"Um... Mr. Chen," Qiu Hua smiled sheepishly and reminded him, "That restaurant seems very popular. If we don't have a reservation, we might have to wait in line."

Chen Cheng frowned, took out his phone, and called Hu Yue. "Help me book a private room at the Western Regions Beijing Office Restaurant. I'll be there soon."

"..."

Qiu Hua was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Why did I have to open my mouth?

Chen Cheng hadn't thought about it at all; he had grown somewhat accustomed to a life where others made arrangements for him. If Qiu Hua hadn't reminded him, they really might have ended up drinking tea at the door while waiting for a table.

With the reminder, it was just a matter of making a phone call.

Restaurants in institutions like the Beijing Liaison Offices always have reserved private rooms for unexpected situations.

Chen Cheng put down his phone and turned to look at Qiu Hua. "You should have a template for a non-disclosure agreement, right?"

Qiu Hua nodded without hesitation. "Yes, I do."

"Good. Once we get to the restaurant, I'll go order the food. You find a printer nearby to print out a blank template, and then come find me."

"Okay..." Qiu Hua nodded, feeling a bit confused.

They were silent for the rest of the way. It wasn't far from Beihai Park to the Western Regions Beijing Office, and they arrived in about ten minutes.

Qiu Hua asked at the restaurant, and it turned out they had a printer right there.

Chen Cheng ignored her and followed the waiter to the private room, where he began ordering from the menu.

Just as he finished ordering, Qiu Hua walked in with the documents.

She handed several A4 sheets to Chen Cheng. "Mr. Chen, the non-disclosure agreement."

Chen Cheng took the agreement and pointed to a seat nearby with a smile. "Sit down. I was a bit hungry, so I didn't wait for you and ordered everything."

Qiu Hua waved her hands hurriedly. "It's fine, Mr. Chen. I'm from the Northwest, so I should be used to the food here."

Chen Cheng smiled. "If that's the case, then that's perfect."

Having said that, Chen Cheng ignored her and looked down at the NDA template.

Seeing him skim through it so quickly, Qiu Hua thought he was just glancing at it casually.

Chen Cheng finished reading it quickly, and after confirming there were no issues, he reached out his hand toward Qiu Hua.

"Oh—" Qiu Hua snapped out of it and hurriedly took a pen from her bag to hand to Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng took the pen and began filling in the agreed-upon items, breach-of-contract clauses, and other details in the blank spaces.

Watching Chen Cheng expertly write out the agreement clauses, Qiu Hua felt a bit dazed. Wasn't his manner of writing legal documents a bit too practiced?

He didn't look like someone who lacked a lawyer or legal literacy at all.

Then what did he want with me?

At this moment, countless question marks filled Qiu Hua's mind.

Before long, Chen Cheng handed the completed NDA to Qiu Hua.

"Take a look. If there are no issues, you can sign it."

"Once it's signed, we can talk business."

"Oh, by the way, how much is your consulting fee per hour?"

"Huh?" Qiu Hua was clearly taken aback when she heard about the consulting fee. She swallowed and hesitated for a long time.

Finally, she spoke up, "Mr. Chen, there's something I might need to inform you of first."

Chen Cheng raised a hand in a gesture for her to proceed. "Go ahead."

Qiu Hua pondered for two seconds before slowly speaking, "I'm actually just a trainee lawyer. By regulation, I'm not allowed to represent any cases independently."

The corner of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up. "Consultation shouldn't require a practice certificate, right?"

"That's not necessary," a hint of joy appeared on Qiu Hua's face.

"Then it's fine. Take a look; if there's no problem, sign it."

Qiu Hua locked eyes with Chen Cheng. After a moment's thought, she picked up the pen, signed her name on the agreement, and pressed her thumbprint with the ink pad.

She was very familiar with the template, and the clauses Chen Cheng had filled in manually weren't many, so Qiu Hua finished reading them quickly.

The main points were to keep today's meeting and all discussed topics confidential; another was an astronomical penalty for breach of contract, amounting to ten figures.

Qiu Hua pushed the signed agreement toward Chen Cheng, wiping her hands with a tissue as she brought up the matter of the consulting fee.

"Mr. Chen, the fees for trainee lawyers at our firm are mostly 300 to 500 yuan per hour. Anything less than an hour is billed as a full hour."

"Complex commercial matters such as equity, investment, and financing will see a 30% to 50% increase."

"Before you, I charged my last client 300 per hour."

"Is it okay if we calculate it at 300 per hour?"

Chen Cheng's lips curled slightly. She hadn't asked for an exorbitant price just because she saw his car; she was quite honest.

"Alright, let's make it 1,000 per hour then." Chen Cheng said, glancing at his watch. "You started accompanying me in the park at six o'clock."

"Let's start counting from six."

"What?" Qiu Hua looked at Chen Cheng in shock.

Chen Cheng smiled. "Don't 'what' me. Let's talk business."

Qiu Hua didn't dwell on it. Only a fool would turn down money.

She took another look at the incredibly handsome Chen Cheng; he probably didn't lack the money anyway.

She nodded. "Okay, go ahead. I'm listening."

"It's like this. I have a company under my name..."

By the time Chen Cheng finished explaining everything in his measured pace, Qiu Hua's pupils were trembling, and she was completely stunned.

After a long while, Qiu Hua slowly came to her senses. She swallowed hard and looked at Chen Cheng cautiously.

"Mr. Chen, why did you choose me?"

Hmm... Chen Cheng frowned. "You need money!"

"I..." Qiu Hua was instantly rendered speechless.

In the afternoon, he had overheard her on the phone in the stairwell, so he knew she was short on cash.

"Then..." Just as Qiu Hua was about to say something, her phone suddenly rang.

"Ring, ring—"

Qiu Hua glanced down, saw the caller ID, and immediately peeked at Chen Cheng across from her. She quietly pressed the volume down button and flipped the phone face down on the table.

Seeing her somewhat naive and charming behavior, the corner of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up as he continued:

"Of course, for this matter, I need someone with a clean background, no strong backing, and no conflict of interest with any party to handle it."

"But I've never handled a commercial case at all."

"Let alone such a huge... huge case like yours."

Qiu Hua was now starting to doubt herself. Had she misheard? Or was this person in front of her just playing with her?

Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow. "How were your studies in school?"

"Well... I received the National Scholarship and the Encouragement Scholarship for four consecutive years, and my GPA never dropped out of the top five in my major," Qiu Hua replied immediately after a moment's thought.

"There you go," Chen Cheng spread his hands with a smile. "What I want is someone I can trust unconditionally, not someone who is already very powerful from the start."

"Your learning ability is not bad, and you have motivation."

"You are very suitable to participate in my plan."

Qiu Hua's eyes darted around, and she asked again, "Then how can you be sure I'm trustworthy?"

Chen Cheng spoke softly, "You need money."

"I..." Qiu Hua was once again left speechless.

She really was short on money, desperately so.

Otherwise, with Han Zhitong's lecherous behavior, she would have quit long ago.

Coincidentally, the dishes were mostly served. Chen Cheng made a gesture of invitation. "Let's talk about the rest while we eat."

"Don't be shy."

Qiu Hua thought about it and suppressed the doubts and confusion in her heart.

Today's event felt like a pie falling from the sky.

Two hundred thousand a year.

Just to have her familiarize herself with large-scale corporate mergers and acquisitions, get to know the internet business, and accumulate experience in commercial negotiations, with no other requirements.

This was so strange it felt like a scam!

But I'm someone with nothing to my name, living off credit card rotations every month.

As for looks, I'm not that beautiful. In Beijing, where talent and beauties are everywhere, I'm just average.

Qiu Hua thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what else she had that was worth this person's effort to deceive.