The next morning, Ming Mei had just gotten up and finished washing when someone knocked urgently on her hotel room door.
She opened it and found Ma Mingyue standing outside.
“Ming Mei, Ming Mei!” Ma Mingyue looked flustered. “Quick, check the university forum!”
Ming Mei opened the forum, confused. The moment she saw the post, her expression darkened.
The post pinned to the very top was titled:
《Confession Wall: The Goddess I’ve Secretly Loved Turns Out to Be a Rich Man’s Plaything. I Feel Like I’ve Been Deceived…》
The accompanying picture showed Ming Mei from behind.
It was a photograph of her getting into the Ferrari LaFerrari.
Another image showed a submission someone had sent to the university’s confession wall. The general gist was that the girl in the photo was the goddess he’d secretly loved since high school. After the college entrance examination, he’d confessed his feelings, and she’d accepted him. But who could have known that she’d already been kept by a wealthy man? And so on and so forth.
Ming Mei’s face turned dark.
Since when had she had a secret admirer like this?
She looked at the comments. As expected, everyone was condemning her.
“That’s just how these so-called innocent girls are.”
“Have they slept together yet? If they have, at least he didn’t lose out.”
“Gold-digging woman. What a pity for such a good man.”
“…”
Ming Mei let out a cold laugh and turned off her phone.
Ma Mingyue asked worriedly, “Ming Mei, this person is slandering you, right? What are you going to do?”
Ming Mei sneered. “What else can I do? Hire a lawyer, of course! You and Xiaoning don’t need to worry. Go back to school first. I’m going to meet with a lawyer.”
Ma Mingyue’s worried expression immediately transformed into one of excitement, and her eyes lit up.
“A lawyer? You mean the kind who, if they perform poorly, send the opposing party to prison; if they perform consistently, drag the entire jury in with them; and if they perform exceptionally, even the judge gets dragged in after banging the gavel?”
Ming Mei’s already foul mood was instantly ruined by the ridiculous remark. She burst out laughing.
“What on earth are you talking about? Where did you read that?”
Ma Mingyue looked a little embarrassed.
“Ahem, well… The comment sections for Lawyer Zhang San have been full of jokes like that lately. He’s really popular.”
Ming Mei smiled helplessly. “Those are just memes! Though they’re not entirely off the mark.”
Ma Mingyue finally relaxed.
“Then Xiaoning and I will head back to school first! If there’s anything we can do to help, just tell us! We’ll do whatever we can!”
Ming Mei smiled and nodded. “I know! I already called a car for you to pick you up at the entrance. Be careful on the way!”
After the two cousins left, Ming Mei’s expression immediately turned cold again.
She went straight to the local Shanghai forum and searched for the best law firms in Shanghai.
“Mingkang Law Firm?”
After seeing the name, Ming Mei looked it up online.
The firm was very famous. Its leading lawyer, Li Mingkang, had graduated from Longguo University of Political Science and Law. Shortly after graduation, he’d taken on an especially difficult case and helped the plaintiff turn the tables, winning against the odds. That case had made his name, and he’d enjoyed a meteoric rise ever since. The firm was now ranked among the top three law firms in all of Longguo.
It was worth mentioning that Lawyer Li Mingkang’s mentor was the senior fellow student of the famous Lawyer Zhang San.
Ming Mei felt reassured.
She immediately called Mingkang Law Firm.
“Hello! Thank you for calling Mingkang Law Firm. How may we assist you?” a sweet female voice answered.
“Hello,” Ming Mei said. “I’d like to book Lawyer Li Mingkang for the entire afternoon today.”
The person on the other end paused before replying, “Hello, Miss. There’s something you should know. Lawyer Li Mingkang just concluded a lawsuit two days ago. If you’d like to book him again within five days of the conclusion of that case, you’ll need to pay three times his usual booking fee. Our firm also has other excellent lawyers on our team. Would you consider working with one of them instead?”
“I only want Li Mingkang. Three times the fee is fine. I can afford it. Please arrange it for me. Reserve all of Lawyer Li Mingkang’s working hours after two o’clock this afternoon for me. If possible, please send me a booking link.”
Without waiting for the other party to respond, Ming Mei hung up, ordered a fruit platter from the hotel, and started playing a game.
She was in the middle of her game when her WeChat notification suddenly sounded.
Ming Mei exited the game and opened WeChat.
It was Xu Mu.
“Sunshine Sister, I’ll be livestreaming from three to six this afternoon. Will you come by today?”
Ming Mei sent a message.
“I have some things to take care of today, so I probably won’t be able to watch your livestream. Sorry.”
Xu Mu replied instantly.
“It’s okay, Sunshine Sister. Your own matters are more important!”
The corners of Ming Mei’s lips curved into a smile, and she put her phone down.
Meanwhile, at Mingkang Law Firm, the receptionist hung up the phone with a troubled expression. She got up from her desk, walked over to Li Mingkang’s office, and knocked on the door.
“Lawyer Li, a client wants to book an appointment with you. I’m not sure how to arrange it, so I wanted to discuss it with you first,” she said after knocking.
“Come in. The door’s unlocked,” Li Mingkang replied.
The receptionist entered and explained Ming Mei’s booking request.
Li Mingkang rested his chin on his hand, looking intrigued.
“You’re saying she booked all my time after two o’clock?”
The receptionist nodded.
Interesting, Li Mingkang thought.
“Send her the booking link,” he said. “There’s no point in having money if you don’t earn it.”
Before long, Ming Mei received the booking link.
Li Mingkang worked from two to five in the afternoon, and his consultation fee was 20,000 yuan per hour. Tripled, that came to 60,000 yuan per hour, or 180,000 yuan for three hours.
Not bad. That meant another batch of points for her.
Ming Mei immediately transferred the money.
When the appointment time approached, she drove straight to the entrance of Mingkang Law Firm.
She looked over the firm. The interior was beautifully decorated and gave off an unmistakably wealthy atmosphere.
As soon as she entered, she saw walls lined with banners of appreciation on the left, while the wall on the right was covered with photographs of Li Mingkang and the cases he’d handled.
Now that’s a reputation built on real results!
Ming Mei clicked her tongue in admiration, glanced around, and walked toward the reception desk.
“Hello.”
She tapped the front desk with her finger. The receptionist, who had been dozing off, immediately perked up and stood.
“Hello, valued client! How may I assist you?”
Ming Mei glanced at her watch. It was around 1:50 p.m., and the receptionist still had five minutes before her shift officially began.
There was nothing unreasonable about her sneaking in a little nap.
Judging by her voice, this seemed to be the same receptionist Ming Mei had spoken to on the phone that morning.
Ming Mei said, “Hello. I called this morning to book an appointment with Lawyer Li Mingkang.”
The receptionist put on a flawless smile.
“Please wait a moment while I check that for you!”
She lowered her head to look at the computer, then raised it again with another smile.
“May I confirm that you’re Miss Ming, whose phone number ends in 6666?”
Ming Mei nodded.
The receptionist discreetly looked Ming Mei over.
The young woman appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. She was exceptionally beautiful, and both her clothes and her overall appearance exuded elegance and sophistication.
She wondered what had brought such a young woman to a law firm.
The receptionist smiled and said, “Please follow me to the reception lounge and wait there. Lawyer Li Mingkang will meet with you promptly at two o’clock!”
Ming Mei nodded and followed her into the meeting room.
The room’s decor was simple and cozy.
But there was something strangely familiar about the style.
Ming Mei thought carefully for a moment.
Wasn’t this exactly the same style as the interior of my Huacheng Mingdi villa?
A few minutes later, precisely at two o’clock, a refined-looking middle-aged man opened the door and walked in.
He was tall and showed no signs of having put on weight. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and had short hair. His overall appearance inspired confidence and trust.
As Ming Mei examined Li Mingkang, he was also sizing her up.
The young woman before him looked to be around eighteen or nineteen. She was exceptionally beautiful, and everything about her radiated just two words: wealth and prestige.
Ming Mei stood up and extended her hand.
“Lawyer Li Mingkang, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Li Mingkang extended his hand as well.
“Miss Ming, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Li Mingkang, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to assist you.”
Both of them sat down.
Ming Mei looked at Li Mingkang, then suddenly asked, “Lawyer Li, if I wanted you, your law firm, and your entire legal team to work exclusively for me from now on, how much would I need to pay in annual salaries?”