Chapter 249

Chapter 249: Chapter 242: Onboard Xie Shang’s Pirate Ship (First Update) Chapter 249: Chapter 242: Onboard Xie Shang’s Pirate Ship (First Update) KE Law Firm.

Assistant lawyer Yu Jin placed the document on the desk, “Director, here are the details for the authorization ceremony. Please take a look and see if there’s anything that needs to be added.”

Xie Jiwen glanced at it, “Has Xie Shang seen it?”

“Lawyer Xie has already reviewed it.”

Xie Jiwen immediately frowned, “If he’s seen it, why do you need me to look at it? Is this just going through the motions?”

Yu Jin, recruited from school, always had a smile on his face, “You’re the director, sir. It needs your signature.”

“I’m the director?” Xie Jiwen threw the file to the floor without a care for eavesdroppers, and vented his anger, “I’m just a damn mascot!”

That treacherous little man, Xie Shang.

The Municipal Public Legal Service Center and the Municipal Lawyers Association were establishing legal aid workstations, and somehow Xie Shang got the quota to authorize a workstation. Xie Shang planned to use thirty percent of the revenue for public welfare law, and each branch office would need to set up a legal aid station. After all the details were arranged, Xie Jiwen found out about it, and all he had to do was handle the signing and sealing.

At first, they promised to help him become the director, and although he did become one, he was just a director in name while Xie Shang made all the decisions. After all the hustle, he ended up being nothing but a mascot, with no real power. All the connections and cases were in Xie Shang’s hands, and the entire staff and team only listened to Xie Shang. Xie Jiwen didn’t know what kind of spell Xie Shang had cast on them to make them willing to give up such a large amount of revenue.

Xie Jiwen took the details of the authorization ceremony to Xie Shang’s office.

He slammed the papers on the desk, “Your father’s case hasn’t ended yet, and you’re already crossing the river and tearing down the bridge.”

Yu Jin followed in, wanting to go forward to pull him away.

Xie Shang looked up at the door, and Yu Jin immediately understood, turned around, and left, also closing the door behind him.

“What do you mean by that, Uncle?”

Xie Jiwen had been holding back his dissatisfaction for a long time, “All those partners act on your say-so, and I’m just a figurehead as the director.”

Xie Shang stood up, poured a cup of tea, the cooling kind, and placed it on the desk.

“I only promised to help you become the director. As for how you perform, that depends on your own management skills.”

Xie Jiwen became even more enraged, “You’re just setting me up.” He sat down on the chair, ready to give up, “You can solve your father’s case on your own. I’m out.”

“You will handle it.”

Xie Jiwen clenched his back teeth.

“If you don’t, as soon as he’s released, you’ll be the first one he deals with.”

“You—” Xie Jiwen slammed his palm onto the armrest of the swivel chair, unable to contain his fury, but the words at the tip of his tongue were forcefully swallowed back.

What could he say? Having boarded Xie Shang’s ship of thieves, he now couldn’t disembark. After what happened with Xie Liangjiang, everyone outside was saying he was ruthless, but could he be more ruthless than Xie Shang?

“Uncle, I don’t like being a lawyer. Once the law firm is on the right track, I will leave.”

Xie Jiwen immediately looked at Xie Shang, his eyes wary, not daring to take his word for it.

What was this? A new move? Sow kindness after showing force?

Xie Shang, with his glasses, exuded the elegance and composure of a seasoned legal professional with every gesture, “I do have expectations for you. I hope the law firm can operate in a sustainable fashion.”

He was extremely polite, and his words were courteous, but this wasn’t a suggestion—it was a negotiation.

Xie Jiwen wasn’t sure where the line of “sustainable” was drawn, but one thing was clear: Xie Shang would be the one deciding where that line lay.

Xie Jiwen dropped the pretense with this shrewd fox: “Don’t have expectations. I just want to make money.”

Xie Shang picked up the tea cup and handed it over, “The two are not mutually exclusive.”

Xie Jiwen was reluctant but had to admit defeat. He took the tea cup.

On the seventh, Deputy Director Zhang Qingmin and Deputy Director Qu Jiang from the Municipal Justice Bureau attended KE Law Firm’s authorization ceremony, formally establishing the legal aid workstation at KE Law Firm. KE introduced a new regulation that any lawyer from KE had to serve at the aid station for one year. Xie Jiwen, the head of the firm, also publicly announced that thirty percent of the firm’s revenue would be used for public welfare law, and all data would be made openly transparent.

The public knew that KE Law Firm was trying to put its shattered golden signboard back together, a method of “whitewashing,”

but the substantial amounts of money invested were real, as was the social demand for public legal services. The group that couldn’t afford lawyers or wasn’t able to engage famous lawyers was enormous. Despite many negative voices, the beneficiaries that supported KE Law Firm’s decision were even more numerous.

That afternoon, Xie Shang visited Xie Liangjiang at the detention center, at the request of Xie Liangjiang, under the name of a lawyer.

The detention center’s police closed the door.

“There are still two people in KE that pose a big threat to you,” Xie Liangjiang began without any superfluous pleasantries, “Kong Zhongyu and your Uncle. Neither of them can be trusted with crucial roles. Just cut off the source of cases for your Uncle, and you don’t need to worry about Kong Zhongyu—I’ll—”

Xie Shang cut him off, “Aren’t you going to stop?”

Even in prisoner’s clothing, Xie Liangjiang was proud and self-possessed, “I’m helping you.”

He was helping Xie Shang eliminate the opposition. His intentions had never changed; he could step down, but his successor had to be Xie Shang.

“You have no idea what I want.”

Xie Liangjiang looked at Xie Shang, fell silent for a moment, and asked, “What do you want?”

Xie Shang’s gaze was indifferent and detached, as if he were looking at a stranger, “Don’t do anything.”

“So you know what I’m planning to do?”

If a person has the ability and shrewdness, but lacks conscience, there’s a lot they can do. And if they’re also a law-savvy lawyer, the possibilities multiply. So, as long as Xie Liangjiang wanted to get out, it wasn’t without means—silencing witnesses, scapegoating, exploiting legal loopholes...there were plenty of ways.

“Everything I own will be yours in the future,” Xie Liangjiang, with a fierce and domineering gaze, stated, “Wealth, power, what’s wrong with these things? Why can’t you just be on the same page as me?”