Legally Romance

A Bad Start and An Instant Elimination

Ten years ago, Qian Wei and Lu Xun attended Guanghua University together. He was always No. 1 and she was No. 2. Her ambition back then was eventually to become a secondary partner. But reality can be cruel. Currently, Qian Wei is Lu Xun's assistant at Zhan Ying Law Firm, where he's recently been made a secondary partner. Her monthly salary is less than his hourly rate, and this is her fourth year as his assistant. She asks for a raise but he denies it. She mentions that she's lost her hair and hasn't had a raise or a promotion. He points out that she doesn't have her practicing certificate as she hasn't passed her National Judicial Examination ("NJE"). Also, the big case they're working on is Morris' plagiarism case, but there's an issue with the evidence as it's gone missing.

Qian Wei has an IOU from Li Chong Wen, stating that he owes her three years. He had left for work back then and they've been separated since. She's meeting him tonight for a banquet and took the day off. Lu Xun convinces her to come in by reimbursing her taxi cab fare (when she normally takes the subway), and so begins another day of overtime for her. Lu Xun has been keeping tabs on her via GPS tracking on her phone, and he's got a little smile on his face as he's watching the little marker go around and around. Lawyer Wu notices what he's looking at. Later, she calls him to ask when she can stop working overtime. His response: “When I have a girlfriend.” She spent the day looking for the missing evidence, and has determined that the original character designs were created eight years ago. At this point, she persuades him to let her take some time off to take care of her personal matters first before going back to the office for work. Surprisingly he agrees to it, but he mentions that Li Chong Wen has returned as AES' legal consultant, so he knows that’s where she’s going.

Qian Wei shows up at the banquet but she’s denied entry because she’s wearing sneakers. Li Chong Wen rescues her by calling some higher-up to speak to the receptionist, and then buys the heels off of the receptionist. Once inside, he makes a comment about how she hasn't changed as she still doesn't like wearing heels. She notices that he’s changed a lot. 

Qian Wei carries her bag close to her body as it has the evidence for their case, so when Li Chong Wen takes the bag from her, she protests. They’re interrupted by Lu Xun who says there’s evidence in there and Qian Wei is able to grab the bag back. Li Chong Wen then congratulates Lu Xun on his promotion as secondary partner. Lu Xun tells him that he's here because he heard that the plaintiff, Ruo Mei (vs. Morris) was also at this banquet.

Li Chong Wen points out that his tie is askew and Lu Xun says his assistant usually fixes his ties but she's been so busy from morning to evening that she hasn't been able to set foot in the office. So he leans over. Qian Wei, the assistant, naturally fixes his tie but Li Chong Wen's longer arms get there first. Lu Xun is shocked at this guy touching his attire. 

Lan He, CEO and daughter of AES Group’s founder, announces their recent acquisition of an emerging game company, Ruo Mei, and introduces the new legal director who will handle the plagiarism lawsuit: Li Chong Wen. This is news to Qian Wei and Lu Xun who are then randomly asked to make a speech on stage, hopefully to publicly apologize and give up 2% of their shares, which will save them from going to court. 

Lu Xun, being the boss and the representing lawyer for the defendant, Morris, handles the matter. He’s up on stage and describes that during this five-year period, Ruo Mei continued to be sued again and again for plagiarism. If Li Chong Wen thinks his statements are defamation, then he’s welcome to send a lawyer's letter to a lawyer. Lu Xun says every case he's taken on is justifiable and he's never lost a case, and he won't lose this one either. Then he leaves and takes Qian Wei with him. 

Li Chong Wen runs after them after reprimanding Lan He that whatever she does, to leave her [Qian Wei] out of it. Li Chong Wei catches up to them and holds onto Qian Wei's other arm and tells Lu Xun to let go and that this is between him and Qian Wei. Lu Xun, still holding on, says he's her boss. Qian Wei shakes off both of their hands and walks away saying that she'll give Li Chong Wen two minutes. Li Chong Wen tells her that this evening was purely accidental. He had asked her to celebrate his promotion with him, and he hadn't expected Lu Xun to appear which provoked Lan He. Qian Wei is quietly fuming. She finally says AES' acquisition of Ruo Mei must have been underway two years ago. They had talked on the phone every week, so he knew about her taking on the Morris case. But he had never told her that he had been advising Ruo Mei. She had assumed that he had been missing their past relationship but, in fact, he had been trying to get information from her. Now she knows why "every tactic we used, every chain of evidence used, they always figured it out."