Chapter 35: Cold Sweat! |
"Look at the morning paper for yourselves!"
Accountant Li held up the freshly delivered morning paper, still warm from the mechanical printing press.
This commotion immediately attracted everyone''s attention.
Several lawyers looked puzzled. Too lazy to even tidy their desks, they stood up and walked toward her.
"What''s wrong with the morning paper?"
Generally speaking, lawyers would regularly read the morning paper every day.
But then again, having just arrived at the firm early in the morning, almost no one could muster up the energy, let alone read the news.
However, when they gathered beside Accountant Li, took the paper, and scanned the text...
Their initially smiling faces froze instantly.
The pupils of the people around suddenly shrank. The hands gripping the newspaper involuntarily tightened, their muscles tensed, and the corners of the paper were pinched until they nearly tore.
But no one cared about such minor details at this moment.
They wished they could glue their eyes to the page, scrutinizing it word by word!
What did the morning paper say?
As expected, it covered the case Xu De argued at the Intermediate Court yesterday.
But what was unexpected was...
"Rejected... the indictment was rejected!?"
After a long silence, someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed, their eyes full of disbelief.
It was like a stone tossing up a thousand ripples, instantly igniting the quiet crowd.
Everyone gasped as they looked at the newspaper. Their faces displayed astonishment, shock, and utter confusion.
Intense discussions erupted.
"Wait, what do you mean the indictment from the prosecution team was rejected by Lawyer Xu alone!?"
"What the hell is ''acting bravely for a just cause''? How dare he say that in court, right in front of over four hundred people!?"
"Combining the two cases... using the trafficking case as the entry point! Brilliant, this angle is boundlessly brilliant!"
"..."
A few lawyers in the distance were initially just watching the spectacle, but as they listened... it seemed different from what they had anticipated.
They quickly walked over, took the newspaper, and the very next second, the same shocked expressions appeared on their faces.
Their brows furrowed as they read it seriously, word for word.
As the saying goes, the layman watches the show, but the expert sees the technique.
Passersby reading the paper would only feel a sense of vindication and thrill, but these peers only felt... that it was inconceivable!
To be able to organize the entry point, arguments, legal logic, objective evidence, loopholes, and other conditions into a cohesive framework while simultaneously laying a massive trap for Chen Wei, this was simply...
Terrifying!
It looked simple, but the difficulty of executing it in practice was akin to ascending to the heavens, especially coming from the usually unassuming Xu De.
"Am I still dreaming!?"
Someone blinked, only to find that the words on the newspaper hadn''t changed at all, immediately beginning to doubt their entire life.
"How old is Lawyer Xu this year? Does anyone remember!?"
Accountant Li, who had been holding it in for a while, immediately replied:
"He''s 25 this year, born in April. He''s had his license for exactly three years!"
"25? He''s only 25!?"
The person exclaimed.
"He suppressed Hu Guang and Wang Wei in court!? Even his verbal logic was so tight the judge couldn''t pick a single flaw, and you''re telling me he''s only 25!?"
"That is the fact," Accountant Li said.
"What about before? Has he ever fought other criminal murder cases?" someone else couldn''t help but ask.
Lawyers were similar to criminal detectives.
They needed to digest a massive amount of case studies to hone their skills!
Normally, someone with this level of ability would have to have handled dozens of major cases at the very least.
This wasn''t an exaggeration, but a fact. If you lack experience, you simply won''t know how to operate.
And Xu De...
"No criminal record."
Accountant Li took a deep breath and said, "It''s impossible for any firm to have assigned him a criminal murder case in his first two years."
"After coming to Jinmao... you guys know the rest."
After arriving at Jinmao, simply because he was highly regarded by Director Han, he drew Sun Hao''s direct hostility.
He struggled to even get normal consultations, let alone criminal murder cases!
Even the Wang Qiang case was something Sun Hao only maliciously agreed to let him handle because he thought Xu De was like a moth flying into a flame.
Which meant...
"So what you''re saying is."
"He''s 25 this year, he has no track record, no famous mentor, no legal team behind him, and this is even his first time fighting a criminal murder case, right up against the prosecutor''s office''s Hu Guang..."
"How did he do it?"
Someone stared at the morning paper, questioning life itself, feeling their worldview crumbling a bit.
The only possible explanation was...
"A genius, this is simply a genius among geniuses!"
"To suppress Hu Guang in his very first case, Xu De''s future... is absolutely immeasurable!"
What is the gap between one lawyer and another?
You have to understand.
Whether from a top-tier university''s law school or a second-tier one, the laws they memorize are exactly the same.
Therefore, the gap between schools is reflected in faculty resources, but what truly determines an individual''s ceiling is...
Mindset!
An irreplicable mindset with a unique perspective on legal statutes!
Clearly, Xu De possessed both, especially his mindset, which left everyone present with no choice but to submit.
After all, they could wrack their brains and never come up with using ''acting bravely for a just cause'' as bait to lure the opposition into admitting that the ''trafficking case'' wasn''t over!
"Where''s Sun Hao? Has Sun Hao seen the morning paper?"
In a daze, someone spoke up and changed the subject.
This single sentence instantly gave everyone a peculiar look in their eyes.
Xu De was now completely famous. If Sun Hao found out... how would he react?
Speak of the devil and he appears.
"Creak~!"
The main door of the law firm was suddenly pushed open.
Two figures walked in. The man in the lead was wearing a formal suit, about fifty years old, with a thin build. He walked straight to the punch clock.
As for the person behind him...
Everyone stared at that still-swollen face, looking for a long time before recognizing him, exclaiming in surprise:
"Ah, Team Leader Sun, what happened to your face!?"
Hearing this.
Sun Hao, whose eyes had initially been a bit evasive, instantly grew furious. He pointed at the surrounding crowd, his tone dark:
"Is the firm here for you all to chat? Crowding around here one by one, not knowing to go and take on a few cases!"
He had been beaten up by Chen Wei yesterday, and his face still hurt badly.
Now that people were laughing at him, he naturally couldn''t tolerate it. After all, if he couldn''t deal with Chen Wei, couldn''t he at least deal with his own people!?
Usually.
The people around would be very angry, but right now, their expressions were getting weirder and weirder as they stared at Sun Hao with furrowed brows.
"What are you all looking at?" he demanded.
Accountant Li waved the morning paper in her hand. "The morning paper."
The morning paper?
Sun Hao paused, his mind recalling Chen Wei saying that he took a beating because of this so-called morning paper.
Immediately, he hesitantly reached out his hand.
"Let me see."
Accountant Li didn''t refuse, silently handing over the paper, then retreating into the crowd, wearing an expression of someone ready to watch a good show.
"The morning paper... what''s so great about this thing..."
Sun Hao muttered under his breath, though his hands quickly flattened the newspaper.
His slightly dismissive gaze swept over it. He had intended to skim it quickly, but when he finished reading the headline...
"[力挽狂瀾!辯護律師徐德,力壓公訴全體,法院進入緊急休庭......]"
As he read.
The expression on Sun Hao''s face froze. He turned into a stone statue, unmoving, but a stormy sea raged in his heart.
''This is... Xu De? That sure-death case, he rejected the prosecution''s indictment!?''
''No... impossible, how is this possible.''
''He''s just a fledgling new lawyer, with no team and no track record. How could he possibly do this...''
He roared internally.
But the morning paper wouldn''t lie!
"Gulp~"
Sun Hao swallowed hard, suddenly realizing something.
Ever since Xu De was assigned to him, his attitude had been extremely terrible.
Not giving him cases when he asked, deliberately making things difficult no matter what he did...
It was fine in the past. The other party had no say, and he could explain it away as tempering him, and Xu De wouldn''t dare say anything.
But...
If the other party single-handedly overturned the Wang Qiang case... his status would immediately undergo an earth-shattering change, reaching a level no less than those golden lawyers in the firm!
You have to know, those few individuals were on equal footing with his cousin, Director Han.
When that time came, if Xu De so much as whispered a few words to his cousin...
"It''s over..."
Suddenly.
Sun Hao''s vision went black, his mind blanked, his hands and feet grew ice-cold, and his breathing became rapid.
And whatever one fears most is sure to come.
"What are you all looking at?"
Director Han, having punched in, happily walked over to them, casually picking up a morning paper from the rack to read.
With one look, his eyebrows shot up, followed by a look of pleasant surprise.
"Beautiful! Beautiful! That''s how it''s done!"
"A not-guilty defense... and even a not-guilty defense that''s holding the upper hand!!!"
"Haha, Little Xu actually gave me such a surprise! Being able to tear open a gap in the Wang Qiang case, he truly is the seed I had my eye on!"
Director Han was overjoyed, slapping the table in praise.
He knew of Xu De''s background.
Lost his mother at birth, lost his father in childhood, yet he forcibly climbed from the very bottom into Yan University...
He cherished this kind of talent immensely.
And it just so happened that his relative, Sun Hao, had also joined his firm. He figured he''d give Sun Hao full autonomy to cultivate a bond between the two... by then, he would have two capable right-hand men in the firm.
One was Sun Hao, bound by blood, and the other was Xu De, possessing outstanding ability!
With the three of them of one mind, would they still need to care about the opinions of the other partners?
"Not bad, Lawyer Sun, you''ve done very well!"
Director Han had never laughed so heartily, reaching out to pat Sun Hao on the shoulder.
"Initially, I held a conservative attitude towards your recommendation for Little Xu to take the case. I didn''t expect you two were planning to give me a surprise!"
"When Little Xu gets back, I''ll credit you for this!"
Having said that.
He swaggered toward his office, radiating a sense of triumphant spring breeze.
Only he didn''t notice...
Sun Hao stood rooted to the spot, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, his fingertips freezing. His initially rapid breathing now seemed somewhat exhausted.
''Bad, bad, bad...''
Sun Hao''s hands were trembling. He didn''t dare imagine what would happen if the other party found out the truth.
Meanwhile, the other lawyers beside him exchanged glances, a peculiar glint in their eyes.
"Heh... looks like we''ve got a show to watch."
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