20demayo Chapter 34 Murderer
Chapter 34 Murderer
However, if this person is Yu Xingge, then it's a different story, since she has seen her resume and personally experienced her interview.
Inside the private room of Fengtian Restaurant, red lanterns illuminated the steaming hot pot of pickled cabbage. Yu Xingge portioned pickled garlic cloves into small dishes, while Ya Jie ran around distributing snow-white red bean paste to everyone. After helping Jin Ya Jie to her seat and everyone else was seated, she raised her beer glass first: "I originally invited Liu Lin, but Director Shen called her away for dinner at the last minute. My colleagues from the administrative team, Attorney Chen Zhao, and Attorney Fan Qingzhou (a practicing lawyer in the criminal team, working at the desk to her left), are the people who have given me the most help since I joined the firm. Thank you all for gracing us with your presence tonight." She winked: "Please forgive me if there has been any inadequacy in our hospitality."
"Xingge, you're being too polite," Xiang Yanru said, gesturing for her, "Please sit down."
Ren Jiaying pulled her to her side, "Sit here, be good." She patted her head with her right hand. Jin Yajie pulled a chair next to her and placed a piece of meat on her plate.
Chen Zhao sat at the doorway, filled with envy: "If I were a woman, would I receive this treatment? You guys are too good to Xing Ge."
"You? Tch~ Don't dream." Li Ruonan turned her face away and banged on her bowl. "This lousy shop doesn't even have ice-cold beer? I've wasted all my demolition compensation money." Bai Xuanjiao shook her Bulgari bracelet. "Keep it, we'll go clubbing next time. Can we get a receipt for this meal at Xingge? Do you need a receipt? My dad hasn't collected enough gas receipts for his car fleet yet~."
Li Ruonan's wealth is evident in the cash she always carries in her pocket; it's said she always keeps 50,000 yuan in her small purse in case of network issues preventing payments. Bai Xuanjiao's wealth is evident in every aspect of her appearance; aside from her bracelets and rings worth over 200,000 yuan, even her seemingly ordinary bear hair clip costs 30,000 to 40,000 yuan.
"Yes, I can have it. I don't need a ticket." Yu Xingge stood up and put blood sausage on Li Ruonan's plate. "I haven't thanked Ruonan yet for helping me stop that person today. Try this; I heard it tastes authentic. I just told them to bring ice; it should be here soon. It'll go perfectly with you."
"What's there to be grateful for? I also watched that video of the fried ribbonfish getting a divorce. Isn't that just marriage fraud? What a scumbag! If I weren't at work, I would have definitely cursed him out. Hey, Jiaojiao, what are you doing over there?"
Jiang Jiao squatted next to the trash can, wiping the tableware with water and coldly saying, "I'm worried that the tableware here isn't properly disinfected. The flu virus is rampant lately, and I don't want to die young." "Why don't you just leave it and wait for the waiter to do it?" "Huh? Where's the waiter?" Seeing that the waiter wasn't there, Yu Xingge got up and went out to call someone. A few minutes later, when she returned, the conversation at the table had become lively.
"To be honest, there are all sorts of weirdos these days. Gay men committing marriage fraud isn't uncommon. I was chatting with the criminal investigation team the other day while getting my documents stamped, and I heard that you guys handled a case of intentional assault, right?" Pan Xi gestured to Fan Qingzhou, who had been drinking water with his head down.
Fan Qingzhou wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his everyday attire had a distinctly Korean drama male lead vibe. His suit-and-overcoat style was perhaps a result of following Gu Lezhi's lead, with the team adopting a similar style. With his exceptionally fair and refined face, coupled with his single status and lack of womanizing, he was among the most popular women in the law firm, and the administrative staff, always eager to play matchmaker, had introduced him to numerous potential partners.
"Are you talking about the Shen Xing case?"
"Really? I don't remember his name, but he was the one who grabbed the woman and threw her off the third floor."
"Yes, that's the Shen Xing case."
"What happened? What happened?" Bai Xuanjiao leaned closer. "How come I don't know? What case is it?" Seeing that Fan Qingzhou neither responded nor stopped her, Pan Xi continued, "It's about that man involved. He married into the woman's family, ate her food, lived with her, and used her things. They argued about something, and he grabbed her by the neck and threw her off the third floor. She suffered a lumbar fracture and is still in the hospital."
"Oh! How could someone be so wicked? It's unreasonable to sentence him to ten or eight years." Jin Yajie exclaimed indignantly.
"It's tough. The man is smart; as soon as something happened, he came to Attorney Gu with a hefty sum of money. I heard that Attorney Gu managed to argue that the charge of intentional injury was domestic violence. Minor injury—no prosecution, no action."
"How could this happen?" Jin Yajie's mouth dropped open. "Attorney Gu would take on a case like this? He shouldn't have ruined this man's life!"
Pan Xi looked at Jin Yajie with pity for her foolishness: "Silly child, who would turn down money? That's hundreds of thousands."
"But that was intentional assault!" Jin Yajie pressed Chen Zhao, "Is it true?"
Chen Zhao shook his head vigorously: "I wasn't involved, I don't know, ask Brother Qingzhou."
Fan Qingzhou made a zipper-like motion: "I can't say."
"Very well, it seems it's true." "How could this be!" Jin Yajie pouted. "I need to dispel the illusions surrounding Attorney Gu." "Yes, while making money is important, one can't disregard their conscience."
"How could you be so foolish? You still have a soft spot for Attorney Gu." Ren Jiaying slapped her on the back: "What do you mean by disregarding conscience? Don't you know what a lawyer's duty is?"
"Upholding justice!" Jin Yajie said matter-of-factly.
Everyone looked at her with unspoken words.
Chen Zhao chuckled: "That's the judge's responsibility, not the lawyer's. The lawyer's responsibility is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the client."
Is this legal?
"Then what constitutes legality?" Fan Qingzhou interjected. "According to you, a sentence of ten or eight years? And what standards did you use to reach that verdict? Isn't it just a matter of personal preference?"
"I."
"Leaving aside your conclusions based on hearsay and hearsay, without any evidence, testimony, or firsthand accounts from the parties involved, even if the parties did indeed do so in a way that violated the law and morality, there are legal standards to measure right and wrong and fairness. Even a murderer has human rights. Isn't that right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the aroma of the hot pot wafted up, bubbling and gurgling. Seeing the sudden silence, Fan Qingzhou put down his water glass: "I didn't mean anything by it. Last year, the Dongjiang City Marriage and Family Court reported that the divorce rate in 2022 was 350% higher than in 2021. Such a high divorce rate certainly isn't just a men's problem; you can't generalize."
"Heh, men these days." Li Ruonan stirred the blood sausage in her bowl, sauce splattering everywhere. She poked at it with her chopsticks in frustration. "Is it our problem if not yours? I'm only 26, my family is pressuring me to get married, and I don't even care about the noble character of the men I go on blind dates with, they can't even be considered decent. After working at a law firm for so long, where are the good men?" Bai Xuanjiao glared at her. "You can still be interested in men at law firms? If you're going to find a man, why don't you look elsewhere?" She nudged Jiang Jiao's arm. "Jiaojiao, don't you think so?"
Jiang Jiao succinctly stated: "I don't eat the grass near my nest."
The three administrative staff members, along with Jin Yajie, are all single women of marriageable age, with the oldest, Jiang Jiao, being only 28 years old.
Li Ruonan looked bewildered: "What are you talking about? I mean, listening to cases and reading files every day makes you feel like all the good men in the world are dead. Who would want to get married?"
"Anyway, I'm not getting married," Bai Xuanjiao agreed.
"Me neither," Jin Yajie followed closely behind.
Jiaojiao, unusually, spoke up: "Same."
Yu Xingge coughed lightly: "We can't say that. Let's think about the good things. I saw Attorney Gu and his wife being very affectionate the other day." She stood up to serve soup to everyone and casually asked, "Attorney Gu's wife looks really petite. Is she a local? I wonder what her parents do to have such a beautiful and elegant daughter."