I just want to take advantage of you.

I don't know whether to blame the darkness of the night or be glad that it was so dark.

He didn't see the blush on her thin face, and she didn't see the tips of his ears, which were dyed pomegranate color.

The streetlights cast their light, and two people got into the car under one of them.

Wen Dai leaned back in her seat, facing the car door. She raised her hand to play with the strands of hair on her cheek, and the blush on her face spread as she thought.

The saying "Don't make decisions at night" is indeed a golden rule. First, she lost her mind in the middle of the night and posted the ugly photos, then she grabbed Chen Sizhe's arm like a madwoman and dragged him toward the car... Did he really need her to drag him? However, his physique seemed quite good; the arm she had just grabbed was rock hard.

Wait, is it rock hard?

The strands of hair brushed against her cheek served as a cover as Wen Dai slowly turned her head, glancing at him discreetly before quickly looking away. He must have been tense; was he nervous?

Wen Dai, who thought she had discovered the blind spot, seemed to be deep in thought.

The two people in the car were lost in their own thoughts. One was thinking about the softness and warmth of the previous embrace, while the other was thinking about the firmness of the hug and the delicate fragrance that filled their nostrils.

A dry, monotone tone accompanied by a deep, repressed voice: "...What do you want to eat? Do you have a reservation?"

After clearing her throat a few times for no apparent reason, she said in a crisp, sweet voice, "I'm using my phone for navigation."

This part of their journey can be considered the most peaceful period of their time together when they were sober. The bickering and arguing ceased, and they arrived at the food stall without incident.

Wen Dai found the shop on the spot, picking the highest-rated one on a review app without thinking. Fortunately, the shop she went to didn't disappoint her.

because--

Occupying almost half the street around the corner, the food stall's storefront gleamed brightly, as if it had captured all the daytime sunlight. Inside the transparent glass walls, people thronged about, while outside, tables filled the street. Looking around, not a single empty table could be found.

We can now be sure the taste won't be bad, but we can't be sure if they'll be able to get their hands on some.

Wen Dai, who had left her backpack on the passenger seat, had her trench coat billowing in the wind, and her long, flowing hair was slapping against her cheek, as if trying to wake her up.

Glancing at the stunned expression on the person beside him, Chen Sizhe's brows furrowed slightly, seemingly as an instinctive action. He reached out and brushed Wen Dai's face, covering most of her face with her hair and tucking it behind her ear, thus meeting a pair of astonished eyes.

His fingers brushed against her earlobe, which was slightly cool from the wind, but Chen Sizhe felt as if he were burning his hand and immediately withdrew them.

He pursed his lips, looked away first, and scoffed, "You didn't make an appointment, did you?"

Coming to her senses, Wen Dai forgot about his abrupt act of touching her hair. Her reaction to Chen Sizhe, who had revealed the truth, was to awkwardly avoid eye contact, twisting her hands together and muttering:

"I'm a country bumpkin. I don't usually eat out. When I do go out to eat, I just go out and randomly pick a lucky restaurant. I'm not used to making reservations, so I skip restaurants that require reservations."

"Besides, who would have thought that street food stalls would have reservation systems? There probably aren't even conditions for making a reservation. Maybe those people just arrived early? Oh dear, let's go find an empty table and ask the owner first."

As a result of her haste, she grabbed Chen Sizhe's arm again, wanting to escape the scene.

But getting into the food stall wasn't so easy. The crowd was chaotic, and gradually, Wen Dai's posture of crossing her arms turned into holding his hand.

The person's purpose was simple: they just wanted to get into the store and find the owner as soon as possible.

But the other party whose hand she was holding was already shocked.

The hand that was gripping his few fingers was very small, much smaller than his own.

The outer edge of his palm was slightly cool due to the heat, while the inner part was warm, and his dry palm enveloped his fingers.

No longer did being brushed against his shoulder or arm cause Chen Sizhe to frown; his entire attention was focused on the hand holding his.

After struggling through the crowd to reach the counter, Wen Dai still didn't let go of the fingers she was holding.

Her eyes seemed fixed on the woman behind the counter, her peach blossom eyes wide open, their bright light reflecting on her dark pupils and making them sparkle. Her tone was hopeful: "Hello, do you have any empty tables?"

The proprietress, who was resting her hands on the counter and staring at the computer screen, raised her eyelids slightly. After taking in the two people outside the counter, her first look was one of amazement.

Such outstanding people are hard to find even with a lantern, but today is strange, she met two in one go.

After Wen Dai asked again, the proprietress, who had come to her senses, tiptoed and searched inside. She tilted her head left and right, then her gaze locked onto a spot. She stretched out her arm and pointed, "Hey, over there, they just cleared out an empty table. You can go over there. It's true that timing is everything."

Following the direction the proprietress pointed, Wen Dai saw an empty table in the corner. The waiter seemed to have just finished cleaning the table and was pushing the cart away.

Once again focused on moving towards her goal, Wen Dai held hands the whole way. It wasn't until her bottom touched the stool in front of the table that Wen Dai finally noticed the strangeness in her palm.

With a lingering sense of pressure in her empty palm, she slowly raised her head, her mind still reeling.

Chen Sizhe sat down on the stool unhurriedly. His upright posture and straight back prevented him from leaning back, and he couldn't hide his subtle disdain. However, his fox-like eyes were fixed on Wen Dai, holding a meaningful gaze.

Realizing what had happened, Wen Dai straightened up abruptly and explained, "I didn't mean to hold your hand... no, I didn't have any ulterior motives for holding your hand. Don't worry, I absolutely didn't have any dirty thoughts. I just wanted to find an empty table as soon as possible so we could order our food smoothly."

Unfortunately, that meaningful gaze remained meaningful. Chen Sizhe glanced at her sideways, saying with a playful tone, "I didn't say anything, why are you in such a hurry to explain? Are you hiding something?" The deliberately drawn-out tone brought out the meaning to the extreme.

She was wrong, really. She should have just left him there and rushed in to enjoy her meal.

Wen Dai slumped back against the chair; neither of them had done anything about scanning the QR code to order food.

She crossed her arms, raised her chin, and said defiantly, "Yes, yes, you're right. I have a guilty conscience. I held your hand to take advantage of you. I'm lecherous and perverted. So be careful, I might slip some drugs into your food when you're not looking."

Unable to stop giggling, Wen Dai turned her head and then realized the issue of spacing between the tables.

The man and woman at the next table, who seemed to be a couple, were glancing at her with their smiles still on their lips.

As expected, Chen Sizhe was her nemesis.

Wen Dai lowered her head in frustration, just missing the smile that appeared on Chen Sizhe's lips. His usually sharp fox-like eyes softened with the smile, and the affection that should have been there spread out.

The girl at the next table's table widened her smile again, gripping her boyfriend's thigh tightly, biting her lower lip but unable to stop the wide grin from reaching her ears. The ceiling light wasn't as bright as her eyes.

"This is such a perfect match... I'm going to scream." The girl's voice, which she was trying to keep quiet, became shrill. Her eyes were glued to Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe, while the boy whose thigh she was pinching was in so much pain that his face was almost contorted.

After ordering some food by scanning the QR code, Chen Sizhe lowered his hand holding the phone to his thigh. He glanced at Wen Dai, who was slumped over and in a state of self-isolation, and a leisurely remark came out of his throat: "Are you asleep or do you want to fill your stomach by smelling the aroma?"

Slowly raising her head, Wen Dai glanced at him warily. Seeing the innocent expression on his face, she snorted coldly.

She took out her phone to scan the QR code to order food, only to find that she had already ordered one of every dish she could accept. She muttered in surprise, "What the heck? How come I've already ordered everything I can accept... Did you order this? Your tastes can't be exactly the same as mine, can they?"

She raised her face and stared strangely at the composed Chen Sizhe.

The person under scrutiny remained calm and asked in return, "How can you be sure it was me who ordered it? Even if it was me, so what? Are you not allowed to allow others to have similar tastes to you? That's quite domineering, but hegemony is unacceptable."

In the blink of an eye, she was placed in a position of hegemony that was to be condemned. Wen Dai looked at the man not far from her in disbelief.

She remembered that she seemed to have only asked a very innocent question, right?

Unconsciously puffing out her cheeks, Wen Dai added some vegetarian and non-red meat dishes to her diet—it should still be nutritionally balanced, even though she preferred sweet desserts.

Another benefit of the booming business is that latecomers get so hungry they practically turn to immortality.

Leaning listlessly against the back of her chair, Wen Dai seized any opportunity to answer questions from customers on WeChat, her thumb rapidly tapping the screen.

The dim sum dishes were served quickly, perhaps because they were ordered early. Wen Dai, who had managed to earn some money from fortune telling, put her phone back in her pocket and moved the mango pomelo sago dessert on the table in front of her.

Wen Dai, who had just finished three desserts, suddenly noticed that Chen Sizhe seemed to have maintained his good student posture the whole time, holding his phone and doing something.

"Aren't you going to eat something?"

The friendly question was met with an instinctive look of disgust from Chen. His dark eyebrows furrowed, and he blurted out the denial very quickly: "I don't eat this kind of thing."

"...Hehe." Wen Dai managed a stiff, dry laugh, managing to keep her mouth shut and refrain from saying anything too offensive.

The thought that was stuck in her throat was actually—Chen Sizhe's eyes and posture gave off an air of noble aloofness. Although he didn't say it, she felt that his eyes had already conveyed the fact that he categorized the food on the table as junk food.

And isn't she, who enjoys junk food so much, just a piece of trash?

In his mind, he adopted a self-deceptive, Ah Q-like attitude, thinking that this was like a wild boar that couldn't eat fine chaff. On the surface, he changed the subject: "You, as a lawyer, should know more about this than I do. It's just that I want to overturn my parents' case, and the handling of the case will involve... Are there any lawyers willing to take it on?"

Returning to the main topic, the lawyer, who had been staring at his phone, finally looked up. He turned his gaze to Wen Dai, his objective statement almost indifferent:

“Experienced criminal lawyers specializing in criminal cases will take the case, but they will face resistance; some human rights lawyers will also be willing to take it, but they are at risk of having their licenses revoked. Ordinary lawyers will comprehensively assess the value of the evidence, and most of them will not get themselves into trouble, but they will provide candidates and suggestions.”

"The case you want to overturn is from more than ten years ago, and whether a retrial can even be initiated is a question. The case also involves... Lawyers with ordinary backgrounds wouldn't dare to take it, but that doesn't stop some human rights lawyers or idealistic lawyers from being willing to take the risk. But if you want to successfully overturn the case, I suggest you find a criminal lawyer, whose fees start at a million."

Over the years, Wen Dai was well aware of the complicated procedures for reopening a case. First, the chairman of the case-handling committee needed to approve the filing of the case, then it would enter the trial stage, and then it would be related to the adjudication office, and would also need to be discussed by the adjudication committee; after the case was filed for retrial, there was the procedure for reversing the verdict, and the final judgment depended on the opinion of the adjudication chairman.

The number of people involved in this case is likely quite large, and regardless of whether a lawyer would be willing to take it on, simply initiating proceedings would be a challenge. But for her, it doesn't seem to be particularly difficult.

Lai Wen-yi is the daughter of the chairman of the case-handling committee.

The connections developed from past deals and the relationships between the clients and their friends and family are a testament to this. The fact that Dong Ying's father knows the current domain head suggests he's not an ordinary person; the current domain head acknowledges her abilities, and his granddaughter has feelings for her.

Sister Qian Yan and Aunt Cui Lin will be her witnesses, and Chen's parents will be her support and provide her with connections.

Wen Dai closed her eyes.

Fate is truly quite ingenious.

Everything is interconnected. Her efforts have not been in vain; what we see now is opportunity and hope.

All she needs to do is gather more information about the former waterworks manager and uncover evidence of wrongdoing by his even bigger protectors.

She wants to overturn the verdict and make those people pay the price for their actions, or even worse.

"I'll try to get through to the review committee. After that, I'll just gamble on it. I'm definitely going to overturn the verdict, otherwise all my efforts over the years will have been for nothing."

She lowered her hands slightly, her grip on the spoon tightening as if she wanted to crush the porcelain spoon in her hand. "Who cares if the lawyer's fee is one million or two million? I can afford ten million."

The only things her parents left her were the numbers on their bank cards. She couldn't let them stay in the afterlife and watch their enemies go free. She would rather use that money to overturn the verdict.