Chapter Summaries

After leaving the police bureau, Lin Feng and Lawyer Zhou discussed the case and Lü Yi welcomed the possibility of compulsory treatment. Meanwhile, Mr. Wei decided to move his fraud ring out of the city, fearing the restaurant fight had been a warning from powerful locals.

• Lin Feng, Lawyer Zhou, and Lü Yi were released after questioning and were told to stay in the city and remain available to police.
• Lawyer Zhou said the evidence supported self-defense but warned that serious injuries or Lü Yi’s actions could affect the case; Lü Yi was delighted at the prospect of returning to a mental hospital.
• A subordinate told Mr. Wei that Old Wu and his men had been beaten and taken to the police bureau.
• Mr. Wei worried that Old Wu’s less-loyal accomplices might reveal the ring’s crimes during questioning and ordered his men to leave the city.
• Mr. Wei refused to seek revenge, reasoning that the coordinated response by the restaurant diners suggested they had been prepared to warn the ring away.

Lin Feng summoned Du Mingyuan, a psychiatric hospital director, and decided to leave the unstable Chen Meijiao under professional care. He began his new assistant job at Zhou Wenyuan’s law firm, with Lü Yi guarding him, and encountered a disruptive boy in the elevator on the way out.

• Lin Feng summoned Du Mingyuan, the director and chief physician of the Municipal Mental Health Center, as a new deathsworn.
• Lin Feng considered Chen Meijiao too unpredictable to deploy and chose to leave him under treatment and supervision at the hospital.
• Lin Feng prepared to start work as an assistant at Junyue Law Firm, a position arranged by Zhou Wenyuan.
• Lin Feng left the apartment with Lü Yi, who was assigned to protect him because of his recent enemies.
• Lin Feng and Lü Yi entered an elevator where a boy ran around and banged on the walls while his grandmother tried unsuccessfully to stop him.

On his way to work, Lin Feng endured a boy’s repeated kicks and the boy’s grandmother’s abuse until his patience ran out. As the boy launched a fourth kick, a loud slap rang out in the elevator, leaving who had struck whom unclear.

• Lin Feng ignored the boy’s noisy antics in the descending elevator while Lü Yi watched with curiosity.
• The boy kicked Lin Feng twice, and Lin Feng asked the boy’s grandmother to control him.
• The grandmother denied the first kick, then defended the boy and threatened to call the police when Lin Feng glared at him.
• The boy taunted Lin Feng and tried to kick him again, but Lin Feng’s fierce look made him hide behind his grandmother.
• The boy launched a fourth kick at Lin Feng, and a loud slap suddenly rang through the elevator.

Lü Yi brutally punished the boy and his grandmother in the elevator after the boy had bullied Lin Feng. Lin Feng left without acknowledging Lü Yi, who walked away after beating them both.

• Lü Yi slapped the boy, making him collapse and wail.
• The grandmother attacked Lü Yi, so he slapped her and she began loudly demanding compensation.
• When the elevator reached the lobby, the grandmother grabbed Lü Yi’s leg and accused him of assault while Lin Feng walked away toward the law firm without looking back.
• Lü Yi kicked the grandmother into the elevator wall, then beat her with a barrage of kicks as she begged him to stop.
• Before leaving the elevator, Lü Yi slapped the boy’s other cheek and then strode into the lobby.

Lü Yi faced police after beating a woman and her grandson, while Officer Zhang tried to mediate the dispute. When the woman’s son Sun Qiang arrived and threatened him, Lü Yi slapped him too, and the police took everyone to the station.

• The middle-aged woman accused Lü Yi of attacking her and her grandson, but Officer Zhang reviewed elevator footage and learned how the conflict had unfolded.
• Officer Zhang told the woman she bore responsibility for her grandson’s behavior and advised Lü Yi to consider reasonable compensation, but she demanded two hundred thousand.
• Sun Qiang arrived, threatened Lü Yi, and demanded two hundred thousand after hearing his mother’s version of events.
• Lü Yi slapped Sun Qiang in front of the police and said a family should be together.
• Officer Zhang ordered his colleagues to take everyone to the station for further mediation.

Lin Feng arrived at Junyue Law Firm and joined the trainee lawyers in cleaning, choosing not to act above them. He ignored Lawyer Chen’s order to fetch hot water and walked away to answer a call, leaving Chen furious.

• Lin Feng arrived at Junyue Law Firm on his own and saw trainee lawyers handling cleaning and other menial work.
• Lin Feng introduced himself as a new assistant and joined the trainees in wiping desks.
• Lawyer Chen arrived and ordered Xiao Wang to buy him breakfast, prompting another trainee to silently complain about his behavior.
• Lawyer Chen assumed Lin Feng was a trainee and ordered him to fetch hot water, but Lin Feng ignored him.
• Lin Feng answered a phone call and walked into the hallway, leaving Lawyer Chen livid.

Lin Feng went to the police station over the elevator incident and calmly described what had happened. During mediation, Lü Yi brutally attacked Sun Qiang in front of the officers, leaving Officer Li to face a difficult case.

• Lin Feng took the morning off from the law firm and went to the police station after Officer Li called him about the elevator dispute.
• At the mediation room, Sun Qiang threatened Lü Yi and turned his anger toward Lin Feng when he arrived.
• Lü Yi suddenly kicked Sun Qiang down and repeatedly stomped on him, knocking out teeth before the officers restrained him.
• The officers took Lü Yi to detention and sent the badly injured Sun Qiang for emergency treatment.
• Lin Feng recounted the elevator incident to Officer Li and explained that Lü Yi had bipolar disorder, was an orphan, and had no immediate family.
• Officer Li realized that Lü Yi’s mental illness and lack of a guardian or money would make the case and compensation difficult.

After Lü Yi’s violence at the police station, Lin Feng gave his statement and returned to Junyue Law Firm to complete his first-day onboarding. The chapter left him quietly rejecting Lawyer Chen’s attempt to order him around.

• Lü Yi was sent for a compulsory psychiatric evaluation, while Lin Feng was cleared to leave the police station after giving his statement.
• Lin Feng returned to Junyue Law Firm, where Zhou Wenyuan shared lunch with him and introduced the firm’s criminal-law work.
• Zhou Wenyuan had Xiao Zhang help Lin Feng complete his onboarding, and she noticed that his highest education was high school.
• Lawyer Chen ordered Lin Feng to buy him a latte, but Lin Feng ignored him and continued on, leaving Chen embarrassed.

Li Xiaojun told Zhou Wenyuan that his wife had tried to kill him twice, leaving Zhou and Lin Feng stunned by the details. He began describing the attempts, but the account ended before he explained the third one.

• Li Xiaojun came to Zhou Wenyuan for advice about his wife's attempted-murder case and said he was also the criminal's family member.
• Li Xiaojun explained that his wife and her lover had plotted to kill him so she could keep her share of their farmland compensation.
• His wife first mixed ground sleeping pills into his dinner, but Li Xiaojun stayed awake talking most of the night and woke up unharmed.
• His wife then tested rat poison on their dog, which died, before mixing it into Li Xiaojun's noodles.
• Li Xiaojun noticed the noodles tasted bitter but ate more than half after his wife scolded him, then slept well and woke feeling refreshed.

Li Xiaojun recounted how he survived three murder attempts by his wife and lover, then asked Zhou Wenyuan how to help his wife receive a lighter sentence. After work, Lin Feng lent his friend Monkey 100,000 yuan when Monkey asked to borrow 50,000, leaving the reason for Monkey’s urgent need unexplained.

• Li Xiaojun explained that he had given his wife a letter of forgiveness and wanted advice on reducing her sentence.
• Zhou Wenyuan told Li Xiaojun that forgiveness was only one factor in sentencing and explained other ways to assist the case.
• After Li Xiaojun left, Zhou Wenyuan advised Lin Feng to remember the case as an example of human nature and criminal cases.
• Monkey called Lin Feng and asked to borrow 50,000 yuan, but did not explain why he needed it.
• Lin Feng transferred Monkey 100,000 yuan, and Monkey called back to thank him emotionally.

Lin Feng was confronted at his apartment by Sun Qiang, who demanded that Lin Feng pay the hospital expenses for Sun Qiang’s injured family. Lin Feng drove him off with a cleaver and warned him not to try again.

• Lin Feng heard someone pounding on his apartment door and armed himself with a cleaver before checking the peephole.
• Lin Feng discovered Sun Qiang outside, demanding compensation for injuries inflicted on his mother, son, and himself by Lin Feng’s friend.
• Sun Qiang tried to force his way inside, but Lin Feng opened the door with the cleaver in hand and challenged him to enter.
• Sun Qiang backed away and threatened Lin Feng before fleeing down the stairwell.
• Lin Feng reopened the door, warned Sun Qiang that he could try, and shut himself inside.

Lin Feng challenged Lawyer Chen for ordering a trainee to buy him breakfast, then watched Zhou Wenyuan threaten to dismiss Chen after Chen complained. Chen apologized to Lin Feng, who walked past without answering, leaving Chen disgraced at Junyue Law Firm.

• Lawyer Chen ordered Xiao Zhang to stop cleaning and buy him breakfast, but Lin Feng rebuked Chen for treating the trainee like a servant.
• Lin Feng mocked Chen's legal ability and rejected his claims of seniority, humiliating him in front of the office staff.
• After Lin Feng left to fetch files, Lawyer Chen complained to Zhou Wenyuan and demanded that Lin Feng be driven out.
• Zhou Wenyuan told Chen to leave the firm if Lin Feng did not forgive him, so Chen rushed to apologize.
• Chen bowed and begged Lin Feng to forgive him, but Lin Feng silently walked past him into Zhou Wenyuan's office, leaving Chen disgraced among his colleagues.

Lin Feng summoned Li Jun, a ruthless small-loan company owner, and went to work at Lawyer Zhou’s firm. A rural woman named Ms. Wang then asked Zhou Wenyuan for help after her sister, a village matchmaker, was convicted of trafficking women following the death of a woman she had matched with a disabled man.

• Lin Feng summoned Li Jun and ordered him to settle into his existing identity and wait for instructions.
• Lawyer Chen tried to ingratiate himself with Lin Feng, who ignored him and joined the others in cleaning the office.
• Lin Feng reviewed old case files while Zhou Wenyuan was away at a meeting.
• Ms. Wang told Zhou Wenyuan that her sister had arranged marriages for women with intellectual disabilities and had been convicted of trafficking after one husband beat his wife to death.
• Zhou Wenyuan asked Ms. Wang what she thought should be done about her sister’s case.

Zhou Wenyuan explained to Ms. Wang why her sister’s matchmaking could be treated as trafficking if the intellectually disabled girl could not understand or consent to marriage, regardless of parental approval or local custom. He refused to take the case and asked Ms. Wang to leave.

• Ms. Wang argued that her sister had not trafficked anyone because the parents had agreed to the marriages and the girls had held weddings and started families.
• Zhou Wenyuan challenged whether the girls could understand marriage or consent, and explained that guardians could not decide for them to marry.
• Zhou Wenyuan said that a common practice or parental consent could not justify treating a person with an intellectual disability as an object or arranging a marriage without her understanding.
• Ms. Wang asked whether intellectually disabled girls could have lives of their own, and Zhou Wenyuan said they should not be forced into marriage in the name of helping them.
• Zhou Wenyuan refused to take Ms. Wang’s case and asked her to leave.

After Ms. Wang left, Zhou Wenyuan wrestled with the suffering behind the case involving intellectually disabled girls and their parents’ desperate hopes for their futures. He broke down crying at a barbecue stall, and a nearby group of young toughs mocked him.

• Ms. Wang left Zhou Wenyuan's office feeling confused and aggrieved, and Zhou remained at his desk in silence.
• Lin Feng invited Zhou Wenyuan to drink, and they went to a roadside barbecue stall after work.
• Zhou Wenyuan wondered whether the parents of intellectually disabled girls were wrong to seek marriages that might keep their daughters alive after they were gone.
• Zhou Wenyuan admitted that he understood the parents’ fear as a father himself and concluded that the matter held suffering rather than right or wrong.
• Zhou Wenyuan broke down sobbing while Lin Feng sat beside him, and nearby young toughs mocked him.

Lin Feng struck the mohawked punk with a beer bottle after the young punks mocked him and Lawyer Zhou. A scarred leader and fifteen or sixteen men with baseball bats arrived, beat the punks and their companions, and left Lawyer Zhou staring in shock while Lin Feng calmly refilled his glass.

• The mohawked punk and his companions mocked Lin Feng and Lawyer Zhou at the barbecue stall.
• Lin Feng smashed a beer bottle against the mohawked punk's head after he insulted them.
• A burly leader and fifteen or sixteen men with baseball bats stopped a yellow-haired punk from charging Lin Feng.
• The leader mocked the punks for being hotheaded, then struck the yellow-haired punk over the head with a bat.
• The men in black attacked the punks and their companions, while Lin Feng stayed seated and refilled Lawyer Zhou's glass.

Lin Feng helped Zhou Wenyuan recover from the beating of the punks, then returned home and found that someone had glued his lock. He suspected Sun Qiang and chose to wait for a locksmith, thinking Lü Yi would be released from the psychiatric hospital the next day.

• Lin Feng offered Zhou Wenyuan a chance to join in beating the punks, but Zhou refused.
• Lin Feng paid for the meal and took Zhou Wenyuan home before riding back to his own residence.
• Lin Feng contacted Li Jun, who confirmed that the punks had only suffered superficial injuries and would not dare call the police.
• Lin Feng found heavy-duty glue blocking his keyhole and suspected Sun Qiang had done it.
• Lin Feng called a twenty-four-hour locksmith and waited outside his door, thinking about Lü Yi's release the next day.

Lin Feng confronted a locksmith who inflated the agreed price after replacing his lock cylinder and then threatened to block other locksmiths from serving him. Lin Feng paid the increased fee, entered his apartment, and revealed that Lü Yi would be released the next day.

• Lin Feng reminded the locksmith that they had agreed online on 150 yuan to open the glue-blocked lock and replace its cylinder.
• The locksmith replaced the cylinder, demanded 300 yuan, and argued with Lin Feng when he challenged the price.
• The locksmith took Lin Feng’s new keys, threw them inside, shut the door, and demanded 450 yuan while threatening to blacklist his address.
• Lin Feng paid 450 yuan, and the locksmith quickly pried the door open from outside.
• Lin Feng went into the apartment and said that Lü Yi would get out tomorrow.

Lin Feng and Zhou Wenyuan picked Lü Yi up after his discharge from the mental health center, and Lü Yi soon confronted Sun Qiang at home. Lü Yi forced Sun Qiang to take a cleaver, dared him to strike, then reclaimed it when Sun Qiang froze and declared him useless.

• Lin Feng and Zhou Wenyuan waited outside the mental health center and collected Lü Yi after Director Du approved his discharge.
• Lü Yi enthusiastically hugged Lin Feng and Zhou Wenyuan before riding with them to his temporary residence.
• Sun Qiang heard urgent knocking and opened his door to find Lü Yi waiting outside.
• Lü Yi jabbed Sun Qiang in the chest, showed him a cleaver, and made him take it while daring him to slash him once.
• Sun Qiang trembled and failed to act, so Lü Yi counted down, snatched back the cleaver, and mocked him for being useless.

Lü Yi forced Sun Qiang to kneel and call him Grandpa, then went to a locksmith shop to have a new U-lock opened. The locksmith quoted him fifty yuan.

• Lü Yi threatened Sun Qiang with a cleaver until Sun Qiang knelt, called him Grandpa, and promised not to provoke him or Lin Feng again.
• Lü Yi warned Sun Qiang to call him and Lin Feng Grandpa whenever he saw them, then left him alone in the stairwell.
• The next day, Lü Yi settled into temporary lodging and bought a heavy U-lock for twenty yuan.
• Lü Yi visited a locksmith shop and asked the middle-aged locksmith to open the new U-lock.
• The locksmith said he could open it and quoted fifty yuan.