Mao Lu put the black envelope in his pocket. He'd check later on the computer at work to see whether this B&B Law firm really existed or not. He didn't have any money so he wasn't worth scamming, but one must always be very careful.
Mao Lu walked to the bus stop and as he waited for the 658 bus, he heard the sound of a car stopping and a loud honk caught his attention. When he looked up he saw a silver Mercedes Benz and the familiar face of Zhao Detong smiling at him.
"Get in I'll give you a ride to work!" he called.
Mao Lu felt slightly embarrassed since everyone at the bus stop was now staring at him. Hurriedly he ran into the passenger seat and buckled up.
"Where too today?" De Tong laughed.
"I'm working at Cafe E'clair today."
"Awesome that was in my direction." De Tong said as he turned the car around.
Mao Lu couldn't help but feel that Zhao Detong was really a good Brother to him.
"So I was thinking." Zhao Detong casually spoke as he weaved through the Beijing traffic. "It's time you stop being so stubborn and take my offer to work at my family's Company. With all the part time jobs you've been doing lately you work yourself practically to the bone yet you haven't even been able to get any savings at all. If you worked at my company it would be ten times better for you-"
"No. I refuse." Mao Lu cut De Tong off, not even bothering to look at him as he stared out the window, watching the streets flash by.
"Lu for crying out loud, is it really that hard to throw away your damn pride, you're in no position to act like this."
"It's because I'm not in a position to pick and choose that I have to keep my pride and not take wantonly from you."
"We're best friends, sworn brothers!" Zhao Detong yelled, "What's the problem with you taking from me and sharing things with me. That's what Brothers do. You constantly throwing aside my sincerity shows you don't care about our friendship."
"Of course I care!"
"Then why-"
"I have my own principles Detong. I will survive with my own power. I only have High School level qualifications, if I went to work with you I wouldn't fit in with the others. They'd dislike me and think I had gotten to my position through cheating, which would be true."
Zhao De Tong was angry and honked at a driver. "Does such a thing even matter Lu, who cares what people think."
"I care. I refuse to work with you."
De Tong sighed as he pulled the car next to Cafe E'clair.
"Fine Lu, fine but don't ever tell me I never tried to help you."
"I wouldn't dare." said Mao Lu as he walked out of the car and headed towards the cafe not able to look back. There was no way Mao Lu could work with Zhao at his company, it was a matter of pride but also he wasn't sure if his heart could take it.
-----
A few hours later in the staff room, Mao Lu was on the computer searching for information about B&B law firm. It was real alright. B&B Law firm was a famous and successful legal company that only catered towards the super rich. The location of their main building was in Guomao, the same place written on the letter he'd been sent.
Since it seemed credible and the building was nearby his work place, he decided to go and check it out after his shift. He had to clear up the misunderstanding since he didn't know a Wang Cao, there must have been a mistake.
Tanaka entered the cramped staff room of Cafe E'clair, sneaking past the lockers and peering over Mao Lu's shoulder.
"What are you searching?"
"Arghh!" Mao Lu jumped, his heart thumping.
Tanaka burst into laughter, "You're as sensitive as ever I see. Why are you always so tense hahaha."
Mao calmed down and glared at the giggling Tanaka. He felt like screaming at him, but knowing Tanaka if he got mad that would only make him laugh more.
"What do you want?"
"What time do you get off break" Tanaka asked whilst wiping a tear from his eye.
"10 minutes from now, why?" Mao Lu felt suspicious.
"Oh it's just that Fei Bing Bing came to the cafe, she wants to talk."
Fei Bing Bing was here to talk, Mao sighed he could already guess why.
"Okay thanks for telling me."
"No problem."
Mao Lu made his way to the busy store front of Cafe E'clair, it was four o'clock and well past the lunchtime rush hour but there were still customers crowding in for some authentic French style cakes, sweets, and coffee.
Mao Lu had started working here three years ago. The owner was a French man in his fifties and he was a really kind and good boss that gave Mao any hours he could, and if there was food left over at the cafe he'd always let Mao take some home. Out of all of his part time jobs Mao Lu found the cafe to be his favourite.
As he walked around the wooden tables he saw Fei Bing Bing sitting there with two slices of red velvet strawberry cake in front of her and two coffees. From her grey office clothes it was obvious that she'd just come from her father's company.
He sat down opposite her and picked up a fork and began eating one of the slices of cake without saying a word.
Bing Bing looked at him quietly for awhile and then said, "You should really take De Tong's offer Lu, he really wants to help you y'know. Why are you being so stubborn?"
Mao Lu didn't respond to her, he just continued eating the cake. He'd already said everything he had to say to De Tong.
"When we were younger, De Tong and I didn't really have any kind of position in our parents companies and we still had go to University[1]. Whilst you were going through all your problems we couldn't help you but we can now. De Tong got promoted to executive last week, he came by to tell you this afternoon but he told me he didn't get a chance to and just ended up fighting...what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry about what others think, and it's not like De Tong will give you a high level position straight away. You can work from the bottom up and… Lu will you listen to me!"
"I am listening. But I already told Detong no!"
"Oh for gods sake Zhang Lu… Mao Lu...for once just think about yourself. Do you know how hard it is for De Tong and I to watch you struggling like this all the time. We always come to you for our selfish reasons and you've always been there for us through thick and thin. Is it so wrong that we want to give a little back."
"It's not wrong" Mao said whilst rubbing his temples, "I'd just prefer it if you did it in a different way."
Fei Bing Bing shook her head and sighed. "Are you working tonight."
"Yes."
"Where."
"At the club obviously."
"Then we'll continue this conversation at the bar."
"..." Did they really have to continue the conversation? Mao Lu was certain he was getting a headache.
He watched as she stood up and abruptly left the cafe. She looked pretty pissed… Oh well. He stared at the intact cake and coffee she'd left behind, "more for me" he thought.
----
After his shift he took a bus into the Business district. It was around about the time that people were getting off work and heading home, the streets were filled with workers in suits and uniforms. Luckily he was wearing his cafe uniform that consisted of a white chiffon shirt buttoned to the collar with the E'clair logo on the breast pocket, and a pair of slim fitting black trousers. So he wasn't too out of place.
He soon found the tall building belonging to B&B Law firm, it wasn't easy to miss, the building was very tall. It looked like it was made entirely of black glass- at least the exterior did- and across the the front in gold characters was B&B Law.
He gulped a bit, it seemed rather impressive. He really hoped this letter was real and not a scam, he didn't want to be thrown out after walking through the entrance.
Straightening up a little he mustered his courage and charged through the revolving doors. On the inside the lobby was huge, there was a seating area on one side, a cafe on the other, and straight in front were two assistants at the desk.
"Hello." Mao Lu greeted them a bit nervously, bowing. "I got this letter through the post advising me to meet a Mr. Baker." He extended the letter to one of the smiling desk assistants.
The assistant looked Mao Lu up and down, he was very handsome but looking at his clothes, his long unkempt hair and piercing she ranked him down in her mind. "Maybe he's got the wrong building" she thought, but when she glanced at the letter she froze. He had a meeting with Mr. Baker. Baker was a platinum level member of the firm, he dealt mostly with dealings from overseas and V. I. Ps. His monthly revenue was probably in the millions, not just anyone could meet him.
"Two seconds." she said as she reached for the phone and pressed a number. On the first ring the call was picked up. "Hello Mr. Baker, I have a Mr. Zhang Lu here to see you….yes sir… Okay." she put the phone down.
She smiled brighter, and politely bowed to Mao Lu. "Sir, Mr. Baker has been waiting for you, let me take you to his office."
Was it just Mao Lu's imagination or did this lady just get more polite?
...
The desk assistant personally escorted Mao Lu to a big and grand looking elevator. As they entered he stared in shock as she pressed the 25th floor, the highest floor. Don't they usually say that the higher the floor the more powerful a person was in an organisation.
Mao Lu felt a bit overwhelmed.
After two minutes the elevator finally stopped and they walked out into a very sleek office. There were bamboo roots and rocks placed almost randomly around, Mao guessed the man was really into Feng Shui. On one wall there was a mini waterfall and on the opposite wall there was huge fish tank filled with a whole family of clown fish. It was impressive to say the least.
"I'll be leaving now." said the desk assistant bowing deeply and then getting in the elevator.
Mao felt at a loss, this place was huge.
"So you're Zhang Lu." said a strong voice, Mao looked towards his left and saw the tallest man he'd ever seen. He made Mao who was 6'2 feel short. Other than the man's impressively long legs he also had a rather long face, he had green eyes and wore thick rimmed glasses. He seemed to be balding as there was no hair on his head other than the odd strand but his eyebrows were thick and blonde.
A foreigner! Although he'd guessed he was foreign from the name Mao couldn't help but be a bit taken aback. Mr. Baker looked rather strange. Mao Lu had met many foreigners during his various jobs but he'd never met anyone that looked like Mr. Baker before.
"Take a seat" said Baker who walked towards a row of sofas that had a glass coffee table in the middle.
Mao obediently sat down. It was very comfortable.
He watched as Baker brought out a large envelope.
"Umm wait Mr. Baker, before you go into the inheritance. I think there might be a mistake" Mao Lu began. "I go by Mao Lu now and not Zhang Lu, also I've never met a Wang Cao in my life. Perhaps I'm the wrong person."
Mr.Baker raised a bushy eyebrow. He then opened the envelope in his hands and took out a picture. "So you're saying you're not the boy photographed here."
Mao Lu looked at the picture and audibly gasped. It was him. It was a picture from when he was around six or seven. He sitting on a rock near a rice field next to an old farmer. The farmer's name was Wang. "Old man Wang!" Mao Lu exclaimed. He couldn't believe it.
When he was young his parents loved to take him on trips around the countryside. It was because they said too much city air wasn't good for brain development. One day on a trip to the rice paddies in Longsheng he'd met Old Man Wang. He'd been a friendly guy who showed Mao Lu and his parents around the area. He taught Mao Lu a lot about how to farm and the history of Longsheng county. They'd only met briefly and parted ways the same day they'd met.
Mao Lu couldn't believe that he'd been put in this man's will just because of that small meeting.
[1] I'm calling I'm British