Chapter 34 - They seem just like a family of three.

"Go ahead and make the purchase. Just remember to get the invoice." Lu Liang sighed with satisfaction—hiring Tang Caidie had been the right call. An experienced hand was worth his weight in gold. If he'd hired an inexperienced new graduate, he would've had to handle all these trivial matters himself. Zhang Qian, holding her daughter in her arms, sat beside him. Glancing at his phone screen, she caught sight of their chat history. "You started a company?" "Having a company makes things easier," Lu Liang replied briefly, watching Ye Wei argue his case with a slight smile playing on his lips. A lawyer who charged 5,000 yuan just to show up—and extra fees depending on the case's complexity—was not someone most people could afford. But now it was clear: you got what you paid for. Lu Liang hadn't needed to say a word; Ye Wei had handled everything flawlessly. The woman had originally refused to back down. She'd never been humiliated like this in her life and had even threatened to sue Lu Liang for intentional assault. But then her husband arrived. Dressed in a tailored suit and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, he looked like a government official. After talking to Ye Wei for a few minutes and learning the whole story, he decided to settle the matter privately—and didn't even demand compensation. Zhao Qiangmin looked at the injury on Zhang Yun's face, his expression filled with guilt. "Little girl, I'm so sorry. Uncle apologizes on behalf of Auntie and Jiaqi. Will you forgive them?" Government officials dreaded getting entangled in lawsuits. They could accuse Lu Liang of intentional assault, but Lu Liang could counter with charges of his own. The fact that Lu Liang had hired a top-notch lawyer so quickly proved he had the means to fight this to the bitter end. An adult hitting an underage elementary school student was a completely different matter from two adults fighting. If this dragged on, they would definitely be the ones to suffer. The little girl froze, unsure what to do, and glanced instinctively at Lu Liang. Ever since Lu Liang had stood up for her, the vague fatherly figure in her mind had slowly taken clear shape. "Qianqian, what do you think?" Lu Liang asked in confusion. How could such a shrewish woman be married to such a reasonable man? Then it hit him—the teachers' obvious bias toward the woman. He guessed the man's occupation and understood why he'd chosen to back down. "I'll leave it up to you," Zhang Qian said, swallowing the words she'd been about to say. She'd actually wanted to drop the matter, but she wasn't sure about Lu Liang's stance, so she'd rather let him decide. Lu Liang thought for a moment, deciding not to push too hard. "Have your wife apologize, and tell your son to write a self-criticism. Let him sincerely apologize to our girl." "Absolutely," Zhao Qiangmin sighed in relief. Lu Liang was much more reasonable than he'd expected. The woman hung her head, her sharp temper nowhere to be seen as she stared at her swollen cheek. "Little girl, I'm sorry. Auntie lost her temper earlier." Meanwhile, Zhao Jiaqi threw a tantrum, screaming through his tears: "I'm not apologizing to her! Dad, you're the Education Bureau director—just expel her!" Everyone fell silent. Using one's official position to bully ordinary citizens was the worst mistake he could've made. If this got out, it could cost Zhao Qiangmin his job. Lu Liang laughed. "So you're Director Zhao. No wonder Young Master Zhao is so arrogant. Truly a case of excellent parenting." Zhao Qiangmin's face darkened, hearing the sarcasm loud and clear. In front of everyone, he slapped Zhao Jiaqi hard across the face. "Shut up! Your mother has spoiled you rotten!" He lowered his stance even further. "Mr. Lu, Ms. Zhang, I've neglected my son's upbringing because of my work. I apologize for that." Zhang Qian quietly tugged at Lu Liang's sleeve, wary of the man's position, signaling that he should let it go and not push things too far. "Director Zhao is so dedicated to public service that he's overlooked his family responsibilities. That's truly admirable," Lu Liang smiled, putting Zhao Qiangmin on the spot again. Then he knelt down and looked at Zhang Yun. "Xiao Guai, shall we forgive Uncle Zhao and little brother?" "Okay~" The little girl didn't fully understand what was going on, but she'd already forgiven them in her heart. "Thank you, little one," Zhao Qiangmin said, giving Lu Liang a meaningful look. He knew exactly what Lu Liang was implying. As a leader in the education sector, neglecting his own child's upbringing—and having his son spout nonsense about abusing power—was practically a crime of hypocrisy. Lu Liang was warning him: drop this matter now, or he would fight back tooth and nail if there were any repercussions. At seven o'clock that evening, the two groups walked out of the police station. Zhao Qiangmin spoke earnestly: "Mr. Lu, rest assured. I'll make sure he writes the self-criticism tonight, and he'll apologize to Zhang Yun in front of the entire school tomorrow." "Director Zhao, you're a reasonable man. We trust you," Lu Liang smiled, watching them leave. Just then, Ye Wei approached him and whispered: "Mr. Lu, I recorded the entire conversation." It was a professional habit. If Lu Liang wanted to pursue this further, he could leak the recording and ruin Zhao Qiangmin's career for good. Though the saying went "commoners shouldn't fight with officials," there were different levels to this. At 39 years old and holding the rank of section chief, Zhao Qiangmin was doing well—but not well enough to be untouchable. "No backups, right?" Lu Liang asked. Ye Wei shook his head. "This is the only copy." "Lawyer Ye, let's leave it at that for now. Send me the bill later," Lu Liang said, taking the voice recorder. "Mr. Lu, here's my firm's business card. Feel free to contact us anytime you need help," Ye Wei said, then took his leave. "You're not going to pursue this further, are you?" Zhang Qian asked worriedly. "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it," Lu Liang replied. He had no intention of dragging this out, but if they tried to get revenge later, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back. "Xiao Guai, are you hungry? What do you want to eat? Uncle Lu will take you," he said, kneeling down and brushing the bangs off her forehead. The swelling had gone down after applying the medicinal oil, but a faint bruise still lingered. The little girl's mood had shifted as quickly as it had flared up. She glanced at her mother shyly. "Can we go to McDonald's?" Zhang Qian sighed helplessly, stroking her hair. "Alright, let's go to McDonald's." "Yay!" The little girl jumped up and down, overjoyed. She held Lu Liang's hand in her left and her mother's in her right. Zhang Qian stole a glance at Lu Liang, a warm, indescribable feeling welling up in her heart. *They looked just like a family of three.* She owed Lu Liang so much for what he'd done today. For a moment, she let herself imagine that this was their life—and that it wasn't half bad. It didn't matter what happened to her. As long as Lu Liang was good to her daughter, that was enough. The McDonald's was just around the corner. Lu Liang didn't bother driving; the three of them walked there together. "Auntie, how have you been lately?" After ordering their food, he carried the tray back to their table and asked about Zhang Qian's life and her mother's health. "My mom's getting on in years, so she needs plenty of rest now. I hired two caregivers to take turns looking after her," Zhang Qian replied. She paused, then mentioned the market research she'd done that afternoon. "There's a mid-sized beauty salon up for transfer." "Tell me about it," Lu Liang said, resting his chin in one hand and gently reminding the little girl: "Slow down. No one's going to steal your food." A soft glow of tenderness appeared in Zhang Qian's eyes as she spoke quietly: "The salon's lease still has three and a half years left, the interior decoration is about 80% new, and all the equipment is included—even the technicians. The total transfer fee is 1.3 million yuan." "Can it break even after that?" Lu Liang asked. "Don't look down on me," Zhang Qian shot back playfully. "I did my research. That salon makes a net profit of at least 80,000 yuan a month." She'd been a customer there before—the environment was great, and many wealthy ladies had membership cards. Lu Liang raised an eyebrow in surprise. "If it really makes 80,000 yuan a month, that's 1.6 million yuan in two years. So why is the owner selling it?" "Rumor has it that the owner embezzled public funds to trade stocks. His money got trapped in the market, and now he can't even pay his employees' salaries," Zhang Qian explained, then glanced at Lu Liang. She felt lucky she'd listened to him last week and sold all her stocks early. She'd missed out on two more daily limit ups, but she'd avoided the stock market crash. And to raise money for the salon, she'd withdrawn all her savings—she hadn't even bought any mutual funds. These past few days, her WeChat Moments had been filled with complaints. Stocks had crashed badly, and mutual funds had crashed even worse.