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Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: I Didn't Even Provoke Her

Xu Yun agreed without the slightest hesitation.

He even chose the highest service tier, at 500,000 a year.

"I never would have thought. Xu Yun is truly rich."

Li Jinshu couldn't help but marvel. She then knocked and entered Luo Dongxu's office again.

"Lawyer Luo, my friend got back to me."

Li Jinshu said, "He says you can just schedule a time and let him know. He'll come over to sign the contract."

"He decided that quickly?"

Luo Dongxu stared at the returning Li Jinshu, taken aback. He had expected it would take at least a day or two to get a response.

He asked curiously, "So which tier did he choose?"

"The top-tier personal legal advisory service from your firm. The one that costs 500,000 a year."

As Li Jinshu spoke, her voice was full of confidence, and she felt a strange surge of pride.

'Perhaps this is what they call sharing in the glory?'

'It was as if her friend's prestige made her feel prestigious, too.'

'You looked down on him before. Now you see he's a big fish, don't you?'

"Alright, I get it."

If Luo Dongxu had been somewhat dismissive before, he was certainly taking things seriously now, having heard that the other party intended to sign a 500,000-a-year service contract with the firm.

This wasn't the kind of thing someone did just because they had a little walking-around money.

Every one of his firm's major individual clients paying 500,000 a year had a net worth in the tens, or even hundreds, of millions.

For someone that young to be able to afford this service...

He certainly hadn't earned that money himself.

That could only mean his family was very powerful.

For the law firm, a 500,000 annual consulting fee wasn't a huge amount. But if they built a good relationship with him and provided excellent service, they might get a chance to network with his family, and perhaps even land their corporate-level service contract.

Now *that* would be a major account.

A law firm's ability to turn a profit and expand depended on corporate-level legal advisory services, which accounted for the majority of its income.

Luo Dongxu smiled at Li Jinshu and said, "In that case, why don't you be the one to coordinate with him for me? He can come in to sign the contract anytime."

"Okay."

"Also, since you're the one who brought in this client, it's only right that you're compensated for it."

Luo Dongxu continued, "Once the contract is signed, you'll receive the standard commission, just like any of our business development staff. I'll file the request with the firm and transfer it to you when it's approved."

"Thank you, Lawyer Luo."

Li Jinshu walked out, her heart brimming with delight.

'Anyway, she was earning the firm's money, not Xu Yun's. It would be foolish not to take it.'

It was just like when Luo Dongxu occasionally referred interior design clients to her; she always made sure her company gave him a referral commission.

According to the law firm's commission structure, anyone who brought in an individual client received a 10% commission on the annual fee.

At 500,000 a year, that meant as long as Xu Yun renewed his contract, she would get a 50,000 commission from Lawyer Luo every single year.

This was no small sum.

Although she worked at a large architecture firm, the pay wasn't as great as people might imagine.

The pay scale there was polarized.

The regular salaries for upper management, plus their year-end bonuses, added up to annual incomes of several million.

But for designers like her further down the ladder, the salary wasn't high by comparison—only about 20,000 to 30,000 a month.

And that was before taxes!

There might be a year-end bonus of tens of thousands on top of that.

All told, she made around 300,000 a year at most, enough to live a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle.

To be honest, if Li Jinshu didn't work at her current firm, she could probably take her skills to any smaller company and earn a little more.

But the potential for growth here was much higher.

She was exposed to a wide variety of unit types and design requirements, almost all of which were for high-end projects, allowing her to gain a great deal of valuable design experience.

What designer didn't dream of becoming a famous name at a major firm?

The resources, wealth, and status that came with it were on a level smaller companies simply couldn't match.

It was every designer's dream.

With such exciting news and the latest developments, Li Jinshu naturally had to share it all with her best friend.

Li Jinshu: [Susu, you can stop guessing. Xu Yun is a secret rich kid.]

Su Mu was in her office working on some reports when she saw Li Jinshu's message and replied.

Su Mu: [Why do you say that?]

Li Jinshu: [Do you know what kind of service he's planning to buy from the law firm for that lawsuit yesterday?]

Su Mu: [What service?]

Li Jinshu: [He's buying a personal legal advisory service, the kind that costs 500,000 a year. The second he signs that contract, he'll be one of the firm's major clients.]

Su Mu: [....]

Li Jinshu: [Surprising, right? He really kept it under wraps. He even had you fooled.]

Li Jinshu: [If that woman who broke up with him knew how rich he really was, she'd probably be dying of regret.]

Su Mu looked up, her gaze falling on Xu Yun, who was sitting in the general staff area outside her office. Her feelings were a tangled mess.

She thought about all the ways she had looked out for him at the company, and it all suddenly seemed so insignificant.

It was almost laughable.

'He probably never cared about the few hundred for perfect monthly attendance, or the small raise she'd secretly arranged for him.'

'If he clearly didn't care at all, why did he pretend that he did?!'

'He even used it as an excuse to find time to help her with little things, just to get on her good side!'

'Was it because I'm pretty?'

'Was he trying to get closer to me?'

'Is he interested in me?'

'If Xu Yun really is interested in me, if he's trying to get close to me and pursue me, how should I react?'

Before, she had been able to remain confident and treat him normally.

'But now?'

'He's handsome, rich, and actually quite competent at his job.'

'Put all that together, and he was an outstanding catch.'

'She, on the other hand, was a divorcée.'

Just as Su Mu was lost in her chaotic thoughts, Xu Yun knocked and entered from outside.

"Sister Su, what are you spacing out about?"

"Nothing."

Su Mu snapped out of it awkwardly. She looked at Xu Yun and asked with feigned indifference, "What is it? Do you need something?"

"I'd like to take tomorrow off."

"Fine."

Su Mu replied in a strictly business-like tone, "But I should remind you, if you take the day off, you'll lose your perfect attendance bonus for the month."

'You don't care about it anyway, so I'll just go by the book.'

Xu Yun: "???"

He looked at Su Mu's sour expression and asked tentatively, "Sister Su, are you in a bad mood?"

"I'm not."

Su Mu replied without looking up. "If there's nothing else, you can leave. Please close the door on your way out, thank you."

Xu Yun: "..."

'What the hell?'

Xu Yun was completely bewildered as he left the office.

'Why had Su Mu's attitude toward him suddenly turned so cold?'

He mentally retraced his steps for the day.

'I didn't do anything to provoke her.'

Meanwhile, Li Xiaoguang had also been feeling conflicted lately.

Anyone with eyes could see that Xu Yun was different now.

He wouldn't be able to just bully him and make him do his work for free anymore.

Besides, everyone was privately saying that Xu Yun had successfully latched onto Su Mu's coattails at the company.

He didn't know if that was true or not.

So he decided to test the waters.

But just as he got to Xu Yun, before he could even open his mouth, Xu Yun snapped, "I'm in a bad mood right now. You'd better not start with me."

Li Xiaoguang: "..."

'Damn it, who's the supervisor here, you or me?!'

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