The message was from Su Jing.
"Bro, Seventeen Strokes' fans and Season's original novel fans are fighting outside."
Jiang Chiyan shot to his feet.
A group brawl outside a courthouse? Did they have a death wish?
Besides, the creators would have to answer for their fans' behavior.
"I'm heading out for a moment," Jiang Chiyan told Xiao Cheng.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Cheng asked.
Jiang Chiyan deliberately gave him a wicked grin. "Bathroom."
"What, does our award-winning actor Xiao want to watch?"
Xiao Cheng kicked him.
Rubbing his lower back, Jiang Chiyan strode outside, not forgetting to wolf-whistle at Xiao Cheng.
The moment he stepped outside, he saw...
Dozens of people were grappling with one another, with fan signs and all kinds of merchandise strewn across the ground.
Some were pulling hair, some were slapping faces, and some were throwing people over their shoulders.
There were too few security guards and bailiffs. They wanted to restore order, but they simply couldn't control the crowd.
"Season's trash fans think they deserve to call themselves original novel fans?"
"Seventeen Strokes is the fucking plagiarist! Get lost!"
"Ah!" a girl screamed.
Jiang Chiyan looked toward the sound, startled.
A young man with red hair and tattoo sleeves wore a Seventeen Strokes fan bracelet on his wrist.
The young man swung a brick down at the head of a girl beside him.
The girl was quite pretty, wearing a snowy-white bunny-ear headband.
She stood frozen, clutching her bleeding arm without moving.
She was utterly paralyzed with fear.
Jiang Chiyan snatched the baton from a bailiff's belt.
"Hey! Why are you taking my baton?"
Jiang Chiyan took aim and threw.
His movements were swift, precise, and ruthless!
Bang-
The baton struck the brick, and both fell to the ground.
Jiang Chiyan rushed forward, pulled the bunny-eared girl behind him, and drove the toe of his shoe hard into the back of the young man's knee.
The young man grunted and dropped to his knees.
Jiang Chiyan sneered. "What kind of man picks on a little girl? If you want a fight, find somewhere deserted and take me on."
The young man grimaced in pain without making a sound.
Jiang Chiyan swept his gaze around and raised his voice a notch.
"Anyone who wants to go to prison or juvenile detention, keep fighting!"
The dozens of people grappling with one another: "..."
"Oh, right." Jiang Chiyan sauntered up the steps and draped an arm over a security guard's shoulders.
"Got any beer, cigarettes, sunflower seeds, or coconut juice? Bring me a chair and find me a calculator, too."
The security guard: "...?" A calculator?
Jiang Chiyan yawned, utterly shameless. "I'll work out how many decades each of them could get."
All of them instantly behaved themselves.
They stopped fighting and stopped swearing.
The entire crowd fell silent as mice.
The security guard: "..." Nobody could outdo Lawyer Jiang when it came to sheer audacity.
The cases he argued became models studied by courts at every level.
The things he said became classic insults for internet users.
"Thank you, Lawyer Jiang."
"Lawyer Jiang, thank goodness you were here today."
"You've been an enormous help."
"..."
Jiang Chiyan returned the baton to the bailiff and quietly asked Su Jing, "What happened?"
"One of Seventeen Strokes' fans secretly took upskirt photos of a female Season fan," Su Jing said. "That's how the fight started."
Jiang Chiyan handed Su Jing his car keys.
Then he pointed to the girl in the bunny-ear headband whom he had saved.
"Take my car and drive that girl to the hospital. Her arm's injured."
"Okay."
Su Jing had only just left.
Suddenly, Jiang Chiyan felt a tug on his cuff.
He turned and saw the young girl in the bunny-ear headband.
"Thank you, big brother."
The girl bowed ninety degrees, her every movement showing her good upbringing.
Jiang Chiyan reached out to steady her and saw...
A video appeared on the transparent, three-dimensional projection above her head.
The girl's name was Xu Xiaoxiao.
One day, a "talent scout" suddenly approached her, saying they wanted to sign her as a star.
Xu Xiaoxiao was a top student, the kind who ranked first in her grade.
But her parents pushed her far too hard.
Despite her young age, she had already seen a psychologist several times.
All she wanted was to escape her parents' clutches.
So when the talent scout approached her, she agreed without hesitation.
But she didn't know... the so-called "talent scout" was a human trafficker who sold women.
Xu Xiaoxiao was sold to a remote mountain region for twenty thousand yuan.
At twenty, she killed herself by jumping into a well.
In the video, the talent scout approached Xu Xiaoxiao on...
August 25, 2021, at 2:30 p.m.
August 25... wasn't that just five days away?
A chill ran down Jiang Chiyan's spine.
By the time he finished watching the video, Su Jing had already driven away with Xu Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Chiyan hurriedly hailed a car to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital with Xu Xiaoxiao, Su Jing called her parents.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Xu Xiaoxiao's parents came up and thanked Su Jing.
Then her parents looked at their child with concern.
Her mother said, "Xiaoxiao, with your arm injured, can you still come first in your exams?"
Her father said, "Kids scuffle all the time. How serious could it be? Is all this really necessary?"
Muttering, Xu Xiaoxiao's parents went to register her.
After examining her, the doctor said Xu Xiaoxiao's arm was fractured and she needed to be admitted.
Her mother immediately grew agitated. "How can that be?"
Her father chimed in, "Exactly, doctor. My daughter has her level-ten piano and level-eight calligraphy exams this month. She can't stay in the hospital. Just prescribe some medicine."
Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoxiao kept her head lowered the entire time without saying a word.
She seemed to have grown used to being ignored like this.
After all, she was just... a tool for making her parents look good.
Having listened to the entire exchange, Su Jing felt her worldview shatter.
Were these her fucking biological parents?
Seriously...
When Jiang Chiyan arrived at the hospital, Su Jing walked over and remarked from the heart.
"Bro, I honestly think you're more of a real dad than my actual dad."
Many years ago, she had run a slight fever of 37.5°C.
Jiang Chiyan had actually stayed home from work and looked after her for two whole days.
She had shattered the window of a school administrator's office while playing volleyball.
Jiang Chiyan had simply donated several hundred thousand yuan to build a bigger volleyball court.
He had also had the office window replaced with bulletproof glass.
As Su Jing reminisced, she complained to Jiang Chiyan.
"Xu Xiaoxiao's parents are really something else."
Jiang Chiyan draped his jacket over his arm. "Where's Xu Xiaoxiao's room?"
"Fifth floor, 512," Su Jing said.
When Jiang Chiyan and Su Jing arrived, Xu Xiaoxiao's parents weren't there.
After the three exchanged a few pleasantries.
Jiang Chiyan thought for a moment. "Xiaoxiao, do you want to debut as a star?"
Xu Xiaoxiao's heart lurched, and guilt spread across her face.
Before she could speak, the door to the room opened.
Her mother came in carrying fruit. "Xiaoxiao, you want to become a star?"
"Mom, I don't."
Her mother glanced at Jiang Chiyan and asked Su Jing, "Miss Su, this is...?"
"This is my brother, Jiang Chiyan," Su Jing said.
Her mother's expression turned cold, and she asked with a frown.
"Mr. Jiang, I just heard you talking about having my daughter become a star. What exactly do you mean?"
Jiang Chiyan was caught in a dilemma.
If he told her, Xu Xiaoxiao's mother would surely think he was a fraud for claiming to foresee the future.
If he didn't, a girl's life would be ruined, and he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Jiang Chiyan thought it over and found a perfect excuse.
"Mrs. Xu, I've divined that... Xiaoxiao will face a calamity soon."
"At around two in the afternoon on August 25, a human trafficker posing as a talent scout will offer to sign her as a star."
"If she goes, she'll be sold to a remote mountain region and eventually jump into a well, dying a terrible death."
Everyone in the room's expression changed at his words.
Her mother was positively furious. "Mr. Jiang, I suggest you go downstairs and see a neurologist or a brain specialist!"
"Goodbye! See yourself out!"
After they left the room, Su Jing asked, "Bro, how about... I come with you to see a brain specialist?"
Jiang Chiyan frowned. "You don't believe me either?"
Su Jing held up one finger. "Bro, how many fingers am I holding up?"
Jiang Chiyan rolled his eyes. "Get lost."
Su Jing hurriedly caught hold of him.
"Bro, I have a few questions for you. Wait a second."
She tore off a piece of paper, quickly scribbled on it, and handed it to Jiang Chiyan.
"Bro, take a look at these questions."
Jiang Chiyan glanced at it.
1 + 1 = ?
1 × 1 = ?
1 + 2 = ?
2 + 2 = ?
2 × 2 = ?
Jiang Chiyan crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it precisely into a trash can five meters away.
"Su Jing, your two hundred thousand yuan allowance for this month is confiscated."
"You can fend for yourself."
Jiang Chiyan strode out of the hospital on his long legs.
In his car, he received a WeChat call from Xiao Cheng.
"Jiang Chiyan! The case... we won!" Xiao Cheng's voice brimmed with excitement.
The court had delivered its verdict orally, and the written judgment would be served within five days.
Seventeen Strokes had been ordered to delete the book, pay compensation, and issue a public apology.
Jiang Chiyan smiled and fell silent for less than two seconds.
Xiao Cheng was perceptive. "What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"
He didn't wait for Jiang Chiyan to answer.
Xiao Cheng sent a video call request.
Jiang Chiyan, who had already let it go, licked the corner of his mouth.
He practiced in the car's rearview mirror for a long time, forming a bitter smile, before tapping to answer the video call.
"No, I'm really not okay."
Xiao Cheng didn't ask why. Instead, he said to Jiang Chiyan, "Then what do you want to do right now?"
"Whatever I want to do, will you do it with me?"
"Yeah, whatever you want to do, I'll do it with you." Xiao Cheng agreed without hesitation.
Jiang Chiyan said inwardly, I want you to chat naked with me.