The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The third meeting was scheduled for two days later.

Shen Nan came this time.

She flew from Hangzhou to Beijing the night before and stayed at a business hotel near the China World Trade Center.

We set off at 8:00 this morning and arrived at 607 half an hour earlier than Lin Che.

She sat next to Lin Che, in the second chair on the side closest to the door.

A black briefcase sat in front of her, containing all the work she had done over the past week.

LM-001, LM-002, and the encrypted LM-X.

She was wearing a dark gray suit skirt today, her hair was tied up tightly, and she wasn't wearing earrings.

His face showed no extra expression.

This is Shen Nan's work routine, which Lin Che has seen many times, but Shen Nan today is a little different from usual.

Her eyes were brighter than usual, not from excitement, but from intense concentration.

It was the same person on the other end.

Dark blue suit, shirt buttoned all the way up, thin-rimmed metal glasses.

He showed no surprise when he saw Shen Nan, as if he had known all along that there would be an extra person today.

"Attorney Shen."

He took the initiative to greet him, his tone as polite as when he spoke to Lin Che.

Shen Nan nodded.

"Hello."

Two words, nothing more.

"I am Mr. Lin Che's legal advisor, and I am here on his behalf to attend today's exchange."

She took a document out of her briefcase and placed it on the table.

"This is a copy of my professional license and a power of attorney."

The person opposite took it, glanced at it, and then placed it on their side of the table.

"Okay. Let's begin."

He opened the folder and flipped to the spot where he had stopped last time.

"Mr. Lin, we discussed the issue of information sources last time. You said you needed to consult with your legal counsel before answering."

Is it convenient for you to answer today?

Shen Nan spoke before Lin Che could.

"Regarding this issue, I need to provide a procedural explanation first."

Her voice wasn't loud, but she enunciated each word clearly.

It was different from the clarity He Wei displayed when reporting.

He Wei's understanding stemmed from work habits, while Shen Nan's understanding came from legal means.

"Currently, to my knowledge, no formal case has been filed or investigation initiated against Weiguang Technology or Mr. Lin Che himself."

She paused for a moment.

"Today's exchange is a 'compliance communication' in the industry, not a formal meeting or inquiry."

"Under this premise, Mr. Lin has the right to choose whether or not to answer any questions that exceed the scope of compliant communication."

The person on the other end did not respond immediately after hearing this.

He glanced at Shen Nan for about two seconds.

Then he nodded.

"Attorney Shen is right, there is indeed no formal case filing procedure at present."

"Today's exchange is informal."

He used the word "informal" in a very flat tone.

But there's a subtext behind "informal": just because it's informal now doesn't mean it will be in the future.

Shen Nan understood the subtext.

But she didn't answer; instead, she continued talking.

"Based on the above premises, Mr. Lin's position on the previously raised issue of 'source of information' is as follows."

"This issue involves the basis of a company's core business decisions and falls under the category of trade secrets."

"In the absence of formal legal proceedings, Mr. Lin has chosen not to respond at this time."

When she said "I won't answer for now," she looked up from the documents in front of her and glanced at the person opposite her.

The word "temporary" was used intentionally.

It's not "refusing to answer," it's "not answering for now."

Refusal is closing the door, not leaving a crack.

Leaving room for negotiation means "if you go through the formal process, we can continue to talk within the legal framework."

The person on the other end listened to Shen Nan's entire speech.

He did not refute, did not ask further questions, and did not show any dissatisfaction.

He picked up a pen and wrote a few words on a blank page of the folder.

Put down the pen after you finish writing.

"understand."

One word.

Then he flipped to another set of materials in the folder.

"Then let's try a different direction."

"Regarding the CCPS data architecture, especially the two data stream fields reserved in version 3.0, I would like to understand the design rationale."

This is a technical issue and does not involve the "source of information," falling within the scope of compliant communication.

Shen Nan glanced at Lin Che and nodded slightly.

It means: This is an answer.

Lin Che spoke up.

"The reserved fields in v3.0 are a standard architectural design practice."

"Any technical team developing a platform will reserve space for expansion in the underlying architecture."

The fields "user_behavior_pattern" and "health_data_stream" are currently empty and not enabled.

"The initial design intention was to prepare for possible future functional expansion."

After listening, the person on the other end asked a few more technical questions.

What is the encryption standard for data streams?

At which level should the access permissions for the reserved fields be set?

Has the compliance audit of health data flow completed the preliminary assessment?

Shen Nan assessed each question to confirm it was within the scope of compliant communication before asking Lin Che to answer.

She makes judgments quickly, sometimes with a glance, sometimes with an almost imperceptible nod.

Lin Che and she had worked together for so many years that they didn't need any extra codes.

Lin Che's answers were all technical, concise, and accurate.

Not a single word is superfluous, nor is a single word omitted.

This part of the conversation lasted about twenty minutes.

For twenty minutes, the person on the other end did not mention the words "source of information" again.

He was circumventing the boundaries set by Shen Nan and gathering information from a technical perspective.

Shen Nan knew what he was doing.

He also knew that Shen Nan knew.

However, neither of them brought this up.

These are the rules in room 607.

You can push it, but you can't break it.

Stop when you reach the boundary, then change direction and continue pushing.

Twenty minutes later, the person on the other end closed the folder.

That's all for today.

He stood up, shook hands with Lin Che, and then shook hands with Shen Nan.

When he shook hands with Shen Nan, he said something.

"Attorney Shen is very well prepared."

This sentence can be either praise or a reminder.

Remind her: I noticed you made preparations, and I know what you prepared.

Shen Nan did not respond to this comment.

Then he looked at Lin Che.

"Mr. Lin, today's exchange was very valuable."

He paused for a moment.

"We'll meet again."

The tone of this sentence was as calm as when he said "formal exchange" last time.

There was no threat, no oppression, just a statement of fact.

He turned and walked out of 607.

The recorder closed his laptop and followed behind, the door closing behind him.

Only Lin Che and Shen Nan remained in the room.

Shen Nan waited for about ten seconds to make sure the footsteps in the corridor had faded away.

Then she removed her hand from the table.

Her fingers were a little white; she had been pressing hard on the table.

I pressed with all ten fingers for forty minutes.

Lin Che saw it.

"How are you?"

Shen Nan did not answer the question.

She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

This was the first time during the entire exchange that she behaved in a manner unbecoming of a "legal advisor."

She pulled the LM-002 out of her briefcase, turned to the last page, "No-Answer List".

The list includes twelve question types.

Today we'll be using the third and seventh items.

The third item: Issues involving the basis for core business judgment and decision-making of enterprises.

Item 7: Issues that exceed the scope of communication without formal legal procedures.

Both are on the list, and both are legal.

She closed the file and put it back in her briefcase.

"The firewall blocked the first time."

She said this in a very low voice.

"But it can only block once."

"If he goes through the formal process and asks the same question again after the case is filed, we will no longer have the option to 'not answer for now.'"

Lin Che looked at her.

Will he go through the formal procedures?

Shen Nan zipped up his briefcase, the sound echoing loudly in the quiet room.

The LM-X is still in the bag; I haven't used it today.

But it's there.

"He just said, 'We'll meet again.'"

What do you think?