui. Her photos were also posted online. Anyway, after going through all this, I heard she’s suffering from a nervous breakdown and often has insomnia recently.”

Chen Xun became more and more relieved as he spoke, “Although doxing is really not a good thing, she initially paid for marketing to guide public opinion to attack you. This ending could be considered as an eye for an eye. And her arrogance before was only because Lin Hui, the lawyer, stood by her side and indulged her. But after the Guifeng Communication case, it was obvious that Lin Hui began to distance himself from her and had more of a sense of distance. Because she took action without the consent of the main lawyer, and even received criticism from Lin Hui in a group email, it was like a public execution and was embarrassing. Now she can no longer be arrogant and is left humiliated.”

A few old colleagues gathered together and couldn’t help but talk about their recent encounters with weird clients and funny experiences.

As a straightforward chatterbox, Chen Xun dutifully contributed one bizarre client after another to Bai Duanduan and the others like a textbook.

“There’s a client who I urged to give me the documents because when she came to me for representation, it was already too late. The labor arbitration was about to take effect, and that day was the last day of the lawsuit. But she refused to give them to me, why? Because she consulted the almanac and feng shui and said it was an unlucky day…”

“And there’s also a client with bipolar disorder…”

………