CH 5

“What’s up? Is your lease about to expire?” With some effort, Luke managed to swallow down his forkful of noodles and spoke with his mouth half-full. “No wonder I don’t remember seeing you around. You’re not often at school, are you?”

Yan Suizhi nodded. “No, not very often.”

---

Maze University had a ‘hall of fame’. Being a top-notch school, there was naturally a whole throng of alumni. If someone’s name could be displayed in the hall of fame and become a part of the school’s history, it was an honour in and of itself.

Yan Suizhi’s portrait had already been placed in the law school’s hall of fame for a few years now. His portrait was surrounded by fellow hall-of-famers, all of whom were old or middle-aged. The portrait was painted with an odd but very unique and distinctive style. He was, without a doubt, the youngest person in the hall of fame......

He was also the one who had died the earliest.

The portrait had probably been moved to the hall of fame for the deceased by now to be used as a mourning portrait.

One shouldn’t think too hard about these kinds of things - it was easy to get a stomachache just thinking about it.

In short, as a member of the hall of fame’ his life had been plentiful as well as extremely busy. Although he had held the title of ‘dean’ and had stayed in a spacious office designed to his tastes, he actually hadn’t spent all that much time within Maze University itself.

Normally, he would only stay at the school for a few days to take care of any important matters that arose in the university or the law school. And while he was at it, he would set aside a bit of time to piss off his students.

Or rather, piss off one particular student.

When he wasn’t at the university, he was at Southlew Law Firm. He was rarely in his own home.

This had actually been the butt of a joke at one point.

Six years ago, when De Carma underwent a reform, everyone’s personal records had to be registered and confirmed a second time. Of course, this wasn’t like the olden days so these kinds of records didn’t have to be entered into the system word by word. It was generated based on things such as asset card usage and was automatically analyzed. The registration process only required a quick glance and an in-person signature as confirmation.

One of the items included in the personal records file was ‘principal residence’. The system would determine the location based on how long you stayed in a particular spot and automatically filtered by length of time and frequency.

When Yan Suizhi had gone to the records office for the confirmation, the data for the ‘principle residence’ column had rippled past and in the end, four words had popped up:

Long distance space shuttle

The young woman in charge of the file had laughed so hard she fell off her chair.

No matter how graceful of an expression that ‘frequent flyer’ Professor Yan tried to maintain, it couldn’t hide the fact that his face had turned green.

However, it still couldn’t compare to the green in his face at the present moment.

Yan Suizhi removed his earpiece and played with it in his hand. He gave the message from the apartment another silent look.

His lease was ending tomorrow, which meant that he definitely had to move out today. Of course, all his worldly belongings could fit into the pocket of his coat so there was no need to physically move anything. The important part was that he still had to find a new place to stay for the time being……

He had 5022 xi [1] in total, and if he excluded expenses for food and travel, where could he even afford to live?

“You haven’t found a new place yet?” Anna surmised.

She sat across from him and because of the angle of the holographic screen, other people were unable to see its contents. Of course, she wasn’t in the habit of peeping at other people’s messages and was only asking out of concern when she noticed that Yan Suizhi hadn’t touch the rest of his lunch.

“Hm?” Yan Suizhi raised his head and smiled softly, “I’m looking for one right now.”

“Why don’t you live at school?” Luke suggested. “Our dormitory is pretty close to Southcross and it’s subsidized during our internship period.”

This subsidy was one of the law school’s specialties. Every year, during the internship period, the law school would set aside some funds to give to students who made an honest effort during their internship. Its glorified name was ‘intern scholarship’ but was usually known as a subsidy. It also had a nickname that was rather long and was called, ‘we know you interns don’t have money and are dirt poor so we’ll hand out a bit of cash to save your life’.

Truthfully, it wasn’t a whole lot. It was paid monthly and was about 30 xi a day, and was just enough to cover transportation costs with maybe a smidgen left over.

“Meat from a mosquito is still meat,” Luke said, praising the subsidy.

Yan Suizhi thought mentally, ‘Thanks for reminding me; I don't even get to eat mosquito meat’.

He was a poor imitation of a student - counterfeit goods, if you will - and could probably keep up the pretense at the law firm. If he were to go to school, he would be a sitting duck just waiting to give the game away. He was afraid that he might end up walking down his usual path and head straight through the door to the dean’s office.

Besides, did the school have files related to the explosion case?

Nope.

---

That afternoon, Yan Suizhi remained the sole occupant and beneficiary of the spacious office.

Gu Yan evidently wasn’t in the habit of disclosing his whereabouts before heading out so Yan Suizhi had no idea where he had gone and whether or not he would return to the office today. Even if he didn’t return, Yan Suizhi wouldn’t be surprised. After all, he himself used to have a similar lifestyle.

The file folder had been collapsed into a few thin sheets and didn’t look like such an eyesore. However, Yan Suizhi wasn’t in a rush to organize it. Instead, he first searched up the words ‘explosion case’ in the folder.

The computer let out a jingle and all the information related to ‘explosion case’ were pulled up. Page after page of documents were stacked in front of Yan Suizhi.

It really was rather useful but…...weren’t there way too many fucking pages?

What’s more, it was obvious that it wasn’t just one explosion case - there must have been at least five cases, if not more.

Yan Suizhi folded his arms and leaned heavily against the back of the chair. He was so pissed that he was about to burst out laughing. Did Southcross Law Firm do nothing else but pick out all sorts of explosion cases to take on??

“Ruan?” While Yan Suizhi’s head was still pounding, Luke knocked on the door. He stuck his head inside and glanced around, looking as if he were some sort of robber.

“Why don’t you pull a ski mask over your face first then come back?” When the esteemed Professor Yan was in a foul mood, he would start mocking people with a smile on his face.

The target of his mockery let out a laugh and entered. “You’re too funny.”

Yan Suizhi: …...Not as funny as you, evidently.

“Gu-laoshi [2] still hasn’t come back?” Luke stepped gingerly into the office. He didn’t understand why the two female students wanted to work in this office. In any case, the very sight of Gu-laoshi’s icy expression - which was basically a static photograph - was enough to instill fear in him, even before being acquainted.

“If he was back, would you still have the guts to come inside?” Yan Suizhi’s jab was as effective as a needle that drew blood with a single jab.

“No, I wouldn’t dare. He seems even harder to get close to than my teacher,” Luke replied, his mouth twitching.

His teacher was called Hobbs and had silver hair, eagle-like eyes and a thin frame. He was a veteran lawyer that had an elite sort of temperament. However, when it came to icy expressions, he was still no match for Gu Yan.

“How’s your file organization coming along? I did something stupid,” Luke said.

“What happened?”

“My hand slipped and I dragged a document into the ‘permanent delete’ bin.’

“What document?” Yan Suizhi still hadn’t shown a reaction.

“Ah? You haven’t seen it yet?” Luke used his fingers to draw the outline of a square. “It was a document like this. It specified what order the files should be organized in and which documents go first.”

“Oh, that list?” Yan Suizhi said. He straightened in his hair and swiped his finger to look through his own files. “I didn’t see it yet. It’s not a big deal even if it’s permanently deleted - just ask your teacher to send you another copy.”

Luke laughed dryly. “My teacher? No, no, no, I’m scared.”

“......”

“Besides, he left the office,” Luke added so as as not to seem so terrified. “He doesn’t seem to like me very much. He said he’s going to see the client but didn’t bring me along.”

Yan Suizhi said consolingly, “Don't worry about it. At least he told you why he was heading out.”

My teacher didn’t even look at me before he left.

“Also, they normally don’t bring interns with them on the first day,” Professor Yan said lightly. “To the intern, it’s like suddenly picking a fight for the whole day, and to the lawyer, it’s an added headache to deal with - both sides have to keep their cool.”

Luke: “......”

It actually made a bit of sense.

“I found it.” Yan Suizhi’s search had pulled up the documents that listed items such as ‘File Cover’, ‘Table of Contents’, ‘Engagement Letter’ etc.’ in order.

“Right, right, that’s the one.”

“Alright, you can head back. I’ll send a copy directly to your computer,” Yan Suizhi said.

Luke expressed his eternal gratitude and for a moment, Yan Suizhi wondered if he hadn’t actually sent a document and had, instead, sent a million xi.

---

Although each lawyer’s office at Southcross Law Firm was independent, the fact that they shared the same management and human resources department meant that there was a custom communication system set up for internal purposes. Yan Suizhi looked up Luke’s name on the list and sent him the document.

He was about to close the window but from the corner of his eye, he noticed Gu Yan’s name on the list. The status symbol next to his name indicated that he could be reached.

The esteemed Professor Yan stared at it for two seconds, then suddenly had an idea.

He raised a brow, opened up Gu Yan’s window and sent a message:

-Lawyer Gu, are we allowed to stay overnight at the office?

The esteemed Professor Yan, who hadn’t suffered shortages of funds in ages, had planned it all out. Since his lease was ending and he hadn’t found a new home that was suitable (read: cheap and to his taste), then he may as well make do and spend the next few days at the office.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t spent nights at the office in the past when things got busy - one could even say that he had plenty of experience.

However, there was no sign of activity for a while after the message was sent.

Yan Suizhi stared at the screen and tried placating himself for a bit, but was unable to suppress his temper in the end. He sent out another line:

-Lawyer Gu?

After about a minute, there was finally a sound indicating a new notification.

Yan Suizhi lifted his gaze. Gu Yan hadn’t said a single word and had directly sent over a screenshot.

What the hell?

Yan Suizhi tapped it open and realized that the image was from the internship manual. It contained a line from the manual that said:

Note on etiquette: Interns should address their mentor as ‘teacher’.

The single sentence was like a half-assed attempt at an execution - the cut was far from clean and the head was still attached. It was clear that Gu Yan’s reply was just for show and he had probably pulled something out offhandedly and sent it over.

The esteemed Professor Yan smiled as he looked at the messaging screen and thought, Teacher????

A student like you must have balls of steel.

He was struck speechless by the fact that his seniority had been thrown into disorder.

Although his mouth wasn’t able to move, his hands were still functioning.

Yan Suizhi chortled then gave the holographic screen a few jabs as he typed his third message to the ‘balls of steel’ Gu Yan.

-Alright then. Gu-laoshi, I want to stay overnight at the office.

This time, the reply came within moments and Gu Yan typed as if every single letter was more precious than gold:

-Reason being

How could Yan Suizhi tell his own student something as absurd as ‘to avoid sleeping on the streets’? Even if said student didn’t act like a student at all. However, Yan Suizhi gave it some thought and felt that he still wanted to save face this time, so he bullshitted a reply:

-To work overtime. Have to organize files.

Gu Yan didn’t respond for a long time. He had probably been struck dumb by Yan Suizhi’s fighting spirit.

A minute later, Gu Yan responded:

-Work overtime at home.

I……

The esteemed Professor Yan was so livid he leaned into the back of his chair once more.

Screw you! If I had a home, would I have to work overtime in the first place?

His greatest regret in life was that he had taught such an unlucky bastard like Gu Yan. It had been years since Gu Yan had graduated, and yet he still managed to add to Yan Suizhi’s stress levels with pinpoint accuracy.

Fortunately, this type of rage didn’t persist for very long. That evening, the messaging screen that Yan Suizhi had slammed shut came back to life.

There was a new message from Gu Yan:

-Come to Port Newsa at 6 o’clock.

Yan Suizhi lazily sent a reply:

-To do what

-Business trip

-?

Translator's Notes

xi = literal translation is 'west' but this is the currency used in the novel

laoshi = teacher (I personally prefer to translate as 'Gu-laoshi' rather than Teacher Gu, but the meaning is the same)