A wise person does not fall in love.

Chapter 5

She didn’t think there was anything special, but from Zhao Rui’s tone, it seemed to hold some deeper meaning. So she asked back, "Since you know him, what do you think of him?"

"Qi Song, well… how should I put it," Zhao Rui indeed had a story.

"How?" Guan Lan prompted.

"He has a nickname at Zicheng."

"What is it?"

"The Lone Ranger."

"What?" Guan Lan didn't get it.

"Single, Man," Zhao Rui emphasized, making gestures with her hands as if Marvel movie credits were rolling.

Guan Lan laughed, "Is he some kind of superhero? Did you learn this from your husband?"

Zhao Rui's house had a room with glass shelves on all sides, dedicated to her husband Li Yuanjie’s collection of Gundams and Ultraman figures.

"It's just that..." Zhao Rui thought, trying to find a more accurate expression, "In Shanghainese, there's a word 'du'. Qi Song is a bit 'du'."

Guan Lan had indeed heard elders use this word, usually to criticize their generation of the 80s-born only children, meaning selfish and cold-hearted.

She looked at the title on his business card and said, "He can get promoted to partner like this? To be a good litigation lawyer, doesn’t one need to be somewhat socially adept?"

"Indeed," Zhao Rui agreed, "Zicheng says it's a seven-year partner track, but those who actually make partner in seven years are prodigies. Moreover, his education is ordinary, just an undergrad from your Law and Politics University, with no family background..."

"What's wrong with our undergrad program?" Guan Lan picked out the thorn in her words, laughing to defend her university where she worked.

Zhao Rui hurriedly defended herself, "I'm just stating facts. You also do graduate work at your school, right? You know how competitive law firms are about education credentials now. Zicheng was the first to adopt a corporate structure among domestic firms, comparable to international firms in salary. Ten years ago, a new grad’s starting salary was over twenty thousand, and an undergrad from your university getting in was already exceptional."

"Was he from the Procuratorate or the Court?" Guan Lan considered another possibility.

"Neither," Zhao Rui answered, "He just worked hard, handling cases, publishing articles, taking exams, the king of grinding. Plus, he followed the right mentor; everyone knows he’s Wang Qian’s guy. And he’s quite good with people, managing to attract clients outside."

"Didn't you say he was 'du'?" Guan Lan found a logical flaw.

Zhao Rui said, "They’re all smart people, not truly lacking emotional intelligence, just unwilling to waste it on unworthy individuals."

"Sounds very pragmatic," Guan Lan laughed.

"Isn't it..." Zhao Rui hesitated.

"This person isn’t just 'du' at work, right?" Guan Lan seemed to sense some underlying meaning.

Zhao Rui, however, didn’t elaborate, echoing her earlier words, "We HR professionals also have professional ethics."

"Alright then, won’t challenge your professional ethics," Guan Lan laughed, suddenly thinking of something, adding, "I noticed another trait about him."

"What?" Zhao Rui asked.

"Emotional stability," Guan Lan answered.

"Emotional stability?" Zhao Rui didn't understand.

"It's the rarest quality in modern people," Guan Lan said.

She found that her best impression of Qi Song was in that parking lot scene. In over forty degrees weather, he wore a shirt and suit, sitting in a brand-new Panamera, rolling down the window, speaking calmly and politely with the shirtless driver of the small Changhe van, with the same tone as if addressing a judge in court, even though that driver had just cursed at him.

Unperturbed by external circumstances, Qi Song seemed to never have moments of irritation or loss of control.

Chapter 4: The Legendary Teacher Guan

The next day, Jiang Yuan came to Qi Song’s office, half-jokingly saying, "Did you do it on purpose? A case worth over two million got settled for more than twenty million."

Qi Song half-jokingly replied, "Do you have the nerve to say that to me? I went to the court and found out you dug such a big hole for me. You get the benefits, we take the professional risks. The client hiding crucial evidence is one thing, but in the acquisition of Qing Shui Luosuo, you represented the buyer, right? Handing over the seller’s equity dispute to us, I thought all night about whether there’s a problem here. Should we report to the management committee to check compliance?"

"Of course it’s compliant," Jiang Yuan got caught but found a way out, "The internal information wall is intact, so I didn’t mention the acquisition earlier, purely just helped make a connection."

Qi Song smiled, saying no more, knowing this matter was over, and similar future plans by the M&A group would be more cautious.

He and Jiang Yuan actually got along well, joining Zicheng in the same year, initially both in the M&A group, even sharing an office. But now each was the right-hand man of their respective senior partners, saying what the bosses found inconvenient to say themselves.

In the afternoon, Wang Qian arrived at the firm, and Qi Song went to knock on his door.

Wang Qian was signing documents at his desk. Seeing it was him, he just slightly tilted his head as a gesture.

Qi Song entered, closed the door, and sat down by the desk, explaining the case.

Wang Qian listened, nodding.

Qi Song asked, "Did I interpret your intention correctly, Master?"

Wang Qian continued signing documents, smiling silently.

The two had been mentor and student for many years; many things didn’t need to be said, they both understood.

Previously, the litigation group often relied on the non-litigation group for major commercial cases, taking whatever was given to them, but things had gradually changed over the years. Initially, people outside referred to the “Zicheng Three Heroes,” meaning Tang Jiaheng, Zhu Fengran, and later, Wang Qian became known as one of the three. Now, Tang Jiaheng had taken his criminal defense team and gone independent, leaving the firm in a dual leadership situation.

Qi Song knew Wang Qian was lobbying within the management committee, aiming to change the fee and bonus ratios among the groups, possibly having other plans not yet fully disclosed to him, but that day would come.

After discussing the main business, Qi Song stood up to leave. Wang Qian, however, called him back, taking an envelope from a drawer and tossing it on the desk, saying, "This, go on my behalf."

Qi Song took it out to see it was an invitation to the annual Financial Legal Business Forum organized by the city's bar association. He didn’t like such events and hesitated to agree. Wang Qian knew he was pondering an excuse to decline and clicked his tongue, saying…