First-Class Lawyer

Solemnly, Yan Suizhi said, I do.

Joshuas voice abruptly raised. Really?!

I only need you to do me a favour.

What favour?

See that black bedside cabinet over there? asked Yan Suizhi.

Joshua nodded, Duh, Im not blind.

Now, go over.

Joshua couldnt quite make head or tails of his words. He scratched his head and circled around the bed to stand by the bedside cabinet. He kicked it. And then? What the heck are you being all mysterious for, cant you just say it straight? Could it really be that the way you have is stored here?

With a smile, Yan Suizhi nodded. Thats right. Open the drawer now.

Joshua, Cant you say it in one go. After that?

He frowned and grumbled non-stop. He looked impatient, but he still did as instructed.

Yan Suizhi, Do you see whats inside?

Joshua, Theres a roll of duct tape?

Yan Suizhis smile turned even more beatific. Thats the one. All you have to do is tear two strips off that to seal your mouth shut, and well have a solution.

Joshua,

In that split second, Joshuas hands reached out.

Yan Suizhi said, smiling, Lift that cabinet and you wont have a lawyer anymore.

Joshua withdrew his hands with a dark face and raised his foot.

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Learning by precedent. Arent you quite the clever one? The esteemed Professor Yan gave a word of praise.

As for the one being praised from the looks of it, he wanted to give up on life.

Joshua Dale couldnt stand the injustice. This blockhead got so incensed his entire face turned dark, and he stomped back to the chair, sitting his butt back down. His mouth opened and closed many times before he finally squeezed out one sentence. I know you guys have rules. Lawyers have to act in the best interests of their client, you cant just piss me off like this.

Yan Suizhi said, You actually know this?

Joshua felt that this sentence could be regarded as a personal attack.

He glared at Yan Suizhi. After a long while, he waved a white flag. His head drooped. He kicked his legs together irritably, but didnt make any large movements.

Yan Suizhi was about to say something as he watched him, but Gu Yan tossed a sentence over out of the blue. If you continue being upset, I wont have a client anymore.

Joshua,

Yes. Because the client was right about to drop dead from sheer anger.

That wont happen, Yan Suizhi laughed. He looked into Joshuas eyes, light mirth in his voice, You arent actually angry. Really. Otherwise, you wouldnt be sitting there, glaring and silently holding it in like a pufferfish. You arent truly angry, because you can tell apart whos teasing you, and whos deliberately targeting you with malice.

Yan Suizhi paused, then went on to say, Youre actually very clever, simply that your temper runs faster than your head does. If you scold people a little less, wait for your brain to catch up before throwing a tantrum, youd end up in a better place than now; itd be easier to get people to like you. Moreover, you dont have to rely on profanities if you really want to anger someone. Did you see me curse you just now? Isnt your face equally green from reining in your anger anyway?

Joshua,

Gu Yan,

The front part sounded all good and proper. Yet he ended up teaching others who-knows-what type of nonsense thing

However, Joshua really wasnt able to work up a temper at him, merely replying him with a roll of his eyes.

There will be a way, Yan Suizhi said. As long as you didnt lie to us, we wouldnt lie to you. Go head back first, Ill discuss it further with Teacher Gu.

Mn. This time, Joshua Dale didnt say much else. He simply nodded, got up and walked to the door.

When he pulled the door open, his head turned back as if he was wavering over whether or not to say something. But he ultimately didnt, and made to leave with his head hung low.

Before he closed the door, Gu Yan abruptly and indifferently said, Dont climb other peoples wall in the future. Thats not a good thing.

Joshua, Mn.

The door closed; Joshua Dale had left. But the two people in the room didnt immediately start talking.

A long minute later, Lawyer Gus eyes flickered over to the electronic clock in the hotel room. From when Joshua Dale stepped into the room to when he left, the time totalled an hour and thirty-nine minutes. You occupied approximately 80% of it, leaving me 20% of supplementary time thereabout.

As he spoke, his eyes shifted, and the gaze he directed at Yan Suizhi was mild. Why dont we switch? Ill be your intern for a change.

Yan Suizhi,

Habits wereterrifyingthings; Professor Yan, more accustomed to riling people, almost replied with a smile and a sure, why not. Luckily, he managed to restrain the smile on the lines of his lips in time.

Um. Thinking that this topic better be brought to a close, Yan Suizhi habitually raised a coffee cup from the round glass table and he said, Its my first time directly participating in a case, I got a little overexcited. Oh right, Teacher Gu, do you have any thoughts on the events that Joshua Dale described eight hundred times?

An honorific to give the other face, and business matters to change the topic.

Perfect.

However, before he could drink from that cup, Gu Yan reached over and took it away.

Lawyer Gu held the rim of the coffee cup. He pointed his index finger at him and said frostily, Let me give you a tip. You can change the topic, but dont go around stealing coffee that is not yours with your restless hands.

Yan Suizhi,

As for the events that the client described Gu Yan drank a mouthful of coffee, pulled out the case file and looked at it, saying, Although my former teacher rarely said anything serious, there was one sentence that could be heeded.

Yan Suizhi sneered in his mind. He thought,mhm, go ahead and speak ill of me. Well see if you cry when you learn the truth.

He maintained a warm smile, asking, What was it? Of course he knew which sentence it was. The truth was that he didnt want to ask such an idiotic question, but he was pretending to be an inexperienced intern, right? Simple-minded, easy to bluff, easy to grow confused.

His experience told him that almost every intern would have asked such questions before, so there wasnt anything wrong with affecting this reaction.

Gu Yan placed down his coffee cup. He said, As for the many things that the client says, let him say as he pleases, and you just listen as you will.

Professor Yan continued to put up an act. So, Teacher, you feel that Joshua Dale isnt telling the truth?

Gu Yan gave him a look. His gaze turned back onto the evidence, and he said, That sentence earlier describes what usually happens. I told it to you only so that youd stop asking such questions.

Yan Suizhi kept smiling, He didnt even have to ask this in the first place.

Gu Yan spread a few pages of evidence between them. The finger resting on the paper changed directions to point at Yan Suizhi. Have you seen these pieces of evidence? If what Joshua Dale said is true, then the evidence in these pages are false. If these pages are true, then he is lying.

Yan Suizhi, naturally, had read these pages before. The written contents were enough to link a whole chain of evidence, proving that Joshua Dale had not only stopped outside of Kitty Bells house, but he had also entered the house, touched the tools used to commit the crime, and so on

These evidence had come from the police.

According to these, what happened that day was a different storyat approximately 7:15 p.m., Joshua Dale climbed over the yard wall around Kitty Bells house. He had been observing this old madams schedule for a long time and was very familiar with it. While the old madam was knitting inside, he crept inside the room with a pillow from the living room sofa and a bronze ornament.

Kitty Bells armchair was always faced away from the door for the heating would warm her better and allow her fingers more dexterity. After Joshua Dale entered the room, he muffled any sound from her with the pillow and hit the old madam on the back of her head with the bronze ornament.

At approximately 8 PM, Chester, the grandnephew who took care of the old madam, returned. Joshua Dale hid in the dark yard. When Chester entered the house, Joshua climbed over the yard wall and returned to his own home, dropping that pair of earrings in his haste.

If Joshua was telling the truth, then the police had forged the evidence.

Gu Yan, It depends on whether you trust the police here, or if you trust him.