Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 103: First Meeting with a Lawyer

Ma Qing took the elevator to the 8th floor. It was the first time he felt the elevator of this era, and he felt a little emotional.

After getting out of the elevator, Ma Qing found Room 803. The first thing he saw was a reception desk. Behind the desk sat a young woman with a high bun and wearing a tight-fitting green cheongsam. She had a very good temperament. As for her appearance, Ma Qing gave her a score of 75 in his mind. Unfortunately, her figure was a little flat, which was really not Ma Qing's type.

Behind the front desk was a wooden wall with a few large black wooden characters "梁豪文律師事務所" written on it. Ma Qing nodded, it looked like the real deal.

The young woman at the front desk saw a young man wearing a white shirt, black pants and black leather shoes coming to the front of the desk, and quickly stood up and said, "Hello, sir, how can I help you?" He spoke Cantonese.

"Excuse me, can you speak Mandarin?"

The young woman at the front desk smiled and said, "Of course no problem, may I help you sir?" Ma Qing was puzzled, your Chinese is so poor, how can you smile so confidently.

"I want to meet lawyer Liang Haowen. I have some legal issues that require your service." Ma Qing displayed the confidence that is unique to Party A.

The young woman at the front desk smiled even more brightly and invited Ma Qing into the reception room. When passing by the office lobby, Ma Qing found that there were several workbenches in the office lobby, but no other employees. It seemed that something went wrong in this law firm and business was a bit slow.

Ma Qing was invited into the reception room. The young woman at the front desk served him tea, said "wait a moment", and then went out. It seemed that she was going to see his boss. Of course, it could also be her husband, or... Ma Qing made random guesses in his mind.

Liang Haowen has been very irritable recently. His Liang family came to Hong Kong three generations ago. His father started working as a lawyer, so he is the second generation. After studying law in the UK, he returned to Hong Kong and joined his father's law firm. He originally wanted to carry forward the family business, expand it, and make it bigger and stronger.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. My old man fell seriously ill last year and passed away after more than half a year.

Although his law firm had originally done good business, firstly, it cost a lot to send him to study in the UK, and secondly, his father had a serious illness which also cost a lot, and the Liang family's savings were almost exhausted.

The most crucial thing is that during the old man's illness, Liang Haowen had to take care of his filial piety by his bedside and could not take care of the law firm's business. Many old clients either left naturally or were poached by competitors. Now, the law firm's business can be said to be on the decline and is about to be over.

If the law firm's property was not their own, he would probably not even be able to pay the rent. All the other lawyers and advisors in the firm had also left, and now his wife was the one working at the front desk.

Just when Liang Haowen was deeply doubting his abilities, the door of his office was opened by his wife.

Hey, the advantage of having my wife as a receptionist is that I don’t have to pay her salary, but the disadvantage is that she never knocks on the door. “Haowen, a customer is here, please go and receive him.”

Liang Haowen immediately stood up and walked out. His wife held him back, carefully adjusted his tie, and then patted his chest twice, "The client speaks Mandarin, go ahead." There was encouragement in his wife's eyes.

Liang Haowen felt a little touched, but also a little weird. His wife's behavior reminded him of when he used to ride a horse, he would always pat the horse's neck before riding, just like that.

Ma Qing was sitting in the reception room, counting his fingers boredly. The door of the reception room opened and a young man in his thirties walked in. He looked handsome, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, and had a strong scholarly air, but his eyes under his thick black eyebrows were rather wild.

Ma Qing thought he was a good person. He liked the guy. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. May I ask who you are..."

"No, no... My last name is Ma..."

After some meaningless but necessary greetings, Ma Qing expressed his doubts.

"Lawyer Liang is so young, yet he owns such a law firm. He is truly a rare talent. But I see there is no one else in the office. What's going on?"

Liang Haowen did not hide it. Sincerity is the key. "I returned from studying in the UK a few years ago and took over this law firm from my father. However, he passed away last year. I was busy with family matters and did not take care of the business of this law firm. I am sorry to make Mr. Ma laugh."

Ma Qing thought to himself, it seems that the Lawyer Liang mentioned by the rickshaw driver should be his father. He didn't expect that the real father has passed away, and now only his son is left here to support him. But it doesn't matter. Isn't the current situation better?

"It turns out that Lawyer Liang is a returned overseas student. He is indeed a young talent. In addition, he has a family background in education and is a filial and loyal person. I admire him very much." Ma Qing now feels that he does not have much capital, so he should say more good things. It doesn't cost any money anyway.

After listening to Ma Qing's words, Liang Haowen felt as if he was doused with cool water on a summer day. He felt relaxed all over. The pressure of the past six months and the grievances that he had no one to confide in were all soothed and relieved. This was a soulmate.

Liang Haowen liked Ma Qing more and more. "No, no, Mr. Ma, thank you for the compliment. I just don't know why you came here. I don't know how I can help you."

"I am a refugee from Hong Kong. I would like to ask Lawyer Liang to help me with my identity issue first. I will need Lawyer Liang's help with many other things in the future."

Liang Haowen never expected that Ma Qing, who was sitting opposite him and talking so eloquently, was actually a refugee to Hong Kong, and he became interested.

"I really didn't expect this. Mr. Ma doesn't look like a mainlander at all..."

"Not as unsophisticated and uneasy as the people in the mainland? Lawyer Liang, the mainland is very big, unlike the tiny place of Hong Kong. No one knows what kind of fruit will be grown in the soil of 6 million people." Ma Qing felt that as the party A, it was necessary for him to give Liang Haowen, the party B, a warning.

Liang Haowen felt that he was indeed rude when he heard this, and quickly apologized, "You are right, that is indeed the truth. Regarding Mr. Ma's identity, leave it to me. I will definitely handle it beautifully, but the fee is."

When Ma Qing saw Liang Haowen looking her up and down, she immediately understood that it was useless to say too much in Hong Kong, because everyone had to eat.

Ma Qing took out a roll of green paper from his pocket. It was tightly rolled up. It was a small roll, full of 10-dollar denominations, exactly 100 dollars. "Is this enough?"

In Hong Kong at that time, the exchange of pounds and dollars was very convenient. It was pure paper gold. 100 US dollars was about 600 Hong Kong dollars. It doesn't sound like much, but the salary of a junior clerk at that time was only about 120 Hong Kong dollars. 600 Hong Kong dollars was almost the savings of an ordinary Hong Konger in a year.

(End of this chapter)