MWC – Chapter 24 Reconciliation

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

The New Era Department Store is located on the busiest commercial street in Beiguan, not far from the Ji Bird Building.

It is a five-story gray strip building. At night, the neon signs flicker, the inside is filled with a dazzling array of goods, customers swarm in, and business is booming.

On the top floor is a luxurious and spacious office, covering over a hundred square meters, with a genuine leather chair, an enormous mahogany desk, both modern and grand.

In the slightly lower rest area next to the marble coffee table, Liu Laocai is carefully discussing his plans if he goes to prison. Lu Ming, as his lawyer, is taking notes, with two others present as witnesses.

One is Zhou Qian, the Chief Operating Officer of the New Era Department Store.

The other is Wang Xingwu, the second-largest shareholder of the company and an old friend of Liu Laocai’s family. He is a very elegant elderly man from a scholarly family, a famous calligrapher, uninterested in business. His shares were inherited.

Liu Laocai plans to entrust his voting rights in the company to Wang Xingwu after he goes to prison, while his second son, Liu Kexing, will join the board and be appointed as the Vice President of Operations.

“Zhou Qian, in the future, please teach my incompetent son well…” Liu Laocai sighed.

Zhou Qian nodded lightly.

In his forties, like Liu Laocai, Zhou Qian wore traditional long robes, but he actually graduated from the Royal Finance Academy in Donghai, a very capable and innovative business talent.

“Director Liu, you’ll be fine!” Lu Ming rubbed his nose.

“Lawyer Lu, I don’t blame you. Who could have thought my unfilial son would conspire against me with the high-priced lawyer I hired! Of course, it’s still my fault for not keeping my pants up, which brought about this mess…” Liu Laocai smiled bitterly, showing a few traces of despondency.

The situation was clear. Liu Keyue colluded with Gao Wentian in secret. Gao Wentian gave Liu Keyue ideas.

Liu Keyue approached the victim Deng Hongmei but never really intended to give her money. Sure enough, Deng Hongmei didn’t take the money and reported Liu Keyue instead.

In front of his father, Liu Keyue appeared as a dutiful son, but in court, the prosecution quickly turned Liu Keyue’s actions into a situation extremely unfavorable to Liu Laocai.

“Knowing the truth is enough for me to be grateful to you!” Liu Laocai patted Lu Ming’s hand and took out his checkbook to pay Lu Ming.

Sitting beside Lu Ming, Pamela seemed to have been holding back something. She finally couldn’t help it, “Mr. Liu, I think it’s also wrong for you to groom Liu Kexing as your successor.”

Liu Laocai looked at her in surprise, “Mrs. Pamela, what do you mean by that?”

Before coming here, since it was non-working hours, Pamela had changed out of her work clothes. Now she was in a black gauze evening dress, wearing a floral hat, looking very elegant and noble, with a dazzling gemstone necklace on her snow-white neck, resuming her beautiful and sexy Western lady demeanor.

She glanced at Lu Ming, seeing he had no particular reaction, neither opposing nor agreeing, and continued, “I believe your son Liu Kexing has been tracking his older brother and is very aware of his actions. However, he did not expose his brother but cleverly used Lawyer Lu to achieve his own goals.”

“When we first went to Deng Hongmei’s home, he didn’t use that guide to find the place where Deng Hongmei and Liu Keyue were having tea. I was puzzled at that time.”

“Moreover, he knew very well about Deng Hongmei’s family’s changes and inadvertently let it slip. Lawyer Lu must have noticed it too.”

“Also, the anonymous letter revealing Liu Keyue paying Gao Wentian’s lawyer fees, I think, was from Liu Kexing. Although it was unnecessary, my boss didn’t need his reminder.”

“All these prove he is a deeply scheming and disloyal son. He has been secretly investigating his brother but didn’t tell you anything, instead taking advantage from behind.”

Liu Laocai looked at Pamela in astonishment, then turned to Lu Ming, “Lawyer Lu, is this true?”

Lu Ming rubbed his nose. He had suspected it too, but unlike Pamela, who would point out something she found unbearable.

As a defense lawyer, his duty was to be responsible, not to meddle in family disputes.

He glanced at Pamela. She was actually a smart woman, just that her childhood environment was different. Now, coming to the slums, she seemed out of place, even causing many jokes.

Lu Ming nodded at Liu Laocai.

Liu Laocai’s expression froze, and slowly, he leaned back on the sofa, seeming to age ten years in an instant.

At this moment, the office door was gently knocked. Yan Yan gently pushed open the door, “Chairman, Deng Hongmei is here, requesting a private meeting with Lawyer Lu.”

Since guiding Lu Ming, Pamela, Liu Kexing, and others to Deng Hongmei’s community, Yan Yan had been promoted to one of the secretaries in the Chairman’s office.

“Please arrange a private room for me.” Lu Ming stood up.

Liu Laocai nodded at Yan Yan with a dejected look.

…

In the break room, Yan Yan gently closed the door from the outside. Although she was curious about why Deng Hongmei was here, she didn’t dare to eavesdrop.

“Lawyer Lu, is it true that tolbutamide can’t cure diabetes?” Deng Hongmei asked nervously.

Seeing Lu Ming nod, Deng Hongmei’s face immediately showed a look of despair.

Lu Ming sighed inwardly. In his previous life, when tolbutamide, the first synthetic sulfonylurea hypoglycemic drug, first appeared, the world was also jubilant, thinking diabetes would soon become history. But it turned out that this disease would trouble humanity for a long time.

“Oh, I have a prescription you can try…” Lu Ming suddenly remembered that in his previous life, his great-aunt had diabetes, and he often helped her get medicine. The folk remedy was still vivid in his mind. Although it couldn’t cure the disease, it at least had a regulating effect and would definitely be much cheaper than tolbutamide in this world.

The newly launched drug was not affordable for someone like Deng Hongmei.

This was also why Deng Hongmei took the risky route of seducing Liu Laocai to seek huge civil compensation.

She hadn’t had real sexual relations with Liu Laocai because she couldn’t overcome the psychological barrier.

But despite this, seducing a fat old man in uniform, the humiliation Deng Hongmei felt at that time was imaginable.

Sometimes, the poor are so humble in their struggle for survival.

“Ah, thank you, Lawyer Lu!” Seeing Lu Ming take out paper and pen to write the prescription, Deng Hongmei was stunned, tears gradually welling up in her eyes.

“Lawyer Lu, you are a good person. I know you didn’t want to embarrass me in court, so you didn’t ask me sharp questions…” Deng Hongmei wiped her tears, sobbing softly.

Lu Ming placed the prescription in front of her and nodded, “It’s not just as you think. Being too harsh on a weak woman would cause the jury to resent me, affecting the persuasiveness of my closing statement.”

“On the contrary, by pursuing Liu Keyue aggressively, the jury saw a new possibility, and I completely let you go, presenting a more positive image of myself to the jury.”

“Fighting a lawsuit is sometimes a game of winning the majority of the jurors to your side.”

“However, in my closing statement, I will tell the jury everything. Although I don’t want your reputation to be damaged, the law is the law. In this matter, Liu Gaoyu didn’t break the law and shouldn’t be unjustly judged.”

Deng Hongmei looked up in surprise.

Apparently, she initially thought Lu Ming was a kind-hearted person, particularly sympathetic to her, unwilling to reveal the truth.

But she was still uncertain and more concerned about the new diabetes drug issue. She couldn’t ask in court, so she came to see Lu Ming, only to find out Lu Ming didn’t intend to cover for her all the way.

Lu Ming looked at Deng Hongmei, “I know your family is struggling. Your husband, unable to pull rickshaws anymore due to diabetes, can only do menial clerical work, making your income even less and unable to afford the new drug.”

“But this doesn’t give you the right to blackmail my client.” Pausing, he continued, “I hope we can resolve this case privately. If it goes to court tomorrow, the outcome won’t be what you want.”

“In court, sometimes I even fear myself…”

Lu Ming said, sighing lightly.

Under Lu Ming’s clear gaze, Deng Hongmei lowered her head in shame, “I know, I heard that even the famous Mr. Liang lost a case against you…”

After a moment of silence, she hesitated and said, “Can I withdraw the lawsuit now?”

Lu Ming shook his head, thought for a moment, and said, “How about this, we’ll sign a settlement agreement. You can give it to the prosecutor now or tomorrow morning. Of course, he’ll probably disagree, thinking I’ve influenced you. Just insist that you arranged this meeting with me and signed the settlement agreement.”

A prosecution witness voluntarily meeting with him was entirely different from him meeting the prosecution witness. Many people saw Deng Hongmei come, so there was no fear of the prosecution investigating.

“Then, just state if the case continues, you’ll retract your statement. If he threatens to charge you with perjury, don’t worry, I’ll help you get off. Usually, the prosecution wouldn’t go that far.”

He added, “I’ll go call Liu Gaoyu!”

Standing up, he thought for a moment and sat down again. Lu Ming took out his checkbook, wrote a check for 2000, and handed it to Deng Hongmei, saying, “To prevent any harm to my client’s interests, the settlement won’t compensate you. This money is my personal assistance to you.”

Deng Hongmei stared at the check in a daze. It was a huge sum, equivalent to four years of her salary, enough to buy a small house in Beiguan.

Lu Ming had already gotten up and left.