CH 10

Was this a question even worth asking?

Yan Suizhi looked at the hologram, saying in his head: ‘Young man. You’re completely oblivious to the truth. If I even had to worry about this type of mock court debate between interns, then I may as well pack my bags and ready myself for retirement. Moreover…’ 

He wasn’t actually here to do labour for this cursed law firm.

Once he got ahold of the case details on the explosion, he could slap his resignation letter onto Student Gu’s desk, clap his hands together and leave. So, why worry?

After a long period of non-response, Henry could no longer keep it to himself.

[Henry: Are you too polite to ask for details? It’s okay, I don’t mean anything else. I’m just afraid that you won’t be mentally prepared.] 

[Ruan Ye: Thanks.]

[Henry: A few seniors from school had told me this. They said that Lawyer Gu is terribly harsh with his scores and wouldn’t cut anyone slack. The closer you are to him, the higher his expectations, so high it can even give people an existential crisis. I heard that there was once an intern who had family ties with him, and had thought that he would have someone cover his back if he came here. Little did he expect that Lawyer Gu didn’t take in interns and was crushed by this. Later on, he did a botch job of preparing for the preliminary assessment and was given a stern dressing down at the mock court debate. He went up with his head high and came down crying, just imagine it. If I were his student…]

Everyone: fear.jpg

[Luke: This style reminds me of someone.]

[Anna: Me too…]

[Henry: Dean…]

[Henry: The former dean.]

[Anna: Wasn’t Lawyer Gu mentored by the dean?] 

Yan Suizhi, who was unwittingly forced out into the limelight, felt very wronged—your Lawyer Gu was definitely born with that temper of his, don’t push the blame onto me. He even dares to treat me in this manner, would I have taught him this?

[Anna: There’s a difference still, though. At least the dean can joke around outside the review and assessment periods, and he would always have a smile on his face. He looks like a very gracious and elegant person. Have you ever seen Lawyer Gu smile?]

[Anna: Not once.]

[Henry: Go back and take a look at the review results from the past two years, then see if you still can tell me whether or not the dean was kind. Actually, I’ve always been very puzzled how the dean always managed to score that high during the teaching evaluations.] 

[Anna: Why? How much did you give him back then?]

[Henry: …100.]

[Anna: Ha ha.]

[Freida: Behold, a college masochist.] 

Tjc Velhtl, “…”

[Luke: Ruan Ye, why aren’t you saying anything?]

[Henry: Have you been scared into tears?]

Tjc Velhtl, “…” Ktbrf akb lvlbar mbeiv obgw j mtblg abufatfg. 

Lbkfnfg, atf mbcnfgrjalbc abqlm lc atlr asqf bo ugbeq mtja kjr rbwfatlcu delaf cbnfi ab Tjc Velhtl. Pa tjv yffc j ofk sfjgr rlcmf tf ijra rjk remt qegf jcv lccbmfca mtjar asqlmji bo raevfcar; atf qgfnlber alwf tf kjr lcnbinfv lc rlwlijg mtjar kbeiv tjnf yffc ktfc tf tjv pera ugjvejafv.

He didn’t enter the conversation. He only adopted a spectator’s attitude of watching the play unfold, then closed the hologram.

“How may I help you today, sir?” An immaculately dressed store assistant pinpointed walked up to him at just the right time.

Yan Suizhi habitually picked out two shirts and was about to turn around when he heard a deep, impassive voice come from behind him. “What are you doing here?” 

He whipped his head back to see Gu Yan’s face. He said huffily, “What are you sneaking around behind me for? You gave me a fright.”

Lawyer Gu, who had openly and brazenly walked into the store, “…Are you here to be a thief?”

“…” Keep talking trash, why don’t you.

“If you aren’t here to be a thief then what did you get so frightened for?” Gu Yan said lightly. 

Yan Suizhi almost rolled his eyes at him. He lifted his chin. “I didn’t give you a location, how did you find me?”

“I happened to see you when alighting opposite.” Gu Yan glanced at the two shirts in his hand and asked with an odd tone in his voice, “Are you certain that you hadn’t walked into the wrong store?”

“Of course not.” Yan Suizhi inwardly added, most of my shirts were from this brand, how could I have walked into the wrong store.

“Don’t you know the prices of the shirts in this store?” Gu Yan said mildly. “I advise you to take another look at the balance in your bank.” 

Yan Suizhi’s body instantly stiffened.

Gu Yan didn’t hesitate to drive in the knife. “5022 xi, remember?”

Yan Suizhi, “…” I forgot.

“I am obligated to remind you that something like this will not be covered under business expenses,” Gu Yan added. “So, you shouldn’t be indulging in such unrealistic fantasies, hm?” 

Yan Suizhi felt the tip of his nose twinge with embarrassment and made to put the two shirts back. But Gu Yan cut him off midway before he could.

He held the shirt, flipping it over to inspect it cursorily. His eyes flickered towards Yan Suizhi. “If memory serves me right, I gave you some time to pack your luggage after notifying you of the business trip. Yet you came with both hands empty. Can you explain to me exactly what was on your mind?”

Yan Suizhi gave a dry laugh. “What was on my mind? I’m so broke that I have no other clothes, what luggage could I have packed?”

Gu Yan, “…” 

“I had absolutely rotten luck a while ago. The place I stayed at was robbed.” Yan Suizhi began pulling excuses from thin air, “That thief was utterly unscrupulous, he was just slightly short of selling my body for money. Would I be this broke, otherwise? 5022 xi, ha!”

He even laughed mockingly at himself as he spoke. Needless to say, the emotions he displayed were down to a pat. After all, waking up to find that he had turned into a pauper was not too far off from being robbed blind.

Gu Yan’s eyebrows knit together. He looked Yan Suizhi over a few times but did not seem to find any cracks in his demeanour. In the end, he merely glanced away with an inscrutable expression.

Yan Suizhi took the initiative to propose, “Let’s go to another store, it isn’t difficult to find cheap clothes in Wine City. I passed by another store earlier, it’s right at the street ahead.” 

“If I hadn’t misunderstood you, the store you’re referring to should be the one whose store sign is soon about to fall off, right?” Gu Yan said, “Are you sure you’d have the confidence to stand in court with clothes bought from that store?”

Seriously, Yan Suizhi grumbled in his head, do you think a veteran of the court like me would have to resort to clothes to boost my confidence?

But, of course, such an answer did not suit the psyche that a regular intern should possess.

Exasperated, he said, “This won’t do, that won’t do; then what do you want me to do?” 

Gu Yan levelled him a look. Without a word, he took the two shirts and walked off.

Yan Suizhi stared at his back, thinking to himself, what was Gu Yan bringing those shirts with him for? It couldn’t be that he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and was going to pay for him, right?

Two minutes later, Yan Suizhi thought he saw a ghost…

Because, Gu Yan had really woken up on the wrong side of the bed and was currently paying for the shirts… 

And an hour later when they had returned to the hotel, Yan Suizhi stood in Gu Yan’s room, staring at the open luggage by the bed. The pitch of his voice raised minutely, “What did you say?”

“Don’t look at those two new shirts, they have nothing to do with you.”

Yan Suizhi, “…”

Gu Yan pointed at a black robe in his luggage. “You’ll be wearing this tomorrow.” 

For Yan Suizhi, the black robe couldn’t be more familiar to him. That was a bespoke lawyer’s robe custom made in a high-end tailor shop. Subtle details were woven into the hems and cuffs, the standard pattern signifying law’s supreme status in the alliance.

This lawyer’s robe wasn’t a garment that any random person could buy with money. They had to have received a custom order affixed with the seal of the alliance before an appointment could be made for the fitting.

Naturally, money was needed for this as well…

And it was very, very expensive. 

Yan Suizhi had three of such lawyer’s robes. He would obtain another robe every time he was promoted. The final robe he obtained was even a little different from Gu Yan’s; his had a deep gold medallion—the exclusive mark of a First-Class Lawyer.

However, that wasn’t the main point. The main point was…

“Tomorrow? You mean the bail hearing? Why should I wear this?” Yan Suizhi was baffled. “It isn’t as if I’m going up to the defence table.”

He was an intern lawyer. Wasn’t he only supposed to sit and listen meekly from the back of the courtroom? 

He never expected that Gu Yan would stare straight into his eyes for a moment, then shift his gaze away. And as he kept the newly bought shirts, he casually said, “You go up. I’ll sit at the back.”

In that split second, Yan Suizhi was so startled that his eye twitched. He looked at Gu Yan’s side profile and asked, “What do you mean by that?”