CH 71

From the booth, Chen Zhang felt that his breathing had sunk in that blanket of dead silence. After that, no matter what happened, what the judge said, how the witness examinations of both sides went, the closing statements—he blanked out through it all.

He only knew that, somehow, he seemed to have been blessed with a serendipitous turn of fate, bumping into an intern lawyer who surpassed all expectations. 

Before, he had been continually trying to brainwash himself, convincing himself not to bank his hopes on the intern, not to put too much pressure on the young man, not to make things difficult for him when he had already caused so much trouble, not to further trouble the other.

He had long been prepared for the worst. But never did he expect that there would actually be a moment when his hopes turned into reality.

With an austere look, the judge knocked his gavel; Chen Zhang woke up with a start. When he raised his head, the jury, which had left the room at some point, had already filed back in and returned to their seats, bringing with them the result of their solemn deliberation.

“All rise.” 

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to the prosecution’s charge of premeditated murder against Mr Chen Zhang, do you have a verdict? Guilty, or not guilty?”

“Not guilty.”

And at this point, Chen Zhang finally closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. It was only now that he noticed that even his breathing was shuddering.

The intern lawyer at the defence table looked over. From afar, through the clear glass, he smiled at him and gave him a nod, gentle and natural like a young gentleman. Even the judge, whose expression had never changed, gave him a nod before leaving the bench.

Of course, that was in actuality only a reminder to the two bailiffs behind him that he could be uncuffed.

But he felt that, most probably, this scene was one that he would never forget in this lifetime.

After the trial, the assistant judge came running over with the pages of the trial transcripts, going through the familiar process for the lawyers on both counsels to sign. Bard’s expression looked nasty, like he had swallowed unfiltered cat shit. Even when he was signing, his other hand covered his face. It was hard to say if his head or his face hurt more.

He didn’t even look at Yan Suizhi once. After signing and shoving the electronic pen into the assistant’s hand, he turned heel and walked off, practically stalking out of the courtroom. 

“Do I really look that ugly?” Yan Suizhi watched him vanish outside the door, turning over to ask Gu Yan.

Gu Yan, “…”

Now that the court session was over, the assistant judge instantly became animated, and was especially complaisant. “How can that be? The best-looking people I’ve seen in all my years of court experience are standing in front of me now.”

Yan Suizhi smiled. “Thank you.” 

Then, glancing at Gu Yan’s utterly unmoved and chilly face, he joked to the assistant, “I thank you for him, too.”

The assistant judge was tickled, arranging the order of the pages that need to be signed in front of him, handing him the electronic pen.

Tjc Velhtl abbx atf qfc, j ygbjv ragbxf mbwlcu jr rbbc jr tf gjlrfv tlr tjcv.

Rfza ab tlw, Xe Tjc mbeutfv. 

“…”

Yan Suizhi pulled the emergency brakes in time, making a sharp turn on that stroke [一] and forcibly twisting it into a ‘Ruan’. The ear radical [阝] of the ‘Ruan’ character looked a bit large and distorted, so he flamboyantly adjusted the structure of the two characters to match the big ear. The signature actually ended up looking quite stylish.

Ktbrf ecjkjgf kbeiv atlcx atja tf tjv jikjsr rlucfv ilxf atlr.

Ktf jrrlrajca ujatfgfv atf qjufr abufatfg, rwlifv jcv cbvvfv ja atfw, qeaalcu jii atf mbega wjafgljir lc bgvfg, atfc obiibklcu atf pevuf’r obbarafqr bea bo atf mbegagbbw. 

It was only then that Yan Suizhi said to Gu Yan, “Cough earlier next time.”

“…”

Just as though it was someone else’s fault that he had almost written the wrong word; could he be any more shameless?

Outside the courthouse, the two reporters from Honeycomb Media, Bens and Hersey, had already been camping at the roadside for some time. Actually, it wasn’t just the two of them. There were several reporters from several media outlets lying in wait by the road outside the courthouse. The Manson family’s refusal to make the trial public clearly displayed their attitude, thus it was inconvenient for them to act too brazenly and risk wrath on themselves. They could only lay low to scavenge some indirect information. 

“See that? You keep thinking that everything I do is unscrupulous—” Bens swept a look around them with his nose upturned. “Verdant Media, Timeless Headlines, The Law Gazette, over there, there, and there. They’re all waiting to get their shots too. Do you think they’ll just sit by and twiddle their thumbs? Let me tell you—hey!!! They’re out, they’re out!”

He was just about to take the opportunity to give this idealistic youngster Hersey a hard reality check, when he saw Brewer Manson, tailed by his assistant and bodyguards, going down the flight of steps before the courthouse entrance in a haste.

“Ompf, that look…” Bens turned the lens over and snapped a few shots. He can’t help but sigh, saying, “Check out that expression on Brewer Manson’s face. Did he see a ghost or did he just down pesticide? What the hell happened?”

For him, not being allowed to watch the trial and take photographs was sheer torture to his heart and soul. 

Especially that look on Brewer Manson’s face; it ignited his curiosity and desire to dig for a scoop, yet he was deliberately being left in the dark.

Not only that but the people who came out of the courthouse one after the other had more spectacular expressions on their faces. A few of them were even whispering in each other’s ears with such fervour, the speed of their words shooting out rapid-fire like bouncing beans. However, without getting closer, they couldn’t catch any of it at all. Further, to get close, they’d first have to get past the underlings of the Manson family…

Hugging his beloved camera, Bens kicked up a riot on the spot. Hershey watched him, baffled.

“With that expression… could it be that the defence won?” Bens hazarded a guess, but rolled his eyes and nipped it himself. “No way, no way. He’s just an intern lawyer. So could something else have happened in the courtroom?” 

He stared at Hersey for a few seconds. Then, he clapped his hands together and said, “Let’s block that intern! Since we can’t take paparazzi shots then we can only enquire about what happened in court.”

Hersey, “…”

A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit—or so the saying went, anyway. Why did Bens seem to have completely forgotten how the intern had played him? Did that intern look like the sort who would meekly answer questions when asked? What kind of misconception did Bens seem to have in his head…

After several seconds, Bens acted like he had given a shot of chicken blood, shouting as if on a high, “He’s here he’s here he’s here! That intern!” 

As he spoke, he towed Hersey along with him, sprinting for the steps to the courthouse. And not more than a few steps later, he spotted Gu Yan appear from behind Yan Suizhi.

Going down the stairs, Yan Suizhi idly swept a gaze around just then and happened to catch sight of Bens and the embarrassment on Hersey’s face. Finding it laughable, he turned his head to say to Gu Yan, “Those two pesky reporters are here again…”

“They’ve already run off,” said Gu Yan.

“Huh?” Yan Suizhi was doubtful. He turned back to look. Bens, right about to step foot on the stairs, looked at Gu Yan like he was looking at a ghost; without the slightest pause, he spun on his heels, whipping away and running off in the complete opposite direction. 

“…Amazing, he’s growing smart.”

“Fuck me! Why’s that bigshot lawyer always at his elbows!” After bolting around a corner, Bens resentfully went on a tirade. “We can’t afford to provoke him. C’mon, we’re going, there’s no shit to photograph here.” Saying this, he clutched tight to his camera again.

Hersey, “…”

Well, it appeared that he did gain a little wit. 

Due to Chen Zhang’s not guilty verdict and the things Yan Suizhi said in court, the George Manson case once again reopened the investigation to confirm a suspect. Only now, the key suspect had turned into Zhao Zemu.

A lawyer couldn’t represent other parties in the same case, so no matter how the George Manson case developed after this, Yan Suizhi was washed clean of it.

However, he and Gu Yan still stayed in Tian Qin for a while longer, because Southcross Law Firm’s quarterly ass-kissing social was right around the corner.

This so-called ass-kissing social was a dinner and drinks event to which Southcross Law Firm invited judges with whom they were acquainted or would be acquainted with, giving all the elite lawyers in the firm an opportunity to keep in touch with the judges on a regular basis, or at least have a drink and clink glasses together in camaraderie. 

In this manner, lawyers in the firm would have an edge of having already established good ties when meeting them in court in the future.

Southcross organised such a social event every quarter, four times a year, which wasn’t too frequent nor too far apart, pinching just the right amount of time to cosy up to judges without crossing the line or seeming repulsive.

Therefore, internally, these were called the ass-kissing socials in jest.

In previous years, Gu Yan didn’t want to attend this farce of a dinner, and upper management didn’t really want him to attend it either. After all, Gu Yan wasn’t someone who would spout pretty words of flattery, also that Gu Yan’s courtroom record did grant him a certain degree of freedom. 

As before, Gu Yan made his usual excuses to steer clear from De Carma and this ass-kissing social.

“We might have to wait here to have a look at the conclusion of the case.” This was what Yan Suizhi said to Ms Fizz.

FIzz had seen it all. “Don’t bother explaining. I know that you don’t want to go to the ass-kissing social. Please, what conclusion of the case are you going on about, as if there’s even such a thing.”

Since she had already called it out, Yan Suizhi spoke with exceptional candour. “Yep, you caught me.” 

Fizz, “…”

So with that, the two of them had to extend their stay in Tian Qin.

However, they had only just confirmed their extended stay here when they received an invitation from Young Master Joe. “You guys aren’t in a hurry to go back, are you? Brill. I haven’t been able to contact you before because of the case investigation and testimony thing, but now that the ban is lifted, how about I buy you guys a drink?”

“Drinking again?” Gu Yan asked. 

Manson’s incident came about in the wake of the previous drinking party, yet this young master actually didn’t develop any kind of psychological shadow towards drinking; wasn’t he being a little too frivolous?

“Why? Don’t want to? What about the last time when you left Yaba Island when you said you’d make it up over drinks with me?” As Joe spoke, his voice dampened slightly, seemingly letting out a sigh. “To be frank, this whole Manson thing has got me a little… Man, forget it, let’s not talk about this until the police nails the evidence down. Anyway, how about it, a few drinks at Cherry Estate the following day? I can use this chance to take a breather.”

This loquacious young master said a long chain of things, never giving the other any space to refuse.

Gu Yan thought about how, in any case, he didn’t have much scheduled in the coming days, and nodded. “Mn.” 

“Right. You don’t mind if I bring Ke Jin, right? I noticed that he seems particularly fond of that intern of yours.” Joe sounded slightly frustrated when speaking of this. “He’s been a bit off again after the Manson thing, I’m hoping that chatting a couple of sentences with your intern can help him some.”

“Chatting a couple of sentences?”

Joe laughed drily. “Ask your intern for me, to one-sidedly chat a couple of sentences.”

“…” 

Gu Yan glanced at Yan Suizhi and acquiesced with a nod. “Okay.”