CH 7

For the number of people in line were few, they passed customs very quickly—or, better put, the number of people willing to come to this place were pitifully few. And of these pitifully few visitors, most were like Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi, simply here on work or official business. There were unorthodox interstellar merchants among the minority, as well as some travellers with more peculiar interests who would come here to do their own thing.

As the saying went, it took all sorts to make a world. 

Compared to the daylong bustle at Port Newsa in De Carma, the port in Wine City was small, old, and in a state of disrepair akin to having weathered through several bombings.

The port only saw one space shuttle pulling in every other day, and they would never stay for more than twenty minutes before rushing out again.

Therefore, the workers had so little to do that they almost grew mould. Some even picked up jobs on the side—

“Sir, would you like a taxi?” 

“The port is quite a distance from the heart of the city, sir and madam, would you like to engage my services? I can take you to many places, I can even toss in tour guide services as a freebie, hm… if that’s something that would interest you?”

“Flyway Marketplace, underground wineries, Cavern Trade Hall. Aha, are any of you tourists interested in gambling?”

The familiar scene and touting buzzed in their ears, rattling on from when they came out from customs, and pestering them to after they left the hall.

The esteemed Professor Yan particularly hated being surrounded by the clamour of people about him, therefore especially disliked this place. Yet due to all sorts of circumstances, he inevitably kept having to come by.

“Some quiet, at last. My smile was close to dropping off my face.” Yan Suizhi nonchalantly brushed his coat after leaving the hall. He held his breath and said gloomily, “I miscalculated. I always used to bring a mask when I came here in the past.”

Gu Yan merely lifted his gaze minutely without saying a word, nor did the lines of his mouth even change.

Yan Suizhi suspected that Gu Yan was also quickly about to choke from the fumes, simply that none of this showed on his face out of politeness and his upbringing. Besides, based on Student Gu’s personality, even if any of it showed, it would be no more than a worsening of his facial paralysis.

“Go down that turn. We can’t hail a taxi here, their business has been forcibly monopolised by those service crew in the hall,” Yan Suizhi pointed at a dusty grey building opposite them. “Let’s get going.” 

“I know.” Gu Yan sounded equally stuffy. It was clear how hard it was for him to breathe. “I’m only curious how you would know this. Did you come here often in the past?”

Professor Yan paused briefly mid-step, then started spouting nonsense. “I was often tricked into visiting this area back in my young and ignorant days, so I’ve a deep impression of it. I’ll never forget it all my life.”

Gu Yan scoffed, traversing time and space to taunt the young and ignorant Yan Suizhi of before.

“Did you know—” 

Right as Yan Suizhi’s foot stepped about the corner, three vehicles stealthily made an appearance. He casually flagged one down with a wave of his hand, pulled the door open and turned his head over to Gu Yan. He said, “Many universities have evaluation systems in place to judge a teacher’s professionalism. Generally speaking, those who like to taunt their students are sure to lose their jobs. For example, the way you scoff at me at the drop of a hat.”

He said this with a smile and got on the taxi right after, the door left open and half a seat for Student Gu.

Gu Yan, of course, was aware of this system—all students would be. Maze University had a particular fondness for conducting these evaluations under a veil of anonymity. From teaching instructors to even the headmaster, they didn’t let anyone off, the purpose to allow greater equality between the professors and the students within the school.

And as everyone knew, the law school had one professor whose evaluation every year would be beyond praise… not anyone else, but that dean with an exceedingly caustic tongue. 

The written comments were mostly along the tangent of “humorous and witty”, “elegant and easygoing”, and “I’m terrified of him but I also have great respect for him”, etc.

Seriously…

He was just bullshitting however much he wanted.

Gu Yan held the car door, peering down at Yan Suizhi from above. Then, he threw all manners out the window and shut the door on him, going to sit in the front passenger seat instead. 

Yan Suizhi, “…” Would it kill you to sit with me??

“Sirs, where would you like to go?” The taxi driver shot both sides of the road a quick look, and without waiting for either to answer, floored the gas pedal.

The taxi swerved sharply and rushed back into the traffic.

Wine City had an extremely poor standard of living, thereabout to what the original De Carma was like before going through several industrial and scientific revolutions. 

This place was unable to develop any stable industries. The mainlanders on the planet couldn’t be depended upon and it was further unable to attract any talent over. It couldn’t rely on foreign diplomacy either, for it was like a tiny grey speck of interstellar dust often forgotten by others.

“Blackmarket, winery, or the casino?” the driver asked with a mischievous laugh, “People are only ever here for any of these three places. Of course, there’s also—ahem, you know what I’m talking about!”

The driver spoke as if he were drunk, the end syllable dragged meaningfully long then dissolving into snickers without a care for their response. “The lassies there are super hot!”

Gu Yan, “…” 

Yan Suizhi, “…”

Lawyer Gu turned back to give the intern sitting in the backseat a pointed look, knives shooting out his eyes, as if saying ‘you really have a damned way of picking taxis.’

Yan Suizhi was initially rather resigned to his luck, but when he saw that dour look on a certain someone’s face at the front, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Gu Yan, “…” 

Expressionless, he straightened the lower hem of his coat and fastened the seatbelt. Four words sprung from his lips, “The detention centre, please.”

The taxi driver, “…………”

The guy who was laughing jovially earlier now looked as if he had swallowed a live whale. The entire body of the car swung from side to side bizarrely before regaining its stability.

“Where to???” 

“Coldlake Detention Centre, on the outskirts of Wine City.”

“Must I send you to the gates?”

“…”

Even if Lawyer Gu’s frosty face was so pinched it was about to split, he had no choice but to tolerate this driver’s personality, for it was likely that the taxi drivers in Wine City were all cut from the same cloth. 

The space shuttle port was quite some distance away from Coldlake Detention Centre. Gu Yan hadn’t been to this district in the past, and only knew that it was a half-hour journey according to the map on his smart device.

In the end, this taxi driver went above and beyond, driving like his car was on fire, as if what he was driving wasn’t a car but livestock. Therefore, they arrived at the detention centre an hour earlier than expected.

“And so, the golden 10-minutes became a brass hour,” said Yan Suizhi.

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Yan Suizhi sighed. He lengthened his stride to catch up with the other.

“Alright, come on then. Tell me what’s the situation with that client.” Yan Suizhi walked beside Gu Yan and got down to business. 

“Joshua Dale, 14 years old. He’s been accused of burglary.”

In the entire interstellar alliance, each galaxy and each planet developed at different rates. The lifespan of people in different zones was likewise longer or shorter than others. In general, those with greater longevity, such as De Carma, had an average lifespan that reached two hundred and fifty years of age; those comparatively shorter, such as Wine City, had an average lifespan barely even reaching a hundred.

However, in any case, the age marker that separates youth from adulthood was the same across the entire interstellar alliance—

18 years old. 

Even if they had the life expectancy of a giant tortoise, they would be considered adults once past eighteen. As for how long they could remain alive and kicking after reaching adulthood, that was their own business.

And by the interstellar alliance’s common criminal law code, there were two other important age markers. That would be, at 14 years old, and at 16 years old.

Once they were past the age of fourteen, they could be tried and held legally responsible for several types of criminal felonies. If by happenstance they were past the age of sixteen, then they could escape no crime.

Unfortunately, of those several criminal felonies that a fourteen-year-old could be put behind bars for, burglary was among them. 

“14 years old? Is it past his birthday yet?” Yan Suizhi asked.

“Turned fourteen just two days before the incident.”

“He sure has a way of growing into his age,” Yan Suizhi commented.

Regardless of his familiarity with a person, this person’s caustic tongue was always ready to strike, to the point where it was often difficult to tell whether he was making sheer mockery or giving sincere praise. As his tone always remained cordial, any favourable comments were virtually indistinguishable from those made in jest. 

Gu Yan looked over at him, his mouth parting slightly as if with something on the tip of his tongue.

But Yan Suizhi hadn’t noticed it. He went on to ask, “What’s going on with the bail? Normally, minors who haven’t been convicted will more often than not be granted bail without us having to do anything. The review officer should have approved this.”

Before the court pronounced a party guilty, the suspect should be presumed innocent to prevent accidental persecution of the innocent.

This was a principle written into the legal constitutions across the alliance. It was also because of this principle that being released on bail became the norm. 

“That is the law in other places, not here,” said Gu Yan.

“How can that be?” Yan Suizhi was quite astonished, “There wasn’t such special treatment here before, either.”

“Before?” Gu Yan turned his head over to look at Yan Suizhi, “How can you know of any kind of ‘before’?”

Crap, tongue slipped. 

Yan Suizhi immediately and calmly said, “Case law. Just look at the number of years I spent studying law if nothing else; I had to have read about many case laws. Before, it wasn’t hard to be granted bail in Wine City, at least it was still quite normal at the end of last year.”

Gu Yan shifted his gaze away and said, “From the looks of it, your hard work only lasted to the end of last year. You clearly haven’t read up on the new cases from this month.”

Professor Yan secretly rolled his eyes: you don’t say. Were those few months that people mourned my ‘death’ for show?

“Wine City is regressing year after year. The recent few months have been especially disorderly. The laws are being dealt out on a by person basis, bail as well.” 

Yan Suizhi thought to himself, I only spent half a year asleep, why has the sky changed as soon as I wake up?

He hadn’t seen concrete material on the case. At this time, he could only blindly make conjectures in the dark and thus did not say anything else.

Coldlake Detention Centre was located in a completely isolated area. Shabby houses were crammed together in a haphazard mess, coming to an abrupt stop a full three-hundred metres before the detention centre, refusing to budge even an inch closer.

The people who lived in the neighbourhood were also not fond of walking around the area as if trying to avoid meeting with misfortune. 

Therefore, the entrance of the detention centre was very likely the only clean area of Wine City. Even birds would have to hold their shit when flying through this area.

However, in this godforsaken area where even birds didn’t shit, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan picked up a child.

The little girl was extremely skinny. She looked to be approximately eight or nine years old, squatting in a corner of the wall with a face unwashed for days. Her wide eyes stared fixed at the gates of the detention centre.

“Where did this ghostly girl learn her tricks from, there’s not a peep from her at all.” Yan Suizhi briskly walked over, and to his surprise saw a shadow by her feet, giving him a scare. 

The girl’s reaction was slightly delayed. She only tore her gaze away from the detention centre several seconds later, lifting her head to look up at Yan Suizhi.

And this lift of her head betrayed how unsightly her complexion had become. Wan and sallow, dried skin covered her cheeks, and a slightly rancid odour wafted off her.

However, at this time, Yan Suizhi no longer complained how toxic the air here was.

The girl saw this stranger bend down as if with something to say to her. 

But she was slightly fearful, and she unconsciously shuffled two steps back, looking piteous as she braced her back against the icy stone wall with no path of retreat.

“Do I look like a human trafficker?” Yan Suizhi turned his head over to ask Gu Yan.

For the first time, Lawyer Gu was on the same page as him, giving a conceited nod.

Yan Suizhi, “…” 

Get lost.

“You want to raise her?” Gu Yan asked him, his tone airy, the line between casual question and barbed mock very slight.

After all, in this regard, the teacher and student were both of the same stock.

Yan Suizhi gave a short laugh and stood back upright. “Your imagination’s really rich, I’m not that good a person.” 

He turned his head, lifting his chin at a scruffy street not far off, “In this place, ten out of ten alleys on this street have people sleeping in them. I’d have to buy the entire Wine City to build an orphanage to raise them all.”

Saying this, he waved his ring at Gu Yan. “5022 xi. In my next life, probably.”

Gu Yan, stone-faced, “It’s hard to say. You might end up poorer in your next life.”

Yan Suizhi, “…You really have a way of comforting others.” 

“You’re flattering me.”

“…”

“This kid doesn’t like me. I’m leaving,” Yan Suizhi said.

They both checked the time. They still had twenty minutes to spare, so they started to walk towards the entrance of the detention centre. 

But after only two steps, Yan Suizhi seemed to think of something again and turned back. He slipped a hand into his coat pocket, then bent down and spread his hand in front of the girl. There was a piece of chocolate resting on his palm. “I turned out to still have one left. Do you want it?”

The girl was plastered to the corner of the wall as she stared at him for a good few seconds. Afterwhich, she abruptly reached out to snatch that chocolate before retreating backwards again.

“You’re this hungry but your body is still quite nimble,” Yan Suizhi raised his eyebrows, then turned around and left.

After walking a distance away, he faintly heard a soft voice mumble from behind, “…have to say thanks.” 

Yan Suizhi looked back. That girl had already returned to her previous posture, squatting over there as she stared at the entrance to the detention centre, almost as if she hadn’t seen him. But her right cheek was bulging slightly now with the shape of a candy stuffed inside.

“The space flight was fifteen hours. You barely even ate a few bites of your meal yet took more than a few candies,” Gu Yan said.

Yan Suizhi kept a straight face. “I’m portioning my food into more meals in a day. Candies can count as meals too.”

The truth was that he currently had low blood sugar, perhaps aftereffects from spending too long a time asleep, or perhaps aftereffects as his body adapted to the gene modification. In any case, he had to keep a few candies on him to prevent himself from fainting. 

Naturally, this wasn’t a reason that he could give Gu Yan, so he simply talked nonsense.

The gates to the detention centre were tightly locked like an impregnable fortress. Several guards were standing on duty by the gates.

Gu Yan walked up to the electronic lock and tapped the smart device on his pinkie against it. All the necessary paperwork for the arranged meeting was synced to the electronic lock, and the identification bound to the smart device passed the authentication, successfully granting him entry.

Beep— 

The gates made a sound and creaked open slowly.

These gates were likely the most advanced technology that could be found within this neighbourhood. They were sponsored by a certain consortium with deep pockets about a decade ago. At that time, this consortium also gave a boost to Wine City’s government behind closed doors, essentially bringing an overhaul to all important areas of this wretched planet alongside a resolve to create a semblance of order on this planet.

It was good to have dreams, but reality was cruel.

In any case, the consortium had already gone on the decline. Those new things that they had initially sponsored became worn with age. 

The detention centre was dimly lit and cramped. The corridors were narrow, and the windows even smaller, exuding a dense oppressive air. But it wasn’t silent.

This detention centre in Wine City was especially chaotic, filled with yelling, abuse, and all sorts of obscenities that drilled incessantly into their ears. And this noise came indiscriminately from behind every single narrow door without fail.

Just walking through this stretch down the corridor had implicated Yan Suizhi’s ancestry as far as eight generations back. However, he was already very used to this, and he walked on with exceeding calm. 

A tall and well-built warden stood in front of an iron-grilled door with an electric baton. “Who are you? Who are you here for?”

Yan Suizhi smiled. “Lawyer, the paperwork’s done. Here to see Joshua Dale.”

Gu Yan, who had only just opened his mouth, “…”

The warden arched an eyebrow. “Dale? You guys must really have a good temper.” 

Saying this, he gave a short, meaningful bark of laughter, though it was unclear if it was in derision or something else.

Yan Suizhi replied as easily as before, “Yeah, I also think so.”

Gu Yan, “…”

The warden directed a nasally scoff at him, then turned around and waved at his subordinate, getting him to open the iron-grilled door. “Come on, follow me.” 

Minors would usually be separated from the adults at other detention centres. However, they were all mixed together over here in Wine City.

Soon, the warden stopped in front of a steel door and pointed at it with his chin. “There. The Dale that you’re looking for.”

“Many thanks,” said Yan Suizhi.

Gu Yan, “…” 

The warden lifted a rectangular flap on the door, exposing a window so small it could only frame a pair of eyes. He shouted inside gruffly, “Little brat! Your lawyer’s here to see you!”

A pair of jade-green eyes quickly appeared at the window. It was easy to judge just from a look the unfriendliness reflected in the eyes, alongside a cold wave of hostility.

Immediately after, the person inside abruptly reached a hand out and slammed the flap shut right in their faces.

Yan Suizhi, “…” 

A smile tight with anger, he turned to ask Gu Yan, “Are you certain you’ve made an appointment with him?”

Was this the attitude of someone with an appointment? You had to be kidding me.

But he found that, before the smile could fully form on his face, Lawyer Gu behind him had on a deadpan look, leaning against the wall and gazing at him.

Yan Suizhi really wanted to ask whose grave he was sweeping with a face so dead, but before the question could slip out his mouth, it suddenly dawned on him. He had essentially stolen Lawyer Gu’s job this whole way. 

His habits would be the death of him someday.

He awkwardly cleared his throat and stepped aside. “Huh? Why did you end up walking to the back?”

Gu Yan, “…………”

It was rare to ever come across such a shameless person in a lifetime. 

Gu Yan looked frostily at him for a while then moved his lips. “Aren’t you going to continue? Lawyer Ruan?”

Yan Suizhi laughed drily and shook his hand, “You’re the teacher. You do it.”

This person was willing to throw away his shame to defuse the awkwardness. Besides, no one recognised him in this face.

After saying this, he pointed at the tightly shut window, asking, “I clearly heard you speak with him when we got off the space shuttle. Why has this kid suddenly changed his tune, pretending not to know you now?” 

Committing a folly then changing the topic without a flush of his face at all—this intern truly broadened Gu Yan’s horizons.

However, he only replied mildly, “I simply got the warden to pass the comms to him, and hung up right after saying my piece. If a one-sided notice can be considered speaking with him, then yes. I’ve spoken to him.”

The warden puffed up proudly. He pointed at the flap. “I passed it on. I opened the window and let him listen.”

Yan Suizhi, “…” 

Alright, you win.

Yan Suizhi gave up his spot and Gu Yan naturally took the lead. He pointed at that steel door and said, “Can you open the door please?”

“Are you sure? You want to see him even with his attitude like this?” Though the warden said this, he still opened the door. And once the door was opened, he grasped the electric baton by his hip, looking all geared up to whip it out and shock someone with it anytime.

But Yan Suizhi pressed his hand down. There wasn’t any need to go to such intimidation. 

What actually happened was that he and Gu Yan entered the door one after the other, and that kid named Joshua Dale didn’t do anything much either.

He merely sat there and stared coldly at the two of them. Then, he scoffed and sharply turned his head away.

It was only at that point that Yan Suizhi was able to see how this unlucky brat looked like.

He had a head of relatively long black hair pulled into a braid behind him. However, the hair looked unwashed for days and was in a mess. His eyes were jade green. Because of the gauntness of his face, his eyes appeared very wide and set especially deep. 

His lips were even thinner than Gu Yan’s, so when he pursed them together, they gave off a strong sense of harshness.

Gu Yan actually gave off this image as well, simply that the way he moved and held himself was always very proper, as a result turning this harshness instead into an aloof handsomeness.

But as for this little brat in front of them…

He was only fourteen, after all. Even this harsh demeanour looked like a thinly painted mask. 

“I’m the lawyer taking over your case, the one who spoke with you earlier,” Gu Yan said.

Yan Suizhi, “…” You really have the gall to call it that, now?

Joshua also seemed displeased by what he termed ‘speaking with you’, thick disgust on his face. But he no longer said anything, as if all his emotions had been vented at the window earlier, hence was no longer inclined to speak.

“I only came here to meet you so that you may recognise my face.” Gu Yan did not care for the other’s silence and spoke coldly. “Regardless of what attitude you show now, I hope that when we next meet, you can tell me the whole truth of everything that happened.” 

Something about this struck a nerve in Joshua; he finally spoke, “Tell you? What’s the use of telling you anything? The previous lawyer and the previous, previous lawyer both said the same damn thing. And in the end?”

He kicked the steel wall. “I’m still locked up in this nauseating place!”

“You can try,” Gu Yan was completely unaffected by his mood, and his tone remained as calm as before.

“Try, your ass! I’m innocent! I wasn’t the one who fucking did it! Why must I sit in here waiting for you guys to come by on the heels of each other and tell me to ‘try’?! If you’re really all that great take me out of here before you tell me to try! Those who can’t do it should just fuck off—” Joshua roared, his emotions spiralling out of control. 

Yan Suizhi laughed from the side. “You’re kicking up a temper after no more than a few sentences. How can anyone bail you out when you act like this? I guarantee you that the judge at the hearing will take one look at your face and reject the application for bail straightaway.”

Joshua panted heavily, glaring at him. “More of these lies again! If I could get bail would I still be stuck here?!”

“Bail isn’t an issue,” Gu Yan looked into his eyes and said. “But you have to promise to tell me everything that happened the next time we meet without withholding any information.”

People would subconsciously behave themselves when Gu Yan looked squarely at them. If this person really became a teacher, the way his students looked at him would strike a resemblance to the way mice looked at cats. 

Joshua Dale stood his ground for a few seconds before glaring at him weakly and sitting back down.

As if all his strength was now exhausted, he sat there motionless as a sculpture.

It was very apparent that even though he was no longer hurling abuse at them, he still didn’t believe Gu Yan. After a long time, he finally mumbled, mocking in a low voice, “If you can bring me the hell out of here I’ll call you my grandfather. Now fuck off, you liars.”

This type of colourful speech would only make people sigh deeply the first time encountering it. Year after year of encountering it wore them inured to such words. 

Liar Gu Yan and Liar Yan Suizhi were each as composed as the next, and left the room behind each other.

The warden also looked itching for a fight. His hand stroked his beloved electric baton as he said, “You lawyers are really…” With this, he shook his head and shut the door without further ado.

In the narrow room, the boy who had shouted himself hoarse sat expressionlessly for a while. Slowly, he bent his knees and buried his face into them, curling his body and staying in that posture.

Compared to the detention centre, the sky outside was dazzling bright, catching them off guard.

Yan Suizhi shielded his eyes under his fingers and projected a hologram to check the time. “It’s not yet two o’clock. Let’s head to the local people’s court—what are you looking at me like that for?”

Gu Yan gazed into his eyes for a moment before shifting his gaze away. “Nothing much. I just feel that, despite being an intern, your reaction when encountering such things for the first time really exceeds expectations.”

Yan Suizhi, “………” Right… this really was a very good question.