Bending down to enter the chess game

"And then?"

"And then?" Huang Yuan sat in her chair, one leg propped up on the trash can under the table, the other on the floor. She was idly drawing circles. "And then? Need I say more?"

She glanced behind her through the small mirror on her desk; the nameplate for Yu Xingge was empty. The girl who usually sat there was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't speak for the other two floors, but among the interns on this floor, Yu Xingge was definitely the one most frequently involved in fieldwork. She was puzzled. Where did she get her cases? Which team was she working for?

"What else do I need to say? You didn't sign it?"

"Nonsense!" Huang Yuan retorted irritably, "Can a mother-in-law be the daughter-in-law's representative in a divorce case? Even if her daughter-in-law agrees, I can't accept it! Besides, divorce property division is about dividing her son's property. No matter how eloquently she talks now, when it comes to the actual division, will she be completely focused on her daughter-in-law? In just these few hours of consultation this afternoon, the two almost had a falling out over child custody." She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, "Anyway, the person in question has added her contact information. Whether it works out or not, I don't care."

"Are you just going to leave it at that? Do you need me to do anything? I'll talk to Dad about it later. Anyway, the case will most likely end up with Dad."

"What did you say?" She pulled her legs back, sat up straight, and sneered, "It's just a minor divorce case; I don't need to argue about it."

"Brother, don't worry about it." She said impatiently, "I'm hanging up."

"You're really something, even Lao Wei doesn't do anything about you." Before she could finish speaking, Huang Yuan abruptly hung up the phone.

She stood up, arms crossed. Turning around, she saw the seat behind her was still empty. She kicked the chair hard: "So annoying!"

"So annoying."

The same words came out of Yu Xingge's mouth at this moment. Half complaining and half probing, she said, "Why do you keep dragging me into the marriage and family law team's cases? Is it because you think I'm a natural for this kind of work and you want to expand the team by having me?"

Yu Xingge had just seen Qiao Yi off. Their consultation was progressing smoothly; however, regarding the investigation of assets under their names, they needed to finalize the authorization procedures before an investigation warrant could be issued. Qiao Yi was determined to divorce, but Yu Xingge advised her to reconsider and give her a reply. Unfortunately, Yu Xingge didn't want to take on this case.

She turned around and made an appointment with Ya Jie to have dinner together. The two of them found a small, unassuming restaurant and were eating authentic local spicy noodles. Jin Ya Jie was slapping her tongue while eating, her face covered in tears and snot.

"You can't eat spicy food, yet you still come to eat spicy noodles." Yu Xingge pulled out a tissue and stuffed it into his hand.

"You don't understand... that's the kind of thrill I crave."

She crumpled her tears into a tissue and held it in her hand: "I don't understand what Wei Jin is thinking either, but since you were recruited by Director Shen, I advise you not to get too close to him."

She paused for a moment, turning her head to look at herself from left to right.

There were only six people in the tiny restaurant, including her. A couple sat at the back of the restaurant talking quietly, and two male college students covered in acne sat at the entrance, engrossed in eating.

"The director is replaced every five years, and Wei Jin is putting in a lot of effort to run for the position of law firm director this year!" Jin Yajie blinked at her, her voice so low it was practically squeezed out of her throat.

It turned out to be the case.

The law firm is a traditional partnership, where personal relationships outweigh institutionalized management. Having a group of people well-versed in law but lacking in management skills manage the firm is practically hand-to-hand combat; after all, where there are people, there is infighting. Partner factionalism and infighting are common occurrences in the industry. The imbalance of power and conflicts over profit distribution erupt as the firm enters a consolidation or development phase. New partners like Wei Jin demand more say, while founding partners like Shen Changsheng seek to maintain the existing power structure. At this time, with the five-year term for leadership reshuffle, and Shen Changsheng having already served three terms as director, some partners were already harboring resentment, forming cliques and increasingly defined boundaries. As far as she knew, aside from some core members like partners Zhou Bingchun and Wang Dongling who remained staunchly loyal to the director's faction, Gu Lezhi had to carefully consider her own position.

But regardless of these people's heated debates at the meeting, their private attempts to win over young lawyers to their side, and their slander behind each other's backs, what does any of this have to do with her? If they want to win her over to attack Shen Changsheng, does that mean they respect her or look down on her?

Did he... know about it?

On a summer afternoon, the second-floor attic sweltered under the sun, the window frames, yellowed with old newspapers, shimmered with a growing restlessness through their tattered cracks. The incessant chirping of cicadas disturbed the girl lying beneath the window, causing her to furrow her brow even in her sleep. Sweat dampened her still-childish, pale face, two delicate blushes framing her cheeks. Her budding breasts bulged slightly over her T-shirt, and her jeans were rolled up to her calves, revealing a pair of small, jade-like feet dangling outside the bamboo chair.

The attic door was gently pushed open a crack, letting a sliver of light into the dark room. As the aroma of stir-fried pork and green peppers wafted closer, a pair of hands tentatively covered the girl's double eyelids. The girl's brows furrowed even more. The large hands paused for a moment, and seeing that her double eyelids showed no sign of opening, they continued to stroke her eyelids. After a while, the rough palms, as if dissatisfied with their owner's dawdling, clenched and unclenched on her double eyelids.

"Hiss." A dull pain belatedly reached her mind, and Xing Ge opened her eyes.

A tall, black figure stood by the window, pushing and pulling it open. Uncle Fu Wen turned around as if he had just heard the noise: "Xiao Ge, look how soundly you're sleeping. I've been calling you for ages and you still haven't gotten up."

Xing Ge first looked at the wooden door at the end of the attic. A square key was inserted in the lock, and the shiny lock reflected the sunlight.

"Uncle," her almond-shaped eyes fixed intently on him, "didn't you promise last time that Grandpa would keep all the keys to the attic? And there were backups?"

"No," Fu Wen wiped the sweat from his brow and took out a blue cotton handkerchief from his pocket to wipe it. "It's hot, and I was worried you might get sick from the heat in the attic, so I had a locksmith make a new key. It cost two yuan, and your aunt scolded me for a long time. I have to say, your uncle treats you better."

He sat down on the bamboo chair, pulled Xing Ge's right hand into his palm, as if he were holding a greasy mop, the sticky feeling lingering in Xing Ge's heart.

She shrank back.

"Fu Wen! What are you dawdling about when I told you to call someone down for dinner?!"

Fu Wen quickly withdrew his hand and stood up.

The next moment, Auntie appeared at the attic doorway: "What are you two standing here for? Wait for me to bring the food to your mouth!"