You Guessed Right

The next day.

November 5.

Seven in the morning.

Dawn had barely broken. The autumn chill swept through the streets on a howling wind.

Xu De stepped out of his rented apartment carrying some leftovers. He pulled his coat tighter and joined the pedestrians on the street. Before long, he stopped at the mouth of an alley.

In the corner.

A head poked out from a nook in the alley. When the child saw who had come, he shuffled over reluctantly.

Once he was close, Xu De held out a hand and said:

"Shake hands."

The child scavenger reluctantly reached out and shook Xu De's hand.

He stood about five foot three, with a slight build. The hand he placed in Xu De's palm was gaunt, its bony fingers slightly uncomfortable to touch. It was dirty, too.

Xu De said, "Turn around."

The child gripped the hem of his shirt with both hands. Looking thoroughly embarrassed, he reluctantly turned in a circle.

"Too slow. Again." Xu De sounded distinctly displeased.

The child's eyes widened in disbelief.

Spinning quickly in this bitter cold would be miserable... Wasn't his life hard enough? Didn't this man have any sympathy!?

But then he remembered it was Xu De saying it, and somehow it made sense. He spun around again, faster this time.

As he turned, his thin clothes billowed, letting cold wind rush through the gaps and raising goose bumps all over him.

"Excellent!"

This time Xu De seemed satisfied. He handed over the leftovers.

"Go ahead. Eat."

Once the child had taken them.

Xu De stopped teasing him and turned to continue toward the law firm.

Watching him leave, the child hesitated as if he wanted to say something. After a moment, he whispered, "Thank you."

Then he vanished down the alley as fast as a mouse.

Seven thirty.

Jinmao Law Firm.

Creak.

The firm's front door swung open, and Xu De headed, as usual, to the attendance clock.

A colleague in the lobby paused when he saw Xu De, then got up and called out:

"Attorney Xu, someone came looking for you just now."

Wang Mei and her daughter?

Surprised, Xu De clocked in and looked at his colleague questioningly.

"Did she leave?"

His colleague shook his head. "No, she's waiting in a reception room. You'll find her in Reception Room 001."

"All right. Sorry for the trouble."

Xu De nodded and headed for the reception room.

To be honest.

Not many people would come looking for him. If it wasn't Wang Mei and her daughter... it had to be "Lord of Longevity" Lin Yue.

After all, he had told her to come find him last night.

But it was only seven thirty... Would she really arrive this early?

Xu De was still turning it over in his mind when he reached the door of Reception Room 001 and pushed it open.

Creak.

As the door opened a crack.

A man's face came into Xu De's view.

The man sitting on the sofa paused when he saw who it was, then smiled warmly.

"Hello, Attorney Xu. We meet again."

It was...

Chen Wei!

The lawyer representing Wang Youcai and his wife!

Xu De's heart gave a jolt. He did not rush inside. Instead, he asked:

"Attorney Chen? What brings you here?"

Chen Wei rose with a smile.

"Attorney Xu, the court has issued the summons. The case goes to trial in five days."

"As for why I came to see you..."

He paused.

Chen Wei picked up the briefcase on the sofa, took out a document, and set it before Xu De with a smile.

"This is the main reason."

Xu De lowered his gaze to the document and froze.

It was an unusual document. Its title consisted of just three characters:

Letter of Understanding.

In that instant.

Xu De narrowed his eyes.

Eight o'clock.

Creak.

A tall figure in a trench coat pushed open the law firm's front door.

"Phew."

Feeling the warmth of the lobby, she unwound her scarf, revealing a delicate, expressionless face with an aloof air. Her bright eyes swept the room before she asked softly:

"Excuse me, does Attorney Xu De work here?"

Her clear voice rang out.

A lawyer working in the lobby looked up and paused at the sight of her. Then he collected himself and asked:

"May I have your name?"

"I'm Lin Yue. I know Xu De."

As she spoke, Lin Yue breathed out a warm puff of air, then shivered as the heat washed over her. Her cool expression gradually softened.

Clearly, she wasn't aloof. The sudden drop in temperature had simply left her numb with cold.

The lawyer said, "Attorney Xu is busy in Reception Room 001 right now. You can wait a little while."

A reception room?

Lin Yue paused and was about to head for the waiting area. But as she turned, she raised an eyebrow and thought:

The trial should be coming up soon. At this hour... could it be Xu Hong and Wang Mei?

At that thought.

"Thank you."

Lin Yue thanked him first, then, once she knew where the reception room was, walked toward it.

Wang Qiang's case was pressing, and it was closely tied to the custody case she had taken on. A few words of advice before trial would be worthwhile.

Except...

Just as she reached Reception Room 001 and was about to knock...

"Attorney Xu..."

A man's voice suddenly came through the door.

That's...

Not Wang Mei or her daughter.

Lin Yue stopped and rose onto her toes, ready to slip away quietly. But before she could move, the voice inside spoke again.

"Attorney Xu, think this through. The court won't mediate a criminal homicide case on its own!"

"If you won't sign this Letter of Understanding now... then when the time comes."

"When you want to sign it later, it won't be so simple!"

That voice... Is it Chen Wei?

Lin Yue suddenly recalled the scene she had witnessed earlier in the police station lobby.

She had no time to think.

A moment later, Xu De's voice rang out.

"See yourself out."

"You!"

Inside the reception room, Chen Wei slammed his palm on the table and glared at Xu De, but could find nothing to say.

After a long moment.

He took a deep breath and looked at Xu De darkly.

"You don't know what's good for you..."

"Then I'll see you in court!"

With that.

Chen Wei snatched up his briefcase and strode irritably toward the door.

Bang!

The reception room door flew open, its edge sweeping past someone's face.

Lin Yue had been listening outside, utterly absorbed. Startled, she snapped back to her senses just in time to catch a glimpse of Chen Wei's retreating back before he disappeared.

"Why slam the door? Has he got no manners?" she muttered in protest.

Before she could react.

A voice came from behind her.

"Heard enough?"

She turned to find Xu De leaning against the doorframe, an unreadable smile on his face.

As he spoke, he reached out and tapped the glass beside the door.

Tap, tap!

The frosted glass partition that served as the reception room wall rang crisply.

It was not fully transparent, but while he had been talking with Chen Wei, anyone with eyes could have seen the hazy outline of someone crouched furtively by the door, pressed against the glass.

"Lord of Clairvoyance, did you hear everything we said in there? I didn't sell out my client behind her back."

Xu De teased her.

At that, color rose instantly up Lin Yue's fair neck and reached her ears in the blink of an eye.

"What do you mean, eavesdropping? I wasn't eavesdropping. I just... I just... I just stopped at the door for a second!"

"And what's with 'Lord of Clairvoyance'...? I told you, I just made that up on the spot."

Lin Yue avoided his gaze and answered vaguely.

Xu De said nothing. He merely folded his arms and gave her a teasing look, making her flush with indignation.

It took a while for them to get back on topic.

"Was that Chen Wei just now?"

Lin Yue glanced in the direction Chen Wei had gone. Raising an eyebrow, she asked in surprise:

"What did he want with you?"

Xu De said, "He claims the victim's family now wants to 'forgive' the defendant. He came to persuade me to have my client sign a Letter of Understanding."

The victim's family wants to forgive the defendant?

"Forgive? They have the nerve to use that word!?"

Lin Yue cried out in disbelief. Then she paused and rubbed her chin. A moment later, her eyes lit up.

"But... you really called it!"

Li Youcai was using the Letter of Understanding as leverage!

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had realized that Wang Qiang's conviction would bring him nothing but trouble!

So he was trying to get the most out of his bargaining chip before the trial and secure what he wanted.

All of it...

Exactly as Xu De had said it would happen!

And he had said it twelve days ago!

He had predicted the other side's every move, even his state of mind, twelve days in advance... Could a lawyer really do that!?

More than that, he had reached his conclusion by analyzing a major case that looked like a dead end. In the legal world, that kind of ability was almost unfair!

Since when had Greenwood City produced someone like him?

Lin Yue studied Xu De in disbelief. After a long while, she asked suspiciously:

"You work for Jinmao Law Firm? But they don't have a top lawyer named Xu De."

As she spoke, she looked him up and down doubtfully.

Soon, though, Lin Yue put that thought aside.

Because...

She suddenly realized something else.

If events were unfolding exactly as he had predicted, did that mean... the solution had to be the one he had proposed, too!?

She wouldn't have minded an ordinary solution, but the one Xu De had offered...

It was the sort of thing only an outlaw would suggest!

"Wait, don't tell me..."

Lin Yue's eye twitched, and her heart pounded. She stared at the gentle, tall man beside her, eyes wide with disbelief.

She blurted out a question.

"You're really going to do something illegal next, aren't you?!"

The reception room fell into an eerie silence.

They stared at each other.

As Lin Yue's eyes widened further and unease crept into her heart...

Xu De suddenly smiled.

"You guessed right. But..."

"I'm going to do it, and I won't break the law!"