Chapter 16: Finished Organizing, Pounding Rice Cakes |
Sun Hao turned his head. Seeing Xu De''s back, he instantly flared up in anger, planting one hand on his hip and pointing with the other.
"Stop right there!"
"You dare disobey the team''s arrangements? Do you still want your job or not!?"
Hearing this, Xu De paused his steps. He turned sideways to meet Sun Hao''s gaze and calmly said,
"The team''s arrangements?"
He let out a light chuckle.
"Team Leader Sun, I have a criminal homicide case on my hands. You couldn''t possibly be unaware of that, right?"
"How about we get the director to judge who''s in the right?"
Upon hearing the first half, Sun Hao wanted to lash out, but the second half instantly made his face flush red with guilt. Even though the director was his cousin, they weren''t particularly close. He had only gotten this position because his mother had cornered the director in front of their relatives during the New Year, forcing him to reluctantly take Sun Hao in.
Furthermore, the other party truly did have a criminal case on his hands.
If the director found out that Sun Hao had tried to delay a case affecting the law firm''s reputation just so he could go on a blind date...
Regardless of what happened to Xu De, Sun Hao would definitely suffer the consequences!
Sun Hao''s eyes flickered, and he warned in a thinly veiled tone, "Let me tell you, Jinmao is the only boutique law firm in all of Greenwood City!"
Xu De smiled and waved his hand, completely unbothered.
"Then Team Leader Sun can ask the director to fire me. I don''t have the time to entertain you."
With that said, he ignored the man entirely, turning around and walking toward his workstation.
He had never planned on staying long anyway. Once Wang Qiang''s case was finished, he would immediately leave to open his own law firm, so the other party''s words...
posed absolutely no threat to him.
Xu De''s heart didn''t ripple in the slightest as he walked to his desk.
Just as he sat down, the lawyer beside him silently gave him a thumbs up without saying a word, merely watching Sun Hao as if he were a joke.
"Heh."
Xu De chuckled, paying it no mind. Instead, he lowered his head and pulled out some paper and a pen from his drawer.
Looking at the blank paper, his mind sank into deep thought.
In Wang Qiang''s case, what he was preparing to do was indeed completely legal.
Even if the matter escalated to the Supreme Court, those old men could tear their hair out and still wouldn''t be able to pin a single crime on him!
It was just that blurting it out rashly would scare everyone else, so what he needed to do was...
provide the legal statutes to support his basis!
In addition, he needed to write down the key maneuvers for the first trial.
At this thought, a glint flashed through Xu De''s eyes.
"I''ve got it!"
With that, his hand began flying across the paper.
...
...
Meanwhile.
In the lobby.
"Dammit!"
Sun Hao was exasperated, grinding his teeth in hatred. He glared in the direction the other party had left, his expression fluctuating darkly.
He had long been dissatisfied with his director cousin believing that Xu De was more capable than him. Now, being so blatantly ignored by the other party...
it felt exactly as if he were being mocked.
Especially with the surrounding gazes drifting over, Sun Hao felt even more like a leaping clown, his humiliation turning into anger.
Until...
Buzz-buzz-buzz~
The vibrating of a phone suddenly echoed against his chest.
Suppressing his anger, Sun Hao pulled out his phone and saw the caller ID: [Lawyer Chen Wei].
"Hello?"
Sun Hao answered, placing it against his ear and asking casually.
A voice transmitted through the speaker.
"Haha, how has Old Sun been lately?"
"I''ll skip the pleasantries. The main reason I''m looking for you this time is to learn a bit about one of your firm''s lawyers..."
"That lawyer named Xu De... what''s his background?"
Sun Hao paused. After hearing the other party''s words, his brows furrowed.
This kind of private inquiry... if he was discovered, he would definitely be in deep trouble.
His subconscious reaction was to hang up, but...
''Wait, if that criminal lawsuit... if Xu De loses...''
Sun Hao suddenly stopped, an idea popping into his head.
His cousin constantly thought highly of the other party, which was exactly why he had agreed to let Xu De take on the criminal lawsuit.
In his cousin''s eyes, Xu De only lacked a case to showcase his abilities before his career soared!
But, if Xu De underperformed and lost such an important case...
"Give me a moment."
Sun Hao''s eyes gleamed; he was tempted.
He looked around to ensure no one was paying attention to him before covering his phone and heading toward the restroom.
Once inside, he pulled his phone back out, unable to hold back his eagerness.
"Ah, Xu De. I''ll take my time and explain him to you in detail..."
"He''s just a university student who hasn''t been out of school for long. He doesn''t even have a decent resume, and he''s wooden. He looks smart, but actually..."
"..."
...
Inside Yangteng Law Firm.
Chen Wei sat in his office chair. Listening to the voice coming from his phone, a vibrant look appeared in his eyes.
A long while later, he finally hung up and turned to look at the two people in front of him.
The two sitting before him were none other than Li Youcai and Liu Cui!
At this moment, Chen Wei looked at the couple and smiled.
"I asked around. He''s just a recently graduated university student."
"Rest assured about the case. I will avenge Li Erniu!"
"We will strive to push for the death penalty!"
Hearing this, the faces of Li Youcai and Liu Cui lit up with joy, but in the next second, they suddenly paused.
Wait, if Wang Qiang was given a suspended death sentence... then how could they ask for their biological grandson back?
At this thought, Liu Cui suddenly and inexplicably turned to Li Youcai.
"Old man, no matter what, Wang Mei is still our son''s wife..."
"We and Wang Qiang... can be considered in-laws."
Hearing this, Li Youcai nodded repeatedly and chimed in.
"Right, right, right, we''re all in-laws... if things get too ugly, it''ll just let outsiders treat us like a joke."
"Actually, as long as they return the child..."
"It''s not like we can''t let him off the hook."
Hearing this, Liu Cui saw that her logic was validated and immediately said with smug pride, "From now on, we''ll let her serve the two of us."
"After all, our son is gone, so she has to provide for us in our old age and see us off!"
Looking at the two people in front of him, Chen Wei paused for a moment. "So..."
"You mean..."
Li Youcai tilted his head up, adopting an unreasonable posture.
"How about... you go find that ungrateful wretch''s lawyer and discuss it again?"
"Isn''t there something called a letter of forgiveness... just spell it out to them clearly. As long as they''re willing to give us the child, and provide for us in our old age on top of that."
"We will be the bigger people and let that Wang Qiang off the hook!"
Hearing this, Chen Wei pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright, I''ll give it a try."
...
...
November 4th.
9:30 PM.
Lin Yue didn''t go to work today, or rather, the law firm was established by her family, with only three people on staff. Whether she went to work or not was entirely up to her, so she had been holed up in the Daoist temple.
The Daoist temple was located in the suburbs of Greenwood City. No one usually came to burn incense on regular days, making it quite peaceful.
At this moment, she was wearing pajamas and sitting at the dining table. Across from her sat a middle-aged couple—her parents, Lin Guodong and Su Xin. Both were dressed plainly.
Poke... poke...
Lin Yue''s eyes were hollow, her thoughts flying out the window to somewhere else as her chopsticks unconsciously poked at her rice.
''Legal? Is it really legal?''
''But no matter how you look at it, it doesn''t seem legal... Could he be lying!?''
Lin Yue suddenly thought of something and forcefully tapped her bowl with her chopsticks.
Instantly, a crisp clink rang out.
The two middle-aged people across from her raised their heads and glanced at her.
''No, no, there''s no benefit to lying to a client in a court case. He isn''t stupid...''
Lin Yue settled down again and continued poking at her rice.
Ever since she returned home a few days ago, her mind had been restless.
After all, what that lawyer named Xu De had said...
was simply too outrageous!
Legal? In what universe was that legal!
A long while passed...
Clink!
Another crisp clatter of chopsticks against the bowl.
Her parents looked up, only to see Lin Yue''s brows furrowed tightly together again.
But it didn''t take long before she sank back into deep thought.
After a long time.
Lin Yue finally said absentmindedly, "I''m full."
She then stood up and walked away.
Watching her departing back.
The two middle-aged people stared at each other with wide eyes, exchanging a glance before turning their attention to her bowl.
Looking at the bowl where half the rice had been eaten, and the remaining half had been mashed into a sticky paste by chopsticks...
Her mother, Su Xin, fell into deep thought.
Where did she learn to pound rice cakes? And to do it several days in a row...
...
Squeak~
After Lin Yue returned to her room, she collapsed directly onto her bed, burying her face deep into her pillow.
Her mind was still filled with the words Xu De had spoken a few days ago!
Even when she tried to sleep, her mind was full of his voice, disturbing her so much that she hadn''t been able to sleep for several nights!
Lin Yue felt like her brain was a bit of a mess right now, yet she subconsciously slipped back into contemplating it.
''No, no matter how you think about it, stealing a child is obviously illegal, right!?''
''Not to mention threatening, that''s just coercion, it''s obviously illegal...''
Lin Yue lay on her bed, thinking with a bitter face.
''No, no, he was so confident, it definitely wasn''t baseless talk...''
''Right, right, right...''
''No, no, no...''
''Right...''
"Ugh, so annoying."
Thinking this, she took a deep breath.
"Is this guy always going to keep people in suspense like this? Even if you don''t have the evidence, you could at least tell me your ideas."
"How long has it been! Why hasn''t he told me yet!"
"Dammit, and he''s considered a moral paragon!?"
Lin Yue ground her teeth in annoyance.
Then, she straddled her pillow and began pummeling it. The air squeezed out through the gaps in the cotton filling, letting out a series of puff-puff wailing sounds.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear!
Just after the pillow ''wailed'' a few times... a vibration suddenly came from the headboard.
Buzz~
Lin Yue looked up at her phone and saw it was the number she had saved yesterday for Xu De. He had just sent an unread text message.
She tapped it open.
[Xu De: I''ve finished organizing it.]
[Xu De: Do you want to see it?]
Lin Yue paused for a moment before her eyes lit up, suppressing the excitement in her heart.
Legal?
She wanted to see exactly what kind of legality this was!
Lin Yue spared the pillow''s life. Sitting atop it, she lowered her head, holding her phone and replying to the text.
[Hurry, let me see it!]
Xu De replied:
[Come to Jinmao Law Firm in Greenwood City tomorrow. I''ll wait for you here.]
Lin Yue:
[Okay!]
After replying to the message, Lin Yue put down her phone. Feeling her heart pounding rapidly with curiosity, she raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I''d like to see just how you made it legal!"