Inheriting a Farm Made Me an Internet Sensation - Chapter 9

Tan Xiao spread her hands. “This is your area of expertise; I can’t really chip in.”

Lin Muhan was quite pleased by these words and nodded. “At least you have some self-awareness.” She took the bottle of mineral water Tan Xiao handed over, twisted it open, took a sip, and said slowly, “If it is explicitly written in the contract and does not exclude force majeure factors, then it is legal and reasonable for the other party to demand compensation.”

She thought for a moment and continued, “In such a situation, one can only look for the other party’s faults. Only then can you seize the initiative in the negotiations.”

Sitting in the chair to her left, Tan Xiao tilted her head and praised, “As expected, when it comes to professional matters, Lawyer Lin has to take charge.”

She had already had multiple interactions with Lin Muhan and had gained some understanding of her. While Lin Muhan appeared charming and intellectual, she was actually proud, prone to temper tantrums, and—well—violent.

To avoid Lin Muhan’s biting remarks, one could try following her lead. For example, now, after only a single compliment, Lin Muhan was already showing a proud little expression.

Taking advantage of Lin Muhan’s good mood, Tan Xiao leaned forward slightly and asked, “So, is Lawyer Lin willing to help?”

“Well, she does call me ‘Sister’ after all. I’ll help with this.”

Hearing this, Tan Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and didn’t forget to give Lin Muhan a thumbs-up.

Half an hour later, Xiao Ran arrived, accompanied by Sun Le. She shyly asked Lin Muhan to wait a while, saying that her father would bring the contract over in three hours.

Lin Muhan did not hesitate and agreed immediately, engaging in casual conversation with the two of them.

Tan Xiao followed her usual routine. After lunch, she went upstairs, studied for a while, and then took a nap.

By the time she woke up and went downstairs, Xiao Ran and Sun Le had already left. She looked around but didn’t see Lin Muhan, so she knew she had gone back.

To her surprise, Lin Muhan came over again that night, bringing a suitcase with her and appearing somewhat low-spirited.

After some hesitation, Tan Xiao took a chilled drink and went to the second-floor balcony. She placed it on the table, gently pushed a bottle toward Lin Muhan, and then leaned back in her chair, gazing at the starry sky.

“It’s been a long time since I sat down like this to look at the stars,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Tonight’s stars are each so bright, just like everyone working hard to live in this world, blooming with their own light with all their might.”

She turned her head to look at Lin Muhan and said leisurely, “Whenever I feel lost, I do exactly this—find a place to sit and look up at the stars hanging in the sky. These stars give me strength every time, and when I wake up the next day, I’m full of energy again.”

Lin Muhan, who had been sitting stiffly in her chair, slowly looked up at the starry sky. Every star was quietly radiating its brilliance.

Thinking of something, she gave a bitter smile. “When the moon is bright, the stars are sparse. Once the bright moon appears, who would notice them?”

After learning about Xiao Ran’s situation, she had received a phone call from her mother, asking her to come back early for dinner.

At the dinner table, she saw her father, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time. It was a surprise that her father even remembered that her contract with Huangtian International was about to expire.

At that time, she didn’t know what she was thinking, but she actually said she didn’t want to renew the contract and wanted to try working at a law firm.

These words enraged her father. He pointed at her nose and called her rowdy, telling her to have some self-awareness; if it weren’t for the fact that her mother was close friends with Aunt Huang, the position in the legal department of Huangtian International would never have fallen to her.

This was an indisputable fact. Huangtian International offered high pay and a light workload. Why was she chosen? Naturally, it was because of their personal connections.

She should have been secretly happy that Huangtian International was willing to let her stay, yet she had harbored thoughts of leaving.

Her mother also urged her not to argue with her father over this matter.

Perhaps there was indeed an element of spite at the beginning, but after her father said those words that pierced her heart, she wanted to prove herself—prove that she wasn’t that useless and that she could establish herself in the legal world by her own abilities.

After packing her luggage, she called Su Han and told her about the situation.

Su Han asked her to think about it again and was willing to give her some time off.

Having nowhere else she wanted to go, she suddenly thought of the group of youthful and energetic students she had seen at the farm, so she brought her suitcase here.

Tan Xiao took another sip of water, looked up at the stars, and remarked, “The stars have never thought about competing for brilliance with the moonlight.”

“What if they do want to compete?” Lin Muhan turned to stare at her, wanting to know her answer.

Tan Xiao turned sideways, her gaze meeting Lin Muhan’s under the dim yellow light, and said word by word, “Then forget the brilliance of the moon and strive forward. As long as you don’t give up, there will eventually come a day when even the moon will fear your radiance.”

Lin Muhan retracted her gaze and whispered softly, “Is it enough just to move forward without fear?”

This time, Tan Xiao did not reply. She had said everything she needed to say; whether the knot in Lin Muhan’s heart could be untied depended on whether she could bravely take that step.

After a long while, Lin Muhan’s voice rang out again: “I know what to do. Thank you.”

Tan Xiao, who was struggling against sleepiness, felt her last bit of worry completely dissipate upon hearing those words. Resting her hands on the armrests of the chair, she used them to push herself up. As she walked toward her room, she said, “As long as you don’t stop walking, even the highest mountain can be crossed.” She paused and glanced back slightly. “Lawyer Lin, good night.”

With that, she stepped away and quickly disappeared from Lin Muhan’s sight.

“Good night, Tan Xiao,” Lin Muhan said softly.

She had noticed that Tan Xiao’s eyelids had been drooping; she must have been incredibly sleepy.

Even though she was that tired, she had stayed with her for so long. She would remember this kindness.

Over the next two days, after figuring out the ins and outs of the situation, Lin Muhan followed Xiao Ran’s father, Xiao Tianxiong, to find the livestreamed.

The streamer had already made full preparations and came to meet them together with a lawyer.

“The contract states very clearly: if Party B cannot provide 30,000 catties of grapes to my client according to the agreement, they need to pay the corresponding economic losses. These are the earnings of each of my client’s livestreams; please take a look.” The streamer’s lawyer, Lawyer Chen, spoke as he handed a document to Lin Muhan.

Lin Muhan took a look and then closed the document. She looked at the streamer sitting opposite her, Xu Xiaojie, and asked, “Ms. Xu, are you sure you acted according to the contract?”

Lawyer Chen sensed something was wrong and looked at Xu Xiaojie, questioning her with his eyes about what was going on.

Seizing the opportuity, Lin Muhan placed the prepared bank statements on the table and pushed them toward Lawyer Chen. “This is the record of Xu Xiaojie’s transfers to my client. Please note the dates.” She flipped the contract to the corresponding clause and pointed with the end of her pen. “It is agreed here that the transfer to my client should be made the day after the grape livestream concludes.” She took out another document showing the date the grape livestream ended. “The actual payment date was a full ten days later than the closing date.”

“That’s because half the money was held by the platform and couldn’t be withdrawn. Once it was out, I immediately transferred it,” Xu Xiaojie said as if it were only natural.

Lin Muhan nodded slightly and pointed to the words “force majeure” on the contract with her pen. “The date you registered on the Dou platform was May four years ago, and you officially started livestreaming sales in March three years ago. That is to say, from the time you started streaming until now, it has been 50 months. It is impossible for you to be unaware of the platform’s rules.

So, may I ask, between the fixed rules of a platform and unpredictable weather conditions, which one is the true force majeure?”

Xu Xiaojie slapped the table and stood up. “The contract didn’t say—”

“Ms. Xu.”

Lawyer Chen timely interrupted Xu Xiaojie and signaled her with his eyes not to continue.

Seeing that Xu Xiaojie had stopped talking, Lawyer Chen then looked at Lin Muhan and said, “My client will reconsider the matter of Mr. Xiao’s breach of contract.”

Lin Muhan left her chair and stood up, looking down at Xu Xiaojie. “My client’s goal is very clear: either zero compensation and let bygones be bygones, or we pursue this to the end. Ms. Xu is a blogger and a public figure, so…” She left the rest unsaid, gave Xiao Tianxiong a look, and the two quickly left the cafe.

After coming out, Xiao Tianxiong rubbed his hands nervously and asked uneasily, “Lawyer Lin, will they really not make me pay anymore?”

“I said before, even if this goes to court, you won’t necessarily lose,” Lin Muhan said confidently. That contract was unreasonable to begin with, and Lawyer Chen also understood this, which was why he stopped Xu Xiaojie from speaking.

To let Xiao Tianxiong sign such a contract despite knowing it was unreasonable was truly malicious.

Of course, Xiao Tianxiong was also lucky. It just so happened that Xu Xiaojie had some financial issues during that period, which allowed Lin Muhan to catch a mistake. Otherwise, even if she pointed out the unreasonableness of the contract, Lawyer Chen might not have backed down so easily.

Furthermore, she had asked a friend to check; all the orchard owners who had cooperated with Xu Xiaojie had more or less paid compensation because of this contract.

No one wanted to be a scapegoat. If she were to expose this, Xu Xiaojie would only end up with a ruined reputation.

“Regardless, I still want to thank you.” Xiao Tianxiong bowed to Lin Muhan. He had already started contacting owners interested in taking over the farm; if it had really reached an irreconcilable point, he would have had to sell it.

Lin Muhan nodded slightly. “This is a lawyer’s duty.” With those words, she turned and walked toward the parking lot.

The case itself wasn’t complicated. Even if Xiao Ran hadn’t sought her out and had gone for legal aid instead, they wouldn’t have had to pay that one million.

The reason Xiao Tianxiong fell into Xu Xiaojie’s trap was still because he wanted to earn more; after all, the commission percentage Xu Xiaojie took was lower than that of similar streamers. Coupled with the fact that there was no one legally savvy around when the contract was signed, it allowed Xu Xiaojie to exploit the loophole.

Back at the small courtyard, as soon as she got out of the car, she saw the students swarming around. From their expressions, she could tell they were anxious to know the result of today’s negotiation.

Tan Xiao, leaning against the door, took one look at her and knew the answer. She smiled and said, “When your Sister Lin takes action, there’s nothing that can’t be done. You can put your hearts at ease!”

Hearing this, Lin Muhan revealed a smile. “Your mouth must be smeared with honey today, being so sweet.”

Standing at the courtyard gate, Sun Le looked back at Tan Xiao and lowered her voice. “Could it be that Sister Xiao Xiao’s mouth is only sweet toward you, Lawyer Lin?”

Lin Muhan was stunned. Tan Xiao’s mouth was only sweet for her?

She remembered Tan Xiao praising her in the living room the other day. Was she really only sweet toward her?

At this thought, her mood became a bit subtle.

Tan Xiao didn’t notice her unusual behavior. She pushed off the doorframe and went back to sit on the sofa in the living room.

The students surrounding Lin Muhan, however, caught her unnatural expression. They looked at each other and smiled, their eyes filled with ambiguity as they looked at Lin Muhan.

Coming back to her senses, Lin Muhan saw their gazes. Her cheeks flushed, and she unnaturally turned her face away, walking toward the living room.

To prevent this group of imaginative students from overthinking, her original intention was to find a place to sit far away from Tan Xiao. However, from the corner of her eye, she saw Tan Xiao handing her a freshly made glass of green tangerine lemonade.

“Extra ice and sugar.”

That was her taste.

Could it be that Tan Xiao really had feelings for her?

She looked up to steal a glance at Tan Xiao and accidentally locked eyes with her.

She felt her mind go blank, as if her soul had been struck, and her heartbeat showed signs of accelerating.

“Not drinking? Then forget it.” With that, Tan Xiao was about to pull it back.

These words pulled her thoughts back. She slightly averted her gaze and reached out to take the lemonade.

What “only sweet for her”? This was clearly Tan Xiao’s tactics.

Thinking this, she drank the lemonade indignantly and stopped looking at Tan Xiao.

The students followed her into the house and found seats.

Still wanting to know the exact result, Xiao Ran looked expectantly at Lin Muhan. “Lawyer Lin, does my dad really not have to pay the money?”

After setting down the lemonade, Lin Muhan said slowly, “If you want to, you can even make her pay.”

Xiao Ran’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

“Well, to borrow a phrase from your Sister Xiao Xiao: reading more books is never a bad thing.”

Tan Xiao, who was drinking lemonade, was suddenly startled when she was “cued” and choked slightly.

She blinked. When had she ever said that?

Her reaction made Lin Muhan feel a bit better. She explained, “I didn’t mean anything else. If you have time, you can look into the laws. This can help you avoid some unnecessary trouble.”

Seeing Xiao Ran’s face turn pale, Tan Xiao coughed lightly and took over the conversation. “What she means is that the streamer took advantage of the fact that your father is legally illiterate to find an opportunity. Well, also, try not to be greedy for small advantages.”

Sun Le understood immediately. “I get it. In the future, when everyone or your families sign contracts, you must read the contents clearly. If you don’t understand, you can consult a friend who does. Otherwise, if you encounter something like what happened to Xiao Ran’s family, it would be distressing to death.”

Xiao Ran’s complexion finally looked better. She stood up and bowed to Lin Muhan. “Thank you, Lawyer Lin. I will read more about the law when I have time and won’t let today’s situation happen again.”

The students had classes in the afternoon and didn’t stay long before returning to school.

Once they left, Tan Xiao also got up. Just as she was about to head upstairs, she heard a panicked voice coming from outside.

“This is bad! Yang Kaifeng is going to commit suicide!”