All beings suffer

Ms. Wang, who sought justice for her sister, left Lawyer Zhou's office with a face full of confusion, grievance, and a hint of resentment at being misunderstood.

Zhou Wenyuan did not get up to see him off. He simply sat quietly behind his desk, his gaze fixed on the empty surface. His fingers tapped unconsciously on the smooth wooden surface, remaining motionless for a long time.

A somber atmosphere hung in the office. Lin Feng tidied up his notebook, glancing at Lawyer Zhou's noticeably more hunched Back View than usual, and didn't utter a sound to disturb him.

He could sense that beneath Lawyer Zhou's calm exterior, his emotions were churning violently. The case concerning the intellectually disabled girl and the "parents' arrangement" matchmaker had touched some soft and heavy parts of his heart.

Even at the end of the workday, Zhou Wenyuan remained in that posture, as if frozen in time.

Lin Feng walked over and gently tapped on his desk. "Lawyer Zhou, it's time to go home."

Zhou Wenyuan snapped out of his daze, looked up, and his eyes still held a trace of lingering weariness and confusion. He glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, then at Lin Feng standing in front of him, and forced a smile, "Oh, okay, I'll be going now."

The two silently clocked in, entered the elevator, and went downstairs. The streetlights outside the law firm were just coming on, and the evening breeze carried the coolness of early autumn.

"Want a couple of drinks?" Lin Feng suddenly spoke, his tone calm but his suggestion firm. He knew that some emotions needed alcohol to wash them away, and also needed an outlet for listening.

Zhou Wenyuan paused for a moment, looked at Lin Feng's calm profile, and finally nodded, not refusing. "Okay."

Instead of going to those elegant bars or Western restaurants, they turned into a slightly noisy old street behind the office building and found a roadside barbecue stall that looked very lively.

The stall wasn't big, with a dozen or so low tables and plastic stools set up at the entrance. There were already seven or eight tables full of customers. The sounds of drinking games, laughter, and the sizzling of oil dripping onto the charcoal fire mingled together, creating a vibrant atmosphere of everyday life.

One table in particular caught my eye. Five or six young men in their early twenties, sporting various outrageous haircuts, had their bare arms, chests, and backs covered in cheap, dark blue tattoos depicting dragons and phoenixes, which looked somewhat menacing in the dim light.

The early autumn chill seemed to have no effect on them; they remained shirtless, deliberately displaying the patterns that symbolized "gangster" spirit. Next to them sat two scantily clad, heavily made-up young women, swaying their heads to music blasting from their phones. Their table was the loudest, boisterous and oblivious to everyone else.

Lin Feng glanced at it briefly, then looked away and sat down with Lawyer Zhou at an empty table in a relatively quiet corner near the street corner.

They ordered some lamb skewers, grilled chives, chicken wings, and a few bottles of chilled beer. The food arrived quickly. Lin Feng used a bottle opener to pry open the bottle caps and filled the glass in front of Zhou Wenyuan. The golden liquid, with its white foam, formed fine droplets on the glass.

The two clinked glasses, neither speaking, and each took a large gulp. The cold beer slid down their throats, taking away some of the day's heat and stuffiness.

Zhou Wenyuan put down the cup, but his hand didn't loosen; instead, he gripped the cup even tighter, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. He lowered his head, his gaze unfocused on the greasy table, remaining silent for a long time. The noisy background noise from the barbecue stall seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to his silence.

Lin Feng didn't speak or urge them. He simply picked up the wine bottle, refilled their half-empty glasses, and then reached out and patted Zhou Wenyuan's slightly trembling shoulder firmly and silently twice.

This simple action seemed to shatter a barrier that Zhou Wenyuan had been trying so hard to maintain.

He abruptly raised his head, looking at Lin Feng, his eyes uncontrollably reddening and bloodshot. He opened his mouth, his voice unusually hoarse and uncertain, and said:

"Master... was I wrong?"

Lin Feng looked at the usually composed and capable top lawyer who commanded the courtroom with such authority, now revealing vulnerability like a lost child. He didn't answer immediately, but instead met Zhou Wenyuan's gaze seeking affirmation and slowly and firmly shook his head.

Seeing this, Zhou Wenyuan's lips twitched, revealing a self-deprecating smile that was more like a grimace. He raised his hand, grabbed the glass on the table, and instead of taking polite sips, he drank the half-full glass of ice-cold beer in one gulp, like a thirsty traveler in the desert, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

He put down his empty glass, exhaled a long, stale breath reeking of alcohol, his voice so soft it was as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps confiding in the noisy night:

"Were the parents of those girls with intellectual disabilities... wrong?" He paused, then shook his head. "Actually... not really."

His gaze drifted into the distance, as if piercing through the swirling smoke before him to see his parents, their faces etched with worry, living in impoverished rural areas.

"Because they know that they will eventually grow old, get sick, and leave this world. They cannot take care of their daughter, who may never be able to be independent, forever."

So what they were thinking was perhaps very simple, and also very helpless... they just wanted to find a hope for their daughter's future, that after they died, someone would give her food, so she wouldn't be left to starve and freeze to death on the streets... a hope for life."

Zhou Wenyuan turned his head and looked directly at Lin Feng, his expression indescribably complex.

"Master, have you noticed a group?"

Lin Feng remained silent, offering no reply, but simply listening attentively.

Zhou Wenyuan didn't need his answer. He turned his gaze to the crowds coming and going on the street, busy with their lives, and spoke in a low, suppressed voice:

"This city is vast, bustling yet indifferent. Every day we see all sorts of homeless people, huddled under overpasses and at subway entrances. But... think back carefully, how many female homeless people have you actually seen?"

He answered his own question, his tone tinged with a cold pity. "Rarely, isn't it? When you do see them, they're usually delirious, and... always heavily pregnant. Then, not long after, they disappear, as if they'd never been there."

He picked up the bottle and poured himself a full glass, the foam overflowing the rim, but he didn't care.

"Those girls' parents may not be unaware of the kind of life their daughters might lead after marrying into such a family. But they have no choice."

They just wanted to find a chance for their daughter to survive. As parents, they might be uneducated and ignorant of the law, but they simply wanted their daughter to live.

Zhou Wenyuan's voice began to tremble slightly, "Even if she lives a humble life, a life devoid of dignity, perhaps even worse than a dog... at least, she's still alive. She's just... alive..."

"Did they really do something wrong on this point?"

As he spoke, his voice began to choke, and his eyes reddened further.

"I don't know... I really don't know. But... I also have a daughter." Lawyer Zhou's voice lowered, thick with a nasal tone, "I can especially... especially understand their feelings. That anxiety and helplessness of wanting to give her the best of the world, yet fearing that you can't protect her forever..."

He sniffed hard, as if trying to suppress his surging emotions, but it ultimately turned into a long, weary sigh:

"Fundamentally, there is no right or wrong in this matter... only suffering."

He looked up at the city night sky, tinged with a dark red by the lights, as if questioning this capricious fate, or perhaps offering a final summary, each word spoken with profound desolation:

All beings suffer...

After saying those last four words, Zhou Wenyuan seemed to have all his strength drained away, and his taut spine could no longer support him.

He suddenly bent down, pressing his forehead against his clenched fists, his broad shoulders heaving violently. Long-suppressed, low sobs finally escaped uncontrollably in this noisy corner of the barbecue stall. The tears of a mature man are often more heartbreaking than wailing.

Lin Feng watched silently, his wine glass hovering in mid-air. He understood Lawyer Zhou's pain—a profound helplessness born from a clear awareness of the vast chasm between the boundaries of the law and the predicament of human nature, yet an inability to bridge it.

However, amidst this atmosphere of mixed sorrow and noise, a piercing, contemptuous, and mocking laugh suddenly rang out from the direction of the energetic young men at the next table:

"Damn it! A grown man crying like that, what a rotten thing!"