Gu Nianzhi looked at Xiao Zhang’s hand at the front desk. She was silent.”…”
Jin Dazhuang walked over with his water flask, which he had soaked goji berries in. He said slowly, “I’ll go with you. You’ve already sent the bid, haven’t you?”
“Yes, they’ve already received it.” Gu Nianzhi took a sip of the coffee Xiao Zhang had made for her. “This is a copy. After they receive it, they’ll screen it based on the content of the bid. If they’re shortlisted, they’ll receive a call today or tomorrow.”
The three of them had no mood to work that day, and had been anxiously waiting for the call.
Finally, just before work ended in the afternoon, Xiao Zhang, at the front desk, received a call from the Lu Corporation as she had hoped.
“Lawyer Gu! Lawyer Jin! We’ve been shortlisted! We’ll go to the auction tomorrow!” Overjoyed, Xiao Zhang jumped and shouted at the front desk.
Gu Nianzhi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly drank a large mouthful of water. She smiled and said, “Look at me, I’m so nervous. I didn’t even dare to drink water. I’m afraid that if I drink too much water, I’ll miss the call.”
“Then you can’t drink water tomorrow either. It would be bad if you miss the live bidding.” Xiao Zhang took the glass of water from Gu Nianzhi with a straight face. “Leave it with me. I’ll return it to you after you pass.”
Gu Nianzhi: “…”
She knew very well that as long as no one interfered, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to get a small contract.
..
At nine o’clock on Tuesday morning, Gu Nianzhi and Jin Dazhuang were both wearing their best suits and carrying laptops to the 30th floor of the Lu Group’s conference room. They were waiting for the interviews of the group’s staff.
They were the smallest law firm and ranked last among all the firms that were bidding on the spot.
Gu Nianzhi and Jin Dazhuang were called in from nine o’clock in the morning until three in the afternoon.
The person in charge of the bidding was so tired that he couldn’t even stand to listen to them.
The bald male manager sitting in the middle frowned as he looked at the bidding documents of the Jin Corporation. He mumbled, “… How did something strange get in here… how did the legal department screen them? This kind of small-time law firm is also bidding for our company’s business? Is it because they don’t think much of our Lu Corporation?”
Gu Nianzhi coughed lightly and said, “Sir, your microphone is still on.”
Everyone heard his “mumbling”.
An awkward laugh broke out in the meeting room.
The bald male director had done it on purpose. He hadn’t expected the two of them to be so tactless. He shook their bids impatiently, “Your law firm is so small. How did you come up with the idea of bidding for our business? Did you make a mistake? Why don’t you guys go back first? I’ll go check with the department responsible for selecting the bids.”
Holy shit! A mistake?!
Everyone had been waiting for an entire day, and now he was telling them there was a mistake?
Gu Nianzhi was about to fly into a rage when the door to the conference room was suddenly pushed open. Lu Yuan walked in slowly and said gently, “I happen to be free, so I came to listen to the bidding.”
“Hello, President Lu!”
“President Lu!”
“President Lu, please sit over here!”
“President Lu, would you like tea or coffee?”
The executives in charge of the Lu Corporation’s bidding and defense were so excited that they surrounded their big boss in a flurry to flatter him.
Gu Nianzhi only swallowed her anger when she saw Lu Yuan enter.
With Lu Yuan around, these people couldn’t slack off even if they wanted to.
Sure enough, the bald male executive changed his attitude and asked excitedly, “Jin Corporation, which one of you is the author of this proposal?”
Gu Nianzhi stepped forward, “It’s me. Do you have any questions?”
The bald male supervisor was about to speak when Lu Yuan reached out and took Gu Nianzhi’s tender from his hands, saying, “Let me see.”
The Big Boss wanted to ask the question himself, so the supervisors in the room could only hold their breaths.
Lu Yuan looked at it for a while and asked, “Lawyer Gu, right? Your law firm is so small, it doesn’t seem to fit the professional functions that our company needs in the legal field.”
The bald male manager heard this and quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, that’s what I said just now. Whether it’s intellectual property, cross-border M & A, or tort litigation, they don’t have any experience in this area. The four big law firms that we competed for just now all have their own strengths, actually…”
Gu Nianzhi was already prepared, so she immediately interrupted them and asked calmly, “May I ask, in your company’s eyes, is only intellectual property, or cross-border M & A, or tort litigation, considered legal business?”
“Isn’t it?” The bald male supervisor looked at Gu Nianzhi with a smile. “Do you want us to use your expertise in divorce litigation? Young lady, are you married? If you’re not married, you won’t be able to find a partner if you keep helping people with divorce litigation!”
Gu Nianzhi was furious. How could he have the face to launch such a strong personal attack?!
Although Gu Nianzhi was angry, she remained calm. She took out her business card and placed it in front of the bald male supervisor. She said calmly, “Sure, sure. I think you’ll need to see us soon. I’ll give you a 20% discount.”
The bald male supervisor was stunned for a moment before he understood what Gu Nianzhi meant. He couldn’t help but fly into a rage out of humiliation. He said, “Hey! Why are you cursing me? ! I only said one sentence, and you’re cursing me for a divorce? !”
He flung Gu Nianzhi’s business card onto the floor.
Gu Nianzhi bent down to pick it up and said nonchalantly, “Okay, then I’ll give your wife a 20% discount if she comes to me for a divorce.”
“You — !” The bald male supervisor was thoroughly enraged. He stood up and waved his arm vigorously. “You! Get out!”
He immediately told Gu Nianzhi to get lost.
Gu Nianzhi knew that Lu Yuan wasn’t the kind of person who would look down on others. She turned her gaze over. “CEO Lu, are you chasing me out as well?”
Lu Yuan smiled and apologized to her. “Lawyer Gu, I’m really sorry. It’s our fault for making you suffer.”
He looked at the bald male supervisor who had lost his composure and his eyes darkened. “You, get out.” (You’re the one who should get lost.)
The bald male supervisor was so scared that he almost peed his pants when the president and chairman spoke.
He walked out of the meeting room almost in a daze. He couldn’t understand how he had been angered by the little girl’s few words.
He must have been too tired, he must have..
But he had to teach them a lesson in this small law firm.
Gu Nianzhi spoke with confidence in the large meeting room.
“President Lu, I know that our law firm is indeed very small, but there are small benefits. Our business closely relates to the public’s livelihood, and we have a close relationship with ordinary people.”
“We’re good at dealing with ordinary people. We know their needs and demands.”
“As for your big companies, you don’t need a divorce lawyer to help you with your cases, but you need labor arbitration. I’ve studied the legal structure of your company and found that you’re lacking in labor arbitration.”
“As for labor laws, our lawyer Jin is a real expert. He has personally helped a lot of dismissed employees to conduct labor arbitration with reasonable grounds. It can be said that he is no worse than any big law firm’s lawyer.
“On the contrary, because of the fees charged by the big law firms, such a small labor arbitration won’t be taken seriously by them. Ordinary employees can’t afford to hire a big law firm, but we can provide the same quality service as a big law firm, but the fees are only a fraction of what they charge.
“So I believe that if you sign a contract with our law firm, it will help you solve a lot of labor problems. Your HR can also consult our law firm as much as possible when it comes to hiring personnel.”
Gu Nianzhi finished speaking and put another more detailed proposal in her hand in front of Lu Yuan. “CEO Lu, this is the detailed proposal I made. There are data comparisons in it. Please refer to it.”
Only three pages, the proposal wasn’t long, but the data was detailed and strong. It didn’t take a legal professional to see the weight of this proposal.
A proposal written with this way of thinking would have a very high winning rate even if it was to bid for the business of a large international company.
Lu Yuan was already very satisfied, but he still said aloofly, “Lawyer Gu, I remember you said just now that you were the one who drafted this proposal?”
“Yes, I wrote it all. Every punctuation mark is original.” Gu Nianzhi spread out her hands playfully. “All rights reserved. Reproductions must be investigated.”
Lu Yuan smiled and looked up. The lines at the corners of his eyes were even more charming. “… But this proposal really doesn’t look like it was written by someone who just graduated. Forgive me for asking, but has lawyer Gu ever had any similar work experience before?”
Whether one had any work experience or not, their performance during an interview was completely different.
Just like a virgin and a non-virgin, their performance on their wedding night was completely different.
An experienced man would be able to tell at a glance.
Gu Nianzhi choked for a moment and chose not to say it. “I’ll let you know about this in the future, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll wait and see.” Lu Yuan stood up and said to the supervisor in the meeting room. “I think they’re not bad. We’re indeed lacking in this area. Their participation can fill in the gaps in this area.”
He actually completely accepted what Gu Nianzhi had just said.
The managers immediately understood what he meant and quickly said, “Congratulations, Congratulations! You’re the first contract law firm we’ve accepted. Come, lawyer Jin, lawyer Gu, sign the contract here.”
The big boss had already said it was fine. They weren’t idiots like that person from before. What good would it do to go against the big boss?
..
Gu Nianzhi and Jin Dazhuang practically floated back to the second floor.
The receptionist, Xiao Zhang, rushed over nervously. “Lawyer Gu, lawyer Jin, how did it go? Did you pass?!”
“No… of course we did!” Gu Nianzhi yelled and jumped up with little Zhang in her arms. “We’re rich! We can hire people now! Xiao Zhang, you’re the flower of the front desk!”
Xiao Zhang was also overjoyed. “I don’t have to change jobs anymore! I want a promotion and a raise!”
Jin Dazhuang was so angry that his nose was crooked. “Good for you, Xiao Zhang! You hate the poor and love the rich! Hmph!”
In the end, Gu Nianzhi and Xiao Zhang laughed even harder.
Jin Dazhuang was angry for a while, but he also laughed and said, “It’s only natural that people want to go higher. It’s not surprising that Xiao Zhang thinks that way. I’m stuck in my own ways, and I admit my mistake. From now on, we must work together to make the law firm bigger and stronger!”
Their law firm had good news, and the Lu Corporation also had good news.
A week later, the Lu Corporation announced the good news of their in-depth cooperation with the Qin Corporation in the area of network security. They were also negotiating a new contract with the government to provide technical support in the area of network security for the country.
Shares of the Lu Corporation rose in response. After a week, they had doubled in price.
The Lu Corporation had such a big happy event, so of course they had to celebrate.
Therefore, the CEO’s office announced that the group would hold a grand celebration. This meeting would not be held in C City, but in H City, which was known as the “Pearl of the east”.
H City was a metropolis in southern China. It had one of the three best deep-water ports in the world, the Victoria Port. It was also a tourist city.
All three of them had been invited.
“Lawyer Gu, are you going? It’s a free trip!” The receptionist, Xiao Zhang, was especially excited.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t want to go. Her birthday was coming up, and she was in a low mood. She didn’t have the energy to do anything. She said listlessly, “We’ll see.”
Xiao Zhang was browsing Weibo on his iPad. She exclaimed from time to time, “The Lu Corporation is really generous! They’ve invited so many celebrities!”
“There are also so many socialites…”
“Ah, look, this socialite is so elegant and beautiful! Let me see who she is…” Xiao Zhang put on a show all by herself.
She patted Gu Nianzhi on the shoulder, “Lawyer Gu, look, Xie Qingying, the niece of Prime Minister Xie! I heard that she’s representing Prime Minister Xie at the Lu Corporation’s celebration party!”
Gu Nianzhi’s heart skipped a beat, “Who?!”
“Xie Qingying, she’ll be there too!” Xiao Zhang showed Gu Nianzhi his weibo.
Gu Nianzhi looked at Xie Qingying’s graceful figure in an evening gown on Weibo’s trending page, and her heart burned with passion.
She had to go for Xie Qingying!
She finally had a chance to approach the Xie family quietly…
