Finished Organizing, Time to Pound Rice Cakes

Sun Hao turned back. The moment he saw Xu De walking away, fury flared. He planted one hand on his hip and pointed at him with the other.

"Stop right there!"

"You dare defy the team's arrangements? Do you even want to keep your job?!"

At those words, Xu De stopped.

He turned sideways to meet Sun Hao's gaze and said calmly,

"The team's arrangements?"

He smiled.

"Team Leader Sun, I have a murder case on my hands. Surely you know that?"

"Why don't we ask the director to settle this?"

Sun Hao had been ready to explode at the first part, but the last sentence made his face flush and his confidence falter.

The director was his cousin, but they barely knew each other. Sun Hao had only gotten this position because his mother had cornered his cousin in front of the relatives during New Year, leaving him little choice but to take Sun Hao on.

Xu De, on the other hand, regularly earned the director's praise and approval.

And he really did have a criminal case to handle.

If the director found out Sun Hao had tried to delay a case that could affect the firm's reputation just so he could go on a blind date...

Whatever happened to Xu De, Sun Hao himself would be in serious trouble!

Sun Hao's eyes shifted. A veiled threat crept into his voice. "I'm telling you, Jinmao is the only boutique firm in all of Greenwood City!"

Xu De smiled and waved a hand, utterly unconcerned.

"Then have the director fire me, Team Leader Sun. I don't have time for you."

With that, he turned and headed for his desk without giving Sun Hao another look.

He had never planned to stay long anyway. Once Wang Qiang's case was over, he would leave and open his own law firm. So Sun Hao's words...

They weren't a threat at all.

Not the slightest ripple stirred in Xu De's heart as he reached his desk.

He had just sat down

when the lawyer beside him silently gave him a thumbs-up. He said nothing, merely watched Sun Hao as though enjoying a joke.

"Heh."

Xu De smiled but paid it no mind. He lowered his head and took some paper and a pen from his drawer.

Staring at the blank page, he sank into thought.

What he intended to do in Wang Qiang's case was indeed legal.

Even if the matter reached the Supreme Court, those old men could tear their hair out all day and still fail to name a crime!

But blurting it out would scare everyone else. What he needed to do was...

Find legal provisions to support it!

Beyond that, he needed to write down the crucial moves for the first trial.

At the thought, a gleam flashed in Xu De's eyes. An idea struck him.

"Got it!"

He set his pen to the paper.

Meanwhile,

in the main hall,

"Damn it!"

Sun Hao seethed, his teeth clenched as he stared after Xu De. His expression shifted between anger and uncertainty.

He had long resented the director, his cousin, for thinking Xu De was more capable than him. Now Xu De had ignored him so blatantly...

It felt like a slap in the face.

Worse, people around him were looking over. Sun Hao felt like a clown, and the humiliation only fueled his anger.

Then...

Bzz, bzz, bzz.

His phone suddenly vibrated against his chest.

Suppressing his anger, Sun Hao pulled it out. The caller ID read: [Attorney Chen Wei].

"Hello?"

He answered and held the phone to his ear.

A voice came through the speaker.

"Haha, how have you been, Old Sun?"

"I'll skip the pleasantries. I called because I want to ask about a lawyer at your firm..."

"That lawyer named Xu De... what's his background?"

Sun Hao paused. As he listened, his brows drew together.

If anyone found out he was passing along information behind a colleague's back, he would be in deep trouble.

He was about to hang up, but then...

Wait. If Xu De loses that criminal case...

A thought suddenly occurred to Sun Hao.

His cousin was always singing Xu De's praises. That was why he had dared to let Xu De take on a criminal case.

In his cousin's eyes, Xu De only needed one case to prove himself before his career took off!

But if Xu De disappointed him and lost a case this important...

"Give me a moment."

Sun Hao's eyes glinted. The idea tempted him.

He looked around. Once he was sure no one was paying attention, he covered the phone and headed for the restroom.

Inside, he brought the phone back to his ear and said eagerly,

"Xu De? I'll tell you all about him..."

"He graduated from college only a few years ago. He doesn't even have a decent track record, and he's stiff as a board. He looks clever, but really..."

"..."

Inside the Yang Teng Law Firm,

Chen Wei sat in his office chair, listening to the voice on his phone. His expression grew increasingly intrigued.

At last, he hung up and looked at the two people in front of him.

They were Li Youcai and Liu Cui!

Chen Wei smiled at them.

"I checked. He's just a recent college graduate."

"Don't worry about the case. I'll get justice for Li Erniu!"

"I'll push for the death penalty!"

At this,

Li Youcai and Liu Cui brightened, only to freeze a moment later.

Wait. If Wang Qiang received a suspended death sentence... how would they get their grandson back?

With that thought,

Liu Cui suddenly said to Li Youcai,

"Dear, Wang Mei is our son's wife, after all..."

"And Wang Qiang... that makes us family by marriage."

Li Youcai nodded repeatedly.

"Right, right. We're family by marriage... If things get too ugly, people will laugh at us."

"Really, as long as they give the child back..."

"We could let him off."

At this,

Liu Cui, pleased that he agreed with her reasoning, said smugly, "Then Wang Mei can look after the two of us from now on."

"After all, our son's gone. It's only right that she support us in our old age and see us off!"

Chen Wei looked at the pair.

He paused. "So..."

"What you're saying is..."

Li Youcai raised his chin and put on a domineering air.

"Why don't you... talk to that ungrateful wretch's lawyer again?"

"There's some kind of letter of forgiveness, isn't there? Tell them straight: if they hand over the child and support us in our old age,"

"we'll be the bigger people and let Wang Qiang off!"

Chen Wei considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"All right. I'll try."

November fourth.

Nine-thirty that evening.

Lin Yue hadn't gone to work that day. Her family's law firm had only three people, so it hardly mattered whether she showed up. She had spent the whole day holed up in the "Taoist temple."

The temple stood on the outskirts of Greenwood City. Few people came to burn incense, so it was peaceful.

Now she sat at the dining table in pajamas. Across from her sat her parents, Lin Guodong and Su Xin, a plainly dressed middle-aged couple.

Tap... tap...

Lin Yue stared blankly out the window, her mind far away, while her chopsticks absently stirred her rice.

Legal? Is it really legal?

But no matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem legal... Was he lying?!

Something occurred to Lin Yue, and she struck her bowl sharply with her chopsticks.

Ding!

The two middle-aged people across from her looked up at the clear chime and glanced her way.

No, no. Lying to a client about a trial wouldn't do him any good. He's not stupid...

Lin Yue settled down and went back to stirring her rice.

Ever since she had come home a few days earlier, her mind had been in turmoil.

After all, what that lawyer Xu De had said... was simply too outrageous!

Legal? Under what law?!

After a long while...

Ding!

Another clear clink of chopsticks against the bowl.

Her parents looked up to find Lin Yue's brows knitted together again.

Before long, she sank back into thought.

Some time later,

Lin Yue said distractedly, "I'm full."

She got up and left.

The two middle-aged people watched her go.

They exchanged a baffled look, then turned their attention to her bowl.

She had eaten only half the rice. The rest had been beaten into a sticky mass by her chopsticks.

Her mother, Yang Qing, fell into thought.

Where did she learn to pound rice cakes like that? And why had she been doing it for days?

Creak.

Back in her room, Lin Yue collapsed onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow.

Xu De's words from a few days earlier were still circling in her head!

Even when she tried to sleep, she heard his voice. It had kept her awake for several nights!

Her thoughts were a mess, yet she couldn't stop turning the matter over in her mind.

No. No matter how I think about it, stealing a child is obviously illegal, isn't it?!

Not to mention the threats. That's coercion. It's clearly illegal...

Lying facedown on the bed, Lin Yue thought with a miserable expression.

No, no. He was so confident. He must have something to back it up...

Yes, yes, yes...

No, no, no...

Yes...

Ugh, this is so frustrating.

She took a deep breath.

Does he always leave people hanging like this? Even if he doesn't have proof, he could at least tell me what he's thinking!

"How long has it been already! Why haven't you told me yet!"

"Damn it, and he's supposed to be a moral role model!"

Lin Yue ground her teeth in frustration.

Then she straddled her pillow and started pummeling it. Air squeezed through the gaps in the stuffing, making it "groan" with a series of hisses.

Speak of the devil!

Just after the pillow let out a few "groans"... she vaguely felt a vibration coming from the head of the bed.

"Bzzz~"

Lin Yue looked up at her phone. It was indeed Xu De's number, which she had saved yesterday. He had just sent her an unread text.

She tapped it open.

[Xu De: I've finished putting everything together.]

[Xu De: Want to see?]

Lin Yue paused, then her eyes lit up. She held back her excitement.

Legal?

I'd like to see just how legal it is!

Lin Yue spared the pillow's life. Still straddling it, she lowered her head and held her phone in both hands to reply.

[Quick, let me see!]

Xu De replied:

[Come to Jinmao Law Firm in Greenwood City tomorrow. I'll be waiting here.]

Lin Yue:

[Okay!]

After replying, Lin Yue put down her phone. Feeling her heart pound with curiosity, she raised her eyebrows slightly.

"I'd like to see how you made it legal!"