Chapter 154: Expanding the Legal Department (Seeking Subscriptions and Votes)

Lu Kun merely dropped a passing mention regarding the matter of his two daughters to Liu Liping and left it at that.

Liu Liping was perceptive and naturally knew how to handle things.

Over the years, Liu Liping had managed the household affairs in an orderly fashion without a single hitch.

Lu Kun could tell that Liu Liping was perhaps still haunted by the premature death of their previous son, Haohao, which made her exceptionally anxious about their current youngest son, Yiming.

Early in the morning, Lu Kun dressed neatly, refreshed his spirits, and, forgoing even breakfast at home, prepared to head off to work.

There was no help for it; he had quite a few matters on his plate lately, all of which were unavoidable.

"Daddy, come home early," Erniang said, hugging her toy rabbit and waving at Lu Kun.

"Alright, alright, I'll come home early," Lu Kun bent down, scooped up the little girl, and planted a heavy kiss on her forehead.

"Giggle, Daddy, your beard is so prickly!" the little girl tilted her head away in mock disgust and stuck out her tongue.

"You little rascal!" Lu Kun set her down and gave her a light pat on her little bottom.

"When Mom and Aunt Jiang are both home, you can go out and play with your elder sisters more often. You don't have to guard your younger brother all the time; he's not going to run away, is he?"

Lu Kun bent down and said to the little girl.

"Erniang doesn't want to go out and play. Erniang wants to guard little brother and play with him," the little girl huffed softly, looking proud and aloof.

Lu Kun was momentarily stunned.

Could Erniang end up turning into the legendary "younger brother worshipper"?

"Alright then, play with your brother by all means, but stop rubbing his head all the time," Lu Kun instructed.

"I know, I know. And stop rubbing my head all the time too; if I don't grow tall in the future, I'm blaming you," Erniang said impatiently.

Compared to other children of his age, Luun's head was indeed somewhat large.

Whenever guests visited Lu Kun's home, they were always exceptionally interested in the child's oversized head and couldn't resist reaching out to stroke it.

Every time this happened, Lu Kun's face would be marked with dark lines of exasperation.

Fortunately, there was no Neighbor Lao Wang living nearby...

"I'm heading out," Lu Kun called into the house.

"Wait a moment, wait a moment, take this with you and eat it on the way," Liu Liping hurried out of the kitchen, holding two jianbing guozi packed in a plastic food bag, and handed them to Lu Kun.

Lu Kun took the bag and wanted to embrace Liu Liping, but she stopped him.

"Stop messing around, watch out or you'll be late again. Didn't you say you have a mountain of matters piled up at the company waiting for you to handle?" Liu Liping waved her hand, urging him off.

"You have zero understanding of romance," Lu Kun shook his head and laughed at Liu Liping, waving the jianbing guozi in his hand.

Huakun Group Headquarters. General Manager's Office.

"Boss, you were looking for me?" Sun Bowen hurried over and asked eagerly.

"Yes, there are some matters. Sit down and let's talk," Lu Kun gestured to the seat opposite him and said to Sun Bowen.

"Lao Sun, there is a matter that I need you to personally oversee," Lu Kun said solemnly.

"Boss—"

Sun Bowen sat down and lowered his head slightly to show respect. "You speak?"

"Mmm."

Lu Kun nodded and then said, "Shouldn't our legal department be expanded?"

Sun Bowen was taken aback, somewhat puzzled, and asked in confusion, "Expand the legal department?"

It was no wonder Sun Bowen was completely baffled.

In this era, professionals trained in the legal field within mainland China were still relatively scarce.

It was only in recent years, as the country's laws were successively revised and perfected, that the word "law" gained a slight bit of traction.

"But our company's legal department already has two lawyers," Sun Bowen pursed his lips and asked.

Lu Kun's face darkened with frustration.

Huakun Group was a massive enterprise with assets approaching one hundred million, the ultimate retail giant of Angui Province, yet its entire legal department consisted of just two people who barely served as fillers!

"How do you rate the capabilities of those two lawyers in our company?" Lu Kun curled his lip and asked.

"I suppose... I suppose they're alright," Sun Bowen hesitated and said.

"Yet why on earth is our company feeding so many lawyers? Just a little while ago, I even wanted you to lay one of them off. In fact, I feel one lawyer is quite enough for us," Sun Bowen frowned and said, steeling himself.

Lu Kun's eyebrows twitched, and he said testily, "Lay one off and keep the other? Wouldn't that reduce the legal department to a hollow shell?"

"Then we certainly don't need to expand the legal department either!" Sun Bowen urged anxiously. "Throughout the entire company, the legal department personnel are the most leisurely!

Which of us in the other departments isn't run off our feet with work? Who else is like those two, 'a cup of tea, a cigarette, and a newspaper for half the day,' living more comfortably than high-ranking officials in a state-owned enterprise?"

Lu Kun stroked his chin as he listened to Sun Bowen continuously expose the scandalous idleness of the two legal staff, and his expression gradually darkened.

This matter could be either big or small.

Ever since news of Huakun Holding's restructuring spread among the management, everyone had been like tightened springs, significantly boosting both work morale and efficiency.

The two in the legal department, however, were a different story. Whenever the company needed various business contracts drafted, they always dragged their feet, essentially holding everyone else back. It was no wonder Sun Bowen held such a strong grievance against them.

"Here is what we'll do: don't make a sound about it for now, let's quietly recruit. Once we find better lawyers, we'll send those two packing!"

Lu Kun was not one to harbor misplaced soft-heartedness, and those two fellows in the legal department possessed no real competence.

Lu Kun recalled that a short while ago, contracts submitted by the legal team contained numerous omissions and flaws; many clauses had actually been filled in by Lu Kun himself during the review process.

"Then, are we recruiting one or two?" Sun Bowen nodded and then asked.

"..." Lu Kun.

"Recruit twenty! Don't spare the expense, just recruit a bunch of substitute lawyers!" Lu Kun shot him a sideways glance and said irritably.

"What? Twenty?!" Sun Bowen nearly leaped out of his seat.

The legal department currently had two people who were as idle as dogs; recruiting twenty meant raising a whole brigade of pampered masters? He had to dispel this notion from the boss's mind! Sun Bowen was acting like a man bitten by a snake once who feared the well rope for ten years.

Sun Bowen's mind raced.

Seeing Sun Bowen's expression, Lu Kun could pretty much guess what he was thinking, so he explained, "I am not saying our Huakun Group needs twenty lawyers right now.

Let me break the numbers down for you: my real estate company needs at least one lawyer, the Master Kong Food and Beverage Company side needs about three lawyers, our Huakun Group needs roughly five lawyers, and Huakun Holding needs about ten lawyers. Roughly speaking, twenty provides a safety net against any contingencies. Even if there happen to be extras, it doesn't matter—we can just dismiss those whose proficiency falls short!"

"Don't talk to me about those two fellows in the legal department! Forget about having them help us plant landmines in contracts for our opponents; it's a miracle if they don't get us trapped by others," Lu Kun complained.

Sun Bowen opened his mouth, momentarily left speechless.

After a long moment, Sun Bowen continued, "Still, five lawyers for Huakun Group and ten lawyers for Huakun Holding—isn't that a bit excessive?"

Sun Bowen remained somewhat skeptical of Lu Kun's casual remark about dismissing lawyers whose skills were inadequate.

Things weren't that simple.

Lawyers were privy to a vast amount of internal company secrets. If their professional ethics failed and they bolted to a competitor's firm to spill all the beans, the damage inflicted upon the original company would be far from negligible.

In this era, rumors of lawyers betraying their original employers, jumping ship to rival firms, and helping opponents crush their former bosses frequently made headlines.

Of course, in the coming years, such untrustworthy lawyers would face a collective corporate boycott across society and amount to nothing.

"We must naturally have sound emergency protocols in place. As for headcount, it is truly not excessive at all," Lu Kun shook his head and said. "Real lawyers are not like the frauds in our company who can only draft simple business contracts.

Beyond possessing professional legal knowledge to ensure contractual legality and avoid traps, they can set traps for the other party and plant hidden landmines. When business disputes arise, these hidden landmines often yield unexpected results."

"Boss, I am not opposed to hiring highly professional lawyers; it's just that the number of people we are hiring seems a bit high," Sun Bowen said.

"Haha. Do you feel that Huakun Group and our parallel companies don't require this many lawyers, right?" Lu Kun laughed.

"Yes," Sun Bowen nodded, then added, "My primary concern is that with too many people, they'll become too idle. One rat dropping ruins a whole pot of porridge and corrupts the company culture!"

"You don't need to worry about that. The main reason those two fellows in our legal department are so idle is simply a lack of professionalism. Think about it: during our company's past commercial contract negotiations, what did they actually do besides drafting paperwork?"

"Boss, you mean that from now on, lawyers should participate in all of our company's business negotiations?" Sun Bowen asked.

Lu Kun nodded and continued, "The new lawyers we recruit must possess extensive contract negotiation experience and exceptionally rigorous professional ethics."

"Lao Sun, Huakun Holding is about to invest in and acquire shares of various small and medium-sized workshops. Lawyers with rich contract negotiation experience are vitally important to us," Lu Kun sighed.

Having engaged in investments in his past life, Lu Kun understood deeply the importance of possessing a robust legal team.

It was a sharp sword for an enterprise to safeguard its own security and interests; no amount of emphasis placed upon it could ever be excessive.

This was precisely the fundamental reason why every investment institution, aside from business inspection, evaluation, and negotiation teams, maintained a legal department as its largest division.

"Boss, I understand. I will handle this matter properly," Sun Bowen nodded, his expression turning serious.

"Go ahead," Lu Kun waved a hand at him.

Expanding the legal department, apart from the reasons discussed with Sun Bowen, was primarily driven by Lu Kun's desire to thoroughly clean up any lingering dirt attached to the Huakun Group.

As Huakun Group surged forward in development, who knew what latent legal hazards might still be lurking? Should the authorities suddenly slap them with a charge of tax evasion one day, who could withstand it?

Figuring out how to legally and rationally avoid taxes and settle back taxes was the central task for the Huakun Group's legal department in the period ahead.