After dinner, Xu Huaisong called Liu Mao to confirm whether the colleague handling Zhou Jun's case was still at the law firm. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he drove over.
Liu Mao turned around and relayed the news. In the open office, lawyers who had been stretching lazily and preparing to leave froze in place, as if fate had seized them by the throat.
One who had just turned off their desk lamp was the first to switch it back on, saying, "Suddenly remembered there's a file I forgot to send. You guys go ahead."
Immediately after, another who had just closed their laptop slapped their forehead. "Ah, my memory’s failing me—I missed a report." With that, they sat back down.
In an instant, the entire open office swayed like grass under the wind.
A minute later, everything returned to the orderly state of half an hour prior—except the clatter of keyboards and rustle of flipping pages now carried an extra fervor.
Liu Mao, standing at the entrance with his bag, sighed and returned to his office.
The two young receptionists sprang into action.
"What do you think Attorney Xu likes to drink?"
"Coffee, probably?"
"Espresso? Americano? Latte? Mocha?"
"Just prepare all of them, then we can’t go wrong. Why are you so excited?"
"Ugh, you must’ve been absent last time Attorney Xu came back, right? If you’d seen him in person, you wouldn’t be so calm now!"
Half an hour later, the man himself arrived.
The two stood at the ready, poised to greet him with perfect eight-tooth smiles—only for their grins to freeze mid-way, revealing just four teeth.
At the firm’s main entrance, their esteemed Attorney Xu strode in, hand in hand with a girl.
The girl in question hadn’t been watching her path at all, tilting her head to chat and laugh with him. As they climbed the steps, he tightened his grip and tugged her slightly, saying, "Watch your step."
Pouting, she pulled her hand free with a hint of unreasonable defiance, muttering, "You want me to watch my steps… Then what’s the point of holding your hand?"
Then, they witnessed their unflappable Attorney Xu smile, reclaim the girl’s hand, and say, "Fine, I’ll watch for you."
The receptionists’ four-tooth smiles vanished entirely. It took them a moment to compose themselves before they managed normal expressions again, greeting in unison as Xu Huaisong and Ruan Yu passed the front desk: "Good evening, Attorney Xu!"
Xu Huaisong paused and told them, "Have someone fetch the late-night snacks from my car and distribute them to everyone."
They hurriedly agreed with a "Yes, sir!" Only after he left the lobby did their expressions crumble.
"The greatest distance in the world is falling in love at first sight… only to have your heart broken in the next."
"It’s me preparing espresso, americano, latte, and mocha for him… only for him to bring me a heavyweight dose of dog food in return."
They clutched their heads and let out a silent wail.
Ruan Yu, who had just turned the corner onto the stairs, caught the faint sound and glanced back toward the lobby. "What’s wrong with them?" she asked.
Xu Huaisong thought for a moment, then smiled ambiguously. "Probably just happy about the late-night snacks."
The two reached the second-floor open office. Xu Huaisong led Ruan Yu to stand outside the doorway and peek in.
A group of people immediately rose to greet him. "Attorney Xu."
He nodded at them, then turned to explain to her, "This is the open office area. The conference rooms are upstairs."
Ruan Yu also nodded politely at the curious glances directed her way, then tugged Xu Huaisong’s sleeve, urging him to move along.
He glanced down at her hand and chuckled before heading upstairs. On the way, he asked, "Should I find you a break room, or do you want to come with me to the conference room?"
"The conference room," she replied.Xu Huaisong nodded.
When the two arrived, Liu Mao, Chen Hui, and another female lawyer were already waiting inside. After exchanging greetings, an assistant came in with coffee.
Ruan Yu glanced at Xu Huaisong hesitantly when she saw this.
Meeting her gaze, his hand paused as he reached for the coffee, then waved it away. "Just water for me."
Liu Mao looked between Ruan Yu and him. "Finally learning to take care of your stomach, huh?"
Xu Huaisong shot him a glare. "What's a civil lawyer like you doing here?"
"Huh? Then what's someone who hasn't even passed the bar exam doing—"
Xu Huaisong's face darkened, and Liu Mao immediately stopped, sparing his dignity by not finishing the sentence.
Ruan Yu pressed her lips together and looked up at the ceiling to suppress a laugh.
With water served, they got down to business.
The criminal lawyer handling the case was Zhang Ling, a woman in her early forties who appeared very capable.
Hearing Chen Hui address her as "Zhang Jie," Ruan Yu thought for a moment and recalled that this was likely the female lawyer who had run into trouble at a construction site on the day Xu Huaisong returned to China for the second time, causing Chen Hui to rush over and leaving them without a ride to the law firm.
Zhang Ling handed Xu Huaisong a stack of documents. "I organized this information after meeting with the client. Take a look first." Then she turned to Chen Hui. "Xiao Chen, go over the details."
Chen Hui walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and began writing key points while explaining, "According to the client, he wasn't present at the scene when the victim was killed. About twenty minutes before the incident, he got into a verbal argument with the victim while driving, so he pulled over on the mountain road and got out to get some air."
"Reason for the argument?" Xu Huaisong asked.
"The victim was going through the client's phone in the car and found several suggestive messages, which appeared to be evidence of his infidelity."
"Was there actual infidelity?"
"Yes," Chen Hui nodded. "The client admitted to a one-night stand a month ago during a drunken impulse after a heated argument with the victim. He cut ties afterward, but the other party kept messaging him occasionally."
Xu Huaisong nodded. "Continue with the situation at the time."
"The client said that after he got out of the car, the victim followed and their verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation. The flesh under her nails came from scratching his forearm during the struggle."
"Then, the victim threatened, 'I'll definitely make you regret this,' got back in the car, and drove away."
"Fifty minutes later, the client, still by the roadside, received a call from the victim's father. It turned out the father had reported his daughter missing after receiving a distress call from her and being unable to reach her again. During this time, he managed to obtain the client's phone number through various channels."
"The father was extremely agitated and demanded to know what he had done to his daughter. From the conversation, the client learned that half an hour earlier, the victim had cried for help on the phone, saying, 'Zhou Jun, let me go!' His first thought was that this was her way of making good on her threat to 'make him regret it.'"
"So, he called the victim's phone. The police, who had already arrived at the scene, answered. He could hear sirens in the background, confirming something had indeed happened to the victim. Amid the noise, he faintly caught phrases like 'the dashcam chip is missing' and 'a claw hammer was found.'""The client hung up in a hurry. Considering all this, he suspected the victim had taken her own life to frame him, planning to pin her death on him using the flesh under her nails, the fingerprints on the claw hammer, and that distress call. So he chose to hide, and in desperation late at night, borrowed a phone from a street food vendor to contact you, Brother Song, and Miss Ruan."
Xu Huaisong frowned slightly. "What made him so convinced this was the victim's revenge? A single threatening statement wouldn't normally lead to that conclusion."
"Exactly, that's the crux of this case." Chen Hui nodded. "According to the client's statement, he believed this because the victim had pulled similar stunts before."
"During their argument a month ago, before they parted on bad terms, the victim had issued the same threat and actually posted wrist-cutting photos on social media. Though it turned out to be just a scare tactic, it left him traumatized."
"That's evidence favorable to our client. Is the social media post still available?" Xu Huaisong asked immediately.
"Deleted, but there might be witnesses or a chance to recover it."
"What about the police investigation?"
"No second suspect has emerged yet. The police suspect our client might have altered the truth. They believe the victim driving away was relatively safe behavior, and that the murder more likely occurred during the physical altercation our client described."
Ruan Yu frowned upon hearing this.
Noticing her expression, Xu Huaisong asked, "What's wrong? Feel free to share your thoughts."
She gave a soft "Ah" before saying, "I just think while the 'driving away being relatively safe' argument is logical, it doesn't quite fit emotionally. Normally, the driver would be in the stronger position, but in this case, we must consider the driver was a woman who'd just discovered her boyfriend's infidelity."
Xu Huaisong nodded. "Go on."
"Based on Zhou Jun's description, I think the victim was probably hot-tempered and impulsive. Could someone like that really drive very far when storming off angrily? If I were her, knowing my boyfriend had..."
Xu Huaisong coughed, giving her a questioning look.
The previously serious atmosphere suddenly turned awkward, and Liu Mao let out a snort of laughter.
Ruan Yu brushed her bangs aside and cleared her throat. "What I mean is, in that state, the victim might have driven a short distance before hitting the brakes to calm down. The accident could have happened after she stopped."
Zhang Ling nodded. "I find this speculation plausible."
Xu Huaisong also gave an approving "Hmm." Aside from her personal example, it was quite reasonable.
Zhang Ling continued, "This is all we know for now. Further investigation and evidence collection will have to wait until the case enters the prosecution phase in a month."
Xu Huaisong nodded, reviewing documents and discussing details with her until nearly 10 p.m., when he noticed Ruan Yu covering a yawn. He closed the file. "It's getting late. Let's call it a day. Good work everyone."
Zhang Ling and Chen Hui went downstairs together.
Seeing them return, the lawyers in the open office area looked as if they'd been granted amnesty.
Someone remarked, "Not bad, wrapping up before 10 p.m. I thought with Attorney Xu's work habits, you'd be talking until the wee hours."Chen Hui was organizing documents while clicking his tongue. "You guys just don't get it. Ever heard of the 'short board effect'? Lawyer Xu usually sleeps at midnight, but when Miss Ruan gets sleepy, of course he has to adjust to his girlfriend's schedule."
Someone gasped. "Wait, was that really Lawyer Xu's girlfriend just now?"
"Hey, why does that surname sound so familiar? Didn't our firm recently take on a client surnamed Ruan?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I've seen her before. She did look familiar earlier."
"What's going on here? Lawyers can actually get together with clients? How come after all these years and so many cases, I've never made it work?"
"Heh, look at the cases you take—all divorce suits."
"Can we ask Lawyer Xu to share his tips on wooing clients?"
"With Lawyer Xu's ice-cold demeanor, the girl must have chased him relentlessly."
Xu Huaisong and Ruan Yu happened to hear this last comment as they were coming downstairs.
Ruan Yu didn't react much, but Xu Huaisong, who had been about to turn down the stairs, paused silently, let go of her hand, and walked into the common room instead.
The gossipers instantly put on serious faces. "Lawyer Xu!"
Xu Huaisong gave an "mm" of acknowledgment, then stood silently by the door for so long that everyone thought he was going to scold them for their idle chatter. Instead, he smiled and said, "First, while fulfilling all professional duties and obligations as a lawyer, you may appropriately accommodate a client's requests in inconsequential matters."
The group blinked in confusion.
Xu Huaisong continued smoothly, "Second, you can use case discussions as an opportunity. Arrange additional meetings with clients under the pretext of work matters, preferably during meal times."
Someone gasped quietly, realizing what he was responding to.
"Third, occasional white lies are permissible. For example, when at a client's doorstep, you might ask a colleague to take a fake urgent call about some firm emergency to send them away—thereby reasonably entering the client's home alone to discuss matters."
Someone started clapping, and soon the room erupted in applause. "Lawyer Xu, you're a genius!"
Xu Huaisong nodded at them with a smile. "Get off work early." As he turned around, he saw Ruan Yu by the stairs looking like she was about to cry.
He took her hand and led her downstairs. "What's wrong? Upset that I tricked you by sending Chen Hui away back then?"
"That's not important..." Ruan Yu shook her head with pursed lips. "I don't care about being gossiped about by strangers. They're your subordinates—your dignity matters more. Why would you..."
Why go out of your way to explain who pursued whom, just to protect her reputation?
Xu Huaisong smiled and lightly booped her nose. "Because I wanted to."
Author's note: I jump up and deliver a critical hit of doting affection!
Lawyer A: Is this really the Lawyer Xu we know?
Lawyer B: So young and already showing signs of split personality...
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