Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 290, Section 288: Mother's Unauthorized Actions

After successfully arriving at the domestic arrivals hall of the airport, Li Zhi didn't have to wait long before she saw Gu Qionghua pushing her suitcase out.

As the saying goes, "Plant gourds by the wall, and raise a daughter like a mother."

Li Zhi's aloof and detached temperament was basically inherited from her mother, Gu Qionghua.

From a distance, she could see Gu Qionghua wearing an elegantly tailored light gray cashmere dress, with a beige trench coat over it, and an Hermes scarf around her neck, making her stand out in the crowd.

"Mommy~"

Li Zhi waved and went to greet her.

When Gu Qionghua saw her daughter, she smiled and reached out to ruffle her short hair.

The two walked to the parking lot, got into the car, and Gu Qionghua fastened her seatbelt. She then habitually took out her tablet from her bag and began to process the emails in her inbox.

Li Zhi started the car, drove smoothly out of the parking lot, and merged into the traffic flow on the airport expressway.

Quiet.

The enclosed space remained as quiet as flowing water.

The short-haired girl didn't even turn on the car stereo to listen to music, because she knew her mother's habits well enough.

Gu Qionghua's world is precisely pieced together from time slices measured in fifteen-minute increments.

As the head of Guangzhou Junhe Law Firm, her life has long been devoid of any leisure time.

Her daily routine is more like a high-speed, precise, and never-failing precision instrument.

Her biological clock will wake her up precisely at 6:00 a.m., without needing an alarm clock.

While her aunt was preparing breakfast, she would often be in her private study, efficiently processing urgent emails in her inbox in half an hour.

Around eight o'clock, on the way to the office building in Zhujiang New Town, she would organize the first conference call.

It usually involves a synchronized morning meeting with offices in other cities to quickly review the progress and risks of the day's important cases.

Upon arriving at the office, it's time for the unchanging, rapid review process.

A mountain of legal opinions, due diligence reports, and draft contracts
She needs to provide suggestions for revision or approve directly with astonishing reading speed and judgment.

The day's conference marathon officially began at 9:30 a.m.

Her schedule was filled with squares of various colors.

White represents internal team meetings, blue represents client meetings, yellow represents conference calls, and red represents strategic meetings with the management committee or other partners.

Every meeting was strictly timed, with clearly defined topics and efficient execution.

Lunch?

That's usually another work scenario.

Either he's with important clients at upscale restaurants, where the conversation always revolves around case strategy and business interests.

Or, in the office, he would stare at the materials on his computer screen while quickly finishing the healthy salad his assistant had ordered.

The afternoon was even more chaotic.

She may need to keep track of the progress of major projects in different regions, under different laws.

Phone calls, emails, and instant messaging notifications are constantly ringing out, requiring seamless switching between various tasks at any time.

And in the evening, as commuters from Guangzhou began flooding into the subway, her work did not stop.

Often, this is the golden time for deep thinking.

Gu Qionghua would filter out some distractions, carefully consider each word, and focus on the core documents on her desk.

Leaving the office at 9 p.m. or even later is the norm.

On her way home, she often has one last transoceanic call waiting for her.

She is very busy, very tired, and very stressed. Sometimes she needs medication to get a good quality of sleep.

With such a busy work schedule, she could only show her concern for her daughter through occasional phone calls, brief text messages on WeChat, and Li Zhi's WeChat Moments.

However, Li Zhi almost never posts on WeChat Moments.

Gu Qionghua's concern also manifested in another form.

paving.

A road paved with airtight material.

At the very beginning of her freshman year, she used her connections to arrange an internship at a nearby court for her daughter, so that she could learn about the real judicial process and lay the foundation for her future career in law.

After the internship ended, she seamlessly contacted her college classmate Han Qiulan and sent her daughter to Leying Law Firm as an assistant to experience everything about being a lawyer.

Gu Qionghua felt that this was the best arrangement for Li Zhi.

These experiences will allow her to get the most comprehensive training.

But as for what specific projects her daughter is working on, what difficulties she has encountered, what friends she has made, and what she is thinking, that remains to be seen.
These subtle pieces of information, which require time to settle and patient communication to obtain, were quietly compressed into a small corner in Gu Qionghua's world, which was filled with countless more urgent matters.

"."

After getting into the passenger seat and dealing with a series of emails, Gu Qionghua squinted and rubbed her temples, trying to temporarily dispel the cross-border merger and acquisition case that was still swirling in her mind.

She adjusted her seat to make herself more comfortable and turned her gaze to Li Zhi, who was focused on driving.

The daughter before me.
She seems to be growing more and more beautiful.

The bag next to her still had the logo of Leying Law Firm on it, so she must have just come out of the law firm.
At first glance, Li Zhi appears professional and poised, her image perfectly embodying the dashing and capable image of a legal beauty in movies and TV dramas.

The daughter was wearing a classic white silk Theory shirt.

This brand, renowned for its exquisite tailoring and high-quality fabrics, is a must-have in the wardrobes of countless elite women.

Under light, the silk fabric feels smooth to the touch and appears exceptionally drapey and elegant.

The neckline is clean and simple, without too many complicated designs. It only relies on precise tailoring to outline her beautiful neckline and clear right-angled shoulders.

The short-haired girl rolled up her shirt sleeves slightly, revealing a small section of her slender wrist.

On my wrist is a small Cartier watch, which is both tasteful and understated.

A glimpse of the corner of her dress pants could be vaguely seen from her lower body.

The fabric was crisp, the trousers were meticulously ironed, and the high-waisted design cleverly accentuated her waistline. Combined with the silk shirt tucked into her trousers, it created an excellent figure, making her look tall and energetic.

The daughter's short hair was clearly carefully styled, with distinct layers at the ends.

As always, she didn't dye or perm her hair; instead, she used styling products to create natural textures, adding volume and airiness while maintaining her natural beauty.

Looking at her daughter, Gu Qionghua found her increasingly amusing.

Looking at Li Zhi's light makeup, I felt a strange sense of pride, like watching my daughter grow up.

My daughter is trying her best to adapt to and integrate into this challenging world in her own way.

This is really great.

"What exactly did you do during your time at Leying Law Firm?"

"How demanding are the projects with the supervising lawyers?"

Gu Qionghua finally broke the silence in the car, attempting to recreate the specific scenes of her daughter's daily work.

"me."

Li Zhi gripped the steering wheel firmly with both hands, looked at the road ahead, and organized her thoughts.

"The intensity is manageable, I can keep up."

"My mentor lawyer mainly handles civil and commercial litigation and non-litigation matters, and I follow her to do some administrative work."

"For example, I recently participated in the compilation of case files for an equity dispute and did a lot of legal research on the issue of exercising shareholder rights in the event of a corporate deadlock."

"There is also due diligence to assist foreign companies in settling in Jiangcheng, which mainly involves sorting out their intellectual property rights and compliance status."

"Um"

Gu Qionghua nodded slightly. This was within her expectations; it was standard equipment for law firm interns.

"Mastering the basics will be of immense benefit."

"I know, Mommy."

Li Zhi nodded, then, as if remembering something, added.

"Oh, by the way, because Leying has a partnership with Mingli Legal Consulting, I sometimes come into contact with them for business collaborations." "Mingli Company?"

Gu Qionghua's attention was drawn to the name.

"What specific areas of collaboration are you referring to?"

"It's mainly due to the demands that arise from their internet promotion model."

Li Zhi explained, her tone slightly more lively than before.

"for example."

"."

Gu Qionghua listened for a while, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

She never imagined that her daughter had already been exposed to this kind of cutting-edge and interdisciplinary business.

This is no longer a simple matter of organizing case files and conducting legal research; it involves data utilization, pattern understanding, and cross-institutional collaboration.

"Given Han Qiulan's personality, why would she go and cooperate with other companies?"

She asked calmly.

"Of course, because it's profitable!"

Li Zhi blinked and replied without hesitation.

"It's said that after the collaboration, Leying Law Firm's total revenue has increased several times over, young lawyers no longer have to worry about finding cases, and everyone receives high bonuses. Recently, they also collaborated with the government on a police-enterprise joint project, and Mingli Company has received several prestigious honors."

"Oh?"

Gu Qionghua, resting her chin on her hand, suddenly became interested.

"You have a high opinion of this kind of legal consulting firm?"

This question was slightly beyond Li Zhi's expectations. She thought for a few seconds before answering cautiously.

"I think it's very innovative."

"Consulting firms seem to have found a way to make the value of legal services reflected in social governance earlier and more directly, rather than just providing ex-post remedies."

"Moreover, they seem to be particularly good at explaining professional legal issues in a way that ordinary people can understand, which I think is quite impressive."

The short-haired girl paused for a few seconds, then lowered her voice.

"It's just that they seem to be developing too fast. The people on Zhou Mingli's side are all very hardworking."

Gu Qionghua keenly noticed her daughter's momentary hesitation and subtle emotional change, but she did not point it out.

I simply kept this information about the other person in my mind.

The fact that Li Zhi was able to observe these things shows that she was not passively accepting the work, but rather thinking about it.

This is a good thing.

A moment later, Li Zhi's phone navigation beeped, indicating that she needed to change lanes.

Gu Qionghua noticed that next to her daughter's phone stand was a small notebook covered with colorful index stickers and several printed academic papers, the titles of which seemed to contain words such as "telecom fraud" and "psychological mechanism".

"what is this?"

Gu Qionghua asked casually.

"The research assignment given by the institute?"

"Ah, this isn't it."

Li Zhi smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"This is something I'm working on myself. I'm writing an academic paper, and the topic is about the psychological mechanisms and legal coping strategies of victims of 'pig butchering' type telecom fraud."

"Professor Han suggests that I try submitting my work to a law journal."

Choose your own topic?

Researching "pig butchering scams"?
Do I still need to submit an article?

Gu Qionghua was genuinely surprised this time.

In her memory, her daughter was still the girl who needed her supervision to study.

When did I develop the awareness and ability to conduct independent academic research?

Moreover, the chosen topic is so closely related to current social issues, combining theoretical value with practical significance.

This completely exceeded her expectations that her daughter would complete her studies in an orderly manner.

"This topic is very valuable."

"Similar cases have also occurred in Guangzhou."

Gu Qionghua suppressed her surprise and commented in a professional tone.

"The entry point is ingenious, and the interdisciplinary research method is also worth encouraging."

"How's the data collection going? Have you encountered any difficulties with the logical reasoning?"

She began asking for details as a mentor.

When talking about her research, Li Zhi seemed to open up a bit: "Finding the data is a bit troublesome, especially since it's difficult to obtain first-hand interview data from victims. I mainly do my analysis based on publicly available court documents and news reports."

"In terms of argumentation, I'm thinking about how to better combine psychological theories such as cognitive dissonance and sunk cost effect with the elements of fraud in criminal law and the dilemmas of civil remedies."

"This is not a project I'm working on alone."

"Mommy, do you know that I have another one?"

Listening to her daughter's clear and logical explanation, which even carried a hint of academic excitement, Gu Qionghua's surprise was gradually replaced by an indescribable sense of relief.

She suddenly realized that she didn't seem to really understand her daughter who was growing up so fast.

While she was busy dealing with international lawsuits and business projects, her daughter had quietly started her own life.

The car exited the airport expressway and entered the city.

Gu Qionghua looked out the window at the passing street scenes of Jiangcheng, then glanced at her daughter beside her, who was focused on driving and whose profile had lost much of her youthful naiveté, revealing independence and determination.

An idea gradually became clear.

She recalled occasionally video chatting with Li Zhi and seeing that her daughter was staying at her best friend Gu Caiwei's house.

She previously thought that their relationship was good and harmless.

But now, seeing her daughter's progress—studying diligently at a law firm, participating in cutting-edge collaborative projects, and independently conducting promising academic research—she is also taking note.
She suddenly realized that Li Zhi also needed a more stable, more comfortable space that belonged entirely to her.

To place her dreams and support her growth.

When the car stopped at a red light, Gu Qionghua spoke.

"Mom didn't expect you to have changed so much in the past few months in Jiangcheng."

"what?"

Li Zhi was clearly taken aback.

Do you usually work overtime?

"Uh, I rarely add it."

The short-haired girl spoke the truth.

"What about preparing your thesis? Would you need a more comfortable environment?"

"."

Li Zhi didn't understand her mother's meaning at first: "Sometimes I stay at Weiwei's place."

Gu Qionghua continued, "What you're doing now requires a quieter, more comfortable environment. Staying at your best friend's house all the time isn't convenient and it also affects your studies and rest."

"So, Mom has decided to buy you a house in Jiangcheng."

"The location must be good, close to your law firm, quiet, and comfortable."

"It's settled then. Don't worry, Mom will take care of it."

Li Zhi was completely stunned.

(End of this chapter)