CH 7

Ties and Entanglements

Monday morning, Ruizheng Law Firm.

At around ten o'clock, Yi Zhize had just finished processing the file of his last case when he saw An Rong slipping in with her coffee and scowling at him, "Mr. Yi, you have a guest! It's a handsome man."

Remembering what Ou Tingyun had told him about the economic case last night, Yi Zhize nodded and said, "I know, he's in the reception room?"

“That’s right." An Rong took a sip of her coffee and asked casually, "Do you know this client well?"

"Not very well."

"Not well acquainted and still went to dinner with someone?"

"A work dinner, no personal relationship."

An Rong's eyes shone brightly at him, "Yi Yi, you never had dinner with the client before."

Yi Zhize raised his eyes to look at her, “Miss An, kindly remind me. The labour dispute case you are in charge of will commence tomorrow morning, have the original evidence, cross-examination and court defence materials been prepared? Have they been examined and reviewed? Have the power of attorney and correspondence been submitted? Are the details of the focus statements and evidence clear?"

"Okay, okay, okay, stop, I'll go to work, okay?" An Rong immediately rubbed her temples in pain: "I'm sick of labour disputes, ah! By the way, what's the name of your Hong Kong-style client?"

Yi Zhize smiled, "No comment."

"You're too stingy!"

"His surname is Ou." Yi Zhize said, "Please invite him to the office for me."

"Not helping!"

Despite her words, a few minutes later, under the leadership of An Rong, Ou Tingyun appeared in front of Yi Zhize.

When she left, she even thoughtfully closed the door for them.

Yi Zhize had never been one for beating around the bush. As soon as they met, he went straight to the point and said, "What are the details of the economic dispute case you mentioned last night?"

Ou Tingyun didn't bother to be polite with him and sat himself down in front of him, disgruntled, "Zhize, we've only just met. Before we get down to business, we should have a few pleasantries, shouldn't we? A little chat about the weather, the news, or something interesting from the weekend. I see on the firm's profile that you studied for your Masters of Law in London, how come you haven't picked up this culture of small talk, eh?"

"I don't learn such meaningless things."

Ou Tingyun laughed, "Fine, you're in charge. Let's get straight to business."

“En."

"The situation is actually a bit complicated." Ou Tingyun's tone was light, as if he was chatting with him, "I was born in B City, my grandfather made his fortune by selling land, and my family is now mainly in the real estate business."

At the mention of B City, Yi Zhize was a little lost in thought.

Ou Tingyun's words continued, "When I was at university, my grandfather died and my father was given a share of the family fortune. But he also had a younger brother, and our two families had conflicts over the ownership of some assets."

"These assets, what do they include?"

"The two properties developed by Ou Rui Real Estate in B City, and a winery."

Yi Zhize wrote down some key words in his usual black notepad, "To be precise, this is an inheritance dispute, has it ever been mediated?"

"Mediation was done previously in B City, but negotiations failed."

"Why didn't you consider having your father commission a lawyer in B City to prosecute?"

"The lawyers in B City are no good, they're all crap." Ou Tingyun's smile was faint: "But if it's Zhize, it will definitely be okay."

As if he hadn't heard the boasting, Yi Zhize simply asked in a routine manner, "What's your email address?"

Ou Tingyun took the pen from his hand, "Shall I write it down for you?"

Yi Zhize handed him the book.

Ou Tingyun wrote a string of characters on it.

Yi Zhize explained, "I will send you a detailed enquiry later, including the time and cause of death of the deceased, the scope and type of inheritance, the relationship between the heir and the deceased, whether there is a will, whether there is subrogation, and so on. Once you have filled it out, send the contents back to me and I will make another appointment with you to discuss a specific solution."

At that moment, there was a cacophony of voices outside: "Sir, sir, Mr. Yi is meeting with a client, please wait."

The door to the office was suddenly thrown open and a bearded middle-aged man burst in.

Yi Zhize subconsciously sensed the danger and said to An Rong who was standing in the doorway, "An Rong, please ask for security."

An Rong gave him an ok gesture, "Called, they'll be here soon."

"Yi Zhize!" The man stared at him viciously, "Why can someone like you be a lawyer?"

"You're not my client and have no right to question me."

These words irritated him. In a matter of seconds, the man rushed to Yi Zhize, lifted him up by the collar and took out a fruit knife from his waist, intending to stab him in the vitals!

Blood spurted out instantly.

An Rong let out a cry of shock and fiercely covered her mouth.

Yi Zhize froze in place.

Ou Tingyun stepped in front of him and caught the blade.

The sharp blade cut deep into his flesh and blood, but it was as if he could not feel the slightest pain, and there was a chilling smile at the corner of his mouth.

Ou Tingyun was tall and slender, and with the effects of his fitness, his physique was far above that of the average man.

It was impossible to see his movements, but he heard a creaking sound and the man's wrist was dislocated as the blade fell to the ground.

Ou Tingyun forced the man's hands behind his back and slammed his knee into him, causing him to scream in pain and fall to his knees.

Security personnel arrived late and tied the man up, with the intention of transferring him to the public security authorities.

The office, which had always been quiet, was noisy at the moment, but Yi Zhize stood by in silence the whole time.

An Rong asked cautiously, "Mr. Yi, are you all right?"

Yi Zhize shook his head.

The security personnel were persuading Ou Tingyun to go to the police station to make a statement when Yi Zhize said, "He's hurt, let's go to the hospital first."

The security personnel apologised, "Yes, it was an oversight on my part, I'm sorry. This gentleman, shall we take you to the hospital?"

Yi Zhize interrupted, "No need, I'll take him there."

An Rong fetched alcohol and gauze from the company's emergency medical kit, and Ou Tingyun treated the wound briefly himself.

Yi Zhize drove him to the hospital, and on the way, Ou Tingyun teased him, "Your business is too dangerous, if I hadn't been there today, you would have been in trouble."

Yi Zhize's hand trembled slightly as he gripped the steering wheel: "I'm sorry."

"What's there to apologise for?"

"You didn't really have to do that."

"How did you offend him?"

"His wife was a client in my last case. Unable to tolerate the man's domestic abuse, cheating, alcoholism and gambling, his wife commissioned me to sue for divorce. I got his wife all the legal rights she was entitled to and the man was netted out of his home and now has almost nothing."

"So, he's taking his grievances out on you."

“En."

"In the end, it's me who got hurt.” Ou Tingyun sighed and said, "Zhize, my wound hurts so much."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't want to hear you apologise," said Ou Tingyun, "make it up to me."