Lei Dongyi remained calm, looking at her as she spoke.
"Because I saw you in the community when I came to look at apartments. I wanted to say hello, but you had someone with you."
Ge'er knew exactly who he was referring to without even thinking about it.
Shang Jincheng.
At that time, she and Shang Jincheng were in the passionate stage of their relationship, and their eyes saw only each other when they walked.
Since he knew about her relationship with Shang Jincheng, it was good, so she wouldn't be bothered.
"Alright. So why are you here now?"
Lei Dongyi raised his hand, waving the food container in his hand at her.
"To bring you something to eat."
Ge'er couldn't feel grateful for his attentiveness at all, only finding him annoying.
"Thank you. But I don't need it."
"Whether you need it or not isn't solely up to you."
Lei Dongyi placed the food container in the gap of the door and took two steps back.
"Don't worry, I have no other intentions, nor do I plan to harass you. You don't need to be so guarded against me. Eat well, sleep well, I'm leaving, you can close the door."
Ge'er always felt there was something more to his words.
Didn't he say he didn't know about her pregnancy? Then why just now...
He couldn't even tell the truth and resorted to all this pretense, which only made her dislike him more.
However, dislike aside, Lei Dongyi had indeed hit her appetite recently.
The takeout food was to her liking.
A person is iron, rice is steel; if you don't eat, you'll starve. Moreover, there was a little one waiting to be fed.
Ge'er didn't stubbornly hold onto her pride and eventually brought the food in and ate it.
In the following days, as Lei Dongyi had said, he didn't bother her again.
Ge'er went to work as usual, and a week passed in the blink of an eye.
On Monday, her assistant notified her to preside over a meeting in the large conference room, which surprised Ge'er.
The group's CEO was Jiang Jingyu. When he was unavailable for department meetings or quarterly summaries, Ge'er would help host them.
But recently, due to his bad mood and poor health, Jiang Jingyu had taken on all responsibilities. Why was he calling her today?
The assistant explained, "Today is the bidding day for the group's legal consultant team. All ten law firms participating in the bid will be here to present their reports. It's not just you; Mr. Jiang and several vice presidents of the company will also be attending."
So soon? She had only heard about this project a few days ago, and it was already being implemented so quickly?
As it was a formal work matter, Ge'er couldn't refuse and went to the large conference room.
In the legal profession, only experienced lawyers could represent a law firm.
Therefore, no young people could attend such an occasion; everyone present was middle-aged.
Due to years of overwork, men in this age group generally had thinning hair.
Facing a group of men who were either pot-bellied or middle-aged and balding, sitting there for several hours was truly boring.
Ge'er, already prone to drowsiness due to her pregnancy, found it even harder to keep her eyes open while listening to their self-praise.
Just as she felt she couldn't bear it any longer and might have to leave early, she heard the name of Zhonghe Law Firm.
Then, several vice presidents beside her started whispering to each other.
She heard the name Lei Dongyi from their conversation.
Lei Dongyi?
He had just returned to the country and was already representing Zhonghe Law Firm in the bidding?
Although she had known about his learning ability when they were students, she hadn't witnessed his professional capabilities in the workplace yet.
It was hard not to be curious.
Especially since she was the client this time, and he was the service provider, trying to cater to her preferences, Ge'er couldn't help but wonder what he would say.
She settled back down and listened attentively.
Soon, Lei Dongyi stood up with two men and introduced himself.
From the moment he stood up, he became the center of attention.
Among the older men, with his tall stature, youthful demeanor, and handsome young features, Ge'er even had the illusion that all the competitors were appraising him with admiring eyes.
Lei Dongyi was thoroughly prepared. The bidding proposal was like a professional thesis, eloquently written, quoting classics, presenting evidence, and convincing everyone present.
Ultimately, the review committee unanimously agreed to advance them to the next round of selection.
Ge'er had initially wanted to find fault with him, but Lei Dongyi was born to excel in academia, leaving no room for criticism.
Unsurprisingly, Lei Dongyi progressed through the second and third rounds of selection and eventually secured the bid for Zhan Corporation's legal consultant.
They officially became partners with Zhan Corporation.
On the day of the contract signing, Jiang Jingyu called Ge'er and asked her to sign it.
"I'm currently at the East District technical exchange meeting and got held up. I can't make it back. Go to the conference room and sign the contract with Lei Yi."
Ge'er didn't want to go.
"If you can't make it back, postpone it. There's no rush for him to start working immediately, why do I have to go?"
Jiang Jingyu said, "Who says there's no rush? Do you know how many legal matters the group has to handle every day? If there's an hour of vacancy, I feel insecure for that hour. You don't know this common sense and need me to remind you? You used to be very dedicated to your work."
This implied that she had been slacking off recently, which was unsatisfactory.
Ge'er admitted that she had indeed been coasting recently.
Although she came to work every day, she had been listless and hadn't really helped Jiang Jingyu with anything.
Considering that it wasn't easy for him to manage such a large group by himself, and there was no need to be persistently awkward with Lei Dongyi over a small past romance, she went to the conference room accompanied by her assistant.
The contract was very long. Ge'er spent over half an hour flipping through it. With the confirmation from the legal department, both parties signed.
By the time everything was done, it was already time to get off work.
The assistant asked Ge'er what she wanted to eat and offered to order for her. Lei Dongyi interjected.
"No need. I'll treat President Zhan to lunch. To celebrate our official partnership."
She had already gone out of her way to sign this contract with him, and now he wanted to have lunch together?
Ge'er ignored the presence of the assistant and retorted on the spot.
"No, thank you. Focus your energy more on your work and ensure there are no mistakes. I don't like overly close personal interactions or flattery."
She spoke so harshly in public right after establishing a partnership?
The assistant, unaware of the situation, turned pale with fright.
Lei Dongyi, however, appeared unfazed, calmly flipping through his phone.
"There's a Western restaurant on Binjiang Road that makes excellent black truffles. Shall we go try that? I've already made a reservation."
Ge'er ignored him and stood up to walk out. Lei Dongyi remained seated and continued to speak.
"I'll come to work this afternoon. There's a labor dispute related to your department that I need to handle and require some documents. Please have someone prepare them for me, President Zhan."
Ge'er stopped in her tracks and looked back at her assistant.
She silently asked with her eyes how she didn't know about any labor disputes in her department.
The assistant was also confused and looked back at her in horror.
"No, I haven't heard of anything like that."
Lei Dongyi stood up and casually picked up his jacket from the back of the chair.
"I just discovered it. Come to lunch with me, and I'll explain it to you in detail."