Chapter Fifty-Three: The Lawyer Incident

Some time in the morning, a lawyer hurriedly left the office and drove back home. However, when he reached his apartment door, he had a face full of suspicion. After hesitating for a moment, he quickly unlocked the door and entered his home.

Everything was fine in the house, with no surprises, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, but his suspicion grew stronger. Just as he was about to call the office and ask his secretary what number the earlier call was from, he realized someone had followed him inside.

A long-haired man wearing sunglasses closed the door and spoke coldly, "Your house didn’t catch fire. That phone call from the property management? I made it."

"Who are you? What do you want?" As a lawyer, he had faced threats before, so he quickly discerned the stranger’s intent and stayed calm.

"Nothing much. The purpose of that phone call was simply to get you to come home and to know your address. Now, we can talk about a business deal." The man said, throwing a travel bag in front of him. "Open it and take a look."

The lawyer adjusted his glasses, thinking of refusing or even calling the police, but then noticed the man now holding a knife. Although it was just a regular fruit knife, combined with his sunglasses, long hair, and cold words, it exuded an intimidating aura.

A wise person doesn’t suffer immediate losses; even calling the police must wait until it’s safe. He lowered his head and opened the travel bag, surprised to find it wasn’t something threatening but rather a bag full of cash!

"What do you mean by this?"

"Didn’t I say it’s a business deal? I’m afraid you won’t trust me, so I’m putting the money right out here. Rest assured, we’re all about loyalty and credibility. If you do well, all this money is yours, and don’t worry, you can keep it here for now. This shows my sincerity, doesn’t it?"

The lawyer sighed, realizing he couldn’t refuse. Taking cash left no evidence, making it impossible to trace even if he reported it to the police. However, he worked as an independent lawyer, without law firm restrictions, handling various businesses. He knew accepting such a deal could be risky, but profit and risk always coexist. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"May I ask... what do you want from me? What kind of case is it?"

The man with sunglasses replied coldly, "A very simple case, won’t take much of your time. The Prince Hotel has received a threat of anthrax virus release, and you’re the defense lawyer. Who paid you to defend him?"

"That... it was him himself."

The sunglasses-wearing man flicked his wrist, sending the fruit knife flying and lodging it into the wall with a dull thud. "Think carefully before you speak. I’ve shown my sincerity; I don’t want to see a lack of sincerity from you!"

If that knife had flown towards him... The lawyer broke out in a cold sweat, quickly reconsidered, and confessed, "On the surface, it looks like he hired me, but in reality, someone else secretly paid me to help him with this case."

"Was that person from the Changhe Group?"

"Yes." The lawyer, upon hearing this, vaguely understood. The man didn’t want to force him to defend but rather was caught in a conflict of interest between different groups.

"What I want you to do is very simple. You need to visit the detention center and meet that foreigner. Have him recount the entire process, focusing on who instructed him to act, and record it. Use whatever reason necessary to get him to talk; you’re a lawyer, you have plenty of methods."

After hearing the sunglasses-wearing man’s instructions, the lawyer turned pale. "Sir, I don’t know your stance, but I’m just a lawyer with no involvement in this. I’ve already taken their money. If I make this recording for you, they won’t let me get away with it!"

"Once you’ve made it, leave it in your office. I’ll arrange it to look like your office was burglarized to clear your suspicions. They might find that we investigated you, but no one will know you provided it voluntarily."

"But..."

The man interrupted him, "No ’but’s. You have two choices. One is to take this money and help me. The second is to wait for a real fire call to your house."

"No, no, don’t do this..." Just hearing about a fire at home already scared him. If there was a real fire, it would be devastating.

"Here’s a reminder. Earlier, I threw a fruit knife; next time, it might be a bomb. Today, I’m talking to you here alone; next time... hehe!"

No need to say more; the lawyer understood. Next time, it might be when the whole family is home! Whether it’s arson or a bomb, the consequences are severe. He realized why the man didn’t confront him at the office but tricked him into coming home.

"I... I agree." He said, hurriedly reaching for the travel bag full of cash on the floor, symbolically pulling it closer to himself, indicating he accepted the money.

"Once you agree, do it well! You’re a lawyer; you know exactly what I need and what the consequences of misleading me are. I will fulfill my promise too; your office will undergo a ’perfect burglary.’ If you’re interested, you can buy insurance."

The lawyer secretly smiled wryly. The money was a hot potato, just hoping the theft would go smoothly. Buying insurance? That would be like admitting ahead of time to a break-in...

"Get started now. I have no patience!" The long-haired man with sunglasses said before opening the door and leaving.

It took a while for the lawyer to recover from his fright. He wasn’t a newbie lawyer; what scared him was the threat to his family. He considered whether to move and find a new place to live, but that was all for later. Even if he moved now, they’d get wind of it immediately and could misinterpret it as making moves. Right now, he had two things he needed to do immediately: safely hide the money and remove the fruit knife from the wall so as not to scare his wife and kids.

After struggling to pull the ordinary fruit knife from the wall, the threat from the earlier man felt a bit more real.

...

Just stepping out of the elevator, Li Yan received a call from Duan Haibo. After finding information about the lawyer yesterday, he had transferred some money to Duan Haibo for help.

He was helping Li Yan not for money, but for friendship and his own sense of thrill.

"Brother Li, everything has been arranged. He agreed to it. Once I get his recorded evidence, I’ll hand it over to you."

"Thank you again for your help."

"No need for that! You’ve helped me before, and besides, I can only talk to you openly now. How about this, when you have time, let’s have a sparring match! Lately, I find it hard to control myself and it’s not convenient to pick random fights."

"Sure! I can join you for that."

...

"You’re here." Seeing Li Yan, Huang Ying smiled happily. Resigning officially had made her uneasy, but seeing him calmed her down.

"Are you okay? Wen Qianyi called and asked me. She said I convinced you to quit, which was a bit risky." Li Yan sat down beside her.

"I’m fine." Huang Ying said in a low voice, "Miss Wen is looking out for me. She has been very kind, so don’t blame her. I trust your plan; Miss Li also mentioned the benefits would be a bit less initially, but it will improve in the future. I just... just feel attached to this place, and it’s hard to think about leaving."

"I know, that’s why I came to check on you."

"By the way!" Huang Ying’s expression changed to one of worry and anxiety mixed with relief, then pointed towards Wen Qianyi’s office, "Miss Wen, she..."

Li Yan was somewhat puzzled; had something happened to Wen Qianyi? In his mind, Wen Qianyi was very important. However, this is a company; nothing unexpected should happen. He calmly asked, "What’s wrong with Wen Qianyi?"

"She... she’s fine." Huang Ying shook her head, then added, "It’s just... Director Ye has returned."

Ye Jiahong?!

Li Yan suddenly remembered, it had been more than a month since he injured Ye Jiahong!

Previously, Ye Jiahong had betrayed the design concept to curry favor with a client, prompting Li Yan to rush to the scene. Although he arrived in time to rescue Huang Ying, such intentions would not be forgiven by Li Yan! If forgiven once, there would be a second time!

At that time, it was Duan Haibo who took Ye Jiahong out and beat him up. By the time Li Yan found him, Ye Jiahong was already beaten to a pulp, unconscious. Of course, Li Yan wasn’t satisfied and stomped on his face and head, turning him into a complete mess. He then kicked his waist and kidneys several times, causing internal injuries.

Because Ye Jiahong wasn’t directly targeting Huang Ying, Li Yan was still somewhat lenient at the time, not fully ruining him, and instructed Duan Haibo to hold back just enough to keep him out of action for a month. Now, over a month has passed, the external injuries should have healed long ago, and the internal kidney injuries are ongoing issues. The reason Ye Jiahong took until now to recover is due to those lower-body injuries.

He likely had his own sources of information and knew that Wen Qianyi, acting as the business director, had not done a poor job. Although it was a work-related accident, and the company would cover his medical expenses, he couldn’t rest peacefully much longer. If he didn’t return, the ’acting’ title could be removed, making it difficult to reclaim his position. The company wouldn’t give up on him, but perhaps he’d be relegated to an idle position!

(Old Lai is still editing, another Chapter around midnight.) (To be continued. For more details, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, and read legally!)