novelIdeaMax Chapter 1620 Rival in Love?
Chapter 1620 Rival in Love?
Just as Lin Zhanqiao was in a state of utter distress, Ling Yikai and Zhao Lanxin had already formed an alliance in private.
Before the controversy surrounding He Han's contract termination had subsided, Ling Yikai submitted his resignation. The wording was polite and appropriate, citing "adjustments to personal development plans" as the reason, and the date on the cover was a week prior—clearly prepared in advance.
Zhao Lanxin didn't resign, but what she did was even more ruthless than resigning.
She poached three editors from Lin Zhanqiao's team. Not the kind who just signed contracts and coasted along, but the real core members who mentored authors. Chen Wei was the first to leave, taking him and six authors with him to Ling Yikai. The other two editors, Zhou Xiaotang and Ma Dongsheng, each took three or four with them.
Ling Yikai's new company is called "Qiming Culture".
On opening day, Ling Yikai posted a group photo on his WeChat Moments. A dozen people stood in a row, with the glass door of the new office in the background, and red flowers still in place by the door. Zhao Lanxin stood on the far right, wearing a camel-colored trench coat, smiling politely.
When Lin Zhanqiao saw this post on WeChat Moments, her fingernails dug into her palms.
Even more troublesome things were yet to come.
On the third day after Qiming was founded, two more editors from Zhixing resigned. One was Fang Fang, who was in charge of the fantasy channel, and the other was Sun Yi, who was in charge of the female-oriented channel. The reason was surprisingly consistent—"career development needs." Lin Zhanqiao talked to them once. Fang Fang kept her head down and didn't say a word the whole time, but Sun Yi was very frank and said that Zhao Lanxin had promised double the base salary plus author revenue sharing.
“President Lin, I also want to work hard in Zhengxing.” Sun Yi’s hands trembled slightly as she packed her things, “but the expenses at home are just too high…”
Lin Zhanqiao stood beside the workstation, watching Sun Yi stuff water cups, plants, and sticky notes into a cardboard box one by one. She opened her mouth, but in the end only said, "Go and complete the formalities."
Back in the office, Lin Zhanqiao's assistant, Gu Ying, brought in a cup of coffee.
The coffee was placed on the table, but Gu Ying did not leave.
"President Lin..."
Lin Zhanqiao looked up at her.
Gu Ying had worked under her for over two years, rising from intern to assistant. She was efficient and discreet. Lin Zhanqiao trusted her more than anyone else—when she worked overtime until the early hours, it was Gu Ying who called a car for her; when negotiations with the author broke down, it was Gu Ying who handed her tissues.
"I also want to resign."
Lin Zhanqiao paused for a moment, her pen still in her hand.
"Zhao Lanxin is looking for you?"
Gu Ying nodded.
"Mr. Zhao promised I could be an editor, as I told you before, but you've probably been too busy and haven't told me anything..."
Lin Zhanqiao looked at her without saying a word for a long time.
The steam from the coffee slowly dissipated, leaving a layer of condensation on the cup.
“Okay,” Lin Zhanqiao said.
Gu Ying looked up, her eyes a little red.
"Just don't say anything bad about me to Zhao Lanxin." Lin Zhanqiao smiled faintly, her lips barely moving before disappearing.
Gu Ying paused at the door for a few seconds as she left, as if she wanted to turn back, but ultimately did not.
The footsteps faded into the distance.
Lin Zhanqiao picked up her coffee and took a sip. It was cold. The bitterness lingered on the back of her tongue.
She picked up her phone and scrolled to Zhou Mei's WeChat chat window.
"Find me a reliable lawyer."
Three words, no more, no less.
Zhou Mei replied quickly: "What's wrong?"
"Zhao Lanxin is poaching people. I can't just sit here and wait to die."
There was a silence on the other end for about half a minute, then a phone number was sent.
"Attorney Bei, who specializes in intellectual property, is someone I've worked with before; she's fairly reliable."
Lin Zhanqiao saved the number and glanced at it again.
Thanks.
Zhou Mei replied with an "Mmm" emoji, then added, "By the way, I've arranged to meet him tomorrow at noon. You can just come over. I'll send you the location."
-
Qin Hao was hunched over the sofa revising his manuscript when he learned about this.
Zhou Mei came out of the bathroom, her hair still wet. As she dried herself with a towel, she casually said, "I've made an appointment with a lawyer for Zhan Qiao tomorrow at noon. Will you come with me?"
"A lawyer?" Qin Hao looked up from the computer screen.
"Yes, Attorney Bei, specializing in intellectual property. Something's happened at Zhixing. Zhao Lanxin and Ling Yikai have gotten together and are now working independently, poaching people from Zhixing everywhere. Lin Zhanqiao is wondering if they can work on the contracts."
Qin Hao swiped his fingertip across the touchpad, and the cursor on the screen moved accordingly.
Attorney Bei.
The corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
In the original storyline, if he hadn't intervened, Zhou Mei and Attorney Bei would already be lovers at this point. To be fair, Attorney Bei is quite shrewd; even someone like Zhou Mei, who deals with elite men all the time, was manipulated by him.
"This Attorney Bei," Qin Hao said, closing his laptop and deliberately making his tone sarcastic, "isn't she your ex-boyfriend?"
Zhou Mei draped the towel over the back of the chair, turned to look at him, and a smile overflowed from her eyes.
"What? Sensing danger?"
"Alright, stop being jealous. We're just business acquaintances, and besides, he's married."
"Wouldn't that be even more dangerous?"
Zhou Ying paused for a moment while applying body lotion.
She wanted to say, "What nonsense are you talking about?" but opened her mouth and then closed it again. In fact, before she met Qin Hao, she had indeed had some inexplicable feelings for Attorney Bei. It wasn't exactly love, just a kind of... feeling of being noticed. When Attorney Bei talked to her, his eyes were always on her, that focused gaze making it feel as if the entire room consisted of only the two of them. He remembered that she drank lattes without sugar, remembered that she was allergic to pollen, remembered the details of her life she had mentioned last month.
Later, Zhou Mei realized that it wasn't affection, but a professional habit. Attorney Bei treated every female client this way. Or rather, he treated every female client he deemed "useful."
Later, she met Qin Hao and discovered that unmarried men could also be very charming, which helped her to shed her allure for married men.
She walked over, sat down next to Qin Hao, and took his arm.
“After I got together with you, I look at other men like they’re telephone poles.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
Qin Hao reached out and put his arm around her waist, looking down at her.
"A telephone pole? Are you sure?"
“Confirmed.” Zhou Mei tilted her head back and nuzzled his chin. “In my eyes, Attorney Bei is like a particularly exquisite telephone pole.”
Qin Hao was amused by her.
-
Noon.
The restaurant is located on the third floor of the podium of an office building in the CBD. The storefront is small, but the decor is sophisticated. Dark brown wooden tables and chairs are covered with white tablecloths, and each table has a small vase of flowers. The background music is jazz, with the sound of a saxophone lazily floating in the air.
Attorney Bei has arrived.
He sat by the window, a glass of Americano in front of him. He was impeccably dressed in a suit, his tie tied in a half-Windsor knot, and his silver cufflinks gleamed slightly under the light. A folder was neatly stacked to his left, while his phone was face down on his right—a professional habit of his; he never looked at his phone when they met.
He saw Zhou Mei the moment she pushed the door open and came in.
Stand up and put on a smile that is just right—not too much, not too little, just enough to make you feel valued, but not so much that it seems forced.
He was about to raise his hand to greet them when his movement froze in mid-air.
Zhou Mei was holding a man's arm.
The man was half a head taller than him, wearing a light, dark gray hoodie over a black T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His hair wasn't styled, but his face—well, looks don't matter. What mattered was that Zhou Mei's arm was tightly around his, as if she was afraid he'd run away.
Attorney Bei's smile froze for a fraction of a second. His professionalism allowed him to quickly adjust his facial muscles, resuming his standard, appropriate, and respectful smile.
But he knew that the stiffness he felt for those fractions of a second was more painful than any lawsuit he had lost.
"Miss Zhou." He stepped forward, his gaze lingering on Qin Hao for a moment. "This must be your boyfriend, right? He's quite handsome."
The word "as expected" was emphasized a bit too much.
Qin Hao gleaned something from the strength of the other party's handshake—Attorney Bei's grip was slightly stronger than a typical business handshake, as if he were making a declaration. But the perfectly timed smile on his face completely masked any aggression, replacing it with the decorum befitting a grown man.
That sense of proportion is truly impressive.
"Attorney Bei is quite the character," Qin Hao said, shaking hands briefly before letting go, his tone tinged with a smile, though the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Attorney Bei maintained a slight smile.
"Please sit down." He pulled out a chair, let Zhou Mei sit down first, and then gestured to Qin Hao. He then walked around to sit down opposite her.
The waiter came over. Attorney Bei ordered a latte—he was about to say "no sugar" when he suddenly remembered that the person sitting in front of him was Zhou Mei's boyfriend, not Zhou Mei herself. He changed his mind: "An Americano, too."
Qin Hao leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers casually on the table twice.
"How long has Attorney Bei been practicing law?"
"It's been more than ten years."
"That's quite a senior professional." Qin Hao nodded, as if chatting casually: "Have you worked with Zhou Mei a few times before?"
"Two or three times, I guess." Attorney Bei's answer was brief, but she deliberately added a pause after "two or three times," as if to imply that this number was far from summarizing their relationship.
Qin Hao didn't respond to that.
He turned and glanced at Zhou Mei. Zhou Mei was flipping through the menu and didn't notice the silent exchange between the two men.
The three of them each ordered their own food. Attorney Bei ordered a Caesar salad, Qin Hao ordered a steak, and Zhou Mei ordered pasta.
While waiting for the food to be served, Attorney Bei tried to steer the conversation toward serious matters.
"Ms. Zhou, when will Ms. Lin arrive?"
"It should be soon." Zhou Mei glanced at her phone. "She said before 12:30."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps sounded at the door.
Lin Zhanqiao walked in.
She wore a black suit jacket, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore light makeup, but it couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a taut bowstring—ready to be released at any moment, but also likely to snap at any moment.
She glanced at the three people on the table, her gaze lingering on Qin Hao for a second.
"Qin Hao is here too?" There was a hint of surprise in her voice, but she didn't think much of it. Zhou Mei would bring Qin Hao along.
“Ms. Lin.” Attorney Bei stood up and once again demonstrated his standard handshake etiquette.
Lin Zhanqiao shook hands with him and sat down next to Zhou Mei.
"Attorney Bei, let's skip the pleasantries." She pulled a stack of documents from her bag and placed them directly on the table. "This is the contract template between our company and the author. Take a look and see if there's any way to stop Zhao Lanxin from poaching talent."
Attorney Bei took the document and turned to the first page.
He frowned slightly.
Then I turned to the second and third pages.
His brows furrowed even deeper.
He finished reading the entire contract, put it back on the table, and tapped the cover with his finger.
"Excuse my bluntness, Ms. Lin," he looked up at Lin Zhanqiao, his tone carrying the calm objectivity characteristic of a lawyer, "the contracts your company drafted before were extremely unprofessional."
Lin Zhanqiao's expression changed.
"The non-compete clause is practically non-existent, the penalty for breach of contract wasn't reasonably calculated, and the restrictions on the author's identity are limited to accounts registered under their real names," Attorney Bei listed off, tracing the details on the document with her finger: "The other party could easily circumvent all contractual obligations by changing their pen name or creating a new account using a family member's ID."
"But these authors and editors are all people I've painstakingly trained—"
Lin Zhanqiao's voice suddenly rose, her fingers clenching the tablecloth into wrinkles.
“Ms. Lin,” Attorney Bei’s voice was flat, like a glass of water, “The court won’t consider how much effort you’ve put in when making its verdict. It will only judge according to the contract terms. Emotions cannot be used as a basis for law.”
That last sentence was like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.
Lin Zhanqiao's lips were pressed into a line, and the muscles in her cheeks were tense.
Zhou Mei gently patted the back of her hand under the table.
"Is there any way to remedy this?" Zhou Mei asked Attorney Bei.
Attorney Bei thought about it.
“The only way is to go to court.” He placed his hands on the table. “Sue them for breach of contract, apply for an injunction, and restrict them from working for competing companies.”
"What are the chances of winning?"
"Judging from this contract—" Attorney Bei paused, "it's hard to say. But we can wage a war of attrition. Prolong the litigation process, increase the other side's costs. Let them know that those who dig up Elm Star don't do it for free."
"And then?" Qin Hao suddenly asked.
Attorney Bei looked at him.
"The lawsuit is over, the author is back, do you think they can still stay peacefully on Zhixing? A bunch of people whose hearts are already overgrown with weeds, you can't hold them back even if you try to restrain their bodies."
Attorney Bei did not respond.
Qin Hao continued, "Besides, lawsuits cost money, time, and energy. Zhao Lanxin and Ling Yikai can afford to wait, but Lin Zhanqiao can't. What she needs most right now isn't a lawsuit with little chance of winning, but to keep those still around."
"There's one more thing," Qin Hao said, looking at Lin Zhanqiao. "Once the lawsuit is filed, the news will severely damage Zhixing's reputation. Every author has their own fans, and they don't care who breached the contract first; they only know that Zhixing sued their favorite authors, causing those authors to be unable to continue updating. Before long, Zhixing's reputation among authors and readers will be ruined."
The private room was silent for a few seconds.
The sound of knives and forks clinking against plates came from the next table, as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Lin Zhanqiao's face darkened inch by inch. She knew Qin Hao was right. The fans' logic was simple—if my favorite author stopped updating, it was the company's fault. As for who was breaching the contract behind it, they couldn't care less.
Attorney Bei's expression turned somewhat grim. This feeling of being thoroughly outmatched in his professional field was extremely unpleasant, so he interrupted, saying, "Ms. Lin, instead of focusing your energy on defense, you should think of ways to attack."
His gaze shifted from Lin Zhanqiao to Qin Hao.
It paused for two seconds.
"As far as I know, Mr. Qin's reputation in the online literature industry is far higher than He Hanke's." Attorney Bei's smile carried a hint of leisurely schadenfreude. "If we could sign a contract with Miss Lin, wouldn't everything be solved? The combined number of authors poached by Zhao Lanxin and Ling Yikai's group doesn't even match the sales of one of Mr. Qin's books."
Lin Zhanqiao gave a wry smile upon hearing this.
If Qin Hao were willing to sign, she would have done so long ago. She wouldn't be afraid even if ten He Hans left, let alone one. But Qin Hao wouldn't even sign the top-tier contract offered by Dingqi.com, so why would he sign with a third-party platform like her?
Qin Hao leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table.
"Attorney Bei, the legal analysis you just gave was within the realm of professional expertise. But what about the following paragraph—is that your personal 'advice'?"
Attorney Bei maintained her smile.
"I'm just speaking from the client's perspective—"
"From the client's perspective, you should be helping Lin Zhanqiao resolve her legal issues, not dragging a third party into it," Qin Hao said coldly. "My intention to sign the contract has absolutely nothing to do with the dispute between Zheng Xing and Zhao Lanxin. Your dragging me into this only proves your incompetence!"
Attorney Bei's smile finally faded.
His lips twitched, his cheeks tightened, and his Adam's apple bobbed once.
Qin Hao had already stood up.
"Let's go." He put his napkin on the table and said to Zhou Mei and Lin Zhanqiao, "If I had known Attorney Bei was so unprofessional, there would have been no need to waste this time."
Zhou Mei glanced at Qin Hao, then at Attorney Bei.
Attorney Bei's face flushed red and then paled. Her lips were pressed together, as if she were desperately trying to control herself.
Being openly mocked for being unprofessional by a "love rival"—this is more humiliating than losing a lawsuit. You can find excuses for losing a lawsuit: a biased judge, insufficient evidence, a more cunning opposing lawyer—there's always a reason. But the words "unprofessional" are a knife drawn from his proud field; they don't just stab at his face, they stab at the very foundation of his livelihood.
Zhou Mei stood up and picked up her bag.
Lin Zhanqiao also stood up. She took the contract back and stuffed it into her bag without glancing at Attorney Bei.
The three people walked outside.
Attorney Bei held the coffee cup, trying hard to control her emotions.
……
The three of them left the restaurant, and the midday sun shone down brightly.
Lin Zhanqiao walked in front, her high heels clicking rapidly and crisply on the sidewalk. Zhou Mei took a couple of steps to catch up, while Qin Hao brought up the rear, his hands in his pockets.
"Old Qin." Lin Zhanqiao suddenly stopped and turned around.
The sunlight clearly showed the fatigue on her face; the foundation couldn't cover the dark circles under her eyes, and her nasolabial folds were deeper than usual.
"What you just said..." She paused, "was there anything you didn't finish saying?"
Qin Hao said casually.
How many editors do you have left?
Lin Zhanqiao counted on her fingers: "Five of the core members are gone, and two more are wavering. The only one truly capable is Zhou Lin."
"What about the author? Does he travel a lot?"
"The editors took a large number of authors, but not many left—most are still observing." Lin Zhanqiao lowered her voice: "Zhao Lanxin poached a group, but there are still some authors who are loyal to the platform, not to the person. These are the ones I can keep."
"That's enough."
Qin Hao continued.
"Going to court is useless; your contract is too weak. But Zhao Lanxin and Ling Yikai's new company has just been established. What does she need most right now?"
Lin Zhanqiao thought for a moment: "The author."
"Yes. She poached the editor, but the editor's team of authors isn't monolithic. Some were coerced into leaving, and they might have had their own doubts. What you need to do isn't to sue them, but to make them feel that staying is more worthwhile than leaving."
"How can it be cost-effective? I can't offer double the base salary."
“You don’t need to offer double the base salary.” Qin Hao tapped his fingers on the tree trunk. “Zhao Lanxin gave the money, but she can’t provide a sense of security. A newly established company, without a mature operating system or a stable source of traffic, can the authors brought in by the editors guarantee a featured spot upon signing? Can they guarantee a certain number of views upon publication?”
Lin Zhanqiao didn't speak, but her brows relaxed a little.
"Go and send out an open letter," Qin Hao said seriously. "Say that Zhixing will adjust the author revenue sharing ratio, optimize the recommendation mechanism, and increase resource allocation for all remaining authors. The commitment period is one year, and it should be clearly written in black and white."
"I don't have that many resources."
"This didn't exist before. But now that He Han is gone, you should change the recommendation allocation logic that filled that vacancy, letting the remaining authors reap the rewards first. Those who were waiting on the sidelines will naturally come back."
Lin Zhanqiao narrowed her eyes.
She's a smart woman; Qin Hao only lit one fire, but she was able to start it herself.
"There's one more thing," Qin Hao said half-jokingly, "your contract template is really awful."
Lin Zhanqiao's face darkened.
"Find a reputable law firm to draft a new one. Don't hire an amateur like Attorney Bei; find someone specializing in the cultural industry, someone who at least understands the online literature ecosystem." (End of Chapter)