“Pei Yuan?!”
“Xie Wangzhou?!”
“Why are you here?”
“Why are you here?”
The two asked in unison.
Xie Wangzhou’s face turned ashen. Within the few seconds he spent glaring at Pei Yuan, all the previous clues finally connected in his mind.
A fellow lawyer from the same university who did not develop his career in this city, possessed outstanding ability, practiced legal aid, and was currently struggling to survive in Haining City.
Why had he never known the person surnamed Pei to be so kind-hearted as to help migrant workers recover unpaid wages?
Did someone surnamed Pei even know how to write the two characters for benevolence?
With a forced smile, Xie Wangzhou sarcastically remarked, “Well, if it isn’t senior lawyer Pei! Long time no see. How did a tiny Buddha like you end up in my grand temple?”
Lu Wusheng, who was trailing Pei Yuan by a few steps, let out two awkward laughs. He had assumed Xie Wangzhou would be out visiting clients today and that the two wouldn’t cross paths, which was why he had asked Pei Yuan to come over at this time, intending to explain things to Xie Wangzhou afterward.
He never expected this pair of enemies to cross paths on such a narrow road.
Without time for sentiment, Lu Wusheng shot his assistant a meaningful look. “Xiao Fang, take Lawyer Pei to get familiar with the environment first, and then take him to his office. I’ll be over in a moment.”
With that, he half-dragged and half-pulled Xie Wangzhou into his office.
Leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, Xie Wangzhou cast a cold glance at the retreating back of Pei Yuan. Only after the office door closed did he withdraw his gaze and shift his focus back to Lu Wusheng.
“Explain yourself, Lawyer Lu,” Xie Wangzhou pouted. “Your meals really aren’t eaten for free, and my younger brother’s violin performances aren’t listened to for free, either.”
“Pei Yuan genuinely has difficulties. I figured that if I could pull him up by the hand, I should help him out a bit,” Lu Wusheng said with a guilty conscience. Having finished speaking, he picked up Xie Wangzhou’s teacup, brewed a cup of tea, and handed it over ingratiatingly.
Xie Wangzhou clearly did not believe this kind of excuse.
“Should I believe he’s at the end of his rope, or should I believe that I am Qin Shi Huang?”
At the end of his rope? How could someone as beastly in human skin as Pei Yuan ever run out of luck?
Lu Wusheng clicked his tongue. He took back the teacup he had intended to give Xie Wangzhou, took out his phone, and pulled up a news article.
Xie Wangzhou, who had reached for the cup only to grab empty air, grew even more displeased. He snatched Lu Wusheng’s phone directly and began to read it carefully.
The incident had happened a month ago, but Xie Wangzhou had been handling a heavy caseload at the time and had paid little attention to external news.
Moreover, he had always disliked inquiring about Pei Yuan’s news. Back then, Pei Yuan’s silent departure from Beijing had plunged their relationship down to the freezing point.
He felt that Pei Yuan was a coward who refused to face reality. For the first two years, Xie Wangzhou wouldn’t even utter the surname Pei. He refused to handle clients surnamed Pei, dumping them all onto Lu Wusheng.
The news report was rather vague, merely stating that Pei Yuan, while handling a lawsuit, had accepted money from the opposing party and concealed crucial evidence, leading to a loss in court. Afterward, Pei Yuan’s law firm protected him.
Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan returned kindness with ingratitude by leaking the firm’s commercial secrets and client information to competitors, causing the firm to suffer heavy financial losses.
Even worse, a lawyer from the same firm named Yang Lin stepped forward to accuse Pei Yuan, claiming that the latter had used his official position to sexually harass him. If Yang Lin refused to obey Pei Yuan, Pei Yuan would refuse to assign cases to him. In the end, chat logs between the two were attached as proof.
Homosexuality, workplace bullying, stabbing one’s employer in the back, and ingratitude, any single one of these allegations, taken on its own, was enough to deal a death sentence to Pei Yuan’s career as a lawyer.
The outcome was that Pei Yuan paid liquidated damages to the firm, terminated his contract, and paid a large sum of money to the client from that lawsuit. Only then was the matter settled privately.
As for Guangzheng Law Firm where Pei Yuan worked, it was a famous red circle firm in Haining City. Pei Yuan had been scheduled to rise to partnership at the end of this year, but after this scandal broke out, not only did the firm fire him, but no other firms in Haining City dared to employ Pei Yuan either.
The more Xie Wangzhou scrolled, the deeper his frown grew, and the harder his grip on the phone became.
Fearing that his phone might break in Xie Wangzhou’s hands, Lu Wusheng snatched it back before the other man could erupt, blowing on some nonexistent dust. “Be careful. My younger brother bought this for me.”
“Pei Yuan was framed.” This was Xie Wangzhou’s first sentence after reading it.
Xie Wangzhou and Pei Yuan had fought for seven years, so he naturally understood the other man. Although Pei Yuan lacked morals, he was utterly incapable of doing something like this.
As for that person named Yang Lin, he had only spoken a few words of dubious truth and posted a few out-of-context chat screenshots, on what grounds could anyone conclude that Pei Yuan had sexually harassed him?
“Why are you so angry?” Lu Wusheng teased. “I couldn’t tell that you actually valued him quite a bit.”
“Me, angry?” After listening, Xie Wangzhou pointed at himself in disbelief, letting out a laugh as if he had heard a joke. “What a joke, what do I have to be angry about? With Pei Yuan in such a miserable state, I should be setting off firecrackers to celebrate.”
If he had to talk about being angry, Xie Wangzhou asked his conscience and admitted there was only a tiny bit, mostly anger at how stupid Pei Yuan was.
He could roughly guess the original story: Pei Yuan must have offended someone by helping migrant workers recover unpaid wages, and the other party had set up a trap.
“An absolute idiot,” Xie Wangzhou ruthlessly criticized. The fact that Pei Yuan could fall into a trap so easily was the real reason for his anger.
“Regardless of how you look at it, large law firms don’t lack good lawyers, so they won’t risk offending people to recruit old Pei. Smaller firms are even more afraid of offending anyone. Pei Yuan’s road ahead won’t be easy.” Lu Wusheng sighed with considerable regret. “Pei Yuan’s ability goes without saying. Even if we weren’t classmates, if I could pull him up, I would.”
Lu Wusheng patted Xie Wangzhou’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, the office I assigned him is the farthest one from you. The chances of the two of you running into each other are slim.”
“Besides, he is still your subordinate now, so be generous, Senior Lawyer Xie.”
Xie Wangzhou squeezed out a sound of agreement from his nose to indicate his consent.
Things having reached this point, managing to become Pei Yuan’s superior right now could be considered a small, crushing victory over Pei Yuan after all these years.
“Let’s go, then. Let’s welcome our new colleague.” Lu Wusheng was quite satisfied. Before stepping out, he did not forget to instruct Xie Wangzhou, “Later on, when you see old Pei, don’t mention those matters and don’t provoke him.”
Xie Wangzhou perfunctorily nodded to show he understood.
On the other side, Pei Yuan’s expression was not looking too good either. Within the few seconds he had been stared at by Xie Wangzhou, he finally remembered where the previously overlooked detail lay.
Xie Wangzhou seemed to be a partner in Lu Wusheng’s law firm.
Back then, he had left in a wretched state. After coming out to his parents, kneeling for a full day, and then being placed under confinement, he had even sprained his ankle when jumping down from the second floor.
Like that, carrying only a backpack and an ID card, limping, Pei Yuan had boarded a train and left Beijing.
After leaving Beijing, he had never inquired about Xie Wangzhou’s news again.
At first, he was too overwhelmed to care. Once he finally gained a foothold, he desperately wanted to sever ties with everything from Beijing, including Xie Wangzhou, whom he had fought with for seven years.
Now, having intersected paths once more, he was actually going to become Xie Wangzhou’s subordinate.
Becoming Xie Wangzhou’s subordinate was something Pei Yuan would have never been willing to do under any circumstances previously.
Yet right now, as a “three-no ” person with no savings, no house, and no car, Pei Yuan had no choice but to bow down to reality.
With a poker face, he watched Xie Wangzhou walk toward him, looking full of triumphant spirit. The first sentence the other man uttered was:
“Well, I heard Lawyer Pei is failing to survive in Haining City?”
The corners of Xie Wangzhou’s mouth curved upward as he leaned against the doorframe of Pei Yuan’s office with an expression of watching a good show. “How much money did you lose, Lawyer Pei~?”
Lu Wusheng:
Didn’t they agree not to provoke him?
However, Pei Yuan did not get angry; instead, he chuckled softly, “Being able to become colleagues with Lawyer Xie shows that I am doing quite well.”
“Wrong. Please mind your title, Lawyer Pei; I am your boss,” Xie Wangzhou corrected. Then he tapped his own finger against his eyes and pointed it at Pei Yuan. “Remember not to be late in the future. Late once, fined five hundred. Little Pei, I will keep my eyes on you all the time.”
Lu Wusheng’s assistant, Fang Qi, chimed in to ask, “Why do I remember that our previous fine was fifty? Lawyer Xie, are we changing the rules?”
“No changes. Xiao Fang, this rule applies exclusively to Lawyer Pei.” Xie Wangzhou wasn’t quite that much of a bastard; after thinking for a moment, he added another clause, “If anyone helps him cover it up, fine Lawyer Pei an additional one thousand.”
Pei Yuan retorted with a counter-argument, “Shouldn’t President Xie lead by example? Bullying a working stiff like this, if word gets out, it wouldn’t look too good for President Xie’s reputation, would it?”
Xie Wangzhou refused to fall behind. “Instead of worrying about my reputation, Lawyer Pei had better worry about your own reputation first.”
Lu Wusheng felt as if his head were twice its normal size, unable to decide for a single moment whether recruiting Pei Yuan had been right or wrong.
He could only smooth things over by saying, “How about we go out for lunch together? Consider it welcoming old Pei.”
Sensing Xie Wangzhou’s intention to refuse, Lu Wusheng coaxed him, “Once we go, you won’t have to come back for the afternoon.”
Xie Wangzhou rolled his eyes. “Go? Of course I’ll go. Welcoming a subordinate to the job is precisely what a boss like me should do.”
Seeing Lu Wusheng and Fang Qi walking ahead, Xie Wangzhou grabbed Pei Yuan, who was lagging, and threatened in a low voice, “If you dare to speak a word about that night’s business, I’ll destroy you.”
Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow and retorted, “Which night? What business? Why doesn’t President Xie tell me?”
Xie Wangzhou never expected Pei Yuan to be this shameless, refusing to acknowledge the debt after pulling up his pants.
He had carefully reflected on that night afterward, feeling that although he was in the wrong first for mistaking someone’s identity and proactively provoking Pei Yuan, the greater fault lay with Pei Yuan.
“Dog Pei, it’s best if you don’t acknowledge it.” Xie Wangzhou gritted his teeth, looking as though he wanted to tear Pei Yuan apart alive, and vented, “Let’s treat this matter as if it never happened. I’ll just consider myself bitten by a dog.”
Pei Yuan sneered and brushed away Xie Wangzhou’s hand. “We’re even.”
With that, he strode away grandly, leaving behind Xie Wangzhou, who was making an obscene gesture at Pei Yuan’s back.
Walking one after the other into the private dining room, the two automatically sat down at diagonally opposite positions.
Even though they were far apart, the table was small, and their gazes still inevitably intersected.
After the tenth instance of eye contact, anger flared up in Xie Wangzhou’s heart, and he snatched the menu out of Lu Wusheng’s hand.
“I want Mapo Tofu, chopped pepper fish head, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and finally a Dongpo braised pork elbow, make sure the elbow isn’t spicy, and add extra coriander to every single dish.”
Hearing the dishes ordered by Xie Wangzhou, Pei Yuan’s gaze paused.