Chapter 136: Chapter 33: A Date with Zhu Qing’an

Just as Zhu Qing’an stepped into the Guoya, many eyes among the Xingcheng Law Firm’s team revealed hidden disdain.

"Still have things to ask for advice! What does a female Juris Doctor returning from overseas need to ask a newly graduated rich kid? How many ways there are to eat a banana?"

"There were already rumors that she had an affair with the sugar daddy who specifically requested her twice. In reality, she’s just someone’s kept mistress. I didn’t believe it back then, but now we have concrete proof!"

"What’s there not to believe? How could an unknown junior lawyer possibly be specifically requested twice!"

"Don’t be fooled by her pure and innocent act, claiming she’s never even had a boyfriend. Behind our backs... Heh."

"We’re all here struggling to build our resumes, working day and night, smiling and sucking up at social events. But she has it easy. Born beautiful, all she has to do is spread her legs... and she gets everything."

"Gets everything? Not necessarily. Let me tell you, she offended Minister Yan..."

The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be blown down by the wind, not to mention a dazzling existence like Zhu Qing’an. Because she wanted to pursue her career, she had repeatedly rejected the secret advances of several colleagues. Furthermore, her sharp talent had often displeased her superiors. As a result, the rumors targeting her had never ceased.

Meanwhile, Zhu Qing’an was sitting formally in the backseat of the Guoya, earnestly asking Zhang Yan about the details of the negotiation that just took place.

"Mr. Zhang, how exactly did you determine President Ren’s bottom line? Could you give me some pointers?"

To this, Zhang Yan could only smile without answering. After all, it was all arranged single-handedly by Brother Tongzi. He didn’t know the first thing about it.

"Don’t call me Mr. Zhang anymore. I’m someone who likes to make friends. If you’re willing to take me as a friend, just calling me Zhang Yan will do."

"Then I’m naturally more than happy to!"

"I heard that you got your Juris Doctor degree from Cambridge at twenty-five, Sister An?"

"Yeah, just a minor achievement not worth mentioning."

"With your educational background, it shouldn’t have been hard to get permanent residency there, right? Why didn’t you think about staying?"

According to her public profile, Zhu Qing’an graduated with a bachelor’s degree at nineteen, entered the University of Cambridge for further studies in the same year, and obtained her doctorate at twenty-five. The year she graduated, she returned to the country and joined Xingcheng Law Firm. Considering the countless top-tier talents lost from Qingbei every year, and the hordes of people domestically fighting tooth and nail to go abroad, it wasn’t surprising that Zhang Yan had this doubt.

"Zhang Yan, have you ever been abroad?"

"No."

"People who haven’t lived abroad find it hard to understand what the term ’mainstream society’ means to an ordinary citizen.

"I’m not talking about superficial things like discrimination or exclusion, but rather a deeper level of recognition.

"They might make friends with me and treat me with polite enthusiasm, but whenever fundamental issues were involved, I could clearly feel that I was an outsider.

"At that moment, I knew that my home wasn’t there."

Zhang Yan had merely asked casually and hadn’t expected Zhu Qing’an to be so honest. "So, how does it feel after returning ’home’?"

"...To be honest, it’s a bit different from what I imagined." Zhu Qing’an fell silent for a moment before choosing to express some of her true inner feelings. Although today was only their first time meeting, she had felt a "spiritual connection" with Zhang Yan for a long time. She naturally had a favorable impression of him and was willing to pour her heart out a little.

"It’s nothing more than seniority and office politics, right?" Zhang Yan chimed in.

Zhu Qing’an smiled bitterly, clearly hit right on the mark.

"Don’t worry, Sister An. It won’t be long before you rejoice in the choice you made back then. It was absolutely the right one."

Zhu Qing’an tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Looking at this young, mysterious, and charming man, she gave a sweet smile. "Is that a consolation or a blessing?"

Zhang Yan smiled profoundly. "It’s a prophecy."

The interior decor of Xingcheng Law Firm’s Meng City headquarters was primarily minimalist, exuding an air of competence everywhere.

The person who personally received Zhang Yan was Minister Yan. His department specifically handled this kind of negotiation and acquisition business.

Zhang Yan’s main purpose for coming was to finalize their subsequent cooperation. After all, Brother Tongzi had chosen this law firm twice. Although Zhang Yan didn’t understand the complex ins and outs of this industry, he could never go wrong by trusting Brother Tongzi. The company he had just bought involved many legal issues that still required their legal assistance.

The discussions went very smoothly. After all, as long as there were no issues regarding money, actual problems were few and far between. And Zhang Yan naturally wouldn’t be stingy with this kind of business that could obviously be reimbursed through the operational fund.

After the two signed the contract following a very pleasant conversation, Minister Yan took the initiative to propose taking Zhang Yan on a detailed tour.

"Mr. Zhang, may I ask if you have some history with our department’s Zhu?"

Zhang Yan gave him a meaningful look. "Today is also the first time Miss Zhu and I have met."

"Then you truly have a keen eye for talent, Mr. Zhang. Zhu has never had any real track record."

"The first time, I just randomly picked her from your firm’s personnel list. I saw that the results were pretty good, so I just kept using her."

"I see! But that’s also because of the detailed information you provided, Mr. Zhang. In fact, it doesn’t have much to do with Zhu. If you have similar business in the future, Mr. Zhang, I have a very excellent candidate..."

Zhang Yan listened quietly, occasionally nodding perfunctorily.

Of course, he wouldn’t publicly vouch for Zhu Qing’an. If anything, he would rather add fuel to the fire. After all, if she wasn’t ostracized, how could he successfully poach her? Just look at how Ren Jintian’s blatant poaching attempt had ended in miserable failure! Moreover, the fact that Brother Tongzi had exclusively selected Zhu Qing’an from among all the lawyers at Xingcheng Law Firm was enough to explain the situation.

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