Ju De walked into the lobby of He & Shang dressed in a blue suit and thick black glasses. Although the suit was a custom Italian suit, he looked more like an accountant than a CEO. Upon arrival, the lobby receptionist asked him for an identification and appointment letter. Ju De gave the receptionist an email confirmation. He had scheduled a business meeting with He & Shang to review a potential legal consultation contract with Shennong. 

The receptionist quickly typed the information onto her computer and confirmed the appointment. “Mr. Ning, please head into elevator #5,” said the receptionist as she pressed the button on her desk. Within seconds, the elevator door with a #5 written by the side opened up from beyond a hallway that was guarded by two security guards. “Mr. Shang will be waiting for you on the 12th floor.”

Ju De thanked the receptionist and approached the elevator, taking it up to a floor already registered by the receptionist. Most modern high-rise buildings had security-type elevators. The building was shared by different companies, from tech companies to law firms. He & Shang, as the owner of the building, occupied the 10th to 13th floor.

The elevator door opened upon reaching the 12th floor, revealing a spacious lobby and a bulky man. 

“Mr. Ning, nice to meet you!” The bulky man, Mr. Shang, greeted Ju De warmly and led him into the meeting room. 

If it was anyone else, a mid level attorney would have greeted Ju De. After all, Ju De was only a CEO in a small startup pharmaceutical company. For Mr. Shang to greet Ju De personally, it meant that they were aware of his connection to Governor Ning Long.

As they walked through the open office, Ju De carefully eyed the workers sitting in the cubicles. They were workers in the lower end of the pyramid, but they all appeared friendly. Despite the newly renovated space, there was a strong scent of sewer rats. Most people couldn’t smell it, but Ju De could smell rats everywhere in the law firm. The longer people worked in a hostile environment, the more they began to smell like it. 

Inside the conference room, Ju De sat down on an executive style chair while Mr. Shang sat next to a young intern already in the room. She had prepared brochures and tea for everyone.

Mr. Shang chatted casually, the usual small talk to loosen the clients. Unfortunately, the client seemed a bit dull, so he cut the conversation short.

“Mr. Ning, what sort of assistance are you seeking?” asked Mr. Shang. He was a bit surprised when he got an email about a potential collaboration. Governor Ning’s son was known to be unremarkable, and while he appeared to be, his company seemed to be doing quite well locally. 

“I am interested in buying another company for Shennong’s expansion, and I would like you to handle it,” said Ju De. “There’s a local dairy and packaging company that’s located nearby. We invest extensively in farming, and that area would be perfect.”

“Ah, then you seek the right firm,” said Mr. Shang. “We handle a lot of business acquisition for clients. Do you also need assistance with construction? We know quite a bit about construction laws.”

“Not now, but I may look for a law firm to handle copyrights and internal contracts in the future. If you manage to do well, we might hire you for that position.”

Mr. Shang nodded. Buying the dairy company was a test for the company, and not the main course. The main course would be a long term collaboration. Before ending the meeting, Ju De asked about what resources Mr. Shang’s had at his disposal. Mr. Shang offered him a tour around the law firm.

“We have 40 lawyers and 70 employees here,” said Mr. Shang. “Naturally, we will build a team to assist with your needs. The team can assist with personnel issues and minor lawsuits. We place at least 12 staff in a team to handle major acquisition.”

In the open office area, everyone was working or chatting amongst themselves with a relaxed facade, but they were cautious of each other. Only the interns were naive enough to believe nothing shady happened after hours.

Ju De focused on the person most people seemed to fear. It wasn’t always the boss. Mr. He was an elderly man and rarely showed up in the office anymore. Ju De was sure Mr. Shang was involved in bribery. Many of the other partners were just as bad, either involved in corruption or bribery.

"How to find s*** in a pile of s***?" Ju De thought himself.

“Mr. Shang! Are you showing the clients around?” asked Mr. Gong, giving Mr. Shang and Ju De a handshake. “You must be Mr. Ning.”

“Mr. Ning, this is Mr. Gong, one of our top associates,” said Mr. Shang. “He’s our closer for many deals.”

Ju De greeted Mr. Gong would a short nod, avoiding physical contact with the man. There was something repulsive about him.

Mr. Gong was a squarish man with a medium build. He was an average looking man, but his chin was very large and distinct.  There was a strong scent of expensive cologne, but to Ju De, the scent was closer to pure sewer trash, the source of the odor that rubbed on the rats in the office. Ju De noticed that the female employees tensed up when Mr. Gong walked out of his private office. There was also another strange reaction from a mousy female employee sitting in the corner.

After another 30 minutes of touring, Ju De eyed the pens and then letter opener. He wondered what would make a better weapon, but too bad he couldn’t bring them all down with just a simple sharp object, maybe a bomb would be better.

He snapped from his thought when he remembered that Li Yun was returning  to Yide later that evening. He better leave quickly before he carried out his impulse. He had always already gathered enough information from the tour. The problem was what to do next.